The Cleveland Indians traded away Cesar Hernandez and Eddie Rosario.
Those moves were to be expected, even if swapping Rosario for Pablo Sandoval was a bizarre deal.
But the flurry of moves did not stop there.
Perhaps the most exciting was one that involves Houston Astros center fielder Myles Straw joining the team.
Straw was Houston's everyday CF. He's a contact hitter (doesn't hit for power, but 98th percentile in swing-and-miss rate) who plays elite defense and can steal a bunch of bases. .262/.339/.326 slash line this season. He's under team control through the 2025 season.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) July 30, 2021
That raised plenty of questions in the outfield because Straw now looks like the new everyday center fielder.
We initially believed that was the end of the trades.
But the front office had one more that saw Jordan Luplow head to Tampa Bay right at the deadline.
Luplow had just joined the team in Chicago and was set to be activated from the injured list.
That’s reliever DJ Johnson, not outfielder Daniel Johnson.
Peyton Battenfield has a 2.14 ERA with 95 Ks in 67 innings this season between High-A/Double-A. https://t.co/IPLUazIx1f
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) July 30, 2021
Luplow was finally set for a return, only to be sent to a World Series contender at the buzzer.
That is great news for Luplow personally, and shows the Indians were out on him as an outfielder of the future.
Let’s break down all the drama.
Players On The Move
The Indians traded away Hernandez, Rosario, Luplow, Phil Maton, and DJ Johnson.
Straw shows up as an MLB-ready player, while Sandoval’s tenure is over before it began.
The Indians have released Pablo Sandoval. Myles Straw is expected to join the team in Chicago tomorrow.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) July 30, 2021
The only real shock is the late trade involving Luplow.
However, the Indians had been holding him in Triple-A for some extra time following a rehab stint, so it’s possible they have been shopping him all along and didn’t want to bring him back in the lineup only for a game or two.
Questions In The Outfield
The main focus now has to do with the outfield.
At one point in time, Rosario and Luplow were regular starters.
Projecting to 2022, Straw should be in center and Josh Naylor should be in right once he is healthy.
But what about left field and backup jobs in general?
Adding Straw seems to point toward one of Bradley Zimmer or Oscar Mercado being gone at the end of the year.
Daniel Johnson could also be out too because the logjam can only feature so many players.
Zimmer is the oldest at 28 years of age, so it’s possible he goes the route of Tyler Naquin and is cut loose for the sake of just moving on.
So what do these moves mean for the rest of the season?
Well, not much changes.
Rosario has been out injured and was a bit of a dud anyway.
Hernandez did flash nice power, but his splits were still nothing that was sending the Indians into another level on offense.
Luplow has been out, Maton has struggled, and DJ Johnson was never a huge factor out of the crowded bullpen.
This was a nice deadline because while the Indians sold, it was the obvious pieces and they still managed to land a long-term player in Straw.
The only curious thing was landing Sandoval, but that was clearly all about helping Atlanta out for taking on Rosario’s money.
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