I'm not thrilled with the price Cleveland paid, but it's what I was prepared for. Sure, relievers are relatively unreliable, but the Padres' return relies entirely on a minor league catcher whose offense is very dependent on batting average. I've always wondered what the real ceiling is for such an undersized catcher in today's game. I've seen Mejia play in Low-A and AA, and I'm 5'10", 180 lbs.... he's definitely not. He's still only 22, so maybe he fills out, but he's not a large framed kid, so I think he's probably reaching his cap on power potential.
The Indians needed to immediately upgrade their bullpen and also hedge against losing both Andrew Miller and Cody Allen this winter. Since they also have to address having no certainty at any outfield position for next year, they had to address one of those areas for now and beyond this month. The majors worst bullpen just added Hand and Cimber, with Miller coming back before the end of the month, and Nick Goody due back in August. Basically, the entire group of setup men they've been using most of the season are now competing for 2-3 open spots. If they can re-sign Allen (or I suppose Miller is a possibility) in the off-season, that should be a playoff bullpen for the foreseeable future.
Yan Gomes is under team control through 2021, and while Roberto Perez couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat, they like him behind the plate, he's Bauer's personal catcher, and he's under control through 2022. Mejia looks to be a major league catcher, but he was probably going to have to hit enough to split time in right field if he was to be a full-time player in Cleveland. I'd hardly call this a fleecing like the Wil Meyers trade. Granted, this is hindsight, but it's 100% a better deal than the Mejia + Yu Chang + Greg Allen for Jonathan Lucroy deal Cleveland agreed to 2 years ago before Lucroy blew it up trying to use the trade as contractual bargaining chip.
EDIT: Mejia got off to a dismal start this year and was battling the Mendoza line a couple months into the season at Columbus, so he is, in fact, tearing up AAA right now.
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