This is a difficult one to wrap my mind around, but I think I like it as a Tribe fan. It's really two separate deals for them:
(1) Edwin Encarnacion for Carlos Santana. Assuming there's no money exchanged here, this guarantees Cleveland will be paying someone $20M+ in 2020, but the contracts are largely a wash. If Cleveland had picked up Encarnacion's option for 2020, it would have cost $500,000 more total than what they'll spend on the next two years of Santana (assuming they buy out Santana's 2021 option). I'm also hearing a rumor that Cleveland is receiving $6M, which would make this a no-brainer. Santana's a pretty good first baseman, so I'll take the value he provides at the plate and in the field over Encarnacion as the DH every time. It also suggests Cleveland won't be tearing it all down after 2019.
(2) Yandy Diaz + Round B competitive pick + Cole Sulser for Jake Bauers. This sounds good, but Yandy Diaz could be a beast if he ever buys into the launch angle revolution. He looks like a bodybuilder and can be an on-base machine, but he's 27 and doesn't have a swing that produces power. He also has only established which positions he can't play (he was never in the OF discussion despite a serious need, and he's not a major league 3B). The pick is basically a 3rd rounder, and Sulser is garbage... he has a great minor league K-rate, but despite all of Cleveland's bullpen problems last year, the 28-year-old in AAA with a 14.1 K-rate was never close to promotion.
Bauers might be first in line for the starting LF job in spring training, and if Cleveland isn't adding any payroll, I think this would still make signing a decent RF this winter a possibility. This might be the sign that Michael Brantley's return is now off the table, although if his market falls apart, they could try Bauers in RF.
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