(@Rotoworld_BB)

The sun may have set on the 2015 MLB Winter Meetings, but the rumor mill continues to churn at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. Todd Frazier’s beautiful face popped back up on our Twitter timelines this morning, with the Indians and White Sox as two of the clubs mentioned to be very much interested.

On the surface, The Toddfather seems like a perfect fit for the Tribe. The team needs an outfielder (or two), and could stand an upgrade at either of the corner infield spots. Frazier could play left field until Michael Brantley is healthy again, then move back to his natural position at third, or to first and bump Carlos Santana to DH.

But where would he fit in the lineup? I spent more time than I’d care to admit exploring various options Tito would have if we did end up getting something done with the Reds. Spoiler alert, they’re all awesome.

(all stats are 2016 Steamer projections)

(lineups against RHP)

Option 1: Frazier stays at 3B

Here we have Frazier staying at his native hot corner, keeping Santana at 1B. To me, Joey Butler seems to be the best option we currently have for LF…Collin Cowgill will probably be out there against lefties, and you’d like to only run Chris Johnson out at DH against them too but there’s not really a great alternative there at the moment.

Option 2: Frazier plays 1B

To avoid having Johnson DH against righties, we can slot Frazier in at first base and bump Slamtana to DH. Butler remains in left, Gio returns at 3B. Giving Gio the nod at third greatly improves our infield defense, gives his bat a chance to develop and keeps Lindor happy playing next to his bff. I like this a lot more than Option 1.

Option 3: Frazier plays LF

This would obviously be a temporary solution until Brantley gets healthy. It wouldn’t surprise me if Smooth DHed for a while before he returns to the field, making this option more probable than Option 2 since you’re not going to take Santana’s bat out of the lineup.

(Hypothetical) Option 4: Sign Rajai Davis, Frazier plays 1B

This isn’t completely out of left field (heh) since there were rumors of the Indians interest in Davis last week. While I’m not particularly enamored with him as a player, I am particularly enamored with the idea of finding someone other than Lindor to lead off and extending the lineup one more spot. Kip isn’t your prototypical 3 hitter but I think he fits there just fine, certainly better than Santana does in the 4 hole. So having Davis lead off allows you to bump Frazier to cleanup, something he’s fantastically suited for, Santana to a much better position for him at 5 and Yan down to 6. This is my favorite option so far.

Option 5: Jose Ramirez plays CF, Frazier plays 1B

On second thought, who needs Rajai Davis? Jose Ramirez logged 14 innings in the outfield last year (albeit in left), and Chris Antonetti hinted at the fact that he could see even more in 2016. This option is awesome for the same reasons as #4, but at no added cost to the club. It does take Ramirez away from the Aviles-type role I’m guessing Tito will want to use him in this year, but it’d be close to a wash in terms of net gain/loss of lineup flexibility with Frazier’s ability to play multiple positions. I’d love to see what Jose can do in center field.

Frazier is coming off a 35-bomb season and his second All-Star appearance. He wouldn’t come cheap. But with the Reds apparently blowing things up, he could come to Cleveland for a package that doesn’t include much, if any, major-league ready talent. Clint Frazier or Bradley Zimmer would almost certainly headline the deal, with a young arm like Michael Clevinger or Justus Sheffield and probably a third upper-level prospect might be enough for Cincinnati to pull the trigger. This lineup with a healthy Michael Brantley and our pitching rotation intact? Just give us the damn pennant.

KEEP THE CHIEF

Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings kicked off this morning in Nashville, Tennessee. For those not familiar, the Winter Meetings are where representatives from each (major and minor league) team’s front office gather every year to sip coffee, make small talk and trade multi-million dollar contracts. We’ve already seen our first big trade happen, as the Cincinnati Reds sent All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman to the LA Dodgers. The Indians have been relatively quiet this winter in terms of actual transactions, but they’ve been the topic of many whispers regarding their young starting pitchers. When Jeff Samardzija fetches $90 million over 5 years after giving up the most hits and runs out of all qualified starters in baseball, Chris Antonetti will have endless bottles of champagne being sent to his room in hopes of prying a Salazar or Carrasco from his rotation (“Hey Chris, are you from around here? Cause you’re the only ten I see.” – The Dodgers, probably.) Here are some of the latest names being mentioned in the same breath as the Tribe:

• Oakland A’s 2B/3B Brett Lawrie

• Free Agent 1B/DH Mike Napoli

• A Colorado Rockies outfielder (Carlos Gonzales, Charlie Blackmon)

Could Cleveland Indians be Rockies trade partner for pitching?

• Free Agent outfielder Shane Victorino

• Although still strictly rumors, the Dodgers losing Zack Greinke to the Diamondbacks may cause them to add a top-tier SP via the trade. Yasiel Puig’s latest off-the-field incident may have lowered his value a bit. They’re also rumored to be talking to Miami about Jose Fernandez, whose value is so astronomical that it might make sense to bring a third team into discussions. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
• The Diamondbacks apparently aren’t finished adding pitchers even after signing the best one available. An outfielder like Ender Inciarte could possibly be shopped for an Anderson-Tomlin type.

• First it was the Indians, then the Mariners, but for now it looks like Marcell Ozuna could stay put in Miami.

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/672789960337006593

• Recent free agent 1B/DHes Pedro Alvarez, Chris Carter

In other news…

• Michael Brantley was originally reported to miss around the first month of the 2016 season after he underwent shoulder surgery in early November. Then Peter Gammons dropped this bomb last night:

The team has since come out and stood pat on their original timeline:

That’s great and everything, but it makes you wonder where Peter got his info from.

• New scoreboard!!!!!! What a day to be a season ticket holder in the bleachers. What a day indeed.

 

KEEP THE CHIEF