Indians Agree to Terms with Cowgill
Chris Antonetti announced Wednesday that the Indians have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, 1 million dollar deal with newly-acquired OF Collin Cowgill. He was acquired from the Angels earlier today for cash considerations. Nick Hagadone was DFA’d to make room, but Antonetti expressed that the Indians are interested in keeping him around.
Over the last two seasons with the Angels, Cowgill has hit .236 with 12 homers and 23 RBI from the right side of the plate in 161 games. Though his overall numbers aren’t very impressive, he does have better numbers at the plate against lefties as he has a career batting average of .271.
If he does indeed make the club, he will be a nice compliment to OF Lonnie Chisenhall. He does have a minor-league option left which decreases the risk involved with signing him even more. The Indians have maintained a pattern of making low-risk/ high-reward deals, that for the most part have worked out for them in recent years. Instead of spending big money, the Tribe has opted to go after players such as Scott Kazmir, Ryan Raburn, Jason Giambi, etc. so it would not be a surprise to see them have a quiet week coming up at the winter meetings.
Carrasco to the Giants?
Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the Indians were involved in talks that would send starter Carlos Carrasco to San Francisco, but talks faded when the Indians asked about middle infielders Brandon Belt, and Joe Panik.
The cost of elite starting pitching on the free-agent market could increase the Indians’ leverage with the value of their starters due to their affordability, but it is still going to take an overwhelming deal for Chris Antonetti to be comfortable enough to pull the trigger.
About Author
