Trevor Crowe should be the 4th outfielder on the 2009 Indians when they pack up the trucks in Goodyear and ship out to Cleveland. If he is not, it is purely for financial reasons. Look, I was on board with the David Dellucci signing after 2006. He was a quality left-handed veteran bat in the OF, coming off a season in Philly where he hit .292/13/39 in just 242 AB’s (the 2nd season in a row he had slugged over .500). But for whatever reason, he could just never get on track in Cleveland.
Last year’s OPS of .712 was actually an improvement over the .678 mark he was able to “achieve” in 2007. He has struggled to stay healthy, with the latest culprit being a thumb injury keeping him out of spring action until last week. He enters the last year of a 3-year, $11.5 million deal that just didn’t work out.
Since it is the last year of the deal, the team might as well cut bait and wish him well, because they are going to be stuck paying that $$ one way or the other. I’m sure he is a great guy in the locker room, and I have never once heard him complain about anything publicly, but the fact of the matter is he is not the best fit for the 4th OF position for the Cleveland Indians. If Dellucci is on the 25-man roster come April 6, it will be because he is owed more money than anyone else.
Which brings us to Crowe. He is going to be 25 this year, and has had some measure of success at every level in the Indians system so far in his career. His numbers at Buffalo last year were not eye-popping, but they weren’t bad. He has an advanced approach at the plate, and can play all three outfield positions.
This is especially important in 2009 with no Franklin Gutierrez on the roster. Grady Sizemore is about the closest thing to Superman you will see in an Indians uniform, but even he needs a day off every now and then.
Crowe is faster than Dellucci. He can play more positions defensively than Dellucci. He can hit from more sides of the plate than Dellucci. He should get on base more than Dellucci. Get the picture?
Crowe is older than the other OF prospects the Indians have at the advanced levels of the minors, namely Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta. He is also on the 40-man roster, unlike Brantley and LaPorta. This means that 2009 is likely Crowe’s shot at proving he can be a big league outfielder. By all accounts, he is a competitive young man with an outstanding makeup.
The Indians should give him a shot to prove he can play at the big league level and see if he can seize the opportunity and run with it. If not, plenty of options exist at the lower levels, including LaPorta, Brantley, and super-utility player Chris Gimenez (who can only play C, RF, LF, 1B, 3B). Much like Jason Michaels in 2009, Dellucci is standing in the way of younger players who are more versatile and talented than he is right now. It’s time to move on.
Keep up with this and all the other Spring Training battles with Michael’s series that he is updating weekly. And pull for Crowe!
Topics: Chris Gimenez, David Dellucci, Grady Sizemore, Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, Trevor Crowe
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Thanks for the hit back to the Spring Battle series Al. I too am pulling for Crowe, as he can provide so much more to the team. We’ll see how it shakes out, but as we know Wedge will likely go with the veteran out of the gate as he did with the Michaels/Francsico situation last year. You would think that that may have some impact here, but maybe not.
I am a Wedge fan…really, I am. But his stubborness towards vets over young kids is something that drives me nuts! Hopefully he has learned from last year, but we’ll see.
The way Dellucci is hitting, he will get a chance to start the season. Can’t imagine getting anyone to take him in trade and the youngsters will get Wedgie’s seaoning for a few weeks. Just as well, considering they’d see more bench than field the first couple of weeks anyway. Now, what happens in May will be very interesting. Let’s all hope a winning record makes it easy to deal with.
Dont forget his wet noodle for an arm, he is a liability in the field.