Cleveland Indians 2013 in Review: Drew Stubbs showed flashes of brilliance, but will that keep him on the roster?

Drew Stubbs

Right Fielder

Age: 28

Acquired: Trade, 12-11-2012:

Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Cincinnati Reds to the Cleveland Indians. The Arizona Diamondbacks sent Matt Albers, Trevor Bauer and Bryan Shaw to the Cleveland Indians. The Cincinnati Reds sent Didi Gregorius to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cleveland Indians sent Lars Anderson and Tony Sipp to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cleveland Indians sent Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald and cash to the Cincinnati Reds.

2013 Salary: $2.825M

2014 Contract Status: Arbitration (4.047 service time)

Drew Stubbs was officially the starting right fielder for the Cleveland Indians, though by the time the season ended he was relegated to a pinch-runner/defensive replacement for Ryan Raburn.

Stubbs was drafted by the Reds in the first round *8th pick) of the 2006 draft, a toolsy outfielder out of the University of Texas. Stubbs could do just about everything except make contact - play a very good center field, hit for power, and was a disruptive force on the basepaths. So why was he included in last season's 3-way deal more as a throw-in than a major piece?

Because that pre-draft scouting report still holds true, and unfortunately all those things that he can do are overshadowed by the one thing he cannot: hit right-handed pitching. In 2013 he hit .216/.275/.362 against right-handers, and although the Indians stuck with him through most of the season, on most nights he wasn't much of a contributor on offense. And because the Indians signed Michael Bourn, Stubbs mostly played right field, so that took away a lot of his value on defense.

2013 Platoon Splits

The frustrating thing about Stubbs is that you can see that he has star talent. He stole 17 bases and was just caught twice. He is certainly capable of playing a decent-to-good center field. And at times he showed tremendous power, hitting some very key home runs for the Indians in their run to the playoffs. If most MLB pitchers were left-handed, Stubbs perhaps would be an All-Star caliber player, but because most are right-handed, it looks like he'll have to be either a fourth/platoon outfielder or a center fielder that bounces around from year to year.

One of the reasons Stubbs was included in the trade by the Reds was that he's quickly becoming expensive for the type of player he is. He made $2.85M this year, which is in line for a key bench player, but next year that salary probably tops $4.0M. Unlike with Chris Perez, the Indians could possibly find a taker for him because you could justify starting him in center field. If that doesn't work out, I don't think the Indians can really keep him with their current roster configuration. He and Perez are the two non-tender candidates on the roster this winter, and at this point I think both will be let go.

Career Stats

Career Player Value