Morgan Ensberg, Joining the Farm

With all of this talk regarding the Indians and the potential to be the future owners of former members of the New York Yankees, I present to you the ironically-timed announcement from the Indians Media Relations department:

The Cleveland Indians announced they have signed 3B MORGAN ENSBERG to a minor league contract and assigned him to the AAA Buffalo Bisons.  Ensberg, 32, played in 28 games this year for the New York Yankees batting .203 (15-74) with 6 runs scored, a HR and 4RBI before being designated for assignment by the Yankees on June 2.

This acquisition puzzles me for several reasons.  One, Ensberg once provided a ton of potential from his days with Houston.  In 2005, he hit for a clip of .283/.388/.557 providing an OPS of .945 through 526 at-bats.  For one reason or another, he failed to pan out since said season, hitting near .230 each year since.

Being 32-years old, the Tribe obviously doesn’t anticipate Ensberg making an impact in the future, but likely sees the same potential that he showed only a few years back at a position that has been severely lacking run-production over the entire year.  This move won’t make a dent in the anticipated production from guys like Wes Hodges, but it may not mean the best for Andy Marte. 

Over Ensberg’s career, he has been much more productive during the second-half of the year hitting .274 post-All Star break (versus .256 pre-break).  Perhaps this is a testament to how weak our infield is at the minor league level, or I could be reading entirely too much into a potential impact at the big-league front.  Either way, I wouldn’t count on production near 2005; but in the same, I would not be surprised to see a few at-bats for the Indians before the season is over.  After all, he does have the long-ball potential that we’ve all been longing for.  No pun intended.

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