Indians Designate OF Domingo Santana; Naylor to Play LF for the Rest of 2020

The Indians had a busy Monday with a trade with the Padres involving pitcher Mike Clevinger, and they also had to make a roster move to make room for one of their new players, outfielder Josh Naylor. The team in return has designated outfielder Domingo Santana for assignment. He hit just .157 this season for the Tribe.

The Indians roster was full after their haul on Monday in which they got six players from the San Diego Padres for starter Mike Clevinger.

The team will add outfielder Josh Naylor, pitcher Cal Quantrill and catcher Austin Hedges to the team's Major League roster.

Adding the three players meant someone had to go, and with that the team designated outfielder Domingo Santana for assignment. 

Santana was inked to a deal this offseason as a free agent, but it never seemed to work out as like most Indians, he never got his bat going.

The 28-year-old in 24 games hit just .157 with two homers and 12 runs batted in. 

Many were concerned about his outfield play, and while he had a couple miscues, overall he was okay playing right field. 

Santana's deal for the Indians included a $5 million dollar option for 2021, but the Indians would have brought him out for $250,000 instead of bringing him back. 

Speaking of one of the new Indians, Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted out Monday that the Tribe intends to make Naylor their left fielder for the rest of the 2020 season.

It's a risky move for a team that is in first place in their division, but they need to see what they have in Naylor, and it's a move that feels like last season when the team gave a lot of playing time to acquired outfielder Jake Bauers.

It didn't work out so well for Bauers, who hit .226 with 12 homers and 43 RBI in 372 at bats. 

He was eventually sent to the minors when the team traded Trevor Bauer and got outfielders Franmil Reyes and Yaisel Puig. 

Now they will get a look at Naylor, who played in 18 games with the Padres this season, hitting .278 with a homer and four RBI.