Indians President Chris Antonetti Talks Donaldson, Injured Players and More; Four Takeaways

CLEVELAND - Now that the excitement of the deal to bring Josh Donaldson to the Indians is in the books and the team can start to think about what and when he will actually be playing, team President Chris Antonetti sat down with the media Sunday to chat about a variety of subjects.

Number one on everyone's mind is when Donaldson might be able to suit up for the Tribe, as well as the gameplan with players like Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramriez once Donaldson is ready.

Antonetti also spoke about some of the injured players making their way back to the team, like Trevor Bauer and Andrew Miller.

Here's a quick couple takeaways from what Antonetti spoke about today with the media prior to the teams' afternoon affiar with the Tampa Bay Rays.

1. The Timetable on Donaldson

It's the number one question about Josh Donaldson, and that's when he might be able to get on the field. He took a big step according to Antonetti today with working out and running prior to the game.

"He had a chance to connect with our strength and conditioning and medical staff earlier today just to go through an assessment," Antonetti said.

"He also did some running, agility drills, base running and taking batting practice. All around a very good day. The next step is we will sit down, visit with Josh and talk through what a plan will look like. We’ve not yet had a chance to do that."

Antonetti said the timetable for Donaldson to play is still up in the air, but it was a positive sign he was able to take the field and workout today.

"Good to see today that he was able to do everything on the field and really wasn’t limited, but we have to make sure we’re thoughtful about how we build up his volume and what his progression from here looks like," Antonetti said.

"We certainly want to involve Josh in that conversation and get his input and put that together with feedback from our performance staff, Tito, the coaching staff, and then come up with a plan that makes sense for everyone."

2. The Chat with Kipnis

The player likely most to see a dip in playing time with Donaldson aboard is that of Jason Kipnis, and Sunday Antonetti was asked about the conversation he and the teams' veteran second basemen had about Donaldson joining the club.

Tito and I talked with Kip the other night. Understandably, disappointed. But as Kip said ‘I want to be part of a team that wins a World Series. I’ll adjust my role to make that fit,'" Antonetti said.

"It’s a little bit hard, and we recognize with Kip, that we’re not in position to be able to work through with him what that plan could look like because we don’t yet know exactly what Josh’s plan will be. So, they’re obviously tied together.

"All three guys with Kip, Josh and Jose. All of their plans are interdependent. Once we have an idea what Josh’s plan will be, that will inform our conversations with Jason and Jose."

Coming into Sunday's game Kip was on a tear in his last six games, hitting 10-for-19 with three homers, but overall has still had a tough season.

Playing him in the outfield still appears to be an option for the Indians moving forward.

3. Bauer and Miller

Both Andrew Miller and Trevor Bauer are still awhile away from coming back for the Indians to the active roster, and the hope of course is that both will be back and ready for the postseason.

Antonetti said that as of now Bauer is on course to be back on schedule after the leg fracture suffered in Chicago a few weeks back.

"Nothing really new. He has a recovery day today," Antonetti said. "Will continue to take it day-to-day. See what he’s ready for that day, and continue to build up his progression. Nothing new in terms of specific timetable. But he’s making progress."

Andrew Miller is also a few weeks out from coming back, as he's looking to work his way back from a shoulder injury that put him on the DL. He's been on the disabled list three times now in 2018.

"He threw today. He threw flat ground today. He was out to 75 feet today," Antonetti said of Miller.

The Indians are still hopeful both pitchers will be impactful for the playoffs.

4. The Confidence the Donaldson Move Wouldn't Shake Up the Locker Room

Adding Josh Donaldson was both a move that had some risk to it, not from the standpoint of what the Indians gave up (which was next to nothing) but the drama a move like it could cause in the locker room.

Antonetti was asked Sunday if a move like the Donaldson addition could have self-inflicted issues to it, like hurting the team from a cohesion stand point with bringing a player in so late into the season.

“I guess I would self-inflict may have a negative side to it. I guess I would view it the other way is that we view that we have a team that is capable of competing for a World Series and we wanted to do everything we could to fortify that," Antonetti said.

"And we think that if Josh is able to come back and get healthy, play regularly and perform anywhere near his accustomed level, that helps us do that. And to have a group of guys that are so focused on that they’re willing to make some individual sacrifices to make that happen is something that we’ve experienced before going back to years past and I think it continues to be an element in the culture that Tito’s created.”

You can't say that the Indians are not going all in to try and bring the organization and city a title with what the team has done over the last two days.