Swisher vs. Choo: Did the Tribe improve?

The Indians added their biggest free agent addition since Roberto Alomar in Nick Swisher on Sunday afternoon. The majority of fans are happy to see the Indians take a player from the Yankees for once, and not the other way around. I can tell you that as a New York resident, the Yankee fans are not happy. Many think Swisher was their second best hitter.  There is a small group of fans who are amusingly mad that the Indians overpaid, and worry that the Indians will regret this deal. Yet this is a deal made for this year, so for now I am going to focus on how this affects the team now. 

The addition of Swisher should be viewed as the replacement for Choo, who was traded recently to add a pitcher with front line potential in top prospect, Trevor Bauer.  Choo is two years younger than Swisher, but the players have been just shy of the all-star level for most of their careers.  Now let's look at the numbers last year for these two players.

According to the stats, Swisher is the more valuable of the players, while Choo was the better hitter.  While it might be shocking to many, Swisher is actually the better defender, being worth a win and a half more defensively. While no one is going to confuse him as a great defender, nearly anyone is a massive upgrade over Choo. Swisher is an average defender, but still remains an upgrade. This in general has been a theme for this offseason, as the defense of the outfield has been greatly improved. I mentioned it on Twitter, but the defense upgrades alone for the defense are worth almost three wins next year.

The question with these two hitters is what do you value more: getting on base or power production.  Choo is an on-base percentage machine, and one of the best in baseball. Swisher can work a count and get on base, but is just not as good at making contact. Perhaps the key differential is that when he does make contact, the ball is much more likely to leave the park.  Swisher is a virtual lock for 20 homers a year, and he has crushed lefties, which has been such a problem for the Indians line up for years.

I guess how much you love Swisher and how happy you are with him as a replacement comes down directly to stats. Most, in the end, say that Choo is a better hitter,  but the game of baseball is about more than hitting, which is why Swisher will make this team better next year.  He is going to improve the defense and bring power to a lineup that was sorely missing it last year. The addition of the power is not going to cause more strike outs, as Choo actually struck out more last year.  At the end of the day, I think this is an upgrade for the Indians in RF, even though the Indians top hitter was in RF last year in Choo.

I personally am very happy with this addition. When you look at the advanced stats, ones that compile everything we see, the Indians got a hitter very similar to the one they just gave up. This is a team trying to fill a whole and did so with a very good major leaguer instead of a player that every other team declined to sign, which is what they did last year.  By trading Choo they got a pitcher with frontline potential, then did what fans would have thought was unthinkable: they then filled the void by reaching into free agency and signing a player away from the Yankees who had been part of the heart of that team for the last four years.  This is a move you expect a savvy front office of a big market team to make, not the Tribe.

At the end of the day, the biggest needs for this team going into the offseason when it came to everyday players were adding power and helping balance out a lineup that could not hit lefties. This signing shows a team trying to fill both of those roles, I will miss Choo and not doubt he is a very good player, but for what this team needs Swisher is the better player for them next season.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffmlbdraft, or email him at jellis121@yahoo.com