CLEVELAND — A month ago, three of the 25 members of the Indians’ roster were Yan, Yandy, and Yonder. Now they’re gone, gone, and goner.
The Indians shipped off Yan Gomes to Washington last month, Yandy Diaz to Tampa on Thursday, and completed the trifecta by sending Yonder Alonso to the White Sox a day later.
After cleaning house on the trio of similar names, general manager Mike Chernoff is giving no intention of stopping.
“We are having all of our scouts looking through the rosters of our minor-league affiliates to find if there’s anyone else with a name beginning with ‘Yan’ or ‘Yon’ that we can move,” he said. “If we can’t come up with anything there, we are entertaining the possibility of trading for someone with that name just to flip them to another team.”
Chernoff said he could not comment on free agent infielder Yangervis Solarte, who was cut by Toronto, but did admit that he fits the mold of the kind of player they’re looking to trade. He added that one of his biggest regrets is letting former Indians prospect Yonathan Mendoza leave as a minor-league free agent last year and not holding on to him to be traded now.
The reason for Chernoff’s vendetta against the Yan and Yons of the world is not known, but multiple eyewitness accounts did say he recently had his car scratched by a valet who would not take any responsibility for the incident. Cleveland Mocks is still working to confirm the driver’s name, but it is believed to be Yandrew.
The general manager finally said that he is not opposed to asking a star player such as Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer to legally change their name to something beginning with Yan or Yon before being traded to get outfield and bullpen help.