Indians: 3 players who won’t make the Opening Day roster

The Indians have several players on the 40-man roster who aren’t likely to make the Opening Day roster in 2021.

The Cleveland Indians are in a weird in-between zone in 2021. Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco are New York Mets and Carlos Santana is now wearing a Kansas City Royals jersey.

That means the focus turns to younger talent, which is a process fans in Cleveland have seen countless times before. One thing preventing total panic is the fact core pieces like Jose Ramirez, Shane Bieber, and Roberto Perez are still in town.

The attention now turns to the Opening Day roster. Who will end up missing out thanks to the lack of a total rebuild? Let’s take a look.

3 Indians players who won’t make the Opening Day roster

3. Nolan Jones

Nolan Jones is the top prospect in the organization and that means the team is going to want to manipulate his service time. The morality of such a move is a discussion for another time.

Jones is a 22-year-old third baseman who could end up getting playing time in the outfield in 2021. Just don’t expect it to come until around the midway point of the season.

One fair argument the front office can make is Jones did not get true playing time last year with the minor league season being cancelled. Assuming that is not the case again, he can get some reps after a year of simulated games.

Jones is heralded as a future star in Cleveland. But, like any team, the Indians want to keep his cost low for as long as possible. Waiting to call him up essentially adds another year of team control and also doesn’t put a ton of pressure on a rookie after so much time off.