Lucroy: Indians wouldn't promise starting catcher job

Jonathan Lucroy is adamant that it was how the Cleveland Indians planned to use him, and not the team or the city as the reason why he invoked his no-trade clause in order to block a deal late last week.

"My agent, Doug Rogalski, found out it was the Indians that traded for me," Lucroy wrote in a letter on ESPN. "I was surprised, but I wanted to keep an open mind. Great team. Competitive team. There's a real chance to win. Doug called Chris Antonetti, the Indians' president. There was one thing we wanted to know: What was my future with the Indians?

"We knew Cleveland already had a good catcher, Yan Gomes, who's injured right now. He's getting paid more than me, and he's younger than me. We knew they'd probably want him catching almost every day next year. Heck, if I were the general manager in Cleveland, I'd want Gomes catching every day.

"We were right. Antonetti told Doug that the Indians couldn't make any promises on me catching next season. There was no way they'd drop the team option, either, because I'm pretty inexpensive in 2017. I don't blame them. I would have been mostly at first base and designated hitter. In the end, that was the deal killer. Doug called me. He said, You're not going there."

Indians general manager Mike Chernoff said Wednesday that he had no idea as to why Lurcoy voided the trade and that he did not speak with the catcher personally. Chernoff also said that they planned to use Lucroy as a full-time player this season, and next.

"To think we were using him as a backup seems crazy to us, but he had to make the decision that he made and whatever inferences he made on that, that was up to him," Chernoff said.

The Brewers would eventually trade Lucroy to Texas - his No. 1 choice given the proximity to his home in Louisiana and the team being World Series contenders. He's penciled in as the starting catcher for the Rangers, and Lucroy believes that presents the best opportunity for his current, and future success in the league.

"My decision not to go to Cleveland had nothing to do with the team, but it had everything to do with my future in this game," Lucroy said. "It was an economic decision. Period. I have to look out for my family's best interests and my interests as a catcher who'd be going into 2018 not having played my position the previous year. I am a catcher."