Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians

By Tim Dierkes | March 17, 2009 at 7:00pm CDT

The Indians are next in our Offseason In Review series.  Here's what we wrote about them on September 30th.  Changes for 2009:

Additions: Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa, Carl Pavano, Luis Valbuena, Juan Salas, Joe Smith, Greg Aquino, Jack Cassel, Vinnie Chulk, Matt Herges, Tomo Ohka, Kirk Saarloos, Tony Graffanino, Jamey Carroll (exercised option). Midseason: Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, Zach Jackson, John Meloan, Anthony Reyes, Carlos Santana

Subtractions: Franklin Gutierrez, Juan Rincon, Matt Ginter, Jorge Julio.  Midseason: Casey Blake, Paul Byrd, C.C. Sabathia, Jason Michaels

The Indians' offense ranked 6th in the AL last year with 4.97 runs per game.  The infield was the obvious area for improvement, and GM Mark Shapiro acquired DeRosa.  CHONE projections suggest bounceback years for Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez, resulting in 5.37 runs per game for Cleveland.  That level of scoring would've ranked second in the AL last year.

Defensively, The Fielding Bible II ranked the Indians third in the league last year.  Much of that run prevention came from the departed Gutierrez, however.

The Indians set out to get a closer, and Shapiro signed Wood in mid-December.  The move is risky, given Wood's injury history.  Still, he was among the best relief arms available and did not cost a draft pick.  The pen was also bolstered by the addition of sidearming groundballer Smith.

The big question for the 2009 Indians is the rotation.  Cliff Lee is the only safe bet.  They'll need Fausto Carmona to bounce back, and healthy, decent performances from Pavano and Reyes.  The Indians might've been able to get a more reliable pitcher than Pavano on a one-year deal.  There are several decent options for the fifth starter job, and Jake Westbrook should be back midseason.

If the Indians match last year's 761 runs allowed, they're a 92 win team.  But with the loss of Gutierrez's defense, regression from Lee, and no contribution from Sabathia, that's a tall order.  Still, with a middling 780 runs allowed they'd project for 90 wins.

Bottom line: Shapiro succeeded in adding an infielder and improving the bullpen.  2009 may rest on four variables: Martinez, Hafner, Pavano, and Reyes.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Cleveland Guardians Offseason In Review

A’s Release Rob Bowen
Main
Dodgers Sign Pre-Arbitration Players
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

    Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

    Diamondbacks Place Pavin Smith On IL, Select Tristin English

    Details On Bryan Reynolds’ Limited No-Trade Protection

    Tigers Select PJ Poulin

    Blue Jays Place Andres Gimenez On 10-Day Injured List

    Yankees Sign Geoff Hartlieb To Major League Deal

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version