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Email a copy of 'Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians' to a friend
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Sufferfortribe
C’mon, Dolan. Open the wallet and sign Masterson now!
Bill Smith
Wow, hadn’t really realized until reading this just how much Cleveland lost in the offseason.
Tko11
Yeah I don’t see how they win 92 games again. The Rangers will win the West and the other wild card will also come from there with the Tigers winning the Central again. Just my prediction of course.
Bill Smith
Definitely hoping my Tigers win the division, as I think the WC will come out of the east. The Indians are doing a lot right though, and have a very nice core of young talent coming up together, so I think they will be the class of the division for the extended near-future.
Vandals Took The Handles
I like the Angels in the West. Rangers might get a WC.
Indians padded their 92 wins against bad teams in 2013.
Against teams with winning records, the Indians were 16 games under .500.
Indians were 30-8 vs. the White Sox and Twins last year. While I don’t think those 2 teams turn it around in a year, they are going to be quite a bit more competitive.
When one looks at the signings and notable losses at the top of the article, a lot of good teams are going to have a rash of injuries for the Indians to be a real contender in 2014.
sunshipballoons
People seem to be missing a key point on Santana — he’s the Indians second best hitter, so he’s going to play every day.
And, if he does play 3B, who is going to DH? Jason Giambi? Please. Raburn? Please again. And he’s more of a 3B than Santana. Aviles? He’d play 3B over Santana, I hope.
The reality is that Chisenhall is their best bet to play DH if Santana is playing 3B. In which case Chisenhall would just play 3B.
And, unless they make a trade, that’s what’s going to happen: Santana at DH and Chisenhall at 3B.
The only scenario I see Santana playing any regular 3B is if the Indians go nuts and decide to keep Lindor to start the season. Maybe then Cabrera plays DH until he’s traded and Santana plays 3B while they wait for the trade. And, even then, it’s hard not to wonder if Cabrera should play 3B (a position he played in the minors almost as much as Santana did).
Sufferfortribe
Lindor’s already been sent to minor league camp to await his minor league destination. Probably starting at AA Akron. Santana’s going to do a little more catching now in the spring—Lonnie’s been doing just fine at 3B and with the bat. Only thing to really watch is if Bourn comes back quick from hammy strain, or not.
sunshipballoons
Thanks, didn’t know about Lindor. I guess somebody like Frenchy could also somehow find a way into the lineup and play DH (or move another OF to DH), so maybe that’s how Santana ends up at 3B.
Fernando
I’d take Raburn at DH over Chisenhall any day of the week.
A lineup with Murphy in RF, Raburn at DH, and Santana at 3B is better than Raburn/Murphy in RF, Santana at DH, and Chisenhall at 3B.
Unless Chisenhall takes a step forward. But so far he has been less-than-impressive at the plate.
sunshipballoons
Yeah, but why wouldn’t you play Raburn at 3B and Santana at DH in that scenario?
Fernando
Because it’s about keeping Santana happy. He doesn’t want to DH. He’s our best player. If we DH him exclusively he will ask to be traded.
I also have no idea how good Raburn is at 3B, but I think most of his infield innings came at 2B. Would have to check.
sunshipballoons
If that’s Santana’s attitude, I guess that makes sense. Although, it’s hard not to think that most teams would want him as a DH, or maybe 1B.
Fernando
I think most teams would want him as a catcher. The Indians just happen to have Gomes, who is very, very good at catcher.
Santana’s bat plays very good at catcher. Offense wise, there are few that come close to him in terms of production. That is where he has the most value.
gson
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John Henry's Hammer
Would someone from Cleveland comment on the attendance decline? When they built the Jake it was sold it for many years in a row, wasn’t it? Do cities simply tire of winning? And then they don’t want to endure the trough of losing? And when they win again who cares?
Vandals Took The Handles
Here are a few things to start…..
1. Ownership and management made a classic statement a few years ago that in the current baseball climate, the Indians could only compete once every 5 years. They have also “blamed” the fans not showing up for not spending money, as opposed to say – looking at the poor production out of their farm system.
2. There does not appear to be a commitment on their part to win. The moves made this past offseason instead of building on 2013’s success simply validate to the fans the lack of commitment to winning.
3. In 2013 the Indians went with a flexible walk-up pricing scheme in which sections of affordable seats were not sold at the ticket windows on gameday, forcing people to buy much more expensive seats. Word got out around town and people were afraid to go down to the park and buy walk up tickets – stories of people expecting to pay $40 to see the game and having to pay over $200. The Indians brag about having brought in more revenue in 2013 even though they drew less people than 2012.
4. The fans do not trust the ownership or the front office. The first 3 items are only a partial list of reasons why.
Vandals Took The Handles
One other thing,
In almost every big series in 2013 against the better teams – the Tigers, Red Sox and Yankees – while the fans got psyched up for them, the Indians were simply did not show up to play.
Under the entire Shapiro era the Indians have constantly showed up small in big games. They have not convinced the fans that they are anything other than a team whose #1 function is to make money every year, and that making the playoffs once every 5 or so years is good enough.
Sufferfortribe
Spot on, Ben. Since Shapiro took the reins, it’s not been a consistent effort anywhere in the organization. And the money they have spent has not really proven to be a good investment. But signing Brantley long-term is a good start. Need to lock up Masterson and Kipnis next. Also like some of the kids coming up. Let’s hope they turn out better than some of our past prospects. GO TRIBE!!
John Henry's Hammer
Ben & Suffer for Tribe,
Thanks for your input.
I have gone to a few Giants games and to keep the sell outs rolling they offer pricing based on probability of selling out – in other words, if they’re playing the Astros, the prices are super-cheap, but if they’re playing the Dodgers, prices are at their highest. It seems to work. I saw Colorado play last year at a reasonable price. (Perhaps this has become common practice among many MLB teams?).
Anyway, sorry to hear that the Indians Front Office is alienating their fans.
Fade
It is ironic to me that if you told someone a year ago that the Indians would be worse off for letting Kazmir and Jimenez go for contracts over $12 mil a year you would be laughed at. Cleveland fans would have rejoiced knowing that Chris Perez was gone. The only noticeable loss would be Joe Smith. All in all the general perspective of the Indians going into this year is much better than it was going in last year despite these losses.
That said I see the team as a potential sleeper. Their biggest strength last year might have been the versatility of their bench and their ability to platoon and maximize lineups against pitchers. This may actually improve if Giambi is gone and Santana can serviceable play third.