The Indians were obviously disappointed by the way things ended this year, as the club was knocked out with three-straight ALDS losses. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff, and skipper Terry Francona discussed the state of affairs heading into the offseason in a media session, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports.
Broadly, Antonetti suggested that he thinks the organization’s processes remain sound. He also cited strong performance by the roster in all three major facets of the game, while emphasizing a commitment to continue “look[ing] to get better.”
In terms of how much cash the Indians will have to work with, that evidently isn’t yet known. Unsurprisingly, though, there’s no inkling that the organization will do anything other than continue to try to win with the current core.
The group of organizational leaders discussed a variety of players and situations in the lengthy dialogue, which is well forth a full read at the above link. There’s ongoing interest in bringing back Carlos Santana, though Antonetti was non-committal on how that would progress. He did suggest that Santana could be considered for a qualifying offer, which has been set at $17.4MM. Who’s on first if he departs? Per Antonetti, the team has internal options, plus “there’s a litany of guys on the trade and free-agent market that we’ll explore.”
Jay Bruce proved a big presence for the club after his mid-season acquisition, but he’ll hit the open market as well. Chernoff expressed satisfaction with Bruce’s performance and noted there is some “mutual interest,” though it certainly seems that both sides will also explore their alternatives as well. Francona offered high praise for pending free agent reliever Bryan Shaw for his steadiness and constant readiness to enter the game. Given that, it seems possible to imagine a return, though that wasn’t addressed directly. Antonetti did say the team will “absolutely” consider re-signing Austin Jackson, who he credited for a strong bounceback year.
A few other players could present interesting questions. Somewhat notably, Antonetti said it was a “significant decision” whether to exercise Michael Brantley’s $11MM option. While he credited Brantley’s work ethic, he noted that “just getting healthy” remains a priority for the oft-injured outfielder. Likewise, there’s some uncertainty surrounding Jason Kipnis, who is under contract but doesn’t have a clear position. The versatility is a good thing, says Antonetti, but the organization also needs to consider “what opportunities are out there externally for us” in all regards before deciding how it will line up its roster. Yandy Diaz is another versatile asset, Chernoff notes, though Francona suggested he hopes to give the youngster a single position to focus on — indicating he may best be suited to the hot corner.
Also, Francona (who will, as expected, remain in his position) fielded some questions on the team’s postseason performance. In particular, he emphasized that there’s no reason to believe at present that Corey Kluber — who faltered in Game 5 and has dealt with arm slot difficulties — is anything other than healthy. Francona also noted that he has never before been so physically drained by a baseball season, saying that he intends to work on his own conditioning over the offseason. You’ll want to check out the link for more on that and other topics of discussion.
See you in Goodyear.
I imagine that 2 of the following 3 longtime Indians will be gone by the start of next season, Santana, Brantley, Kip.
Maybe Brantley shifts to first when Santana becomes to expensive and provides a good stopgap until Bobby Bradley is ready?
Kipnis is signed and not going anywhere.
I hope they lock the core. They were within 1 game of winning the WS and one game within advancing to the ALCS in 2017.
It’s a shame if they break up this Cleveland team. Despite the losses, I feel like they have something special.
Next year marks the 70th year of the championship drought. Their fans deserve a championship.
Cut Santana. If he wants to come back for $5 million or less, give him a year, because there are about 10 other players who can replace him for that amount of money.
The dude was worth 3.4 WAR this season, he has earned far more than $5 million. I expect several teams to chase after him. I don’t want to be the team to overpay but no way he takes $5 million.
I bet Boston will be in contact with him
Nonsense, Santana should be brought back and I can see him taking the hometown discount to make it work.
How do you cut someone who would no longer be on the team since he is a free agent
Based off of his on base ability, power, and his exceptional defense Santana will maybe get $14 mil a year. Based off of his age, I’d think he’s in line for a deal in the range of 5 years $70 mil.
There are plenty of teams that would love to have Santana and Cleveland would be lucky to get him back.
It’s interesting to compare the demise of the Indians and Nationals. I was rooting for both teams. The Indians loss was much more disappointing given what I felt was a lack of what I will call passion. While the Indians had a mild comeback in the 5th inning of Game 5, I felt the Yankees were in control. Obviously the lack of hitting contributed to this but why didn’t some of the Indians try bunting on Sabathia and other things to make something happen. The Nationals lost but except for the 9th inning they seemed on the verge of taking the lead. I feel better about the Nats future than that of the Indians.
Hopefully Harper just lays low for awhile and stays off social media. You can’t be striking out in that situation like he did. “Big Brother” Werth can’t be happy with him at all, ending Werth’s career with the Nats last night like that.
Um, wasn’t Werth batting before Harper. If Werth had gotten an extra base hit I could see why he’d be mad, but he diddnt. So if anything, he needs to be mad at himself.
Nobody can be happy with ” lost an easy out in the lights” Werth. He made millions and hardly played the last 3 years with injuries.
I don’t see the Indians bringing back Carlos Sanatana, Jay Bruce, Brian Shaw or Michael Brantley. The money they will command will restrict Indian’s. They need a position for Jason Kipnis, Yandy Diaz and Erik Gonzalez.. Brian Shaw was the least effective pitcher in the Indian’s pen.
Exactly on Brantley. But I do see them try hard to fit Santana in as well as him taking a discount to stay, I guess it will be all dictated by how the market plays out. I see Shaw coming back but they should definitely let Boone Logan walk, what a waste of money he was even when he was healthy. Tomlin should also be thanked for his service and allow d to explore opportunities elsewhere, they need a rotation spot for Clevinger.
$11MM is way too steep for a guy who can’t stay healthy, especially for a team that’s not typically a big payroll team. Buy Brantley’s option out and let him hit the market. No way he gets much of a base salary. Maybe look to bring him back for cheaper.
Although it would be tough to let him go, I’d have to take the buyout on Brantley. He had a nice first half, but that’s about all they’ve gotten out of him in the past 3 years. He’s become another Grady Sizemore. Kipnis can slot into the OF, but the HUGE downside to that is his throwing arm. Kip throws nothing but rainbows, and teams caught onto that real quick. I hope they bring back Jay Bruce, but I’m not holding my breath. Santana seems like the most likely to return.