The Indians have brought back infielder Ryan Flaherty on a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Columbus, per a team announcement. Flaherty opted out of his previous minor league pact with the Tribe on March 20.
The 32-year-old Flaherty spent the majority of 2018 in Atlanta, where he batted a meager .217/.298/.292 in 182 plate appearances and mostly lined up at third base. Also a former Oriole, Flaherty’s a lifetime .216/.286/.347 hitter in 1,452 attempts in the majors. His calling card is defensive versatility, as he has logged significant experience at third, second and short. Flaherty has also racked up double-digit appearances at first base and both corner outfield spots.
Now back with the Indians organization, Flaherty will give the banged-up club some infield depth. The Indians are without superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor and second baseman Jason Kipnis, both of whom are on the injured list. Their absences paved the way for current starting second baseman Brad Miller to sign with the Indians last week and helped lead to roster spots for Lindor fill-in Eric Stamets and middle infield reserve Max Moroff.
Maybe that sorry attempt at catching a pop fly yesterday is costing Moroff his spot on the team? That, and his inability to hit.
You don’t really want to do that when it’s Buxton running either lol
JD here’s hoping you know more about baseball then hockey. A sens fan and Indians too pretty much sums it up. Lucky Tito is managing your team.
Wtf are you talking about.
Exactly what I said
I’m with JD, you made 0 sense
Depressed no sense commenting on something that has nothing to do with you. Jd posted a lot of dumb comments in the pro hockey rumours now he’s stopped and is posting here so no need to concern yourself with me. If you actually take a second to read what I wrote you’d understand. As for flaherty common now they guy shouldn’t even still be in the league!
Are you ok man? I’m not sure you’re comprehending what you’re writing.
Sun in eye
Ball not catch.
Fill in is he.
Sense no in comment made.
Head scratch I am
-Yoda
Your the one who is not right your cheer for the Sens and Indians. Might wanna go seek some intervention for that. Buxton isn’t even on the Indians is he lol!
Yoga it happens to everyone at some point like common now
What’s next jd a bengals fan? And craptor s fan?
Buxton is the guy who hit the pop up and basically got a double out of it.
Who cares … both players suck!
You’ll have to excuse this poster. Sadly this is the quality of discourse on the NHL site.
Jd uve called me a troll now a poster and have made another sign in handle your a joke just like teams you cheer for
1. All you do is troll.
2. Wait, you’re not a poster?
3. What’s my other handle lol that’s news to me.
4. Who do I cheer for?
That’s four swings and misses marner.
1. That’s all you ever say. 2. Send me a place time and your #cell and I’ll send ya a poster. 3. Your calling out dummies247 u post once then left likely forgot the pass. Your sens fan. You’ve gottabe the ja on here dude let’s met up school you at any sport!
Walk off shot jd !
I’m floored that Moroff is in the big leagues. I saw enough of him as a Pirate to know that he is below average at pretty much everything.
Like our Indians owner. Cleveland is a Browns town and always will be. Even when 0-16 Clevelanders follow and support them over the Indians because the ownership tries to compete without excuses. Small market attitude = small market attendance.
Did you happen to check out the stands at First Energy when the Browns were losing all those games? Empty seats everywhere.
The point I was trying to make us that even winning isn’t selling out Progressive because this owner is cheap. 455 straight sell outs proves the fans are there but won’t attend if owner shows no willingness to spend.
The fans were there during that time due to football just bolting, a newer stadium and a stacked lineup, it was the perfect storm and will never again happen in that town. The Dolans have spent and continued increasing the salaries the past few years while attendance dropped despite the product on the field being very good. The narrative of them being cheap is stale. There was a good article on it all yesterday on Cleveland.com
Cleveland.com
“Over the previous three seasons, the Indians’ have paid about $1.325 million per regular season win. In Major League Baseball, that’s a bargain. Huge bargain.
As the Indians won three straight AL Central titles, they amassed 287 wins between 2016 and 2018, tied for the fourth-best record in baseball.
Here’s what the other most successful teams in the game paid per win, according to the total payroll calculations per season at spotrac.com.
1. Boston, 294 wins, $2.193 million per win
2. Chicago Cubs, 290 wins, $1.898 million
3. Houston, 288 wins, $1.408 million
4. L.A. Dodgers, 287 wins, $2.534 million
4. Indians, 287 wins, $1.325 million
This is either extraordinary genius within the constraints on extreme frugality — or risky bargain-basement belief inside a window of baseball brilliance.
Put another way, the Indians either have been forced to be smarter than other teams because they can’t spend money. Or they’re thinking ahead of the curve anyway, and then refusing to maximize their opportunity because ownership won’t spend more.
What’s a fan to do? Celebrate their smarts and the winning it has produced? Or bemoan the salary cuts and the missed opportunities that may result?
Probably both.
There is conflict within Indians fans because the organization is unlike almost any franchise in baseball. This is the discussion everyone had all spring training. It’s the discussion everyone had for the last three seasons. But to be clear, the Indians aren’t just on the low end of winning big and spending little.
They are extreme.
The way the Indians are spending lately, only two types of franchises live in the same neighborhood:
1. Rebuilding teams who have bottomed out for several years and are building up to compete and spend.
2. Hopelessly broken franchises.
And then there are the Indians, who have been in the thick of trying to win a World Series for four seasons.
According to Spotrac, the Indians ranked 18th, 18th and 15th in payroll the last three years, and opened this season 19th in payroll. So each season, more than a third of the league has spent less than the Indians.
But there may be only five franchises spending limitless money with no regard to the payroll: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Giants. The rest of the league ebbs and flows to some degree, spending when there’s opportunity, retreating financially when there’s a rebuild. So while the Indians have never dipped in this run into the bottom third of spending, only six teams will have a payroll lower than the Indians in each of the last four seasons — 2016, 2017, 2018 and the start of 2019.
That’s why the Indians are extreme. Almost every team leans into winning, and then leans some more. Backing down on payroll in this World Series window isn’t how it works for healthy franchises.
The six teams to spend less than the Indians each of the last four years can be broken into two groups: Rebuilds and Broken Franchises. The Indians aren’t the former. You have to hope that when this rush of talent — Lindor, Ramirez, Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco — dissipates, we don’t find that the Indians are the latter.
The Rebuilds are Atlanta and San Diego.
The Padres in the previous three seasons spent an average of $38 million less per season and won 27 fewer games per year than the Indians. San Diego stunk. But this season the Padres signed Manny Machado for $300 million and put top prospect Fernando Tatis in the starting lineup to open the year rather than trying to save a year of free agency by stashing him in the minors for six more weeks. The Indians would not want to trade places with the Padres. The Padres have been cheap and terrible. But that may be about to change, because they’re trying to win.
The Braves in the previous three seasons spent an average of $16.2 million less per season and won 19 fewer games per year. But after hitting bottom between 2014-17, the Braves actually started their bounce back last season by winning the NL East. They’re climbing, with young stars like Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies, and by next season they’ll pass the Indians in payroll. Their spending is increasing with their talent.
The Broken Franchises are Miami, Tampa Bay, Oakland and Pittsburgh.
In the previous three years, the Marlins spent $33.4 million less per season than the Indians and won 23 fewer games per season.
The Rays spent $56.7 million less per season and won 16 fewer games per season.
The A’s spent $48 million less per season and won 15 fewer games per season.
The Pirates spent $30.6 million less per season and won 17 fewer games per season.
So the Indians are far better off right now than all those franchises. But when it comes to consistently keeping down spending, those are the teams with whom they have the most in common. That’s not good.
Look at the ups and downs of other payrolls. The Orioles’ payroll plunged behind the Indians this season, but they’re starting over. When the Orioles made the playoffs in 2016, they spent $45 million more than Cleveland.
Detroit’s payroll is less than the Indians this season. But as Detroit was paying off its run of owning the AL Central between 2011-14, their payroll in 2016 almost doubled the Indians’.
Kansas City paid out less than the Indians last season and again this year, but when the Royals made the World Series in 2014 and won it in 2015, their payroll costs in 2015 and then 2016 and 2017 crept higher than the Indians’ ever have in this run.
No one is asking the Indians to waste money. San Francisco had the second-highest payroll in baseball last year at $205 million and won 73 games. The Giants paid $2.817 million per win last year, while the Indians paid $1.569 million while taking their division with 91 victories.
But it’s fair to ask the Indians to stay out of range of the Marlins, Rays, A’s and Pirates.
Baseball in Florida is a financial failure. The Rays made the playoffs four times in their first 21 years, yet are foolishly held up by Major League Baseball as a sign that payroll doesn’t equal competitiveness. The Rays have pulled off some postseason tricks with smart baseball moves. But it’s no way to live. Meanwhile, the Marlins, in a 15-year playoff drought, have become a Triple-A team in the majors.
In Oakland, the A’s play in a terrible stadium, are under the cloud of a potential move and have regularly jettisoned their best players while never entering the market for top free agents. Moneyball was born out of necessity, as the A’s created a new way to think years ago as the only way to compete. So they made the playoffs last year with the smallest Opening Day payroll in the game, but there are doubts about their ability to exist much longer in Oakland.
Then there are the Pirates, who missed the playoffs for two decades, then pulled it all together for a three-year run from 2013-15, winning 94, 88 and 98 games and a wild-card spot each year. Then they let it melt away.
Bruce Kluckhohn, Associated Press
The Indians did everything right as Corey Kluber developed into an ace.
That’s the fear for Indians fans. Pirates owner Bob Nutting angered fans with nonsensical payroll comments this spring, as Pittsburgh isn’t rebuilding but also isn’t competing. The Pirates won 78, 75 and 82 games the last three years, and opened this season with the fourth-lowest payroll in the game. The Pirates are trapped in a vortex of declining payroll and declining attendance, and it’s hard to see how Pittsburgh comes out of it with that owner.
In Cleveland, it’s amazing the Indians have won like they have. Look at their cost per win the last three seasons. In 2016, they had the fourth-best cost per win in baseball. Only the three teams with the lowest overall payrolls paid less per win than the Indians.
* Milwaukee, 73 wins, $851,523 per win
* Tampa Bay, 68 wins, $939,831 per win
* Miami, 79 wins, $983,739 per win
* Indians, 94 wins, $1.127 million per win
In 2017, the Indians had the seventh-best cost per win. As in 2016, they were the most efficient playoff team, paying $1.293 million per win.
In 2018, the Indians had the ninth-best cost per win, with Atlanta, Milwaukee and the A’s all better among playoff teams. The Indians’ cost was $1.569 million for each of their 91 wins.
The Indians have been smart. But think about how crafty they have to be without the payroll to back it up. Maybe it’s a miracle that the Indians have been this competitive for this cost. But maybe it’s owner malfeasance that the Indians have been this creative and successful with their player acquisitions and haven’t pushed harder to back it up financially.
Paul Dolan will have his real chance to save on payroll when the Indians aren’t competitive. If they only have an Opening Day payroll of $119 million this season for a division favorite, imagine how low it will dip in a few years when the Indians won’t be a favorite for anything?”
Blah blah blah …
All about who won the WS last all of what you wrote me jack squat when you get a ring!
Sure thing genius, thanks for your brilliant contributions…
This is good. Flaherty is special and he can help any team.
Yeah, Columbus…
Amazing how these decent glived and little hit infielders seem to think that they are the only ones out there. A dime a dozen. Heck as far as I know Rob Refsnyder is still out there? Michael Martinez?
MM? Stop it…..just stop it. Francona might be listening.
hahahaha
Seriously. He’s like Beetlejuice; if you say his name too many times, the Indians sign him.
Pardon me while I try not to wet my pants with excitement.
Flaherty’s best attribute is that he doesn’t suck at six positions. That has some value in the NL.
Poor man’s Ben Zobrist? Very poor.
He will hit higher than chris davis.
So will I. So will you.