The crack of the bat and the pop of ball hitting leather is filling the air in Goodyear, Arizona, and the exhibition games will start in about a week. The Cleveland Indians have a new manager and thus far the report from the southwest is that Manny Acta is a breath of fresh air.
Some players will benefit from a new man being in charge. My guess is that Andy Marte, Jordan Brown, and Matt LaPorta are all thrilled there was a change at the top.
Hopefully, new hitting coach Jon Nunnally will bring a change to the all or nothing offense, although he could be hindered in doing that with yesterday’s long awaited signing of whiff machine Russell Branyan.
First off, in a surprising move, Acta named Branyan as the starting first baseman. Apparently, that means Matt La Porta is in the mix in left field with Michael Brantley, Trevor Crowe, Austin Kearns, and Shelley Duncan.
La Porta has to be the frontrunner, and that really isn’t a huge problem because Brantley could use some extra time in the minor leagues. Brantley still needs to be able to drive the ball to keep defenses honest. Otherwise they will play shallow and take away the bloops he benefited from in his September call up.
Still, on a team that is said to be rebuilding, why bring in a 34 year old veteran like Branyan and take away much needed playing time from young guys like La Porta, Brantley, Marte, and Brown? They are the future of this team, and with Branyan’s option for 2011 being a reported $5 million, the only way the Indians pick that up is if the slugger hits 40 HR’s this season.
What will the Tribe lineup look like on Opening Day in US Cellular Field in Chicago on April 5th against the White Sox Mark Buehrle? Here’s a decent guess.
Sizemore CF
Cabrera SS
Choo RF
La Porta LF
Hafner DH
Peralta 3B
Branyan/Marte 1B
Valbuena/platoon 2B
Marson C
Grady Sizemore will return to the leadoff spot, and now that he is over his nagging injuries of a year ago, he should go back to the Sizemore that was thought to be an MVP type of player if he was playing on a winning team. He will not turn 28 until August, meaning he should be in the prime of his career.
Cabrera may just be the second best SS in the American League behind Derek Jeter. Think about it. He’s just 24 years old and last season had an OPS of 799. Plus, he’s a better than average gloveman. He had 42 doubles last season, and it would not be surprising to see some of those hits turn into home runs this season.
Choo had a breakout season a year ago, and in his last 250 games has hit 34 HR’s, knocked in 152 runs, and batted .303 in a span of 900 at bats. He’s another Indians in his prime as he will turn 28 in July. His lifetime OPS is 877.
Acta will likely put a right-handed bat between Choo and Hafner, and the choice here is La Porta, despite his inexperience. It’s more of a vote against putting Peralta in the clean up spot. La Porta is now 25 years old and showed enough last season to at least get a shot in this spot in the lineup.
Hafner, 33, didn’t have a horrible year last season, he had an OPS of 826, but his power numbers were down. He played just 94 games last season and the Tribe needs him available for 140-150 games this season. He’ll probably never again be the beast that slugged over or close to .600 from 2004-2006, but he still can be an effective middle of the order threat.
Peralta will be 28 this season, and it looks like he will never reach the promise he showed in 2005, when at 23 he hit .292 with 24 home runs. He had a below average offensive season in two of the last four years, although he did have a good 2008 with a .276 batting average and 23 dingers. The front office hopes he has some sort of bounce back season so his trade value will increase.
Branyan and Marte will likely platoon at first unless someone forces their way into the mix in LF by hammering southpaws. In that case, La Porta will play first with the other; probably Kearns or Duncan plays left.
The Indians are looking for someone to platoon with Valbuena because they believe after just 39 at bats, that the second year man can’t hit lefties. However, he’s only 24 years old, and showed a lot of pop in his bat. He could be a sleeper if given the chance.
Marson will get the nod as the starting catcher with Mike Redmond backing him up. If rookie Carlos Santana has a great spring training, there will be pressure on management to let him open with the big club. His hitting potential is that good.
As you can see, there is the potential to score a lot of runs. Several key players are in their prime (Sizemore and Choo) or are young with the pedigree to be good offensive performers (Cabrera, La Porta, and Valbuena).
It makes you wonder why they didn’t improve the starting pitching…
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 