Next week, the hot stove will be turned up full blast with the beginning of baseball’s winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, which if you don’t know is Disney World. This seems apropos for the cynics who like to hammer the Cleveland Indians for anything they do.
The Tribe’s real problem is that their ownership doesn’t really know when to speak and when to keep their collective mouths shut.
A primary example is Paul Dolan’s comment over a week ago that now is not the time to spend money on free agents. While it is probably true, why say it? If the ownership feels the need to make any comment at all, why not say something positive, like you are looking forward to seeing young players like Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Cord Phelps, Lonnie Chisenhall, Alex White, etc.
The reason is that this organization is caught in a negative cycle, always making excuses about the system in major league baseball, such as no salary cap, which makes it tough for a small market team to compete. Even though Tampa and Cincinnati made this year’s playoffs and San Diego missed by one game.
This is the time to sell your franchise to its fans, giving them hope. It’s no wonder ticket sales continue to lag for this team.
As of late, there has been a lot of talk about bringing back Kevin Kouzmanoff to play 3B if he is non-tendered by Oakland. Here’s a move where saving money would be a good idea. The former Indian’s OPS over the last three years has declined from 732 in 2008 to 722 in ’09 to 679 last season. The law of declining statistics should be exercised here.
Even if it would only cost $1 million, the Tribe would be wise to pass and use the money elsewhere, for example, on pitching.
By the way, Arizona 3B Mark Reynolds is another guy to pass on. Here’s hoping the Indians aren’t impressed by his home run totals (28, 44, and 32 the last three years) in a hitter’s paradise. The guy is a whiff machine, averaging over 200 strikeouts over the same period. With all those dingers, his OPS was still just 753 last season because he hit just .198.
In another under the radar move, Cleveland lost minor league free agent OF Jose Constanza when he signed a deal with the Atlanta Braves. The left-handed hitter batted .319 at Columbus last season with 34 stolen bases and a 766 OPS.
Is it possible he might be better than Trevor Crowe?
The problem is Crowe is a former first round draft pick and the organization has invested a lot of money in him. Unfortunately, at some point that shouldn’t matter. Good organizations don’t evaluate players based on where they were picked in the draft after a certain amount of time.
The year after they are drafted, yes. Six years after they are drafted? No.
There are reasons why certain organizations are always at or near the top, excluding the teams that spend exorbitantly like the Yankees and Red Sox. Teams like Minnesota consistently make good decisions. They know when guys can play and when guys can’t.
They don’t make decisions based on where a guy is drafted or who he was traded for.
This is not to say Constanza will turn out to be a better than average major league ballplayer, but didn’t he earn the right to at least get a September call up to find out if he could play?
Giving young guys a chance is another positive way to promote this franchise. Bringing back players who were mediocre doesn’t help the cause.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 