Should we really just start treating the Cleveland Indians like some sort of sitcom? That might be the best way to approach the team, who will be gathering in spring training a little over a month from now.
The moves they are making are for laughs, right?
The other day, The Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes said the Tribe would like to get an experienced starting pitcher, but they likely spent the cash they allotted to free agents when they signed OF Austin Kearns to a $1.3 million deal last month.
First, CSP said at the time that the Indians needed Kearns like a proverbial hole in the head, because Shelley Duncan is a better alternative as a right handed hitter than Kearns against southpaws. Yes, there is no question that Kearns is a better defensive player, but with a projected starting outfield of Shin-Soo Choo in right, a healthy Grady Sizemore in center, and Michael Brantley in left, it’s not like Manny Acta will be needing a defensive replacement very often.
Trevor Crowe is also currently on the 40-man roster, and is a decent defensive outfielder as well.
Once again, it appears to be a case of the Indians could sign Kearns, so they did. They think it showed their fans that they are willing to spend money.
At the time, we said the front office would be better off putting whatever cash it had available into the starting rotation, or at the very least the pitching staff as a whole. Spending on an outfielder should have been well down the list of needs.
The comedy in Hoynes’ article was that apparently the Cleveland Indians set aside about $2 million to spend on free agents. Kind of like taking a knife to a gun fight.
If that’s all the ownership can muster up in their efforts to improve the team, then they need to find a buyer and soon, because their idea of comedy isn’t very funny to their fans.
Now it is said the Indians are looking at moving Jason Donald to 3B, so they can keep Jayson Nix at 2B, where he is adequate defensively. More laughs at the fans expense. Seriously, what kind of blackmail evidence does Nix have on the people who run the Tribe? He’s a stiff.
Nix hit .234 with 13 HR and 29 RBI with a 705 OPS on the season. His OPS after the All Star game was 653, a mediocre figure at best. And we are moving other people around so this guy can start? No wonder this team has lost more than 90 games the past two seasons.
Donald probably isn’t good enough to start at 2B on a contending team (wait it gets better…we got him for Cliff Lee!), but he could keep the hot corner warm for when Lonnie Chisenhall is ready.
But if you are going to move him, move him so either Cord Phelps (.308 with 8 HR, 54 RBI, and an 825 OPS at AA and AAA last year) or one of the organizations top three prospects, Jason Kipnis (.307 with 16 HR 74 RBI, and an 878 OPS at A and AA last year) can move in at second base.
One of the reasons the Tribe gets off to bad starts each year is they keep marginal (read: terrible) aging major leaguers on the roster to start the season, guys like Jamey Wright and Mark Grudzielanek. They are looking to do this again with veteran SS Adam Everett, who main skill is with his glove.
Everett will be 34 by the time spring training begins, and is a career .243 hitter with a lifetime OPS of 642. Basically, he can’t hit his way out of a paper bag. However, it seems the Tribe is hellbent on keeping him on the 25 man roster to open the season.
They keep making the same mistakes over and over again. It’s not funny.
TV shows which are hilarious draw large ratings. People build their evening around watching these shows.
No one does this with the Cleveland Indians. The organization is more of a tragedy at this point.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 