Last week, we looked at the infielders for the Cleveland Indians. An extra week to evaluate the outfielders wasn’t needed because nothing new has been learned.
However, here is where the lack of decision making in the Tribe front office is killing the organization: Manny Acta needs to know if he will be here for sure or not, because it looks like he’s managing for his job in 2013.
He should be playing guys like Russ Canzler (he is in this case), Cord Phelps, Thomas Neal, and Lonnie Chisenhall as much as possible to find out if they can be contributors to next year’s edition of the Tribe.
Instead, we continue to see Casey Kotchman, Jack Hannahan, and Ezequiel Carrera.
Anyway, here is a look at the outfielders and catchers–
You can make a very good argument that Shin-Soo Choo is the Indians’ best hitter. He hits for average (.282), takes a lot of walks (62, second on the team), and hits for power (his 54 extra base hits lead the team).
The problem is he has Scott Boras as an agent, and the Tribe doesn’t like to pay players a lot of money.
They should in this case, especially on a three or four year deal, which would take the right fielder to age 34.
If the Indians were a contending ballclub, baseball writers from all over the country would be saying what a very good player Choo is.
Coming into the season, Michael Brantley was regarded as a question mark. He has answered that he can be a productive starter in the big leagues.
He needs to walk a little more and at just 25 years of age, he will continue to get stronger, which means he will get more extra base hits (he has 46 on the year).
He’s not a leadoff hitter and he’s not a clean up hitter either. He probably should hit 6th or 7th down the line. He should be firmly entrenched in centerfield in the Indians’ future.
Now for leftfield. Yuck! The Tribe needs to get someone, anyone, who can play the position on a regular basis. That’s why Neal should be playing there right now.
There are no real prospects on the horizon either, unless someone else is moved to the spot in 2013. Which is where Phelps comes into play. If he can hit, and he’s had an OPS above 800 in AAA each of the last two years, perhaps he can play left.
Yes, the irony isn’t lost here. Jason Kipnis was an outfielder in college and was moved to 2B.
If no one is found internally, the front office needs to find a proven hitter to put in this spot. Preferably, this guy needs to be a right-handed stick.
Carlos Santana has had a disappointing season, but he will still probably end up leading the Indians in home runs and RBIs. He’s not a great defensive catcher, but he’s good enough.
The coaching staff needs to stress to him that he’s better off not swinging for the fences. The Tribe would be better off with him hitting .275 and 20 home runs.
He also walks a ton. If he hits for a better average, he could be one of the American League’s best hitters.
Anyone who thinks the Tribe can move Santana to 1B or LF and have Lou Marson be the regular catcher are delusional. If that were to occur, these same people would be looking for a better hitting backstop around mid May 2013.
Marson simply cannot hit right now. He has a better on base percentage than slugging percentage. He’s a good reserve and an outstanding defensive catcher.
A team that need hitting can’t afford the luxury of playing Marson every day.
So, the reality is this: The Cleveland Indians need to find a 1B, DH, LF before next season. This is nothing new.
Still, they need to evalute the bench as well. They need a quality fourth outfielder and a better utility infielder too.
Next week, we’ll look at the pitching staff.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 