Even though the World Series hasn’t even started, the hot stove league is already underway with a couple of deals, including one for Toronto manager John Farrell.
This impacts the Indians because the Blue Jays will likely hire Sandy Alomar Jr. to take over for Farrell.
Regardless, it is not too soon to start looking at the off-season news and rumors involving the Indians.
One of the early players said to be coming to the North Coast is 3B/1B Kevin Youkilis, who would be reunited with his skipper in Boston, Terry Francona.
Youkilis will be 34 next season, and has been in decline since his best years with the Red Sox (2008-10). He hit just .235 in 2012 with 19 HR and 60 RBIs.
He would be a fit in Cleveland because he can give Lonnie Chisenhall some time off against tough southpaws, and can play 1B or DH. And although his batting average has slipped, he still draws walks accounting for a better than league average 745 OPS.
That would still be an improvement over Casey Kotchman at first base, and the Indians need to get better wherever they can.
If they can sign Youk to a two or three-year deal at decent money, the Tribe front office should make the move. He’s still a .283 lifetime hitter.
GM Chris Antonetti also needs to upgrade the starting rotation, which ended the season full of question marks. Justin Masterson will probably be back, as Francona spoke well of him at his introductory press conference, and Zack McAllister and Carlos Carrasco, coming off Tommy John surgery will be starters as well.
That means the Indians should be looking at guys like Shawn Marcum, Joe Blanton, and Ryan Dempster to fill spots.
Marcum would be the best option, having pitched in the American League with Toronto from 2006-10. The soon to be 31-year-old righty has a lifetime record of 57-36 with a 3.76 ERA. For his career, he’s allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, and struck out more than twice as many as he’s walked.
Blanton, who will be 32 next season, has also pitched effectively in the American League with Oakland from 2005-08. He’s an innings eater, throwing at least 170 innings every year except one from 2005 through this season.
He also averages almost 8 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, although he gives up a lot of hits. He would be a middle of the rotation guy with a career ERA of 4.37, but his numbers are better than Ubaldo Jimenez’ since the latter joined the Indians.
Dempster is the oldest at 36 years old, and has only pitched in the AL this past season with the Rangers, compiling an ERA of over 5.00.
He’s a lifetime .500 pitcher at 124-124 with a 4.33 ERA. He would probably want to stay in the NL at this stage of his career, but would benefit pitching at Progressive Field, a good park for hurlers.
Neither of these pitchers would break the bank for the Indians, and they definitely need to add at least one solid starter before spring training starts, because it all starts with good pitching.
With the free agent market this year being what it is, and with the history of this franchise, Cleveland is not signing a high ticket player.
However, they can improve the roster incrementally with every move. The people mentioned here would help in this regard.
That would be a good start to the off-season.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 
Reblogged this on Red-Right 8881.