Major league baseball is the one sport where there is no salary cap, unless you are the Cleveland Indians.
It is funny to us that fans and media members talk about the Indians’ payroll ceiling being around $90 million, like it is mandated by the sport.
It’s not. The Indians seem to put the cap on themselves.
Our point of view is one that we have because we believe, as do others who cover the sports, that baseball is thriving and plenty of cash is available throughout the sport, and the Dolan family is making a rather nice profit annually.
And they are entitled to make a profit. That’s why you own a business, to make money. We certainly don’t begrudge them that.
It’s the amount of the profit and the willingness to spend money to try to win. There is a business tenet that says you have to spend money to make money. For the most part, the Tribe ownership has not been willing to go all in.
There is no question that the Indians have a championship quality pitching staff. If they can get to the playoffs, they will be a tough out because of it.
However, you need to score runs to win in the regular season, unless you are the Dodgers of the late 1960’s. We don’t know if the front office has done enough to help the lineup put runs up on the board.
Last week, we heard local sports talker Bruce Hooley on WKNR say he doesn’t talk about the Indians on his show because he is in the “interesting” business. Let’s face it, the organization on Ontario and Carnegie aren’t exactly flashy.
The Indians are dull, there is no question about that.
Yes, they have Francisco Lindor, one of the top young players in the game, but Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis, the Tribe’s other two best position players, aren’t being talked about regularly by the national media.
They aren’t involved in a lot of trade rumors, they aren’t talked about much on MLB Network.
Much of the local sports talk in Cleveland about the Indians centers around them not doing anything. It is based more on complaining than excitement.
The Tribe has become the stable good friend of the opposite sex that you like to hang around with, but there is nothing romantic on the horizon.
Unfortunately, they have chosen to keep the status quo, and not try to revive the dormant fan base.
That doesn’t generate any interest in the team, and that’s reflected in the ticket sales.
The problem is they can’t give up. You have to keep trying. It’s like they are an inventor who has a great product, but can’t find a market for it, and decides it’s not worth the hassle.
Perhaps going the extra mile and signing a big bat would revive interest.
The pro-front office faction will say they tried that with the signings in 2013 of Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, and people didn’t show up. They forget Cleveland won just 68 games the year before, and the starting rotation didn’t appear to be one of the best in the game as the 2012 season ended.
We have said it before, but whether it is fair or not, the perception of the Dolan ownership is they aren’t in it to win.
It’s up to them to change that perception.
Instead, what we have is a stalemate, and that doesn’t benefit the team or the fans.
That’s why change is needed
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 