If you have been a proud supporter of the Dolan ownership of the Cleveland Indians, this has been a tough winter for you.
The goodwill that came from hiring Terry Francona as manager after the 2012 season has been used up and once again, fans are questioning the ownership’s commitment to winning.
And when we say winning, we mean winning a World Series.
Perhaps the Dolan family got caught up in the emotion of getting to Game 7 of the Fall Classic in 2016, and gave Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff more to spend in the next two seasons, but that appears to be short lived.
A few days ago, Antonetti said in a story by Paul Hoynes in The Plain Dealer that we was told to trim the payroll. This is what has been feared all off-season. We figured the front office was just re-allocating money from declining veterans to younger players with upside.
However, we were fooled.
The ownership’s mantra has always been that they will spend when the time is right, and most fans figured that is when they had a chance to win. Most fans have to be scratching their collective heads wondering why the time isn’t right now!
The Indians have two of the best position players in the sport in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. They have arguably the best starting rotation in baseball.
When MLB Network aired it’s Top Ten Starting Pitchers Right Now, three Cleveland Indians’ were mentioned: Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer. You could easily put all three in the top 15.
They are trimming the payroll when almost everyone who comments on the sport is proclaiming their outfield situation a mess. Their current set up would appear to be Tyler Naquin in LF, a platoon of Leonys Martin and Greg Allen in CF, and maybe Jordan Luplow or Oscar Mercado in RF.
Now, we like the centerfield situation. Martin is a solid bat against right-handed pitching and we have always liked Allen’s potential. We like him better than Bradley Zimmer, which may be heresy for some.
Since the end of July 2016, Naquin has accumulated 335 at bats, batting .248 with five home runs and 35 RBI. That’s not good enough for a team that should be viewing themselves as a World Series contender.
Luplow has very good minor league numbers, but he has less than 100 at bats at the big league level, and is hitting under .200 in those plate appearances.
Mercado has never had a big league at bat.
Couple those two positions with Jake Bauers (very good potential, but a .201 hitter and 726 OPS) and Roberto Perez, a lifetime .205 batter in the majors (638 OPS), and you have a lineup that would appear to have problems scoring runs.
As we always say, we aren’t expecting the Cleveland payroll to reach the same levels as the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers. Why cut $15 million off the payroll going into the season where the front line talent is there?
We don’t believe for a single minute that the Indians are losing money, and we understand people own businesses to make cash.
In professional sports though, there is an obligation to win, particularly if you own a team that has the longest span without a championship in that respective sport.
Where is the commitment Indians’ fans deserve from the ownership? Let alone the commitment players like Lindor, Ramirez, Kluber, Carrasco, Bauer, and the rest of the players should be getting.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 