It’s not a secret that the Cleveland Indians are on a cost cutting mode. Everything they’ve done over the last three off-seasons have had that in mind.
Since the end of the 2018 season, the front office has said goodbye to Michael Brantley, Cody Allen, Andrew Miller via free agency and traded Yan Gomes, Edwin Encarnacion, Corey Kluber, and Trevor Bauer. All except Encarnacion were big time contributors to the American League champions of 2016.
All either were or had the potential to make big money, and in reality, the front office was correct on most of the players. While Brantley and Bauer have been very productive since leaving the Tribe, the rest have declined significantly since departing.
That’s not a bad percentage, although with the production of the offense the past two seasons, particularly in the outfield, the loss of Brantley stings big time.
Unfortunately, with all the money saved with these departures, very little has been reinvested in the team. Since the Indians won 93 games in the last complete season, and made the expanded playoffs in the coronavirus shortened 2020 campaign, you could make the argument that it hasn’t affected the operations of the team.
Looking ahead, as of right now, Cleveland has just six players making more than $1 million on the roster, meaning Brad Hand’s payout is the 7th highest paid Indian.
One of those half dozen players is Francisco Lindor, who by all accounts (and much to our chagrin) will be traded before the season starts. That leaves Carlos Carrasco, Jose Ramirez, Roberto Perez, Austin Hedges, and Nick Wittgren, who settled with the team yesterday on a contract as the lone millionaires on the roster.
And there are rumors that Carrasco, the longest tenured Indian, and a candidate to be someone who plays in the major leagues for more than ten years with all of them in a Cleveland uniform, could be moved this off-season as well.
That would leave just two players, Ramirez and Perez, making over $5 million this season, although that depends on who comes back in any deal for Lindor and Carrasco?
If you get beyond the gutting of the payroll, it’s quite an odd mix. Two of the highest paid Indians play the same position, catcher. It’s hard to imagine investing so much cash in a spot where only one of the men can play each day.
And quite frankly, it’s odd to have a middle inning reliever as one of the highest paid players as well. We aren’t saying Wittgren isn’t a good guy to have on the roster, he’s been pretty effective in his two years here, but if you want to cut payroll, why not start with a pitcher who doesn’t start and doesn’t usually pitch in the 8th or 9th innings?
We are sure several major league teams are looking enviously at Tampa Bay and their success over the past three seasons and think we can do that too. The Rays have actually have been over .500 in nine of the past 13 seasons.
But Tampa is a team with a roster that is always turning over. They make any move they can if they feel it improves the team, and that isn’t how the Tribe has operated over the years. They can be loyal to a fault.
Is the Rays’ way a blueprint other teams can follow? Right now, no one else spending so little has done it. We guess that doesn’t stop teams like the Indians from trying.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 