More On The Lindor Scenario…

It has already started.

Soon after the New York Yankees lost the American League Championship Series, a column in the New York Post advocated the Yankees should try and get Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians.

A week later, it was reported the Los Angeles Dodgers have interest in the four time all star.

And all over northeast Ohio, it is becoming a weekly debate. Should the Tribe deal Lindor now, so his new team has him for two seasons, therefore giving up more for him, or should the Indians go into the season with their best player, and try to win the World Series in 2020?

The possibility of signing Lindor is not even considered, and we have debated that point enough over the past year. To summarize, that is ludicrous.

Most fans and media alike seem to think dealing Lindor for three or four “stud” minor league prospects would enable the Tribe to just keep on winning year in and year out.

Because, after all, no super prospect ever flames out once they reach the big league level, nor do they ever become just average major league players.

And the Washington Nationals just showed you can let your superstar player go and still win, right? That, of course, ignores the fact the Nats had Juan Soto up last year at 19 years old, and he is probably better than Bryce Harper, who signed with the Phillies.

We will let you in on another secret…Lindor is a better player than the much hyped and ballyhooed Harper. Although Harper won the NL MVP in 2015 at age 22, that’s his only top 10 finish.

Lindor has three top 10 finishes in the American League, and most rankings have Lindor in the top 10 of all major league players, while Harper falls in between 11 and 20.

It is difficult to believe that Frankie has only played four full seasons with the Indians, so if he is moved this winter, that’s all Cleveland fans get.

It makes you think about the odd decision to leave the shortstop in the minor leagues the first half of the ’15 season was a pretty terrible one, no?

Especially when you would deal him before his ages 27-29 seasons, the time when a player is truly in his prime. The Indians would not get the benefit of those years.

There is a reason that Sandy Alomar Jr., Jim Thome, and Omar Vizquel are still revered by Indians’ fans almost 20 years after they began the career here.

Alomar spent 11 seasons here (1990-2000), while Vizquel was here for the same amount of time (1994-2004), and although Thome had some cups of coffee here before the Indians became contenders, he was a regular from 1994 through 2002.

That’s why we always say (and feel) if Lindor can play here for 10 years, he will be considered the greatest everyday player in franchise history. And there should be value in that for the teams’ owners.

Now, if Lindor says he will not consider a long term deal here, then this is all moot. The Tribe should keep him this year and move him afterwards, unless they get players who can help this season.

They cannot take a step backwards and go into a rebuilding mode.

We do believe Lindor would like to stay, but he wants to be paid like one of the game’s best players. There shouldn’t be an issue with that, especially because a five year extension would keep him here through age 30, and he should still be putting up excellent numbers.

If the Indians can get three highly ranked prospects and they all reach their potential, that would be great, correct? However, what if the prospects turn out to be average or busts?

No one thinks about that possibility.

Browns Need To Return To ’18 Formula

Penalties and turnovers. That’s the mantra of Browns’ coach Freddie Kitchens in terms of what needs to improve if Cleveland wants to start winning football games again.

We certainly feel the number of pre-snap penalties has to be eliminated, you simply cannot have two players in motion, jumping offsides, and we will add the inordinate amount of illegal linemen downfield and expect to win in the NFL.

We spoke a couple of weeks ago about “zero defects”, and that’s what the Browns should be striving for.

The turnovers are quite a contrast to 2018, though. Last year, Cleveland won the turnover battle on the season at +7, causing 31 turnovers, almost two per game.

This year, it’s just the opposite, with the Browns being a minus nine. That’s a 16 turnover swing, and a good reason the team is struggling at 2-5.

Moreover, the offense just looks different, and we would have to question the hiring of Todd Monken as offensive coordinator because in our opinion, his “system” doesn’t fit the skill set of the personnel, particular Baker Mayfield.

When he was the OC at Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers had the most interceptions in the NFL a year ago, and ranked 20th and 27th in his other two seasons.

Perhaps his offense is high risk, high reward?

We found something else interesting about the passing game between 2018 and 2019, and that is the number of receivers being involved.

Last season, the Browns had five receivers that averaged 2.5 catches per game: Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, Rashard Higgins, Duke Johnson, and Antonio Callaway.

This season, that number has dropped to three: Odell Beckham Jr., Landry, and Nick Chubb. Part of what made Mayfield special in his rookie season was his ability to spread the ball around.

That doesn’t seem to be the case in 2019. Perhaps he feels obligated to get the ball to the All Pro Beckham as some have suggested. Or maybe the coaching staff is telling Mayfield to make a concerted effort to get the ball to the playmakers.

Either way, we would just like to see a return to a year ago.

The closest performance to the offense run last season with Kitchens as the coordinator was the Baltimore game, and surprise, surprise, the Browns put up 40 points, 30% of their season total.

That day, Mayfield hit seven different receivers, and completed 20 of 30 passes for 342 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Five different receivers caught two or more throws, led by Landry’s eight for 167 yards.

It is by far Mayfield’s best game of the year, finishing with a 102.4 passer rating (a stat we hate, by the way). His next best game was vs. the Jets (83.6 rating).

Another thing we have noticed in the former Heisman Trophy winner’s game this year is his reluctance to pull the ball down and run. While he’s never going to be Lamar Jackson, last year Mayfield had 39 carries in his 14 games.

This year? Just 9 runs in the 7 games. Sometimes, it’s better to step up in the pocket and gain 2-3 yards than to take a sack or throw the ball away.

Last season, Mayfield looked very decisive, this year, he looks confused. Perhaps it’s a new system, maybe not.

Whatever the reason, it’s time to get back to basics and it starts this Sunday in Denver.

The Browns should treat this as a new beginning.

Not The Time To Fire Kitchens

It is interesting to see both Browns’ fans and some of those covering the team have gone to the default mode with the team off to a 2-5 start.

Fire the coach.

This is not to say Freddie Kitchens is blameless in the early season struggles, but he isn’t the only person who should be shouldering the blame either.

First, the schedule has turned out to be more brutal than originally thought. Really, outside of the opener vs. Tennessee, have the Browns had a bad loss this season?

Their other four losses are to two teams who are undefeated (New England and San Francisco) and another to the defending NFC Champs, the Rams. The fourth is to a 5-2 Seattle squad.

Turnovers killed the team in all of the losses, but outside of the 49ers contest, the Browns didn’t get blown out in any of them.

And we realize “not getting blown out” isn’t the bar this team set for itself in the off-season.

We also don’t think Kitchens is coaching the team to commit penalties. We are sure it is emphasized on a weekly basis to not make the pre-snap infractions that have been all too frequent for this football team.

However, Kitchens and his staff should start having consequences for these types of penalties. Players should start to lose playing time or even roster spots if they cannot do simple things like know the snap count or line up in the correct position.

Look, we aren’t saying Nick Chubb should’ve been benched for his two fumbles, but guys who are reserves shouldn’t be allowed to do these things.

We think about Antonio Callaway, who seems to be frequently out of position or dropping passes. That’s a good enough reason to give Rashard Higgins more playing time at that spot.

We hate to say this, but the biggest reason to see this through is you can’t keep firing coaches after one year. Bringing in a new coaching staff would mean Baker Mayfield would be on his third coach and third (or fourth, depending on your point of view) offensive coordinator.

You have to see this through.

The nit picking about the challenge flags and things Kitchens says isn’t relevant. Whether the head coach didn’t challenge the pick play called offensive pass interference instead of saving it for a possible fumble recovery later had no bearing on the final score Sunday.

As for press conferences, Kitchens has shown he isn’t going to criticize players in the media (except for Higgins), and his answers should be taken with that in mind.

We look at the rest of the schedule and think the Browns will be the more talented team in all nine games, and that means nothing on the surface, because they have to execute.

This Sunday’s game in Denver is a must win. No, it doesn’t eliminate Cleveland from playoff contention mathematically, but they have to end a three game losing streak and beat a team with the same record, but without the same strength of schedule.

Winning next Sunday, and then following up with a win at home vs. Buffalo can get this train back on the tracks. Victories breed confidence. We saw that last season.

But it starts with baby steps. Take care of business against the Broncos. Play smart, don’t turn the ball over, keep the penalties to a minimum.

That should be the mantra this week. Do those things, and you will win.

Firing the coach? That doesn’t accomplish anything.

First Impressions On The Wine And Gold

We understand the NBA schedule is just two games in, so it is very early to make definitive proclamations about any team, and that includes the Cleveland Cavaliers.

However, we have seen some things we have liked in the first two contests, and we hope they will continue as the season goes on.

The first is defensive improvement. It would be hard to be worse that last year’s complete crap show, organized by “defensive” assistant Mike Longabardi, so there’s that.

However, the first thing we have noticed is no longer are we seeing opponent coasting down the lane for dunks without any resistance from people wearing a Cleveland uniform.

The Cavs have not allowed 100 points in either game, a vast improvement. Last season, for the entire 82 games, the wine and gold allowed less than 100 points just nine times. Nine games out of 82!

There was only one time all of last year where the Cavaliers allowed less than 100 points in consecutive games, November 7-13, when they held Oklahoma City, Chicago, and Charlotte under the century mark in three straight.

The last time they did this period, was March 3rd when they held Orlando, this year’s opener opponent to 93 points.

The Cavs’ defensive rating was a league worst 117.6 in 2018-19, and after two games, they sit at 97.1.

Now no one thinks that will continue all season, but it is a good start.

Last night, there was a stretch in the third quarter where new coach John Beilein had John Henson, Larry Nance Jr., and Matthew Dellavedova on the floor together and the defense was suffocating.

When was the last time you could say about the Cavs?

Also, the offense is working more inside out.

Last season, Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson led the Cavs in shots per game, combining for 29.3 per night, about 1/3rd of the team’s total.

After two games, Cleveland is averaging 84 shots per game, with Sexton and Tristan Thompson leading the way. Yes, we know Thompson hit a three last night, but most of his shots are in the paint.

And Beilein said after the opening game that Kevin Love should be getting more shots, which we were happy to hear. Love is the team’s best player, and he should be getting the most shots.

The offense should run through Love, Sexton, and Darius Garland, and Love getting nine assists last night is another example of the coaching staff stressing points to the players.

We have complained over the years about Tristan Thompson’s lack of development on the offensive end, so we are happy to see some improvement. No, we don’t need Thompson firing too often from beyond the arc, but when he gets the ball inside now, he is putting the ball in the basket.

And, Darius Garland has some range. Sexton has made more three after the first two games, but the rookie can knock it down. As he gains experience, we can see him being the type of player who other teams will have to guard from five feet beyond the three point line.

Whether or not these trends can continue, who knows, but we were a little concerned during the exhibition season about the offensive structure, and that could still rear its ugly head.

However, it looks like the coaching staff isn’t going to let any thing slide thus far. And that’s a good thing with a young team.

Winning Is Habit Browns Have To Develop

The bye week is over and the Cleveland Browns return to the gridiron rested and ready to go this Sunday.

That’s the good news. The bad news is they play the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, who also happen to be undefeated this season.

The narrative surrounding the Browns seems to change every week, and since they were off last Sunday, the discussion is how can Freddie Kitchens’ team dare compete with the Baltimore Ravens, who sit atop the AFC North standings at 5-2.

After all, the Ravens beat Seattle on the road, a Seahawks team that came into the game at 5-1 after beating the Browns in Cleveland the week before.

Apparently, people have forgotten the Browns’ 40-25 beating of the Ravens in Baltimore just a few weeks before. We guess the Ravens improved by leaps and bounds in that three week span.

We aren’t taking away anything from Baltimore’s win in Seattle, it was damn impressive. However, not overreact to that contest either.

NOTE: We understand because football is played just once per week, there is a natural overemotional reaction to every game.

We were thinking though, what would the Browns’ record be if they had played the schedule Baltimore has played to date?

The Ravens opened up with the Dolphins and Cardinals, the latter in Kyler Murray’s second professional start. It’s easy to project wins in both games for either Baltimore or Cleveland.

Baltimore’s next two games were against the Chiefs and the Browns, so there is one loss in there, and those were followed by division games vs. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Since the Steelers were using their third string QB and the Bengals are bad, it’s not a reach to think that’s two wins for the Browns.

And again, credit to the Ravens for beating Seattle, which the Browns couldn’t do, even at First Energy Stadium.

So, the Browns would be 4-3 at least if they had played Baltimore’s schedule.

However, the biggest thing the fast start did for Baltimore is provide confidence. Winning early in the season breeds confidence. You saw that in the second half of the game in Seattle this past Sunday.

In the same vein, the Browns’ 2-4 start has the players and coaching staff questioning themselves a bit. That plays in close games late.

Remember how the team (and the fans, for that matter) felt last season after Hue Jackson was fired and they started to win. Suddenly, the big plays are made when they are needed.

And no doubt, it helps the Ravens that John Harbaugh is one of the five best coaches in the NFL. That is no slight on Freddie Kitchens.

Yes, the Ravens’ schedule gets tougher. Four of their next five games are against the Patriots, Texans, Rams, and 49ers.

After this Sunday, the Browns will have played three of those teams already, and they don’t have Houston on the slate.

But let’s say Cleveland loses this week to fall to 2-5 (which isn’t a stretch). Yes, they play Denver on the road, which is a winnable game, but it would be coming off a three game losing streak.

That means it will not be easy. It’s more difficult for teams to break losing streaks, particular for a group of players that hasn’t won together, or a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since 2007.

So, let’s not pencil in a bunch of wins in the second half just yet.

Winning is a learned skill. The early schedule, and the early performance have not helped the Browns education.

You Trade For Prospects When You Are Rebuilding. The Indians Aren’t.

In recent years, the sports talk shows in Cleveland spent a lot of time talking about the NFL Draft. It seems like folks like to talk about the possibility of getting players more than the players that actually play in northeast Ohio.

When it comes to the Cleveland Indians, it comes down to trading for prospects. Apparently, it’s better to deal for young players rather than sign the great players who are already here.

Yes, we are talking through a thin veil here about Francisco Lindor. There are many in the area who think the Indians are better off rebuilding a team that won 93 games last season, rather than trying to get over the hump and get back into the post-season.

Look, if the Tribe was 75-87 this past season and had a roster loaded with a bunch of 30 year olds, we might think the same thing.

But here is a list of the Indians’ leaders in WAR for 2019–

Shane Bieber (24 years old)
Lindor (25)
Carlos Santana (33)
Mike Clevinger (28)
Roberto Perez (30)
Jose Ramirez (26)

Does this look like a team on its last legs and ready to be rebuilt?

We also subscribe to the theory that until proven otherwise, prospects are suspects until proven otherwise. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate top minor league talent, because we do.

In 2013, there were those in the media saying the Indians should deal Lindor to get help for Terry Francona’s first year here, and we gave the opinion that was ridiculous.

Still, dealing a player like Lindor is now, and he’s one of the best ten players in the sport, for prospects is dicey at best.

For example, here is a list of the Top Ten prospects in baseball in 2016, according to Baseball America:

Corey Seager
Byron Buxton
Yoan Moncada
Jose Urias
Lucas Giolito
JP Crawford
Alex Reyes
Orlando Arcia
Trea Turner
Joey Gallo

Of those ten, Seager and Turner are very good players, and Moncada looks to be on his way. Giolito had a great year in ’19, but struggled before that.

Reyes has been hurt a lot, and Gallo has always had immense power, and looked to be improving his game this past season before he was injured.

The other have been disappointments, and getting one of them back for a player like Lindor would be a swing and a miss.

The following year’s (2017) list contained Dansby Swanson, Reyes, Nick Senzel, Willy Adames, and Amed Rosario.

That year also featured Andrew Benintendi, Moncado, Gleyber Torres, Austin Meadows, and Cody Bellinger, any of which would be a solid return for a star player.

That’s still a 50/50 proposition.

And trading a great player for three above average players isn’t a good deal either, because if you have the former, you can likely find average guys to fill in those spots.

(Think Julio Franco for Pete O’Brien, Jerry Browne, and Oddibe McDowell for you older fans).

We are sure we will hear about how the Washington Nationals went to the World Series after Bryce Harper walked away in free agency. But the Nats had Juan Soto on the horizon to basically replace Harper.

Back in 2000, the Seattle Mariners lost Alex Rodriguez to free agency and won a Major League record 116 games the following year. Just like the Nationals without Harper.

Except the Mariners haven’t been back to the playoffs again.

Look, the Indians are going to do what they are going to do. However, we think it’s better to keep great players, which Frankie Lindor is.

And he’s here for two more years, and it would be a surprise if the Indians were not contenders in either of those years.

It’s not time for a rebuild, nor it is time to trade Francisco Lindor. And people shouldn’t assume the return will be three blue chip players.

Injuries Impeding Cavs Progress?

The Cleveland Cavaliers open their 50th NBA season Wednesday night in Orlando, and the big question for the team right now, is will they be the worst team in the league this season.

Last year, they won 19 games, the second worst mark in the NBA, but they didn’t have Kevin Love for much of the campaign, he played in just 22 games.

Having him back healthy would seem to make the wine and gold better just on its own merits, but add in a year of experience for Collin Sexton and the fifth overall pick in last June’s draft in Darius Garland, and you would think an improvement would be likely.

Unfortunately, the injury bug has already bit the team hard, leaving new coach John Beilein very frustrated.

Two big men who figured to see a lot of time in 2019-20, John Henson and Ante Zizic, have missed a lot of time early, and likely won’t be ready for Opening Night.

That leaves Love and Tristan Thompson as the only experienced big men on the roster, and makes using the former at center at times a must.

The Cavs’ organization has ignored big people in the past, and this year, there still isn’t depth at that spot.

Cleveland does have only 13 players on the roster right now, so a move or two will probably be made before Wednesday night.

Sexton and Garland should be the starters at guard Wednesday, but injuries have hurt the depth. Brandon Knight has missed time in camp, and Matthew Dellavedova sprained his thumb in the last exhibition season, making his availability questionable.

This means a lot of minutes for Jordan Clarkson, who also seems to be the back up for Cedi Osman at small forward. This means Kevin Porter Jr., who is another rookie may have to get meaningful time early in the season.

Another injury has put the Cavs’ other first round pick, four year college player Dylan Windler out of the lineup. The shooter would probably have been Osman’s primary back up, but with him out, that role falls to Clarkson and Porter.

The front office claimed Tyler Cook from Denver on waivers, and he is more of a stretch four, but although he is also a four year college player, he has no professional experience.

So, when the season tips off later this week, Beilein has two veterans to count on in Love and Thompson, two young players with some experience in Osman and Clarkson, and a bunch of guys who are either 19 or 20 years old, or are new to the NBA.

That’s a tough way to try to win games right away. Hopefully, Henson, Knight, and Dellavedova will be back fairly soon to lend some wise heads to the mix, and the coaching staff has no option to ease a kid like Porter into the fray.

It’s easy to say just throw the kids in and see what happens, but that makes for one helluva learning curve.

And sometimes, that ruins a player or severely retards their development. That’s why you see a lot of first round picks not put it all together until they go to a second team, or go back to the G League to get playing time.

Patience is going to be a key for the coaching staff to be sure, and early on, the Cavs should lean on Love, and try to run as many set to get shots for Love, Garland, and Sexton.

It may be a couple of months before we see any definitive progress for this year’s Cavaliers.

Questioning Baker? Way Too Soon.

There is no question Baker Mayfield hasn’t played to the level he finished last season at.

His completion percentage has dropped from 63.8% to 56.6% and his interception rate has increased from 2.9% to 5.6%, almost double of his rookie season.

However, talk that he isn’t the answer to the Browns’ decade long quarterback issues is way too premature.

First, last season’s number were compiled over 14 games, 13 of them starts. This year, he has played just six games. So, there is a decent chance some of his numbers can improve over the next eight games.

This isn’t to say Mayfield has been blameless in the Browns’ difficulties in the early going. His interception just before halftime vs. Seattle was reckless considering the situation.

And yes, we know Jarvis Landry got a hand on the throw, but their were three defenders in the area, and considering the score at the time (Browns were leading 20-12), the better decision would have been to throw the ball in the seats and live to play another down.

On the other hand, Dontrell Hilliard and Antonio Callaway should have held on to passes each of the last two weeks, instead of popping them up into hands of defenders.

Quite frankly, it’s way too soon to jump off the bandwagon.

Mayfield’s biggest issue in our opinion is he is too aggressive at times. That’s a good thing in most football circumstances, but when he learns when to pull back on the throttle at times, we feel everyone will see a much more efficient (and better) player.

Some guys never get this, so we aren’t saying it will happen for sure.

What we do know is in the last seven games in 2018, Mayfield was sacked three times. Total. This year, in six games, he has been tackled for loss 16 times. That’s a huge difference, and most definitely could be a reason for diminished stats.

How many times have you heard opposing coaches say a quarterback can’t hurt them if he’s laying flat on his back.

How did the Giants beat the Patriots in two Super Bowls? The put pressure on Tom Brady. And as former Browns’ executive Ernie Accorsi has said, the two most important positions on the field are the QB and a guy who can get to the opposing QB.

No coincidence that when the Browns had the first overall picks in both 2017 and 2018 they took Myles Garrett and Mayfield.

What we don’t see, and this leads us to believe this is a blip on the radar, is a passer not being able to throw guys open, or missing wide open receivers.

Mayfield has had two games where he has hit over 65% of his throws this season (vs. Houston and vs. Baltimore).

And he’s not dinking and dunking either. The former Heisman Trophy winner ranks third in the league in average yards per completion at 13.4, behind only Patrick Mahomes and Jameis Winston.

Also, of the 10 worst pass defenses statistically, the Browns have faced one, Baltimore.

Conversely, they’ve faced two of the top 10 squads: San Francisco and Tennessee. So, Mayfield has seen more real good defenses than real bad ones.

Browns Have Plenty To Fix During Week Off.

Back in the late 1960’s, when the Browns were heading into a playoff game, the late sports editor of The Plain Dealer, Hal Lebovitz used to talk about “zero defects”, meaning the football team needed to stay away from mistakes in these big games.

We thought about that as we watched Sunday afternoon, when the Browns squandered a 20-6 lead and fell to 2-4 after a 32-28 loss to Seattle.

Freddie Kitchens’ squad is second in the NFL in turnovers on the season with 14, sandwiched in between the New York Giants and Tampa Bay, two teams who didn’t come into the season with big playoff aspirations.

And the Browns also are tied for the league lead in penalties (with Atlanta), and they have accumulated the most yards penalized to date.

You put those two things together, and it is amazing the Browns have won two games.

It is difficult for a coach to tell his team not to commit turnovers and still have them be aggressive, but in the past two games, interceptions before halftime have hurt the Browns badly.

This past Sunday, Baker Mayfield’s pick with a 20-12 lead and under two minutes to go was a terrible decision. The intended receiver, Jarvis Landry, was surrounded by defenders. With the score in his favor, the quarterback should throw the ball in Lake Erie instead of trying to fit one in.

At the very least, Cleveland should’ve went into the half with a 23-12 lead.

Now, it wasn’t Mayfield’s fault the defense let Seattle go 88 yards to cut the lead to 20-18 before intermission.

After a promising start to the season, the defense has been bad the past three weeks, allowing at least 175 yards rushing in each contest.

Here is a current list of the worst teams in the NFL against the run:

Cincinnati (0-6)
Miami (0-5)
Kansas City (4-2)
Cleveland (2-4)
Washington (1-5)

Another old adage for football teams is if you can’t run the ball and stop the run, it’s tough to win, and that holds true even in today’s pass happy NFL.

You can see from this list, you have to have an overwhelming offense to overcome not being able to stop teams from running the ball, and the Chiefs have lost two straight because their opponents have controlled the clock and played keep away.

Kitchens said during training camp the defensive front might be the strength of the team, but right now it looks far from that, and as for the pass rush, the Browns rank 4th, but it seems like if it isn’t Myles Garrett (9) applying the pressure, it simply isn’t there.

Cleveland is only in the middle of the pack in terms of quarterback pressures.

We understand it’s a pretty simplistic viewpoint, but it’s clear these are the two areas to clean up during the bye week.

The defense has to be better against the ground game. They cannot let opponents control the line of scrimmage and gash them for big yardage.

Offensively, they have to hold on to the ball, you cannot continue to turn it over at this rate and win football games.

It has been a brutal schedule to be sure. Cleveland has played two of the best five teams in the NFL thus far (San Francisco and Seattle) and will play another one (New England) in their next game.

The team currently leading the division, Baltimore, has to play the 49ers and Seahawks, as well as the Rams.

So, the division is still in play.

But the Browns have to get into “zero defects” mode. If they can, this season will still have a long way to go.

Tribe Should Be Active In Hot Stove

Let’s make this very clear, the Cleveland Indians have never asked us for advise on running the team.

However, that doesn’t stop us from making suggestions on what they should be thinking about this winter.

Here is what we would do starting the day after the World Series ends so the Indians can return to the American League playoffs in 2020 as Central Division champions.

We agree with the decisions they’ve said they will make already. That means we would pick up the option on Corey Kluber and decline the options on Jason Kipnis and Dan Otero.

Yes, we know Kluber struggled in his seven starts in 2019, but as we just said, it’s seven starts. And there will be less burden on the two time Cy Young Award winner, with the emergence of Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber. If Kluber can provide 200 innings in ’20, he is well worth the $17.5 million the Tribe will pay him.

We would also decline to offer Danny Salazar and Cody Anderson arbitration and we would add one more name to that list in Kevin Plawecki. If we were Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, we would look for an upgrade to back up Roberto Perez.

To replace Kipnis, we would look for a third baseman, either on the trade market or in free agency (most likely the former) and move Jose Ramirez to second base.

We think there will be some bargains available in free agency at one of those positions. A one year deal would be ideal because top prospect Nolan Jones is on the horizon, if he can cut down on his strikeouts.

We would also strongly suggest to Terry Francona to get Francisco Lindor out of the leadoff spot. Besides Jordan Luplow, Lindor had the highest slugging percentage on the team, clubbing 74 extra base hits, nine more than Carlos Santana.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some of those extra base knocks came with men on base? The shortstop bats at least once every game with no one on by leading off.

We know Francona likes Lindor to set a tone in that spot, but when the offense has fallen off like it did in ’19, it might be more efficient to put someone who gets on base consistently in the leadoff spot (Carlos Santana?) and move Lindor to the #2 or #3 spot.

Speaking of Lindor, the biggest thing the Indians front office should do is take care of his contract situation, and by that we mean open up the purse strings and sign him long term.

And as we have said before, we don’t buy for a minute the notion that the ownership can’t keep Lindor in a Cleveland uniform long term, nor do we think the Tribe can’t be competitive and pay the shortstop a boatload of money.

Somehow, they have to shore up leftfield, which was a sinkhole for much of 2019. We would recommend seeing if Jordan Luplow can man the spot. Luplow was lethal vs. southpaws (.439 OBP, .742 slugging), but in the minors, he handled right handers well.

He would get the first shot at the job, but we also would take a long look at Daniel Johnson in spring training.

The bullpen needs work too. In today’s game, you need more power arms, something the Indians lacked last season. James Karinchak is a start, but more are on the way, guys like Kyle Nelson and Cam Hill.

In terms of trade pieces, the rotation depth the Indians developed in ’19 could be key.

The projected starters right now would be Clevinger, Bieber, Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and for the sake of argument, let’s say Aaron Civale.

That leaves Zach Plesac, Adam Plutko, Jeffry Rodriguez, Logan Allen, and don’t forget Triston McKenzie as possible pieces to get some bats.

If you trade one of them, you still have a lot of depth.

Hopefully, the front office feels it is imperative to get back to the top of the heap in the AL Central. They need to get better against good teams and good pitchers.

Let’s see what happens in the hot stove season.