Is Lack Of Tribe Moves Based On Patience, Stubbornness, Or Fear?

The Cleveland Indians have started to play better baseball now that the schedule has lightened up a bit.

They have won four of their last five, and six of their last eight. They are currently 9-4 in June, and won series against the Twins and Yankees, two of the American League’s better teams.

The offense has been better lately, moving up to 11th in the AL in runs scored and OPS, but the Tribe is still 13th in slugging percentage, ahead of just Toronto and Detroit.

And Terry Francona still writes three hitters in nightly lineup with OPS of under 650: Jason Kipnis, Leonys Martin, and Jose Ramirez.

Despite hitting for the cycle on Friday night, Jake Bauers (.223/.306/.379) isn’t striking fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers.

These guys haven’t hit for awhile and yet, no changes have been made. Ramirez is different because he was one of the best players in baseball in 2017 and 2018, so he has earned and should get the benefit of the doubt.

Although, whether or not he should be hitting fifth is up for debate.

Fans and media alike have asked about the unreal amount of patience given to Kipnis, Martin, and Bauers. However, is it patience or fear?

The Indians sometimes operate as if they are afraid to give young players a chance for a variety of reasons. They worry about how a young player handles failure. They worry about a player they let go going somewhere else and having success.

We operate by a different theory. It’s called the “can’t do any worse” theory.

That takes the fear factor out of the equation.

Take Martin, for example. He’s hitting .204 with a 637 OPS to date this season. His strength was how he hit right-handed pitching, he’s never been a factor against southpaws. But he batting .220 with a 700 OPS vs. RHP thus far.

He’s batting .189 overall since May 1st.

Now, ask this question…could Greg Allen be worse than those numbers? We aren’t saying Allen is the next coming of Willie Mays or Mike Trout, but you have to think he could be better than what Martin has given you over the last six weeks.

Martin is also striking out at a career high rate, so it’s not as though he’s hitting in tough luck. Why not bring up Allen and give him regular playing time?

As for Jason Kipnis, we have heard him finding something in his swing before, so let’s say we are skeptical as to his success for the rest of the season. It’s pretty clear he’s not the same guy he was in 2016, and after two and a half years, that ship has sailed.

So, why not try Mark Mathias, who is hitting .294 with an 827 OPS at Columbus? Yes, we understand those numbers are much better than how he has performed at AA Akron the past two years, but maybe he found something in his swing.

You can also replace Bauers with Bobby Bradley, who is crushing the ball at Columbus.

We wouldn’t give up on Bauers, we think he can still be a productive major league hitter, but right now, he can’t put together any consistency. And that’s the name of the game in baseball.

Would switching out a third of your lineup turn the Tribe’s offensive fortunes around? What we do know is it couldn’t hurt.

It may be just getting over fear of the unknown to make it happen.

Cavs’ Approach Is Refreshing

The NBA is unique in the professional sports landscape.

Because there are only five players on the floor at any one time, the great player makes a huge difference. We just witnessed the impact Kawhi Leonard, one might be the best player in the league right now, had on the Toronto Raptors, leading them to their first championship.

The association also gives the most power to the players. Since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami, the star players have tried to form “super teams” to help them compete for championships, and team executives have tried to put their franchises into positions to attracts the stars.

So, if you didn’t draft a superstar, and you a not a destination for superstars, what do you do?

Obviously, in Cleveland, the Cavaliers benefited from James being from Akron and wanting to bring a championship to the area. It helped that Kyrie Irving was already here for James’ return, and they had assets to deal for another star, Kevin Love, who remains with the team.

But James left after the 2018 season, so GM Koby Altman has to try to rebuild the organization. He is doing things a little differently, and quite frankly, we have no problem with it.

Altman has put his eggs into the player development basket. If you aren’t in a position to draft superstars, then developing them yourself seems to be a good plan.

That why he hired a long time successful college coach in John Beilein, and this past week, hired University of California women’s head coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, as an assistant.

Beilein’s reputation is putting together very successful college teams without the five star recruits that Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina usually get. He took good high school players and turned them into very good college players, some even became first round picks in the NBA Draft.

No doubt, it’s a gamble hiring a 66-year-old who has never coached in the NBA, and hiring a coach who led a Division I women’s program as an assistant. But why not?

If you are a team playing someone better than you, and you just rely on talent, you most likely aren’t going to win, right?

So, you try something different. Like Cleveland State did when Kevin Mackey became head coach, you full court press for the entire game, using waves of players.

That might be your best chance.

Or maybe Altman is copying the Raptors blue print. Not a lot of high draft choices there, but they developed players like Pascal Siakam (27th overall pick from New Mexico State), Fred VanVleet (undrafted), and Norman Powell (second round pick) into contributing players on a title team.

We have praised the Cavs for not taking on “knuckleheads”, players who can and will be disruptive when things aren’t going well. In addition, it appears they also have guys who aren’t afraid of working to get better.

And that means what Beilein, Gottlieb, and the rest of the organization will be teaching should fall on willing years, and it may just work.

The Cavs’ plan seems to be worth the risk because it isn’t the same old thought process NBA teams use. Why not get good teachers to teach the game?

The Time To Act For Tribe Is Now

As we wrote about a week ago, the next two weeks will say a lot about how the rest of the baseball season will play out for the Cleveland Indians.

Between now and when the best players in the sport descend on Progressive Field on July 9th, the Tribe plays 23 games against teams with some of the worst records in the game.

Yes, they have four in Texas next week, and two more against Cincinnati right before the All Star Game, but the rest of the slate is filled with contests vs. the Tigers, Royals, and Orioles.

We know baseball is a sport designed around series, so the teams themselves are best served by taking each game as it comes, but we don’t have to do that.

It’s not far-fetched to think the Indians could go 15-8 in those 23 games, which would make their record 48-40 heading into the Midsummer Classic.

Does it make sense to sell at that point?

Then, after the All Star Game, Terry Francona’s squad has three with the Twins at home, followed by more games against Detroit, Kansas City, and Toronto, before ending the month with a series against Houston.

This means with the trade deadline coming at the end of July, Cleveland could be a good way above the .500 mark.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is it will be difficult unless the attitude of the front office and Francona changes.

They split with the Reds despite scoring just four runs in the pair of games. The lineup, beyond Carlos Santana hitting in the three hole, is filled with a lot of guys who are very proficient at making outs.

And this is as good a time to change this as there is.

Oscar Mercado’s success, and make no mistake, he hasn’t been great, merely solid, should have Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff, and Francona looking at Columbus for some help.

Since the end of April, Leonys Martin is hitting .193 with 3 HR, 8 RBI, and has drawn seven walks (in 31 games). Usually reliable vs. right-handers, he has a .294 on base percentage and a 696 OPS in 2019.

Jason Kipnis is batting .218 for the season, and .224 since May 1st. His OPS vs. righties? Try 646.

Jake Bauers has hit .148 over the last 28 days with 28 strikeouts in 81 at bats.

It’s time to end this madness.

Greg Allen is eligible to be recalled from Columbus this weekend, and he was hitting a bit the week or so before he was sent down.

Make your outfield rotation Mercado, Allen, Jordan Luplow, and Tyler Naquin, and give them extended opportunities. It’s doubtful they can be worse than Martin and Bauers.

We would bring up Bobby Bradley, even though we have concerns about his strikeout rate. His numbers indicate he is not simply piling up numbers at Huntington Park in Columbus.

As for second base, why not give Mark Mathias an opportunity. He has an 816 OPS at AAA, and gets on base (.354). And he’s been better on the road.

What to do with the others? Bauers can be sent to AAA to relocate his batting stroke. As for Kipnis and Martin, the season is just about half over, so just designated them for assignment. If you have to release them, which is likely, then so be it.

We don’t think they can help the Indians going forward.

We understand it is a very difficult decision. On the other hand, by and large, players know who should be playing, and our guess is there were puzzled looks in the clubhouse last week when Allen was sent out.

This is a critical stretch for this baseball team, and the front office can’t wait any longer to make a tough decision.

The Disconnect Between Dolans, Fans

Cleveland sports fans have different relationships with the owners of their sports teams.

Since the early 1960’s, the Browns have been owned by out of towners. Sure, Art Modell moved to northeast Ohio, but he was a New Yorker. After he moved the team to Baltimore and the Browns rejoined the NFL in 1999, Al Lerner, another ex-New Yorker owned the team.

His son, Randy, sold the team to Jimmy Haslam, from Tennessee. None of these guys really had the trust of the fans of the team, for various reasons, although right now, Haslam gets a break because of the hiring of GM John Dorsey.

The Cavaliers were brought into the NBA by Nick Mileti, born in Cleveland.

At one point, Mileti owned (through partnerships) the Cavs, the World Hockey Association Cleveland Crusaders, and the Indians, as well as building the Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, a world class sports arena.

Because he was from here, the fans warmed to Mileti. After all, he brought professional basketball to the area, and at the time, many thought the Indians were headed out of town before he bought them.

Mileti didn’t have a lot of money, but he had vision and passion for Cleveland sports.

Unfortunately, the baseball fans in the area have never bought into the current ownership, the Dolan family.

Dick Jacobs is looked fondly on by Tribe fans because he built a solid organization, which hadn’t been seen for years, and his teams won, for the first time in 40 years, the Cleveland Indians were among the best teams in the sport.

And with the revenue pouring in from the new ballpark combined with a contending team (and no football team), Jacobs signed off on adding players. The payoff was five straight post-season appearances and two American League pennants.

Those Indians were brash and cocky, and the fans loved it. Our baseball team was competing with the Yankees and Red Sox, and beat them in the playoffs.

Jacobs got out of the game before any rebuild had to be done. And that’s where the Dolans came in.

We believe that Cleveland sports fans want to see in their teams the same attitude they have, that of an underdog. The attitude that we can be as good as the bigger cities, a “we’ll show you” feeling.

The Dolans simply don’t exude that type of feeling.

Think about some of the things the fans and the media alike bring up in discussing their stewardship of the professional baseball team.

They talk about “windows of opportunity” and consistently remind the ticket buying public that Cleveland is a small market.

You never hear words like that coming out of Dan Gilbert’s mouth. Gilbert’s attitude seems to be screw you, we’ll win anyway.

And in our opinion, that’s why fans gravitate to the Cavaliers’ owner more, even though the Indians have been the more consistent franchise over the last 15 years.

Even though Gilbert is from Detroit, he displays more of the Cleveland spirit than Larry and Paul Dolan. They seem resigned to their situation, instead of fighting the big boys.

This year might be the ultimate test case. The Indians have a slim chance in the division race, but they have virtually the same record as the Boston Red Sox. And you know the Red Sox aren’t selling.

This might be the reason ticket sales suffer too. As we know, there is plenty of interest in the team, the local ratings are among the best in baseball, but Progressive Field isn’t the “place to be” for a variety of reasons.

Did Cookie Galvanize The Tribe?

The 2019 Cleveland Indians are certainly a different type of team.

After floundering around the first 60 games of the season, perhaps this squad finally found a rallying point with Carlos Carrasco’s blood disorder.

Different things unite teams every year. In 1997, the favored Indians were scuffling. Kenny Lofton had been traded during spring training, Albert Belle left during the winter as a free agent, and Carlos Baerga had been moved the season before.

Cleveland, coming off two straight division titles, had to integrate Matt Williams, David Justice, and Marquis Grissom into the culture.

Then, on Jim Thome’s birthday, August 27th, with the Tribe sitting at 67-61, the Indians decided to wear their red socks high to honor their teammate, and won 10-4.

They went on to win 9 of the next 11, increasing their division lead from 2.5 to 5.5 games and coasted to a third straight division title. And a post-season run that didn’t end until the seventh game of the World Series.

Carrasco is a respected and popular teammate who has been in the organization since the 2009 season when he came over in the Cliff Lee trade. He’s gone through Tommy John surgery and a heart procedure.

He was ineffective as a starter, and was sent to the bullpen to figure things out and get more aggressive. When he returned to the rotation, he simply became one of the most reliable starting pitchers in baseball.

And he means a lot to his teammates, who may have wanted to win that night for their teammate, and perhaps Carrasco’s illness may have reminded the other 24 players in the locker room that baseball is a game, and having fun is part of playing the game.

In the past four games, Francisco Lindor’s smile has been front and center in the dugout. We don’t remember seeing it as much earlier this year, although we might be blocking it out because the offense has been dormant.

Make no mistake, Lindor is the leader of this baseball team, and probably has been for a few years.

Yes, Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis, both players with more seniority, have been part of the leadership group, but Lindor is the Tribe’s heartbeat, one they were missing throughout the first month of the season.

How long will this continue? There’s no way to tell, heck it could end today. The Indians start a long stretch against some of the sport’s lesser teams, and maybe they lose their edge and settle back into a malaise.

If they do, it’s a sign there are bigger things wrong here.

Yes, the Tribe still has a long way to go. They are still 9.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the division.

However, they are still just a game and a half behind Texas for the second wild card spot, a half game behind Boston. Can you imagine the Red Sox saying they are going to be a seller if they were in the Tribe’s position?

Of course not. That’s why if the standings are about the same when the Midsummer Classic is played at Progressive Field a month from now, and the front office is talking about moving productive players, they are doing you a disservice as fans.

We will see how the next few weeks play out for the Indians, but if they go on a little run here, Carlos Carrasco might be a major contributor, even if he doesn’t throw one pitch.

Upcoming Schedule Is Tribe’s Friend

The Cleveland Indians starting rotation took another blow yesterday when it was announced that Carlos Carrasco, one of baseball’s best starting pitchers over the past four seasons, has a blood disorder and will be out indefinitely.

First of all, let’s all hope the illness is not serious and Carrasco will make a full recovery.

His absence gets added to fellow starters Corey Kluber (broken arm) and Mike Clevinger (shoulder/back muscle issue), and turns the strength of the team into a mess.

The only starters now remaining from the beginning of the season are Trevor Bauer and Shane Bieber, who might be the Tribe’s best starting pitcher this year with a 3.57 ERA in 13 appearances.

However, Carrasco’s not being with the team doesn’t change our stance on the future of the 2019 season for the Cleveland Indians.

As of today, while it is true the Tribe is 10.5 games out of the lead in the AL Central, they are only two games out of the second wild card spot.

Until they mathematically fall further behind any chance of a post-season spot, we have a problem giving up on a season.

Can you imagine how excited an Indians’ fan in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s would have been had the Tribe been a game out of a playoff spot in early June?

If you were around then, you are probably like us and think cashing in the season at this point is simply ludicrous.

We guess fans have gotten spoiled since Jacobs Field/Progressive Field opened up 25 years ago.

After this weekend’s series against the Yankees, here is who the Tribe plays until the All Star break on July 8th:

June 11th and 12th: Cincinnati (28-32)
June 14th-16th: Detroit (23-35)
June 17th-20th: Texas (31-28)
June 21st-23rd: Detroit again
June 24th-26th: Kansas City (19-42)
June 28th-30th: Baltimore (19-42)
July 2nd-4th: Kansas City again
July 6th and 7th: Cincinnati again

As you can see, Texas is the only above .500 team Cleveland will play over a four week stretch, and only the Reds are close to the break even mark.

Yes, we know the Indians have struggled against some bad teams (KC and Miami most notably) this season, but wouldn’t you bank on making up some ground in the standings before the Midsummer Classic?

Even after the break, there are five games the rest of July with Minnesota and Houston, but the balance of the schedule is more of the Tigers, Royals, and Blue Jays.

We haven’t changed our mind about dealing Trevor Bauer either. As we said a few days ago, a deal like that could save the 2019 season, if you can acquire some hitting.

The pitching could be good enough with Bieber and the hopefully soon return of Clevinger, and maybe the Tribe caught some lightning in a bottle with Zack Plesac.

Another good thing about the upcoming schedule is four off days between now the the All Star Game, which could minimize the need for a fifth starter.

We understand the Indians have had issues with some of the bottom teams in the league this year, but if they can start playing a little better, getting a little more offense, they have a good opportunity to make up some ground.

Soon, the schedule will be the Indians’ friend. That’s a good enough reason to not start looking toward 2020.

Tribe Needs To Cash In Bauer Right Away

The Cleveland Indians are 11-1/2 games behind the Central Division leading Minnesota Twins heading into a three game series against them starting tonight at Progressive Field.

Nobody saw that coming, mostly because no one thought the Twins would have the best record in baseball in the first week of June.

Even though the trail in the division by that huge margin, the Indians are just two games out of the second wild card spot and a chance to be the AL Champs.

The problem is, they can’t accomplish this with the roster they currently have. They need to make a bold move, and do it as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this front office has never been a group to keep moves to come from behind. In 2016, when the Indians were in first place by around five games after the All Star Game, that’s when they traded for Andrew Miller, and attempted to deal for Jonathan Lucroy.

If the front office and ownership would be willing to salvage the season and get back to the post-season for the fourth straight year, they have one logical move to make, and it would be tremendously bold: Trade Trevor Bauer for some hitting.

This pains us to say it because we have always been a fan of the right-hander, since he arrived in Cleveland after the 2012 season.

In his first year in the organization, he was a spot starter, coming up for doubleheaders and some other spot starts. He progressed to a back of the rotation starter to one of the AL’s best starters in his tenure here.

A contending team should be willing to pay a high price for Bauer, a guy who takes the ball every fifth day, and is eager to pitch on short rest.

He is also under club control through the end of next season, meaning whoever would deal for him has him for a year and a half. And moving him sooner than later may just save the 2019 season for Cleveland, but also allow him to make maybe 12 additional starts for his new team.

If you can get two major league ready hitters for Bauer, which obviously limits who he could be dealt to, we say do it right now. There is no need to wait.

Right now, with Jose Ramirez in his lengthy slump, the legitimate threats in the Indians’ batting order end with Carlos Santana in the #3 hole. Getting two more bats would lengthen the lineup and should result in better results.

And if Ramirez returns to form, and he has shown subtle signs he is starting to, then that’s all the better. Suddenly, we start to resemble a big league offense.

Even without Bauer, your starting rotation is acceptable, assuming Mike Clevinger returns soon. Terry Francona can still trot out Carlos Carrasco, Shane Bieber, Clevinger, Jefry Rodriguez, and Zach Plesac out there on the nightly basis, although we know the latter two are very much unproven.

You have to score runs to make the post-season in baseball, and the AL Central is proof of that. The Twins lead the league in runs scored. The other four teams in the division are in the lower half of the league. That explains the 11-1/2 game lead.

Forget about the talk of the window closing and even that the season is over. If you can pull off a deal soon, you will have a better offense and a solid pitching staff.

And you will be set up for contention again in 2020. The time to act is now.

The Bobby Bradley Question.

With the Cleveland Indians’ offensive woes, there has been a lot of speculation among impatient fans about bringing up certain players from the farm, most notably, slugging first baseman Bobby Bradley.

We aren’t sure that will help the Tribe, though.

First, if you read this blog enough or follow on Twitter, you know our least favorite kind of hitter, the high strikeout, low walk, low batting average guys. The pre-2019 Joey Gallo would be the poster boy for that kind of offensive player.

That said, we aren’t anti-strikeout either. Big boppers like Hall of Famer Jim Thome, and the most recent vintage left-handed hitting slugger, Travis Hafner are great offensive players.

They strikeout a lot and walk a ton, leading to both great on base percentages and slugging percentages.

Bradley is not that. This year, he has fanned 67 times at Columbus, while walking just 18 times. To us, this doesn’t show a great knowledge of the strike zone. It also shows that he is a mistake hitter.

And in the big leagues, pitchers don’t make as many mistakes.

This isn’t unusual for Bradley. A year ago, he struck out 148 times and walked just 56.

He broke out as a prospect in 2016 at Lynchburg, when he hit 29 homers and knocked in 102 runs, hitting .235. He fanned 170 times, walking 75 times.

The following year, his strikeouts went down to 122, which is good, but he still only hit .251.

His OPS in both years hovered around 800, which is good at the big league level, but this was A ball and AA ball.

This year has been his best year yet. Although Columbus is a big time hitter’s park, Bradley has a 908 OPS on the road and has belted 7 of his 16 homers away from the Clippers’ home yard.

All in all, Bradley’s career minor league numbers show a .253 batting average and an 843 OPS.

For sake of comparison, Thome had a .317 batting average and a 920 OPS in the minors. Hafner was a .298 hitter in the minors with a 918 OPS.

Another comparison would be a player currently on the Indians’ big league roster. This player had a minor league batting average of .276 and an OPS of 775.

Fans are complaining that Jake Bauers isn’t hitting in the majors and his numbers aren’t all that different.

We are firm believers in the “can’t be worse” theory in sports, and we get the argument that Bradley might be better than what Terry Francona writes in the lineup on a daily basis.

We just don’t think Bradley should be viewed as a cure all for Cleveland’s offensive problems.

The other issue is defensively. Bradley is clearly a 1B/DH. He’s never played anywhere else, and he probably can’t.

If you bring Bradley up, where does he play? If he replaces Bauers, you lose some defensive flexibility, and that was a problem when Hanley Ramirez was here.

That’s not a huge deal, but it is a factor.

We are sure the Indians want Bradley to show more control of the strike zone that he has shown, and we are also positive they have told him that.

When he does, the front office will want to take a look at him.

And the first time he comes up in a clutch situation and flails at a pitch out of the strike zone, fans will want to send him back.

It’s a conundrum to be sure. But, right now, we question whether or not Bobby Bradley will ever be a big time hitter at the big league level.

For All The Talk About Hitting, Tribe Chances Depend On Starters

The Indians unlikely come from behind win over Boston Tuesday signaled the 1/3rd mark of the Major League Baseball season, and the Tribe sits right at .500.

They went 15-12 during the first 27 games of the season, so they reversed that mark over the next 27 contests.

Depending on your perspective, the Indians were either a huge disappointment to this point, or they are extremely fortunate to be at the break even mark considering the state of their offense.

We are well aware of the offensive issues at this point. Cleveland ranks in the bottom three in the American League in most offensive categories, but the most concerning thing might just be the starting pitching staff.

The starters were supposed to be the part of the team that Terry Francona would lean on. The quintet of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, and Shane Bieber were thought to be the best in the game.

Injuries have ravaged the rotation.

Clevinger was the first to go down, making just two starts before going down with an upper back muscle pull.

The bell cow of the staff, Kluber, always good for 200 innings over the last five years, fractured his arm getting hit by a line drive.

That forced Francona to use Jefry Rodriguez for seven starts (the same as Kluber), and Cody Anderson, and Adam Plutko have each received two starts. Zach Plesac, who wasn’t even considered in the big league club’s plans in spring training, made his major league debut on Tuesday.

It hasn’t been just the injuries though. Bauer was dynamite in April, but suffered through a poor May. Carrasco has been prone to the home run ball, allowing 14 on the season.

He has a very good 72 strikeouts to just 10 walks, but he’s allowing more hits than innings pitched, something he hasn’t done since he returned to the starting rotation in 2014. Normally one of the most reliable starting pitchers in the game, he has been anything but that in 2019.

Kluber wasn’t very good before he was injured either. The normally precise righty walked in runs twice this season, something he never did in his career. And he’s allowed more hits than innings pitched as well.

To this point, the guy who was the fifth starter coming into the year, has been the most effective. Bieber has the best ERA at 3.67, has allowed less hits than innings pitched (58 in 68-2/3) and has fanned 85 batters, walking just 17.

He didn’t have great stuff Wednesday night in the 14-9 win over the Red Sox, but still persevered long enough to get the win.

If the Indians are to get back in the race for the division title, and despite what you hear, there is still plenty of time to do just that, they need the April edition of Bauer, and the Carrasco they have seen in over the last four seasons.

Despite the recent offensive explosion in the past few days, we don’t think the Indians, as constituted, will be an offensive juggernaut. They need outstanding starting pitching.

The hitting being what it is, the determining factor on the Indians getting into the divisional title race will be the starting pitching. It simply has to get back to its expected level.

Tribe Decision To Cut Salaries Is Still Mind Boggling

Really, it can’t be said enough.

What exactly was the ownership of the Cleveland Indians thinking when they decided to trim the payroll for the 2019 baseball season? It is quite mind boggling to say the least.

Yes, the ballclub was getting older, but it had made the post-season for three consecutive years, and even though the Tribe was swept in three games by the Houston Astros in the Division Series, the last two games of the series were close for most of the contests.

The Indians led in the sixth inning of Game 2 before Houston got two on, one the result of swinging bunt, before Terry Francona took out Carlos Carrasco, who was pitching a shutout, after 77 pitches.

Andrew Miller allowed the two runs to score, and the Indians wound up losing 3-1.

Cleveland held a lead in Game 3 after six, before the bullpen, including Trevor Bauer, who made two errors in the inning, allowed 10 runs in the last three frames.

Yes, the team was showing some age, but they still had Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, and an excellent starting rotation to build around.

Why not allow the front office, your baseball people, to keep the payroll the same as the previous two seasons? After all, the Midsummer Classic, the All Star Game, would be at Progressive Field this summer. Wouldn’t the excitement of a playoff team and a huge showcase cause attendance to rise?

Instead, a winter of pretty much inactivity soured the fan base. So did allowing fan favorites like Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes go, especially without replacements.

We understood the moves at the time, but we thought the plan was to re-allocate the payroll, bringing in some younger players with upside instead of the aging veterans.

It turned out, it was just a payroll dump.

When the season began, the offense was a huge question mark, at least to many fans, but the front office and the Tribe zealots said the hitting would be fine.

Granted some of that optimism was based on Ramirez returning to form, and that has left a huge gap, but even if he were performing at the same level as a year ago, this would still be a below average attack.

Don’t believe the BS that the team was losing money either. There are plenty of stories out there how major league baseball teams are awash in cash.

And if you own a professional sports team, yes, you want to make money, and we understand that, but you have an obligation to win! Especially when you own a team that has gone without a title in 71 FREAKING YEARS, and you are close to that elusive championship.

We have been around for three MLB All Star Games, and we don’t think there has ever been less buzz about the event being here. And it’s because the fan base has been deflated by the ownership.

Also, they see another organization in Berea going for it. Trying everything they can to get to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl for the first time.

The season is one-third over and we still can’t get our heads around this decision. It’s patently stupid.

And the people who are suffering are the tried and true baseball fans of Cleveland, who have watched this team get painfully close to World Series titles twice in the last 22 years, only to come up empty.

With the season hanging in the balance, the history of the Dolan ownership is to spend when they are front-runners, not to get back in the race. So, if Francisco Lindor will only be here through 2021, and Trevor Bauer is gone after 2020, you’ve wasted a year where the Indians have them.

What a mess. And really, how can anyone defend this decision?