Who is to Blame With Tribe?

The one thing the Cleveland Indians have done during this collapse which has extended to 18 losses in 22 games in put their entire organization under the public microscope.

Unfortunately, most of the blame is placed at the feet of the ownership. From the standpoint of they are the ones writing the checks and putting the people in charge, then they should shoulder that burden.

But this horrible situation is like an onion, there are many layers to peel away and doing it makes your eyes water.

Certainly, the Dolan family has put Mark Shapiro in charge of the organization. Under his watch, the Indians have put together nine of eleven losing seasons.

There are people who think Shapiro should stay because he’s not involved in the day-to-day running of the baseball operations. However, he would hire the new GM if he chooses to fire Chris Antonetti, and more than likely, he will hire someone with similar ideas.

So, there wouldn’t be a new direction there.

Others feel Manny Acta should be the fall guy. But if Antonetti and Shapiro stay, do you really think the new manager will be different from Acta or his predecessor Eric Wedge? Doubtful.

Fans blame the organization for not wanting to go a third year for Twins’ slugger Josh Willingham last winter, but whose decision was that?

Did the ownership tell Antonetti not to include a third year or did the baseball people decide it wasn’t worth the risk?

Did the ownership push the baseball people to sign Grady Sizemore or Casey Kotchman? Doubtful.

Did the ownership say not to call players up from Columbus? Also doubtful.

Did the GM make the decision to deal three top ten prospects for a pitcher with make up problems in Ubaldo Jimenez, and then deal a pitcher who could have helped the bullpen in Zach Putnam for Kevin Slowey?

On the other hand, did Acta push for Kotchman in order to improve the infield defense?

Does the skipper have a problem with young players Matt LaPorta and Lonnie Chisenhall and that’s why they both started the season in Columbus?

Does anyone know if Acta went to the front office and asked for reinforcements at the beginning of June, or did he assure Antonetti and Shapiro that the Indians could contend with its current roster.

We just don’t know. Nobody does, and it is doubtful anyone will find out the answers to these questions any time soon.

That’s why the Dolan family have to do something we know they are loath to do, and that is clean out the entire organization.

Since they’ve owned the team, they have put a great deal of trust in Mark Shapiro, but seriously name one area of the franchise that is in top-notch shape right now.

The farm system is ranked very low by experts. The top two levels (Columbus and Akron) don’t have many impact players.

We’ve talked about the performance of the big league team over the same time frame. It also doesn’t pass muster.

And fan morale and belief in the front office is at an all-time low. That means it is getting more and more difficult to sell new season ticket packages.

What makes it more difficult is that the Dolan’s seem to be good people. It would be very hard to get rid of someone who they have worked very closely with since they bought the team.

It’s time for a new fresh set of ideas. That can only come with new leadership.

To borrow a phrase from a different sport, Mr. Dolan, the ball is clearly in your court.

Manny Acta’s Imaginary Job Interview

When Manny Acta was hired as the skipper of the Cleveland Indians, both GM Chris Antonetti and team president Mark Shapiro were very impressed with the way he knew a lot about the organization. He did his homework.

Here is how we imagine the interview wrapped up:

Shapiro: Congratulations, Manny. You are the next manager of the Cleveland Indians.

Antonetti: We do have some things we want to discuss as to how we run things here before we make the announcement.

Acta: What do you mean?

Antonetti: Well, things like we have total control over the roster. You can make out the lineup, but we get total control over who is on the 25 man squad.

Acta: You mean to open the season? No problem. I get to make suggestions right?

Shapiro (laughing): Oh yeah, we’ll listen to you, but no, we get to have total control of the roster for the entire season.

Antonetti: And we have to talk about how we speak to the public. You have to use words like “process” and phrases like “in our situation”.

Shapiro (laughing again): You can’t use “grinding” anymore. Wedgie used it so much that people are sick of it. They make fun of him now.

Acta: OK?

Antonetti: We like to use platoons too. We think instead of getting one good player, you can use two limited ones and get the same production. Can you like with that?

Acta (thinking about not getting the job): Sure, no problem.

Shapiro: That’s good. You know, we had Showalter and Farrell in the organization and they kept telling us different things we did wrong. We told them we had to be in charge for the process to work.

Antonetti: Good one, Mark! You used “process”.

Acta: Well, what if a guy who makes the opening day roster starts out struggling, how long do we stay with him?

Antonetti: We are very patient. I’d say we have to wait until around the All-Star game before we can be sure the guy can’t hit. We don’t want to give away someone who can play.

Shapiro: Like Phillips. I told Wedge that was going to bite us in the rear end. We won’t make that mistake again. By the way, Manny, you said “what if”. I like that. I think we can do something with that phrase.

Acta: Ok, I think. Does the ownership plan to invest if we are contending?

Antonetti: We tell the public that, but we’re in this to make money. If we win great, but the owners want to recoup the cash they put up when they bought it. Old man Jacobs really snookered them.

Shapiro (sternly): Chris! We’re not supposed to talk about that. We’ll spend a little, but when a player starts creeping up on free agency, we have to think about moving them. Remember, I’m good at that, I stole three good players for Colon. Damn, we should’ve kept Phillips!

Acta: I think I’m fine with that. I’m not a real fiery guy, is that ok with you?

Antonetti: No problem. Hey Mark, remember when Manuel got thrown out of a couple of games early in his first year? We had to talk to him about calming down. It doesn’t present the right corporate image.

Acta: Corporate? This is baseball, I’m a little confused.

Shapiro: This is the new age, Manny. Heck, if we could make Polo shirts part of our uniform, we would. You’ll see in a few years, every team will operate like we do. We’re on the cutting edge.

Acta: I hope so. I’m your man, let’s do this.

Tribe Needs to Keep Moving Forward

In the past few weeks, really since they were in the middle of their 11 game losing streak, the Cleveland Indians are playing for next season.

They’ve released four veteran players and replaced them with younger guys, trying to get a head start on talent evaluation for 2013. We’ve seen Corey Kluber have one good start and two clinkers, Chris Seddon (who’s actually kind of veteran, he’s 28) has had one good start and one so-so outing, and Ezequiel Carrera has shown Tribe fans that leftfielders can get hits every once in a while.

However, they shouldn’t stop there. When Travis Hafner went out with a back injury, manager Manny Acta said Shelley Duncan would get the bulk of the at bats at the DH spot. Why, exactly would the team want to do that?

Look, Duncan’s a hard worker, and Acta has a soft spot for him. But he’s 32 years old, and is 3 for 22 in the month of August. Wouldn’t it be better for the future if the organization gave those at bats to someone else?

For that matter, why should Casey Kotchman and Jack Hannahan continue to garner playing time. These two players, and Duncan, aren’t likely to be on the roster next season. And if they are, then the front office should have a lot of explaining to do.

The Indians keep looking for the player who batted .300 a year ago, but it’s quite obvious that guy isn’t showing up. His batting average continues to hover in the .220’s, and he shows no signs of having a hot streak.

Hannahan hit .250 a year ago, but he’s a lifetime .231 hitter, and his average this season is….231! And since May 1st, he’s batting just .205. Yes, he’s excellent with the glove, but he can’t hit big league pitching consistently.

It’s time to take a good look, not a September 1st call up, at players like Matt LaPorta, Russ Canzler, and Tim Fedroff.

We are stressing not waiting until the rosters can be expanded because of the baseball axiom to ignore what you see in April and September. Tribe management can get a good look at these players for almost 50 games.

On LaPorta, to be sure some of you are saying “not again”. But the Indians front office have to find out once and for all if he can be a productive big league hitter. He can garner almost 200 at bats the rest of the season.

If he hits, great. If he doesn’t, then the ballclub can release him with a clear conscience. However, they simply have to find out.

Canzler has been on fans’ wish lists since spring training when he hit the ball with authority. Dismissed by some as a “AAAA” hitter, he’s had just three major league at bats. Let’s find out if he can be a contributor in ’13.

Fedroff is 25 and has never reached the majors despite being a .297 lifetime hitter in the minor leagues. His problem is that he’s not a power guy with only 21 HR’s in five minor league seasons.

Along the same thought, it’s also time for Jeanmar Gomez to come back up and take a regular turn in the rotation. He’s 6-2 with a 2.59 ERA at Columbus, and had a better ERA in Cleveland than Josh Tomlin, Derek Lowe, and even Ubaldo Jimenez. For a team needing starting pitching next season, he should be getting an opportunity.

It’s probably something than Acta and GM Chris Antonetti don’t want to admit, but this season has set sail and it’s time to move forward to 2013. Giving these players a chance now would be helpful in that regard.

Tribe Has Much to Do Before ’13

A few weeks ago, we advocated that the Cleveland Indians be buyers to try to stay in the race for the AL Central Division title.

They were around 3 games out at that point.

We aren’t backing off that statement because if you are that close, you owe it to your ballclub and your fans to try to win and get into the playoffs.

That seems kind of ridiculous considering what has happened since the All Star break.

The purge has started with veterans Derek Lowe, Johnny Damon, Jeremy Accardo, and Jose Lopez all being jettisoned recently, and more moves are likely to follow.

So, if the front office is looking ahead, then we need to as well. And the future is very pretty, at least for 2013.

The lineup has just six players who figure to be in the Opening Day line up for certain: CF Michael Brantley, SS Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B Jason Kipnis, RF Shin-Soo Choo, C Carlos Santana, and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall.

That leaves gaping holes at 1B, LF, and DH. Oh, and also, the Indians need a quality right-handed hitter to fill in at least one of those spots.

The starting rotation is a mess right now. Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez are the only for sures that have any kind of track record, and both are those hurlers have been inconsistent to say the least.

Josh Tomlin? He has marginal stuff and needs pinpoint control to win. He can’t be counted on.

Zack McAllister? No track record. He’s made less than 20 major league starts.

Roberto Hernandez? Another up and down pitcher, and he hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this year.

That’s not to mention other guys who haven’t proven anything in the majors like Jeanmar Gomez, Corey Kluber, and dare we say, David Huff.

That’s no way to go into next season expecting to win, having a starting rotation full of question marks.

So, from this view, the 2013 Cleveland Indians need at least one solid bat (same as last year), two other regular players, and two solid starting pitchers.

With a farm system without a lot of talent in the upper levels, how does the organization accomplish this?

Well, one way would be to fill a hole by signing a free agent. The Indians have a lot of money coming off the books this fall (Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore’s deals expire, among others), so there may be room to sign one. A reliable starter would be a good choice.

Another avenue to explore is to deal from strength, and the Indians have a pretty good bullpen. Perhaps dealing Chris Perez, who despite recent struggles has proven to be an elite closer, to fill some holes is a move that needs to be made.

Keep in mind what former Indians’ GM John Hart used to say, “closers grow on trees”, meaning they come in all different forms.

Vinnie Pestano is perhaps the game’s premier set up man. Can he close? No one knows for sure, but he is used to pitching in pressure situations.

Heck, for all anyone knows, Esmil Rogers might turn out to be the closer. Did anyone think Jose Mesa would be a good closer when he was a back of the rotation starter for the Indians in the early 90’s?

No matter how they do it, it isn’t just a piece or two that the Tribe needs to address for next season. It’s four or five pieces.

So, Chris Antonetti or someone else has a tall task.

If the Indians want to compete with the White Sox and Tigers next season, they have to do a lot more than they did last off-season.

Who Is Tribe Management Talking About?

As the Cleveland Indians’ season continues to fall into oblivion, one of the mantras GM Chris Antonetti chants consistently is the players currently on the roster have to do better.

That’s easier said than done.

However, who is Antonetti talking about? How many players on the current roster are underachieving?

Certainly, the starting pitchers have not done as well as the organization thought going into the season. Justin Masterson, in particular, looked like a guy who turned the corner in 2011, and has been terribly inconsistent this season.

Ubaldo Jimenez? He’s been up and down since coming over from Colorado last July. Has he under performed? If you compare him to his excellent 2010 season, yes.

But if the front office expected great things based on what we did last year, then they are crazy.

Josh Tomlin had a solid year in ’11, but he’s a control guy with marginal stuff, and struggled in the second half of last season. It can’t be a total surprise that he hasn’t been good this year.

On the offensive side, no one can complain about the job being done by SS Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B Jason Kipnis (although he’s slumped lately), CF Michael Brantley (a breakout player this year), and RF Shin-Soo Choo.

You can’t expect more out of those four players.

Carlos Santana has been a disappointment after last season. His minor league numbers show he’s too good of a hitter to be consistently around .240. He does walk a ton, and lately has started to be productive.

Even in a disappointing season, he still ranks third on the team in RBIs, behind Kipnis and Brantley.

So, what players are failing?

Travis Hafner is having a disappointing season, particularly with his batting average, but the truth is, he hasn’t been really productive since 2007. Why would the front office expect more?

Casey Kotchman is a journeyman 1B, who had a good season in ’11 with Tampa, hitting .306. However, he has a lifetime .263 batting average. It doesn’t take a great deal of vision to see he probably wasn’t going to hit that well this season.

What are the front office’s expectations for Kotchman? It seems they may be looking for too much.

Jack Hannahan? He’s a journeyman as well. He’s 32 years old and has had over 400 at bats in a season just once. Why? Because he’s not a good hitter.

Was the front office fooled into thinking he woke up one morning and became Mike Schmidt?

The management completely ignored the LF issue, unless you consider signing the oft-injured Grady Sizemore as a remedy. Most people, including the fans and media, thought that was a bad idea.

So, again we ask, who exactly has underachieved?

It appears it is the front office because they deluded themselves into thinking that players who haven’t been productive for several years, or who have no real track record for hitting were going to start hammering the baseball.

That’s foolish, and it’s one more reason changes need to be made on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

There aren’t many players on the Cleveland Indians who aren’t doing what was expected. The disappointment comes from a management team who was expecting the impossible from certain players, who weren’t capable of performing.

Perhaps Antonetti is deflecting attention from the inactivity that has plagued this organization over the past 12 months.

The only people who need to perform better are in offices at Progressive Field. For the most part, the players are doing exactly what should be expected.

A Few Suggestions for the Tribe.

It appears the last gasp of the 2012 baseball season for the Cleveland Indians was the four runs outburst in the seventh inning to beat Justin Verlander last Thursday night at Progressive Field.

It’s been downhill ever since both on the field and in the front office.

Fans of the Tribe are understandably both frustrated and infuriated as the organization sits back and does nothing while there are still a chance to compete for the division title.

Now, it appears very likely that the franchise will endure another season below the .500 mark, the ninth in the last 11 years under the Dolan/Shapiro/Antonetti stewardship.

The baseball season is over for the most part, and we can thank the inactivity of the front office, both in the off-season and during this season for that.

The funniest comment made yesterday by GM Chris Antonetti was that the organization learned in discussing trades was how other teams judged the Indians’ players.

The hidden message was opponents don’t think much of what the Tribe has on the big league roster and the upper levels of the minors.

So, what can the Indians do going forward to help repair their relationship going forward? Here are a few suggestions…

First, end the “what if” advertising campaign. With the lack of moves and winning, the commercials have become a source of ridicule for the organization.

Yes, the period from 1994-2001 may have been the best span in club history. It’s over! Showing us clips of Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, and Sandy Alomar Jr. just makes fans angry that the Indians refuse to compete now.

Focus on the present. Tell fans why they should come to Progressive Field now. And if you can’t come up with a good reason, that’s another problem altogether. Get better as an organization.

Second, it’s time to get better at player development. When support is written or said for the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, the main argument is that Drew Pomerantz and Alex White aren’t doing anything with the Rockies.

That’s an indictment of the scouting system since they were both first round draft picks.

This organization has just one drafted player (Jason Kipnis) among its starters, and another Lonnie Chisenhall, who would start if he wasn’t injured and the manager didn’t have a man crush on Jack Hannahan.

For a small to mid market team, that’s a recipe for disaster. And that’s why the Indians is consistently under .500.

If you look at the best prospects in the game, only one player from the Cleveland organization is on the list, 2011 first round pick SS Francisco Lindor.

The talent in the organization has to be improved, or the failure rate is going to continue.

The last thing Antonetti should do is start building for 2013 right now. We are echoing what several people have said already.

It is time for departure to players who aren’t going to be part of group that meets in Goodyear, AZ next spring.

That means good-bye to Johnny Damon, Casey Kotchman, Shelley Duncan, Derek Lowe, and Jack Hannahan.

Let’s take a look at some of the players from Columbus, who by the way leads the International League in batting average and runs scored.

We have said this many, many times. Russ Canzler, Matt LaPorta, Ezequiel Carrera, Tim Fedroff, Corey Kluber, and Chris Seddon can’t be any worse than the players whose place they would be taking.

They should be called to the big leagues immediately.

It would also allow for some players from Akron to be moved up. The Aeros have a lot of players repeating the AA level for the second time, and it’s time to see if those guys are prospects or not.

At least it would make the games somewhat worth watching for hardcore fans.

The Dolan family, Shapiro, and Antonetti have some fence mending to do. It may already be too late.

Tribe’s Message to Fans: We Don’t Care about Winning

Perception is reality. This is something the front office of the Cleveland Indians doesn’t understand, or else the fans are exactly correct about the management of the team.

They don’t care about winning.

They can bring out their spreadsheets and flow charts and mission statements all they want, but the perception of the people who buy tickets is that the only folks involved with the Indians who want to win are the players.

That’s their perception, and perception is reality.

The Indians finished below the .500 mark last season, but they were in contention until the beginning of September. The team that won the division, the Detroit Tigers, added a premier free agent, Prince Fielder, to their roster.

The Tribe basically did nothing.

On May 24th, the Tribe beat Detroit to run their record to 26-18 and had a 3-1/2 game lead in the AL Central Division. They still had weaknesses, getting no offense out of 1B, 3B, and LF. The front office didn’t feel the need to add to the roster.

A month later, on June 24th, the Indians record was 37-34, meaning they went 11-16 in the last 30 days. They dropped out of first place, but were just a half game out of first.

The same weaknesses remained and Derek Lowe’s season started to go south. The Indians needed to get some starting pitching along with help to cover up some of the other flaws, but the front office still did nothing to help out a group of players trying to keep their heads above water.

On July 24th, the Indians beat the Tigers to improve their record to 49-48, meaning they went 12-14 over the last 30 days. The dropped to third place, but were just three games of the pace.

The weaknesses remained, but the front office did nothing outside of replacing the 25th man on the roster, replacing Aaron Cunningham with Brett Lillibridge.

It the meantime, the White Sox traded for Kevin Youkilis and Brett Myers, and the Tigers got Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante.

The Indians’ front office claimed it was a slow trade market.

What they are really telling you is that they don’t care about winning.

Whether it’s the ownership holding the purse strings tight, and not allowing president Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti to add to the current roster, or it’s the executives not feeling this team needs help, the end result is they don’t want to win.

The disinterest has even seeped down to the dugout where Manny Acta seems void of emotion.

Three more blown calls which hurt the Indians were made in the series against the Twins with the skipper glued to his seat.

The one that occurred yesterday was protested vehemently by SS Asdrubal Cabrera, who seemed to be close to an ejection. Acta sat there like a statue while one of his best players argued.

Acta has done a good job keeping a team with more holes than swiss cheese around the .500 mark, but you have to wonder if he’s losing his team because he doesn’t seem to have their backs.

The perception, there’s that word again, is that Acta isn’t fighting to win, he isn’t defending his team.

Look, a manager can’t get kicked out of every game, but every once in a while, he needs to go out and show his team and the umpires that the Cleveland Indians aren’t going to be pushed around.

The entire organization seems slow to react to problems, slow to argue calls, slow to bring in more talent.

Then they wonder why fans are slow to show up to games.

It’s because the message they send is the Cleveland Indians do not care about winning.

Tribe Management Gun Shy?

With last night’s win over the Detroit Tigers, the sixth in seven meeting against the Motor City Kitties this year, the Cleveland Indians are now just three games out of first place in the AL Central.

This means even if they were to drop the last two games of the three game set, they will be only five games out of first place as we hit the last weekend of July. Where we come from, that’s being in the race.

And don’t pay attention to folks who point out all the teams ahead of the Tribe in the wild card race. That might be a factor if this were the beginning of September, but the schedule still has over 60 games remaining, so there is plenty of time to pass all of those teams.

So, why isn’t GM Chris Antonetti making any moves to help a team this close to first place?

It may just be the sins of the past catching up with the organization.

Last year, Antonetti was aggressive going out and getting Ubaldo Jimenez from the Rockies for a slew of top ten prospects in the organization. Although Jimenez pitched well in the series opener last night, that trade hasn’t worked out as well as the GM probably anticipated.

To be sure, the Indians thought Jimenez was a top of the rotation starting pitcher with swing and miss stuff. He would be classified as the #2 starter for Cleveland right now, but he would be lower on most American League teams.

He currently leads the league in walks allowed and is tied for 10th in giving up home runs, never a good combination.

His lack of success may have the front office a little gun-shy go out and obtain another big name guy.

And of course, because of that deal, the Cleveland farm system is not as deep as it was in 2011. Several publications have the Indians ranked in the bottom 10 in all of the major leagues.

Still, there are some positions in the organization where there is some depth, most notably middle infielders (particularly at the lower levels), catchers, and relief pitchers.

Another factor that makes the organization hesitant to trade young players is the success of Brandon Phillips. We are all familiar with then manager Eric Wedge’s non-favorable opinion of the second baseman, which led to his trade, and ultimately a few all-star appearances in Cincinnati.

Cord Phelps is a good example of what happens now. The third round pick in ’08 reached the AAA level in 2010 hitting a combined (with Akron) .308 and an 825 OPS.

Last season, he didn’t hit in a cup of coffee in the majors (he was used sporadically), but put up a .294 batting average and 868 OPS in his time at Columbus. It would seem someone looking for a 2B might be interested, especially since the emergence of Jason Kipnis has made him an expendable commodity.

This year, his numbers have dropped at AAA to a .263 average and a 781 OPS, thus lessening whatever trade value he may have. His career has grown stale.

Maybe the Indians tried to deal Phelps over the winter, but there was no market for him because of his struggles (.155 in 71 at bats in Cleveland last season), but that seems unlikely. There was usually teams looking for middle infielders with a little pop.

Phelps might be able to play, but you never hear his name in the trade rumors which swirl at this time of year.

The Indians can’t afford to be this conservative. They need to trust their talent evaluators and go out and get some players who can help a team very much in the post-season race.

Come to think, maybe that’s the problem. They don’t trust themselves to get the right players. And if that’s true, that’s a bigger problem for the Indians’ front office.

The Tribe Shouldn’t Sell Right Now

After losing the first three games of a four game set against the Baltimore Orioles, the rats are jumped off the S.S. Tribe very, very quickly.

There are people even saying that perhaps the Indians should now be sellers at the July 31st trading deadline instead of trying to improve the team.

As horrible as the Indians have looked since the All-Star break, and they have been bad, especially on offense scoring just 31 runs in 10 games with 19 of those occurring in two contests, they remain just 4-1/2 games out of first in the AL Central Division, and a mere 3-1/2 games off the pace for the second wild card spot.

A few people have mentioned how many teams the Indians would have to climb over to get the latter spot, but that would only hold water if there were a couple of weeks remaining in the season. However, there are more than 60 games remaining, more than enough time to pass a number of teams.

That’s why GM Chris Antonetti cannot start trading his most marketable people in the next eight days. In fact, he still should be looking to help the current roster, because it is obvious the Indians cannot make gains in the standings with its current personnel.

While everyone wants the team to make a huge splash, dealing for an all-star type player, that may not be necessary. Improving the roster could involve cutting bait on players who haven’t been productive for the Tribe from day one.

That would mean finding replacements for the deadwood currently on the team, guys like Casey Kotchman, Aaron Cunningham, Jack Hannahan, and yes, even Travis Hafner. Replacing two of them could have an impact.

The same would be true getting another starting pitcher, even replacing one with someone from Columbus. Who knows? You might just catch lightning in a bottle.

The other night saw a rumor saying the Indians were close to getting Phillies OF Shane Victorino, a free agent at the end of the season. That’s not a sexy pick up, but Victorino is a switch-hitting outfielder, who has been productive in the past.

Let’s say the Indians get him. They would no longer have a need for Cunningham because Victorino is a CF by trade. Victorino could play LF for the Indians, upgrading the OF defense.

It strengthens the bench because Johnny Damon or Hafner would no longer be in the lineup everyday, and it adds another right-handed bat (and a productive one, he’s hitting .318 with a 981 OPS vs. lefties) when facing a southpaw.

And it would also allow Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo to get an occasional day off, keeping them fresh.

It would also lengthen Manny Acta’s batting order, where production ends after the cleanup hitter usually bats (although with Carlos Santana starting to hit a little, it would be after the 5th spot).

It’s one smaller type move, but it should make a decent impact on the team.

Plus, it would also show the players that the front office believes in them, and is concerned with winning baseball games.

Two or three more moves like that could make an even bigger impact, and we’ve been advocating making these subtle moves for over a month.

Yes, the White Sox have lost five straight, but look at the immediate impact Kevin Youkilis made upon his arrival. By the way, does anyone else think it’s odd that the Red Sox wanted either Josh Tomlin or Zack McAllister from Cleveland, but accepted Brett Lillibridge (since released) and Zach Stewart (in the minors) from Chicago?

We’ve always thought you are in the race if you hit Labor Day five games or less out of first. There’s still five weeks or so before that holiday and the Indians have a smaller deficit.

It’s not the time to sell right now. Antonetti needs to help his team, not take it apart.

Tribe Front Office Needs to Look in Mirror

The news broke yesterday that the local television ratings for the Cleveland Indians are down significantly from last year. This shows the interest in the team is definitely waning, and they are starting to lose even the hard-core fans.

This can’t be good news on the corner of Ontario and Carnegie.

The powers to be in the front office will probably issue the usual spin they put on things, and try to bamboozle the fan base with corporate babble and say the numbers are incorrect based on their research.

Much like they did when Forbes Magazine said they made a tremendous profit last season.

What Mark Shapiro, GM Chris Antonetti, and the Dolan family aren’t hearing is their fans are fed up with the way things are with this franchise.

It’s time they looked in the mirror and realized their “process” isn’t getting it done.

First, if the Indians finish under .500 in 2012, that will be 9 out of the last 11 seasons that has been the case. Sounds a lot like the 1960’s and 70’s, doesn’t it?

The front office will freely admit they have drafted poorly over these years, with just one first round draft pick, Lonnie Chisenhall, that was drafted prior to 2011 still being in the organization.

Moreso, only one home-grown player, Jason Kipnis, can be considered a regular right now, and Josh Tomlin is the only starting pitcher originally drafted by Cleveland.

For a small market team that doesn’t attract free agents, that’s completely unacceptable.

The people who pay tickets realize it’s just a matter of time before Shin-Soo Choo will be dealt away or leave as a free agent, and the same is true for Asdrubal Cabrera.

That’s based on history.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds, at least a similar size market (most likely smaller) decided to pay their best player, Joey Votto, so he will spend the majority of his career with the team.

How can they do it?

That’s the question Tribe fans keeping asking and they are dissatisfied with the answers they are getting. They feel betrayed by an ownership and front office that does nothing more than offer excuses and reminds everyone that they are losing money at very opportunity.

At some point, doesn’t someone stand up at a staff meeting and say this isn’t working? Right now, that won’t happen because the organization is loath to hire someone from another team.

Yes, the organization has made some good moves, but name one from recent vintage? Is signing Jose Lopez, a limited bench player really a success?

The front office blew it in the off-season by not getting the right-handed bat it sorely needed, and they made a huge mistake in handing $5 million to the oft-injured Grady Sizemore.

They complain about attendance, but tickets are sold in the off-season, and the team did NOTHING in the winter to spur interest in the team. That’s not something that can be blamed on the fans, that’s on the guys who run the Indians.

They need to do something that excites the fans. If that takes spending money, then so be it.

Fans are tired on the same old, same old.

After last year’s great start, a season in which the team was in contention for most of the year, they didn’t capitalize, and the people buying tickets found something else to spend money on.

Perception is reality, and the reality is the fans don’t trust the Dolans, Shapiro, or Antonetti. That’s why fans seem to cater to the Cavaliers, they trust Dan Gilbert.

They believe he wants to win. They don’t have that same feeling about the Indians.

Change for change sake usually isn’t a good idea. After 11 years of mostly mediocre baseball, it’s time for an internal audit.

That last comment is something the corporate front office of the Indians might understand.