Tribe Is A Different Team, Are They Better?

The Cleveland Indians were involved in a blockbuster trade Tuesday night, trading starter Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati in the three team deal that netted the Tribe slugging outfielders Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes, left handed prospect Logan Allen, and two lower level prospects.

Certainly, president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff addressed the club’s offensive issues, the Indians rank 10th in the AL in runs scored. It was needed to keep the team in the playoff race.

The question is did they damage the club’s biggest strength, the starting rotation.

During the winter, we advocated for trading a starting pitcher because of the rotation depth, but at that time, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco were healthy, and you had five above average starters.

While we understand Bauer wasn’t having the same success he had a year ago, he still is one of the league’s better pitchers, and there was a certain comfort of knowing when he went to the mound, and the same can be said about Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber, Cleveland has a pretty good chance of winning.

Now, instead of three nights out of five with that feeling, you are down to two.

This isn’t to denigrate Zach Plesac, who has made just 12 big league starts, and has pitched pretty well, but he doesn’t have the experience or the track record to garner that confidence.

As for the other two spots, right now they are being filled by Adam Plutko, who is a really a hit or miss proposition at this point, and Danny Salazar, who hasn’t pitched in a big league game since 2017.

And as for the return of Corey Kluber from his broken arm, remember, he wasn’t pitching well when he got hurt, and he will have missed three and a half months by the time he returns.

If anyone knows how he will perform when he gets back, please send us the winning numbers for the next Mega Millions drawing.

Yes, the Indians will score more runs, but the fear is instead of losing 2-0 against good teams, they will now lose 7-5.

Could the Tribe have updated the offense without giving up Bauer, possibly by getting a couple of rentals, which by the way, Puig is? We will never now.

Allen is a top 100 prospect in the game, but he has struggled in the majors with San Diego and at AAA this season, so it is doubtful he will help the big league club in 2019.

We are all for trading from a strength, but we didn’t feel the Indians had an excess of starting pitchers, not with the injury to Kluber and Carlos Carrasco’s illness.

Perhaps we’d feel differently if the Indians’ upgraded the bullpen, but they didn’t, so we don’t think Terry Francona can lean on his relievers to make up for the absence of Bauer.

Remember, Bauer’s ability to throw around 120 pitches per start helped protect the bullpen, and there is no one who will take over in the rotation who is capable of that.

Did this trade make the Indians a better team than they were on Monday? We can’t be certain.

The Tribe is better offensively, but their rotation isn’t as deep, and their bullpen isn’t any better, and that’s a big factor.

For the Indians to overtake Minnesota or win a wild card berth, the key will be how well the starting pitching is. If Plesac can continue his strong rookie season, if Salazar can show a glimpse of the pitcher he was in 2013-mid 2016, if Kluber can return to his Cy Young form.

As we well now, that word, “if” might be the biggest word there is.

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 Tribe’s Off-Season Plan And Where It Went Wrong

After being swept in the 2018 American League Division Series by the Houston Astros, the front office of the Cleveland Indians developed a plan.

They looked at the roster, which featured a starting lineup of position players all over the age of 30, with the exception of the team’s two stars–Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

We believe they felt the hitting was incapable of improvement except for the pair of young players, and so they set out on making the roster younger.

Oh yeah, at the same time, ownership wanted them to cut the payroll.

One of the team’s best offensive players, Michael Brantley, was a free agent. We believe he was a guy the baseball people wanted to resign, but the move to cut the players’ salary prohibited that.

So, Brantley, the professional hitter the team desperately needed, went off to Houston, leaving a big hole in the lineup.

You see, the Tribe was very top heavy last season. For the most part, when the Indians scored runs, it was because of Lindor, Ramirez, Brantley, and slugger Edwin Encarnacion, the only players with OPS over 800 on the roster.

Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff knew this, and that’s why they traded for Josh Donaldson at the end of the season. They needed another productive bat (or two).

They also knew Encarnacion declined from his first season with the Tribe (881 OPS in ’17, compared to 810 in ’18), and he would be 36 years old in 2019. So, they took the opportunity to move him and get a younger, though with less powerful hitter in Carlos Santana, who has been very good (840 OPS) thus far.

The brass also moved Yan Gomes (31), Yonder Alonso (32) in deals, and let Melky Cabrera (34) walk as a free agent. Coincidentally, the first two also were very well paid, so they saved money.

The also gave up on right-handed hitting Yandy Diaz, with his ability to get on base and a hitter who hit the ball hard, although on the ground. Still, Diaz didn’t make outs, he got on base.

The front office did bring in some young players, like Jake Bauers, a top prospect with Tampa (for Diaz), and Jordan Luplow, a good prospect for the Pirates. But, they didn’t bring in another proven bat, to lengthen the lineup.

The entire hope was that Bauers and Luplow, and perhaps Greg Allen, would step in and perform right away and give the batting order some oomph.

When the young guys struggled early in training camp, the front office panicked, bringing veterans like Matt Joyce, Hanley Ramirez, and Carlos Gonzalez. Joyce was released in camp, signing with Atlanta, and the latter two appear to be through as productive big league hitters.

So, the plan failed in not bringing in at least one bona fide hitter to replace Brantley, and then not sticking with Bauers and Luplow immediately.

There were some veteran bats out there in free agency and in the trade market. We believe the plan was to deal Corey Kluber for a young, stud bat, but when they couldn’t get what they felt was a great return, they stopped short.

We also think if the organization could have dealt Jason Kipnis, who falls in the same category as Gomes and Alonso, he would be gone as well.

One more thing, there was one young hitter who stood out in Arizona, Oscar Mercado. Cleveland sent him to the minors to start the season, and he was very impressive, and finally was called up last week.

But, the front office didn’t trust what they saw in Mercado. Would he have hit in the bigs like he did at Columbus? We will never know.

If you were going to go young, you should have done it. The slow start in spring training by the young guys caused someone to have cold feet.

Hopefully, it works out and Bauers, Luplow, and Mercado can be productive big league hitters and the offense improves. Otherwise, the front office has a lot of issues with the moves they made last winter.

Time To Take Action For Tito, Tribe.

Another week has gone by with the Cleveland Indians apparently ignoring a big problem. Their offense isn’t good enough to win the American League Central Division.

The Tribe continues to rank near the bottom of the league in not only runs scored, but pretty much every offensive category.

Here’s the tale of the tape–

Runs scored 14th
Slugging Percentage 15th
Doubles 15th
Triples 15th (in fact, they don’t have one)
Home Runs 14th
OPS 15th
OPS+ 15th

The season will be 25% over when this trip ends in Chicago on Tuesday night, so you can’t say it’s early anymore. And with the 2nd best ERA in the league, if the Indians don’t start scoring runs soon, they are going to waste a yeoman effort by their pitching staff.

You can’t place blame many places, but really, what does that accomplish? You can’t go back in time and sign Michael Brantley, a professional hitter this lineup so badly needs.

Currently, the league average in OPS is 741. The only Indians who have a figure higher than that are Jordan Luplow (851), Carlos Santana (815), Francisco Lindor (745), and wait for it…Brad Miller (742), who was ceremoniously released when Lindor returned to the active roster.

The roster is poorly constructed with tons of left-handed hitters, so when a southpaw faces the Tribe, Terry Francona is forced to play Jason Kipnis (.148 vs. LHP) at second, and at least two of these outfielders: Leonys Martin (.171 vs. lefties with 14 strikeouts in 35 at bats), Carlos Gonzalez (.167 with 10 whiffs in 24 at bats), or Tyler Naquin (.214).

The ugly numbers continue. The league average for scoring to date is 4.65 runs. The Indians have played 10 games in May and scored 25 runs. Even the most mathematically challenged can discern that’s 2.5 per game.

They’ve scored five runs three times, and that’s the high water mark for the month.

Outside of the debacles last Sunday and Monday in which Cleveland lost 10-0 and 9-1, the pitching staff has held the opposition to four runs or less in every other game this month.

With a league average offense, that would mean eight wins. Instead, they are 4-6.

We have some suggestions as to what the Indians should do, but really, when it comes down to it, isn’t doing the same thing the worst thing they can do?

The organization, from Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff down to Francona have to stop burying their heads in the collective sands and start doing things differently.

Here are our recommendations:

End the Gonzalez experiment. The veteran didn’t have good numbers away from Coors Field last year, and it is time to start giving time to Jordan Luplow, who has an 874 OPS in AAA.

Let’s find out what the 25-year-old right handed hitter an extended shot at a job.

Bring up Oscar Mercado. Let’s not make Mercado the savior, but he had a great spring training, and outside of a 1 for 25 stretch at AAA, has been very good there, hitting .303 with a 909 OPS.

Plus he has 14 stolen bases in Columbus. It might be against the grain in today’s game, but why not run as much as possible with the hitting suffering.

An outfield of Martin, Luplow, and Mercado should be very good defensively too. This would also free Bauers to play some first base, giving Santana some rest.

Mike Freeman hasn’t done a bad job as a backup infielder (he had two hits yesterday), but he’s a left-handed hitter, so Francona has no alternative to Kipnis.

This recent stretch has nothing to do with the injury to Corey Kluber. This has been a problem since day one.

The frustration from the fans and media alike is the lack of trying something different. It’s time to take action.

Oh, and by the way, this isn’t helping sell tickets, Mr. Dolan.

Tribe Front Office In A Slump Too

The front office of the Cleveland Indians is well respected among Major League Baseball. Other teams are always interviewed people within the organization for jobs, people like Derek Falvey, now running the Minnesota Twins, Neil Huntington (Pirates), and David Stearns (Brewers).

Heck, even the Cleveland Browns hired a former Indians’ executive in Paul DePodesta.

However, the current front office is in a slump, otherwise it is hard to describe the moves made by the front office since the end of the 2018 season.

We understand the ownership ordered the executives to cut the payroll, even though the Tribe has won three consecutive division titles. That alone is a head scratcher, but we have already discussed that numerous times.

As the hot stove league started, we thought we understood what Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff were doing. The ’18 Indians were getting old. Among the regulars, only Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez were under 30 years old.

So, Michael Brantley left through free agency, and Yan Gomes was dealt to Washington, in a move that could pay dividends, as Jefry Rodriguez is now very much needed as a starter with the injuries to the rotation.

They traded Erik Gonzalez to Pittsburgh for Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff. Luplow has had a lot of minor league success that so far hasn’t translated into the big leagues.

The move that was really curious was dealing Yandy Diaz, an on base machine, to Tampa for Jake Bauers.

First, let us say, we like Bauers. He works counts, shows some pop, and is second on the Tribe currently in RBIs. But Diaz has started to hit with power, hitting seven homers to date with Tampa, and is still getting on base 36% of the time.

Only Carlos Santana can say that among the regulars with Cleveland.

The organization wanted to get younger and wanted to commit to younger players, but it seems the guys brought in were lottery tickets, they didn’t go all in and get a stud, like perhaps Alex Verdugo with the Dodgers, currently hitting .346 with a 981 OPS.

We felt the extension to the plan was to deal from strength, meaning moving a starting pitcher, either Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, or Carlos Carrasco, for a package involved a stud bat.

Either the offer wasn’t there, or the front office overestimated the market value for one of their starters, but it seems like they stopped short.

As spring training wound down, the front office seemed to think it made a mistake, so they signed veteran bats like Matt Joyce, Hanley Ramirez, and Carlos Gonzalez. Only the latter is still here, and quite frankly, hasn’t been an impact bat to date.

Players like Asdrubal Cabrera, Derek Dietrich, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis (yes, we understand he probably was only interested in re-signing with the Braves) were all available and signed for very little money.

One of them could have been signed to give the team the veteran bat missing with Brantley’s departure.

Greg Allen had a very good last two months in ’18, and a great spring training, but Terry Francona buried him on the bench early in the season, and he floundered. It is tough for a young player to be in a reserve role.

Maybe the front office is trying to show ownership that you need to spend to win, this is their subtle way of protesting the payroll cut.

The pitching moves are odd as well. Cody Anderson was brought up because the team needed someone to soak up innings after the bullpen was heavily used in the first game of a series vs. Kansas City.

Anderson was in AAA to get stretched out after Tommy John surgery to be a starting pitcher again. The right-hander was used that night for two innings, but then stayed on the big league roster for a week, instead of going back to lengthen his workload.

Now, he is starting today, and Francona is probably hoping to get four innings. Of course, they currently have nine relievers on the team.

It’s an odd way of handling things over the last eight months. Hopefully, it’s just a slump.

Bad Winter For Supporters Of Tribe Ownership

If you have been a proud supporter of the Dolan ownership of the Cleveland Indians, this has been a tough winter for you.

The goodwill that came from hiring Terry Francona as manager after the 2012 season has been used up and once again, fans are questioning the ownership’s commitment to winning.

And when we say winning, we mean winning a World Series.

Perhaps the Dolan family got caught up in the emotion of getting to Game 7 of the Fall Classic in 2016, and gave Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff more to spend in the next two seasons, but that appears to be short lived.

A few days ago, Antonetti said in a story by Paul Hoynes in The Plain Dealer that we was told to trim the payroll. This is what has been feared all off-season. We figured the front office was just re-allocating money from declining veterans to younger players with upside.

However, we were fooled.

The ownership’s mantra has always been that they will spend when the time is right, and most fans figured that is when they had a chance to win. Most fans have to be scratching their collective heads wondering why the time isn’t right now!

The Indians have two of the best position players in the sport in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. They have arguably the best starting rotation in baseball.

When MLB Network aired it’s Top Ten Starting Pitchers Right Now, three Cleveland Indians’ were mentioned: Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer. You could easily put all three in the top 15.

They are trimming the payroll when almost everyone who comments on the sport is proclaiming their outfield situation a mess. Their current set up would appear to be Tyler Naquin in LF, a platoon of Leonys Martin and Greg Allen in CF, and maybe Jordan Luplow or Oscar Mercado in RF.

Now, we like the centerfield situation. Martin is a solid bat against right-handed pitching and we have always liked Allen’s potential. We like him better than Bradley Zimmer, which may be heresy for some.

Since the end of July 2016, Naquin has accumulated 335 at bats, batting .248 with five home runs and 35 RBI. That’s not good enough for a team that should be viewing themselves as a World Series contender.

Luplow has very good minor league numbers, but he has less than 100 at bats at the big league level, and is hitting under .200 in those plate appearances.

Mercado has never had a big league at bat.

Couple those two positions with Jake Bauers (very good potential, but a .201 hitter and 726 OPS) and Roberto Perez, a lifetime .205 batter in the majors (638 OPS), and you have a lineup that would appear to have problems scoring runs.

As we always say, we aren’t expecting the Cleveland payroll to reach the same levels as the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers. Why cut $15 million off the payroll going into the season where the front line talent is there?

We don’t believe for a single minute that the Indians are losing money, and we understand people own businesses to make cash.

In professional sports though, there is an obligation to win, particularly if you own a team that has the longest span without a championship in that respective sport.

Where is the commitment Indians’ fans deserve from the ownership? Let alone the commitment players like Lindor, Ramirez, Kluber, Carrasco, Bauer, and the rest of the players should be getting.

Tribe Front Office Not Exactly Appealing To Fan Base

The Cleveland Indians made some news this week, but not the kind the fans of the team wanted.

No, they didn’t sign a free agent bat, or trade a member of their deep starting rotation. But they did cause a stir because team president Chris Antonetti pretty much said the roster the Indians have now will be the one which will take the field in late March in Minnesota for Opening Day.

So, while the franchise isn’t in rebuilding mode, it does seem like they are no longer in “go for it” mode either.

Look, we understand the Cleveland Indians cannot have the same payroll as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The market size simply doesn’t support that.

Last year, according to USA Today, Cleveland ranked 15th in the sport in money allocated to players salaries. Smack dab in the middle of all MLB teams.

They’ve shed the high salaries of Edwin Encarnacion, Michael Brantley, Andrew Miller, Yonder Alonso, Yan Gomes, and Cody Allen. The only high salary taken in this winter was Carlos Santana.

We agreed with many of these moves. Most of that group were aging players, their performance likely declining with the onset of Father Time. Unfortunately, it’s not like they’ve been replaced with young stud on the upswing.

Jake Bauers and Jordan Luplow could wind up being solid, if not very good, major league players, but in our experience, you can’t depend on two young players making quantum leaps to becoming solid contributors on a contending team.

Bauers has a career batting average of .201 in 350 at bats, while Luplow’s mark is .185 in less than 100 at bats.

And we know some of the money saved goes to increasing money to some of the Tribe’s stars. Francisco Lindor will make $10.5 million, Trevor Bauer around $12 million, and Corey Kluber will make an estimated $7 million more in 2019.

There’s too much risk in the current strategy. Would it be a shock if Bauers and Luplow don’t develop? Or Tyler Naquin can’t hit enough to play everyday? Or Jason Kipnis declines even more?

Even if only one of those happens, one would think the Indians are going to struggle to put runs up on the board.

Right now, they are assured of production at three spots: shortstop, third base, and wherever Santana plays.

With arguably the best starting rotation in the game, and two superstars in the lineup, why not spend at the same level as 2018? That’s the question for the Dolan ownership.

First, we would find it highly doubtful that the Indians lost money in 2018, or in any of the last five to ten years for that matter. The sport is flush with cash. They signed a new television deal that will provide all teams additional money in 2022.

Keep in mind, each team received $50 million last year when MLB Advanced Media sold some assets to Disney.

Stop blaming attendance too. While that took a slight dip in 2018, it is still 39% higher than the 2015 figure.

It figures to increase in ’19 because of the All Star Game being at Progressive Field this summer and there will be no Cavs playoff this year.

So, there’s no reason for ownership not to spend as much money as they did a year ago. Absolutely none.

A year ago, the Indians were on the same level as the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees as the best teams in the American League. They’ve clearly taken a step back.

It’s not on the fans. It’s a decision made by the front office. If the Indians wanted to spend an extra $20 million in payroll in 2019, they could. It might not be prudent, but they could.

And there is no percentage of revenue teams must spend on payroll either.

Right now, the front office/ownership is showing they don’t want to go for it. And that’s something that should disturb the fan base.

What Can Tribe Add In Free Agency

The calendar has turned to 2019 and that means football season is over in Cleveland, and spring training for the Indians is just a little over 40 days away.

What will the Tribe look like as they take the field in Goodyear to start getting ready to defend the American League Central Division title that they’ve held for three years?

One thing is for sure, president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff have to address the everyday lineup, because as it stands right now, it’s not good enough to be a serious contender to get to the World Series.

Another thing to consider is the age of the everyday players. The Indians finished the 2018 season as the third oldest team in the AL, behind just the Mariners and Angels.

So, the challenge is not only to get better, but get younger as well.

The only way to do that, it seems, is to trade a starting pitcher, either Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, for a package which would consist of a young position player and a top prospect to help the upper levels of the farm system, which is kind of barren right now.

However, if the front office can’t make that kind of deal, what else can they do to upgrade the lineup.

They could trade some prospects, but as we just said, the upper level is thin right now, and with Bauer coming up on free agency, we would prefer to keep the Indians’ top prospect, Triston McKenzie, who could be ready to hit Cleveland later this season.

That means the only option to improve the lineup would be free agency, preferably on short term deals to give the team flexibility going forward. This would allow the organization to look at a deal involving a starting pitcher after next season.

We would look at Nick Markakis to play right field. Markakis had one of best seasons a year ago, and is a professional hitter and a solid defensive player.

And he hit .310 with a 851 OPS on the road in 2018, meaning his home park held down his offensive numbers. He is also walking more as he ages, which bodes well for him holding his production as he ages.

He is also very consistent, with only one season in his 13 year career having an OPS below 700. His lowest on base percentage over the last five years? .342 in 2014.

As the off-season goes on, it is more and more likely you can get Markakis on a short term deal, say a one year contract with a club option.

The other hitter we would look at is 2B DJ LeMahieu, who has played in Colorado his whole career. This would move Jose Ramirez back to third base.

His on base percentage has slipped in the past two years, but he is only 30 years, and again on a short deal, we feel he could rebound in 2019.

He’s a .298 lifetime hitter, albeit in Coors Field, but he is a guy who puts the bat on the ball, and he’s also a three time Gold Glove winner, so he brings outstanding defense as well.

These two moves would lengthen the lineup for Terry Francona, and also allow him to ease in young players like Jordan Luplow and Greg Allen without the pressure to produce immediately.

This much is clear, the team has to address the lineup. With two superstars in the lineup and perhaps the best starting rotation in the majors, this isn’t the time to be wishing and hoping.

Tribe Deals Good First Step, Now What?

As baseball’s Winter Meetings came to an end, it appeared the busy week we all expected for the Cleveland Indians was not coming to fruition.

Then, in the next two days, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff took the first steps in what we figured the organization wanted to do this off-season, reallocating the payroll in an effort to make the 2019 Indians better.

The first step was dealing Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle, and thus returning Carlos Santana to Cleveland. That saved (depending on where you get your information) an estimated $5 million on the ’19 payroll.

The other half of the deal sent Yandy Diaz, who it seemed the Indians were loathe to play, to Tampa Bay for 1B Jake Bauers, a top 100 prospect, who hit .201 with 104 strikeouts in 384 plate appearance for the Rays last season.

However, looking at the left-handed hitting minor league numbers, he didn’t have a profile of an all or nothing hitter.

We don’t understand the lack of gusto for Diaz, who’s high on base percentage (.361 in the majors, .415 in AAA) was never taken advantage of by the Tribe. We are disappointed in the lack of opportunity for a player whose only problem hitting was not getting the ball in the air.

Friday night, the front office cleared a spot for Bauers by dealing Yonder Alonso, another over 30 player whose hitting seemed in decline, to the White Sox for a minor leaguer, clearing another $8 million off the books.

This gives the Tribe a decent chunk of change to upgrade the roster and still keep the payroll where it was a year ago. And that figure might be the highest the ownership feels comfortable with, whether the fans like it or not, or they believe it.

If the organization doesn’t spend the saved money, then they deserve all of the criticism they will get. We don’t believe that will be the case though.

However, they still have a lot of holes. We believe to have a solid batting order, you need seven reliable hitters. Right now, the Indians have three: Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Santana.

That leaves them four short, and we don’t think they can fill them all in free agency. And don’t forget, they still need to address the bullpen too.

They need to either move Jason Kipnis in a deal similar to the Alonso transaction to free up more money, or continue to explore trading Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer to fill two or perhaps three pieces.

Then you may be able to put a solid batting order out there every day.

We may be considered insane for saying this, but even if the Indians had the financial wherewithal to sign either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, it really wouldn’t solve their problem.

It would simply make their top heavy batting order more top heavy.

We like what Jordan Luplow may bring, but he hasn’t proven it at the big league level. Same with Jake Bauers. Adding one or two players with some success in the majors, or a top hitting prospect (like Alex Verdugo of the Dodgers), would seem to be more helpful, and help the Tribe have the kind of attack which give pitchers nightmares up and down the order.

These two deals were a great first step for the front office, but now the real work has begun. Adding players who can help next season.

And don’t be fooled by people claiming they won’t have to trade a starting pitcher. They still do in order to reshape the team they want next season.

Gomes Move Is First Step To Reallocating Payroll

The Indians dealt another key member of the team over the last five seasons on Friday, moving catcher Yan Gomes to the Washington Nationals for two minor leaguers (the 7th and 8th prospects on Baseball America’s mid season report.

Immediately, the criticism began from the Tribe is cheap faction in fandom. We say let’s see. If the Indians’ payroll is not close to where it was last season, then there is a valid argument.

However, as we have said all along, if Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff want to improve the 2018 Indians, they will need to clear some cash from the books, and that would give them the flexibility to add some players.

The Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes said it is difficult to contend while you rebuild, and while we agree in most cases, when you have two of the league’s top ten players in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, it is a bit easier.

Gomes will turn 32 next July, so he is past his prime. While still an excellent defensive catcher and handler of a pitching staff, here are his OPS since coming to Cleveland in 2013:

2013: 826
2014: 785
2015: 659
2016: 527
2017: 708
2018: 762

Last season was Gomes’ best offensively since ’14, so logic tells you he was going to slip back a bit in 2019. He’s not a guy who has real strike zone judgment either, his career high in walks being 31 in 2017.

In our opinion, that doesn’t lead to a player sustaining decent offensive numbers as he ages.

With Gomes making $7 million this year and with club options for ’20 ($9 million) and ’21 ($11 million), the brass figured they didn’t want to pay that kind of money for a season that probably won’t be as productive as last, so they dumped his salary.

That doesn’t mean there is a “fire sale” going on, it simply means the Indians are doing what we said they need to do since the off-season began, and that is reallocate the payroll.

They have a lot of money tied up in players who no longer are producing up to the level of their contracts: Edwin Encarnacion ($21.7 million), Jason Kipnis ($14.7 million), and Yonder Alonso ($8 million).

All of these guys are on the other side of 30 years old, and there performance has declined. Let’s say the Indians could manage to trade all three of them, plus Gomes, and that would clear over $51 million in salary, and if they plan to have a payroll close to 2018 level, it gives them a lot to spend.

If they decide to deal a starting pitcher, again, it is a move designed to reallocate funds and also a trade made from strength.

With the emergence of Shane Bieber, and the coming arrival of Triston McKenzie, there may be no better time to move a starter.

We would hate to see Corey Kluber dealt, but he will be 33 in April. If you can move him and get a young hitter and another young pitcher in return, you have to think about it.

You still have Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, Bieber, and you can get another veteran starter with the money you save to hold you over until McKenzie is ready.

Remember too, the three pitchers Cleveland was obtained since the end of the season (Chih-Wei Hu, Walker Lockett, and Jeffy Rodriguez) all have starting experience in AAA.

So, don’t make any rash judgments on what the front office is doing until they are finished. We aren’t someone who think the Dolan ownership does no wrong, but right now, we believe the front office is just moving soon to be dead money in favor of younger players with upside.

And that’s what they should do.