Credit For The Ramirez Deal Should Go Only To Jose

They have been a lot of stories written about the negotiations between the Cleveland Guardians and Jose Ramirez as spring training was ending, and the resulting contract extension for the all-star third baseman, which will keep him in town through the 2028 season.

First, let us say we are thrilled Ramirez is staying. He is one of the top ten players in the game, with a trio of top three finishes in the AL MVP voting over the last five seasons. Baseball fans around northeast Ohio deserve to see someone play the majority of a great career in a Cleveland uniform.

We have brought this up before, but the last player to spend 10 seasons in the big leagues and only wear an Indians/Guardian jersey was Al Rosen, and he retired in 1956.

Other smaller market teams have their icons: Milwaukee has Robin Yount, Kansas City has George Brett. Colorado has Todd Helton.

Jose Ramirez can be that guy for northeast Ohio baseball fans.

And the credit for this is all on one person, and that is Jose Ramirez.

There is no question in our mind Ramirez could have received much more on the open market, figure between $25 and $30 million per year for seven or eight seasons. Texas gave Marcus Semien, who is two years older and not as good as a player, $175 million over seven years. You have to estimate Ramirez would have received over $200 million on the open market.

But he wanted to stay.

According to the stories by national writers, had Ramirez wanted to be paid commensurate with other players with his resume, he would have returned to Progressive Field this past week as a member of either the San Diego Padres or Toronto Blue Jays. The front office was fully prepared to trade him now in order to get the best return.

The Guardians management learned from the Francisco Lindor situation that moving a potential free agent prior to his walk year doesn’t yield the same market value.

However, Ramirez took a “discount” and wanted to remain in a Cleveland uniform, stating he wanted to retire here, go into the Hall of Fame as a Guardian, and win a World Series with the organization.

That’s the perfect news fans want to hear.

Mark Shapiro’s father, Ron Shapiro, who was an agent, said he told the athletes he represented there was a value in playing your entire career in one city. You become a part of that city and can tie yourself into that community.

Even though Bernie Kosar finished up in Dallas and Miami, look at how many local businesses want Bernie speaking on their behalf.

It seems like Ramirez felt the same, and we would bet we will start seeing Ramirez used in advertisements around this area soon.

Unfortunately, this signing isn’t going to make us feel any better about the ownership of the team. They simply did what any owner would do, keep a great player who made it very clear he wanted to stay, even taking less money to do so.

If you can’t do that as an owner, why are you even involved in professional sports.

Fans here should be thankful for Jose Ramirez. He is the reason this deal got done. No one else.

Early Season For Guards? You Have To Be Encouraged

It seems like yesterday that the Cleveland Guardians opened the delayed 2022 season in Kansas City, but after yesterday’s doubleheader against Toronto, the Guards have hit the 1/6th point in the ’22 campaign.

What have we learned? The biggest takeaway is what we knew going into the year. This is a very young team and therefore prone to streakiness, so a close to .500 record (13-14) makes sense. Our guess is that will stabilize as the year goes on.

The offensive has improved, or has it? Cleveland ranks 2nd in the AL in runs scored per game at 4.68, trailing only the Yankees. However, remember the streakiness we discussed? Terry Francona’s squad has been held to two runs or less in 11 of the 27 games, and have scored 17 runs, 11 runs, 10 runs twice as well.

They are 1-10 when they score two or fewer, so when they get to three, their record is 12-4. Pretty good, eh?

In the off-season, we said the ability to get on base had to improve for Cleveland, and to date it has. The Guardians are 3rd in the league in on base percentage.

Last year, only Jose Ramirez and Myles Straw had OBPs of over .350. So far this season, there are five players with over 50 plate appearances (beside Ramirez and Straw, Owen Miller, Steven Kwan, and Andres Gimenez) who are getting on base 35% of the time or more.

Miller has already walked more this season than he did in all of the 2021 season.

And though we doubt Miller can continue to hit .353 or Kwan can hit .319, we also don’t think Franmil Reyes will continue to hit .204 even though his strikeout to walk ratio is an unsightly 43 to 3.

To be fair, we also don’t think Andres Gimenez will stay over .340 and Josh Naylor won’t hit over .300 either, but both should be in the lineup everyday.

The organization has shifted from the big swing players to guys who can put the ball in play, and we think that is a great move in the right direction.

They started scouting players with good contact rates in amateur ball a few years ago, figuring they can develop power easier than teaching players to make contact.

Surprisingly, the Guards’ team ERA is third last in the American League at 4.03. They have held opponents to three runs or less 11 times, going 8-3 in those games.

Part of the problem has been the slow start of Aaron Civale, who has a 9.45 ERA, but did turn in his best outing of the year Thursday night against Toronto. Zach Plesac has also struggled in his last two starts, allowing 10 ER in 8-2/3 innings.

The bullpen has stabilized. Emmanuel Clase had a bit of a struggle early but has looked like himself in the last week or so. Trevor Stephan and Nick Sandlin have emerged as the bridges from the starter to Clase.

Lefty Sam Hentges, pretty terrible last year as a starter, has thrived as a reliever, pitching 13 innings and allowing just one run. Most of his outings have been in low leverage situations, but that could change soon.

This is a fun team to watch for the most part, and we are intrigued to watch these young players develop. Also, there is no curious veteran playing for the most part, unless you are not an Amed Rosario fan (and we aren’t, really).

Hanging around .500 will keep you in the mix for a playoff spot for a while, and that’s what you want from the squad.

So far, so good for the Guardians.

Guardians’ Roster Needs Trimming, They Have Plenty Of Choices

After today’s game in Oakland, the roster of the Cleveland Guardians must be reduced from 28 to 26, although there is no limit on the number of pitchers, and we all know how Terry Francona loves relief pitchers.

It doesn’t seem like it will be a difficult decision for the Guards’ front office to remove two players, as quite frankly, they have more than a couple of players on the current roster who could be replaced.

The Guardians currently have 14 pitchers on the roster and we don’t think that will change. They have Anthony Castro on a rehab assignment after being placed COVID list, and the question is will he be back when he is ready.

The man who replaced him, Enyel De Los Santos has looked good, and if he stays, room will have to be made on the 40 man roster. The logical move, if De Los Santos stays, is to put James Karinchak on the 60 day injured list, retroactively.

Or, the front office could bring Castro back, keep De Los Santos, and make a move with Logan Allen. The southpaw continues to struggle in most appearances. He has a 4.50 ERA, but has allowed 9 hits and 3 walks in six innings of work.

Among the everyday players, it would seem that Bobby Bradley is the odd man out. Bradley hasn’t had a huge opportunity this season, but he certainly hasn’t done much with the chance he has had, going 2 for 17 with nine strikeouts.

Bradley’s biggest problem might be his lack of versatility, he can only play 1B or DH. And Owen Miller and Josh Naylor seem to be better options at first.

Who is the other player to go? We doubt it will be Yu Chang right now. Chang is on a rehab assignment right now, so the club doesn’t have to make a decision on him right now.

Unless there is a IL move with Amed Rosario, it might be Ernie Clement who goes to Columbus. He’s hitting just .182 (8 for 44) and has just three walks. He made the opening day roster due to his versatility, but he’s played 2B, 3B, and LF primarily, and Terry Francona has plenty of options at each of those spots.

And it might help Clement to get every day playing time.

The roster has other problems right now.

Right now, Franmil Reyes, one of the three solid offensive players the Guardians had coming into the season, is unplayable. He’s 0 for his last 25, and isn’t hitting in tough luck, because he was fanned 17 times in that span. He leads the AL in striking out.

The other problem is starter Aaron Civale, who hasn’t thrown a pitch in the fifth inning of any of his four starts this season. He’s had some poor defense behind him for sure, but opposing hitters are also hitting .349 against him.

He’s made just four starts, so small sample size, but the Guardians have alternatives too, currently Eli Morgan, although he’s a candidate to get sent out at some point in time because he needs to get stretched out to be a starting option.

There’s also Konnor Pilkington, who is in the process of building up innings at Columbus after starting the year in the Cleveland bullpen.

Two players have to be off the roster before the Padres come to town on Tuesday. No doubt, the Guardians have plenty of choices to make as to who will no longer be on the roster when the Guards start their homestand.

Guardians: Walks Down, So Is The Run Count

Heading into the 2022 baseball season, our biggest concern about the offense of the Cleveland Guardians was the inability to get on base.

It looked like this improved in the first six games of the year, when the Guardians drew four or more walks in five of the first half dozen contests.

And the team scored seven or more runs in four of those games.

However, since then, Guards’ hitters have drawn four or more bases on balls just once (Monday night in Anaheim, they were shutout anyway), and have only scored more than five runs twice.

And one of those games was an 11-1 win over the White Sox in which the opponents committed four charged errors, and it could have been more.

After the initial six games, Guardian hitters have had a game with 15 strikeouts and no walks, 12 punchouts and one walk, and 10 K’s with two walks.

Cleveland currently sits fifth in the AL in on base percentage, mostly because they have the second highest batting average in the league (.253, my how the game has changed).

They are 11th in drawing walks, so really not that much improvement.

Myles Straw leads the Guards in walks with 10, followed by Steven Kwan with nine, and Jose Ramirez with seven. This trio has a little more than half the free passes Cleveland has received through the first 17 games of the season (26 out of 50).

The best strikeout to walk ratios belong to these players:

Batting average OPS
Kwan 6:9 .341 956
Ramirez 7:7 .353 1.151
Straw 14:10 .261 .669
Owen Miller 8:5 .450 1.300

As you can see, if you know the strike zone, you can be a better hitter. Compare those figures to these–

Batting average OPS
Oscar Mercado 14:0 .185 655
Franmil Reyes 30:3 .161 430
Austin Hedges 13:3 .125 405
Andres Gimenez 11:1 .286 804

Gimenez is the only Guardians’ hitter with a poor strikeout to walk ratio that is putting up good numbers.

On Monday, Reyes came to the plate with runners on first and second and no one out, and actually had a 3-0 count, before swinging at two pitches out of the strike zone. That’s probably the worst at bat by a Cleveland hitter this season to date.

Certainly, with Straw, Kwan, and Ramirez at the top of the lineup, for the most part, they are making opposing pitchers work to get outs. They see a lot of pitches in most plate appearances.

The rest of the lineup save for Miller? Not so much.

It is odd that notorious hacker Amed Rosario, is tied with Miller at five bases on balls, but he is usually up there swinging if a pitch is close, and that causes him to get himself out at times.

Meanwhile, the three players who have poor numbers at judging a ball from a strike, Mercado, Bobby Bradley, and Yu Chang have combined to strikeout 22 times without drawing a walk. Again, most of that has been done by Mercado.

For the offense to pick up again, the Guardians’ hitters have to be more selective and stop swinging at bad pitches. We know, easier said than done.

And Reyes has to be better. We know he can be streaky, and part of the reason is his idea of the strike zone. Teams have already started to pitch around Ramirez. The opponents have to pay for doing that.

Some Trends Developing For Guardians

As we found out, the COVID 19 virus is still very much among us and the Cleveland Guardians have had four players test positive. This has forced roster moves we are sure the organization didn’t want to make.

We figured to see Enyel De Los Santos sometime after the starting pitchers were sufficiently stretched out. The former Phillie and Pirate right-hander pitched well enough in spring training that is was a surprise he didn’t come north to start the regular season.

However, Kirk McCarty and Tanner Tully were not in the plans at least in April, but here they are because Cal Quantrill and Anthony Castro had to be put on the injured list.

Losing the red hot Owen Miller doesn’t help the batting attack either. Miller was 14 for 28 with seven extra base hits to start the season, and along with Jose Ramirez, was the best hitter Terry Francona put in the lineup.

While it is still early, there are trends from Francona in doling out playing time.

First, despite the talk about playing Amed Rosario some in left field in spring training, that appears to be dead. Rosario dropped a fly ball on a very windy opening day and apparently that was the end of that.

The problem is that Rosario is a below average shortstop defensively. Andres Gimenez is better and when Gabriel Arias was up yesterday, he’s also better. Both of those young players are playing second base while Rosario continues to play the most important defensive spot on the infield.

Very, very odd.

As for Gimenez, it seems the organization is viewing him as a platoon guy right now. He’s had two at bats vs. LHP so far, and when a southpaw starts for the opposition, the Guardians have used Yu Chang, Miller, Arias, and Ernie Clement at second.

He has hit when he’s played, going 5 for 17, although he has fanned four times without drawing a walk.

It could be that Francona is simply finding time for guys like Clement and Chang against a left-hander, but it seems odd to make a 23-year-old a platoon piece.

Something to watch over the next week or two is how the Guardians handle Bobby Bradley. The left-handed slugger already lost playing time to Miller when the latter got hot, and now with Josh Naylor back, how does the skipper find at bats for him?

Naylor has split his time thus far equally between first base and right field.

Maybe with Miller out, Bradley gets a shot at some playing time, but it looks like the organization already is sour on him because of his extreme swing and miss tendencies, something the management seems to be getting away from.

A player who is getting playing time regularly is Oscar Mercado, and he started out hot, belting three home runs. However, he’s just 9 for 39 overall, and has fanned 11 times without drawing a walk. Just how long is his new found power (six extra base hits) sustainable with that strike zone judgment.

He’s another who could lose time with Naylor back, and don’t forget, Oscar Gonzalez has started off hot in Columbus.

Plenty of these young players are getting opportunities with the big club right now. The guys who take advantage should get a long look at the beginning of this 2022 season.

Guardians Get Patient, Start Scoring.

What a turn around for the Cleveland Guardians, right?

That’s if you can use a two game sample size as the basis for any discussion, which of course a rational human being would not do.

Still, it is eye opening. After the first two games of the 2022 season, in which the Guardians played 19 innings and scored a lone run, Sunday’s game against the Royals featured Kansas City starting Kris Bubic, a left-hander.

Terry Francona gave Bobby Bradley the day off vs. the southpaw and curiously also gave Yu Chang the day off after the pair went 0 for 10 in games one and two with five strikeouts, four of them from Chang.

It was probably a coincidence on that day, but the Guards scored six in the first inning on their way to a 17-3 win, their first of the season.

They scored 10 runs the next two games as well.

It would not be fair to put the blame on the first two games on Bradley and Chang, and if you visit this site often, you know how we feel about both players as hitters. We were never fans of them, or really, anyone with bad strikeout to walk ratios.

However, in moving contact master Steven Kwan up to the #2 spot in the batting order, the first three hitters in the Cleveland lineup all make the opposing pitcher get the ball in the strike zone.

Leadoff man Myles Straw had the second best on base percentage on the squad last season, and the guy he trailed, Jose Ramirez hits third. It sets the tone in the first inning with this trio grinding out at bats and taking walks.

When Franmil Reyes starts hitting, he will no doubt have a boatload of RBI opportunities.

Another young player, Owen Miller has started the 2022 season like he did in AAA last season, that is to say, raking. He has fanned just twice on the season while compiling seven extra base hits (5 doubles and two home runs).

Amed Rosario has dropped into the #5 hole, not a traditional spot for a guy with little power, but he’s also putting the ball in play, fanning just once on the season.

And Ernie Clement hasn’t played much, but he’s walked twice and been hit by two pitches. He’s another guy with a contact profile in the minor leagues, despite striking out three times yesterday.

Some fans have speculated that Bradley and Chang’s future with the team is coming to an end, but we think it’s just about Tito going with the hot bats. It isn’t the organizations style to end a player’s tenure (especially ones that came up through the system) after a couple of games.

On the other hand, if this team keeps hitting, it will be hard for those two to get bigger opportunities.

Look, the first two teams the Guardians have played aren’t known for their pitching, so is the offensive explosion sustainable? That remains to be seen, and the next two series are against the Giants and White Sox, a step up in competition.

But the shift from all or nothing at bats by most of the batting order to a patient, put the ball in place approach seems like it should help score more runs, and that was a problem last year for Cleveland.

The first two series have spurred some interest in Cleveland baseball fans. That’s the best result.

Guardians Still Making Decisions As Season Gets Underway.

Two things happened for the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, one surprised and one not so much.

The Guards scored one run in the season opener, which is hardly a shock based on last season. We felt the offense would struggle and be the reason for a below .500 campaign.

The surprise was the trading of Bradley Zimmer after the game to Toronto for reliever Anthony Castro, clearing up the outfield situation a bit.

Castro, who will turn 27 in a few days, seems like a decent return. Yes, he has a career ERA of 5.26 in 26 big league appearances with Detroit (1 game) and the Blue Jays, but he has 33 strikeouts and just nine walks in 26-2/3 innings. He’s allowed five homers, which is a concern.

The trade would seem to open up at least a platoon spot for rookie Steven Kwan, who went 1 for 2 in his debut with two walks. And remember, the Guardians need guys who can get on base.

We hope this is the first move to clear up the roster as the 2022 season moves along.

We understand it is just two games into the season, but the middle infield, which are key defensive spots, are in a state of flux.

Andres Gimenez started at short in one game, and at second on Saturday. Amed Rosario played LF and then SS. Yu Chang started at 2B, moved to first during the game, and sat in game two.

In the radio broadcast of the opener, Tom Hamilton noted the Guardians must play a clean game defensively to win. We would say moving players in and out of key defensive positions is not a good way for that to occur.

It also seems odd to back what is the backbone of your team, your pitching staff, with poor defense at key positions.

First, let’s remind everyone that Rosario is not a good defensive shortstop. So, the infatuation with playing him there is odd. And although he had a good batting average in 2021 (.282), he’s not a real good offensive player, because he doesn’t walk (his career high is 31), and doesn’t have a lot of pop, with just a .409 slugging percentage last season and .404 lifetime.

We have not been a fan of Yu Chang, but the organization needs to make a decision on him once and for all, and the way to do it is to play him, let’s say 10-15 games in a row. They need to see if the surge at the end of 2021 was real or not.

In the meantime, give Owen Miller enough at bats so he is ready if Chang doesn’t hit.

Just put Rosario in left and leave him there or make a decision to move him. It’s not like he’s blocking someone right now, and he would have better offensive value not hitting at the top of the order.

Also, in the name of defense, we would make a commitment to play Josh Naylor at 1B when he is activated. An outfield of Myles Straw in center, Kwan/Oscar Mercado in right, and Rosario in LF would seem to have the gaps covered pretty well.

We know that Terry Francona likes to give everyone some at bats early to keep everyone on the roster involved. So, the lineup turmoil could be just that.

It’s also a delicate balance trying to get the most offense the current roster can provide with good defense to back the pitching.

However, it’s why not clearing up the roster duplicity over the winter is an issue. The inability of the front office to make decisions didn’t help the current situation.

Kudos For Signing Jose, But It Looks Like 3rd For Guards in ’22

After a pretty dreary winter for baseball fans in northeast Ohio, the sun peaked out a little yesterday.

First, today is the beginning of the baseball season, another sign that warmer weather will be here soon, and the Guardians will be home next week after six games, four in Kansas City and two in Cincinnati.

Second was the news baseball fans wanted to hear for a long time. Jose Ramirez, one of the best players in the game, signed a five year extension, keeping with the franchise through the 2028 season.

Ramirez could be the first great player to finish his career in a Cleveland uniform while spending every day of it in that uniform since the 1950’s.

We aren’t going to go overboard in praise of the current ownership because they simply did what any owner interested in winning would do. It’s a shame they couldn’t do it with Francisco Lindor a year ago so we could watch the duo of Ramirez and Lindor reach their prime in Cleveland.

It’s a great step in the right direction, but the Guardians’ payroll is still among the lowest in the sport, and the owners continue to put large profits in their pocket. So, forgive us for not sharing a virtual hug with Paul Dolan.

With the games starting to count today, what does the 2022 season hold in store for the newly minted Guardians? We would love to be more optimistic, but we see a third place finish for Terry Francona’s squad, behind Chicago and Minnesota in the AL Central.

Besides Ramirez, the Guardians have one other big thing going for them, and that’s an excellent starting rotation, providing everyone stays healthy. Last year, that did not happen.

Because of the injuries the rotation is probably deeper with the emergence of Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie in the second half of 2021. The five starters, including Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac, give the Guards a chance to win every night.

In today’s game, that’s a big thing.

However, beyond that, your guess is as good as ours.

The offense looks like it will struggle. Francona can really write in one great offensive player (Ramirez) and two decent ones (Myles Straw and Franmil Reyes) every day.

We are interested in seeing how Andres Gimenez does this year, but the organization seems hell bent on finding out for sure on players like Bradley Zimmer, Oscar Mercado, and Bobby Bradley.

We are pretty sure we know how that movie ends.

The quicker we see more of Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan among others, the better. And the hitting might get better too.

The bullpen is another area that is up in the air. Who will be the primary set up men for Emmanuel Clase? We are sure Bryan Shaw will start in the role, but who else? We like Nick Sandlin, but he was hurt at the end of the season, and has pitched in just 34 games in the majors.

Besides Anthony Gose, the relief corps right now is filled with pitchers who will be providing length rather than one inning stints.

We will see how that plays out.

Our guess is the Guardians will look a lot different in June and July than they will this afternoon, but did they have to? Last year, the team was very much in the race until Bieber, Plesac, and Civale went down.

If the rotation can avoid the injury bug, the Guardians could stay in the race, but more than likely the lack of offense will be the reason this will be another year outside of the post-season, even with an extra spot available.

Lots Of Young Players Need To Come Through For Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians have had a curious off-season to be sure. They finished the 2021 season below the .500 mark at 80-82 but didn’t really make any moves to improve the major league roster.

They signed two free agents, catcher Luke Maile, who figures to back up Austin Hedges when he gets healthy, and also inked Bryan Shaw, who was on the roster last season.

Cleveland was 41-31 on June 24th and just two games out of first place after a 4-1 victory at Target Field against the Twins. However, by that point in time they had lost three members of the starting rotation to injury: Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac.

To that point in the season, Cleveland had 21 wins from that trio. They received eight victories the rest of the year, six of them by Plesac, and none from Bieber.

There should be some optimism from that. All three appear to be healthy heading into the season, and with the emergence of Cal Quantrill and the maturation of Triston McKenzie, the Guardians could have one of the best rotations in the sport.

The bullpen has a dominant closer in Emmanuel Clase, but very little other proven arms, save for Shaw.

In the regular season though, you have score runs to win, and therein lies the biggest question mark to the 2022 season. Can this team score enough runs to make a post-season push?

Cleveland ranked 9th in the American League in runs last season and 13th in the league in getting on base. They have a lot of players on the roster who make an awful lot of outs, and they did nothing this winter to address that.

So, the likely lineup that will start the season will feature players like Bradley Zimmer (career OBP of .310), Oscar Mercado (.296), Austin Hedges (.249), Amed Rosario (.307), and Bobby Bradley (.287).

There were players on the open market who could get on base, and young players like Steven Kwan and Richie Palacios have demonstrated the same ability in the minor leagues, but the organization decided to stand pat. Kwan did make the season opening roster, but we will see how much playing time he gets.

And by the way, talking about how close you came to making moves is meaningless. It’s the same as telling folks how close you came to winning the lottery. In the end, you didn’t get anything.

So, it doesn’t appear the Guardians have done anything to solve the problem other than hoping these guys get on base more often. That’s the Dusty Springfield (look her up) method: “Wishin’ and Hopin'”.

Once opposing pitchers get past the #3 hitter Jose Ramirez, and the clean up man, Franmil Reyes, there could be a lot of smooth sailing. Putting together a rally will be a stretch, there is a lot of feast or famine from #5 through #9.

Maybe Andres Gimenez will improve if he’s back to his regular position of shortstop. Maybe Yu Chang hits like he did the last two months (although his 69:11, K:BB ratio says otherwise). Maybe Owen Miller hits like his minor league numbers.

These aren’t things an organization should be basing their success on.

The Guardians are banking on several young players coming through this season. That sounds like a rebuilding team, not one interested in contending for a playoff spot.

Just Five Years Ago, Cleveland Baseball Was Riding High

In 2017 the Cleveland Indians completed a season in which they won a club record 102 games, but lost in disappointing fashion to the Yankees in the AL Division Series in five games. That after taking a 2-0 lead in the series.

They had two of the best players in the game in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, and that duo was just 23 and 24 years old, respectively. The pitching staff was led by two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and another future Cy Young Award winner in Trevor Bauer.

The payroll for that season ranked 18th in all of baseball at $114 million (according to BaseballReference.com), and the Tribe drew slightly over 2 million fans, an increase from ’16. They were 3rd in the AL in runs scored.

Following a World Series appearance the year before, it certainly seemed like the franchise was headed for a long tenure at the top.

After that season, Carlos Santana, Jay Bruce (a late season pick up in ’17) and Bryan Shaw left via free agency, with Yonder Alonso signed to replace Santana. The payroll increased to $143 million, ranking 13th in baseball, and attendance dropped slightly to 1.9 million.

They remained 3rd in the AL in runs scored.

They did trade for former AL MVP Josh Donaldson to bolster the roster in September.

The team’s record fell to 91-71, understandable since they set a club record the year before. And they were swept in the ALDS by Houston.

After that season, many of the players well known to fans began to leave. Michael Brantley, Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Josh Tomlin, and Brandon Guyer all were free agents.

Yan Gomes was traded for Daniel Johnson and Jefry Rodriguez. Edwin Encarnacion and Yandy Diaz were moved in a three way deal that brought back Santana and Jake Bauers.

The Gomes move hasn’t paid dividends, mostly because Johnson doesn’t seem to be in good favor with the front office. And while Diaz is a regular with Tampa, now a perennial contender, Bauers was a bust and was let go.

Santana did have a very good 2019, but then departed as a free agent after 2020.

In 2019, the team finished second in the AL Central with a 93-69 record, but missed the playoffs. The payroll ranked 11th at $151 million, but attendance dropped to 1.7 million. And they fell to 7th in scoring runs.

During the year, the front office moved Trevor Bauer in a three team deal which netted the Indians, Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig.

Reyes is a fixture in the shaky lineup today, providing power, but still isn’t a polished hitter, striking out a lot, but doesn’t get on base enough.

Kluber was moved after the season, but no one can complain about this one. Emmanuel Clase is the closer and last season had a tremendous year. Kluber is now on his fourth team since leaving Cleveland.

The 2020 season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Tribe did make the expanded playoffs, losing in a three game series to New York, 2-0, but the once potent offense dropped to 13th in the American League in scoring.

During that season, the front office dealt another mainstay in Mike Clevinger, and they hope that move sets the foundation of future success. They received starter Cal Quantrill, starting catcher Austin Hedges, and 1B/OF Josh Naylor, who is a regular, as well as prospects Gabriel Arias, Owen Miller, and LHP Joey Cantillo.

Even with the trades of Kluber, Bauer, and Clevinger, the starting pitching has still been solid. Shane Bieber won a Cy Young, and Quantrill and Triston McKenzie, a farm system product, show signs of being special.

And of course, Lindor was moved prior to last season (with another starting pitching mainstay, Carlos Carrasco) for four players, two of them deep in the minors, but also INF Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, who really don’t appear to be standouts for now.

It was only five years ago when the Cleveland baseball team had everything going for it. Right now, it seems like 50 years ago. If the Clevinger deal doesn’t work out like the front office thought, it could be awhile before the offense is good enough to contend.