Some Targets For Tribe To Aim At.

The World Series has ended and the Hot Stove season has begun for baseball fans. Hopefully, the Cleveland Indians will have a more (or less, depending on perspective) newsworthy off-season than a year ago.

MLB Trade Rumors ranked the top 50 free agents this winter with their projections on where the players would sign. They had the Indians signing no one from this list, which isn’t surprising given the front office’s payroll cuts last off-season.

In looking at the current list of free agents, there could be more coming when the deadline for offering arbitration gets nearer, here is a list of people we would be interested in and wouldn’t cost a great deal of money.

The first player is someone who wore a Cleveland uniform for part of 2019, Yasiel Puig. The right-handed hitter will be 29 years old next season, and still has a career 823 OPS. We would think he would hit for more power than he did after coming over from Cincinnati last season, and his on base percentage (.377) was very good.

We wouldn’t spend huge money here or go more than two years, so maybe this is one of those signings that happens right before spring training starts.

Didi Gregorius is another intriguing player to fill the Indians need at either 2B or 3B. Gregorius is the rare Yankee hitter whose numbers are not inflated by their hitter friendly ballpark (766 OPS on the road vs. 718 at home). And he has a 941 OPS in 80 career plate appearances at Progressive Field.

He had Tommy John surgery last off-season, so he should be stronger coming into the 2020 season.

Gregorius would be a little pricey, but should provide good bang for the buck.

Mike Moustakas would be someone who can play the hot corner, and he’s a player who played in a small park in Milwaukee, and was better on the road. Plus he has plenty of playoff experience (161 career at bats).

He won’t turn 32 until September and maybe a guy who you could get on a 2-3 year deal at modest money, since he’s played on one year deals each of the last two seasons.

And he’s belted at least 28 home runs in each of the last three seasons. He’s also a left handed hitter (so is Gregorius) which is something Cleveland badly needs.

Starlin Castro would be another candidate to play second base. He will be 30 years old next season, and is a career .280 hitter (736 OPS). Castro should prosper getting out of the big part in Miami, and hit .286 with a 768 OPS on the road last season.

His drawback is he’s a free swinger, rarely walking, but he doesn’t whiff excessively either.

Corey Dickerson is someone who could provide some pop in the outfield, particularly if the Indians want to continue to platoon there with Jordan Luplow.

Dickerson, another left handed bat, has a lifetime .866 OPS vs. right-handed pitching and he has belted 5 homers in 44 at bats in Cleveland during his career.

He doesn’t walk much, but doesn’t strikeout a ton either, and he won a Gold Glove in 2018 with the Pirates. His lifetime slugging percentage is .504.

Adding one of these players would help the Indians’ batting order a great deal, and it definitely needs to add some length.

We also think these players would be in the front office’s price range, meaning they will not likely command huge dollars to sign.

Getting back on top in the AL Central should be the goal entering this winter.

More On The Lindor Scenario…

It has already started.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No one thinks about that possibility.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s still a 50/50 proposition.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe Should Be Active In Hot Stove

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tribe Key In Off-Season? Improve OBP.

The Cleveland Indians finished third in the American League in runs scored in 2018, and you can make a pretty good argument that dropping to seventh in this category this past season is the reason they were sitting at home.

The Tribe was third in on base percentage in ’18 and fourth in slugging percentage, the key components to offensive baseball these days. In 2019 though, the Indians dropped to 6th in slugging, and down to 8th in on base percentage.

The latter figure is something Cleveland needs to work on for the 2020 campaign, and a reason we wished the organization would have gone in a new direction with the hitting coach.

The list of Indians’ hitters with an OBP over .350 is very short: Carlos Santana, Yasiel Puig, Jordan Luplow, and Mike Freeman. Only Santana was in the lineup all year on an everyday basis.

By contrast, the Astros, whose offense is relentless, have these players over the .350 benchmark: Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Yordan Alvarez, George Springer, and two other players who are reserves.

Boston was second in on base average (behind Houston), and had these players over .350: Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez.

If you think we are being picky with the .350 figure, please be advised that the Tribe didn’t have anyone else over .340 either. The next best OBP was Francisco Lindor at .335.

To be fair, had Jose Ramirez hit higher than .255 this season, he would have hit the .350 level, because his strikeout to walk ratio (74:52) was solid.

To us, this indicates the lack of strike zone awareness throughout the roster, and this leads to hitters getting themselves out by swinging at bad pitches.

Sometimes this improves through experience, which is why we aren’t concerned right now with Oscar Mercado walking just 28 times in 482 plate appearances. If this number stays there next season, it could indicate a problem.

We have already touched on Lindor, whose walk rate was the lowest since his rookie year, and he got himself out plenty in clutch situations last season, swinging at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone, sometimes when he was ahead in the count.

If we were Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, we would be focused on getting some guys who can get on base to help the offense next season.

It might start by giving Luplow, who had a .372 OBP in his minor league career, a shot at an everyday spot in the lineup.

And Lindor is too good of a hitter not to learn from this season and make pitchers come to him instead of helping them out.

Besides, if you can get a solid hitter who can get on base, you can get the shortstop out of the leadoff spot, and hit him in the #2 hole or lower.

Together with Santana, who has always been an on base machine, and Ramirez returning to somewhere close to his norm (he has three straight seasons over .350 from 2016-18), it would give the Indians four players who can get on base.

We would also have someone work with Franmil Reyes on his strike zone judgment. If he could layoff bad pitches more, he would be an anchor in the middle of the lineup.

Against good teams and particularly good pitchers, you have to make them work, you can’t help them out by swinging at borderline strikes.

Remember the success the Indians had vs. Justin Verlander with the Tigers? They made him throw a lot of pitches early in games, and even if they didn’t have success against him, they got him out of the game.

On base percentage is the key stat for the Indians to improve on this off-season. Not saying it’s a cure all, but it will help the offense be more “relentless”, for sure.

Tribe Report Cards: Everyday Players

The Cleveland Indians reign as American League Central Division champions ended after three straight seasons.

Yes, they won 93 games, and that’s very good, they did not make the post-season, so we cannot be happy about the year, and it definitely wasn’t a success, no matter how many injuries the club and Terry Francona had to endure.

We decided to put together a report card for the squad (not that they asked!). We didn’t grade the bit players, the guys who were called up in September (FYI–don’t think anyone would have received higher than a D), but we wanted to give our appraisal of the 2019 edition of the Cleveland Indians–

Players Who Gets A’s:

Carlos Santana: After missing a year signing with the Phillies as a free agent, the switch-hitter had a career year in ’19. He tied his career best in home runs, and had his highest RBI total and OPS.

He will be 34 next year, and normally, we would say he’s a candidate to be dealt, as his value with never be higher. But, Santana’s numbers improved because he changed his approach at the plate, using more of the field.

He may not hit 34 HR’s, but his ability to draw walks make him a good offensive player if he hits around .260 with 25 dingers.

Roberto Perez: Despite all the complaints about dealing Yan Gomes (see the comments about Santana), Perez took his first opportunity as a regular and ran with it, belting 24 homers with a 7754 OPS.

He should win a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess and his ability to handle what turned out to be a very young pitching staff cannot be overlooked.

Players With A “B” Grade:

Francisco Lindor: Lindor is a superstar, but his season was below the tremendous standards he has set for himself. He missed the first month of the year with calf and ankle issues, but his walk rate was the lowest since his rookie year and his struggles in the clutch seemed to be from being overanxious.

At 25 years old, we feel safe in thinking it’s a blip on the radar.

Oscar Mercado: The rookie was a spring training sensation and probably should have made the club to open the season. He had a 761 OPS, which should improve because he’s only 24 years old, and his walk rate should get better as he gains experience.

Jose Ramirez: The switch-hitter struggled badly in the first half and was red hot after the All Star break. Still, even when he wasn’t hitting, he drew enough walks, and wound up with an 806 OPS. He even came back early from a hamate bone injury and hit a pair of homers in his first game back.

Yasiel Puig: Puig was expected to give the club a power burst, but instead was an on-base machine with an OBP of .377. All in all, not what the front office expected, but still helped the attack.

Franmil Reyes: The big man struggled mightily after coming over from San Diego, but also fell short of expectations, hitting just .237 albeit with 10 HRs. He needs to figure out the strike zone to fully blossom.

Jordan Luplow: Acquired from the Pirates, he was a tremendous asset vs. lefties. We would like to see him get an opportunity to get an everyday job next spring.

The “C” Group:

Tyler Naquin: Maybe he’s a bit too low here, but has problems staying healthy. Good arm, and if you hit him at the bottom of the order, he’s an asset.

Mike Freeman: Did a solid job as the primary infield back up, but when he had to play more, wasn’t as effective.

Greg Allen: A disappointment to us. Thought he earned a regular job in spring training, but doesn’t walk, and didn’t hit enough.

Kevin Plawecki: Did a serviceable job, but we don’t think he did enough for Francona and his staff to have confidence in him. That’s why Perez carried such a heavy load and got tired in August.

We’ll give Jason Kipnis and Jake Bauers a C-. Kipnis is way too inconsistent at the plate, prone to lengthy “0 for” streaks.

We liked Bauers’ approach early, patient, hit lefties well, but as the year went on, he struck out way too much. Doesn’t walk enough, not enough power.

We will grade the pitchers next week.

Offense Failed Tribe Down The Stretch.

It’s all over.

The Cleveland Indians’ hope for a post-season spot came to a crashing halt Friday night in Washington.

Following the home finale a week ago, the Tribe was tied with Tampa Bay for the second spot with six games to play. But after an 11-0 win in the first game in Chicago, highlighted by Jose Ramirez’ return to the lineup with two home runs, the offense snoozed and the pitching showed wear and tear in two disappointing losses, 8-3 and 8-0.

Another game of giving up eight runs eliminated Terry Francona’s squad, this one 8-2 to the Nationals. So, coming into the week, we felt the Indians could only lose one game, and they lost three straight.

We have compared the Tribe season to a basketball team that was down 20 in the first half and had to fight back to came it a game, only to have nothing left to win the game.

After Cleveland took a half game lead in the AL Central on August 12th by beating Boston on a Carlos Santana homer, thus erasing the 11.5 game bulge Minnesota had on June 2nd, the Tribe went 21-21 over the next quarter of a season, and that was simply not good enough.

Injuries didn’t help, that for sure. But the Indians got back into the race without Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, but losing Jose Ramirez at the end of August was a blow to the offense, one that added Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig at the end of July.

And it was the offense that failed Cleveland. The Indians finished ninth in the AL in runs scored after finishing third a year ago, while the pitching staff ranked third in ERA, one of only three teams in the Junior Circuit to have a team ERA under 4.00 (Tampa and Houston).

What happened to the offense? The simple view is the Indians probably only got better performances from the first base position (Carlos Santana vs. Yonder Alonso), catcher, and at centerfield.

Jose Ramirez didn’t produce in the first half, and Francisco Lindor had the lowest walk rate since his rookie year, and it showed in his numbers with men in scoring position. The all-star shortstop was very impatient in clutch situations, helping opposing pitchers by swinging at bad pitches.

The big deadline trade brought Reyes and Puig, but the former had an OPS about 60 points lower with Cleveland (785) than in San Diego (849), and the latter hit just two home runs with the Tribe, none of them at Progressive Field, at least as an Indian.

Puig did get on base a lot though, which is a good thing, just maybe not for your cleanup hitter. His slugging percentage was behind that of Oscar Mercado and Roberto Perez.

So, the offense still wasn’t up to that of the best teams in the AL. Again, you need to score runs to make the playoffs, and Houston, New York, Minnesota, and Oakland all finished in the top five in runs in the American League.

Depending on what happens today, the Indians could be sixth, just ahead of Tampa, but Cleveland doesn’t have the relentless lineups (read: no weak spots) that those other teams do.

The Tribe has just two hitters with an on base percentage over .350 and slugging percentage over .450. They are Carlos Santana and Jordan Luplow, who doesn’t play vs. right handers.

Houston has eight, the Yankees six. Those lineup make you work. The Indians need to get some of those guys if they want to get back in the mix in 2020.

The lack of consistent hitting hurt the Tribe. Averaging 5 runs per game is good, but not if it’s done by scoring 10 one night and getting shutout the next.

Six Games To Decide The Playoffs For The Tribe

They always say the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, but with a week to go in the regular season, the Cleveland Indians are involved in a mad dash with the Tampa Bay Rays (and to a lesser extent the Oakland A’s) for the American League’s last playoff spot.

There are six games remaining for each team, and the Tribe is on the road for all of them, three with the White Sox, and three more with the Nationals, where the Indians will not be able to use the designated hitter.

Tampa has one more with Boston and a pair with the Yankees in Tampa, before heading north of the border to take on Toronto.

It does appear Terry Francona is getting some good news in that Jose Ramirez may return to the lineup tonight in Chicago. How effective Ramirez will be has to be seen, but judging from who has replaced him in the lineup, it won’t take much for him to be a positive impact.

Cleveland is able to start their current top three starting pitchers against the Sox, a team they have struggled with in 2019, going 7-9. Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and Aaron Civale draw the assignments in an effort to hold down the Chicago offense.

Clevinger will be available if the Indians need to win the last game of the season to get into the wild card game or to force a one game playoff with the Rays to qualify for the wild card game.

The other tough decision for Francona and his staff is what to do with Franmil Reyes in the nation’s capital. Reyes has mostly been a DH since coming over at the trade deadline, but to us, the Indians can’t afford to take his bat out of the lineup in the most important series of the year.

We would put Reyes in LF, and if the Tribe can get a lead after five innings, take him out for defensive purposes. Something tells us that the skipper will use him for an important pinch-hitting appearance.

More bad news is the Nationals are currently a half game up on the Brewers for the wild card in the National League, so home field for that game could be at stake, meaning Washington could be playing their “A” lineup and their best starters for all three contests.

A week ago, there was a hope the Nats would have a spot wrapped up, and they might, but the home field is up for grabs. However, a 5-5 stretch for Dave Martinez’ squad has made that possibility less likely.

With the Rays win last night, the Indians are down a half game starting the series.

We feel the Indians can only lose one game at a minimum and still make the post-season. And they may have to win all six.

Another positive for the Tribe is the performance of Carlos Carrasco, who was huge in the series against his former organization. Carrasco picked up a save on Friday night going 1-1/3 innings, and Sunday night, got a key double play with men on first and third and one out in a tie game.

If he can continue this, he could be a big weapon for Francona in these six games.

So, it all comes down to this: Six games. Six games you have to win. The post-season for the Indians starts in reality tomorrow night. It’s a nerve wracking time for a baseball fan.

Tito And The Young Players

To start, Terry Francona is a great manager, and will likely go into the Hall of Fame when he retires as the skipper of the Cleveland Indians.

He’s piloted two World Series winners, won three American League pennants, and currently ranks 18th all time in wins, and has a real possibility of getting into the top 15 if not higher before he retires.

And he has guided the Indians through a myriad of tough situations, most notably in the 2016 post-season when the team lost Carlos Carrasco to injury, and he used a starting rotation of Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, and Trevor Bauer (who really missed one start with a lacerated pinky) to get to the seventh game of the World Series.

There is certainly no one else we would like to have managing the Cleveland Indians.

His day to day approach resonates with the players. When injuries occur, and the Tribe has had many to deal with this season, including ones to star players like Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Kluber, and Carrasco, Francona stresses that the team should go about the business of winning the game played that day.

After all, that’s all you can do.

But we also say that doesn’t make the skipper infallible. He makes mistakes. He will go the extra mile for a veteran player who has performed for him in the past. And sometimes he crosses the line between stubbornness and patience, particularly with vets.

That gets frustrating in the race for a post-season spot, at least for the fans, that is.

It’s not like the manager has a lot of alternatives with the likes of Ramirez and Kipnis out of the lineup. Each night, Francona has to come up with someone who can play second base and third base, and he has to use the bullpen too, and that has become problematic recently with Brad Hand being unavailable.

However, we would take issue with not looking at a possible upside of young players, even if this is a pennant race.

Everyone should know what Ryan Flaherty is at this point. He’s a utility man, primarily at third or second base, and he can’t hit. He has a .215 lifetime batting average, and he’s been around the league.

Why not use Yu Chang instead? First, he plays Flaherty vs. right handers, and Chang is actually had more success vs. righties (9 for 39 with a HR). The only assumption anyone can make is Francona has more confidence in the veteran.

A veteran he should know is not going to contribute with the bat.

The same in the bullpen with rookie James Karinchak, who seems to strikeout everyone who steps in the batter’s box.

Wednesday night, the skipper brought in Nick Goody, who has spent the last month either walking people or giving up home runs, to face a pair of Tiger hitters in the ninth inning of a tie game.

That’s the ultimate sign of trust.

Goody got the two batters out, but Francona left himself open to big time questioning had the reliever given up the game winning hit.

Karinchak has pitched in two games, faced ten hitters and struck five of them out.

He used Tyler Clippard, arguably the Tribe’s best reliever in the last month, last night with a 7-0 lead against the worst team in baseball, when guys like Phil Maton, Dan Otero, and Jeffry Rodriguez haven’t pitched in over a week.

We feel fans have a right to ask questions and so should the media.

In most cases, we know what the veteran is going to do. Why not take a chance with the young player. He likely cannot do any worse.

It’s On To The Wild Card For Tribe

It was a very disappointing day for the Cleveland Indians and their fans yesterday. After the Friday rainout, Tribe fans were giddy that the Minnesota Twins were using bullpen arms to start both games of a doubleheader.

Someone apparently forgot to tell the Cleveland hitters, because it seems like only Oscar Mercado showed up.

The Indians spent the first three innings of the first game trying to play home run derby against lefty Devin Smeltzer, and would up getting shutout, and then in the second game, with the Tribe going with a “bullpen day”, the relievers gave up three home runs, the biggest being a grand slam off Nick Goody, who is going through a rough stretch.

Cleveland now trails the Twins by 5-1/2 games with 13 to play, so they are all but out of it in terms of the division.

They still can play their way into the one game wild card spot, as they trail Tampa Bay by two games in the loss column (2-1/2 games overall). Again, though, Terry Francona and his staff are going to need some players who have been struggling to come through.

A few days ago, we pinpointed Yasiel Puig and Jason Kipnis as two guys who the Indians needed. Puig was 1 for 7 with a walk in the two games, and amazingly, has still not hit a home run for the Indians at Progressive Field.

Kipnis took a collar in game one, stretching his current slump to 0 for 12.

Here is a microcosm of the veteran’s season in the last three weeks. He went through an 8 for 60 streak, followed by going 7 for 10, and followed that (currently) by being 0 for his last 12.

That’s 15 for 82 (.183). And when people ask us why we would move on from him for 2020, that’s the reason. Baseball is a game of consistency, and Kipnis no longer has that, and hasn’t since 2016.

The bullpen has fallen on hard times as well. Goody giving up the bomb last night wasn’t shocking, he’s been ineffective for a month, giving up four homers and walking seven in his last 8-2/3 innings.

And while we are all very happy Carlos Carrasco is back on the mound, and hopefully regain complete health, he has not been the cure all for the bullpen either. He’s pitched to a 9.39 ERA in six appearances, and allowed four dingers in 7-2/3 innings in relief.

We felt the bullpen needed an upgrade at the trade deadline or at least bring up some of the power arms in the minors to help. The front office did neither and the relief corps has floundered.

They finally did bring up James Karinchak from Columbus before this series, and he did strikeout three of the five batters he faced last night. Maybe if he were called up a few weeks ago, he could’ve been trusted in a key situation.

Regardless, last night is over and the Indians need to win and win a lot in their last 13 games if they want to have a one game shot at getting to a post-season series.

After today, the Rays next eight games are against the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees, although just the Los Angeles series is on the road. They have been better away from the dome this season.

So, an opportunity is there, but we figure the Tribe will have to win 10 or 11 of the last 13, and even then, it may not be enough.

It’s an uphill climb from here, but not impossible yet.