Will Guardians’ Payroll Increase And Does It Help Ramirez’ Future?

According to Baseballreference.com, the Cleveland baseball team had a payroll of just under $50 million, a figure that gave them the fourth lowest in the sport, ahead of only franchises telling their fans they are in a rebuild mode: Miami, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.

Why the ownership went that low, we do not know. We understand their reasoning for trading SS Francisco Lindor (although we don’t agree with it), but why did they also move Carlos Carrasco?

Their top four highest paid players from 2020 (Lindor, Carlos Santana, Carrasco, and Brad Hand) were pared from the roster, and the highest paid player brought in was Eddie Rosario, who lasted until the trade deadline before he was traded.

The lowest payroll to make the post-season in 2021 was Tampa Bay, and they spent $14 million more on players than Cleveland.

We know the Dolan family is looking for a minority owner to replace John Sherman, who went on to buy the Kansas City Royals (they had an $85 million payroll). However, according to reports, the Dolans’ want that investor to be a “silent” partner. So, good luck with that.

It has also been reported the Guardians will spend more in 2022, the question is how much more. Right now, their 40 man roster is top heavy with players who have no major league experience, which means they would be paid the minimum salary if they are on the big league roster.

What the minimum salary is will be determined when the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is made. But, to repeat, as of right now, a little over 1/3rd of the roster will be making the minimum, and that’s only if they are wearing a major league uniform.

So, it would seem there could be money to spend. The Toronto Blue Jays were 15th in spending at $118 million, and it would be shocking if the Guards (we aren’t using Cleveland.com’s “Guardo’s”) were anywhere near that neighborhood.

We would guess the payroll would be around $65-80 million. At the latter figure, they would still be 22nd in 2021, and 27th at the lower figure. Both would be in the comfortable area (for the Dolans) of the bottom third of the sport.

The first logical move would be the approach the team’s best player, and based on MVP voting over the past five seasons, one of baseball’s best, on a long term extension. Jose Ramirez, who has finished in the top six of the American League’s MVP voting four times in the last five seasons, is still under control via team option for 2022 and 2023.

He will be 31 at the end of that last season.

We are sure the Guardians will talk to Ramirez about keeping him here, but it will be not easy and we doubt the third baseman will be interested in giving a hometown discount.

Remember, he didn’t receive a big signing bonus when he signed with Cleveland before he turned 18 out of the Dominican Republic. According to WAR, he’s the 21st best player in the history (since 1901 remember) of the franchise.

By the end of next season, he should rank in Cleveland’s top ten all time in home runs and doubles, and in two more seasons, will creep into other categories as well.

Will the ownership have the stomach to pay one player a per season salary of close to $30 million? Because, if we were Ramirez’ agent, that’s the neighborhood we would want to be in.

If progress isn’t made toward an extension, we would guess this is Ramirez’ last season with Cleveland, and if the team isn’t in the pennant race at the deadline, he might be moved then.

This isn’t a doom and gloom scenario, it’s just how this ownership group does business.

Hopefully, the payroll will increase for 2022, and a bigger wish is a minority owner is found, and it is someone with the wherewithal to buy the team outright down the road.

The rumor is the payroll will increase, but will the action match the whispering?

Memories Of One Last Indians’ Game

Saturday night, we made our final trek to Progressive Field to watch the Cleveland Indians. Yes, we know the team isn’t going anywhere, and there will major league baseball on the shores of Lake Erie in 2022, but as we headed down to the ballpark, there was a melancholy feeling here.

We thought about the games we attended as a kid, and joked about taking the rapid downtown from West Park before we were able to drive, something we would never let our kids do today. It was no big deal back then.

Our group talked about where we used to park when the new park first opened and attending World Series games in 1995 and 1997, and reminisced about how we couldn’t believe the Indians, who were mediocre as long as we remembered, finally made it to the Series, something that was just a TV show in October.

We were handed rally towels as we entered Progressive Field that said “Let’s Go Tribe”, curious indeed considering the upcoming name change.

We settled into our seats down the left field line, near the “Home Run Porch”, fine seats indeed. Our friends thanked us for the choice, but we didn’t want to sit in the upper deck for this one.

The ballpark wasn’t really enthusiastic when the game began, and there were many at the game from Chicago, doing the weekend thing of seeing the White Sox and the Bears in our town on the same weekend.

However, Jose Ramirez shot some energy into the crowd with a two run HR in the first, and the “Jose, Jose, Jose” chants were heard all around us. After that, it was more about taking in the atmosphere for our last Indians’ game.

A lot of jerseys were worn by fans, many of them bearing the name of “Lindor”, a symbol to us of an ownership that has never connected with the fans, despite putting a winning team on the field for most of the last eight years.

It was also discussed that the ownership trading the beloved “Chief Wahoo” mascot to get the All Star Game in 2019, and probably dealt the name “Indians” to get the state government to pony up some funds to renovate Progressive Field and extend the lease.

The best throwback jersey we saw was a 1970 pinstriped jersey with the shadow lettering and numerals with #48 on it, the number of our first favorite player, Sam McDowell.

We talked about the surveys the organization sends to fans talking about ticket plans, renovations to Progressive Field, etc. and how no one ever hears from the organization about responses. We laughed about the questions, asking essentially, why we go to the ballpark. Our answer: “to watch a baseball game”.

Sometimes it seems like the organization is looking for a secret answer as to why people don’t come down to the place formerly known as “The Jake”. Sometimes, it’s a simple as talking to fans, real baseball fans, to find out what’s missing. That’s what the great Bill Veeck would do.

As for the new name, we all agreed the ownership could’ve handled it better. They could have picked three or four names and had the fans vote on it, including them in the process. Another way the disconnect could have been narrowed.

It could be part of the problem with the new name is the fans feel it was forced upon them. They had no say.

We looked at the giant scoreboard in behind the left field bleachers with sadness, knowing “Indians” would either be gone or replaced with “Guardians” the next time we were at the park.

At the 7th inning stretch, the crowd seemed to increase the volume when the line “root, root, root for the INDIANS” was reached, seeming to say they weren’t happy with the change.

We walked around the ballpark one last time, knowing there will be big league baseball there in 2022, but also aware the park will look different, with the renovations starting this winter.

Again, we understand why the name was changed in our heads, but that doesn’t mean it hurts our hearts as fans. Memories will still be with the Indians, the Tribe, and the Chief. Heck, every spring, stations play Major League and Major League 2, which of course, feature the Cleveland INDIANS!

So, the name isn’t going to go away. Nor will it be ignored.

The elementary school and church we attended as a kid has changed its name too. But not for the people who attended it. We are sure that’s how it will be for Cleveland baseball fans in the future.

No One Should Be Surprised By Tribe’s Lack Of Scoring.

The Cleveland Indians’ offense continues to struggle on a nightly basis. They have played 19 games this season, and scored three runs or less in 11 of them. Even if you have the best pitching in the sport, it’s difficult to win games when you can’t score.

On April 12th, the Tribe started an 18 game stretch (now 17 games with Wednesday’s game being snowed out) in which they were playing teams who figure to contend for the post-season.

In that stretch, they’ve seen some very good pitchers, guys like Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, and Garrit Cole. They were no-hit by Carlos Rodon, and didn’t score over nine innings against Giolito, a game in which they won by the way.

Cleveland has played 11 of those games, and they are 3-8 so far. They have scored more than four runs (the league average is 4.41) in just two of those contests, last Sunday’s win over Cincinnati and the following game at home against the White Sox.

Of the eight games where Terry Francona’s crew has mustered more than three tallies, half of them have come against Detroit, who by the way has the worst ERA in the league.

There are people who will claim no one should make rash judgments because the season is just 19 games old, and there is some merit in that, we usually wait until 27 games (1/6th of the season) has been played.

However, it’s not like the Indians were an offensive juggernaut a year ago. They were 13th in the AL in runs per game at 4.13, almost a half run less than league average, which was 4.58.

And they let go two of their top five players in OPS a season ago, trading Francisco Lindor and letting Carlos Santana go as a free agent. The only proven bat they brought in over the off-season was Eddie Rosario, so it isn’t like the front office looked at a bad offense and said let’s address the problem.

You can make moves like that if you have a farm system with players going to be ready for the big leagues right away. Most of the Tribe’s top prospects won’t be ready until 2022 at the earliest.

No one should be shocked they rank 13th in the league in runs scored thus far.

By the way, for all the gruff directed at Santana for walking a lot, how would you like an occasional base on balls out of the players at first base? The two guys who replaced him have combined to go 10 for 66, which is a .152 batting average, with no home runs, and four walks.

We understand the ownership decided to not just lower the payroll, but take a chainsaw to it, and guys who can hit tend to cost money. Still, the free agents many people mentioned, players like Joc Pederson and Kyle Schwarber, haven’t produced either.

Going back to Santana, he was known to love it in Cleveland. Doesn’t anyone else think the two parties could’ve worked something out?

A big hope was Josh Naylor, who came over from San Diego in the Mike Clevinger deal, but he has struggled out of the gate, hitting .241 with no homers, although he has five doubles, and striking out 15 times vs. three walks.

We still have hopes he can be a solid offensive player, but he’s put up some bad at bats in key situations this season to date.

Listening to an interview with Chris Antonetti before last night’s game, he sounded confident the bats will turn around, but we are sure that’s one of those circumstances where that’s all he can say.

We don’t see where the offense is going to get better with the current roster, and dare we say, with the current coaching staff. We aren’t a believer in change for change sake, but the dugout personnel has pretty much remained the same as when Terry Francona took over.

The only changes that were made (outside of Jason Bere as bullpen coach) came from Mickey Callaway and Kevin Cash getting managerial positions, and of course, because Brad Mills retired.

At some point, perhaps the players aren’t listening to the message anymore.

It’s still early, yes, but it’s also starting to get late. A week from today, the schedule will move to May, and that 27 game benchmark will have been crossed.

Will the Indians start scoring runs by then? We’d have to say it’s doubtful they will be a run scoring machine.

On Lindor’s Comments…

The Cleveland sports world went crazy this week after former Indians’ shortstop (it still pains us to say that) Francisco Lindor’s first press conference at the New York Mets’ spring training camp.

As we are sure you have all heard by now, Lindor said he didn’t work as hard as he normally would have in the weight room toward the end of the shortened 2020 season. Of course, many people stopped listening before he said “weight room”, so the narrative by many in Cleveland is than the four time all-star quit on his team.

We watched pretty much every game a year ago, and at no time did we feel Lindor didn’t give his best effort. He didn’t have his best season, that’s for sure, hitting just .258 with 8 home runs and a 750 OPS. The batting average and OPS figures were career lows. But many other stars didn’t have good seasons in the 60 game sprint.

Christian Yelich, the NL MVP in 2018 and the runner up in 2019, hit just .205 with a 786 OPS. Jose Altuve, a lifetime .311 batter, hit just .219. The 2019 NL MVP, Cody Bellinger had an off year. What would Jose Ramirez hit in ’19 if the season would have ended after 60 games? His average was .207 (617 OPS) at that point in that season.

Perhaps if a full 162 season was played, Lindor would have come close to his average season, that being a .285 batting average, 29 home runs, and an 833 OPS. We will never know.

But back to Lindor’s comment. It has been extrapolated to mean the shortstop was dogging it in games, he checked out on his teammates, he wasn’t giving a full effort for his salary, which by the way was not the $17.5 million he was awarded in arbitration because it was pro-rated. And yes, we know he was still making more money than most.

We don’t recall Lindor do anything but putting out his best effort on the field in 2020. And for those who will point out his batting average with runners in scoring position, his poor record in that category could be the result of trying to hard instead of “dogging” it. We felt he went out of his strike zone in those situations, and we believe he felt he had to because of the Indians’ struggles offensively a year ago.

We also may have been affected by his contract status as well. Athletes are people too, they aren’t robots. Is it possible Lindor knew the Tribe wasn’t going to come up with the money he wanted to remain in Cleveland? Think about how you would feel or do feel because you don’t think you are being paid enough to do your job.

Look, we know baseball players make a lot of money, more than most of us will ever see in our lifetime. However, it’s not a stretch to see how Francisco Lindor could’ve been tired from the way the season played out. No fans, a short year, impending free agency, etc. Some players rise up and perform to extraordinary levels when coming up on their first shot at free agency. Others play well once they have the security.

And while we have been frequent critics of the Dolan ownership, we aren’t taking a shot here. Frankie Lindor wants to be paid like one of the best players in the game, that’s his right. The Indians’ ownership didn’t think he was worth that kind of money, and that’s their right.

Lindor was one of the best players, if not the best to wear a Cleveland uniform in the last 20 years. We had five excellent seasons here, maybe he would have recovered in a full season last year and made it a sixth. We should be appreciative of that. We are. But accusing him of not trying his best? There’s no need for that.

No Surprise, Tribe Ain’t Spending The Cash They Saved

Imagine being a regular customer at a department store, say Macy’s, and you go into the store and find they are no longer offering clothing from Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, or Nike.

Think about going to a high class restaurant like Morton’s and finding out the best thing on the menu is now hamburger.

You’d be a little disappointed, correct? That’s how is was for supporters of the Cleveland Indians on Sunday morning reading the team is interested in free agents like Kevin Pillar and Jonathon Schoop.

Talk about generating excitement? Well, this falls about a mile short.

While these guys aren’t bad players, Pillar had a career best OPS in the shortened 2020 season, and Schoop has had solid seasons, but outside of 2019 with the Twins, hasn’t really been a regular on a good team in recent years.

Still, it’s a step down from having a roster that included Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, Edwin Encarnacion, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, and Mike Clevinger. Ramirez is still here and the team still has the current Cy Young Award winner in Shane Bieber, but most of the balance of the roster hasn’t proven much at the major league level.

Once again, we aren’t saying the Indians should have a $170 million payroll, although we do not believe for a minute that any major league baseball owner is suffering financially. On the other hand, we don’t get gutting the payroll to around $40 million, which would be one of the lowest figures in the sports.

Cleveland isn’t the Pittsburgh Pirates. After winning 98 games in 2015 and losing the Wild Card game, the Bucs win total has dropped since then, to 78, 75, 82, and then 69 in 2019. They finished with just 19 wins in 2020.

At that point, a total rebuild is understandable, and probably necessary. The Indians win totals over that same time period are 81 in 2015, to 94, 102, 91, 93, and then a 35-25 record last season. Wouldn’t you want to see how long you can keep the success going?

If fans are allowed into Progressive Field at some point in 2021, our guess is it won’t be long until we hear about attendance issues, and how people aren’t flocking to the ballpark.

This complaint is developing into a game of chicken with the ticket buyers, and it’s one the Dolan ownership will never win. They are insulting the customers, and tell us in what business does that work?

Yes, the number of fans going through the turnstiles has dropped since 2017 (FYI, the Indians don’t tell you they had the second largest increase in attendance from ’16 to ’17), but it hasn’t dropped like a proverbial rock.

The largest drops from ’17 to ’18 was in Toronto, followed by Miami, Kansas City, Detroit, and Baltimore. From ’18 to ’19, the most significant decreases were in Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, Detroit, and Washington, who by the way, won the World Series that season.

The Tribe’s 2019 attendance (1.74 million people) ranks fourth since 2010 (behind 2011, 2017, and 2018). So, it’s not as bad as the ownership would like you to believe.

What happened in 2009 to cause attendance to fall off then? It was the last salary dump by the organization, trading Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Funny how that works.

Since the end of the 2018 season, the Indians have traded Kluber, Yan Gomes, Bauer, Clevinger, Lindor, and Carrasco, and let Michael Brantley and Santana walk away as free agents.

Eventually, that’s going to have an effect in the standings and among the fan base.

It’s a heck of a gamble by the ownership that their front office will be able to cobble together a contending team with that sort of talent drain.

They are also underestimating the intelligence of their fan base.

Is Tribe Selling Hope Or Success?

We have always said the two things professional sports franchises can sell their fans are a championship contending team or hope of future success. That’s why the Indians are having a tough time with their fan base, particularly those who have been around longer.

First, we understand the Tribe has a good farm system, but we also understand that’s a highly speculative thing. As the late, great Pete Franklin used to say, until proven otherwise, prospects should be called suspects.

As it stands right now, the Cleveland Indians probably aren’t in the mix for an American League Central Division title. They could be in it for a wild card if they can muster enough runs. They ranked 13th in the AL in scoring last season, and they no longer have three of the top five on last year’s squad in OPS (Francisco Lindor, Cesar Hernandez, and Carlos Santana).

Can someone emerge from the organization to replace that run scoring capability? Of course, anything is possible. We like Josh Naylor, who will play somewhere, and certainly Daniel Johnson deserves a real shot at everyday at bats.

However, that’s the real question. Assuming Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes are the best two hitters in the everyday lineup, who is the third best hitter? Is it Naylor? Or does a Jordan Luplow finally become a hitter who can be productive against right-handed hurlers, meaning he can play in most games?

There is no question the strength of the Indians is their starting pitching staff, led by Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, but without Carlos Carrasco as a veteran anchor, the rest of the starting rotation doesn’t have much of a track record.

For example, barring an injury issue, Bieber will start Opening Day in Detroit on April 1st. Who pitches the rest of the series? You could assume Zach Plesac goes in the next game, but he’s thrown less than 200 innings (171) in his big league career.

As for the rest of the rotation, Aaron Civale has pitched 132 innings. Triston McKenzie has logged 33 frames, Cal Quantrill has 135. Does Adam Plutko sneak back into the mix? If he does, he’s the old man of the group at 217.

None of these guys have pitched an entire major league 162 game season. So forgive us if we are a tad skeptical if they can pitch at a high level from April until the end of September.

The good news is more starters should be ready soon. Guys like Scott Moss, Logan Allen could get shots in 2021, and don’t count out Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, and Joey Cantillo, who came over in the Mike Clevinger deal.

Where the lack of hope comes in is does anyone have any faith in anyone staying in Cleveland past the time they will be a free agent? Does anyone believe Jose Ramirez will be here beyond 2023, when his club options expire?

Lindor and Clevinger both alluded to how this organization does business now. If a player is about to make big money, they are traded. Maybe it’s just those two, but my guess is this is discussed in the clubhouse, and that will make it difficult for the front office to convince any player to take less money to sign long term.

That makes it difficult to get attached to players and/or a team. Why do people gravitate to the Tribe teams of the late 1990’s? Kenny Lofton played here nine years in a decade span, Omar Vizquel was here 11 seasons, Jim Thome 12 years before coming back for a swan song. Charlie Nagy was here for 12.

When players are part of an organization for that long, they become family.

We understand the sport has changed, but are simply saying having a revolving door in the locker room doesn’t help build an identity with the fan base. That’s why trading Carrasco hurt many. He was here for ten years.

Just remember this. The last Indians who played more than 10 years in Cleveland and never played anywhere else retired in 1956! That was Al Rosen.

Success Of Lindor Deal Rests On The Young Wild Cards

When the rumors started about the possibility of the Cleveland Indians trading Francisco Lindor rather than sign him to a long term deal, some folks were giddy about the possibility of getting several top prospects from a team.

We didn’t think that would be the case. We always figured it would be a top prospect, a major league player who wouldn’t be close to the player the Indians were giving up, and some younger prospects.

Which is exactly what the Tribe received. The only problem was that was the haul for Lindor and Carlos Carrasco.

Our opinion is if you keep giving up $20 bills in exchange for a $10, a $5, and a couple of dollar bills, you will eventually wind up with out any money, definitely less than you started with.

Whether this deal turns out to be a plus or not really depends on how the two youngest players pan out, right handed pitcher Josh Wolf and left-handed hitting outfielder Isaiah Greene.

The problem is neither have any track record in professional baseball, Wolf is 20-years-old and has pitched just eight professional innings. While Greene was just drafted last season, and because of the pandemic, has yet to play in the minor leagues.

These two may wind up becoming top prospects in a few years, or they may never get to play for the Akron Rubber Ducks. That’s what a little track record the duo has.

They are pretty much draft picks, which by the way, Cleveland could have received had they kept their all-star shortstop in 2021, and given him a qualifying offer.

To us, Andres Gimenez is the best player to come from New York. A 22-year-old left-handed bat, Gimenez is very good defensively, and was a Top 100 prospect in both 2018 and 2019 from Baseball America. Unfornately, he fell out of that ranking prior to 2020.

He has a bit of an issue with strike zone judgment, walking just seven times vs. 28 strikeouts, and he has good speed, stealing eight bases in 49 games in ’20. The Mets moved him around, he played SS, 2B, and 3B, but he will probably open the season at short for the Tribe.

Gimenez’s strike zone control may not be great, but compared to Amed Rosario, he’s Ted Williams. Rosario last season walked just four times, against 34 punchouts. In his big league career, he’s played 403 games, and still hasn’t walked 100 times. In fact, he’s taken just 67 free passes.

He did hit .287 (755 OPS) in 2019 with 15 homers, but took a step back in the shortened season. Can he comeback? Of course, we will play 2021 at age 25, but projections for the 2021 have him not producing numbers better than Gimenez.

By contrast, at age 22, Lindor hit .301 with 15 homers (794 OPS) and won the Platinum Glove, and at age 25, which was 2019, he hit .284 with 32 bombs (854 OPS) and won his second Gold Glove.

And again, they added a starting pitcher who as little as two years ago won 17 games, and the year prior to that won 18.

So, the Indians really weakened themselves offensively, defensively, and in the pitching area as well. That neither Gimenez nor Rosario is Lindor isn’t their fault, but forgive Cleveland baseball fans if they aren’t saving their money for playoff tickets in 2021.

Team president Chris Antonetti said the team will reinvest some of the money saved in the deal, and if they didn’t they would have one of the lowest payrolls in the game.

The Tribe still has a big gaping hole in the outfield, so the possibility remains some of the middle infield prospects the team has, six of their top 15 are SS/2B, for some help in this area.

We also feel the Indians will move one of their catchers (Roberto Perez and/or Austin Hedges) before the season begins too.

It figures to be a season of transition for the Cleveland Indians, and let’s hope that time period is limited to just one season.

Another Heartbreak For Indians Fans

Just because something is expected to happen doesn’t mean it won’t upset you when it does. That’s how we felt when the Cleveland Indians traded all star SS Francisco Lindor and the longest tenured Indian, Carlos Carrasco to the Mets for infielders Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario, RHP Josh Wolf, and OF Isaiah Greene.

There is so much that irritates us about this deal, beginning with our thought that nothing has changed since the 1960’s through the 1980’s when the Tribe developed several good players, guys like Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Dennis Eckersley, Buddy Bell, and Julio Franco, only to see them move on to other teams, usually contenders.

Back then, the team played in cavernous Municipal Stadium, which was by that time was to put it nicely an armpit. That it had over 70,000 seats made it difficult to sell season tickets.

It might have been easier to be a fan then. There were no expectations. We grew up knowing the Indians were a middle of the pack team, if they were over .500, we were happy.

But in 1994, Jacobs Field was built and Cleveland had its own baseball palace, and started an eight season (1994-2001) period where they were among the best teams in the sport. The place was packed and the owner spent money. We actually signed big name free agents like Jack McDowell and Roberto Alomar.

However, 26 years later, we have returned to those dreary days of our youth.

In the past few seasons, the front office have seen these players depart: Michael Brantley, two time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Santana, Mike Clevinger, and now Lindor and Carrasco.

Tell us what has changed?

Does anyone really believe the Indians are going to make an effort to keep Jose Ramirez in a Cleveland uniform when his club options run out following the 2023 season? Or do you think Shane Bieber, the latest Cy Young Award winner produced by the organization will be here when he can hit the open market?

Since Terry Francona took over as manager before the 2013 season, the Indians have made made five post-season appearances, and played in the seventh game of the World Series in 2016. Cleveland doesn’t have an aging roster and a bloated payroll.

Their best two players (Ramirez and Lindor) were in their late 20’s. Overall, the team is younger that the major league average, and their projected payroll with Lindor and Carrasco was $69 million, at this point, that’s the lowest in the AL Central. Yes, lower than Kansas City and Detroit.

At that level, they could have paid Lindor a market value deal and still kept the payroll at a level where it wasn’t among the top tier in the sport.

Instead, the organization served the fans another crap burger.

Think about it, in addition to losing the players already listed, fans have had to endure the loss of the team’s mascot, Chief Wahoo, and the name of the team will be changed sooner than later.

Now, we understand the reason for those changes, but that doesn’t make it any easier to take.

Could this trade be the key to a quick trip back to contention? Sure, anything is possible, but it’s not hard to envision this deal being the beginning of another trip to baseball oblivion. The one thing we can cling to is having a very talented front office, something those teams of our youth didn’t have.

Usually this time of year has us looking forward to spring training and Opening Day. It will be tough to do that in 2021.

A Realistic Plan For Tribe

Over the weekend, the Indians payroll (or lack of it) was in the news again, as the front office worked through the media to justify the reduction of the money being paid to players.

The situation noted was Tampa’s letting pitcher Charlie Morton leave via free agency, although we would say not paying a 37-year-old starting pitcher over $10 million isn’t quite the same as what the Tribe is doing.

First, using the term “reducing” when it comes to players’ salaries in Cleveland is being gentle. When you go from $130 million in 2017 to something projected to be under $70 million in 2021 should be categorized as “gutting” the payroll.

And that figure is with Francisco Lindor on the team. If he is traded, which seems like a certainty, the likely number could be closer to $50 million.

Unfortunately, the owners of the Indians don’t want to address the situation publicly. We understand if Paul Dolan were to speak to the media, he would use the pandemic, attendance loss, blah, blah, blah, and no one would press him (nor would he give you a truthful answer).

It is curious how the virus hasn’t affected teams like the Padres, White Sox, and Nationals from appearing like they want to add talent this winter, and the Royals have been making moves as well.

We were challenged on social media, since we have a huge problem with this salary cut being done during a period where the Indians have made the playoffs in four of the last five years, and won 93 games in the season where they didn’t qualify.

We get that the Indians cannot spend with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers, but a payroll of $100 million shouldn’t be out of the question.

Based on this, signing Lindor to a multi-year deal between $25-$30 million per year would put the projected salary figure in the $80 million range and you now have the foundation of two superstars in their prime (with Jose Ramirez) and one of the best starting rotations in the game as a basis of contending.

Besides, as we’ve seen this week with Blake Snell and Yu Darvish, you can always trade a star player in the middle of a contract if you decide it’s not working out.

While we would be interested in playing younger players in ’21, we would spend money, preferably one year deals on some hitters to help the lineup transition to a younger look going forward.

We would like to plug in Daniel Johnson in CF, and see if Owen Miller and/or Yu Chang could hold down 2B, but we would provide Terry Francona with some options.

If you are contending, there is a limit to how much you can watch young players struggle. On the other hand, if the lineup is producing runs despite the struggles, a team can be more patient with young players.

FYI, we didn’t include Nolan Jones because he’s only played a half year at the AA level, and it appears he will also be making a position switch.

We would look at adding guys like a Nick Markakis, Robbie Grossman, or Tommy LaStella as low cost free agents (you might have to wait until late January or early February to see if asking prices come down). They could tie you over in a corner outfield spot or at second base if the young guys aren’t ready.

We would also add another bullpen arm. We would go into camp with James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase being the primary late inning relievers, but why not take a shot on pitchers like Sean Doolittle or a Hector Rondon if you can get them at a solid price.

Now, we understand the ownership doesn’t care what we would do. They would rather cry about money even though as a family they have a tremendous amount of money, more than we or any other fan has.

There is absolutely no reason for this type of dismantling of a contending baseball team. This is not an aging team and it is also not a squad on the decline in terms of the record on the field.

If you are a fan of the Indians, it’s a sad, sad time.

An Endangered Species? Tribe Players Making More Than A Mil

It’s not a secret that the Cleveland Indians are on a cost cutting mode. Everything they’ve done over the last three off-seasons have had that in mind.

Since the end of the 2018 season, the front office has said goodbye to Michael Brantley, Cody Allen, Andrew Miller via free agency and traded Yan Gomes, Edwin Encarnacion, Corey Kluber, and Trevor Bauer. All except Encarnacion were big time contributors to the American League champions of 2016.

All either were or had the potential to make big money, and in reality, the front office was correct on most of the players. While Brantley and Bauer have been very productive since leaving the Tribe, the rest have declined significantly since departing.

That’s not a bad percentage, although with the production of the offense the past two seasons, particularly in the outfield, the loss of Brantley stings big time.

Unfortunately, with all the money saved with these departures, very little has been reinvested in the team. Since the Indians won 93 games in the last complete season, and made the expanded playoffs in the coronavirus shortened 2020 campaign, you could make the argument that it hasn’t affected the operations of the team.

Looking ahead, as of right now, Cleveland has just six players making more than $1 million on the roster, meaning Brad Hand’s payout is the 7th highest paid Indian.

One of those half dozen players is Francisco Lindor, who by all accounts (and much to our chagrin) will be traded before the season starts. That leaves Carlos Carrasco, Jose Ramirez, Roberto Perez, Austin Hedges, and Nick Wittgren, who settled with the team yesterday on a contract as the lone millionaires on the roster.

And there are rumors that Carrasco, the longest tenured Indian, and a candidate to be someone who plays in the major leagues for more than ten years with all of them in a Cleveland uniform, could be moved this off-season as well.

That would leave just two players, Ramirez and Perez, making over $5 million this season, although that depends on who comes back in any deal for Lindor and Carrasco?

If you get beyond the gutting of the payroll, it’s quite an odd mix. Two of the highest paid Indians play the same position, catcher. It’s hard to imagine investing so much cash in a spot where only one of the men can play each day.

And quite frankly, it’s odd to have a middle inning reliever as one of the highest paid players as well. We aren’t saying Wittgren isn’t a good guy to have on the roster, he’s been pretty effective in his two years here, but if you want to cut payroll, why not start with a pitcher who doesn’t start and doesn’t usually pitch in the 8th or 9th innings?

We are sure several major league teams are looking enviously at Tampa Bay and their success over the past three seasons and think we can do that too. The Rays have actually have been over .500 in nine of the past 13 seasons.

But Tampa is a team with a roster that is always turning over. They make any move they can if they feel it improves the team, and that isn’t how the Tribe has operated over the years. They can be loyal to a fault.

Is the Rays’ way a blueprint other teams can follow? Right now, no one else spending so little has done it. We guess that doesn’t stop teams like the Indians from trying.