A Trio Deserving Of Heritage Park.

The Cleveland baseball franchise has its own franchise Hall of Fame out behind the centerfield fence called Heritage Park. Everyone may have forgotten this because the team hasn’t added anyone since 2016 when Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Frank Robinson, and Charlie Jamieson were added.

Why has it been six years since the franchise honored anyone? Quite frankly, we have no idea. We have theories, but they would all be the same as some of the other things the team has done to not do anything for the fans.

They just don’t do anything for the people who pay for tickets.

This needs to change next season. Since Progressive (nee Jacobs) Field opened in 1994, the Indians/Guardians have been among the best franchises in baseball, making the post-season 13 times, winning three American League championships, and 11 Central Division titles.

They’ve honored many of the greats from the late 90’s teams which won two pennants: Belle, Thome, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Sandy Alomar Jr., Charles Nagy, and manager Mike Hargrove, who is also honored for his playing days with the Tribe.

It’s time to start honoring the players who played in the 2000’s, as those teams had some success as well.

We would start with Grady Sizemore. Sizemore spent parts of eight seasons with Cleveland, with injuries taking their toll over the last two, but he was a dynamic force from 2005-2009. He made three All-Star appearances (’05. ’06, and ’07), leading the league in runs scored and doubles in 2006.

That season was the down year between the 2005 team which just missed the post-season and the ’07 team which reached the ALCS. However, we maintain that if the Indians were contenders that season, Sizemore would have been the likely MVP of the league.

He batted .290 (907 OPS) with 22 homers and 53 two baggers, scoring 134 runs, while playing tremendous defense.

As we said, injuries cut his career short, as he only had one more season after 2009 (age 26) where he played more than 100 games. Still, he should be honored for the greatness he exhibited with Cleveland in that five year span.

Jason Kipnis was a mainstay of the early Terry Francona era teams, playing with the team from 2011-2019, making two All-Star teams, and key player on four Cleveland teams that made the post-season.

The second baseman has over 1100 hits (1120) and 123 home runs in a Cleveland uniform with an OPS over 800 three times in a four-year span from 2013-16. And he moved to centerfield in 2017 and 2018 for the post-season.

We would also like to see Cody Allen honored in Heritage Park.

Allen is the franchise’s all-time saves leader (149) and the closer in the run from 2016-18 where the Indians got to the World Series in the first of those years. He struck out 564 batters in 440-2/3 innings, leading the AL in games finished in 2015.

Along with Bryan Shaw and Andrew Miller, he was a huge reason Cleveland got to the Fall Classic in ’16 despite a starting rotation ravaged by injuries.

Honoring this trio would be a first step in re-establishing the franchise’s Hall of Fame. The 2022 squad re-awakened fan interest and the organization needs to keep that going.

Celebrating the history of the franchise is never a bad thing. The Guardians need to get back in touch with that.

So Close…The 2007 ALCS

The 2007 baseball season is one of the big “what ifs” of Cleveland sports history.

Mostly because we all assume if the Indians, who had a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series over the Boston Red Sox, had played in the World Series against Colorado, they would have steamrolled them much like Terry Francona’s team did in a four game sweep.

Instead, the series is viewed as another huge disappointment.

The series began in Fenway Park with the Tribe getting bludgeoned 10-3. After both teams scored single tallies in the first, the Sox scored four in the third, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth.

C.C. Sabathia gave up eight runs in 4-1/3 innings, and with the ace getting hammered, things didn’t look good.

Especially with Curt Schilling pitching Game 2 for Boston.

It looked more glum after the Red Sox scored three in the third to take a 3-1 lead. But Jhonny Peralta hit a three run HR off Schilling in the 4th, and made it 5-3 when Grady Sizemore homered in the 5th.

Back-to-back dingers in the bottom half (Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell) gave Boston a 6-5 lead, but Cleveland tied it in the top of the 6th.

And then no one scored. For awhile, as the game headed to extra innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Sox had David Ortiz, Ramirez, and Lowell to face rookie Tom Mastny, after Eric Wedge had used his most reliable relievers, Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt, and Jensen Lewis.

Talk about a feeling of dread…except Mastny retired them in order.

Cleveland scored seven in the top of the 11th, capped by Franklin Gutierrez’ grand slam homer (after run scoring hits by former Boston player Trot Nixon and Ryan Garko) and the Tribe went home even in the series.

Returning to Jacobs Field, the Indians won game three 4-2 with Jake Westbrook beating Boston, and Kenny Lofton hitting a two run homer, and took a commanding 3-1 series lead scoring seven runs in the 5th to win 7-3 behind Paul Byrd, who went five, and the bullpen.

Casey Blake and Peralta belted homers, and the Tribe was one win away from the pennant.

But Beckett spoiled the party, going eight innings in a 7-1 win. It was a 1-1 tie heading into the 7th, but Sabathia had given up 8 hits in his six innings, and was over 100 pitches.

Wedge sent him back out there, and he gave up back-to-back extra base hits to Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, and the game spun out of control, sending the series back to Boston.

Game 6 was over before it started as Fausto Carmona (as he was known then) didn’t have it, giving up four in the first and six more in the third. Meanwhile, Schilling rebounded from his poor Game 2 start to throw seven innings, allowing just two runs to set up a one game playoff for the American League pennant.

Westbrook got the start for Cleveland, while Daisuke Matsuzaka got the nod from Francona. Before the game, it was revealed that Paul Byrd took HGH. Byrd said it was prescribed by his doctor.

It created a stir in the Indians’ organization and locker room though.

Westbrook allowed seven hits in the first three innings, but limited Boston to just single tallies in each frame, so he kept his team in it.

The Indians crept back into the contest with runs in the fourth (doubles by Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko) and a sacrifice fly by Sizemore in the fifth, following three straight singles. It could have been a bigger inning, but for Lofton getting thrown out trying to stretch the first hit into a double.

Westbrook held the Sox off the board through the sixth, so it was still a very close game heading to the seventh, with the Tribe trailing 3-2.

With one out, Lofton reached second on an error by Boston SS Julio Lugo. The next batter, Gutierrez, singled and third base coach Joel Skinner held Lofton at third, putting runners on the corners with one out, and a golden chance to tie the game.

The hit was down the third base line and caromed off the wall at Fenway into short left field. It looked as though Lofton hit third well before Ramirez picked up the ball in left, meaning it would have taken a great throw to get Lofton, who still had good speed.

Blake followed by swinging at the first pitch, banging into a 5-4-3 double play. Threat ended. And when Pedroia homered off Betancourt with a man on (ironically due to an error by Blake), the game was virtually over.

In retrospect, should Wedge have removed Sabathia earlier in game five to keep the game close? Would the bullpen have held Game 7 if Skinner had not held Lofton? Could the Indians have scored more had Lofton tied the game?

Those are the “what ifs”. Another case of so close, but yet so far…

Overlooked When He Arrived, Cliff Lee Wound Up An Ace

When GM Mark Shapiro decided to deal Bartolo Colon to the Montreal Expos in the middle of the 2002 season, he had a quick rebuild on his mind.

That’s why the top target in the deal was infielder Brandon Phillips, the Expos’ top prospect, who was also the #20 minor league prospect in all of professional baseball.

He also got Grady Sizemore, who was Montreal’s third best minor leaguer.

That’s a good start, right? But Shapiro also got a left-handed pitcher who wasn’t ranked in the Expos’ top ten, but was 7-2 with a 3.23 ERA at Class AA Harrisburg, who coincidentally played in the same league as the Tribe’s AA affiliate in Akron.

You can make a pretty good argument that the pitcher became the best player in the deal. That southpaw was Cliff Lee.

Lee made three starts with Akron, before the Tribe bumped him up to AAA Buffalo for eight starts (3-2, 3.77 ERA) at age 23, before making his major league debut against the Twins on September 15th in a 5-0 loss. Lee pitched 5-1/3 innings allowing one run on two hits.

The lefty started the following year in AAA, going 6-1 with a 3.27 ERA before getting called up for good (he made a spot start on June 30th) on August 16th. He made nine starts in total, finishing at 3-3 with a 3.61 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.

Lee opened 2004 in the rotation, and started well, going 7-1 with a 3.86 ERA through June, and was 10-1 with a 3.81 ERA when he beat Seattle on July 16th. He ran out of gas at that point, going 4-7 with a whopping 8.90 ERA over the rest of the season.

He finished at 14-8 and a 5.43 ERA with 161 strikeouts in 179 frames.

He was one of the Indians’ anchors to a pitching staff that just missed the post-season in 2005, going 18-5 with a 3.79 ERA, becoming more of a pitch to contact guy, his strikeout rate dropped from 8.1 to 6.4, but his walk rate also fell from 4.1 to 2.3 (both per nine innings)

Lee took a step backwards in ’06, going 14-11 and his ERA rose to 4.40, but finished strong with a 4-1 September, cementing him as a fixture for the following season.

One of the great regrets of the 2007 Central Division winning season, is the failure of Cliff Lee to be Cliff Lee. Think about if Eric Wedge had the Lee of 2005 to add to the Cy Young Award winning C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona (19-8, 3.06 ERA).

We might be talking about what a great parade fans experienced following that season.

The southpaw never got it going that year, going 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA and was left off the post-season roster. He didn’t make a start after July 26th, and was sent to AAA for the month of August.

Lee roared back in 2008, allowing just one run in his first four starts, and ended May at 8-1 with a 1.88 ERA, in route to winning his own Cy Young, with a 22-3, 2.84 ERA. He led the AL in wins, ERA, shutouts, ERA+, Fielding Independent Pitching, home runs/9 innings and walks per 9 innings.

The Indians got off to a slow start in ’09 after trading Sabathia the year before, and Lee entered the All Star break at 4-9, but with a 3.47 ERA. Unfortunately, the Indians were sitting in last place with a 35-54 record, and Shapiro pulled the trigger on moves involving cornerstones Victor Martinez, and Lee.

Both players were not eligible for free agency until after the 2010 season, meaning the GM punted on the following season.

Martinez brought Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Brian Price (only Masterson had any success in Cleveland), while Lee brought Jason Knapp, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and a young right-hander named Carlos Carrasco from Philadelphia.

It took until 2014, five years later, before the Tribe saw a real return when Carrasco became one of the AL’s best pitchers after elbow surgery.

Lee pitched in the World Series later that year for the Phillies (they lost to New York), although he pitched well winning his two starts.

An impending free agent, Lee was dealt to Seattle over the winter, and was moved to Texas at the deadline, again pitching in the Fall Classic, but this time he went 0-2 as the Rangers lost to San Francisco.

He signed back with the Phillies as a free agent and had an excellent 2011 season (17-8, 2.40 ERA) and went 37-25 in his first three years with the Phils.

But the weight of eight 200 innings pitched years in a nine year span took their toll on his elbow and he finished his career in 2014 with a 4-5, 3.65 ERA in just 81 innings.

Cliff Lee’s career record in the bigs is 143-91, with 83 of those wins coming in a Cleveland Indians uniform.

He was kind of an afterthought when the Colon trade was made, but he might have been the best return.

Is ’13 Tribe’s Success Sustainable?

The cynical Indians fans among us will say it’s the same ol’, same ol’ for this year’s Tribe.

They have hit the season’s quarter pole at 24-17, on a pace to win over 90 games under new manager Terry Francona. However, last year they were 23-18 at this point, but finished the season 68-94 and in fourth place.

In 2011, they were 26-15 after 41 games, and actually got to 30-15 before falling apart and finishing 80-82. They went a combined 21-32 in June and July, reminiscent of the June swoons of the late 60’s and 70’s.

So why is this year any different? Let’s take a look at the make up of those two teams.

Here are the regular players on that 2011 edition of the Indians. The regular 2B was Orlando Cabrera, who contributed a few big hits early, but by June he couldn’t hit to save his life and was traded to the Giants before the end of July.

The 3B was Jack Hannahan, a whipping boy for this blog. He’s an excellent defender, but simply cannot hit.

Then manager Manny Acta was also the recipient of what may be the last gasp of Grady Sizemore’s career. That April, Sizemore hit .378 with 4 HR and 9 RBIs. The rest of the year, he hit .193, and hasn’t been in a big league since.

As for the pitching, Justin Masterson went 5-0 in April and had his best season overall, but because of a lack of run support, he was 5-6 by the end of June. They also had Carlos Carrasco emerging, as he was 8-6 with a 4.21 ERA at the end of June. Josh Tomlin also proved to be a solid starter.

In 2012, some of the regular players were 1B Casey Kotchman, Hannahan, and left field was a mishmosh of Johnny Damon, Shelley Duncan, and Ezequiel Carrera, none of whom are currently in the major leagues. It is no wonder that the Indians finished 13th in the AL in runs scored.

Masterson was having a mediocre campaign, and the good start early was fueled by veteran Derek Lowe, who was 6-3 through the end of May. And the bullpen was outstanding before running out of gas from overwork.

The Cleveland pitching staff ranked last in the American League in ERA.

This year, Francona has a lineup that can score runs, ranking 4th in the league in runs scored. Whereas the past few years, the Indians had to put out a squad that had three or four players who really weren’t a threat with a bat in their hands, in 2013, the skipper has used lineup where Michael Brantley has batted eighth.

Last year, the left fielder spent most of his time hitting in the #5 hole.

Instead of Kotchman, Orlando Cabrera, and Hannahan, this year’s team has Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, and Mark Reynolds.

The starting pitching is still a question mark, but Masterson looks to be the same guy he was in ’11, having a solid year, and Zack McAllister provides solid outings pretty much every time he goes out there.

The wild cards have been Ubaldo Jimenez, who has put together four straight solid outing (although it would be better if he could work longer) and Scott Kazmir, who looks closer to the former all-star he was than the guy who pitched in the independent league last season.

As for the bullpen, Francona seems to have made it a crusade to keep his relievers rested, so they will be strong all year. And because the offense has provided some blowouts, he can afford to be judicious in using Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez.

This isn’t to say the Indians will cruise into the post-season for the first time since 2007, but don’t confuse this team with those of the past two years. There’s much more talent in 2013.

Upton Signing Shows Why Tribe Not Active in Free Agency

The Cleveland Indians have a reputation of being a tad frugal in terms of payroll.

The Tribe was in the lower third of all major league teams in terms of spending on the ballclub, which infuriates its fan base to no end. When they do spend money, they usually don’t spend wisely.

Take, for example, the $5 million given to Grady Sizemore, and another reported $3 million to Casey Kotchman, named in an article on Baseball Prospectus at the least valuable player in baseball.

Going back a few years, the front office made a colossal mistake when faced with the specter of having three front line players, C.C. Sabathia, Travis Hafner, and Jake Westbrook coming up on free agency, they decided to sign the lesser two players and traded Sabathia away.

We still believe if they would have offered the current Yankees’ ace less than what they paid the other two combined per year (an estimated $22 million), perhaps C.C. would still be wearing a Cleveland uniform.

You see, the best investment in baseball is signing your star young players to big cash, and staying away from older star free agents, and other free agents in general.

Do you think the Yankees would love to get rid of Alex Rodriguez’ bloated contract now, based on his production over the past couple of years? The bet here is that the Angels will regret the Albert Pujols deal as he heads into his late 30’s.

Yesterday, the Braves decided to give OF B. J. Upton $15 million per year for five years. Atlanta may regret this one before the last two years on the contract.

Why? Because Upton is nothing more than an average player. If an 800 OPS makes you a very good offensive player, then Upton certainly is lacking. He’s reached that figure just once in his career, and that was in 2007. His lifetime mark of 758 is just slightly higher than the American League average in 2012 (731).

If the going rate for a player like Upton is $15 mil a year, then by all means the Indians should wait for the bargains in free agency if they participate at all. If Upton is worth that amount, then what is Nick Swisher worth?

Not that the latter is a great player, but he has a OPS of 828. He’s a much more productive hitter than B.J. Upton.

It is ridiculous what the going rate is for average players on the open market. As they say, it only takes one crazy team.

That’s why the ability to draft well and develop your own talent is so important. It gives you the chance to have good talent at an affordable price.

Shin-Soo Choo is a better player than Upton, and Michael Brantley’s OPS is roughly the same (750). Both players combined will make far less than the new Braves’ outfielder.

So, do the Indians have a chance to get better right away?

Sure.

They can make trades for players who have abilities from teams trying to shed some payroll and have maybe a year or two left on their contracts. That strategy buys you time until some young players develop.

You can also wait out the market a little bit and get good players for less money than Upton received. You just have to sign the right players.

For example, both Josh Willingham and Cody Ross were signed for relatively little money, but both had very productive seasons.

That’s the right way to play the free agency game.

Signing a player like Upton would hamstring the Indians for several years, just like Hafner’s hefty deal.

That’s the way the money game in baseball is played today.

What the Dolans Should Do

The end of this baseball season can’t come soon enough, and it seems insane to keep going over the inadequacies of the current roster any more.

It’s starting to feel like piling on to mention that Casey Kotchman, Jack Hannahan, and Shelley Duncan stink. Oops, we did it again!

And since the people who run the franchise don’t feel any urgency to address the future of the franchise, we decided to fill a suggestion box and tell the ownership what they should be doing.

First, changes must be made in the upper reaches of the organization. At least two of the big three (Mark Shapiro, Chris Antonetti, and Manny Acta) have to be replaced.

And we don’t care how coveted Antonetti was several years ago. He completely messed up the off-season, particularly not giving Josh Willingham a third year, and giving Grady Sizemore $5 million to take a year off.

Bring in a new GM who has experience with a successful mid market team. Perhaps he can shed a fresh perspective on the way teams like the Indians have to operate.

Of course, that GM will want to hire a new manager. Let him. Although Acta is a small part of the blame this season, he’s not a difference maker. Right now, this young team needs someone who will be a disciplinarian, an old school type of guy.

That type of skipper doesn’t last long, and isn’t the type of guy hired by the Indians in a long time, but for the next couple of years, it would be the correct choice.

The next thing they have to do is raise the payroll. Again, no knowledgeable fan thinks the Tribe can have a payroll of $150 million. However, $85 million should be well within the Indians’ means.

That would mean a whole lot of money for the new GM to spend after the Travis Hafner settlement is reached.

It would also mean a competitive offer can be made to arguably the Tribe’s best player, Shin-Soo Choo. A nice 3-year deal at $10-11 million per year should work.

It would also allow the Indians to get a quality starting pitcher and a right-handed bat that it desperately needs.

The higher payroll commitment would stop the trolling for low risk, high reward free agents like Kotchman. The players the team signs are available after Christmas for a reason, no one wants them, at least good teams don’t want them.

It will also eliminate the need to keep these marginal players on the Opening Day roster at the expense of younger players. For example, the Indians should have handed Lonnie Chisenhall the 3B job from the beginning of camp, and told him it was his job to lose.

The player development department should also be overhauled. Mid market teams need to have a steady flow of talent acquired from the draft. That hasn’t been the case in Cleveland.

In addition, the Indians need to promote players quicker. Yes, Akron may win the Eastern League, but they are doing it with a lot of players who are repeating AA ball for a second year. There isn’t any reason why OF Thomas Neal and C/1B Chun Chen should still be in Akron with the numbers they’ve put up.

And if a guy hasn’t performed in several opportunities, cut him loose. David Huff comes to mind here. If he isn’t an option to help the big league team, then release him.

This is just the beginning of what should be done with the Cleveland Indians going forward.

It may be painful for the Dolan family to do some of these things, but what they are doing now isn’t working.

Changes should start on October 4th. The day after this nightmare season ends.

Choo Looks Good at Top of Order

Sometimes, fans over think the importance of a manager to a baseball teams. Many baseball experts figure the difference between a top-notch skipper and a guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing is about five games.

It basically comes down to the talent a particular team has.

A little over a week ago, Indians’ manager Manny Acta decided to shuffle his batting order and put Shin-Soo Choo in the lead-off spot.

Right now, the initial returns have been extremely positive. Choo looks like a different hitter than he was in April and early May.

The right fielder has thrived there, hitting .394 (13 for 33) since being moved there. He’s scored six runs, and last night, started rallies in three innings in which the Tribe scored.

Perhaps Choo felt a need to drive the ball when hitting in the middle of the order because since moving to the top, he’s been hitting the ball where it is pitched more often, and as a result his batting average is climbing.

When you think about it, he’s a logical choice to hit lead-off, probably more so than Grady Sizemore, who Tribe managers have put first in the batting order for many years, and Michael Brantley, who looks like he should be a lead-off man, but doesn’t have the numbers to support it.

You see, Shin-Soo Choo has a lifetime on base percentage of .384. The man gets on base frequently, which is the primary goal at the top of the order. He also can run a little bit too, with two 20 stolen base seasons on his resume. Brantley stole a career high (yes, Choo’s been around longer) 13 bases last season.

His ability to get on base ahead of Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera has helped spice up an offense in need of a spark.

Which brings us to a growing concern, DH Travis Hafner.

Yes, Hafner delivered in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Tigers, but the Indians need him to provide a power bat in the middle of the lineup, and at least this month, he has not put up many extra base hits.

He still has decent numbers (795 OPS), but that figure is arrived at because of a high on base percentage. Don’t get us wrong, not making outs is a good thing, but his slugging percentage is just .419, less than Jack Hannahan and about the same as Jason Kipnis, a middle infielder.

In 20 games in May, Pronk is hitting just .191 and slugging just .382 with only six extra base hits. Just for point of reference, that’s the same number as Casey Kotchman, and less than Asdrubal Cabrera, Choo, and Kipnis. Jose Lopez has one less in 39 less at bats.

Carlos Santana is keeping his batting average up at .262, but he’s in Hafner’s situation as a player Acta needs to provide pop, yet he is only slugging .414 on the year, and also has just six extra base hits in May.

The Tribe doesn’t have too many players who can change a game in one swing of the bat, and the two guys who usually hit fourth and fifth in the order are hitting like guys who hit at the top of the order.

If Hafner and Santana can start belting out extra base hits, it doesn’t have to be home runs, doubles and triples will do, fans will see the Indians batting attack take a big step forward.

Somehow, we see Santana as more apt to oblige in this area, since Hafner’s slugging has declined in recent years, probably due to injury.

The Indians are getting runners on base, leading the league in walks, however, that statistic doesn’t do them any good if their big boppers aren’t driving them in.

Is Brantley the Answer at Leadoff?

At the end of the 2008 season, the Cleveland Indians were owed a player from the Milwaukee Brewers as a result of the C.C. Sabathia trade and they selected Michael Brantley as the player to be named later.

The then 21-year-old outfielder was coming off a season in which he hit .319 with a .395 on base percentage, and 28 stolen bases in 108 games at the AA level.

He looked a lot like a guy who could be next in line of leadoff hitting centerfielders, following the lineage of Kenny Lofton and Grady Sizemore.

Brantley’s bigger than Lofton at 6’2″ and 200 pounds, but his offensive game seemed more like his than Sizemore, who hit for more power out of the first spot in the batting order.

He struggled in his first taste of AAA pitching, his average dropping to .267 and his OBP being just .350. Still, he walked more than he struck out in over 450 at bats.

He received a late season call up to Cleveland, and hit .313 with a .358 OBP. At only 22, it seemed like a good start to a major league career.

Starting the year with the big club in 2010, he struggled and was sent back to Columbus where he hit .319 with a .395 OBP in 67 games.

He hasn’t approached those numbers in the big leagues since coming up to stay later in the ’10 season.

Last season, in almost 500 plate appearances, Brantley batted just .266 with a .318 on base average. Not horrible numbers, but just not the profile of a good leadoff man.

Thus far in 2012, the left-handed hitter is batting .250 with a .321 on base percentage. He was hot in the weekend series vs. the Angels, getting two hits or more in two of the three games.

Still, for his career, totalling over 1000 at bats, Brantley has a .316 OBP, a figure more suited to someone hitting in the bottom third of the batting order, not one who should be a table setter.

By contrast, Lofton reached base 36.2% of the time in his first year with the Indians in 1992, increased that figure to .408 the following season. He finished his career with a .372 mark.

Sizemore had a .348 on base percentage in his first full year with the Tribe in 2005, and increased that to .375 in ’06. He currently has a .357 OBP.

The point here is that both Lofton and Sizemore demonstrated a keen ability to get on base early in their careers. They didn’t gain it through experience.

True, Lofton is one of the best leadoff guys in the history of the game, and Sizemore was definitely an impact hitter at the top of the order during his heyday of 2005-08.

But right now, Brantley doesn’t show much ability to be a consistent threat to get on base. Again, he has picked it up in the last few games, but with over 1ooo at bats in the big leagues, getting on base a little under 32% of the time is not acceptable from the top of the order.

This isn’t to say Brantley can’t become a good offensive player in time. He’s still just 25 years old. However, it doesn’t appear he can be a very good leadoff man, despite looking the part.

In the American League, you need to have seven good hitters in the lineup to score enough runs to win. Right now, the Tribe has five (Hafner, Cabrera, Santana, Choo, Kipnis) and Brantley isn’t one.

But he’s the man out of those playing now who may be able to become one. It may just not be in the spot the Indians want him to hit in.