Excited About Tribe Winter Moves? Not Us

There are some people in this city who look at the Cleveland Indians through rose colored glasses.

They are baseball’s model organization, the small market team with the smartest front office in the sport.

Some of these people work at the ballclub’s flagship radio station, others are media members who are charmed by the genuine, good people who work in the Tribe’s baseball operations department.

Others are fans, usually of the younger persuasion, who see the organization building a young core of talent and feel optimistic for the future.

Heck, they get excited by the news of Josh Tomlin, a back of the rotation starter at best, signing a club friendly, multi-year contract extension.

When Tomlin inked the deal yesterday, social media was flooded by people telling us what a wonderful deal it was. To us, it was “meh”.

We see their side of the argument. We too are excited by Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, and one of the best starting rotations in all of major league baseball.

That’s the half filled view. Looking on the bright side of things.

We can’t give them that benefit of the doubt simply because of that dominant pitching. Our opinion is if the Indians can get to the post-season, their arms could carry them a long way, but they have to get there, and we don’t think they can score enough runs to accomplish that.

Terry Francona’s squad still have a lot of holes in the everyday lineup. We see big question marks at 3B and the entire outfield, depending on how long Brantley is out of the lineup.

Yes, getting Mike Napoli looks like a solid move. He upgrades the defense at first base, but outside of the second half of last season with Texas, he’s not the player he was with Boston three or four years ago.

He is 34 years old after all.

And Rajai Davis would be a nice pick up as an extra outfielder. Unfortunately, he looks like the starter in LF until Brantley returns.

Also, why do we have the feeling that the Indians will rush Brantley back from his injury, and because of that, he may have an off year? Probably because they did the same thing with Kipnis and Yan Gomes each of the last two years.

Would anyone be truly surprised if both players struggled in 2016? If they do, how does Francona get his club to put more runs on the board.

Our problem is that Tribe management always has the strategy that if everything goes right, we can win the AL Central, but the reality is, it rarely happens that all factors fall in our favor.

That’s why this off-season was the perfect time to make a bold move for a hitter in their prime. Yes, we understand that it is difficult because if you sign a free agent, you likely will have to pay for the player when he is past his prime.

And making a trade carries a risk because the player you move may wind up being better than the guy you get.

That’s one of the reasons we say the Indians operate in fear. They deal in mostly low risk, high reward moves, but many times they get players who don’t have much left.

This would have been a perfect time to strike and put this team in a position to win the division and avoid wild card game.

It may work out, but why not eliminate some of the “hope” factor. It’s okay to put a team out there that doesn’t need a luck factor to win.

Time For Tribe Shake Up If They Want to Contend

The Cleveland Indians are starting a 10 game trip which could make or break their season.

Yes, they are still just six games out of the second wild card spot in the American League, but their record is 33-39 and an unsuccessful trip would put them with too many teams to pass to claim a playoff spot.

From May 14th through June 2nd, the Indians went 13-5 and it looked like perhaps they turned around their season.

Unfortunately, that 19 day span is the only consistent baseball they played all year, and outside of that stretch, the Tribe is 20-34, a truly mediocre record over a 54 game span, which is one-third of the season.

The Indians will tell you there isn’t much they can do about the current roster, but that’s a lie. Here is what we would do:

We hate to see anyone lose their jobs, but despite what the Indians front office will tell you, baseball is a results business. They seem to think it’s an entertainment business.

1). Get a new hitting coach. Ty Van Burkleo made not be the reason the Indians can’t hit with men on base, but sometimes a new voice is needed. In 2005, Eric Wedge replaced Eddie Murray with Derek Shelton and the offense took off.

Maybe it’s a reach, but it’s worth a shot. Rouglas Odor was just named the hitting coach for the AAA All-Star Game, so perhaps he should be promoted.

The offense has struggled for more than just this season, it was tough to score runs the second half of last year too. It’s time to try something different.

2). Eliminate the dead weight on the current roster. Think about how many players Terry Francona doesn’t want to play or pitch with the game on the line.

It’s quite obvious the organization has lost confidence in Michael Bourn, relegating him to a platoon role. It’s time to release him.

We know how much money he is making, but right now he is hurting the team. A better alternative is to pay him (you have to anyway) and not have him hurt the team. This roster would be better off with Tyler Holt or Tyler Naquin on the team instead of Bourn.

Besides, this is making Michael Brantley play more centerfield, which is not good for his back, which in turn is not good for his bat. Brantley needs to move back to left permanently, and perhaps he will start hitting better.

The same goes for the bullpen. Francona doesn’t have faith in Nick Hagadone and it seems his confidence in Zack McAllister is waning as well. Cleveland has organizational depth in relief pitchers, so why not use it.

They’ve been loathe to give Austin Adams a shot for most of the season, instead, going with Scott Atchison, and right now, C.C. Lee deserves an opportunity.

Why not see what you can get for Hagadone and McAllister and get some more prospects.

It’s not like these moves would be catastrophic. The Tribe is struggling mightily now. Why not try something else? It is doubtful that the replacements for these players or coaches could perform worse than they are right now.

The front office of the Indians has a history of patience and sitting on their hands. It’s time to get up and do something, and do it now. Otherwise, the attendance figures at Progressive Field are going to keep declining.

And instead of coming up with reasons for that…just look in the mirror.