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.

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.

Signs Were There For Tribe Fans The Past Two Years

It started when Michael Brantley departed via free agency after the 2018 season. We made a compelling argument that the Indians organization was simply reallocating funds to add younger pieces with more upside.

After all, Brantley was 31 years old and missed a good chunk of 2017 and almost all of 2016 with various injuries. It would be a smart move to take the $15 million or so (he got $16 million from Houston) he would demand on the open market, and find younger players who wouldn’t be in the decline phases of their careers.

Except the front office didn’t use the money saved by letting Brantley go, they just lowered the payroll for 2019.

The following winter, the Tribe dealt two time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to Texas for an outfielder that couldn’t hit and a promising young bullpen arm in Emmanuel Clase. It was a salary dump, but again, we felt you couldn’t judge the trade until you could see what the organization would do with the money saved by moving Kluber.

Except, for the most part, they put it in their pockets.

Keep in mind, both of these moves occurred before COVID-19. At that point, there wasn’t a season played without fans, or with a 60 game slate, instead of the normal 162.

The ownership was hacking away at the payroll, in the midst of a run where they were on of the best teams in the American League. They had some age on the roster, but after Jason Kipnis left via free agency and the trade of Kluber, the oldest key players on the roster were Carlos Santana (33), and Carlos Carrasco (32).

What we mean is this is not the traditional aging team that management decides should be overhauled before they bottom out. The pieces are in place. You have a pair of great players in the midst of their prime in Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

You have a young, controllable starting rotation starting with Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber (26), Zach Plesac (26), Aaron Civale (26), Cal Quantrill (26), and Triston McKenzie (23) to go along with the veteran Carrasco.

It would seem having a pair of superstars with an excellent pitching staff would be a good foundation to build on, right?

Instead, the organization is going to deal one of the young stars before he enters his prime (age 27-29) because they are unwilling to pay him, and rumors are out there about Carrasco being on the block too.

Frankly, as much as we like and respect Carrasco, if you were moving him to free money to sign Lindor, it would make sense. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Instead, it appears the Indians are giving up on contending for awhile. The White Sox are on the rise, and being aggressive and the Twins are the two time defending Central Division champs. Instead of trying to beat them, compete with them, Cleveland has decided to regroup.

And the only motivation for doing this seems to be saving money. We get the revenues around the sport decreased in 2020 because of the unique season, but that’s true for every other major league team.

We have said many times that we understand the Indians cannot spend like the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, other teams in huge markets. But the Tribe might be around or below $50 million in 2021, about half of where they should be.

We can only think about the Indians’ teams of the 1950’s, contenders in most years, but only got to one World Series in 1954. However, that run of big success was ended by a general manager making terrible trades involving future young stars.

In both cases, it wasn’t age that ended the run, it was management. Unfortunately, no one can fire an owner. We just have to wait until some billionaire wants to buy the club and wants to win. It’s apparent the current owners do not.

The Decline Of The Tribe Hitting Since ’16

It wasn’t that long ago that the Cleveland Indians had one of the best offenses in the American League. In 2018, the Tribe finished in the top three in the AL in runs scored for the third consecutive year.

So, what happened in the past two seasons?

Let’s start with 2016. The American League champs finished second in the league in scoring, with four starters having OPS over 800: Carlos Santana (865), Jose Ramirez (825), Jason Kipnis (811), and Mike Napoli (800). Francisco Lindor fell just short of that mark.

In addition, two essentially platoon players, Tyler Naquin and Brandon Guyer, who was acquired at the trade deadline were over 800. If you include Lindor, it gave Terry Francona six guys in the lineup who were big threats at the plate.

That was Napoli’s last good season, and in 2017, the Indians replaced him with Edwin Encarnacion, and Cleveland finished third in the Junior Circuit in runs scored.

That season, five regulars had OPS of 800 or more (Santana, Ramirez, Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Encarnacion) along with platoon pieces Austin Jackson and Lonnie Chisenhall, again giving Francona six very good hitters most days in his batting order.

And the front office went out an acquired Jay Bruce when Brantley was injured to maintain the offense. It was also the last year the Indians won a post-season game.

Unfortunately, Kipnis’ last very good season hitting was ’16, and the ’17 campaign was the last healthy season for Chisenhall, and that was the last year in which Francona had more than four regulars with OPS over 800.

This meant second base was not as productive, the outfield offense was starting to decline, and Santana departed via free agency.

In 2018, the number of very good hitters written into the Cleveland lineup was down to four, but one of them was Ramirez, who set a blistering pace until the middle of August, winding up his second straight year finishing in the top three in the MVP voting. He likely would have won without his late season slump.

The other three were Lindor, Brantley, and Encarnacion.

A larger shift occurred during the off-season, when Brantley departed as a free agent, and Encarnacion was traded with the primary return (other than shedding payroll) was Santana who returned and had an excellent 2019 season.

Brantley’s departure meant the outfield was now an offensive hole, the only player putting up good numbers in 2019 was newcomer Jordan Luplow, a platoon piece.

The only everyday players with 800+ OPS’ were Santana, Lindor, and Ramirez, who struggled through May before getting red hot until he broke a bone in his hand in September.

Cleveland wasn’t getting any offense from the outfield, DH, and 2B (we eliminate catching because of the team’s philosophy of defense first at the position), which necessitated getting Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes when they dealt starter Trevor Bauer, although Puig was a free agent to be.

Not coincidentally, the Indians dropped to 7th in runs scored in 2019.

That ranking is excellent compared to being 13th in the COVID shortened 2020 season. The only Indians’ hitter with an OPS over 800 was Ramirez, the AL MVP runner up. The hitters closest to that figure were Reyes, Lindor, and 2B Cesar Hernandez, who was an upgrade at that position.

The inability of the organization to replace guys like Brantley, Kipnis, and have two effective platoon players at spots has led to this. This leads us to the question of how does this situation get corrected?

Hernandez is a free agent, and it is tremendously likely Lindor will be dealt in the off-season, meaning Ramirez is the lone wolf from the 2016 season, although we would think Reyes can get over the 800 OPS threshold next season.

We have demonstrated that good offenses have five or six players of this type (800+ OPS) in the batting order regularly? Care to tell us beyond Ramirez and Reyes who those players will be?

It will be very difficult for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff to find three or four solid bats for Francona to use in 2021. It also demonstrates that trimming the payroll usually results in forming holes on your baseball team.

The hitting slowly disappeared over time and no one reacted. The organization failed to find suitable replacements. And the result is what happened in 2020.

Tribe Infield Likely To Be Way Different in ’21

The Cleveland Indians had an everyday infield in 2020. Each game, either Terry Francona or Sandy Alomar Jr. wrote down the names of four switch-hitters to play the infield, most days batting them in the first four spots of the order: Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Cesar Hernandez, and Carlos Santana.

In 2021, it appears only Ramirez will remain in the Cleveland lineup, another example of how different next year’s Tribe lineup will look different.

Obviously, the impending and likely deal of star shortstop Lindor will hopefully bring back a player or two who could fill at least one of these spots, but right now, here is who Tribe fans should be getting better acquainted with next spring.

First Base: The likely candidates, barring trades, would be Josh Naylor, Jake Bauers, and Bobby Bradley, all left-handed hitters, although we could see Santana brought back at a lower salary.

Right now, Naylor (who will be 24 next year) would be the front runner even though he had a 621 OPS between the Indians and the Padres in 2020. He did have a 719 OPS in 253 at bats with San Diego in ’19, and he makes more contact than the other two. His projected numbers in ’21 (according to Baseball-Reference.com) is 252 at bats, 8 HR, 31 RBI, .254 average, 730 OPS.

Bauers (25) spent all of the ’20 season at the satellite camp, and was a big disappointment in ’19 after coming over from Tampa Bay, hitting .226 with a 683 OPS. In the second half, he batted just .170. His projected numbers?: 210 at bats, .229, 727 OPS, 8 HR, 28 ribbies.

Bradley (also 25) also didn’t see a big league at bat in 2020, and his problem has been contact, striking out 153 times at AAA in ’19, and 20 times in 49 plate appearances with the Indians. The organization seems to have soured on him after that big league stint. His projection?: 182 at bats, .236, 735 OPS, 7 HR, 24 RBI.

Second base: Gold Glove winner Hernandez is likely gone, and the primary replacements would seem to be Yu Chang or Owen Miller, who came over in the Mike Clevinger deal in August.

Chang (25 next year) feels like he has been around forever, and has some pop, but has had contact issues, his strikeouts are more than double his walk totals in his minor league career, and he has just a .251 batting average in the minor leagues. He’s also a candidate at shortstop, depending on the return for Lindor. His projection for 2021 is 189 at bats, .233 average, 702 OPS, 6 HR, 24 RBI.

Miller’s (24) numbers in the minors are impressive. He’s a career .307 batter (808 OPS) and has never struck out more than 86 times in a season. The only issue here is he’s never played above the AA level.

He’s been mostly a SS in his professional career, but has spent time at 2B too. He doesn’t have a big league projection for 2021, but he’s definitely a player to keep an eye on when spring training starts.

Shortstop: Chang and Miller figure into the mix here as well, along with two younger dark horse candidates, and presumably whoever the Indians get back in a Lindor deal.

The two younger players are Gabriel Arias (21 next year) who came over in the Clevinger deal. He hit .302 in Class A in 2019, but hasn’t played at a higher level as of yet. He’s a right-handed hitter, but has had contact issues thus far in his minor league career.

The other is top prospect Tyler Freeman, who will turn 22 in ’21. He also hasn’t played above the high A level, and is a .319 lifetime hitter in professional ball (.379 OBP). He’s been a doubles machine in the minors.

It’s hard to imagine the Tribe going with either of the latter two, as we are sure they would like to see both at a higher level of the minors.

Again, we believe the return for Lindor will have an impact on the infield, because his immediate replacement may be part of the return in the trade. And the front office will be looking for less expensive free agents as a one year stop gap as well.

Fans thought the outfield was unsettled in 2020. They may be looking at 2/3rds of a lineup being that way this upcoming season.

A Monumental Off-Season For The Tribe

To say this off-season is monumental for the Cleveland Indians is truly an understatement. Yes, the Indians made the playoffs in the shortened regular season, and only five key players on the roster are over 30 years old, but it feels like a shift in the franchise is at hand.

Will Terry Francona still be the manager or will his health issues cause him to take another role within the organization.

Roster wise, you can feel confident that only three regulars will be in their same positions when the Tribe reconvenes in Goodyear next February: 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Franmil Reyes, and C Roberto Perez.

The biggest elephant in the room is the status of SS Francisco Lindor, who can be a free agent after the 2021 season. The most likely scenario is president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will see what they can get for their star player and trade him.

To us, that could signal in a rebuilding phase, albeit maybe a short one.

The Indians struggled to score runs all season long, so on the surface, it would seem like dealing one of your few dependable hitters (yes, we know Lindor didn’t have a great season, but he was one of four players with an OPS+ over 100) would not be a way to help the offense.

Carlos Santana will turn 35 around Opening Day 2021 and is coming off the worst year of his career, and has a $17.5 million club option, that the Indians will surely not pick up. Will they be willing to bring him back on restructured deal? If they do, they need a back up plan. Could that be Josh Naylor or perhaps Jake Bauer?

Cesar Hernandez was a great pick up from the Phillies, but he will be 31 in ’21 and had one of his best years, so we would imagine he is looking for more than the $6.25 million he earned this past season. If that’s true, does that put him out of the Indians’ range?

And Brad Hand will also turn 31, and seems to have lost some velocity off his fastball. He has a $10 million club option for 2021, but with Emmanuel Clase coming back, we would predict the only reason the organization picks it up is to trade the closer and get something back.

It’s pretty clear to everyone the outfield needs to be overhauled. Cleveland’s OF ranked lowest in the AL in WAR this season, and two of the starters, Delino DeShields Jr. and Tyler Naquin could wind up being non-tendered. We find it improbable that next year’s OF will be comprised of three unproven youngsters.

That leaves the Lindor situation, and we can all get ready for a winter filled with speculation on where the shortstop will spend next season. We feel a deal involving Lindor would likely signal the closing of the contention window.

We know the organization has tremendous pitching, but can they survive a 162 schedule struggling to score runs.

However, the safe bet is Lindor will be dealt in the off-season, but we say why not play it out, especially since the Collective Bargaining Agreement end after the 2021 season.

It is unlikely the Indians will get a fair return for their star shortstop. Keep him, try to win and make the post-season next season, and see what the new rules for baseball will be following the season.

For all we know, there could be a “franchise player” clause. Or revenue sharing might be more prominent, or what about a salary cap with a corresponding salary floor.

All might be more advantageous to keep Francisco Lindor, and the added benefit is another chance to make the playoffs.

Without a doubt, this is a very important fall and winter for the Cleveland Indians’ organization. What this team will look like in February is anyone’s guess.

Biggest Factor For Tribe? Games Aren’t In The Bronx

Tomorrow night, the Indians start the new “Wild Card” round of the American League playoffs, necessitated this year (we hope only this year) by the shortened regular season.

Because of the regional schedule for the year, Tribe fans haven’t seen the Yankees this season, and vice versa. This we do know, New York had a 33-27 record this season, going 22-9 at Yankee Stadium and 11-18 on the road.

By the way, all three games of the series will be played in Cleveland at Progressive Field.

Because the Yankees get on national television more than most teams, certainly more than the Indians, baseball fans know the names: Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, D.J. LeMahieu, and Gary Sanchez.

And they signed Garrit Cole, who won 20 games with the Astros last season, helping to pitch them to the AL pennant.

Their closer is Aroldis Chapman, who Tribe fans remember very well from the 2016 World Series.

However, in looking at the statistics for the Yankees this season, it has a Jekyll and Hyde feel to them.

You see, in the Bronx, the pinstripers have a team batting average of .273 with 67 home runs as a team, and a 907 OPS.

As a comparison, the Indians team statistics for the entire season has them with a .228 batting average, 59 home runs, and an OPS of 689. That’s for both home and road games.

LeMahieu, the AL batting champion, batted .448 at Yankee Stadium with eight home runs. Luke Voit, who led the Junior Circuit in long balls, swatted 16 at home. Four other Yanks hit six dingers in the Bronx, meanwhile the Tribe had four players who hit more that a half dozen for the entire season.

However, away from the famous short porch in right field, New York has at least according to the numbers been a far different team.

On the road, the Bronx Bombers have a .220 batting average with only 27 home runs, and a 668 OPS. They hit like Cleveland did all season long away from the House That Derek Jeter Built.

LeMahieu, who is a great hitter (we wanted the Indians to sign him when he was a free agent), batted .283 on the road, but had just two dingers. Voit, who had 22 homers for the season, hit just six away from the Bronx.

Stanton (14 for 49, 3 HR) and old friend Gio Urshela (21 for 65, 12 RBI) were the most productive New York bats away from home this season.

What is odd is the Yankee pitching splits at home and on the road. NY pitchers had a 3.87 ERA in the Big Apple, with Cole having a 2.09 mark, winning four games. Masahiro Tanaka, the game two starter won three at home, but with a 4.40 ERA.

The weird stat is they had a 4.88 ERA on the road. We understand their road games were at hitter friendly parks like Fenway Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and Sahlens Field in Buffalo, where the Blue Jays played their home games, and it was very much a pitcher’s nightmare.

Tanaka pitched well on the road (2.33 ERA) which isn’t good news for Wednesday night’s contest.

As for the Tribe, they hit .233 at home (compared to .222 on the road), but hit 34 of their 59 home runs on the road.

Jose Ramirez (who else?) was the best hitter at Progressive Field, hitting .317 with 19 extra base hits. Cesar Hernandez hit .313 at his new home park, and Carlos Santana belted five of his eight homers in Cleveland.

The Indians’ pitchers had a 3.67 ERA at home vs. 2.90 away from Progressive Field. It didn’t matter for game one starter Shane Bieber, the likely AL Cy Young Award winner, who had 1.23 ERA and struck out 44 hitters in 22 innings at home.

Game 2 starter Carlos Carrasco had a 3.03 ERA, and Game 3 hurler Zach Plesac is at 2.08 along the shores of Lake Erie.

What does all of this mean? Not much, because it’s baseball, and a three game series doesn’t really determine a lot. However, ignore the names wearing the New York uniforms. They are television personalities because the networks want the Yankees.

The numbers show the Indians can compete and win the series if (and that’s a huge if) their beleaguered offense can cobble up some runs. That’s the biggest question of the week for the Tribe.

Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose…One Of The Game’s Best (Even If He Is Unknown Nationally)

New Indians’ pitcher Cal Quantrill said it after Jose Ramirez’ game winning three run homer to put the Tribe back in the post-season. He said if there is such a thing as an underrated top five player in the game, Ramirez is one.

It is difficult to believe Ramirez is still underrated, perhaps it is the slump he suffered through at the beginning of the 2019 season, but we feel some fans, even those who follow the Indians, don’t remember that the switch-hitter has two top three American League MVP finishes (2017 and 2018).

Perhaps it is the presence of Francisco Lindor, who has become the face of the franchise, but even nationally, you don’t hear enough about Ramirez being one of the best players in the sport.

There is no doubt that he is though. Still, since he became a regular midway through the 2016 season, only Mike Trout, recognized by everyone as the best player in the sport, has more top three finishes in the most valuable player voting than the Tribe third baseman.

The other players who have two such placements are household names nationally: Jose Altuve, Mookie Betts, and Christian Yelich.

Perhaps part of it was he was never regarded as a great prospect. Heck, he didn’t even appear on the Tribe’s Top 10 Prospect list until 2014, after he made his big league debut.

Cleveland got their first glimpse of Ramirez in the drive for a wild card spot in 2013, when the organization promoted him, primarily as a pinch runner after he hit .272 (674 OPS) with 38 stolen bases at Akron, playing mostly second base.

His keystone combination partner in ’12 at Lake County was Lindor, and they made for quite a duo up the middle.

Ramirez started the following season in AAA, hitting .302 (801 OPS) in 60 games at Columbus before being called up to play shortstop during the second half of the 2014 season with the big club, batting .262 with 2 HR, 17 RBI and 14 extra base hits in 266 plate appearances.

He started the ’15 season at shortstop (keeping the spot warm for top prospect Lindor), but was hitting just .180 (487 OPS) before being demoted to AAA. Lindor came up a few days later.

Upon getting recalled, he batted .259 with a 775 OPS, mixing in 16 extra base hits in 182 times at the dish. He played all over the diamond when he came back, playing some third base and leftfield. At that point, Jason Kipnis was fully ensconced at second base for the Tribe.

The switch-hitter started the following season in the same role, but with Juan Uribe not hitting at the hot corner, Ramirez started getting regular playing time there and started to hit with even more power, batting .312, with 11 homers, 76 ribbies, 46 doubles, and an 825 OPS.

He probably would have won the MVP in 2017 if not for a terrible September (.174 average, 637 OPS) that some attributed to being home run happy. He entered the month with 38 dingers.

Even with the increase in power, Ramirez was still an excellent base runner, stealing 17, 34, and 24 bases in the last three full baseball seasons, and he is an great defensive third baseman too.

There has been speculation he will eventually move back to second base to make room for prospect Nolan Jones, but we believe he’s not moving, his body type now makes him more suited for the corner spot.

He has a engaging personality too. Fox Sports’ Andre Knott calls him the heartbeat of the team, and his comments about “home run pitches” have caught on throughout the fanbase, and so, of course, are the “Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose” chants that resonate at Progressive Field when he comes up with a big hit.

People around the game know how good Ramirez is. He’s one of the 10-15 best players in the game, a great combination of power and speed, and a very good batting eye. He really doesn’t have a weakness.

As for the lack of national recognition? Who cares! Fans in northeast Ohio know how good Jose Ramirez is. And he could be the AL MVP in 2020.