Tribe’s Off-Season “Plan” Makes Sense

We thought the Cleveland Indians would have made a major move by now, and by the time you read this, perhaps they have.

What is puzzling is the way a possible major trade by the Tribe front office is being viewed by many baseball fans here.

Part of it is reflex. Many people (including us) lived through the desert from 1960-1994, where the Indians where pretty much a joke throughout the sport, struggling to make payroll, and seemingly without a plan on how to be competitive.

The other part is the nagging thought that the Dolan family wants to cut the team’s payroll. Now, it is fair to say they don’t want to increase the budget for major league player’s salaries, we will stay firm to our belief that the Cleveland payroll will still be somewhere over $120 million in 2019.

After reaching the World Series in 2016, and having the best record in the American League the following year, last year’s team showed signs of regression.

Cleveland has the third oldest position player roster in the AL, and 4th oldest in all of the majors a year ago, behind the Mariners, Giants, and Angels. Every regular was over 30 years old except for Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

It’s tough to figure on any increased production for any player who has entered his 30’s. We aren’t saying it’s impossible, but it certainly isn’t likely.

So, the conundrum the front office has is improving the everyday lineup, and to do that, they likely have to deal from the strength of the team, the starting rotation.

Think about it. Comparing last year’s team to a possible 2019 lineup, where do you see improvement?

1B–Yonder Alonso was a disappointment and would not figure to get better.
2B–Jose Ramirez will be better than Jason Kipnis (but see below)
SS–Lindor, enough said
3B–We like Yandy Diaz, but he isn’t going to have a better year than Ramirez
LF–If Kipnis is the nominal starter there, he’s not hitting better than Michael Brantley
CF–A platoon of Leonys Martin and Greg Allen, might be an improvement
RF–Jordan Luplow? Are we sure he’s better than the Melky Cabrera/Brandon Guyer platoon?
C–Roberto Perez won’t likely hit better than Yan Gomes did a year ago.
DH–Edwin Encarnacion is turning 36 next month.

That’s three spots where you can legitimately think of increased production with people currently on the roster. Doesn’t bode well for a more balanced and better hitting attack in 2019.

So, if you can trade a starting pitcher like Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer and improve your team at one or possibly two spots, doesn’t that make sense?

And if it’s Kluber, and you gain some cash to upgrade another position through free agency or my by getting a player another team wants to unload because of salary, isn’t that the right move?

This isn’t the NBA, where other teams will give you a good player for the expiring contract of a mediocre player. So, no one is going to give you a young, ready to play prospect for Jason Kipnis.

The front office knows they need to make the everyday line up better, and they are trying to make a trade from a position for strength.

It might be tough to swallow, but it absolutely makes sense.

Hold On! Tribe Trying To Restructure, Not Blow It Up

The Cleveland Indians were in the news over the past weekend and extending into today after it was reported the team would be willing to trade some veteran players, not including Francisco Lindor and/or Jose Ramirez.

Many fans took this to mean Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff were going into rebuilding mode. This could not be further from the truth.

Of course, the team also declined to make qualifying offers to Michael Brantley, Andrew Miller, or Cody Allen, the Tribe’s primary free agents.

We have talked about the fact that the Indians’ offense was very top heavy in 2018, largely dependent on Lindor, Ramirez, and Brantley, and the latter doesn’t look to be on the roster next spring.

Combine that with the payroll in ’18 was as high as the franchise can have, and you can see some restructuring of the roster has to be done.

If you look at the every day lineup from the end of last season, outside of Lindor, Ramirez, and Greg Allen, everyone else was over 30 years old, which means improvement isn’t likely, so we are sure the Indians want to get younger.

The issue is that among the Tribe’s top ten prospects (from Baseball America) show the only position player who played above the AA level last season was 1B Bobby Bradley.

So, there is no help on the horizon from the minor leagues.

While we are sure the front office would love to move Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kipnis, or Yonder Alonso, our guess is there wouldn’t be much of a return for that trio, it would pretty much be a salary dump for low level prospects.

So, you have to look at players who you can sell high on, and that brings us to Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Yan Gomes.

There is no question the strength of the Indians is their starting pitching, and they brought up a rookie into the rotation this season in Shane Bieber, and their top prospect is another starter in Triston McKenzie, who was at Akron last season.

Both Kluber and Carrasco are under reasonable contracts for the next two years, so they would have huge value for teams looking for starting pitching.

We believe you should A). Deal from strength, and B). Better to trade someone a year too early than a year too late.

Kluber is going to be in the top three in the Cy Young Award voting this year, the fourth time in his career that will be the case. However, he did show signs of wear and tear as the season went on.

Keep in mind, he has thrown 200 innings or more five consecutive seasons. His strikeout rate was the lowest since before his first Cy Young season in 2014. Is he starting a decline? That’s what the organization has to ask themselves.

His salary jumps from $10 million to $17 million this year and basically stays there through 2021 on club options.

Carrasco has less wear and tear on his arm (only one 200 inning season) and is still making under $10 million in 2019 and 2020.

Carrasco might fetch more in a deal for that reason.

Gomes is 31 years old and is coming off perhaps his best season in the major leagues. It would be a good baseball move to try to trade him at his peak.

This current group perhaps went as far as it could in 2016, and the organization gave them two more shots to win a title.

The front office knows they need to address the offense and they need some younger position players who have an upside.

The core remains the same. The Indians are still trying to get better for 2019. They aren’t starting the rebuild.

Examining Tribe Free Agents & Other Stuff

It’s been a week since the Cleveland Indians’ season ended after getting swept in the American League Division Series by the Houston Astros.

Thus, the Tribe joins all but four major league teams in looking forward to the 2019 season. Barring something drastic, the Indians will enter next season as the favorites for a fourth consecutive Central Division title.

However, there has the potential to have a pretty large roster turnover for Cleveland, and there probably will be. What should the Indians do to improve next season?

First, the everyday lineup needs to be deeper. The lineup was top heavy for most of the past season, and when Jose Ramirez slumped in the middle of August, there wasn’t enough hitting by everyone hitting after Edwin Encarnacion, and by that we mean consistent hitting.

The Indians have 11 free agents this winter, including Carlos Carrasco and Brandon Guyer, both of whom have club options for 2019. The other nine are as follows–

Cody Allen
Michael Brantley
Melky Cabrera
Lonnie Chisenhall
Rajai Davis
Josh Donaldson
Andrew Miller
Oliver Perez
Josh Tomlin

We would exercise Carrasco’s option, but let Guyer walk. Guyer was lethal against southpaws when he arrived in 2016, but although he had an 804 OPS vs. LHP in 2018, he hit just .233, which isn’t good enough. And he’s 32 years old.

The qualifying offer for free agents will be around $17.5 million, and there is no doubt the Tribe will make the offer to Brantley. They may also pick one of the two relief pitchers, Allen or Miller, as well.

That will get them draft pick compensation depending on the size of the contract they sign with other teams, should they go elsewhere.

Out of the two, we would pick Miller, because he didn’t pitch as much this season, and let’s face it, he’s the more dominant of the pair. If he accepts it, and he might to rebuild his value, you have another back end of the bullpen reliever.

Allen seems to have shown the wear and tear of averaging 68 appearances per season in his seven seasons with the Indians.

As for Brantley, we would explore bringing him back, but only on a two year deal max. The outfielder will be 32 years old next May, and we have seen the negatives of signing players over 30 to multiyear deals.

He hasn’t had a fall off in performance with the bat, but his defense has declined, and he had the injury issues in both 2016 and 2017.

The organization seems to have an issue with Chisenhall, who would seem to be an ideal candidate to bring back on an incentive laden one year deal. The former first round pick has been limited to 320 at bats, batting .297 with 13 homers and 62 RBI in the past two injury plagued seasons.

He’s a solid offensive player, particularly against right handed pitching.

They have to make room for Yandy Diaz to play everyday. It seems absurd to think the organization sent someone to the minors coming off a year at AAA where he slashed .350/454/460.

Diaz can hit, and he needs to be doing it at the major league level.

And the front office has to improve the batting attack by getting more consistent hitters. We believe you need seven solid hitters to have a solid lineup.

We will look at the free agent list when it is complete to examine who is on the market.

Oh, and one last thing. After Manny Machado and Bryce Harper sign, start working on a long term contract with Lindor.

This is a big, big off-season for the Tribe front office. Simply put, they must improve this roster around the core of Lindor, Ramirez, and the starting rotation.

A Tribe Post Mortem

The Cleveland Indians season came to a disappointing end in the American League Division Series for the second straight year, and this time they can’t even complain about blowing the series.

Giving up 21 runs in a three game series, while scoring only 6 doesn’t make anyone wistful about what might have been.

We were worried about the Tribe’s offense throughout the season, and our worst fears came true, as the Indians got just three hits in each of the first two games, and had only four yesterday until the Astros blew the game open off the Cleveland bullpen, which by the way, was another concern.

The offense was top heavy all year long, buoyed by excellent seasons by Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Michael Brantley. When Ramirez’ bat went AWOL around the middle of August, the offense really sputtered.

One thing that is needed during the winter is the addition of some solid, consistent bats to pick up the slack with that trio, and Brantley may not be back, isn’t hot.

While we all look at statistics, particularly the new ones, the analytics people need to realize that going 4 for 5 on a given night, and following it up with a couple of 0 for 4s, makes you 4 for 13 (.308 batting average), but you didn’t do anything offensively on two of those nights.

This year’s Tribe had too many players (Yonder Alonso, Jason Kipnis, anyone playing centerfield and rightfield) who did nothing at the plate on a nightly basis.

Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff have a lot of spots in the lineup that need an upgrade.

And while the starting rotation is the cornerstone of the team, the bullpen will need a massive overhaul. Brad Hand and Adam Cimber will return, but beyond that duo, who knows?

Cody Allen and Andrew Miller are free agents, and it is doubtful they will be back.

Terry Francona tried to force Trevor Bauer into the Miller 2016 role in the series, but Bauer is a starter, and being moved out of his normal role didn’t work.

He did it because he no longer trusted Allen and Miller to get big outs when needed.

And speaking of the skipper, he needs to do some internal auditing as well.

The patience vs. stubbornness fine line continues to be an issue. He wanted Miller to be the ’16 edition when he brought him out of the bullpen in Game 2, and probably pulled Carlos Carrasco too early as a result.

But that Miller disappeared midway through last season. Hoping he would come back didn’t help against Houston.

Perhaps there should be a dissenting voice on the staff. The current staff has been with Tito for awhile, and they probably think a lot alike. Sometimes, it’s good to look at things with a different slant.

The first order of business will be the free agents. If Brantley wants to stay on a one or two year deal, we would welcome him back. Let’s face it though, he’s declined defensively, and ideally should spend much of his time at DH.

However, the Tribe has Edwin Encarnacion for another season.

The contention window is not closing. The Indians still have a strong rotation, and still have two of the top ten players in the sport in Lindor and Ramirez. However, you can’t have below average players everywhere else and get to where you want to go.

That and rebuilding the bullpen are the biggest jobs the front office has this winter.

For Tribe fans, this loss with sting until spring training begins in mid-February.

A Tough Series Ahead For Tribe

Tomorrow afternoon, the Cleveland Indians start their quest to end a 70 year drought without a World Series title.

To make matters tougher, they embark on the journey having to take on the defending World Series titlists, the Houston Astros, in the best of five Division Series.

We could be completely wrong on this, because well, baseball, but we feel it will be a very difficult series for the Tribe to emerge victorious.

The Astros lead the American League in run differential, meaning them, not the 108 win Boston Red Sox are the best team in the AL.

The Indians’ hallmark is their pitching, particularly their starters. Their staff ERA is 3.77, ranking 4th in the American League. However, Houston led the league in that category, more than a half run per game less at 3.11.

Cleveland has scored more runs, but only 21 more than the Astros on the season.

The teams are very similar offensively. The Indians scored three runs or less 58 times, which is over 1/3rd of their games. That seems like a lot, right?

Except the Astros did the same thing more often, having 64 games with three runs or less.

Using the 350/450/800 standard for being a very good offensive player, the Indians have three such players (Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Jose Ramirez), while the Astros have two in Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman.

Houston comes in as the hotter team, going 21-6 after September 1st, while the Indians went 14-14. But as we found out last year, being hot coming into the playoffs makes absolutely no difference.

As we said, both teams have exceptional starting pitching, and in our opinion, that’s what the series will come down to. Corey Kluber won 20 games this year, but at times has appeared mortal this season. His game one mound opponent, Justin Verlander, quite frankly had a better season.

The two teams met seven times in the regular season, with Houston having a 4-3 advantage.

In Houston, all three games were close. The Indians were either tied or ahead through 6-1/2 innings in each contest, and a tired starter gave up runs late. Remember, at that time, the Cleveland bullpen was having major issues.

At Progressive Field, Houston won in blowout fashion in the first two games, the latter with the Astros scoring 11 runs in the last two innings.

Even in the extra inning win the day before Memorial Day, the Tribe led 3-2 after seven, before Houston scored six in the 8th, matched by a five run rally in the bottom of the ninth by the Indians.

In that game, Trevor Bauer was left in to throw a season high 127 pitches.

So, this series could hinge on how well Allen, Miller, and Hand do. Only Allen was fully healthy at the time. Miller was about to go on the DL, and Hand was in San Diego.

If Ramirez doesn’t start hitting in this series, the offense could depend on whether or not Josh Donaldson can contribute.

The record says the Astros are better than the Tribe, but last year it said the Indians were the better team than New York.

We say it will be a great series, and these two teams are more evenly matched than it appears record wise.

If we have to make a prediction, we would go with the Astros in four. We also can’t tell you how wrong we would like to be.

Champion Tribe Still Has Offensive Questions.

It’s been a baseball season filled with ups and downs for the Cleveland Indians, but since they reside in the American League Central Division, Terry Francona’s squad coasted to the division title, the first team to clinch that spot in the big leagues this season.

We have said it all season, the Tribe lineup is very top heavy, and the team is in the top three in the AL in runs scored because of SS Francisco Lindor, 3B/2B Jose Ramirez, LF Michael Brantley, and to a lesser extent DH Edwin Encarnacion.

Beyond that quartet, there have been some hot streaks by other players, but you know it has been a tough season for many of the Indians’ hitters, when Melky Cabrera’s signing was important.

Over the last month, Lindor and Ramirez have regressed from their superman status offensively, Lindor kind of being a normal human being, while Ramirez has been in a slump.

That has made it difficult for the Indians to maintain a solid offense for the last four to six weeks.

If Josh Donaldson can be even close to the player he was in 2015 and 2016, he brings an additional impact to the lineup. And that is needed because the Indians rank in the lower third of the league in WAR at several positions.

They are second last in the AL in centerfield, fourth from the bottom in rightfield, and rank 10th (out of 15) at second base.

That’s why the front office gambled on Donaldson. That moves Ramirez to second, an upgrade, and Jason Kipnis, who isn’t having a great year, to center, where his off year is better than what the Tribe has had to use in the middle of the outfield.

Bradley Zimmer started the year out there, but struck out 44 times in a 114 plate appearance, before getting hurt and ending his season with a .226 batting average and a 611 OPS.

He was platooning with Rajai Davis, who is still active, and has an even worse OPS at 567, with just 8 extra base hits in 210 plate appearances.

By contrast, Roberto Perez, having a miserable year at the plate by anyone’s standards, has 10 extra base hits.

Greg Allen took over and by comparison has looked better, but he’s has a 613 OPS and a .241 batting average and 13 extra base hits.

Management traded for Leonys Martin from Detroit before the July 31st trade deadline, but he fell ill after playing six games, and that sent president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff scrambling.

The fear here is that the Indians will be one of those teams who are so deficient in certain areas that it offsets the greatness of Lindor and Ramirez, and the starting pitching, which claims three of the AL’s top ten in ERA, and four of the league’s top ten in strikeouts.

The Tribe’s likely first round opponent, the Astros, lead the league in ERA and in strikeouts. Meaning runs will probably be tough to come by, so even if the top of the order is hitting, someone will still need to step up to win the series.

Maybe it will be Encarnacion or Donaldson. Perhaps Kipnis will hit in the playoffs like he did in 2016, when he belted 4 homers and knocked in eight.

Unless the pitching staff is throwing shutouts, they will need more than Lindor, Brantley, and Ramirez. And remember, those three didn’t really hit well a year ago.

There can’t be anymore moves made, so the players on the roster are going to have to step up. The question is will they?

Going Forward–Tribe Needs To Use Entire Roster

The Cleveland Indians will clinch the American League Central Division title sometime this week, but right now they look like a team running on fumes.

Several of the everyday players look to need a few days off, most notably MVP candidate Jose Ramirez, who over the last month is hitting just .172 with one home run and a 572 OPS.

Over the same time frame, Yonder Alonso is batting .187, also with a pair of dingers and a 542 OPS.

Even Francisco Lindor’s numbers have dropped off. He has a .255 batting average and five homers, but his OPS is just 703.

Are these just slumps, or have the dog days of August set in, with the fatigue that goes with playing everyday in a summer where the temperatures have been high?

In the case of Lindor and Ramirez, both young players at 24 and 25 (for now, Ramirez turns 26 in less than a week), it could be that they are tired, both having played everyday (Lindor 141 games, Ramirez 140 out of a possible 142).

To be sure, neither player wants to sit out. Their attitude is to go out everyday and compete, and that is a very noble thing to want to do.

However, we noticed yesterday that Erik Gonzalez has been on the 25 man roster the entire season, and has just 129 plate appearances, striking us incredibly low for someone here all season.

While Gonzalez has put up a .285 batting average and a 716 OPS to date, we feel his lack of strike zone judgment (32 strikeouts to 5 walks) would be exposed if was in the lineup more often.

Should he or a perhaps more productive utility player get more at bats during the regular season to give Lindor and Ramirez some rest to keep them fresh for the stretch drive?

We understand the Tribe was caught in a tough place with Gonzalez, as he was out of options coming into the season. Typically, young players have a problem with a bench role, although considering his limited playing time, he has done well.

The point is it is obvious that Terry Francona isn’t comfortable putting his name in the lineup. And it’s easier for sure to write Lindor and Ramirez on the card.

This year is a luxury, the Tribe is cruising to a post-season berth. But what if the Twins were hot and were cutting into the lead on a weekly basis? Having a third of your everyday players, particularly on a top heavy offense, slumping isn’t good.

On the other hand, perhaps Ramirez’ struggles are a result of being too pull happy and a little too conscious of his home run total. Opposing teams are using extreme shifts against him, and when he came to the majors he was a player who used all fields.

Alonso’s troubles could be strictly from losing his strike zone judgment. His walk rate is at 8.7% this season, compared to 13.1% a year ago. And he is striking out at the highest rate of his career.

It appears the first baseman has played himself into a platoon role for the post-season, with either Yandy Diaz or Edwin Encarnacion with someone else being the designated hitter.

There are 25 men on a roster, and why not use all of them. Especially to keep players fresh over the long six month season.

Hopefully the rest they will get after the Indians clinch will be enough for October.

Things To Watch After Tribe Wraps It Up

Sometime in the next week, the Cleveland Indians will clinch the American League Central Division title, their 10th since the three division set up was established in 1994.

They will also be making their 11th post season appearance in that time frame, trailing only the powerful, big market Red Sox and Yankees in the American League.

These are heady times for baseball fans in northeast Ohio, especially when you consider this team has several of the best players who have ever worn the Indians’ uniform.

Even after the Tribe wraps up the division crown, they will be very interesting to watch through the end of the season. Here are some things to watch–

Josh Donaldson. The former AL MVP will return to the active roster next week in Tampa, and then the seismic position shift will begin, assuming Donaldson’s calf holds up.

When he is ready to play the field, Jose Ramirez will move to second base, and Jason Kipnis goes to centerfield. That is, if Kipnis continues to swing the bat like he has over the last week to ten days.

If he slumps again, Terry Francona could go back to Greg Allen, who is a better defender, and has provided some timely hits since Leonys Martin fell ill.

The Bullpen. With Cody Allen back on the beam (hopefully), who will be in the bullpen for the post-season is still up in the air.

The first order of business is getting Andrew Miller healthy and back in the mix. We doubt he can carry the same load he did in 2016, but if he can give Francona an inning of quality relief two or three times in a series, that would be big.

Also to be determined is what other right-handers will the skipper want. Adam Cimber should be one, because of his success vs. right-handed hitters, but will the manager really want to bring Dan Otero or Neil Ramirez into a playoff game?

Our guess is that was why veteran Jon Edwards was given a look see after striking out 56 in 39-2/3 innings at Columbus this year.

And that makes it kind of curious that Ben Taylor wasn’t brought back for another look. The 25 year old made six appearances early in the year, and fanned 70 in 57-1/3 innings at AAA this year.

The Bench. There won’t be a need for 13 pitchers come October, so we figure two spots on the bench will open up.

In our estimation, Francona will go with four starters and seven arms out of the bullpen, so who gets those roster spots?

If Kipnis is in CF, one spot will go to Greg Allen for his defense, and Rajai Davis will be there as a pinch runner, but will that mean Yandy Diaz makes the roster this fall?

Remember, a year ago, Diaz was bypassed in favor of Giovanny Urshela’s glove.

This year, Diaz may be in the lineup vs. left handed pitchers, replacing Yonder Alonso, who is batting .212 with a 607 OPS against southpaws.

For a team coasting into the playoffs, the 2018 Cleveland Indians have a lot of things that are unsettled. We are sure the Tribe management would like things to crystalize in the next three weeks.

The Tribe’s Giant Leap of Faith

Well, we certainly can’t say Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff played it safe, can we?

The Cleveland Indians’ front office took a giant leap of faith that Josh Donaldson’s injured calf will be healthy enough to get through two months in acquiring the former American League MVP just prior to the September 1st deadline.

Donaldson hasn’t played in the big leagues since May 28th, yet the Tribe management is willing to blow up the existing lineup for a player hitting .234 with a 757 OPS this season.

Ironically, Donaldson’s last two home runs for the Blue Jays came on May 3rd, at Progressive Field in a doubleheader against the Indians, hitting them off of Nick Goody in game one, and Adam Plutko in the nightcap.

In his three previous seasons, his lowest OPS was 939 in 2015, his first year in Canada, when he won the MVP, leading the AL in runs scored, runs batted in, and belted 41 home runs.

His career post-season numbers, in 31 games, are a .292 batting average, 4 home runs, 13 RBI, and an 836 OPS. Even in the ALCS loss to the Indians in 2016, Donaldson still was 6 for 18 with a dinger.

When he is ready to play, and that’s not a given, it appears the Tribe will move Jose Ramirez to second base, and Jason Kipnis will move to the outfield for the second straight fall.

That’s a drastic departure because Terry Francona said a few weeks ago that he wasn’t going to move Ramirez to the keystone to get Yandy Diaz’ bat in the lineup.

With Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez in a bit of a tailspin, it was clear the Indians’ offense needed a boost. Greg Allen was hot for awhile, but our fears that he still isn’t reliable were shown to be true.

That doesn’t mean Allen doesn’t have a future, because we believe he does.

The Tribe outfield defense isn’t great anyway, so it appears management will punt on it totally to get Kipnis’ recently rejuvenated bat in the lineup, with Ramirez moving to second.

When will the transition start to take place? It is thought that Donaldson needs some more minor league at bats, so will Francona wait until Donaldson is ready to play in the majors, or will he get valuable action at their new positions for Ramirez and Kipnis.

When Kipnis is in center, our guess is he will play five or six innings, and if the Tribe has a lead, Greg Allen will take over.

It has been reported that Kipnis is not real happy about having to move to the outfield, and this is where Francona needs his greatest strength, his relationship with his players.

If Donaldson is healthy, there is no doubt his presence in the lineup makes the Tribe batting order more potent. The offense has been top heavy all season long, with the team not getting a lot of production past the fifth spot in the order.

Donaldson’s presence lengthens the order, potentially dropping Yonder Alonso into the 6th spot, and if Kipnis keeps hitting, the lineup has some depth.

The biggest selling point Tito has is it makes the team better, and if winning is the ultimate goal in that clubhouse, this move helps.

Still, it’s a huge gamble because of Donaldson’s calf. We have seen what Lonnie Chisenhall’s problem has done to his career over the last year, so there is no guarantee it won’t flare up on the newest Indian.

Antonetti and Chernoff have pushed all the chips to the center of the table again. Now, the question is will their new hand be a winner?

Looking At MVP Candidacy Of Ramirez, Lindor.

The Indians and Red Sox are playing a four game series in Fenway Park this week, which is a matchup of two teams who will be playing in October.

However, a secondary battle will be going on, with four big time candidates for the American League MVP on the field, Boston’s Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, and the Indians’ Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

The quartet are all in the league leaders in WAR, as well as ranking high in all of the traditional statistics too. Betts currently leads in WAR at 8.3, with Ramirez 3rd, Lindor 4th, and Martinez 8th.

In terms of offensive WAR, Ramirez is 2nd, Betts 3rd, Martinez 4th, and Lindor 6th. Betts is regarded as the best defensive rightfielder in the sport, but Lindor actually has a higher defensive WAR because he plays a more important defensive position.

In runs created, the four rank in the top five in the AL.

We aren’t going to comment on the two Boston players candidacy, but needless to say, both are great players and would be worthy winners of the MVP. But we think the two Indians have a better case, and here’s why.

The Tribe is third in the American League in runs scored despite no one besides Ramirez and Lindor having an OPS over 850 among players with over 100 at bats. Michael Brantley, having a solid season, is third in this statistic at 823 currently.

By contrast, two other Red Sox are over that figure–Xander Bogaerts at 875 and Andrew Benintendi at 877. Boston leads the AL in runs scored, and you can see why with four outstanding hitters in their lineup every day.

We have been saying this all season long, but the Cleveland attack is very often dependent on the two players manning the left side of their infield.

Really, who else is contributing on an every day basis offensively?

Edwin Encarnacion has dropped off from a year ago, his batting average down almost 30 points, his on base percentage down 60 points. Over the last month, we have seen opposing teams pitching around Ramirez in key situations to get to the veteran slugger.

Yonder Alonso has done well in maintaining the power spike he had a year ago, already setting a career high in RBIs with 70, but he hasn’t had as good a season as Carlos Santana had with Cleveland a year ago.

Yan Gomes has slumped after the All Star break, so Terry Francona isn’t really getting good hitting out of centerfield, catcher, rightfield, and second base. That’s almost half of the batting order.

Yet, the Tribe is scoring more runs than anyone in the Junior Circuit save for Boston and New York. That’s how valuable the duo of Ramirez and Lindor have been.

And it hasn’t been just this season either. Ramirez, of course, finished third in the voting a year ago, and Lindor has finished in the top ten the past two seasons, 9th in 2016 and 5th last season.

We also have to remind everyone again, that Ramirez won’t turn 26 years old until next month, and Lindor won’t be 25 until November. They are still getting better folks.

Right now, Betts has the WAR lead, and that goes a big way in determining the MVP, and we understand that. But if the word “valuable” is considered, keep in mind that the Indians’ offense is being carried by the duo of Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

That’s our case for both of them.