Lindor-Ramirez Combo Bodes Well For Tribe’s Future

We started saying this last season, but one of the best things about the Cleveland Indians is their best players are 23 years old (Francisco Lindor) and 24 years old (Jose Ramirez).

Although everyone recognizes the talent of Lindor, who is not only the Tribe’s best players, he is one of the games’ premier players. But including Ramirez could be construed as controversial, seeing that many people in media still consider him a utility player.

That’s despite the fact that the switch-hitter collected 565 at bats last season. He is an everyday player, it’s just that he played two different positions, starting the season in leftfield, before shifting to third base when Cleveland released Jose Uribe.

There is no question that Terry Francona is managing a very talented roster, with many players having made All Star Game appearances.

Having a team with Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Edwin Encarnacion, Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar on it is a good start, but add in Carlos Santana, Cody Allen, and you can see why the Indians are the favorite to defend their American League Central Divison title.

But the young duo of Lindor and Ramirez are arguably the stars of the team.

We all know Lindor’s pedigree. He was a first round draft pick and the organization’s top prospect from the minute he signed his professional contract.

He quickly rose up the list of top 100 prospects in minor league baseball, finally arriving in the top 10 in 2015, when he was (finally) called up to the Indians in June 2015.

Ramirez was never ranked as a top prospect, despite consistently being one of the youngest players in each minor league he participated in. People forget he was just 20 years old when he arrived in the big leagues in 2013, primarily to serve as a pinch-runner for the playoff push.

Perhaps if he was drafted and not an international free agent signing, he would have received more love from the people who cover prospects.

Check out these minor league numbers:

Player A: .279 batting average 354/384/738
Player B: .304 batting average 355/411/766

You may be surprised that the player with the better minor league hitting numbers is Ramirez. That’s why we shake our heads at the thought that his hitting in 2016 could somehow be an aberration.

His minor league statistics show the man can hit.

Ramirez is probably the best defensive second baseman on the club too, but we understand Kipnis’ position on the team, and that Francona is loathe to move an established player out of his spot.

Remember that because of the duo’s ages, they should get nothing but better over the next four to five seasons. We are already seeing the pair developing power, with both having four home runs in the first 14 games this season.

We can easily envision both being 20+ homer guys, perhaps as soon as 2017.

It struck us the other night what a great era for sports our area is having. We get to see LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love on a nightly basis on the basketball court.

And right next door, at Progressive Field, we see Kluber, Miller, and two of the game’s best young and up and coming stars in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

We can’t wait to see what kind of players they will be in two or three years, because they are certainly special right now.

Opening Day Means Welcoming Old And New Friends.

Today is the day baseball fans in northeast Ohio have been looking forward to since the World Series ended in early November.

The Cleveland Indians are back home at Progressive Field today to take on the Chicago White Sox in the first of 81 dates at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

It is also the beginning of six division games as the Tigers come in for three games over the Easter weekend, and it is important for the Tribe to again play well within the AL Central as almost half the schedule is divisional contests.

And that schedule is top heavy in terms of road games early for the Indians, as 23 of the first 35 games are away from downtown Cleveland. While that’s a difficult early slate, it does mean a decided advantage after that stretch is done.

No doubt it will be a party atmosphere at the ballpark tomorrow, it always is for the home opener in this area, but the encouraging thing is it doesn’t appear the park will be a ghost town after tomorrow’s game.

Last year’s post-season run to the World Series sold a lot of tickets, and a good start will get even more people to visit Progressive Field. The Tribe could have its highest attendance figures in many, many years.

It will be the fans first look at Edwin Encarnacion, their high profile free agent 1B/DH, and one of the game’s premier sluggers.

On the other side, age wise, it will also be the first time they get to see Yandy Diaz, who although he is just 5 for 23 to start the year, has shown an ability to hit the ball extremely hard.

Diaz isn’t likely to be here for long, he will probably go back to Columbus once Jason Kipnis returns from his sore shoulder, but he is a guy who is very much part of the Indians’ not to distant future.

It is time to resume our love for the mainstays of last year’s American League Champions, to celebrate how lucky we are to get to watch Francisco Lindor, now firmly established as one of baseball’s best young players, on an everyday basis.

It’s also a great feeling to have a lead late in the game knowing the Indians have likely the best one-two bullpen combination in the sport in Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. That duo can be interchangeable if Terry Francona so desires.

We will say hello to last year’s breakout star in Jose Ramirez, who filled in at several spots in 2016, and is doing the same now at second base, until Kipnis returns, and he moves back to the hot corner.

And we say welcome back to Michael Brantley, remembering it was just three short years ago that he finished 3rd in the MVP voting. It’s easy to forget Brantley has been here since 2009, and he and Kipnis were the first building blocks for a World Series squad.

It’s a day of celebration, remembering what the 2016 edition of the Indians did, and looking forward to what could be another great season at Progressive Field.

The boys of summer have returned to Cleveland.

Who Plays Second For A Few Weeks?

A few days ago, the Cleveland Indians announced 2B Jason Kipnis was about 4-5 weeks away from returning to the lineup.

First off, many people went crazy thinking Kipnis wasn’t going to be able to do anything for 4-5 weeks, meaning his return to the lineup would be about two months away. Apparently, those people didn’t read correctly.

However, it does mean that the second baseman will miss most, if not all, of the first month of the season, so Terry Francona has to find someone to partner with Francisco Lindor as the team’s keystone combination.

It is not a coincidence that when the amount of time became specified by the Cleveland training staff, we started seeing Jose Ramirez playing in place of Kipnis.

Our guess is if Kipnis was going to miss a couple of weeks of the regular season, Francona would have went with a mixture of Michael Martinez and Erik Gonzalez at second, and left Ramirez at the hot corner, where he played so well in the second half of 2016.

But when it appeared to be a full month, he felt it necessary to move Ramirez back to his natural position, and use find someone else to play third.

In his heart of hearts, Tito probably knows Ramirez is stronger defensively than Kipnis, and a double play combination of Lindor and Ramirez could be among the best in the league.

What to do at 3B? The primary candidates are Giovanny Urshela who is very good with the glove, but his hitting is questionable because he doesn’t handle the strike zone.

Then you have Yandy Diaz, who looks to be ready with the bat, hitting over .300 combined at Akron and Columbus last year. The brass seems to be very concerned about his glove, although the defensive metrics show he is solid at third.

A dark horse would be Richie Shaffer, who spent the winter bouncing from team to team, but has made some changes in his swing and approach which has caused his power to spike.

Both Diaz and Shaffer would have to be added to the 40 man roster.

Urshela would be the safe pick, but remember the Indians are in a different situation than in the past. They are the defending American League champions, they aren’t a contending team anymore, so they should be making decisions to win right now.

We have heard people say Diaz shouldn’t get the nod because they don’t want his service time to be an issue.

This was an issue in 2015 with Francisco Lindor, but the Indians weren’t the top dog in the league at that time. Of course, the failure to bring him up sooner than June 14th may have cost the Tribe a spot in the playoffs.

But Diaz is 25 (Lindor was 21), so when he does become eligible for free agency, he will be 32 years old, past his prime years.

Our belief is to go with the offense, which means giving Diaz the job. If you have the lead after six innings, then go to Gonzalez or Martinez, whoever wins the utility man job, for defense.

It’s great news that Kipnis should only miss a month, but they have some options to fill in for him until he’s ready to go.

Time For Tribe Bats To Awaken

There is no question the pitching staff has carried the Cleveland Indians in this year’s run to the World Series.

The Tribe has played ten post-season games to date, and they’ve allowed just 20 runs. Even the most challenged person, mathematically speaking, knows that’s just two runs per contest.

Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, and Josh Tomlin have been very stingy in allowing opponents to cross home plate.

With the World Series tied at one game apiece and no heading to Chicago, it’s time for the hitting, and there is no question the Indians’ bats are slumbering, to pick up their end of the heavy lifting.

In those same 10 games, Cleveland has scored only 34 runs, well below their average of 4.83 runs per contest in the regular season.

Yes, we know that the pitching is better in the post-season, and naturally teams will score less runs in the playoffs, but when you consider that 12 of those runs were scored in two games (ALDS Game 2 and World Series Game 1), it is another indication the bats are really struggling.

That means in the other eight games, the Tribe is averaging less than three runs a night. Based on that statistic, it is kind of miraculous that the Indians have won six of those games and have won the American League pennant.

Besides Francisco Lindor, who has batted .342 with 2 homers since the regular season ended, and Brandon Guyer (4 for 11 in his platoon role), and rest of the hitters have struggled.

Leadoff hitter Carlos Santana has only 5 hits in 35 at bats. He has walked four times, giving him an on base percentage of just .250. The #2 hitter, Jason Kipnis, is batting .154 with just three extra base hits in the playoffs.

Cleanup hitter Mike Napoli nudged himself over the “Mendoza line” with two hits last night, but he has only one homer in the 10 games and is striking out in over one-third of his at bats (12 whiffs in 34 ABs).

World Series Game 1 hero Roberto Perez has been feast or famine. He’s hitting just .200 (6 for 30), but does have four extra base hits and a team leading six RBIs, although three of those came on his three run blast in the 8th inning of that game.

The only other consistent batter outside of Lindor has been Jose Ramirez, and even he struggled throughout the Toronto series.

The offense does have 13 home runs in the playoffs, but they have only mustered 13 other extra base hits in the ten games, all of them doubles.

Rookie Tyler Naquin has continued his struggles, going 3 for 18 with 11 whiffs, but who do you replace him with? His platoon partner, Rajai Davis is just 1 for 19 and hasn’t really hit since the middle of September.

If Davis were swinging the bat well, it would make sense for Terry Francona to replace the rookie, but right now, why make the move?

The Indians have just four hitters with an OPS over 700 in the playoffs (Lindor, Guyer, Perez, and Coco Crisp).

There is talk about Santana playing LF in Wrigley Field, but at this point, that has to be Tito hoping he will get hot, because he hasn’t hit so far.

Playoff games are supposed to be tight contests, but right now, it feels like if the Indians fall behind in a game, then it’s over. At some point in this World Series, the bats will be needed to win a game. Heck, the Cubs only scored five last night, an offensive output like Game 1 would have won that game too.

It’s time for the hitters for the Cleveland Indians to join the party, whether it’s at Napoli’s or at Wrigley Field.

Tribe, Tito Exact Revenge

It was a tough series for sure, and last night’s game was a nail biter, but the Cleveland Indians swept the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series with a 4-3 victory and advanced to the AL Championship Series starting Friday night.

The Red Sox came into the series with all the hype and the whole David Ortiz is retiring thing, but it was the largely unknown Tribe that won the series.

That three of the principal heroes in the clincher were Josh Tomlin, Tyler Naquin, and Coco Crisp tells you a lot about this group of Indians, led by their manager Terry Francona.

Certainly, Cleveland got incredible pitching mostly from Corey Kluber in game two, and Andrew Miller and Cody Allen (despite last night’s nervous performance) out of the bullpen, as they held down the highest scoring team in the American League to just seven runs in the three games.

But you can’t overlook the performances of Trevor Bauer and Tomlin, who put the bullpen in a situation to win the first and last games.

But look at the offensive heroes in each of the games. Roberto Perez, the back up catcher going into the season, and a guy who missed two and a half months with a thumb injury was a star in the first game.

In game two, Lonnie Chisenhall, who normally wouldn’t have played against Red Sox lefty David Price because of the platoon advantage, had the game’s biggest hit, a three run homer in the second.

And don’t forget Brandon Guyer, acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline because of his ability to hit southpaws, chipped in with three hits in the middle game.

Last night, it was Naquin, who has struggled since September 1st, putting Cleveland in front with a two run single, and Crisp, picked up at the end of August, belting a two run homer over the Green Monster.

Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez made major impacts, but the Tribe overcame pedestrian performances from Carlos Santana, Frankie Lindor, and Mike Napoli to advance.

We hate to talk about perfection, because there were subtle things that could have been changed, but Francona pushed seemingly all of the right buttons in the series. When his team got the lead, he managed as if it were the seventh game of the series.

And that’s the way it should be in the post-season.

Francona has to be secretly be smiling today, and that grin would be directed at the Red Sox’ ownership who dumped him in 2011 after a late season collapse.

If you listened to the press conferences for the ALDS, when Tito was asked about the good, young Boston players like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, he mentioned it was a tribute to former Sox GM Ben Cherington, also fired by the ownership.

That was Francona getting a little dig in.

The skipper showed he can still motivate a team and push the correct buttons in a post-season series.

We also found it funny that the Boston media questioned the Cleveland manager at times like he was still managing the team that plays at Fenway Park.

So, in a day or two, there will be four teams remaining in Major League Baseball, and the Cleveland Indians are one of them.

To paraphrase Tom Hamilton, Cleveland’s “October to Remember” will continue.

Tribe Earned This Title In Many Ways

The Cleveland Indians are the 2016 American League Central Division Champions!

No one game wild card nonsense this season, the Tribe will start the AL Division Series next Thursday somewhere, hopefully at Progressive Field.

Although the Indians have been in first place since June, it hasn’t been an easy trip to the division title despite the margin being eight games as of this morning.

Terry Francona has been without arguably the team’s best player, OF Michael Brantley, for the entire season. He has played just 11 games, getting 39 at bats for the year.

The starting catcher, Yan Gomes was mired in a batting slump the entire season, and then separated his shoulder in July and has missed the remainder of the season.

And in the past few weeks, the team has lost two starting pitchers, the strength of the team coming into the season, as Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar were ruled out for the rest of the regular season.

Look, all teams have injuries and they overcome them as well, but we are simply pointing out that this hasn’t been one of those magical seasons where everything fell into place for the Indians.

The Tribe earned this division title by dominating within the division. They have a 46-24 record against Central Division teams, and have a winning record against the other members of the division.

They earned this title by going on a 14 game winning streak in June, a franchise record. And for those who belittle the accomplishment and point to the team’s record without the streak, we would say that every major league had the opportunity to win 14 in a row.

To date, only the Cleveland Indians have done it.

They earned this title by ranking first in the American League in staff ERA, and scoring the second most runs in the league. If you do that, chances are you will have a very good record.

They earned this title by dominating at Progressive Field, going 53-28 at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. They’ve gone .500 on the road too, so it’s not as though they are horrible outside of Cleveland.

They earned this title because they had young players from their farm system step up in the wake of the injuries that occurred, and guys like Jose Ramirez, Tyler Naquin, and Mike Clevinger have been major contributors to the cause.

They earned this title because two veterans signed in the off-season became major contributors. Mike Napoli had career highs in home runs and RBIs, and Rajai Davis is going to lead the league in stolen bases at age 35.

Both have also become leaders in the clubhouse and taken the younger guys under their wing.

They earned this title because the front office went out at the trade deadline and acquired perhaps the best relief pitcher in baseball in southpaw Andrew Miller, whose addition has made the Tribe relief corps maybe the best in the game.

They earned this title because they have one of the game’s most dynamic young players in SS Francisco Lindor and his partner at the keystone, Jason Kipnis.

They earned this title because Carlos Santana rebounded from a couple of lackluster seasons in the power department to bash a career high 34 dingers, a club record for a switch hitter.

Lastly, they earned this title because they have one of the game’s best skippers in Francona. We have questioned his in-game strategy from time to time, but you can’t doubt the respect he has from his players.

The hugs he gave his key guys as they left the field last night spoke volumes as to the relationship he has with the players.

Now, it’s time for some rest, but the Indians also need to win some games to secure home field for at least the first round.

But it was a sweet scene last night in Detroit. And if they couldn’t clinch at home, that’s the next best place to do so.

Ramirez’ Emergence Not A Huge Surprise.

At the beginning of the season, we are sure you could have taken a lot of action on the Cleveland Indians being in first place by seven games on August 21st if people would have known Michael Brantley would only play 11 games this season.

Brantley is, after all, one of the best hitters in the game. He’s a guy who puts his bat on the ball, has some pop, and is one of the better hitters in baseball with men in scoring position.

Surely, if he were missing, the Indians’ struggling offense (as it was thought of before the season started) would not be able to score enough to put the Tribe in contention for the post-season.

Then again, at that point, no one was figuring Jose Ramirez for anything but a “super utility” role.

Coming into the season, Terry Francona planned to use the switch-hitter in the outfield and infield, being able to give breaks to Brantley, Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, and play 3B to give Juan Uribe a break.

Brantley’s injury forced Ramirez into basically an everyday role in LF and at 3B, and when Uribe didn’t hit at all, and GM Mike Chernoff traded for Brandon Guyer to help in the outfield, the 23-year-old settled in at the hot corner.

While no one expected Ramirez to hit .311 in his first year as a regular, his pedigree in the minors, where he is a .304 hitter lifetime, shows Jose has the ability to hit.

We forget that Ramirez came up at the end of the 2013 season, when he was just 20, to provide speed and defense off the bench for the post-season push. He started that year in Akron where he hit .272.

If not for his speed and the ability to handle three infield spots (2B, SS, 3B), he wouldn’t have been added to the roster.

He started 2014 in AAA and was called up when Jason Kipnis hurt his oblique. He went 2 for 25 until he was sent back to Columbus on May 19th.

He did hit .302 (801 OPS) with the Clippers until he was recalled after Asdrubal Cabrera was traded to Washington at the deadline. He batted .283 with the Indians the rest of the season, establishing himself in the organization.

Keep in mind, that Ramirez was just 21 years old at the time.

Last year, he was handed the shortstop job out of spring training, but didn’t look like the same player that took over for Cabrera the year before. He hit just .176 and struggled in the field.

We believe there were too reasons for that. First, Ramirez is a natural second baseman, not a shortstop and he was also probably looking over his shoulder at the progress of Lindor, the organization’s top prospect.

After Lindor arrived, and Ramirez went back to the utility role, he hit .259 (775 OPS) the rest of the year.

In between, he batted .293 in Columbus.

This year, he feels he belongs in the big leagues, and he is also getting better with age, as most good players do. His average is at .311. His OPS is 821.

The good news is he is still just 23 years old, so it is likely he will continue to improve.

He’s been the key player for the Indians, a team likely to make the post-season.

We have said this before. The best thing to like about this Tribe squad is their two best position players are 22 (Lindor) and 23 (Ramirez).

That bodes well for the window of contention staying open at Progressive Field for a few years.

Why Tribe Can’t Stand Pat

The second half of the baseball season starts tomorrow night, and the Cleveland Indians are in good position to make the playoffs.

They have a 6-1/2 game lead in the American League Central Division and after they return from the trip they start tomorrow, they will play 39 of their last 65 contests at Progressive Field.

So, the question is does the Tribe need to make a move before the July 31st trading deadline? After all, they lead the AL in ERA and rank third in the league in runs scored per game.

Don’t they have enough on the current roster to win the division? Isn’t Michael Brantley getting ready to come back, giving the team an added bat?

The reason is simply this…president Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff, and skipper Terry Francona cannot assume that everything that went well in the first half is going to continue after the All Star break.

Jose Ramirez has been arguably the team’s most valuable player in the first half, filling in for Brantley and hitting .295 with a 769 OPS. His prior career high in these categories is .262 with a 646 OPS.

Now, Ramirez is just 23 years old and is improving day by day as he should be, but what if he wears down because this is the most he’s played at the big league level?

Tyler Naquin was a solid hitter in the minors, but what he has done at the big league level is eye popping. He has a 965 OPS and 21 extra base hits in 159 at bats. Even the most ardent supporter of the rookie can’t think that’s going to continue.

Lonnie Chisenhall is 27 years old now and should be entering the prime of his career. He entered the break hitting .299 with a 819 OPS, both highs for his time in the bigs.

He has had hot streaks like this before, though. In 2014, Chisenhall was hitting .332 with 9 HR and 41 RBI in the first half of the year. After that, he hit .218 with an OPS of 591.

You have to have an alternative if this happens again. We aren’t saying it will, but you have to be ready.

Rajai Davis (35 years old) and Mike Napoli (34) have been huge for the Indians in the first half, but Francona has leaned on them a lot, probably more than he planned going into the season, but Brantley’s injury and the suspensions of Abraham Almonte and Marlon Byrd changed those plans.

The front office has to be prepared for a possible fall off in production from that duo.

And while Brantley should be back by at latest the beginning of August, there is no telling if he will hit like the guy who finished 3rd in the MVP voting in 2014. There may be a period of adjustment or he may wind up being 75%. Still a solid player, but not producing like normal.

Look, we aren’t saying all of these players will decline in the second half, but a good front office has to anticipate that things will go wrong. Getting another bat will allow Francona to give some players a rest and that player could be plugged in if someone regresses after the break.

And it never hurts to upgrade your bullpen, but that has been addressed before.

Yes, the Indians have good chemistry and have a very good team. However, you can still make it better.

The Tribe needs to do everything it can to win the division and avoid the dreaded, one game wild card playoff.

That’s why you make a move. It may just put you in the World Series.

Youth Is Served: Lindor, Ramirez Are Pacing Tribe Attack

The Cleveland Indians completed the first third of its schedule last night with a 7-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

It gave the Tribe their 30th win of the season, putting them on a pace to win 90 games this season. We would say that would give them a pretty good shot at their first playoff appearance since 2013.

Terry Francona’s club does have the third best ERA in the American League, which is kind of expected because this squad is built around their pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation.

The surprise is the Indians rank 4th in the AL in runs scored per game, and they have done it without Michael Brantley, who has played just 11 games this season.

Despite the veteran acquisitions over the winter, signing Mike Napoli, Rajai Davis, and Juan Uribe, the offense is being led by two kids, 22-year-old Francisco Lindor, and 23-year-old Jose Ramirez.

This is not to minimize Napoli’s presence in the middle of the order. He is on pace to belt 30 home runs and knock in over 100, something the Tribe has lack since the days of Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez.

And by the way, Napoli has more RBIs right now than the man everyone wanted the Indians to trade for in the off-season, the White Sox’ Todd Frazier.

But we digress.

It was expected that Lindor would be a key to the 2016 Indians, but most people figured he would have a slight decline offensively, since his big league numbers far exceeded his hitting stats in the minors.

We have been preaching about how special the shortstop is since his minor league days, and it appears he is one of those athletes who gets better when the lights are brighter.

The switch-hitter is batting .308 (804 OPS) with 5 HRs and 26 RBI and it seems he provides a sparkling defensive play each and every night. And his enthusiasm for the game is contagious.

Even at 22, he is an unquestioned leader on this ballclub.

He has now played 152 games at the big league level and has a .311 batting average, with 17 HR and 77 RBI (824 OPS).

And he should get even better.

The folks in the front office at Carnegie and Ontario should be thinking of tying his guy up for a long, long time, because his price tag goes up each and every day.

Ramirez is the bigger surprise, since he figured to be a utility player once the regular season started. The injury to Brantley put him in an everyday role, and he has flourished.

Also, a switch-hitter, JRam struggled last year playing shortstop, which is not his natural position. He was hitting under .200 and not making the routine plays defensively.

This year, he has made the step up, playing everyday at either LF or 3B, he’s hitting .317 with an 846 OPS, and is among the top ten in the AL in on base percentage at .387.

And at 23, you have to figure he will get better as well.

This isn’t to minimize others contributions to the Indians’ early success. Josh Tomlin is 8-1, Danny Salazar has become one of the AL’s best starters, we have talked about Napoli, and Jason Kipnis has played, like, well, Jason Kipnis.

The catalysts, at least offensively, have been Lindor and Ramirez.

And with guys like Bradley Zimmer, Clint Frazier (hitting over .300 in the pitching rich Eastern League), Giovanny Urshela, Mike Clevinger, etc., the Cleveland Indians are poised to make some noise in the American League.

That includes this season.

Looking Forward to Hot Stove Season, Hopefully So is Tribe Front Office.

The hot stove season in baseball will start in about a week, as soon as the World Series between the Giants and Royals concludes.

As we have mentioned previously, the Indians’ front office should be inspired by Kansas City’s success because in reality the difference between the Tribe and the new American League champions isn’t that great, although the Royals’ payroll is higher than Cleveland’s.

Right now, the Indians are stuck in the middle in both offense and defense, ranking 7th in the league in runs scored and 6th in the AL in ERA. If you parley that with a defense that ranks among the worst in baseball, and it is clear that standing pat in not an option for GM Chris Antonetti.

The good thing is outside of catching the baseball, the Tribe doesn’t need a massive improvement in any one area, but it is clear they have to do something.

The defense was better toward the end of the year when Jose Ramirez came up to play shortstop, but the field is littered with subpar defenders. In the infield, both Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis are below average defenders and the Tribe could use an upgrade in rightfield too.

Keep in mind, the team’s best prospect, Francisco Lindor is considered an excellent defender and at third base, another prospect who likely will move into the organization’s top ten, 3B Giovanny Urshela, is considered a good glove too.

Due to the Indians’ normal way of thinking, neither is expected to open the season in Cleveland, so help will have to come from other areas.

There have been some interesting ideas of what the Tribe could do this off-season, but our favorite was mentioned last Sunday in the The Plain Dealer by Paul Hoynes, who said it would not be impossible for Antonetti to deal CF Michael Bourn, if the Indians were willing to pay some of his large contract for 2015, something we have advocated for awhile.

That would open up CF for Ramirez and that move would allow Lindor to take over at SS. Ramirez is still very young (22), and has played a little outfield in the minor leagues, and putting him in the middle of the diamond, where he is used to being, should help any transition go rather smoothly. And because of his age, he should be getting better offensively as opposed to Bourn, who seems to be in a decline phase at the plate, and on the base paths.

It would also be helpful to add a productive right-handed hitter to go with Yan Gomes. The current roster is very susceptible to left-handed pitching and they can’t count on Ryan Raburn hitting like he did in 2013. Looking at his numbers from the last three years, that season looks out-of-place.

On the mound, Antonetti can’t count on the same starting pitching he received in August and September to occur the entire season, because there aren’t a lot of extended track records among Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, and T.J. House. They simply have to go out and get another arm for the rotation.

How do they accomplish this? They either have to be willing to deal some minor league prospects (not Lindor) and also spend a little money, or at least re-allocate the funds they are currently spending. However, they can’t just add a David Murphy type over the winter and call it a day.

Hopefully, it should be a fun winter for Tribe fans, but based on the history of this front office, they will stick to their usual plan of wishing and hoping.