A Tribe Selling Spree Now Seems Silly

A few weeks ago, when the Cleveland Indians were really struggling and lost three out of four to Tampa Bay, there was a good amount of people who were giving up on the season, AT THE END OF MAY!

Granted, for some teams, like Baltimore, Detroit, etc., that is a reasonable expectation, but no for a team who was supposed to win the Central Division title in 2019.

Even at that point (May 26th), the Tribe was playing .500 baseball at 26-26, and was just a game and a half out of the second wild card spot.

To start a selling off of assets would have been ridiculous at best.

At that point we examined the future schedule, and after a tough stretch of 13 games which included series vs. Boston, Minnesota, and New York, Cleveland’s slate of game until the trade deadline didn’t have a lot of meat to it.

The Indians are really just beginning that stretch now, and as of today, they are tied with the Red Sox for the second wild card spot, and are just 2-1/2 behind Tampa for a chance to host the game.

Yet, there are still fans and media alike who want to torch the rest of the season and start building for 2020.

Again, this is crazy thinking.

However, do we think the ownership and front office will go wild and make deals to insure a one game playoff run? The past tells us this is doubtful, but the Indians shouldn’t stand pat either.

Once again, the older veterans management counted on didn’t come through, so the young players will be expected to give the roster a needed shot in the arm.

Today, Bobby Bradley will make his major league debut, after swatting 24 home runs in AAA. We have doubts about his long term success because of contact issues, but he’s earned a look at the big league level, and maybe gives the lineup a bit of a jolt.

Leonys Martin was designated for assignment yesterday, another move long over due. Martin overcame a serious illness last season, but was hitting just .199, striking out way too much, and his defense had slipped a little.

It was time to let Oscar Mercado, who has played well to date, play on an everyday basis.

With the starting rotation riddled with injuries, the organization gave a fast call up to Zach Plesac, who has been a wonder in his five starts.

Suddenly, assuming Mike Clevinger’s ankle sprain is minor, the Indians have a very good rotation again, only the names are different and pretty much unknown.

Instead of Kluber, Carrasco, Bauer, Clevinger, and Bieber, the names are Bauer, Clevinger, Bieber, Plesac, and Adam Plutko, who has done a solid job as the fifth starter, even picking up a win over the Yankees.

Could the front office gamble and trade a starter or even say, Brad Hand for some offensive help right now? It certainly could happen.

The Tribe is still 3rd in the American League in ERA despite all the injuries to the rotation, and still are 10th in runs per game.

Cleveland is still getting below average play from several positions: 2B, 3B, LF, CF, and DH.

The Indians have addressed center by going to Mercado, and maybe Bradley takes the bull by the horns at DH.

Can Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez regain their old form or at least a facsimile of it which would help both spots. We still say, despite Kipnis’ solid week, we are more optimistic about Ramirez.

Jake Bauers does a lot of things we like, hits lefties well, works the count too, but he still have a 685 OPS and a .224 batting average. Maybe it’s time to give Greg Allen an everyday job there, which would also help the defense.

If the Indians continue to beat up on the lesser teams in the AL, they will be right in the thick of things for a post-season spot. If they are, selling becomes a moot point.

Is Lack Of Tribe Moves Based On Patience, Stubbornness, Or Fear?

The Cleveland Indians have started to play better baseball now that the schedule has lightened up a bit.

They have won four of their last five, and six of their last eight. They are currently 9-4 in June, and won series against the Twins and Yankees, two of the American League’s better teams.

The offense has been better lately, moving up to 11th in the AL in runs scored and OPS, but the Tribe is still 13th in slugging percentage, ahead of just Toronto and Detroit.

And Terry Francona still writes three hitters in nightly lineup with OPS of under 650: Jason Kipnis, Leonys Martin, and Jose Ramirez.

Despite hitting for the cycle on Friday night, Jake Bauers (.223/.306/.379) isn’t striking fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers.

These guys haven’t hit for awhile and yet, no changes have been made. Ramirez is different because he was one of the best players in baseball in 2017 and 2018, so he has earned and should get the benefit of the doubt.

Although, whether or not he should be hitting fifth is up for debate.

Fans and media alike have asked about the unreal amount of patience given to Kipnis, Martin, and Bauers. However, is it patience or fear?

The Indians sometimes operate as if they are afraid to give young players a chance for a variety of reasons. They worry about how a young player handles failure. They worry about a player they let go going somewhere else and having success.

We operate by a different theory. It’s called the “can’t do any worse” theory.

That takes the fear factor out of the equation.

Take Martin, for example. He’s hitting .204 with a 637 OPS to date this season. His strength was how he hit right-handed pitching, he’s never been a factor against southpaws. But he batting .220 with a 700 OPS vs. RHP thus far.

He’s batting .189 overall since May 1st.

Now, ask this question…could Greg Allen be worse than those numbers? We aren’t saying Allen is the next coming of Willie Mays or Mike Trout, but you have to think he could be better than what Martin has given you over the last six weeks.

Martin is also striking out at a career high rate, so it’s not as though he’s hitting in tough luck. Why not bring up Allen and give him regular playing time?

As for Jason Kipnis, we have heard him finding something in his swing before, so let’s say we are skeptical as to his success for the rest of the season. It’s pretty clear he’s not the same guy he was in 2016, and after two and a half years, that ship has sailed.

So, why not try Mark Mathias, who is hitting .294 with an 827 OPS at Columbus? Yes, we understand those numbers are much better than how he has performed at AA Akron the past two years, but maybe he found something in his swing.

You can also replace Bauers with Bobby Bradley, who is crushing the ball at Columbus.

We wouldn’t give up on Bauers, we think he can still be a productive major league hitter, but right now, he can’t put together any consistency. And that’s the name of the game in baseball.

Would switching out a third of your lineup turn the Tribe’s offensive fortunes around? What we do know is it couldn’t hurt.

It may be just getting over fear of the unknown to make it happen.

The Time To Act For Tribe Is Now

As we wrote about a week ago, the next two weeks will say a lot about how the rest of the baseball season will play out for the Cleveland Indians.

Between now and when the best players in the sport descend on Progressive Field on July 9th, the Tribe plays 23 games against teams with some of the worst records in the game.

Yes, they have four in Texas next week, and two more against Cincinnati right before the All Star Game, but the rest of the slate is filled with contests vs. the Tigers, Royals, and Orioles.

We know baseball is a sport designed around series, so the teams themselves are best served by taking each game as it comes, but we don’t have to do that.

It’s not far-fetched to think the Indians could go 15-8 in those 23 games, which would make their record 48-40 heading into the Midsummer Classic.

Does it make sense to sell at that point?

Then, after the All Star Game, Terry Francona’s squad has three with the Twins at home, followed by more games against Detroit, Kansas City, and Toronto, before ending the month with a series against Houston.

This means with the trade deadline coming at the end of July, Cleveland could be a good way above the .500 mark.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is it will be difficult unless the attitude of the front office and Francona changes.

They split with the Reds despite scoring just four runs in the pair of games. The lineup, beyond Carlos Santana hitting in the three hole, is filled with a lot of guys who are very proficient at making outs.

And this is as good a time to change this as there is.

Oscar Mercado’s success, and make no mistake, he hasn’t been great, merely solid, should have Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff, and Francona looking at Columbus for some help.

Since the end of April, Leonys Martin is hitting .193 with 3 HR, 8 RBI, and has drawn seven walks (in 31 games). Usually reliable vs. right-handers, he has a .294 on base percentage and a 696 OPS in 2019.

Jason Kipnis is batting .218 for the season, and .224 since May 1st. His OPS vs. righties? Try 646.

Jake Bauers has hit .148 over the last 28 days with 28 strikeouts in 81 at bats.

It’s time to end this madness.

Greg Allen is eligible to be recalled from Columbus this weekend, and he was hitting a bit the week or so before he was sent down.

Make your outfield rotation Mercado, Allen, Jordan Luplow, and Tyler Naquin, and give them extended opportunities. It’s doubtful they can be worse than Martin and Bauers.

We would bring up Bobby Bradley, even though we have concerns about his strikeout rate. His numbers indicate he is not simply piling up numbers at Huntington Park in Columbus.

As for second base, why not give Mark Mathias an opportunity. He has an 816 OPS at AAA, and gets on base (.354). And he’s been better on the road.

What to do with the others? Bauers can be sent to AAA to relocate his batting stroke. As for Kipnis and Martin, the season is just about half over, so just designated them for assignment. If you have to release them, which is likely, then so be it.

We don’t think they can help the Indians going forward.

We understand it is a very difficult decision. On the other hand, by and large, players know who should be playing, and our guess is there were puzzled looks in the clubhouse last week when Allen was sent out.

This is a critical stretch for this baseball team, and the front office can’t wait any longer to make a tough decision.

Talk Of Tribe Fire Sale Is Crazy

The Cleveland Indians are struggling in 2019, there can be no doubt about that. But talk about the team’s window closing or going into a total rebuild is just stupid, in our opinion.

First, the Indians aren’t some old team that has been together for seven or eight years, and haven’t been able to get over the hump.

Nor are they are team loaded with free agents to be. When fans and media alike start talking about a fire sale, who are they talking about? The only players who will be a free agents after this season are Leonys Martin, and probably Jason Kipnis, because there is no way the Indians are picking up his option for 2020.

Those two players aren’t bringing you back anything substantial in a trade.

And talk of trading Francisco Lindor is just living in your own fears. Look, we have serious doubt that ownership will pony up the money to keep Lindor here long term (although they can and should).

But Lindor will not be a free agent until after the 2021 season, meaning they still have him here for 2-2/3 seasons. Remember, he’s one of the five best players in the sport. It would be foolish to move him now.

Despite some blips in the radar recently, the Indians also have an excellent pitching staff, still ranking 3rd in the AL in ERA. And in addition to Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Carlos Carrasco, they have developed more hurlers who look to be top of the rotation starters.

Mike Clevinger was excellent last year and got off to a tremendous start before going on the IL in April. He should be back in a couple of weeks. Shane Bieber is another horse who looks like he will be a very good starter.

And Tuesday night, it appears we will see this year’s version of Bieber when 24-year-old Zach Plesac starts against the Red Sox. Plesac is 4-1 with a 1.41 ERA in nine starts at the AA and AAA levels this season, allowing 38 hits and striking out 56 in 57-1/3 frames.

The Indians are still over .500 and just a half game out of a wild card spot. The problem is the ownership has a history of trying to make a big splash only when the Tribe is in front, they don’t seem to do it when they are trying to catch up.

Now, dealing from a strength is a different story. It’s what we thought the Indians would do in the off-season.

With Kluber’s injury, he can’t and won’t be moved. But Bauer is another story.

We should say here that we love Bauer, and have always thought he could be a staff ace. But the best trades are made from a position of strength, and a rotation of Carrasco, Clevinger, Kluber, and Bieber in ’20 would still be one of the game’s best.

Especially if you can get an impact bat. We believe they shopped Kluber and Bauer in the winter to try to get a young stud hitter, but they couldn’t get one, or demanded a second piece.

If you can do it now, it might make a big difference.

The Indians have what everyone wants, pitching. However, if you want to rebuild, trading a young, great player isn’t the way to do it. You build around that guy.

It’s also too soon to think about 2020. The Indians can still make the post-season, but the front office has look to add, not subtract before the deadline.

How Have Tribe Outfield Issues Played Out?

One of the biggest questions heading into the 2019 season for the Cleveland Indians was their outfield.

After letting Michael Brantley walk away via free agency, the Tribe headed to spring training with their most proven player in the outfield being Leonys Martin, and he missed the last two months of ’18 with a life threatening illness.

Before spring training ended, they wound up giving a look see to veteran Matt Joyce, who was released, and signed three time All Star (the Indians keep reminding us of that) Carlos Gonzalez toward the end of the spring.

Gonzalez was activated to the big league roster on April 14th.

Again, we understand the season is just 21 games old, but the situation Terry Francona has to deal with on a nightly basis is still pretty clearly in flux.

Martin has been the one constant, starting all but one game in centerfield, but he still has big platoon split issues.

Against right handed pitching, Martin is batting .302 with a 932 OPS, belting three home runs. Versus southpaws? Not so good. He is 4 for 22 with three walks and nine strikeouts.

We said before the season started he should be platooned and we stick by that thought.

Tyler Naquin has garnered the majority of the starts in rightfield (17), but outside of the Toronto series when he went 5 for 11 in three starts, he hasn’t performed well.

He’s hitting just .220 with a 568 OPS. Take out those three games vs. the Blue Jays, and that mark falls to .167. He’s struck out 20 times, walking just twice. That might be fine if you are hitting the ball with power, but the early 2016 sensation has just one dinger.

It’s hard to understand Francona’s fascination with him at this point.

Jake Bauers has been the semi-regular in left, starting 12 times, with Greg Allen getting seven starts.

We are more impressed by Bauers the more we see him. He’s hitting just .219 with a 684 OPS, but he’s walked 10 times (with 15 strikeouts), and has held his own against lefties, going 5 for 20.

He’s getting more time now at first (with Carlos Santana DHing) with Gonzalez settling in left. We like his bat in the lineup.

Allen appears to be a young player who is having problems with a part-time role, starting the season just 4 for 34, with half of those hits coming Sunday night. He has fanned 11 times with two walks.

We would like to see Allen get regular playing time in right before determining if he needs to go back to AAA. As we said, his struggles may be the result of getting sporadic at bats.

We had high hopes for Jordan Luplow based on his numbers at AAA, but he struggled in spring training, and didn’t do much after opening the year with the Tribe. He has struck out 10 times in 25 at bats in Columbus.

The darling of spring training, Oscar Mercado, has continued to rake with the Clippers. He has an 897 OPS to date, and has stolen seven bases. We are sure the front office doesn’t want to call him up unless he will receive plenty of playing time, but he looks like he is forcing the issue.

And so is the lack of production that still exists in the outfield. Even if Gonzalez regains some of his form from his Colorado days, you still have a problem in CF against lefties, and RF is still a gaping hole of suck.

How and when will the front office resolve that problem? It this is still how things are going after 20 more games, action will need to be taken.

A Little Patience Needed For Tribe Hitters and Fans

First of all, it’s way too early.

The Cleveland Indians have played all of four games in the 2019 season, and depending on who is doing analysis, you can’t reach any conclusions about a baseball team until they’ve played at least 27 games (1/6th of a season) or 40 games (1/4th of the schedule).

Still, it’s not as though the Tribe allayed people’s fears after an opening series against the Twins in which they scored five runs, had three extra base hits, and struck out a total of 39 times, which for you math majors is 13 times per game.

You get 27 outs, so fanning 13 times in a game is almost half of the outs are coming without making contact.

To calm everybody down, the 1995 defending American League Champions, a team that featured Albert Belle, Carlos Baerga, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, and Kenny Lofton, also started the year scoring three runs in the first three games of the season.

They had one run and four hits in the opener, a single tally and nine hits the next game, and a run and six hits in game three. The difference? That team struck out 12 times. In the three games combined.

Right now, one of the issues is the lack of walks. The Indians had just 10 in the three game set vs. Minnesota. And if you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know we don’t like hitters who have high strikeout and low walk rates.

Imagine an entire team doing that. That’s as good of an answer as any as to why the Indians couldn’t score runs against the Twins.

Yesterday, at Progressive Field it was a different tale. Cleveland hitters struck out just six times and drew five free passes, including two in a four run eighth inning which gave the Tribe the victory.

The shame of the win was that Mike Clevinger didn’t get the victory. We know the new age baseball people have devalued the win, and we guess their point is made by Clevinger getting a no decision despite throwing seven innings of one hit baseball, striking out a career high 12 batters.

Some of the negative statistics simply cannot continue. Tyler Naquin is 1 for 10 with six whiffs, Brad Miller is 2 for 11 with five punch outs. And as a team, the Tribe has just six extra base hits, getting three yesterday, and only one of them is a home run.

As for walks, Leonys Martin has three, and Carlos Santana (Mr. Walk), Hanley Ramirez, and Greg Allen, who hasn’t played much, all have two.

We said before the season started the walk was going to be to have to be a big weapon for the Indians, and we are sure they will start coming more frequently.

The problem is the start of the season magnifies things, especially if it agrees with your preconceived notions. And we felt the Tribe’s offense was going to be a problem even with a healthy Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis.

In the meantime, let’s all take a deep breath and relax and let the season play out a bit. Almost all hitters go through these stretches as we showed with the 1996 Indians, who were as good a hitting team as there has been in the last 50 years.

More patience would be good for both the Tribe hitters and their fans.

Tribe OF Candidates Off To Slow Start

It is almost universally reported that the biggest question mark the Cleveland Indians have heading into the 2019 baseball season was their outfield.

Granted it’s early, but how have the candidates performed now that we are a week into exhibition play in the Cactus League.

We have said all winter that centerfield was the one spot we were comfortable with heading into spring training, and early returns have provided us with support for that feeling.

Leonys Martin has returned from his life threatening illness from last season and hit the ground running, getting seven hits in his first 13 at bats, and has a walk too. One of his hits has been a home run.

We felt Martin was an underrated get at the trade deadline because of his defense and ability to hit right-handed pitching, and felt he would be a big contributor to the roster in 2019 if healthy.

It certainly looks like that’s the case thus far.

We figured Greg Allen to be Martin’s platoon partner, but the switch-hitter is trying to get an everyday gig, starting off at 5 for 13, with a double, home run, and a walk. If he keeps it up, you may just see Allen in leftfield and Martin in center with a right-hander on the mound.

The other “serious” candidates, basing that on either veteran status or minor league numbers have struggled a bit.

Matt Joyce, 34, who had a poor year in Oakland last year after some solid years as a platoon piece has started off the spring 0 for 12, with just one walk and four strikeouts. In his situation, he better start hitting as soon as possible to avoid drawing his release papers.

Tyler Naquin, who homered in his first spring at bat, has gone just 2 for 13 since with a double, and has yet to draw a free pass. We understand that players aren’t working the count like they would in the regular season, but Naquin isn’t a guy with a high walk rate in his brief big league tenure.

The hope for a right-handed bat, Jordan Luplow, who had good AAA numbers in the Pirates’ organization, is also off to a tough start. He’s just 1 for 11 with two walks, and has fanned six times. Let’s just say he’s not making a very good first impression.

Oscar Mercado was considered a long shot coming into camp, but Luplow’s struggles probably increase his chances of sticking. He’s had five hits in his 15 at bats with a home run. He has whiffed four times without drawing a walk.

These performances could be why management has been looking for Hanley Ramirez to provide some hitting. Unfortunately, he’s only been a premier hitter at the major league level once in the last four seasons.

If he can stick, it would move Jake Bauers to the outfield, probably with Martin in CF and Allen in RF against righties. When a southpaw starts? Your guess is as good as mine, but it could be Allen in CF, with either Luplow or Mercado in RF.

It would have been nice if the front office brought in a proven big league performer to play the outfield, but the cost cutting mandate from ownership prevented that.

For now, the Tribe has to hope someone starts hitting and continues it when the season opens on March 28th.

Area Of Improvement For Tribe: OF Defense

Just when you thought the Cleveland Indians were making defense in the outfield more of a priority, you see a story saying the Tribe is considering playing Carlos Santana out there this season.

Now, we understand there isn’t a lot of write about during the early days of spring training, so it could be Terry Francona just saying there might be a time for Santana to play out there, but here’s hoping the organization doesn’t have thoughts of making this more than a rare occurrence.

Our thought is the Indians believe that because their pitching staff strikes out a lot of hitters, thus keeping the ball out of play, they can survive with less than adequate defense beyond the infield.

To some degree, they are correct. It certainly is less of an issue than it would be if they had a lot of high contact flyball prone hurlers. However, in close games, which the Tribe may be playing plenty this year because of the unproven bats in the lineup, defense is at a premium.

Last season, Terry Francona put an outfield alignment which had Michael Brantley in left field and Melky Cabrera in right field, and asked the centerfielder to run for miles in between the two range challenged veterans.

We have heard various fans talk about playing Jake Bauers in the outfield, but Rays’ broadcaster (and former Tribe pitcher) Brian Anderson said although he can play out there, he’s really a first baseman.

Certainly, Santana can play there, heck, he started a World Series game in left field, but how much would the defense be compromised with him starting, let’s say 25 games out there?

It’s just not worth it in the long run.

This is an organizational issue too.

Remember, Cleveland has played each of the last two post-seasons with Jason Kipnis, a second baseman ordinarily, in center. While we can’t think of any egregious misplays in those playoff games, there were probably balls that an experienced outfielder would have made.

Getting Leonys Martin helped the defense before he got sick. You could see the difference in the few games he played after coming over from Detroit. He played a more shallow center, and got very good jumps on flyballs.

It seemed like management was trying to reverse this trend this winter. Letting go of Brantley’s bat doesn’t help the offense, but it should help the defense. And Cabrera was best suited for LF too, but because of Brantley, Francona used him in right.

The replacements, at least for now, would be a great improvement. Jordan Luplow has good defensive metrics in LF and RF, and Tyler Naquin is solid in the corners. Oscar Mercado has played a lot of center in the minors, so he should be good as well.

Again, this could all be Francona just trying to make his team more versatile, and he wants options defensively against certain pitchers.

Let’s hope that is the case. It would be nice to see the Indians’ pitching staff backed by an outfield that can run down flyballs. And if the team isn’t going to get a great deal of offense out of those spots, then they better be above average on defense.

Tribe’s OF In Flux

It is almost universal throughout the baseball community that the Cleveland Indians currently have an outfield substandard for a team which should be a World Series contender.

The loss of Michael Brantley, the best hitter among the players who patrol the grass, makes the weakness even more prominent.

In 2018, the Tribe searched for a centerfielder most of the season. Bradley Zimmer opened the season as the regular, but he was striking out at an alarming rate (44 times in 114 plate appearances), and Rajai Davis and his 559 OPS wasn’t the answer either.

The front office thought it fixed the problem by dealing for Leonys Martin at the trading deadline, but he went down with a serious illness, and the problem was there again.

Greg Allen finished the year strong, but he was displaced by Jason Kipnis when Josh Donaldson was acquired.

Melky Cabrera settled down RF after Lonnie Chisenhall was hurt, but he isn’t a plus in the field, and Brandon Guyer never regained the production he was achieving when he arrived in 2016.

This brings us to 2019 Spring Training.

We actually like the situation in center, where Martin and Allen figure to platoon. The former had a 799 OPS vs. right handed pitcher a year ago, hitting .279 with a .451 slugging percentage.

Allen hit .297 after August 1st in ’18, and although he is also stronger against righties, he’s not as bad as Martin vs. southpaws. He might get some time in rightfield against right-handers too, if he can hit like he did at the end of last season.

Tyler Naquin is slotted to garner a good share of playing time, but after a very hot start to his career, he has struggled. Since August 1, 2016, he has batted just .247 with 5 HR and 35 RBI. And he will be 28 years old in April.

He has also had problems staying healthy over the past two years. Defensively, he seems better suited to a corner outfield spot, which is where he figures to play this season.

25 year old Jordan Luplow is an interesting case. He couldn’t find playing time in a crowded and talented Pittsburgh outfield, and he’s hit just .185 (631 OPS) in 92 big league at bats.

However, in AAA, he’s a .300 hitter (857 OPS) with 51 extra base hits in 132 games at that level. To us, he deserves a long look as an everyday player at one of the corner positions.

Recently signed Matt Joyce (34), had solid seasons in 2016 and 2017 with Pittsburgh and Oakland respectively. But last year, he hit just .208 (675 OPS). He’s a platoon piece, with a career OPS of 802 vs. right-handers and a .184 batting mark vs. lefties at the big league level.

At his age, the big question is can he hit like he did in the two seasons prior to 2018.

The unknown player (and often forgotten) is Oscar Mercado, who came over from St. Louis at the trade deadline for Connor Capel in a rare prospect for prospect deal.

A right-handed bat, Mercado spent all of last year in AAA, hitting .278 with 8 HR and 47 RBI between Memphis and Columbus. He also stole 37 bases.

As a bonus, his strikeouts have dropped and his walks have increased as he has advanced in the minor leagues. He’s just 24 years old.

Our guess is the Indians’ management would like Mercado to start the year in AAA, but if he has a great spring, who knows…

Based on past production, Terry Francona will earn his money figuring out who are the best three guys to play in the outfield on a game by game basis. Hopefully, by the end of May, it becomes clearer who can contribute and will the Indians need to add someone by the end of July.

What Options Remain For Tribe OF?

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about what free agents we wanted the Cleveland Indians to pursue this off-season. We felt Nick Markakis and D.J. LeMahieu were two guys who could be signed at reasonable deals and could help the Tribe.

Now, both are signed, Markakis to a very club friendly $6 million, one year deal, and the Indians still have a gaping hole in the outfield. Their options are getting slimmer by the week.

This has been rehashed before, so why not one more time. If the season began today, the likely outfield alignment would be Leonys Martin and Greg Allen in center, Tyler Naquin in left, and Jordan Luplow in right.

Doesn’t exactly sound like a threat to contend for the World Series winner, does it?

To be fair, we like Luplow’s potential. He had 36 extra base hits and 39 walks in 88 games at AAA last season (829 OPS), and slugged .535 at AA the year before that. He could be an interesting guy to watch in Arizona.

And we actually think there could be potential in the Martin/Allen platoon. Martin had close to an 800 OPS (799) against right-handed pitching a year ago.

There has been talk to getting a third baseman, which would move Jose Ramirez to 2B, and potentially move Jason Kipnis to left, but neither he nor Naquin would be another solid, proven bat this lineup badly needs.

Once again, right now, the Indians have three of those: Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Carlos Santana. Our opinion is you need six or seven to have an offense good enough to get you to October.

So, who is left on the open market, which is what the Indians’ front office will have to go to unless they decide to deal one of their starting pitchers.

Carlos Gonzalez has the highest OPS among attainable free agent hitters (Bryce Harper not included), but he hasn’t hit away from Coors Field since 2016.

Curtis Granderson is 38 years old and is at best a platoon player at this point in his career.

A. J. Pollock would be a great fit for Cleveland, but at 31 years old, he’s looking for a multi-year deal, and his price is probably out of the Tribe’s range, especially based on how they have been cutting the payroll this winter.

And it’s been reported he is signing with the Dodgers.

Adam Jones, who will play at 34 years old this upcoming season, has been linked to the Indians since last summer. Jones is coming off his worst season since he became a regular, and may be a candidate for a rebound season. However, his low career walk rate doesn’t hold much hope for that.

You also have Mike Moustakas, who could be signed and move Kipnis to the outfield, or Marwin Gonzalez, a multi-positional player who is looking to cash in his last two seasons. He took a big dip in ’18 though, looking more like the player he was earlier in his career.

Hopefully, the Cleveland front office is looking at Jones and/or Moustakas. They need to lengthen their lineup badly, and that duo could do that and at a seemingly reasonable price.

We would like Luplow and say, Jake Bauers, to make the leap and become solid everyday players. But you can’t depend on that when your goals are beyond winning the division, which with the top line talent the Indians have, should be the goal.

The fan base is becoming impatient, and that doesn’t help sell tickets.