Does Straw Solve The Leadoff Puzzle?

At the trade deadline, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff made on trade that didn’t involve getting a prospect when they moved reliever Phil Maton and a minor league catcher to Houston for centerfielder Myles Straw.

So far, so good for Straw, who has played 21 games for Cleveland, batting .318 with a .389 on base percentage. For the entire season, the right-handed hitter has a .273 average and gets on base at a .349 clip.

That figure is slightly better than his career mark of .342, over 217 games.

If Straw can continue to get on base at this clip, could he solve the leadoff problem the Indians have had since Grady Sizemore was injured?

Since Terry Francona arrived in 2013, it seems like the Tribe has been searching for a leadoff hitter. That season, Michael Bourn was the primary lead off man, doing the job in 124 games. Bourn had the look of a guy who should fit in the top spot, and in the previous seasons to ’13, he did have close to a .350 OBP.

Bourn got on base just 31.6% of the time, a figure that ranked 5th among the everyday players. He led off 104 times the next season (2014) with a .314 OBP, which was 4th best on the team.

Remember, those squads included on base machine Carlos Santana, but Francona favored having the switch-hitter with more pop in his bat (47 HR in these two seasons) lower in the lineup.

In 2015, Jason Kipnis was the primary guy at the top of the order, taking over the role in late April and was the leadoff man for 121 games. It was the smart move as he was second on the team in OBP, behind only Michael Brantley, who was the primary #3 hole batter. He also contributed 59 extra base hits, including 43 doubles.

When Cleveland won the American League pennant in 2016, Francona used kind of a platoon situation at the top of the order. Against lefties, Rajai Davis played center and when he played, he hit first. When a right-hander started, Tyler Naquin played CF, and Santana was the leadoff man in 85 games.

Santana had his usual excellent on base percentage, ranking second on the team at .366. Davis didn’t really get on base that much, even against southpaws, but it was old school thinking putting a speed guy at the top of the order.

Francisco Lindor moved into the leadoff spot in August of 2017 (in total, he led off 63 games), but he ranked 5th in OBP, behind Santana, Brantley, Jose Ramirez, and Edwin Encarnacion. Francona liked the pop, but really the Indians took off after Lindor started hitting first, going 42-9 after the move, including the 22 game winning streak.

Lindor stayed at the spot until early last year until even though his on base percentage didn’t really fit the spot, his best year was .352 in ’18, and dropping into the .330 range from then on. We always felt Lindor should hit lower in the order, and advocated for Santana to be there.

Francona tried to use Cesar Hernandez there to start last season, but switched back to Lindor late in the season in an effort to get him going offensively.

He used Ben Gamel and Jordan Luplow early this season before going back to Hernandez, but the second baseman’s ability to get on base waned, dropping to .307 before they got Straw from Houston.

Mike Hargrove used to say if you have a leadoff man and a clean up hitter, you have the basis for a solid lineup. With Franmil Reyes in the #4 hole, perhaps Straw gives the Indians a traditional leadoff hitter. Someone who is perfect for the role, and not a better fit somewhere else.

It’s early to be sure, but the early returns are promising for Myles Straw. He could fill the leadoff role perfectly in 2022.

Can Tito Afford To Be Patient In A Short Season?

One of the greatest attributes Terry Francona has as a manager is his patience. Sometimes, we feel that patience can become stubbornness, and although it irritates the fan in us at times, it works out more often than not.

With Major League Baseball discussing an 81 (or so) game schedule for the 2020 season, the question is, how will Francona’s fabled patience play out with a shortened slate?

In each of the seasons that Francona has been the Tribe’s skipper, a player has received an extreme benefit of the doubt. In a half-season, it would seem Tito would have to have a shorter hook.

Going back to 2013, Francona’s first year with the Tribe, it was Mark Reynolds. The slugger and frequent whiffer got off to a great start for the Indians, hitting .301 with 8 HR and a 1.019 OPS in April.

May wasn’t too bad, with Reynolds adding five more dingers, but he batted just .218 and the OPS went down to 696.

In June, Cleveland played 28 games. Reynolds started 25 of them and batted .187 with a 541 OPS, and then out of 25 games in July, the slugger started 15 and hit .098 with a 331 OPS.

From May 1st through the end of July, Reynolds batted .181 with 7 HR, 25 RBI, and somehow stayed in the lineup. That’s three months of terrible production.

In 2014, Nick Swisher received 401 plate appearances contributing just 8 homers and 42 RBI (608 OPS). Swisher was a veteran who had a solid year with the Tribe in ’13 and was battling injuries, but maybe Jesus Aguilar, who posted a 905 OPS in AAA Columbus, could’ve received a shot at seeing what he could contribute.

And not to pick on Swisher, but that club had two other players (Jason Kipnis and Michael Bourn) who played a lot but had OPS under 700.

Bourn received the benefit of the doubt the following year until he (along with Swisher) was dealt to Atlanta in early August. The centerfielder hit just .249 without a home run, and even worse, stole only 13 bases in 18 attempts.

To be fair to Francona, he didn’t really have many alternatives, although Abraham Almonte did provide a spark (776 OPS) when given an opportunity.

In 2016, it was Juan Uribe (591 OPS in 238 at bats) before Jose Ramirez took over the hot corner. Uribe was released in early August.

You see the pattern. Over a 162 game season, you are more likely to overcome a bad month or two at a position, but will the same be true in a short season?

Certainly, the proven players will and should get the benefit of the doubt. No skipper in his right mind is going to bench Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Carlos Santana because they had a bad week.

But the Tribe is transitioning at a lot of positions. Let’s say Oscar Mercado gets off to a slow start over the first three weeks, can Francona afford to keep him in there if the ballclub is struggling to score runs?

Tito’s instinct might be to let the young guy work things out, and many times, it works out the right way in the long run. However, it doesn’t appear there will be a long run in 2020.

It’s also a moot point if the Indians are winning. You can afford to have some struggling players figure it out while they are playing if the team is successful. But if the Indians are scuffling, the pressure will be there to make changes before the season is lost.

No matter what, it will be a period of adjustment for every manager in the bigs, not just Terry Francona. Who adjusts best will have a leg up on the competition in what figures to be a weird baseball season.

The White Flag Flies Atop Progressive Field

The Cleveland Indians have now completed 2/3s of their season, and the last 27 games (1/6 of the season) were a disaster to put the team in the mode of looking toward next season.

1st 27 games: 10-17
Game 28-54: 16-11
Game 55-81: 12-15
Game 82-108: 11-16

As you can see only in that second set of 27 contests did the Indians play good baseball, and in those other 81 games, or half the season, their record is 33-48.

That’s a pace to lose 90 games, which is where the Tribe could be headed at the end of the season. That would be the fifth such season under the Dolan/Shapiro/Antonetti triumvirate, which is one more season than they have been over the .500 mark.

Yesterday’s trade in which GM Chris Antonetti unburdened the franchise of two bad contracts in Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher for Atlanta’s bad deal in 1B/3B Chris Johnson, only emphasized what a disaster this season has been.

Johnson has a .280 lifetime average, but has slumped horribly from his 2013 campaign where he hit .321 with the Braves. He’s a high strikeout, low walk hitter, but has been pretty successful vs. lefties in his career (.313 average, 788 OPS).

And yes, we know, the Tribe pitched in $10 million in the deal to make it happen, so to be sure, we will hear how the ownership is willing to spend money. However, we would prefer that the spend cash to get good players, not to make bad ones go away.

The pitching staff now ranks in the top half of the American League, which was expected at the beginning of the season, but the offense has been putrid, as the Indians rank 12th in the AL in scoring, 12th in home runs, and 10th in batting average. They are 9th in OPS as a team.

Before the July 31st trading deadline, Antonetti started to clean house, moving a slumping David Murphy to the Angels, and a disappointing Brandon Moss, who hit a few homers but little else, to the Cardinals. The Moss deal actually netted Cleveland a pretty good prospect in southpaw Rob Kaminsky.

So, the Tribe is now is spring training mode, trying to see if Lonnie Chisenhall can play right field, and giving auditions to guys like Jerry Sands, to see if he can be their version of Detroit’s J.D. Martinez.

It would not be a shock to see Ryan Raburn moved before the end of the season to a contender to open up another spot on the 25 man roster to look at yet another young player. That’s really all the Indians have left at this point.

They can see if Johnson can take over Raburn’s role in ’16, since Cleveland has to pay him $9 million.

They can see if Jose Ramirez can rebound from a bad start to the year, and become a viable utility player, or re-establish his trade value. Remember he is still just 22 years old.

They can look at potential centerfielders, hopefully this means Tyler Naquin when he comes off the disabled list in Columbus. Tyler Holt got a whopping 20 at bats, so we wonder who will be in center tonight. Hopefully, it’s not Michael Brantley, whose defense is no longer adequate for the spot. It will probably be Abraham Almonte, just acquired from San Diego.

The Tribe owes it to the pitching staff to put a good defender out in the middle of the outfield. So, a promising season has come down to playing out the string and finding out if any of the young players will be able to be contributors in 2016.

This sad baseball season has only one-third of it left. At least for the Cleveland Indians. MW

What Tribe Should Do In The Last Two Months

It is more apparent than ever that the Cleveland Indians need to do something about this roster as they head into the July 31st trading deadline at the end of the week.

The Tribe needed a good start to the second half, as they had nine games against the weaker squads in Major League Baseball (Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and the White Sox) and to this point are 3-5 against them.

Cleveland has demonstrated nothing to hang your hat on in the second half. The offense has been deplorable, the starting pitching has collapsed, and while the defense is better than the horrific first two months of the year, it still makes key mistakes at the most inopportune times, and the pitching staff cannot pitch around them.

The front office is asleep at the switch, seemingly refusing to address any of the problems this team has, and make no mistake, they have been around since day one of the season. And we have to take Terry Francona to task as well, as he hasn’t made any adjustments to what he has either.

This is a team with little home run power, yet he still sits back and plays for the three run bomb.

Look, the Indians’ hitters don’t strike out a lot, so why not send runners every once in a while. And SS Francisco Lindor, who stole nine bases in AAA, has attempted just one with the Indians, and that was in his first big league start.

So, perhaps the front office can improve the current roster by trading some of the veterans on the roster.

The obvious duo is the platoon tandem at DH in David Murphy and Ryan Raburn. Now, before you say these are two of the team’s better hitters, let’s look inside the numbers.

Over the last 28 days, Murphy has hit just .184 with a home run and seven RBI (569 OPS). In the same time period, Raburn has batted just 22 times, hitting .182 with three runs batted in.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped Francona from continuing to hit them both in the clean up spot on a regular basis.

Moving those two players and removing Michael Bourn from the roster would give GM Chris Antonetti three roster spots to work with.

That would enable the organization to find out if Jesus Aguilar and/or Jerry Sands can contribute to the team going forward, and also give Tyler Holt and/or Tyler Naquin some big league experience.

Naquin would be the most intriguing because he is the best prospect of the group, but Sands knocked in six runs in his 24 at bats here, which is three less than Mike Aviles for the entire season.

We are tired of hearing the argument that Bourn has to stay because of the amount of money he is owed by Cleveland. It’s a ridiculous argument. No player, repeat, no player should get at bats because of what they are making. YOU HAVE TO PAY HIM ANYWAY! There is no need to have him decrease the team’s chances of winning.

Why aren’t we hammering Nick Swisher for the same reason? One, he’s not on the roster right now. Two, he’s only had 101 at bats this year. If he is reactivated and he still is not doing anything, then he will draw the same ire as the centerfielder.

Of course, Antonetti said earlier this week that he is still confident in the team he opened the season with. Either he is dumb or a liar, because if you watch the games, you couldn’t possibly come to that conclusion.

This team’s only chance, and it gets slimmer by the day, is to make these chance and hope the younger players come through.

And if they don’t, then at least the front office knows who can contribute in ’16 and who cannot.

Tribe Can’t Improve With Current Cast.

After getting swept in a day-night doubleheader by the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, and being shutout in both contests, the Cleveland Indians seems to have reached rock bottom.

They sit 12 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central Division, and are now 7 behind the New York Yankees for the second wild card spot in the league.

That wild card spot would mean the one game crap shoot to get into a best-of-five series, so the division title should be the goal, but at this point, you’ll take the one game playoff.

Right now, the Tribe is a mess.

They can’t score runs, they have dropped to 11th in the AL in runs per game, and the vaunted pitching staff also ranks 11th in ERA. The defense is poor, so poor in fact that using defensive metrics, Francisco Lindor is by far the team’s best defensive player on the season, and he’s been in the big leagues all of two weeks.

Cleveland has players who can get on base, they just can’t drive them in, having a woeful batting average with runners on base.

We agree that there is still plenty of time left in the season, but based on the performance of the team for the first half of the season, the guys currently on the roster aren’t capable of getting it done.

The time is now for bold moves with this roster.

Michael Bourn’s production has declined to the point where he can no longer play for this team even in a platoon role.

The Tribe has a 26-year-old OF who can play CF at Columbus, and is hitting .306 with a 764 OPS. He’s actually been with the Indians last year and has three at bats with the big club this year.

Why Tyler Holt isn’t on this roster right now is a complete mystery.

And he plays with an edge, something even veterans Jason Kipnis and Brandon Moss have said is lacking with the Indians right now.

What should be done with Bourn? Well, we would release him.

Yes, yes, we understand the Indians owe him $14 million for 2016, and another $6.75 million for the rest of this season, but what’s done is done. They will owe him no matter what he does, and right now they are paying him to not produce.

Why aren’t we complaining about Nick Swisher? Because he’s on the disabled list, so he’s not hurting the squad right now. If Swisher is activated and produces the same as he did before he went on the DL, then he should get the same fate.

It’s not fair for the rest of the roster to play shorthanded because the organization’s high-priced signings didn’t work out.

We’ve had people asking to wait and see if Bourn can be traded, but by the time that happens, even the slim hopes of a playoff spot the Indians have now will be extinguished.

The starting pitching is showing the strain of non-support from the offense and the woes of an ineffective bullpen.

The four starters who have been here all year have ERAs under 4.16, which isn’t terrible, but isn’t great either.

However, the relief corps has been inconsistent.

Cody Allen has been fine since a rough April, and Bryan Shaw has done the same.

Zack McAllister’s been fine, but seems to give up big hits at the most inopportune times. Marc Rzepczynski has been prone to the same thing lately, such as Friday night, when he entered in a tie game and promptly gave up three straight hits on three consecutive pitches.

Over the last 14 days, Nick Hagadone has pitched 1-2/3 innings and allowed five hits. Over the last 28 days, he’s gone 6-2/3 frames, allowing nine hits. Take out last season, and he’s never had an ERA under 4.09 in his career.

Ryan Webb’s numbers look good (24 IP, 20 H, 8 BB, 18 Ks), but he doesn’t pitch often enough to evaluate him fully.

The other bullpen spots, usually two (for some ridiculous reason at the expense of an extra position player), have been revolving doors with the since released Scott Atchison, Austin Adams, Jeff Manship, and Kyle Crockett holding down the spot.

It might be time to change some roles up there as well.

Regardless, action is needed. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be a strength of the front office.

The season is slipping away. Maybe the administration could throw Tito and the boys a rope.

Time For Tribe Shake Up If They Want to Contend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s Starting To Not Be So Early for Indians

If you were going to write a blueprint on how to contend for a division title in baseball, we would guess it wouldn’t say to start off 4-11 against your own division foes.

That’s what the Indians have done and in the process have dug a little hole for themselves.

They are now seven games out of first place and the calendar hasn’t even turned to May.

There is plenty of time for the Tribe, as they haven’t reached the 27 game point of the season, the one-sixth pole if you will, but it will come sometime next week, and right now, Terry Francona’s team looks moribund at best.

The culprit? The same as last year, an inconsistent offense that lacks hitters who provide professional at bats.

Last weekend’s series at Comerica Park was a perfect example of what we are talking about, as the Indians scored 13 runs in the first contest, and followed up the next day by tallying just one.

The team’s best hitter to this point has been a guy many people wanted to replace before the season opened, Ryan Raburn, who has hit .385 in 26 at bats and is tied for the club lead (with Brandon Moss) in extra base hits with seven.

Of course, three of Moss’ long hits game in the 13-1 rout of the Tigers we were speaking of earlier.

Granted, it is early, but the usual Indians’ line up features a lot of players batting anywhere from .240 to .150.

On the other hand, at what point is it no longer early?

When the same things are occurring to start the year as ended last season, there may not be time to wait.

We had discussions over the weekend about CF Michael Bourn, who was finally dropped out of the leadoff spot after starting off 2015 the same way he closed last year: Striking out a lot, not getting on base, and not stealing bases.

At this point, it would be a shock if Bourn caught fire and wound up the year with an average of over .250.

Jason Kipnis is looking like the ’14 version which was an injury plagued campaign.

Lonnie Chisenhall is looking like second half Lonnie, not the one who flirted with .400 in the first half of 2014.

The defense continues to struggle. Thank goodness Cleveland pitchers lead the American League in strikeouts, lest more balls be put in play to challenge the tin gloves the Indians’ fielders use.

GM Chris Antonetti has built this team on pitching, yet continues to put subpar defenders behind his collection of power arms in the front of his rotation.

We have been clamoring for Francisco Lindor to be called up since the trading deadline last season, but once again, today we heard a bunch of corporate speak about how he is not yet a finished product.

And we say that despite the fact we like Jose Ramirez. Ramirez will be a good player someday, but he’s a second baseman, not a shortstop. Lindor is a shortstop.

Roster problems weren’t taken care of either this winter. When Antonetti traded for Moss this winter, they didn’t move David Murphy, despite the plan to play the newcomer in RF.

Therefore, the Tribe doesn’t have a backup centerfielder on the roster. Wouldn’t Tyler Holt fill a role with this team?

Anyway, based on past experience, Antonetti will wait and wait before making any changes with the roster. By that time, it may be too late.

We picked the Indians to emerge as the division winner, but right now, this team doesn’t have the look of a playoff team, except for the starting pitching.

Hopefully, the season doesn’t get away from them by then.

Some Things Bothering Us With The Tribe

The baseball season is still very, very young. That’s why no one should be too upset about the Cleveland Indians start after 14 games.

The Tribe is 5-9 for the season, and really the only problem with that record is that Kansas City and Detroit have launched the 2015 regular season on a hot streak.

The Indians were 5-9 at the same point in the season in 2013 and went on to win 92 games that season and made the playoffs.

If you are looking at how games behind Cleveland is in the standings, be advised that on May 18th last season, they were 10-1/2 games out of first. They still went to the final weekend of the season before being eliminated from the post-season.

However, there still are some disturbing trends that have shown up in the first three weeks of the season, and they are being carried over from a year ago.

Defense. The Indians thought this would be improved from last year because Jose Ramirez replaced Asdrubal Cabrera at SS, and Carlos Santana was established at 1B. It’s still a problem.

Ramirez has booted some routine plays in key situations giving opponents extra outs, and the fears about Brandon Moss in right have proven true. He has missed cut offs routinely, and several fly balls which looked to be outs off of the bat have fallen in safely.

On a team built on pitching, the hurlers deserve better defense behind them.

Let’s face it, shortstop and centerfield are the most important defensive positions, and the organization’s best defender at SS is in Columbus.

Michael Bourn/Top of the lineup. The centerfielder’s career has been in decline since arriving here, and to this point, nothing has changed.

In his years in the National League, Bourn was a career .272 hitter with a .339 on base percentage and a 704 OPS. In two years with the Tribe, those numbers have dropped to .257/.313/.667.

While it is very early, Bourn isn’t off to a good start, hitting below .200 and second on the team in strikeouts despite having just two extra base hits.

He’s never been a very good leadoff hitter because of his on base average, but he’s becoming a liability at the top of the order. It will be interesting to see how patience Terry Francona has with the veteran.

The guy batting after him, Jason Kipnis, is also struggling. He has just one extra base hit in 58 at bats. Just two years ago, Kipnis had 57 extra base hits for the season, today, he ranks last on the club.

It wouldn’t be as bad if Kipnis was getting on base, but he’s drawn just two walks on the season, meaning his OBP is just .246.

It’s difficult for the offense to get going when every game seems to start with two outs and nobody on.

The Bullpen. Francona has ridden his bullpen hard the last two seasons, and whether it has taken a toll or not remains to be seen. However, the relief corps has had a problem throwing strikes, and that is not good.

Cody Allen has walked six hitters in five innings. Nick Hagadone, whose control has always been an issue, has walked three in six innings of work.

Bryan Shaw has walked two in four innings, but has been behind in the count often, leading to allowing eight hits in that workload. Kyle Crockett, now at Columbus, walked three in less than three innings.

Putting extra men on base especially in key, late game situations is never a good idea. This is an area that could turn around quickly.

We generally don’t form a solid judgment on a team until they get to 27 games, or 1/6th of the season.

But the first two things noted here were around all last year, so it becomes more of a trend.

Sure, the Indians could start hitting this weekend in Detroit and come back home in a much better spot. The starting pitching, especially at the top of the rotation has been spectacular.

Let’s hope the Tribe starts playing much better starting Friday night.

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.

No Question About It, It’s a Big Winter for Tribe

Now that the Cleveland Indians have been officially eliminated from post-season play, it is time to look ahead to the Hot Stove League.

The Tribe will likely start with a roster that has either the Cy Young Award winner or runner-up in Corey Kluber, and a hitter who will be in the top five in the American League’s MVP voting in Michael Brantley. So, that’s a good start.

However, their is no question the club needs at least one legitimate bat going into next season.

The AL league average for OPS in 707, and the Indians had only four players who exceeded that mark: Brantley, Carlos Santana, Yan Gomes, and Lonnie Chisenhall. You probably need to get two more guys who are better than league average.

Yes, we believe Jason Kipnis’ struggles this year are an aberration based on his past, so that would be one such bat, but can we really be confident that anyone on the current roster can step up?

We like Jose Ramirez and what we has shown since getting regular playing time, but he needs to get on base more (.291 OBP) and drive the ball a little more (.332 slugging) to be a bonafide offensive threat.

And you cannot depend on older players like Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and David Murphy to bounce back either.

A lot of people we respect love the future of the Cleveland pitching staff, and although it is very promising, outside of Kluber’s two major league seasons, there isn’t another starter who has a proven big league track record.

GM Chris Antonetti needs to get another established hurler to put in the middle of the rotation and make guys like T. J. House, who performed better than expected into a nice option if someone falters or has an arm problem.

We feel the bullpen will take care of itself. Yes, there is a lot of wear on some of the arms, but the organization seems to have some depth in this area at the minor league level.

Also, you can find relievers that other teams discarded and resurrect their careers like the Tribe did this season with Scott Atchison.

How can the Indians do this? Well, it could start with spending more cash.

While the ownership gets credit for spending on Swisher and Bourn before the 2013 season, there isn’t really evidence of that.

The Cleveland payroll was at $78.4 million in 2012, according to thebaseballcube.com. After adding the two high paid free agents, the payroll for 2013 was $82.5 million.

The fans were led to believe the Indians were able to spend more because of the selling of Sportstime Ohio and the new network television contract.

The payroll for 2014 was slightly less than ’13 ($82.1 million) and that’s with the Swisher and Bourn contracts escalating. Keep in mind, the team dealt two of the four highest paid players (Justin Masterson and Asdrubal Cabrera) in late July too, although it has been reported Cleveland paid off Cabrera’s deal to get a better player (Zach Walters?) in return.

Meanwhile, small markets like Kansas City ($91 million) and Minnesota ($85 million), both division rivals, outspent the Tribe.

We have said this before and we will reiterate, we understand that the northeast Ohio market probably can’t support a $100-$110 million payroll for the Indians, but there is no reason the Tribe payroll can’t be around $90-$95 million.

That would allow them to add another solid major league player or two, and maybe more if they can find a taker for a declining player like Bourn, if the Indians would pay part of his remaining salary.

So, it terms of the comment that the ownership spent on Swisher and Bourn, quite frankly, the facts don’t really support that.

This group of Indians has a solid core of younger players, it was the second youngest team in baseball after the all-star break. Guys like Brantley, Gomes, Santana, Chisenhall, and Kluber give Antonetti a good foundation, but you cannot stand pat like they did at the trading deadline.

The Indians can’t depend on their usual strategy of wishing and hoping.

Here’s hoping they will be bold this winter and not their usual modus operandi of being cautious.