Really, it can’t be said enough.

What exactly was the ownership of the Cleveland Indians thinking when they decided to trim the payroll for the 2019 baseball season?  It is quite mind boggling to say the least.

Yes, the ballclub was getting older, but it had made the post-season for three consecutive years, and even though the Tribe was swept in three games by the Houston Astros in the Division Series, the last two games of the series were close for most of the contests.

The Indians led in the sixth inning of Game 2 before Houston got two on, one the result of swinging bunt, before Terry Francona took out Carlos Carrasco, who was pitching a shutout, after 77 pitches.

Andrew Miller allowed the two runs to score, and the Indians wound up losing 3-1.

Cleveland held a lead in Game 3 after six, before the bullpen, including Trevor Bauer, who made two errors in the inning, allowed 10 runs in the last three frames.

Yes, the team was showing some age, but they still had Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, and an excellent starting rotation to build around.

Why not allow the front office, your baseball people, to keep the payroll the same as the previous two seasons?  After all, the Midsummer Classic, the All Star Game, would be at Progressive Field this summer.  Wouldn’t the excitement of a playoff team and a huge showcase cause attendance to rise?

Instead, a winter of pretty much inactivity soured the fan base.  So did allowing fan favorites like Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes go, especially without replacements.

We understood the moves at the time, but we thought the plan was to re-allocate the payroll, bringing in some younger players with upside instead of the aging veterans.

It turned out, it was just a payroll dump.

When the season began, the offense was a huge question mark, at least to many fans, but the front office and the Tribe zealots said the hitting would be fine.

Granted some of that optimism was based on Ramirez returning to form, and that has left a huge gap, but even if he were performing at the same level as a year ago, this would still be a below average attack.

Don’t believe the BS that the team was losing money either.  There are plenty of stories out there how major league baseball teams are awash in cash.

And if you own a professional sports team, yes, you want to make money, and we understand that, but you have an obligation to win!  Especially when you own a team that has gone without a title in 71 FREAKING YEARS, and you are close to that elusive championship.

We have been around for three MLB All Star Games, and we don’t think there has ever been less buzz about the event being here.  And it’s because the fan base has been deflated by the ownership.

Also, they see another organization in Berea going for it.  Trying everything they can to get to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl for the first time.

The season is one-third over and we still can’t get our heads around this decision.  It’s patently stupid.

And the people who are suffering are the tried and true baseball fans of Cleveland, who have watched this team get painfully close to World Series titles twice in the last 22 years, only to come up empty.

With the season hanging in the balance, the history of the Dolan ownership is to spend when they are front-runners, not to get back in the race.  So, if Francisco Lindor will only be here through 2021, and Trevor Bauer is gone after 2020, you’ve wasted a year where the Indians have them.

What a mess.  And really, how can anyone defend this decision?

MW