Tribe Fans: Good Team or Not, This Team Is In It.

After the first two games after the All Star break, the Cleveland Indians lost two games in very similar ways. They didn’t score runs, their defense was shaky, and their bullpen couldn’t get big outs when needed.

That started the fair weather Tribe fans trembling with fear and apprehension. See, this team just isn’t good enough.

That’s silly. Sure, this team isn’t the same as the teams that slugged their way to division titles in the mid to late 1990’s, but they are just a 1-1/2 out of first place. If you are that close, anything can happen.

In 2006, just seven years ago, the St. Louis Cardinals won 83 games in the regular season and went on to win the World Series.

Nineteen years earlier, the Minnesota Twins won 85 games in the regular season and were outscored on the season by 20 runs, yet still won the World Series.

You know what they call both of those teams? Champions! It doesn’t matter how you get to the playoffs as long as you do, and once you are there everyone has a chance. This isn’t the NBA where teams that just get in to the post-season really have no chance.

Does the current edition of the team have warts? Of course. The starting pitchers, outside of Justin Masterson, have problems completing six innings, putting a large burden on the bullpen.

In turn, the relief corps has been buckling under the weight put on them by the starters, leading to some shaky times for fans when manager Terry Francona has to go to the ‘pen.

Save for Jason Kipnis, the lineup has been inconsistent, suffering through off years by SS Asdrubal Cabrera and 1B Nick Swisher. With both of them struggling, the middle of the order has been a vacuum, and we can anticipate opposing hurlers not giving Kipnis much to hit if either can’t pick it up.

The hitter that carried the team for the first month of the season, Mark Reynolds, is hit under .200 since the first of May and right now, you would have to be surprised if he made contact, let alone get a hit.

But the team is still just 1-1/2 out of first place.

National baseball writers continue to tell everyone how the Detroit Tigers, who are the defending American League Champions, and currently lead the AL Central, are a superior team, and really the Tribe should be playing for a wild card.

But Francona’s guys are just a game and a half out of first place.

Last season, the same national writers felt the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s were surprising teams that wouldn’t be able to hold up and stay in the race coming down the stretch. Both teams made the playoffs though.

So, why can’t the Indians pull it off as well.

Lost in the angst about losing the first two contests after the break is that the Tigers also lost, keeping the Indians at the same deficit as they were going into the All-Star game.

The optimistic fans says no problem, they haven’t lost any ground. The pessimist bemoans the opportunity to overtake Detroit and has a “see, I told you so” attitude.

The only thing that matters is that the Indians stay close to the Tigers. Whether they are a great team or not, this ballclub is in contention.

Sit back and enjoy it.

What Needs to Happen for Tribe in Second Half

The Cleveland Indians have entered the all-star break a mere 1-1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central Division, a place we didn’t think they would be. After all, we picked the Tribe for 4th in the division after spring training.

Now, the question becomes, can they stay in the race for the rest of the season. Skipper Terry Francona said this is the fun time of the season, with every game meaning that much more for the Indians.

What needs to happen for the Tribe in order to stay close to the Tigers and compete for the division title?

First, they have to continue to get good performances from All-Star right-hander Justin Masterson (10-7, 3.72 ERA) who currently leads the AL in complete games and shutouts, and is among the league leaders in innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins.

They also need continued success from the staff’s biggest surprise, Corey Kluber, who is 7-5 with a 3.88 ERA, and Scott Kazmir, who in his last five starts has allowed just eight earned runs in 31 innings pitched (2.32 ERA).

They need Zack McAllister to get healthy and pitch like he did before his finger injury when he gave Francona six quality starts in his first eight times he took the hill.

They need another starting pitcher who can provide quality innings. It has created a major toll on the bullpen to have two starters every time through the rotation only going a little over five innings.

We believe this will assist in correcting the struggling bullpen. Some of those guys have had to carry too large of a load because the starters can’t go deep enough into games. Too many innings, and the injury to Chris Perez caused too much of a strain on the relief corps, and has led to the inconsistency of the ‘pen.

There are many who also feel that GM Chris Antonetti needs to add another bat as well, but really the Tribe needs a couple of guys with proven track records to start performing up to their capabilities: Nick Swisher and Asdrubal Cabrera.

Swisher, who has a lifetime OPS of 823, is currently sitting at 750, his lowest number since 2007 with the White Sox. He has battled shoulder issues since early in the season, but appears to be getting healthy now, batting .289 in July. In fact, it was only June that Swisher struggled, hitting .160 for the month.

He needs to get back to being the guy who hits 20+ home runs and drives in 80+ runs for the Tribe to stay in contention.

Cabrera, a two-time all-star, has struggled in the first half as well, and needs to get back to the guy who played for the Tribe in 2009 and 2011, when he was an extra base hit machine.

He’s never been a guy who walked a lot, but he’s currently hitting 21 points below his lifetime average of .276, and is off his pace in extra base hits too. He had 52 in ’09 and 60 in ’11, but only has 29 right now.

He would provide a spark if he got back to a .280 hitter with some pop.

If those guys can return to form and if Mark Reynolds can have another stretch at some point during the balance of the season like he did in April, the Tribe has enough hitting.

None of these things is out of the realm of possibility. However, the Tribe also can’t afford to have one of the guys who had good first halves, like Jason Kipnis or Carlos Santana to have dreadful second halves.

While everyone talks about the Tigers, and how talented they are, the Cleveland Indians are right there. They can remain there if some players just get to their normal level of production.

Young Athletes Too Arrogant to Care About Where They Play

After the Miami Heat won the NBA title, Cleveland Browns’ players Josh Gordon and Phil Taylor expressed how happy they were about the Heat’s triumph. These comments did not play well with fans in on the North Coast.

While certainly, Gordon and Taylor have the right to feel anyway they want on Miami’s victory, they obviously didn’t use a great deal of common sense.

Many of today’s younger athletes do not take the time to get to know the area in which they play, and to find out what will be a popular stance within the community and what won’t be.

If Gordon and Taylor had any idea about the sports history in this city, they would have kept their feelings to themselves.

It was a lesson the Cavaliers learned during LeBron James’ first game at Quicken Loans Arena wearing another uniform besides the wine and gold. His former teammates greeted him with open arms for the most part, and James woofed at the Cavs’ bench much of the game before an assistant coach finally told him to shut up.

The fans of northeast Ohio and Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert was appalled at the reaction of the team, and when the two teams met later in the year, it was a different attitude. Everyone in the organization knew that James was now the “enemy”.

The ridiculous part of Gordon and Taylor’s comments were that the Cleveland Browns have basically sucked for the last 14 years. Fans of the football team in Cleveland are used to getting their hopes up throughout the spring and summer, only to spend the fall watching the franchise compile a record of 5-11 or 4-12, whichever you prefer.

A more appropriate comment from the two players would have been if they said they watched the Heat celebrate, but can’t wait for a chance to have a party like that in Cleveland, when the Browns win the Super Bowl.

You notice that no one in the Indians organization said they were happy to see the Heat win.

Think about how much Tribe supporters have taken to Nick Swisher because he says he is excited to be here. Comments like that go a long, long way in gaining acceptance and love from the fans.

However, too often, young athletes have a lack of respect for opponents and the fan base.

Watch games and see how often today’s players feel the need to show up their opponents. Whether it is “generational” or not, it isn’t right.

Just yesterday, we witnessed a city recreation baseball game in which a player on a team winning 14-0 decided to score the 15th run by turning a cartwheel to touch home plate.

It’s a good thing he didn’t bat again in the game, because he probably would have the imprint of a baseball in his rib cage today.

Players who toil in Cleveland have to know what the area’s feeling are for James and the Heat. And we understand that as professional athletes, they like to watch excellence and enjoy watching James, currently the best player in the NBA.

Still, discretion is needed as well.

As we said before, Gordon and Taylor can wear Heat gear every minute of the day when they are in their houses or when they are outside of the Cleveland area.

However, they should understand that talking publicly about supporting them in northeast Ohio is like waving a red flag in front of a charging Bull.

Tribe Bullpen Not Saving

Last night, the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen had another bad game, bringing the problem to the forefront once again.

Leading 6-5 with two outs in the eighth inning, Joe Smith served up a homer to Chad Tracy, now hitting .145 on the season, on an 0-2 pitch. The next inning, Vinnie Pestano gave up a game winning gopher ball to Anthony Rendon, his first big league circuit shot.

Rendon is a top prospect, but his blast followed miscommunication between Nick Swisher and Jason Kipnis, which resulted in his foul pop up dropping harmlessly to the ground. However, that doesn’t excuse Pestano serving up a meatball to the rookie.

The Tribe bullpen, considered a strength coming into the season, is leaking oil. Outside of Scott Barnes’ three inning save against the Red Sox in a 12-3 blowout on May 23rd, the last time an Indians’ reliever picked up a save was over a month ago, on May 12th vs. Detroit, when Cody Allen came in and recorded the last out in an extra inning win.

That was Mother’s Day. Today is Father’s Day. The only save recorded between the two days honoring our parents was a “rule” one, because Barnes’ went three innings.

Now, losing 16 of 20 contests drastically lowers your chances of getting saves. They don’t award them in losing efforts. But, there were several games in the losing skein that the bullpen could have changed the outcome.

Most famously, there were the two games in Boston where Terry Francona’s squad were winning late.

On May 25th, Cleveland was leading 4-3 in the eighth inning, when Pestano allowed four runs to the Boston, the last two on a another pop up that dropped in with Asdrubal Cabrera trying to catch it.

The very next day, Chris Perez blew a great start by Corey Kluber in the ninth, turning what looked to be a 5-2 win into a 6-5 defeat.

On Memorial Day, which was the day after Perez’ struggles, Nick Hagadone came into a 2-2 games and promptly allowed a two run shot by Joey Votto to give Cincinnati a lead it never relinquished.

Hagadone was victimized again early this week against Texas, when he allowed another tie breaking HR, this one to Lance Berkman.

Perhaps we should have seen this coming. The last game before the Indians entered the losing period, the relief corps allowed game tying home runs in three consecutive innings against Seattle in a game the Tribe would up winning 10-8. The culprits were Pestano, Perez, and Smith, who earned the win when Yan Gomes belted a three run dinger in the 10th inning.

All in all, Cleveland relievers are last in the league in saves, with just nine on the season. To show that saves aren’t the be all, end all for a team, the next two lowest bullpens are Boston (13) and Detroit (14), both of whom reside in first place in their respective divisions.

However, the Tigers have the second best ERA in the American League, which a great starting rotation, and the Red Sox are seventh. The Indians are 13th in that category.

The problem has arisen in two areas: The left-handers (primarily Hagadone and Rich Hill) have been terrible, and the late inning guys, most notably Pestano and Perez have allowed a lot of long balls (a combined eight in 34-2/3 innings).

Smith has a 1.48 ERA, allowing just four runs for the season, but two of them were game tying home runs.

The middle relievers (Matt Albers, Bryan Shaw, Allen, and even rookie Matt Langwell) have been solid.

Perhaps it is time to use them in later game situations.

The Indians have not had a lot of save chances so far in 2013, the problem is, when they have had them, they haven’t done the job. This has to make Francona wonder why he wanted to manage again.

Looking at Tribe After Two Months

The calendar turns another page today and as we enter June, we are also entering the third month of the major league baseball schedule.

And it is fitting that the Cleveland Indians played their 54th game last night/this morning, which also marks 1/3 of the schedule has been played. The Tribe’s record is 29-25, which means they are on pace to win 87 games in 2013.

For the record, for the first 27 games of the season, Cleveland went 14-13, which means they improved slightly in the last 27 contests.

The Indians’ offense has been a little better than expected, ranking fourth in the American League in runs scored per game at 4.93, trailing just Detroit, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay. They rank 7th in on base percentage, but 3rd in slugging behind the Orioles and Rangers, both of whom play in great hitters parks.

The Tribe is 4th in the AL in home runs, behind those same two teams and Toronto, another team that plays in a very good place if you have a bat in your hands.

The one concern about the Cleveland offense going into the season was strikeouts, and that concern has manifested itself. The Indians hitters have struck out 455 times, an average of 8.4 per game, although you have to go down to 10th among the league leaders to find an Indian, with Mark Reynolds and Drew Stubbs tied for that spot.

Both players have fanned over 200 times in a season, so that’s not a surprise.

Individually, really no one really overachieving among the everyday players, although fans should be pleasantly surprised by the production of Ryan Raburn (.296, 5HR, 16 RBI in 98 at bats) and Yan Gomes (.310, 5 HR, 14 RBI in just 71 at bats).

Jason Kipnis has been streaky and his numbers reflect it (.238 average, .307 OBP). The Tribe needs better out of the second baseman if they are to contend all season. Asdrubal Cabrera got off to a slow start, but had a solid May (.278, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 806 OPS) and actually leads the Indians in extra base hits with 24, ahead of Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana’s 21 each.

To us, an elite offensive player is a guy who has an on base percentage over .350, and a slugging percentage of over .450. The Tribe currently has two of these players: Santana and Swisher. That should put to rest any concern about these two players.

Santana’s average slipped big time in May, but he still takes walks and has a .390 on base percentage. We’ve heard some mild concern about Swisher, but people have to realize big money doesn’t make you a better player. Swisher is who he is, a player who has pop and gets on base.

The recent problem for the Indians has been pitching, with the staff ranking 10th in the AL in ERA. However, the starting pitching, supposedly the weak link of the team, hasn’t been bad, but the bullpen has struggled mightily of late.

New pitching coach Mickey Calloway has emphasized throwing strikes, and all five Tribe starters have strikeout to walk ratios of over 2:1, which is outstanding.

The only complaint about the starters is the need to work longer in the games. With the bullpen struggling, the starters need to get through six innings consistently. There have been too many “five and flys” this season.

With Chris Perez on the disabled list, much focus has been put on the back-end of the ‘pen, but the left-handed relievers have been terrible. Terry Francona cannot be confident in any situation where he needs to get a tough left-handed hitter out, because Nick Hagadone, Scott Barnes, and Rich Hill have not been effective, nor have they been able to throw strikes.

Hill has walked 10 in 15-1/3 innings, and Hagadone has also issued 10 in 13-1/3 frames. Barnes has only walked three in eight innings, but has allowed three home runs.

The team needs to find someone who can be effective in this role, or it will haunt them all season.

The Cleveland Indians hit the one-third point in the campaign in good shape, on pace to win 87 games and just a half game out of first. Fortifying the bullpen, especially with an effective southpaw would seem to be #1 on the priority list right now.

Aggressiveness Continues for Tribe Front Office

For the past several years, the management of the Cleveland Indians has seemed to be in a state of inertia.

Of course, this winter the front office went out and did something, getting Terry Francona to manage and inking several free agents, most notably Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and Mark Reynolds.

They’ve received a lot of credit for making those moves.

However, the maneuvers continue for the management into the regular season, something that hasn’t been the case the past few years.

Who is responsible for both styles of roster management? Was GM Chris Antonetti shown religion by Francona, who seems to insist on having a representative roster for every game, or did former skipper Manny Acta make the same requests, but was not heard by the GM?

Since day one of this season, the Indians have been very active in sending players up and down from Columbus in order to give the manager lineup flexibility.

A couple of moves in the last two weeks illustrate what we are talking about.

While Bourn was out with his finger injury, the Indians were short an outfielder, but were able to get by using Swisher and Ryan Raburn in right, moving Drew Stubbs to centerfield. However, Francona felt these guys needed some rest, so when Ezequiel Carrera was designated for assignment by Philadelphia, the Tribe picked him up.

Carrera was used as a pinch-runner in his first game and started the next night, getting two hits. The next day, the Tribe DFA’d him again, and he went through waivers and is now at Columbus, still in the organization.

This is something the front office wouldn’t have done in the past. But you know who does do stuff like that? The Boston Red Sox used to bring guys in and out all the time, and perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the Indians are doing it now, if you know what we mean.

Today, the Tribe sent struggling third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall back to AAA, but the move was probably made as insurance for Chris Perez’ tender shoulder. The Indians wanted an extra arm out of the bullpen with a doubleheader against the Yankees, and the only position player who could or deserved be moved was Chisenhall.

The guess here is Chiz will be back in ten days to two weeks, which will allow him to get his swing and confidence back. In the meantime, Raburn, Mike Aviles, and a little Reynolds will hold down the hot corner.

With the bullpen not over-exposed in the twin bill and an extra player needed in Philadelphia, where the pitcher will have to hit, look for a relief pitcher (probably Nick Hagadone, who has struggled to throw strikes in his last two outings) to be sent back to Columbus in favor of another position player, possibly Cord Phelps.

Again, it is just the Tribe getting the most of their organization, and putting the major league team in the best position to win on a night in, night out basis.

It’s what all the big teams do. And this season, it looks like the Cleveland Indians are joining the big boys, not only in the standings, but in attitude.

Tribe Organizational Depth in View Early

The baseball season is just 11 games old, and the depth the Cleveland Indians acquired in the off-season has already been put to the test.

First, the starting rotation had a horrible two turns through, with many pitchers not being able to go more than five innings. That took a toll on the bullpen, so Terry Francona and the front office were able to change on the fly and add an extra relief pitcher.

Of course, the two rainouts helped because they were able to skip a start for the fifth guy in the rotation.

Scott Kazmir made a rehab start with Columbus last night and he is on track to make his first start in Houston this weekend, so Francona got away without having to use somebody he didn’t want to use.

With the nagging elbow injury for 2B Jason Kipnis, the skipper has had to use Mike Aviles and Ryan Raburn, both established major league players, to fill in. This is different from having to use players like Aaron Cunningham, Austin Kearns, or Luis Valbuena as substitutes.

Aviles was the starting shortstop for Boston last season, and although the Sox wound up with virtually the same record as the Indians, both teams fell apart in the last two months, so it wasn’t like either team was like the Astros and Marlins of 2013.

Raburn is also experienced, having appeared in over 100 games three times with the Tigers and hitting double digits in home runs in three different seasons.

Tito has had to alter his catchers early this season too. Carlos Santana hurt his thumb/wrist during the home opener, and Lou Marson hurt his neck in a home plate collision, so Yan Gomes was called up from Columbus, and has done a good job handling the pitchers and also hit a home run on Saturday.

Now, CF Michael Bourn is going to miss perhaps of week’s worth of games with stitches in his finger. No problem. Francona will move Drew Stubbs to center, and he can play Raburn in right, or he can put Nick Swisher in right, use Mark Reynolds at first base and give Jason Giambi some at bats as the DH.

Giambi may be 42 years old, and won the American League MVP in 2000, but he has made his living in recent years by being a productive bat off the bench in Colorado.

Besides Gomes, the added depth also extends to the minor leagues. For example, with Bourn down and Kipnis out, the Tribe called up Cord Phelps, who had an excellent spring and has a very good history of hitting in the minors, to the 25-man roster.

They no longer have to use a player who has no business being in the big leagues.

At other times, they stayed longer with a struggling player because they didn’t have a better option available. This was the case with Johnny Damon last season.

And that bodes very well for the success of this ballclub. You have to have options because things never work out the way it is planned in the off-season. In the past few years, this organization had few alternatives.

This year, the depth they’ve accumulated is being put to the test before the first month of the season plays out.

Young Vets Ready to Make Impact for Tribe

Much of the optimism for this year’s Cleveland Indians has centered on the money spent by the Dolan ownership, which resulted in the signing of free agents Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Michael Bourn and Brett Myers.

However, another reason for the Tribe’s improvement offensively will come from three young players who have been on fans’ radar for more than a year. These three, 2B Jason Kipnis, LF Michael Brantley, and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall are poised to take the step into being better than average players at their position.

Kipnis, who will be 26 next week, burst on the scene when he joined the team half way through the 2011 season, posting a 841 OPS in 150 at bats. He got off to a solid start to the 2012 season, hitting .280 with 8 HR and 30 RBI through the end of May.

The pitchers adjusted after that and Kipnis hit just .246 with 6 HR and 46 RBI the rest of the season. He didn’t slug over .400 in any month for the balance of the year.

Besides the different way he was being pitches, fatigue also may have been a factor because it was difficult to give Kipnis a day off because the Indians had very little depth. This year, that shouldn’t be a factor.

The “JK Kid” has a great track record of hitting in the minors (863 OPS in almost 1000 at bats), so we feel confident he will bounce back and more resemble the ’11 edition of Kipnis rather than the guy who struggled the last four months in 2012.

Brantley has spent time in the big leagues every year since 2009, so it seems like he should be older than 26, which he will turn in May. He had his best season last year, hitting .288, 6 HR, 60 RBI, 750 OPS, but has steadily improved in each of the last three seasons, and at his age that should continue in ’13.

His improvement has come in both his on base percentage and slugging percentage, so it wouldn’t be a stretch if he could get the OPS over the 800 mark this season, which would make him a very good offensive player. He had 47 extra base hits in 2012, and as he gets stronger, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some of the 37 doubles he had last year start to fly over the fence.

That extra base hit number represents an increase of 12 from the year before. It wouldn’t be a shock if Brantley had close to 60 extra base knocks in 2013, figure about 45 doubles and 15 homers.

Chisenhall, 24, is finally free of the managers’ infatuation with defense at the hot corner and will get his shot at being the everyday third baseman. He has 12 HRs in 350 big league at bats, which figures to 17 dingers in 500 plate appearances.

His struggles against southpaws are overblown because he’s had only 88 at bats vs. lefties in his brief time in the bigs, and still has managed five homers in those chances. That’s not to say we wouldn’t give him a day off against a guy like C.C. Sabathia, but he should get an opportunity to play virtually everyday.

He’s had a monster spring, which doesn’t always translate, but he has a smooth left-handed swing, and seems to be more selective at the plate. That may be because Terry Francona basically told him the job was his to lose and he relaxed at the dish.

These three guys, along with the free agent acquisitions, are the reason the Indians’ offense will be much better than the past two seasons. They will allow Francona to play most days with tough outs throughout the lineup.

American League teams need seven out of nine guys to be able to provide quality at bats. The Tribe has that in 2013.

Tribe Spending Spree? Not Really

One of the great myth’s surrounding the Cleveland Indians is that they conducted a huge spending spree this off-season.

According the Baseball Reference.com, the Indians spent $66.5 million on salaries last season, and right now are projected to have a payroll of $73.8 million in 2013.

That figure would still be the lowest in the AL Central Division, and only Tampa Bay, Oakland, and Houston would have lower payrolls this season.

To be fair, that figure includes only 14 players, but rest of the 40 man roster won’t cost the team a lot of moolah because most of those guys will be paid the major league minimum or a split contract which pays them less in they aren’t in the major leagues.

The only player who remains unsigned that will make more than $2 million per year is probably INF Mike Aviles.

That isn’t to say you have to spend cash to win, just look at the A’s, who won the AL Western Division and only paid $50 million in player salaries, and the Rays won more than 90 games last year with a comparable figure.

GM Chris Antonetti might be able to pull off a contending team in 2013, but it won’t be because the Dolan family opened up the purse strings. He is not spending a heck of a lot more than he did on a squad that won 68 games a year ago.

Yes, the team did spend big dollars on free agent OF Nick Swisher, but it isn’t much more than they were paying Travis Hafner the past few years. The difference is that Swisher will likely be in the lineup more often.

The Indians also signed two other free agents, 1B Mark Reynolds and P Brett Myers, but they shed the contracts of Shin-Soo Choo (traded to Cincinnati) and Roberto Hernandez (released).

Antonetti has said there won’t be more free agent signings this winter because he has spent pretty much the cash allocated to him by ownership for player salaries.

This means there wasn’t intent to spend a great deal more in 2013, but the money will be spent wisely, meaning to players who will be productive.

However, we have maintained that there is no reason the Indians should not have an $80 million payroll, meaning they should be able to spend another $5 million for another player, preferably a starting pitcher.

Because the Tribe needs to start spring training with Ubaldo Jimenez as the fifth starter.

Right now, Terry Francona goes into camp with two reliable starters, Justin Masterson and newcomer Brett Myers.

Zack McAllister showed promise last season, but he’s pitched in the big leagues for a half of a season. Trevor Bauer is one of the game’s prime prospects, but has made four major league starts. Carlos Carrasco is coming off of Tommy John surgery.

Corey Kluber and David Huff are, well, Corey Kluber and David Huff.

Which brings us to Jimenez. You can flip a coin on what kind of performance you will get out of him on a nightly basis.

And if you are interested in winning this season, and to be sure, Francona wants to, you can’t have a pitcher like that in the top three of your rotation.

Here’s hoping the ownership gives Antonetti a little bit more cash to get the payroll where it should be, so he can obtain another starter.

That would do a lot for fans that still look at this organization with a jaundiced eye.

Tribe Adds Grit This Off-Season

One of the overlooked aspects of the last time the Cleveland Indians made the post-season was the value of the veteran leadership provided by Trot Nixon.

Nixon hit just .251 on the season with 3 HR and 31 RBIs, but he provided a winning attitude since we was a key player on many winning teams with the Boston Red Sox. He didn’t play much after GM Mark Shapiro picked up Kenny Lofton for the stretch drive, but Lofton was another veteran who played on a ton of winning teams throughout his career, most of those being the Indians of the late 90’s.

Since then, the Indians have tried to pick up veterans for leadership but most of them haven’t been able to produce enough to stay on the field, and if they can’t be in the lineup, it is tough to provide guidance for the young players. Look at Orlando Cabrera in 2011, early in the year he provided some big hits and the team won.

However, as the season went on, Cabrera became a problem both offensively and defensively and it was getting difficult for Manny Acta to keep writing his name in the lineup. He was traded to the Giants at the deadline and wasn’t on a big league roster in 2012.

This year, Chris Antonetti has acquired three players who have some grit and can provide leadership and another guy who plays with a little swagger.

Nick Swisher was the plum of the off-season moves by Antonetti, a player who plays everyday and puts up around 25 HR and 80 RBIs on a yearly basis. He also plays with a joy and toughness, something badly needed by a team who has appeared emotionless in recent years, a reflection of the calm hand provided by Acta.

It has been said that Swisher’s enthusiasm was a key addition to a stale Yankee clubhouse when he went there in 2009 and it resulted in the only World Championship for the Bronx Bombers since 2000. He reminded the corporate Yankees that baseball was a game and it was supposed to be fun.

It’s a trait that should be welcome in the Cleveland locker room this season. His personality showed through in the press conference introducing him to the local media.

Brett Myers is another addition with experience on a winner, appearing in three post-seasons with the Phillies from 2007-09. He has been a starter in a World Series game. Put that together with six seasons of throwing 200 innings and he provides help in two areas for the Tribe.

He can give a fairly young pitching staff some leadership and he also gives the Indians a starting pitcher who can soak up innings and pitch deep into games. And he has a lifetime ERA of 4.28 as a starter.

He throws strikes, with a strikeout to walk ratio of over 2 to 1, and allows around a hit per inning for his career. Those are solid numbers.

An under the radar pick up by Antonetti is INF Mike Aviles, who has been a productive big league hitter when given limited at bats. He’s a career .277 hitter with a 715 OPS, but his numbers were dragged down a bit by last season when he played everyday for the first time. He was a .286 hitter with Kansas City (734 OPS).

Aviles struck us as a player with a chip on his shoulder when playing for the Royals. He flipped his bat when homering against the Indians with Kansas City, it was a galling act considering he never hit more than 13 dingers in a season.

However, when he plays for your team, it’s the kind of attitude you like to see. Here’s hoping he brings the same edge to the Indians.

Every move made by the Tribe this off-season has improved the ball club in terms of production, with the exception of swapping Shin-Soo Choo for Swisher which is a break even move.

But these moves have also provided the 2013 Indians with a winning attitude, a ‘tude that starts with the new manager, Terry Francona. The Indians who take the field this coming April won’t make excuses. They will expect to win every game.