Tribe Starters Need Length, Decisions to be Made

First of all, let’s all calm down Tribe fans. The season is only one week old and the Cleveland Indians emerged at the break even mark at 3-3 even though the performance of the starting pitchers wasn’t good.

It is too early to panic because outside of Justin Masterson, each of the starters made just one appearance. Let’s give each of the starters three or four starts before jumping to any conclusions.

However from a team standpoint, Terry Francona can’t be happy about having to use his bullpen this much this early. Already, the Indians’ starters have gone less than five innings in exactly half of the games, and the club has had five straight starts where the starter hasn’t gone six complete frames.

So, it will be interesting to see the games tonight and tomorrow when Corey Kluber (3-2/3 IP) and Zack McAllister (4 IP in his first start) take the hill against the San Diego Padres. If both can pitch up to the level they achieved last season, then any concern will be eased for both fans and the skipper and Mickey Callaway.

Fortunately, the bullpen has done the job so far, allowing just seven earned runs in the six contests, and five of the eight members of the relief corps haven’t allowed an earned run as of yet.

But it’s the amount of innings they have pitched so far (24-2/3, an average of 4 per game), that has to concern Francona and Callaway

We could be sitting here a week from today after five consecutive solid outings by the starters and be concerned about the relief pitchers getting enough work. That’s why you can’t make bold statements regarding a baseball team after one week.

The Tribe front office will have some decisions to make in the next week or so regarding the make up of the roster when Michael Bourn and Jason Giambi are ready to be activated from the disabled list.

OF Nyjer Morgan has gotten on base (.500 OBP) so far, and it is easy to say he stays over Elliot Johnson (0 for 5 thus far) when Bourn is ready, but it is more complicated than that because Morgan swings from the left side, and the Tribe is overloaded with left-handed hitters.

If Morgan was right-handed it would be a no-brainer, and it is difficult to see Francona and GM Chris Antonetti going with six left-handed batters (with three more switch-hitters) among their 12 position players.

The fact that Johnson can hit from the right side may be (along with his versatility) his biggest edge. With the opponents throwing southpaws in five of the next six games, Johnson will get a chance to prove he should stay.

When Giambi comes back, it could be at Lonnie Chisenhall’s expense, or the Tribe could decide to go with one less relief pitchers. This would assume the starting pitching gets straightened out.

If that’s the case, the two candidates to sent back to Columbus would be Vinnie Pestano and Blake Wood. Wood had a leg up until yesterday when he took to loss by walking two, hitting a batter, and then allowing a three-run double to give Minnesota the lead.

Pestano has allowed runs in both of his outings in the young season.

The battle(?) between these two is something else to keep an eye on this week.

Even though spring training is over, the front office and the skipper still have roster decisions to be made. That’s something to watch this week.

How Did We Do–Tribe Will Fall Just Short of Playoffs in ’14

This was orginally posted in April

For every baseball fan, today is a day filled with anticipation. Opening Day will be here tomorrow, and despite the weather from yesterday, baseball will be played at Progressive Field by the end of this week.

Can the Indians repeat their unexpected run to the playoffs (and yes, Kenny Lofton, they did make the playoffs) in 2014? That is the question on all Tribe fans minds this spring.

We believe the AL Central Division race will be highly contested this summer with the defending champion Tigers, Indians, and the Royals all in contention, and we also feel that less than 90 wins will take the title.

All three teams will win between 83-89 games, so Terry Francona’s squad will be in the mix all season long. And because the division will be so close, things like injuries and deadline trades will have a huge factor on how things will turn out.

That said, we believe the Tribe will finish second in the division once again, but this time will fall just short of a post-season spot.

Why? Because the front office just didn’t do enough to offset the losses from this winter, mainly the departure of two starting pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir.

We agreed with letting both pitchers depart because the contracts they signed were more than we would have paid either hurler based on their past performance, but we believed GM Chris Antonetti would have acquired at least one innings eater to replace the 340 innings that left via free agency.

As we wrote last week, if Danny Salazar and Corey Kluber reach the performance expected of them this season, the loss of two starting pitchers will become a moot point, but that’s a tough leap of faith considering they have combined for less than 300 innings in their career.

The Indians’ offense also sputtered at times last year even though Cleveland finished fourth in the AL in runs scored. Francona could have used another established bat in the lineup and instead Antonetti signed David Murphy, who has a good track record (.275 lifetime batting average, 778 OPS), but hit just .220 last season for the Rangers.

The Tribe needs comeback seasons from Nick Swisher, bothered by a shoulder problem in 2013, Michael Bourn, and Asdrubal Cabrera, who will be a free agent following the season, in order to have a more consistent attack.

They will also need continued improvement from two hitters entering their age 27 (entering prime) seasons in 2B Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley. Everyone praised Brantley’s ’13 season, but actually his OPS and batting average were down from 2012 (728 OPS/.284 in ’13 compared to 750/.288 in ’12).

He has the talent to be a premier offensive player (.350 OBP, .450 slugging percentage) and needs to reach those levels in 2014.

Kipnis needs to be more consistent. He hit .301 (897 OPS) before the All-Star break, and just .261 (714 OPS) after the Midsummer Classic. As the #3 hitter in the lineup, he needs to stay away from weeks where he is producing like a bottom of the order hitter.

We also have doubts about the experiment of playing Carlos Santana will work out. Santana hit .268 with 20 HR last season, and you would think his production will increase without the burden of catching more than 100 games a season, but will the switch in positions affect him at the plate?

And, of course, will his defense be solid enough to play at the hot corner on a daily basis.

The division will be close and the Tribe will be playing meaningful games in September. However, there are enough questions to think they will fall just short.

However, if some of the scenarios outlined above reach reality, the Indians could win the division and make the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since the late 90’s.

Thoughts on How Tribe Pitching Staff Shakes Out

The regular season for the Cleveland Indians starts in less than two weeks, and there are still some unresolved issues on Terry Francona’s pitching staff.

The skipper has named four of his starting pitchers with Justin Masterson, Corey Kluber, Zack McAllister, and Danny Salazar getting the nod, with one spot remaining open.

In the bullpen, John Axford, Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen, Mark Rzepczynski, and Josh Outman seem to have nailed down spots with two openings in what figures to be a seven man bullpen to start the campaign.

That leaves several candidates for the three remaining spots on the staff when the season opens in Oakland on March 31^st.

The battle for the last spot in the rotation boils down to Carlos Carrasco, Josh Tomlin, and Aaron Harang.

Carrasco struggled last year as a starter, but pitched very well in relief, while Tomlin missed most of 2013 with Tommy John surgery. When healthy, the right-hander is a strike thrower and has demonstrated an ability to give his team at least five innings per start.

Harang was brought in right before spring training started to compete for a spot in the rotation and has pitched nine innings in “A” games, allowing two runs.

Carrasco and Tomlin have also been impressive thus far.

Our guess is that Carrasco will start the season in the fourth spot in the rotation while Tomlin will go to Columbus to length out his arm at the minor league level, which is needed since he pitched very little in 2013.

As for Harang, GM Chris Antonetti will have to work some magic to keep him in the organization after March because other teams are looking for starting pitchers.

The Tribe would like to keep the veteran around because Trevor Bauer doesn’t look ready to pitch in the bigs yet, and outside of Tomlin, there isn’t much starting pitching depth in the organization.

Perhaps the Indians can get Harang to go to Columbus with an out clause if he isn’t recalled by the end of April.

In the bullpen, the candidates for the last two spots are Vinnie Pestano, Blake Wood, David Aardsma, Scott Atchison, and C.C. Lee.

Pestano would seem to have a leg up based on his success in 2011 and 2012 when he was one of the best set up men in the game. He’s done okay this spring, allowing one run and two hits in five innings.

Wood is another Tommy John survivor and has big league experience with the Royals. He’s allowed one run in seven innings, striking out eight.

Aardsma has had arm troubles too, but was the Mariners closer a few years ago. He’s allowed two runs in six innings, while Atchison, who was with Francona in Boston, has given up a run in five innings of work.

Lee is a prospect who spent bits of last year with the Tribe, and he’s allowed two runs in six frame in Arizona.

Our prediction is that Atchison makes the squad, taking the Matt Albers role from 2013. That is to say, pitching extended outings (two or three innings) if needed if the starter has to depart the game early.

The Tribe has also pointed out that Wood has an option remaining, so the other spot looks to be Pestano’s to lose.

Aardsma would be welcome in Columbus, but more likely will ask for his release so he can pursue a job elsewhere.

Of course, a late injury or a couple of horrid appearance could change these spots before Opening Day.

Battle For Last Two Spots on Tribe Roster

The Indians made their first cuts of the spring earlier this week, and there were no surprises. The first 12 players sent back to the minor league camp were players who didn’t figure to make the team anyway.

Today, the club announced that Jason Giambi has a fractured rib and will be out for 3-4 weeks, meaning there is another opening on the bench.

If we assume Lonnie Chisenhall starts at third, Carlos Santana is the DH, and David Murphy will start in RF, and the Tribe will open the regular season with 12 pitchers, then there are four spots on the bench.

Mike Aviles and Ryan Raburn, who were both stalwarts in reserve roles for Terry Francona in 2013, will fill two of those spots.

That leaves two spots open with the main candidates being infielders Elliot Johnson and Justin Sellers, picked up from the Dodgers during spring training, and outfielders Jeff Francoeur and Nyjer Morgan.

All four players have big league experience.

Of course, that could change if Francona wants to carry another catcher because Santana will be getting more at bats as a DH.

Johnson and Sellers have made a good impression thus far.

The former, 29 years old, has the benefit of being a switch-hitter and can play 2B, 3B, SS and both corner outfield spots. He’s 7 for 19 with a home run in Arizona to date.

The negative that in parts of four big league seasons, he’s a lifetime .219 hitter with a 592 OPS.

Sellers is 27 years old and is considered to be a better option at SS defensively, although he can also play second base and third base.

He’s 6 for 10 thus far in exhibition play, but lifetime has a .199 batting average with a 579 OPS, although in limited playing time (266 plate appearances)

The two outfielders are much more experienced, although they haven’t performed very well thus far in Goodyear.

Francoeur is 30 years old, and has spent time with the Braves, Royals, and Giants in his career, batting .263 (725 OPS) with 140 home runs.

He’s a solid corner outfielder defensively and has a great throwing arm. His problem has been strike zone judgment. He’s allergic to the base on balls.

He does have a solid history vs. southpaws, with a lifetime .285 batting average and 800 OPS.

Morgan has also struggled a bit in camp, hitting just .200 (5 for 25) and left yesterday’s game with some sort of leg problem. He is now 33 years old and has a career .280 batting average (705 OPS).

He also has a strong platoon split, hitting .297 for his career against right-handed pitchers.

If Francona wants a third catcher, he’ll choose between veterans Matt Treanor and Luke Carlin.

Our opinion is that Francouer will claim one of the spots, basically taking Giambi’s spot on the team, and occasionally spelling Murphy in right field with Raburn perhaps at DH.

The other spot will go to Sellers because of his defensive prowess at SS.

Those are the tough decisions for Francona and GM Chris Antonetti, but they are important because of the way the skipper uses his entire roster.

Just one more thing to keep an eye on in the last two weeks of spring training.

Tribe Versatility Important to Team Success

When Eric Wedge managed the Indians, many fans thought his ideal team would consist of players who could all play every position on the field. He loved versatility.

His most noted experiment involved trying to make Ryan Garko, a college catcher, who quite frankly had no speed whatsoever into an outfielder, playing him in both LF and RF.

He used Casey Blake, a third baseman by trade, at 1B and in the outfield.

He loved guys like Chris Gimenez, who could catch and play other positions, and when then-GM Mark Shapiro traded for Mark DeRosa, he had to be ecstatic.

The problem for Wedge was he tried to make young players, who were playing everyday (Garko) play other spots, and the guys like Gimenez are marginal major league players at best.

We say this because if you look at the current Indians’ roster, they have a bunch of players who can play multiple positions.

The difference is Terry Francona’s team is littered with guys who have performed in that role for most of their major league careers, and in most cases, have flourished moving around the field and not being in the lineup everyday.

The main players on Francona’s bench are veterans Ryan Raburn and Mike Aviles. Raburn can play the corner outfield spots as well as both infield corner spots and even 2B in a pinch.

Aviles can play all of the infield spots and even played a few games in LF last season.

And although neither of them will get 500 at bats in a season, when they get around 300 plate appearances in a season, they are solid big league hitters.

Everyone points out that Raburn will likely not be as productive as he was last season (901 OPS in 243 at bats), but his career average is .258 with 10 HRs per year and a respectable 762 OPS.

Aviles is a career .273 hitter and gets around 8 homers per year.

Francona was a master last year of putting players like Aviles and Raburn in situations where they would be productive, and there is no reason to think the same won’t be true in 2014.

Now, the Tribe is trying to improve the versatility of the Tribe by giving Carlos Santana some playing time at third base. While no one really believe the plan is for Santana to play full-time at the hot corner, he gives the skipper an option against a tough lefty to put Santana there instead of Lonnie Chisenhall.

The difference in the Santana conversion and those of the Wedge era is that the player went to Francona and the front office and wanted to make the move instead of being a full-time DH.

This way, the former and current back up catcher can play a day or two at first base, allowing Nick Swisher a day off or a day at DH, maybe a day at third, and catch one game to give Yan Gomes a day off.

If a young player isn’t on board with the move, then it doesn’t have as good a chance of succeeding. Besides, Santana was a third baseman in the minor leagues, so he’s played the position before.

It’s a tribute to the locker room that Francona and the front office have crafted that Santana wanted to make this move.

Watching this move from his view as an ESPN analyst, Eric Wedge is surely envious.

Thoughts of Dealing Masterson are Silly

The Cleveland Indians avoided arbitration with Justin Masterson yesterday by signing him to a one-year deal at a little less than $10 million per year.

They can still talk about a multi-year deal since Masterson can be a free agent at the end of this season, but with the recent deal between Ubaldo Jimenez (four years, $50 million) and the likelihood that the Reds and Homer Bailey will agree to a six-year, $100 million deal, the odds of the Tribe’s #1 starter staying here past 2014 seem remote.

Of course, the reflex for all Indians’ fans was to trade the big right-hander since he likely will walk away at the end of the season.

As usual, there are several flaws in that argument.

First, everyone assumes that Masterson will have the same kind of season he had last season when he won 14 games with an ERA of 3.45. However, you don’t have to go that far back to find a season where Masty went 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA.

That was 2012.

Another season like that, and Masterson’s price will come way down.

The second reason is that the Indians were a playoff team last season, and would like to make it again this season.

No matter what you get for Masterson, they likely won’t impact this year’s team as much as a proven starting pitcher who will throw 200 innings for Terry Francona’s team.

If the Tribe had won 76 games last season, you might consider trading a player you may not be able to sign after the season, and looking toward 2015, but the reality is Cleveland won 92 games in ’13, and would like to make the playoffs again this season.

Now, if the Indians struggle at the start of the season and approach the July 31^st trade deadline being out of the race for the post-season, then it makes sense to see what you could get in return for the big righty.

But, you can’t move him right now unless you could make a deal that helps the ballclub this season.

Now we’re going out on a limb here, but another situation that bears looking at is the qualifying offer the Tribe made to Jimenez after last season.

GM Chris Antonetti could do the same with Masterson, thus keeping him in a Cleveland uniform for one more season at $14.1 million for 2015.

And we don’t know if Masterson has to have a six-year deal like Bailey appears to be getting in Cincinnati. Perhaps, he would be willing to listen to a four-year hitch, because he likes it here and of course, the Francona factor.

In recent seasons, the Indians have not wanted to go more than three years with a pitcher, but a guy who has been a horse and an innings eater might be an exception.

Of course, the pressure is on Masterson to have another solid season to make the Indians and/or other teams want to offer him a four-year deal following the 2014 campaign.

The point is you can’t deal your #1 starting pitcher coming off a playoff season and heading into a season where you want to get back to the post-season

It wouldn’t make sense to the players who inhabit the clubhouse, or to an already questioning fan base.

Tribe’s Success Doesn’t Help Dolan’s Image With Fans

There is no question that in the past few months, both the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers’ organizations have shown to be less than stable.

Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam has replaced his head coach, his CEO, and his general manager in a six-week span since the end of the season. In addition, his football has lost ten games or more (the baseball equivalent of losing 100 games) six years in a row, and ten out of the last 11 seasons.

The Cavaliers have been a mediocre franchise ever since LeBron James departed, qualifying for a lottery pick each and every year, and not a low pick either, the wine and gold have had one of the NBA’s worst five records each season.

And recently Dan Gilbert fired his GM and replaced his head coach following last season.

Yet, the least popular owner in the city happens to own the franchise that has had the most success. That would be Indians’ owners Larry and Paul Dolan.

There are several reasons for the lack of popularity, the first being Gilbert and Haslam come off pretty well in press conferences, showing people, whether or not it can occur, that they are determined to bring a championship to Cleveland in their respective sports.

The Dolans probably shouldn’t talk to the media because when they do, they say things like the best fans can hope for is contending every once in a while due to the economic restraints in baseball.

That really doesn’t give fans a great deal of confidence.

To be fair, the Indians have the most stable front office in team president Mark Shapiro, who has been here for 23 years, and GM Chris Antonetti has been with the Tribe since 1998. And they lured Terry Francona, a two-time World Series champion as manager to the same post with the Indians.

So again, why the lack of love for the Tribe ownership, particularly in comparison to the other woebegone franchise on the North Coast?

There is a lack of trust for the Dolan family, even though they are from here, while Haslam and Gilbert aren’t.

Part of that comes from the article in Forbes showing the Tribe was making large amounts of profit. While the number may not have been accurate, the magazine should be regarded as a reliable source. After all, the figure didn’t appear in the National Enquirer.

Fans should understand that owners need to make a profit, but they would still like to see more money poured into the product on the field too.

The fans don’t feel like it’s a priority for the ownership to win a World Series for the city. The other owners talk about it, they may not really mean it, but they have enough sense to communicate the desire to the fan base.

This off-season is a perfect example of what we are saying.

Interest in the Tribe, dormant for a while, picked up in September as the ballclub was making a push for the post-season. The wild card home game sold out very quickly.

Yet, some of that momentum has been subdued due to a relatively quiet off-season in which the Indians have lost more (starting pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir) than they added.

That’s the problem in a nutshell.

Had ownership opened up the purse strings even a little and allowed the front office to make a good acquisition, and there were some decent values out there, some trust would have been gained.

Instead, Tribe fans are muttering “same old Dolans”, and counting on Francona’s expertise to return to the post-season.

If they accomplish a playoff spot again, it will help the ownership’s cause. If they don’t, the anger toward them will like get more intense.

Has Tribe Done Enough This Off-Season?

The last time the Cleveland Indians made the playoffs prior to 2013 was in 2007, when Eric Wedge led the Tribe to the American League Championship Series, losing to the eventual World Champion Red Sox (managed by Terry Francona) in seven games.

After that season, then GM Mark Shapiro basically hibernated. The lone transaction of note was acquiring utility infielder Jamey Carroll from Colorado.

Later in spring training, Shapiro added left-handed reliever Craig Breslow on waivers from the Boston Red Sox.

That was it.

Many fans and baseball experts were critical of the Indians for not following up a Central Division championship season by strengthening the ballclub.

That brings us to 2014.

After a terrific month of September that sort of ignited baseball interest in Cleveland, GM Chris Antonetti hasn’t made a big splash in terms of getting help for his baseball team.

The biggest moves were signing OF David Murphy and reliever John Axford as free agents and trading OF Drew Stubbs for lefty reliever Josh Outman.

That won’t have fans flocking for ticket booths.

Now, we liked the Murphy pick up because it appears that the 2013 season was a blip on years of being a solid hitter, and Stubbs was superfluous because of that signing. Axford’s had some good years as a closer, but didn’t have the job last season. But it isn’t enough to have people excited about the Tribe.

Nor does it offset the loss of starting pitcher Scott Kazmir and the real possibility that Ubaldo Jimenez, the team’s best pitcher down the stretch, will be elsewhere this season.

The organization will explain things away with the usual discussion about the economics of the game, but they won’t tell you where the money from the sale of SportsTime Ohio and the new televsion contract is, and skipper Terry Francona will tell everyone that this team can and will compete for the division title this season.

And truth be told, Antonetti has done a good job bringing some low risk, high reward free agents such as pitchers Shaun Marcum and David Aardsma, and OFs Jeff Francoeur, and Nyjer Morgan.

He did the same last season in getting Ryan Raburn, Kazmir, and Jason Giambi, and those moves worked out pretty well.

We still believe the Tribe will sign another starting pitcher before spring training begins, now that the Yankees have signed Masahiro Tanaka, thus freeing up the market for starters.

That’s why we said it’s a possibility that Jimenez will be gone.

Maybe the attitude brought here by Francona and the veteran leadership he brought in last year will indeed allow the Indians to battle into the playoffs in 2014.

Still, if the team slips back to the .500 mark, people will point to the relative inactivity by Antonetti as the reason for the decline in the Tribe’s win total.

While we agree with not trading the system’s top two prospects, SS Francisco Lindor and OF Clint Frazier, the organization is ranking in the middle of the pack among all major league farm systems, meaning there are players desirable to other teams.

Why not trade one of these pieces to get another proven bat or another starting pitcher, players who could vault the Tribe into the favorite role in the division?

Instead, they have chosen the conservative route once again. The path that doesn’t get a fan base excited.

There seems to be a parallel to 2007. Let’s hope for a different result the season after a playoff berth.

Signing Murphy Another Solid Move

The Cleveland Indians made a wise decision to sign former Texas Rangers OF David Murphy to a two year contract the other day.

Yes, Murphy is coming off a bad season in which he hit .220 with 13 HR and 45 RBI with a 646 OPS in 2013, but if he hit like he has for the rest of his career, his asking price would have been much higher.

Prior to last season, his lowest OPS in any season in which he played 100 or more games was 729. This happened in 2011, when he still hit .275 with 11 home runs.

For his career, he’s a .275 hitter with an OPS of 778. Now, since he played in Texas, an extreme hitter’s ballpark, his numbers could have been inflated, but he hit .284 in Arlington and .266 on the road, not a drastic difference.

To be fair, he did show more power in the Texas ballpark.

We know that Terry Francona likes to platoon if he has two players where it works and he seems to have that with Ryan Raburn and Murphy in right field.

Against right-handers, Murphy is a .280 hitter with a .347 on base percentage and a .469 slugging percentage. That makes him an outstanding offensive player against those pitchers.

Another thing we like about Murphy is that he puts the bat on the ball, striking out around 70-80 times per season every year since 2009. And as an added bonus, in 21 career games at Progressive Field, he hit .365 with 3 homers.

What this move means going forward is that Drew Stubbs will likely not be on the roster after December 2^nd, when teams have to offer players arbitration for next season.

Stubbs, acquired last season in the Shin-Soo Choo three-way deal, gave the Tribe plus defense and speed, but struggled at the plate.

It is doubtful the front office will want to pay him the $3-4 million he would likely get next season to be a part-time player/defensive replacement.

The Indians could also move Stubbs to centerfield and see what interest there is in Michael Bourn on the trade market. While this is unlikely, if GM Chris Antonetti wants to make a big splash in a trade or on a free agent, he would probably have to move a big contract.

Bourn was bothered by injuries, but he also didn’t have a good season, hitting just .263 on the season with an on-base percentage of .316, poor for a leadoff hitter. His OPS also dropped to 676, meaning he was a below average offensive player.

He’ll play next season at age 31, and his game is predicated on his speed, management may take a chance on moving him before his value decreases more.

Again, if Bourn is dealt it means the Tribe is freeing up money for a big time move. Otherwise, look for the veteran to be back in Cleveland in 2014 and leading off hoping to rebound from an off-season.

The next move for Antonetti will likely involve the pitching staff because the Indians have holes to fill in both the starting rotation and the bullpen. You have to believe Terry Francona wants a couple of veterans in those areas to replace guys like Ubaldo Jimenez and Joe Smith.

This isn’t going to be like last winter, when the Tribe signed Nick Swisher and Bourn. But if they keep making solid moves like the Murphy signing, it will be a good hot stove season on the North Coast.

Tribe Starts Hot Stove Season Positively

The Cleveland Indians made their first moves of baseball’s off-season and they should have surprised absolutely no one.

First, the Tribe inked DH Jason Giambi to a minor league contract and there is no doubt that if he is healthy next spring, he will be on the Opening Day roster on March 31^st in his old stomping ground in Oakland.

The grizzled veteran hit just .183, but did hit 9 HR and knocked in 31 runs, many of them key.

He had perhaps the biggest hit down the stretch with his dramatic pinch hit two run homer off of Chicago’s Addison Reed to turn a 4-3 potential loss into a 5-4 victory.

Anyone who has read the book that Terry Francona did with Dan Shaughnessy about his years in Boston understands how much the skipper values veterans who provide leadership like Giambi.

The guess here is that as long as “Big G” can get around on a fastball, he will have a spot on a Francona led team.

GM Chris Antonetti also announced the Indians were cutting ties with closer Chris Perez. While the speculation will be it is because of his poor finish to the season and his off field problems, it really comes down to just dollars and cents.

If the Tribe was to keep Perez for 2014, they likely would have had to pay him in excess of $8 million, an amount way too exorbitant based on his productivity.

The shame of it is the Indians should have dealt Perez each of the last two seasons, because the signs he was losing effectiveness were there.

His strikeout to innings pitched ratio had declined, and at that time, Cleveland had a viable alternative in Vinnie Pestano, who was making a lot less than Perez, thus freeing up cash for other needs.

As it is, Antonetti and Francona have several in-house options to close out games, including Pestano if his arm bounces back, along with Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw.

Former Indians’ GM John Hart used to say that closers fall out of trees, and when you think about it, there aren’t a lot of teams who pay closers huge sums of money. This is mostly because they aren’t effective for long periods with Mariano Rivera being the exception.

The Indians completed the trio of moves by getting LHP Colt Hynes from San Diego. Hynes spent the second half of last year with the Padres, compiling a 9.00 ERA, which hardly sounds impressive.

However, he did hold left-handed hitters to 5 for 32 with six walks, making him a classic LOOGY (left-handed one out guy). He may be designated for assignment as the Indians make room on the 40 man roster before the winter meetings, but if he goes to spring training he has a chance to supplant Rich Hill in the bullpen.

The news today that Ubaldo Jimenez turned out his option for next year is no surprise either, and Cleveland will make him a qualifying offer by Monday to ensure draft pick compensation.

Jimenez will likely get a four or five-year contract offer from somewhere, and the Tribe is right in staying away from that length of deal based on the pitcher’s volatile career while here.

The hot stove season started as soon as the World Series ended for the Cleveland Indians. After a couple of days, things are going according to plan.