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.

Great Move by Tribe to Upgrade Bench

Much of the excitement over the fine off-season the Cleveland Indians front office had been based on getting Terry Francona to manage the squad, and the signings of free agents Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Michael Bourn, and Brett Myers.

They also remade the bench, and so far those guys have come up huge in the early going for the Tribe.

With the injuries to Bourn and Swisher, and remember Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis missed some time as well, the bench guys have received playing time and have been productive.

Mike Aviles is tied for third in RBIs and Ryan Raburn in sixth on the club despite having played less than many of the players Francona writes in the batting order everyday.

And what may be even bigger, they understand their role.

Gone are the days of having to play Aaron Cunningham, Brett Lillibridge, and Vinny Rottino when a starter can’t go.

GM Chris Antonetti did an excellent job of getting veterans, who understand their job and their role, to come off the bench. These guys don’t need everyday at bats to stay sharp.

On the recent five game winning streak, Aviles had a five RBI game vs. Kansas City, and Raburn reincarnated Babe Ruth slugging a pair of homers in back to back games, and getting 12 hits in 14 at bats.

That’s getting help from the bench.

It helps that both Aviles and Raburn are 32 years old. They’ve been around the game for a while and they aren’t looking for a chance to play every day.

Aviles was the Red Sox’ starting shortstop last season, but his career shows he’s been much better when he doesn’t play everyday. He hit .250 in 2012, but is a career .276 hitter.

Raburn suffered through a terrible season in 2012, batting just .171 with only one home run. However, he averaged 15 dingers a year from 2009-11 with the Tigers and can play both corner outfield spots, as well as 2B and 3B.

Certainly, Aviles and Raburn have been the key contributors, but you can’t overlook the play of reserve catcher Yan Gomes and DH Jason Giambi.

Gomes, who came in the same deal with Toronto as did Aviles, is slowly but surely replacing Lou Marson as the back up catcher, showing more offense in his limited at bats as Marson ever did. The Brazilian native has four extra base hits in 31 at bats, compared to 10 all last year from Marson.

Giambi has two doubles, two homers, and three walks in limited playing time. He’s also well-respected in the clubhouse, a great role model for the young players like Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall.

And Francona has experience in using a veteran bench too. He tries to put all of these guys in positions where they can succeed.

The production from the bench will also keep the regulars fresh over the long haul of baseball’s regular season. Last year, it was evident that Asdrubal Cabrera and Kipnis wore down from playing every day as the Tribe didn’t have a quality reserve that the manager, Manny Acta, could trust.

No one should expect Raburn to continue channel Hank Aaron for the rest of the season, and there will certainly be days and weeks where the reserve players won’t produce.

Still, the Indians filled some holes on the bench which are just as important as the ones they filled in the starting lineup.

Those moves have helped the Indians tread water during the first month of the season.

Stubbs’ Struggles are Worrisome

Before the season started, most baseball experts felt the biggest weakness for the Cleveland Indians would be starting pitching.

It has been, with only Justin Masterson and Zack McAllister showing any consistency thus far. The other three spots in the rotation seem to be wish, hope, and pray to this point in the season.

However, the offense has struggled as well, despite last night’s 19-6 beat down in Houston, and we don’t expect that to continue for much longer. Two time all-star SS Asdrubal Cabrera is hitting just .150 with only four extra base hits. As skipper Terry Francona said the other day, Cabrera’s next 50 at bats could be as hot as he is cold right now.

And 2B Jason Kipnis will start to hit too, as will young 3B Lonnie Chisenhall, who is hitting just .224 with only one walk compared to 15 strikeouts to this point.

Also, CF Michael Bourn will return in another week, and he was off to a great start, hitting .333 through the first ten games.

There is one guy to be concerned about however, and that would be OF Drew Stubbs, because his start seems to be a continuation of the downward spiral his career has been taking.

The eighth overall pick in 2006, the outfielder burst on the scene in 2009, hitting .267 with eight home runs in 42 games that season. That promise showed through even more in 2010, when the big right-handed hitter batted .255 with 22 dingers in his first year as a regular.

It’s been downhill from there as Stubbs’ production has waned while his strikeouts have started to pile up. His power numbers dropped in ’11 to 15 home runs and 14 last year, while striking out 205 times in 2011 and 166 times (in 140 fewer plate appearances) last year.

This season, Stubbs has fanned 19 times in 57 times at the plate, while having just three extra base hits, all doubles. He leads the Indians in whiffing, amazing since the Tribe has notorious swing and miss Mark Reynolds on the roster.

Reynolds, though, has been productive when making contact, leading Cleveland with 6 HR and 17 RBI. Stubbs hasn’t hit one out yet this season, and he hadn’t scored a run this season until last night. While that is not totally his fault, it is a telling stat.

With his 3 for 4 evening yesterday, Stubbs is hitting .255 on the season with a 647 OPS. That’s the nature of early season statistics, they can fluctuate greatly with one good game. His batting average was .213 before last night.

To be sure, GM Chris Antonetti and Francona were hoping Stubbs would regain his pop with a different approach and that may still be the case. As we said, it is very early. However, his early difficulties continue the trend from the past three seasons.

It is much like saying it’s only two starts for Ubaldo Jimenez in 2013. You have to remember that this is a continuation of the right-handers struggles since he came to Cleveland in July 2011.

It’s a trend, and when things are going on a downhill plane, the player needs to show improvement right away.

Stubbs needs to produce soon, because when Bourn is back, he may lose playing time by moving Nick Swisher to RF, Reynolds to 1B, and using a combination of Jason Giambi, Mike Aviles, and Carlos Santana at DH.

The Tribe brass was hoping Drew Stubbs could regain the production of his early career when they dealt for him this winter. Right now, they have to be a little concerned that he won’t.

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.

Only a Few Roster Battles Remain for Tribe

Opening Day is a little over two weeks away, and you can see the roster for the Cleveland Indians beginning to take shape.

In the last week, Zack McAllister was told he will be the fourth starter in the rotation and Cody Allen was informed he will be in the bullpen in Toronto on April 2nd when the Tribe opens the season.

Both youngsters deserved it based on how they performed last season.

That doesn’t leave many spots left on the 25 man roster.

Figuring that Terry Francona will keep 13 position players and 12 pitchers, there figures to be perhaps one spot left on the bench, the fifth spot in the starting rotation, and a battle for the what figures to be two spots for southpaws in the bullpen and one spot for a right-hander.

The starting lineup figures to be something like this–

Michael Bourn CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Jason Kipnis 2B
Nick Swisher 1B
Carlos Santana C
Michael Brantley LF
Mark Reynolds DH
Lonnie Chisenhall 3B
Drew Stubbs RF

For sure, Mike Aviles, who is performing very well at the World Baseball Classic, will have one bench spot and figures to be in the lineup three or four times per week. Ryan Raburn looks like his versatility will earn him another spot, as he can play 2B, 3B, LF, and RF. And Jason Giambi will claim the third spot, getting at bats at DH and/or 1B.

That leaves the backup catcher with Lou Marson and Yan Gomes vying for that spot. Marson’s problem is his hitting and he can’t play another position. He’s hitting .214 (3 for 14) in spring training, although he has walked eight times. He’s a .220 lifetime hitter with a .301 slugging percentage for his career.

Gomes has hit well thus far (1o for 26 with a home run), and can play 1B, 3B, and LF as well. He’s not as accomplished defensively as Marson, not by a long shot. But when Marson plays, many times Santana will not get a full day off because Francona would hit for Marson in a key situation.

The guess here is the Tribe wants Gomes to catch on an everyday basis to develop his craft, so Marson makes the squad.

The fifth starter looks like it is between veteran left-hander Scott Kazmir, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer. As of right now, Kazmir is the leading candidate. Francona and GM Chris Antonetti probably want Carrasco to be eased back in after coming back from elbow surgery and Bauer to get more AAA experience.

Which brings us to the bullpen. Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano, Joe Smith, and now Allen are locks, although there is a chance that Perez opens the season on the disabled list.

It appears Francona will carry two lefties and with Rich Hill being added to the 40 man roster a week ago, it’s a good bet he will make the team. That leaves Nick Hagadone, Scott Barnes, and maybe David Huff for one spot. Hagadone has had the better spring and has power stuff. He’s allowed just two hits and struck out seven in five innings. He would appear to be the leader in the clubhouse.

The last spot in the ‘pen figures to be between three pitchers who weren’t with the Tribe in 2012: Matt Albers, Bryan Shaw, and Matt Capps. Capps has had the most big league success with 138 big league saves, but Shaw has pitched the best so far allowing one run in five innings with seven strikeouts.

This battle figures to go all the way to the end of camp, but keep in mind that Capps isn’t on the 40 man roster.

If the roster goes this way, it means the Indians will have to put some players with major league experience on waivers, guys like Ezequiel Carrera, Huff, Capps, and/or Albers. That’s something different for this organization after the last few years.

If you want to compete in baseball today, you must have some depth. These Indians finally have some.

The New Tribe Started with Tito

As last season started for the Cleveland Indians, they were a stagnant organization.

The ownership didn’t spend any money and what may be worse, they seemed immune to the criticism they were getting on an almost daily basis from the Tribe’s fan base. Season tickets were dropping like a rock. Apathy was starting to set in.

The baseball operation people were inert as well. They settled for free agents than no one else wanted, players like Casey Kotchman and Johnny Damon, and tried an experiment with virtually an all left-handed hitting batting order.

They seemed to be grasping at straws, trying wild theories in an effort to put together a winning season.

The manager was a nice man, but had a very subdued personality, and his team played like it. A member of the local media here said the Indians never looked like they were having any fun playing the game.

You couldn’t argue that point.

A year later, and it seems like a whole new organization, and it looks like it started with the hiring of Terry Francona as the new manager.

For whatever reason, be it the friendship that started with Indians’ president Mark Shapiro when he was a consultant with the Tribe after losing his managerial gig in Philadelphia, and perhaps coupled with Cleveland being the place his father, the “real Tito” as the skipper calls him, experienced his most success as a player, but the two-time World Series winner felt drawn to the job vacated by Acta.

Whether it was discussed during the interview process or not, the Dolan family decided to open up the purse strings shortly after the new manager was in place.

The front office didn’t go crazy in spending, but the combination of Travis Hafner’s money coming off the books, and the cash which came available through the sale of SportsTime Ohio, but the Indians signed three established solid, good major league players in Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and Brett Myers.

The respect players around the league have for Francona was evident in Nick Swisher’s decision to sign a four-year deal here. It would have been a shock if the former Yankee had signed with the Tribe if the former Boston manager wasn’t here.

Swisher was ebullient in his praise for Francona at his introductory press conference, and his admiration for him has continued all during spring training. Myers played for Brad Mills, the new Tribe third base coach in Houston, and this relationship (along with cash) surely helped the right-hander sign in Cleveland.

Suddenly, there is a buzz in this city about the Indians. Opening Day tickets sold out in six minutes. Granted, they are playing New York, but people are excited about this baseball team. You hear fans talking about the battle for the spots in the starting rotation, and who is doing well during exhibition play.

After last season’s collapse after August 1st, this franchise seemed to be in a coma, with many long time supporters looking to pull the plug. Then, Terry Francona was hired as the new skipper and almost immediate jump started fan interest in this baseball team.

To be sure, Francona never asked to be the savior of this baseball team. However, there is no question he just may be the Pied Piper who leads fans back to Progressive Field.

The elder Francona, “the real Tito” has to be proud of the mark his son is making in Cleveland.

Could Brantley Be Tribe’s Breakout Player?

There is no question that interest in the Cleveland Indians may be at its highest level since the beginning of the 2008 season, just a few months after the Tribe came within one game of making the World Series, but were beaten out by the Red Sox, managed by a guy named Terry Francona.

Now Francona is here, the ownership and front office went out and signed free agents Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and Brett Myers, and traded for a potential ace starting pitcher in Trevor Bauer.

Fans can’t wait for the season opener on April 2nd in Toronto.

The improvement on the Cleveland roster can be noted in that out of the players who started for the Tribe last season and left, only Shin-Soo Choo is considered a key component on his new team. Jack Hannahan, Casey Kotchman, and Shelly Duncan are all considered either bench players or are on minor league contracts to start spring training.

The other big addition to this squad is speed and athleticism, something that was lacking in previous seasons, even going back to the Eric Wedge era. It is refreshing to hear Francona talk about his team taking extra bases on hits to the outfield. It doesn’t appear there will be much station to station baseball played by the Indians this season.

Francona compared his team to the Angels in the Mike Scoscia era, but when those teams scored a lot of runs, they depended on a lot of high batting averages. The Indians don’t have many players who have a history of hitting close to .300.

To be sure, there are concerns for the new skipper and his staff. There will be plenty of strikeouts in the starting lineup, meaning the offense could be very streaky at times. When the guys who don’t make contact consistently are in a period of whiffing, scoring runs could be very tough indeed.

As much as Swisher and Bourn will be important to the Indians scoring more runs, the bigger pressure is probably on the young hitters on the team making big leaps, meaning Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Carlos Santana. If all three of those players can start producing the way they did in the minor leagues, (remember Santana has the most service time of the three, just 2-1/2 seasons), the Indians could have a very potent offense.

However, the biggest jump to be made by any Indian this season could be by LF Michael Brantley.

It is easy to overlook Brantley because he has been here longer than any of the other three mentioned players, arriving in 2009 for the first time, and starting as a regular shortly after Santana in ’10. But Brantley is still just 25 years old, turning 26 in May. He won’t reach the magic 27-year-old season until 2014.

He has shown steady improvement over the last three years, with his on base percentage going from .296 in 2010 to .348 last year, and his slugging percentage rising from .327 three seasons ago to .402 in 2012. If he makes the same improvement on his OPS this year as he did from 2011 to 2012, he will be around 800, which would make him a very good offensive player.

“Dr. Smooth” had 47 extra base hits in ’12, 37 of them doubles. As a comparison, Asdrubal Cabrera had 52 extra base knocks in 2009, 42 of them doubles. Two years later, Cabrera got stronger and some of those doubles became home runs, as ACab belted 25 dingers in 2011.

As Brantley gets stronger with age, the same effect could happen to him as well, and some of those doubles could wind up flying over the fence. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Tribe’s new leftfielder wound up with 15 to 20 bombs this summer.

You have to love young players who get better every season and still are in the 25 to 26-year-old range. Michael Brantley is one of those players. His most comparable player through age 25 is OF Terry Moore, who starred for the Cardinals in the 1940’s.

At age 27, Moore hit .295 with 17 home runs and an OPS of 849. The following year, he hit .304 with 17 dingers and an OPS of 831.

If Brantley can follow suit, the Tribe has another very good bat in their lineup.

Based on the improvement he has shown since arriving in the big leagues, don’t bet against Brantley becoming that type of player.

Tribe Starting Pitchers Full of ?????

Earlier this week, the Cleveland Indians signed free agent CF Michael Bourn and fans were thrilled by another top free agent signing. It provided another hitter to help a team that finished 13th in the American League in runs scored.

However, that is only one part of the game because the Tribe finished last season dead last in the AL in ERA, and so far have added some relievers and one starting pitcher, Brett Myers, who spent last season pitching out of the bullpen, to improve the staff.

Is that enough?

This is not to criticize Myers, who has been an effective starter for many years in the big leagues, throwing over 180 innings six times in his career, every year but two that he has been in the rotation in the majors. Not only is he durable, he’s also been effective , with a lifetime 4.29 ERA as a starting pitcher.

Right now, any hope for improvement besides Myers rests on potential and the bounce back of several pitchers. That’s a cause for concern.

Justin Masterson may be the Opening Day starter, but he has been a regular starter with Cleveland for three years, of which one (2011–12-10 with a 3.21 ERA) was good, and the other two decidedly mediocre and inconsistent (17-28, 4.82 ERA).

Ubaldo Jimenez has been a huge mess since being acquired from Colorado at the ’11 trade deadline.

His mechanical issues are well documented, but his performance since becoming an Indian does nothing to inspire confidence that he will turn it around. His record with the Tribe is 13-21 with a 5.32 ERA. That should make him more of a candidate for the waiver wire than the cornerstone of a starting rotation.

There is no doubt he is the biggest key for Terry Francona’s team in 2013.

Carlos Carrasco provides hope because he showed some promise in 2011, his first full season in the big leagues. But he is recovering from Tommy John surgery, so he cannot be counted on to lead the rotation of a winning team.

Zack McAllister made 22 starts for Cleveland a year ago, and did a decent enough job, going 6-8 with a 4.24 ERA. The problem for him is the first stat listed, he’s only made 26 starts in his big league career.

Trevor Bauer is one of the game’s top prospects and dominated AAA last season, but he’s made just four major league starting appearances.

The Tribe also brought in some experienced major league arms in Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Kazmir, both fine pitchers at some point in the last five or six seasons. The former hasn’t had an ERA under 4.50 since 2008 when he enjoyed his best season in American baseball, going 18-3. 2.90.

That’s also the last good season for Kazmir, who pitched in an independent league last year. He was 12-8 with a 3.49 that year, but hasn’t been below4.89 in any season since.

That’s an awful large amount of ifs and maybes for a team that did a lot to strengthen his offense this winter.

GM Chris Antonetti did bolster the bullpen by obtaining Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw in the Shin-Soo Choo trade, inking Blake Wood, another pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery, and getting Matt Capps, a former closer with the Pirates, Nationals, and Twins.

While many consider the bullpen the bulwark of the team, it was only the pitchers Manny Acta used when the team had the lead: Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez. The rest of the relief corp struggled to keep close games close. Too often, a starter left trailing 3-1, and soon it was 6-1.

Good teams play in the top half of their league in both runs scored and ERA. Last year, the Tribe finished second last and last in those categories.

They’ve improved the hitting attack this off-season, but the pitching is still shaky to say the least. If Carrasco comes back, McAllister picks up where he left off, and Bauer shows he is as good as his reputation, the Tribe can be formidable in 2013.

However, that’s an awful lot to have to go right. And right now, it’s too many question marks.

Did Tribe Help Offense Enough?

Unlike the past few seasons, the front office of the Cleveland Indians actually made some moves this off-season.

They traded arguably their best hitter, Shin-Soo Choo, because he was going to be a free agent after the 2013 season, and they turned him into top starting pitcher prospect Trevor Bauer, with OF Drew Stubbs thrown in the deal.

For a team that finished second last in the AL in runs scored, dealing your best hitter isn’t regarded as a smart thing, but GM Chris Antonetti did sign free agent Nick Swisher to replace Choo. So, what else did the GM do to help the offense?

He did sign free agent Mark Reynolds to play 1B to replace Casey Kotchman which is an improvement there. Of course, it would have been better for the Indians to sign pretty much anyone else to play the position because you can make the argument that Kotchman may have been the worst offensive player in the big leagues at that spot in 2012.

So, much of the improvement for Terry Francona’s squad will come from wishing and hoping. Some of that hope is merited and some is not.

On the positive side, Francona should get better seasons out of 2B Jason Kipnis (.335/.379/.714), Lonnie Chisenhall (.311/.430/.731), and Carlos Santana (.365/.420/.785).

Kipnis will be entering his second full year in the majors at age 26 and his career should be on an upswing. He will likely hit with more pop with experience and his slugging percentage should get into the .450 range with more doubles and homers. He’s a better hitter than the one who had just 40 extra base hits last season.

For perspective, Jack Hannahan had 20 extra base hits in half the at bats. Most people will agree that “the JK Kid” is a better hitter than Hannahan.

Chisenhall has been hurt by both injuries and former skipper Manny Acta’s love for Hannahan.

In 350 at bats lifetime, Chisenhall has 12 career homers. And as for his supposed lack of ability against southpaws, he has an OPS of almost 700 (696) against lefties and has hit five dingers in 88 career at bats.

For the record, 88 times at the plate is not a large enough samples to suggest he can’t hit left-handers.

Santana is entering his 27-year-old season, and he should be poised for a bounce back year after his OPS dropped below 800 for the first time in his career. His average for 162 games in his career is 24 HR, 83 RBI, and an 806 OPS.

Francona would gladly take those numbers.

However, as much as those guys figure to be better, Reynolds and Stubbs could be potential nightmares.

Reynolds had an 892 OPS in 2009, an outstanding figure and one that would make you overlook the 223 times he struck out that season. Since then, he’s had an OPS no higher than 806, and his batting average hasn’t been above .221.

He’s been pretty even over his career at home or on the road, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Reynolds hit in the .210 range, although with some long balls. If the rest of the lineup hits that’s fine, but here’s hoping fans aren’t expecting the guy who played in ’09.

Stubbs’ OPS has dropped from 773 in 2010, when he hit .255 with 22 homers to 686 in ’11 and down to 610 last year. As a comparison, Kotchman’s OPS last season was 612.

Stubbs is 28 years old so he should be in line for a bit of a bounce back season. But if he doesn’t, the alternatives are Ezequiel Carrera or rookies like Tim Fedroff, which may not be bad.

The point is this. The Indians have improved the offense, but is it enough to climb from 13th in the league in runs scored to the top half of the American League, which is where they need to be to contend.

That improvement will be more dependent on the progress of Santana, Kipnis, and Chisenhall, than on big seasons from Reynolds and Stubbs.

The starting rotation has similar questions.

Fans should be thrilled that the front office did a makeover on a team that has lost 90 games in three of the last four years. The question that has to be asked is: Did they do enough?