Sherwin-Williams Paint Job: A Covering of Cleveland Sports. Browns’ changes, Manziel? The Indians’ Choo & Tears 4 Grant
You just need to be more like your father and let more of the awesomeness that is Jack Bauer out. Mandatory Credit: Eric P. Mull-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Indians
Is Ubaldo Jimenez coming back? I really hope so. There aren’t that many realistic remaining players to fill the hole if he leaves. I’d really not like to put too much pressure on Danny Salazar over an entire season. I really like the idea of a front end of Justin Masterson and Jimenez with Salazar at 3 with Zach McAllister, Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer to fight for the end 2. Carrasco and Bauer haven’t really show the maturity or control at this point for me to feel confident with them being in the rotation with no depth. Plus we all know how injuries come in and can really wipe out a rotation. I think this is a big year for the Indians to build of the hustle and success of last year. They didn’t play to the best of their capabilities (Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher and Asdrubal Cabrera) so there’s definitely room for in-house improvement.
Part of last year’s big offseason was the trading of Shin Soo Choo. He was widely considered one of the better overall players on the Indians but was heading into a contract year. The Indians knew they wouldn’t be having him back the following year, especially being represented by big money agent Scott Boras. He eventually signed with the Texas Rangers for 7 years, $130 million after turning down 7 years, $140 from the New York Yankees, something the Indians wouldn’t even get close to. So was it the best deal we could have had? Should we have waited until mid-season or even used him for our playoff run? To figure that out let’s take a quick look at Choo’s season compared to our replacements.
Choo didn’t have a great season compared to his power house years. His RBIs were his lowest full season numbers since his rookie season with the Indians with 54 though he did show better patience at the plate with 112 walks (though some of that is because of his 26 hit by pitches this year that just seems odd) compared to 133 strikeouts taking his on base percentage to a career high of .423. His batting average was .285, higher than the previous season but below his 3 year splurge (08-2010) when he really showed off his tools. His outfield replacements (Bourn and Drew Stubbs) hit below with less power as well. Bourn went 50 RBIs with a .263 average and just a .316 On base. Stubbs was worse with 45 RBIs with a .233 average and .305 on base. They also added 40 SBs (so about 20 per person which is also what Choo did). Overall Choo was the better player. So that means we should have kept him, at least until the halfway mark right? Absolutely not. If kept him, he walks away with us getting next to nothing. Instead the Indians grabbed the already mentioned Stubbs (though now replaced), Bauer (who has front rotation stuff, maybe even as early as next season-2015), Bryan Shaw the 26 year old reliever who went 7-3 with 12 holds and a 3.24 ERA and Matt Albers (now signed with the Astros). So a substantial return, that could play out to be huge in the Indians continued growth, especially if Bauer can be what was expected from him when the trade first happened. And really how much farther would you have expected the Indians to go with Choo? They lost in the post-season wild card 4-0 to the Tampa Bay “Don’t you dare say DEVIL” Rays. They finished one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the Division, though the Tigers let off the gas a bit towards the end. Let’s say he helped us win against the Rays when we had men on and were craving for a hit. Then we would have had to go on to a 5 game series against the Boston Red Sox which Choo or no Choo, wasn’t likely an Indians win. Higher possibility than what we had, but still unlikely. So then he would have walked with us getting essentially no closer than where we already ended. How about a mid-season trade? This is the one I’m 1000% against. The team had built a real community while being in the middle of a playoff run and no one would have wanted that trade to happen. It would have killed momentum and probably would have led this team to not have that 110% effort they showed so often, especially the never say die attitude late in games. The fans would have destroyed this front office, already having little faith in the Indians due to money inspired moves instead of talent collecting, this would have put them over the top and had the quit on them half way through. Ultimately I think we walked out of the situation the best way we could have. It’s lunacy to pay 18.3 million a year to a guy like Choo, especially in a small market. Him and Swisher ($11 million) have comparable numbers and I’d much rather have Swisher and Bourn (our two highest paid non-pitchers) than just Choo.
Watching Matt Laporta quietly leave for Baltimore on a minor league contract is a sad realization of what exactly prospects are in the MLB. It’s a boom or bust scenario, even on the ones that seem like sure bets. Which is why it’s always so dangerous to trade for prospects. But there aren’t that many options for a small market team like Cleveland exactly the reasoning that led to an Indians executive or past GM (though it may have been Chris Antonetti) that said something to the liking of the Indians only having 3-5 contention years with another 3-5 to rebuild. If they miss on their prospects it could be a longer drought. That’s the biggest reason people are/were pushing for a salary cap in baseball, to help lower these crazy salaries (see Choo getting 18.3 million, a million less than LBJ MIA Never Forgiven) and help give all teams a chance to compete. Only 3 teams in the NFL haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years (Browns, Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills as the longest with 14 seasons), 0 in the NBA (though the NBA has twice as many teams in the playoffs) but in MLB it’s 4 team (Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals). The main difference is length of time. In the NBA it’s been 9 years, NFL it’s been 14 years but the longest MLB is 28 years!! The Marlins are at 10, the Mariners at 12, the Blue Jays at 20 and Royals at 28. Those are depressing lifetimes as a fan of the Blue Jays or Royals. Ultimately the Indians need to continue to get high production out of their prospects and why it’s so important that Trevor Bauer is able to continue to grow.
What to Watch for:
Browns-Lots of mock drafts. We all know it’s not what’s going to happen but it’s fun to watch and gossip at work about what might or might not happen.
Cavs-Look for them to show us quickly how legit that 4 game win streak is. They have an easy opening with the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic (the two worst teams in the NBA) up first. Followed by a chance to make their playoff hopes real with 3 games against the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors, both teams that are currently in position to make the playoffs.
Indians-Spring Training. Yay it’s that time to over analyze the meaningless games. But seriously it’s our first look at the team, so far so good for Bauer but again…spring training.
Also House of Cards Season 2 is on Netflix so watch that, the first season was awesome.
And if you’re looking for a recent music release check out Broken Bell’s new album “After the Disco.”