2015 Cleveland Indians Season Review: Grades

Jul 29, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona (17) is ejected by umpire Tom Woodring (75) after Indians designated hitter Michael Brantley (not pictured) was hit by a pitch during the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the 2015 playoffs have started without the Tribe, it’s time to assess just how key members of the team performed this year. No, we won’t grade the entire 40-man roster, but we’re going to hand out the grades that we can.

Terry Francona: A

So, before you gasp at that grade, let’s take a second to think about the roster Francona was given. Let’s think about how he was saddled with Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher for three seasons of ineptitude. Let’s think about how the front office’s big “addition” of Brandon Moss was shipped out at the trade deadline. Let’s think about how he had to try to get a very flawed group of hitters to try to score runs.

Francona had his team knocking on the door of the postseason and rallied the troops to make a second-half run that in June did not seem possible. He got a rookie to play the best 99 games of any Indians player in 2015 and made enough moves to take a historically bad defense and spark one of the biggest defensive turnarounds ever. So, give Tito some credit.

Next: Making The Grade