Indians: Losing Chris Antonetti would be disaster for the club

The Cleveland Indians had a successful 2020 but with a financially strapped organization, this club can’t thrive without Chris Antonetti.

The Cleveland Indians had a lot of big winners in 2020. The club got to the playoffs, Jose Ramirez won a Silver Slugger and is in the final three for AL MVP, Shane Bieber is the odds-on-favorite to win the AL Cy Young, Carlos Carrasco is the Comeback Player of the Year for two different outlets, Roberto Perez and Cesar Hernandez rounded out the post-season awards with Gold Gloves. The team’s real MVP however is team President Chris Antonetti.

Antonetti has been with the club since 1999 in various roles before succeeding Mark Shaprio in 2010 as General Manager. That was the year Shapiro became the team president. After Shapiro left to join Toronto in 2015, Antonetti was promoted up the ladder again to succeed Shapiro. Since then the Cleveland Indians have had their best stretch of baseball since the mid-to-late ’90s.

So why are we talking about Antonetti? Because Buster Onley of ESPN(subscription needed) is suggesting that Mets new owner Steve Cohen come and offer him a deal to join the Mets. While there is no evidence that the Mets have or rumors that Antonetti would leave, the very fact the Indians could be without their captain (so to speak) is a very concerning one at that.

The Indians are not a franchise that can just spend money to get better. They’re not the Yankees or the Angels. Especially now that COVID-19 has affected sports so handily, there is no telling what a team is going to be able to spend this year. For teams like Cleveland and AL Pennant winning Tampa Bay Rays, well-run organizations, not major grades or free agency, are what propel them to success. Everything from talent evaluation, to drafting, to coaching and managing all matter so much more for the Indians.

It’s a machine, if one piece fails to do its job then the whole thing falls apart. Antonetti has shown to be great at finding the right guys to do the right things. Trades, drafting, free agent signings, talent development; this isn’t a team that misses often.

Sure, maybe current GM Mike Chernoff could replace Antonetti if the need arose. After all, many thought Shapiro was the best GM the team could have, and then Antonetti showed up. So, maybe Chernoff gets us over the World Series hump. Maybe he doesn’t. Who knows?

What we do know is the team is successful with Antonetti. They stay competitive and win. With Antonetti and manager Terry Francona (and Sandy Alomar), the team has not had a losing season in eight years. That’s eight of 10 years Antonetti has served as either GM or President. That’s not something the Indians should be willing to let go of. He’s the face of Indians baseball and the most valuable asset the team has maybe ever had.

Don’t let him go, Dolans. Don’t ever let him go.