The Indians entered the offseason with a real need in the outfield, writes Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. The additions of Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis won’t have the impact of a Yoenis Cespedes, but they should help improve the club’s floor. Free agent Juan Uribe might be the next target. The club still lacks a dynamic bat like Manny Ramirez which may force them to manufacture runs.
Here’s more from Cleveland:
- Members of the Indians rotation are happy to have remained in town, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. The entire unit will cost less than $15MM despite containing stalwarts like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar. The team is in a position to once again possess the top rotation in the American League which could help to mitigate the aforementioned lineup weakness.
- The Indians are wary of qualifying offer players in part because they possess the 15th overall pick, writes Hoynes.  However, money is the main reason why the team hasn’t signed any of the qualifying offer players on the market. The only one to sign cheaply, Howie Kendrick, does not play a position of need for Cleveland. For what it’s worth, Dexter Fowler is still available and would be a good fit for the Indians at the right price. I also see Austin Jackson, David DeJesus, Marlon Byrd, Shane Victorino, and Alex Rios as possible bargain targets for the Tribe.
- Fans may be frustrated by the lack of offensive overhaul, writes Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. However, they should be happy with the overall state of the roster. Eleven core members are under some form of control through at least 2018. Many can be kept at potential bargain prices through 2021. The amount of club control at team friendly rates means the Indians won’t be forced into trading away much talent.
Indians needed to make that trade with the Rockies, not the Rays. Bummer for both teams (the Indians and the Rockies).
I think Brad wrote this entire blurb just to namedrop Manny Ramirez.
Yeah what was the purpose of bringing manny into this? Lmao
Is this article trying to say the Indians already possessed the best starting rotation in the AL?? While yes they do have an extreme case of young, cheap and controllable arms, but correct me if I’m wrong, the top two era’s for AL rotations last year were the Rays then the Astros…
Cleveland’s starting rotation was 7th in MLB in FIP and xFIP which are better estimators of true pitching performance than ERA. The 6 teams in front of Cleveland were all in the NL so the Indians did have the best rotation in the AL last year and likely stand to repeat that this year.
The Indians have a very good rotation, but they also had a lot of good fortune staying healthy last year. Their top 4 SP made 122 starts last season, compared to the Rays top 4 who combined for 74 starts. Considering the Indians and Rays had basically the same FIP(3.73 and 3.74), I would hardly call it likely the Indians have the best rotation, but they are in the conversation.
Simply assuming that Cleveland’s starters won’t be able to make as many starts in 2016 is not indicative of anything. They remained healthy in 2015 and had the best rotation in the AL because of it. Who’s to say they can’t repeat that if not improve upon it?
I’m an Astros fan and I would have to agree with the Indians super strong rotation!! I wish a trade would have transpired between our two teams.
Cleveland had the second best overall pitching staff. They were 4th in starter ERAs and 2nd in bullpen ERA. Now that being said they had injuries to House and Tomlin, House tried to pitching through the injuries so this did effect the early going a bit and Bauer struggled at the end of the season. Astros44 you were correct on your stats, but many around baseball consider them to be the best potential starting staff in baseball. Either way they are one of the best in baseball no ifs, ands or buts about it
Indians should have no problem beating the Tigers in the division based on fact that they have a real manager.
While their pitching is solid, barring injuries, until the Indians add a legitimate clean-up hitter, their offense will be hoping for middle of the pack. That wont contend. The article above seems more focused on the price of the talent, than the talent itself. Best hope is a 3 year window before players get expensive, and the Cleveland fans won’t come out until after the first year of that. Hoping for two years of sustained success is a bad business plan.
The Indians have had a bad offseason. Rajai Davis is a solid acquisition for a team that has a rock solid lineup 1-9, where he’s the 10th guy with no pressure. Like his situation in Detroit, now in Cleveland there’s pressure on Davis to be more. Why? Almonte is a 4th OF who starts in CF, Chisenhall is a bench player starting in RF, & Urshella the only option at 3B is all glove & no bat. Therefore Mike Napoli & Radjai Davis will press just like Brandon Moss last year. Then there’s the mystery of Carlos Santana, enough said. Then the Indians waste the bottom spots on the 40 man with the likes of Otero, Butler, Cowgill, & Yates (traded to NYY). Keep those spots open, take a chance on a kid in the rule 5 draft, or pick up a player on waivers. I can predict the next 3 moves for the Indians, it’s February which means panic time for remaining FA’s. Uribe, Victorino, Rios all sign cheap contracts. All 3 past their prime, DFA Cowgill, Butler, Otero. I’d rather have a rule 5 kid & 2 waiver pickups then washed-up players like Uribe, Rios, & Victorino (all 3 have been linked to having the Tribe interest). Also the Indians need to aquire controllable talent like Dickerson, it wouldn’t have cost them a top starting pitcher. The Indians should target these FA’s Fowler/Jackson/Hunter/Gallardo. Yes Gallardo, be creative use one of our controllable young pitchers for trade bait & get that big bat. Forget about Hunter, Indians will never sign a reliever longer then 1 year. Fowler is doubful like Gallardo (draft pick) Jackson is my last hope as an Indians fan for a decent FA pickup. At least Jackson would move Almonte to the bench where he belongs . Ok rant over, I feel muchbetter now.