 |
| There's no way the Indians' 2014 will be as ugly as these eyesores. |
12. Cleveland Indians
by Hayden Hughes
More so than perhaps any other team in Major League Baseball, 2014 will be a determiner of a season for the Indians. Asdrubal Cabrera is in his final season of his contract, Carlos Santana is literally having to man third base so that Lonnie Chisenhall's bat doesn't ensure this season is lost, and one has to assume this is Jason Giambi's swan song.
Some hope looms as, whether or not Cleveland wins or not, Michael Bourne, Michael Brantley, and David Murphy will be manning the outfield for at least the next three years, as Brantley is the only outfielder under contract through 2016 without any options.
Highly-touted shortstop prospect Francisco Lindor will see at-bats this season, perhaps making it easier to deal or non-tender Cabrera at the culmination of 2014. Nick Swisher will continue to collect $15M annually at least through 2016, as he mans first base. Second baseman Jason Kipnis, who is arbitration-eligible in 2015, is apparently no longer a stranger to extension talks, but there is still no conclusion in those discussions. The aforementioned third base situation is...flimsy. And Yan Gomes has established himself as one of the most exciting catchers in baseball and assuming Santana can handle third base, Gomes will see his first full season as the Indians' catcher.
Like Cabrera, newly-crowned ace Justin Masterson is - as of today - a Free Agent after 2014, and like Kipnis, Masterson is in discussions with the team regarding an extension. The interesting thing with Masterson is, after the departure of Ubaldo Jimenez and Masterson assuming the role of the ace of the team, it appears a "long-term" extension keeping him in Cleveland is not on his Wish List. Perhaps the $9.7M Masterson is owed this year isn't far from the ceiling the Indians would be willing to pay him, or perhaps the righty isn't interested in pitching much longer for the Indians.
But outside of Masterson, Indians fans know that they have plenty of promising arms coming up through their system and already in their rotation. With some improvement and more innings, Corey Kluber could prove to be a solid starter in the two or three slot in the rotation. Zach McAllister has a similar narrative to Kluber, but with more upside. But the most exciting addition to the 2014 Cleveland Indians will be a full season of hard-throwing Danny Salazar. Salazar was awesome in his first 10 starts, posting a 3.12 ERA, averaging 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings, and posting a 121 ERA+. A full seasonof the 24-year-old should excite Indians fans this year, as he will take another step in becoming the Indians' future ace.
 |
| He's going to be good. |
 |
| Really good. |
 |
| Probably an ace. |
 |
| At worst a 2-Guy. |
 |
| Wow. He even fooled Miguel Cabrera. |
 |
| Wow. He got Miggy twice. |
 |
| Well, I mean...he is Miggy Cabrera... |
All that excitement and I haven't even mentioned former Diamondback Trevor Bauer who will see some time in the big leagues, the only question is when he will.
Bottom line: This isn't the Cleveland Indians from Major League, but if they aren't successful, fans might leave that stadium like the plague broke out there.
1.
Last Season and Offseason
a.
92-70 (Lost to TB in WC game)
b.
Signed David Murphy, Elliot Johnson, David
Aardsma, Nyger Morgan, Jeff Francoeur, Scott Atchison, Matt Treanor, and Mike
Zagurski
c.
Traded Drew Stubbs to COL for Josh Outman.
2.
Lineup/Rotation
Lineup:
1. Michael Bourn CF
2.
Nick Swisher 1B
3. Jason Kipnis 2B
4.
Carlos Santana 3B/DH
5. Michael Brantley LF
6. Asdrubal Cabrera SS
7.
David Murphy / Ryan Raburn RF
8.
Mike Aviles / Lonnie Chisenhall 3B / Jason
Giambi DH
9. Yan Gomes C
Rotation:
1. Justin Masterson
2.
Corey Kluber
3. Zach McAllister
4. Danny Salazar
5.
Carlos Carrasco
3.
Favorite/Least
a.
Nick's Favorite– Bourn and Swisher, looking back they got
a steal
b.
Hayden's Favorite– Young rotation and bullpen; Flexibility
everywhere (Swisher, Aviles, etc)
c.
Nick's Least Favorite – No extension for Kipnis or Masterson
d.
Hayden's Least Favorite – Murphy as everyday RF
4.
Impact Player
a.
Carlos Santana
i.
Is he going to stick at 3rd? DH?
Catch?
ii.
Block Yan Gomes?
iii.
5 yrs / $21M
iv.
Great K/BB numbers
v.
20 HR guy - 5.5 oWAR
vi.
-1.2 dWAR
1.
Where will he play?
5.
Impact Prospect
a.
Francisco Lindor! That's it.
6.
Midseason Status
a.
Contending with Detroit for first or for WC
b.
Shopping Cabrera for prospects or more
7.
Bold Predictions
a.
93-
b.
Will lead the ALC most of the sesaon
c.
Danny Salazar: Listen to audio for Hayden’s
absurd prediction, which he then backs off of.
d.
Ryan Raburn starts more games than David Murphy
e.
Traded RHP Trevor Bauer, SS Dorssys Paulino,
SS/3B Mike Aviles to SD for 3B Chase Headley
f.
Giambi retires in mid-May to become
Assistant-to-the-Assistant Hitting Coach
i.
The Indians have a Psychology Coach?! Podcast Playlist:
"Gotta Serve Somebody" - Bob Dylan
"The Days of the Phoenix" - AFI
No comments:
Post a Comment