If I were to tell you at the end of the season that the Cleveland Indians would be one of the most active buyers in the offseason, chances are you wouldn’t believe me. Over the last few years the Indians have been a pretty dormant team in the offseason time. So much so that Chris Perez went on to criticize Indians’ ownership on their lack of trying to go out and sign players to help improve their team.
That, however, changed this past offseason so lets take a look at who exactly the Indians signed this winter…
- Michael Bourn: The ink has barely dried on Bourn’s contract. The speedster agreed to a four year 48 million dollar deal on Monday bringing Gold Glove defense and the ability to steal 50 plus bags. But Bourn also brings a career OPS of just a messily .704 and a climbing strike out rate with a just above league average OBP. Not a great sign for someone you want hitting lead off.
- Trevor Bauer: Bauer ended up wearing out his welcome in Arizona by butting heads with GM Kevin Towers and skipper Kirk Gibson which caused the Diamondbacks to cut ties with their third overall pick in 2011. Bauer struggled in his first four starts in the big leagues posting a 1-2 record with an ERA of six. Bauer has great upside, though and is one of the better additions the Indians picked up this year.
- Drew Stubbs: Stubbs never lived up to what the Cincinnati Reds hoped he would turn into. Instead Stubbs has been striking out at an alarming rate and his numbers have been falling every year since his one decent season in 2010 when he hit .255/.329/.444. I guess Stubbs is a low risk high reward guy, but I don’t see him helping the Indians much.
- Mark Reynolds: It wouldn’t surprise me if Stubbs and Reynolds helped the Indians in strikeouts in 2013. Reynolds is like Stubbs expect with more power and a better OBP. Still, Reynolds has his lowest home run and RBI total since his rookie year while playing in a hitter friendly park. Now he’s going to Cleveland where the ball doesn’t travel as well. He’s an offensive upgrade for sure, but don’t expect him to carry the Indians.
- Nick Swisher: By far the one player I think the Indians improved the most with. Swisher actually brings a track record of good production. Only question is will his production stay the same with not nearly the same protection he had in New York.
- Jason Giambi: Not much to say here. A past his prime DH that will be lucky not to be in the minors after spring.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka: Just what the Indians needed, another walk machine pitcher. The Tribe are hoping they catch lightning in a bottle with Dice-K. Maybe pitching for his old skipper Terry Francona will help him out… Probably not though.
- Brett Myers: Myers was closing ballgames for the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox last season. The veteran wanted a chance to be a starter again this season for the first time since 2011 when he went 7-14 with a 4.46 ERA in Houston. Who knows how well he will do. Can’t be any worse than their other five starters last year did.
Looking at the Indians additions and there’s no doubt they got better. Which isn’t saying much when they only won 68 games the year before and won only one more game than the Houston Astros did in the second half.
But winning the AL Central? Whoa, hold on there Indians fans. Your team is improved, sure. But taking the division crown? No chance.
Lets take a mosey down memory lane all the way back to 1996 and look at the Seattle Mariners. In 1996 the Mariners had one of the best offenses in baseball. Alex Rodiguez hit .358 while driving out 36 home runs and collecting 123 RBIs to go along with a batting crown. Ken Griffey and Jay Buhner were as scary as a two-some in baseball could get. Griffey hit 49 home runs and drove in a 140 RBIs. Buhner hit 44 home runs and drove in 138 RBIs. Lets not leave Edgar Martinez out in the cold. Martinez hit a modest .326 while pelting out 22 home runs and 103 RBIs.
Just reading those numbers you have to think, wow, was that team good. How didn’t they win the World Series this year? Guess what? They didn’t even make the playoffs. They won just 85 games that year and finished second in the west to the Texas Rangers. How? Because their pitching staff was horrible. Only one pitcher on their starting staff finished with an ERA under four. And that was a younger-ish Jamie Moyer, who finished with a 3.31 ERA.
What does this have to do with the Indians? The Indians starting five ranked amongst the worst in baseball last season and did very little to try and improve by far the weakest part of their team. The Indians also had the 23rd worst bullpen. But not only is their rotation bad, their bullpen didn’t help matters much.
The Indians are an improved team, but to think they’re potentially the best team in the AL Central and could win the division should be considered baseball blasphemy. I completely understand where Indians fans are coming from. Seeing so many bad teams over the last few years and seeing ownership go out and try to fix it has to be exciting. But it’s nothing but false hope. Until the Indians find three or four starting pitchers that can log ERA’s under four, they have done nothing but move closer to a .500 team no matter who they sign to help drive-in/create runs.