But, same source says, that we have a major upgrade on the horizon. How about No. 36?



36. Tyler Naquin, Cleveland Indians (Prospect)


36. Tyler Naquin, Cleveland Indians (Prospect)

USA TODAY Sports






Hitting

8/25

Tyler Naquin has repeatedly answered questions about his hit tool by putting up a solid batting average against advanced pitching. The 23-year-old has some swing-and-miss to his game, but he's an overall patient hitter who sees lots of pitches and isn't afraid to coax a walk.



Power

8/25

The biggest knock on Naquin always has been his lack of power, as it's merely average at best and could potentially make him a "tweener." In Naquin's case, that means he lacks the thump to profile as an everyday corner outfielder despite the hit tool and on-base skills.


Baserunning

11/20

Naquin isn't a true plus runner, but he's able to get out of the box and down the line quickly and moves well on the basepaths. He'll likely steal roughly 10-12 bases in a given season, though that has more to do with his instincts and ability to read pitchers.


Defense

17/30

Naquin has long been considered a right fielder given his plus-plus arm strength, but he's proved capable of holding down center field since turning pro and could stick there long-term. His range isn't particularly exciting, but he gets to the balls he should and is fundamentally sound.


Overall

44/100

Naquin is more of a high-floor than high-ceiling prospect, but there's certainly nothing wrong with a potential everyday center fielder that can do a little of everything.

Their newest posttest odds for AL Cy Young still show Hernandez a shoo-in but Corey running second.


PLAYER

TEAM

ODDS

Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners 4-9
Corey Kluber Cleveland Indians 9-1
Chris Sale Chicago White Sox 12-1
Jon Lester Oakland Athletics 12-1
Max Scherzer Detroit Tigers 12-1

The AL Cy Young has been Felix Hernandez's to lose since his record run of 16 straight starts in which he pitched at least seven innings and allowed no more than two runs.

Given how well the King has pitched down the stretch—allowing 21 baserunners and only three runs while striking out 20 in 21.0 September innings—it's safe to say the Seattle Mariners right-hander isn't going to lose it.

Corey Kluber (career-high 14 strikeouts last time out), Chris Sale (who led the AL in ERA until Wednesday's subpar start), Jon Lester (1.64 September ERA) and Max Scherzer (the Detroit Tigers have won in six of his past seven starts) have kept it close. But as the 2010 winner, Hernandez (2.14 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 225 K in 219.0 IP) should be making room on his mantle for a second Cy.

And they re-rank Farm System with Indians right in the middle:



16. Cleveland Indians


16. Cleveland Indians
Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Graduations: RHP Trevor Bauer, 2B/SS Jose Ramirez



The best way to describe Cleveland's farm system after the 2014 season is sneaky good. Though it's thin on pitching prospects (less so after this year's draft), the Tribe have assembled a promising collection of young hitters, including several who either swing from the left side of the plate or project to remain at an up-the-middle position long term.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor is an absolute wizard with the glove, and after the Tribe moved Asdrubal Cabrera at the trade deadline, the stage is now set for the 20-year-old to take over as the team’s everyday shortstop in 2015. Outfielder Tyler Naquin, the No. 15 overall pick in 2013, continued to silence his skeptics this season with a strong offensive campaign in the Eastern League. The 23-year-old also made strides with his defense in center field, easing some of the concern about his ability to handle the position at higher levels.

The Tribe's top draft pick from 2013, Clint Frazier (No. 5 overall), had an up-and-down full-season debut at Low-A Lake County, but the 20-year-old red-headed outfielder showed improvement during the second half and finished with respectable numbers.

As for this year’s draft class, the Indians added one of the top college bats in outfielder Bradley Zimmer (No. 21 overall), a high-probability left-hander in Justus Sheffield (No. 31), a polished (left-handed) college hitter in Mike Papi (No. 38) and a projectable right-hander in Grant Hockin (No. 61).

They also landed one of the best power bats from the high school class in the third round in first baseman Bobby Bradley, and suffice it to say, the slugger made a strong impression by leading the Rookie-level Arizona League in most offensive categories.

The Indians have received breakout performances from 18-year-old catcher Francisco Mejia, who has some serious raw power and a patient approach, and 23-year-old shortstop Erik Gonzalez, who moved up the ladder one level behind Lindor.

The organization also did a good job getting hitters with realistic MLB futures at the trade deadline, as it received outfielder (and former first-round pick) James Ramsey from the St. Louis Cardinals in the Justin Masterson deal and infielder Zach Walters from the Nats in exchange for Cabrera.

Unfortunately, the Indians’ crop of pitching prospects isn’t nearly as impressive or projectable as their young hitters. Overall, the Tribe’s top arms are back-end types like Cody Anderson, or guys who lack the command/control profile to stick in a rotation, such as Dylan Baker, Dace Kime or Adam Plutko.
Former 2nd round pick Mitch Brown was easily the best starter down the stretch. He at least deserves mention with Kime and Baker if not ahead of them.

Cleveland Indians are in contention, and that is worthy of attention -- Terry Pluto


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I'm pulling for the Indians to make the playoffs just because I loved the feeling of the Tribe's one playoff game a year ago.

For one night on the corner of Ontario and Carneige, it really felt as if baseball was back -- be it back to the 1990s or simply playing meaningful games in late September.

Here's a sentence that I never thought I'd write this year: Carlos Carrasco is starting tonight's big game for the Tribe, and I feel very good about that.

Carrasco has a 1.17 ERA in his last eight starts -- all since returning to the rotation. He is doing his best Corey Kluber imitation, firing strikes and treating walks as if they are crusty donuts fished out of week-old trash. Carrasco can't even stand the thought of walking people, just like Kluber.

Heading into Monday night, the Tribe is 81-74 and 3 1/2 games out of the wild card playoff spot. They are facing Kansas City, one of the team's in front of them.

I'm still not sure how Terry Francona has done it, but the manager as the Tribe in contention...again.

And the Indians are on their way to their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2000-01.

Cleveland does not exactly have Indian fever. It seems the team barely rates anything more than shrug, except from the hardcore fan base.

But these games are worthy of the attention of any fan who has the slightest interest in the team wearing Wahoo red, white and blue.

The Indians are in playoff contention with Justin Masterson exiled to the bullpen in St. Louis. And with Asdrubal Cabrera playing second base and batting .238 since being traded to Washington at the end of July.

They are in contention with Nick Swisher (surgery on both knees) gone after 97 games with his .208 batting average. And they are in contention with Jason Kipnis (.243, 6 HR, 41 RBI, .649 OPS) having a miserable season.

ALL ABOUT BRANTLEY

They are in contention because Michael Brantley has emerged as a true star, batting .325 with 20 homers and 97 RBI. The outfielder never seems flustered, never shows the slightest sign of ego.

Brantley is my wife's favorite player. Roberta picked him after Shin-Soo Choo was traded.

If you trace the history of Roberta's favorite Tribe players, Omar Vizquel held that soot for more than decade. Then came Coco Crisp. Then Choo. Now Brantley.

I mentioned this not for the sake of deep analysis, but to point out something about baseball. It's fun to have a favorite player, and he doesn't always have to be the best player on the team.

Brantley wasn't that when Roberta designated him as her FP (Favorite Player). She just liked the way he always plays so cool, so classy.
I'm still not sure how Terry Francona has done it, but the manager as the Tribe in contention...again

And Brantley also is so consistent.

He batted .322 before the All-Star break, and .331 after.

In September, the man is hitting .422.

Remember when the Tribe was 21-6 last September to make the playoffs? Brantley batted .370 that month.

Dr. Smooth (his nickname from the PD's Dennis Manoloff), also is Mr. Clutch. He's hitting .370 with runners in scoring position this season, .312 over the last four years.

PRESSURE GAMES

I've developed a fondest for little Jose Ramirez, who has stablized shortstop after the Cabrera trade. He leads the team is sacrifice bunts. He knows how to steal a base. He has been one of the big surprises this season, along with Carrasco's ascension as a starter.

Kluber is having a season for the ages. His name is mentioned with the likes of Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Luis Tiant and Herb Score as he climb the Tribe ladder for strikeouts in a season.

Kluber in his last four starts? How about 4-0 with a 1.39 ERA. Like Brantley, Kluber is doing his part to make October baseball a reality in Cleveland.

Carlos Santana earned my admiration for his willingness to try third base, even though it failed. Then he grabbed on to first base and made the position his own.

Since the All-Star break, Santana is batting .263 with 13 homers and 45 RBI. The underrated Yan Gomes is hitting .324 with eight homers sand 35 RBI in that span.

A good friend and Tribe fan in exile (He lives in Marquette, Michigan) watches the Tribe every night and his favorites are Lonnie Chisenhall and T.J. House.

T.J. House? Who knew? The lefty is 3-1 with a 2.59 ERA since the All-Star break.

Chisenhall (.283, 13 HR, 57 RBI) has turned in a solid season.

This is not a great team, and these are the not the 1990s. Presale for the the three nights with Kansas City is about 10,000.

But I find myself intrigued by the Indians -- except when they frustrate me.

And here it is, the final week of the season and we still have baseball to talk about -- and I love every minute of it.

So, now that the Indians have neared the precipice of mathematical elimination from playoff contention, the choices are to play the what-if game or to look to the future. As a way of combining both options, I am trying to figure out what has to be different next year in order to end with a better outcome.

Even though the Indians have been on the fringe of contention throughout the season, the truth is that this was a .500 team. They were six games under at the end of April, rallied a little but never got above .500 to stay until August, and have never been more than seven games above .500 at any point. Their run differential is +16; by the Pythagorean formula they should have been expected to win 83 games. To put this into perspective, the ten teams who would make the playoffs if the season ended today have an average run differential of +82. Now, the Indians can look to follow the example of St. Louis (+20) or Kansas City (+17) and assume that a minor improvement in run differential could put them into the playoffs next year, but such teams are heavily reliant on luck and whatever you want to think of as “clutch play” to get in, ingredients that are often beyond a team’s control and highly inconsistent from year to year. The truth is that the Indians, in order to be a legitimate playoff team next year, will need to improve their run differential by about half a run per game.

How hard is that? Well, let’s see.

1) The average American League team has given up 50 unearned runs this year. The Indians have given up 71. While we don’t expect Lonnie Chisenhall to be Brooks Robinson, it is reasonable to expect the front office to fix this problem. The replacement of Asdrubel (14 errors in 92 games) Cabrera by Jose Ramirez (three errors in 51 games) is a good start. Carlos Santana (five errors in 89 games at first base) instead of Nick Swisher (nine errors in 52 games) was another positive. Again, simply making the routine plays at an average rate would save this team twenty runs. That seems like a reasonable expectation. One suggestion: stop trying to make everyone into a utility man. Mike Aviles is the utility guy. For everyone else, pick a position and put them there long enough that they can be comfortable.

2) If the Indians had traded Justin Masterson in spring training and replaced him with someone with an ERA of 3.48, which is the team ERA if Masterson is excluded from the total, it would have improved the run differential by 21 runs.

3) If Jason Kipnis matches his 2013 statistics next season, he would be responsible for 99 runs created, compared to the 53 he has created so far this season. Now there is not an exact equivalency between individual runs created and total runs scored, and part of the difference is that Kipnis has about seventy fewer plate appearances than he did last year, but it is obvious that his struggles have been a big reason why the Indians are on pace to score about seventy fewer runs than last year. I could have thrown Nick Swisher, Ryan Raburn, or a couple of other guys under the bus as well, but to me Kipnis is the guy most likely to rebound.

So there it is, a playoff contender in three easy steps. We still need Michael Brantley and Corey Kluber to perform like All-Stars, and guys like Chisenhall and Gomes need to build on the progress made this year. The bottom line, though, is that this team doesn’t need to make a lot of changes to be a playoff team in 2015.

Here is the rest of that article CIV posted:

http://wahoosonfirst.com/2014/09/24/ind ... ange-2015/

I say we need a big bopper in the middle of the lineup.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – As part of Corey Kluber Appreciation Day, I was asked to rank Kluber's 2014 season against the performances of other Indians' pitchers I've covered since 1983.

With apologies to Jamie "The Rat' Easterly, Bryan "Gas Can' Clark and Ernie Camacho, all of whom did not make the list, here are my top five Indians' pitching performances.

No.1 Cliff Lee, 2008

I once covered a golf tournament in which Jack Nicklaus was playing. I followed him for several holes and noticed that every time he hit the ball, his swing looked the same. The swing was almost robotic in its repetitiveness.

When I think about Cliff Lee and his Cy Young winning season in 2008, that's what I think about. Every start looked the same. He never threw more than 91 mph, hardly walked a batter and almost never got beat.

The left-hander opened the season on a roll and never got off it. On May 7, after beating the Yankees, 3-0, he was 6-0 with a 0.81 ERA in six starts. He had 39 strikeouts, two walks and allowed four earned runs in 44 2/3 innings.

From July 11 through Sept. 17, Lee went 11-0 in 14 starts. He lost to Boston on Sept. 23, his last start of the season.

Lee was pitching with a chip on his shoulder. In 2007 the Indians came within one game of reaching the World Series, but they left him off the postseason roster. He'd been sent to Class AAA Buffalo during the season and the Indians let him stew there. The left-hander said all the right things when he returned, but he never forgot.

Lee started the All-Star Game for the AL after going 12-2 with a 2.31 ERA in the first half. On Sept. 1, he beat the White Sox, 5-0, to become the Tribe's first 20-game winner since Gaylord Perry in 1974. Chicago was needling him from the bench during the game and at the end of several innings, Lee would scream at them as he left the mound.

He finished the year at 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 31 starts. Lee struck out 170, walked 34 and allowed 214 hits in 223 1/3 innings.

No. 2 Corey Kluber, 2014

Kluber's innings and strikeouts earned him the No.2 spot.

When you start passing Herb Score and Bob Feller on the team's all-time strikeout list, you're doing something right. Kluber has 258 strikeouts in 227 2/3 innings this year. It's the highest single-season strikeout mark by an Indian since Feller struck out 246 in 1939. Kluber is in 10th place with one start to go. Feller is ahead of him in the eighth and ninth spots with 260 and 261 strikeouts.

"He's not doing it with smoke and mirrors," said manager Terry Francona. "He's legit."

Kluber (17-9, 2.53) hasn't been overwhelmed with run support by an erratic offense. The Indians have averaged 4.45 runs in Kluber's 33 starts. In his nine losses, they've scored 18 runs.

Defensively, he's been backed by the worst defense in the big leagues. So Kluber has had to walk the razor's edge in every start.

When Kluber gets on a roll, he can sustain it. He's had stretches where he's gone 4-0 in five starts and 6-0 in seven starts. He's currently on a four-start winning streak.

No. 3 CC Sabathia, 2007

Sabathia was the Indians' No.1 pick in 1998. The 2007 season was a culmination of years of work by Sabathia and the organization to turn the 6-7, 300-pound left-hander from a hard-throwing high-school prospect into a polished big-league pitcher.

He started the year quickly, going 5-0 in his first eight starts. The Indians, meanwhile, were on the way to an AL Central Division title and a meeting with Boston in the ALCS.

They won 96 games that year and Sabathia led them. He went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA in 34 starts to become the first Indian to win the Cy Young since Gaylord Perry in 1972. Sabathia struck out 209, walked 37 and allowed 238 hits.

Sabathia's 241 innings led the big leagues. It was the first time a Tribe pitcher had done that since Bob Feller in 1947.

The next year the Indians traded Sabathia to Milwaukee because he was approaching free agency and they couldn't afford to keep him. They did the same thing with Lee in 2009.

This year it appears they've finally started to recover on the pitching front after trading two Cy Young winners in consecutive years.

No. 4 Jose Mesa, 1995

Mesa was a so-so starter until the Indians made him a reliever in 1994. It was a move that helped take them to the World Series for the first time in 41 years in 1995.

After pitching in the set-up role in 1994, Mesa moved to closer in 1995. He reveled in the job, converting his first 38 save chances.

"No doubt about it – one, two, three," said Mesa after every save.

He didn't blow a save until Aug. 25 against Detroit. By that time the Indians, on the way to winning the AL Central by 30 games, were lapping the field and Mesa was one of the reasons why.

Mesa finished the year at 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 46 saves in 48 chances. He was the perfect door-slammer for manager Mike Hargrove's powerhouse team.

Yes, I remember what happened in 1997. Mesa, however, was the most dominant closer in baseball in 1995. He received MVP votes that year and he deserved them.

No. 5 Bert Blyleven, 1984

The Indians lost 87 games in 1984. Manager Pat Corrales' club finished sixth in the AL East, 29½ games out of first place. Somehow Blyleven managed to go 19-7 with a 2.97 ERA. It's one of the reasons he's in the Hall of Fame.

Blyleven had unpredictable Ernie Camacho closing for him and the even more unpredictable Julio Franco playing shortstop. Still, Blyleven prospered.

He won his 18th game on Sept. 26, beating Seattle 1-0 on a complete-game shutout. He came back three days later on Sept. 30, the last game of the season, to win his 19th in a 7-4 win against the Twins.

Blyleven went 7 2/3 innings and Camacho pitched the last 1 1/3 for his 23rd save. He pitched nine more seasons, but never won that many games again.

Blyleven's final numbers for 1984: 245 innings, 170 strikeouts, 74 walks and 204 hits.

Indians Rookies Have Opened Eyes This Season

Craig Gifford | On 26, Sep 2014

When the 2014 Major League Baseball season began, the Cleveland Indians roster contained zero – yes you read that correctly – zero rookies. This was a veteran team with the distinct goal of getting to the postseason for a second straight season.

As the campaign wore on, the Tribe was besieged by injuries, ineffectiveness and trades. The veterans sputtered out of the gates and got off to a slow start.

While the calendar was flipping into summer and through the months of June, July and August, Cleveland was making a myriad of roster moves along the way. The Indians seemed to continuously get young. At this point, the Tribe has now employed 10 rookies during the season.

Rather than fall even further back as the inexperienced players replaced those with track records, the Indians did just the opposite. Cleveland got better with the influx of youth. The Indians peaked in August and entered September in prime positioning to make another playoff push. Cleveland has sputtered this month, yet still entered Thursday alive, albeit barely, for a postseason berth.

The Indians and their diehard fans who have consistently shown up to games this year have enjoyed watching some fresh talent produce and guide the team back to relevance and competitiveness.

As this season begins to draw to a close, it is certain that many of the new kids in town will probably not be in Cleveland when the 2015 campaign begins. The rosters will shrink back to 25 players from the expanded 40 they are now currently at. Injured players like Nick Swisher will return, fee agents – no matter how glamorous a name – will be signed and other young players, such as Francisco Lindor, may open eyes in spring training and push past the guys who made their initial marks in 2014.

However, some of the new heavy contributors will be around next year and will likely be asked to play large roles. Starting pitcher T.J. House and reliever Kyle Crockett made their debuts this season. Starter Trevor Bauer and infielder Jose Ramirez, each had played in the Majors before, but the two rookies both saw expanded big league work this season. That foursome, especially the three pitchers, are the most likely to crack next years Opening Day roster.

The three pitchers are near certainties, after their work this season, to be with the 2015 Indians when the club breaks from spring training.

Bauer, the most known of the rookies before this season, had a bit of a breakout year. He had had dips in the Major League pool the last three years, but had been mostly ineffective and spent the majority of those seasons in the minors. This year, he consistently kept the Indians in games and has a 5-8 record with a respectable 4.18 ERA.

The 23-year-old Bauer, a former first round pick of the Diamondbacks and key player in the 2012 Shin-Soo Choo trade, took big strides this season toward blossoming into the front-of-the-rotation starter he was pegged to be in the 2011 amateur draft. Bauer still has a ways to go, but seems to finally have a grip on a spot in the Tribe starting five.

Unlike Bauer, House was essentially an unknown to most Indians fans. He was barely discussed as an option in spring training and was really not on anyone’s radar. Then, as injuries and ineffectiveness struck Cleveland’s rotation, House was called into duty. After a slow start to his rookie season, the left-hander settled in and has been fairly consistent over the last two months. Like Bauer, he has kept the Tribe in most of the games he has started.

All told, the southpaw is 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 17 games started. He made one relief appearance. As a lefty, he is a valuable commodity to the Indians who do not have another hurler who throws from that side. One would think he has done enough to impress his bosses and have a good grip on a Major League job next year. However, there may well be the thought in the back of the minds of some that he could be kind of like the 2013 Danny Salazar, who looked very good, then showed in Year 2 that he needed a little more seasoning. Still, House made be the team’s No. 3 or 4 starter at this very moment.

Crockett shot through the minor leagues. The lefty reliever was drafted by the Indians in 2013 and was in the Majors this June. His rocketing through the bush leagues is similar to current Cleveland closer Cody Allen, who was drafted in 2011 and was pitching for the Tribe in 2012.

That’s not to say Crockett will be as good as Allen, but early indications are certainly positive. He has the best ERA on the team, a 1.92. Granted, he has been mostly a lefty specialist, making 42 appearances, but just 28.1 innings of work. It is hard to say how we will hold up if given an expanded roll the like of late-inning guys Scott Atchison and Bryan Shaw.

In a perfect world, Crockett would fall into a late-inning guy the Tribe can trust against all hitters. The 22-year-old has shown moxie this year. At worst, he will go into next season as a left-handed specialist again as he has outpitched fellow southpaws Nick Hadadone and Marc Rzepczynski. His ceiling is likely higher than either of those two.

Ramirez, a shotstop and second baseman, is the one rookie from this year who has played a lot, but could see a reduction next season.

When Asdrubal Cabrera was traded at the deadline, Ramirez became the Indians every-day shortstop. He has not been great, but has not embarrassed himself, either. Entering the final week of the season, Ramirez is hitting .248 with a home run and RBI. He has contributed a walk-off hit in his time with the Tribe. His speed on the base paths is a big plus as he has swiped eight bases this season.

Unlike the three pitchers, who could fill huge roles in the future, Ramirez’s destiny is likely in a lesser spot. He will likely be the team’s utility infielder of the future. Jason Kipnis is locked in at second for the next several years. Fellow young player, Lindor, is hands down the shortstop of the future.

However, in the case of Lindor, Ramirez has allowed the Indians to perhaps consider waiting on bringing up a guy who will be 21 when next season starts. Ramirez has shown enough to allow the Tribe possibly trust him with the Opening Day shortstop duties while Lindor becomes a finished product.

When Cabrera was jettisoned to Washington, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the potential future star Lindor would be playing shortstop for the Tribe by the start of next season, if not sooner. Ramirez, only 22 himself, will allow the Tribe to not rush their top prospect if he is not quite ready for the big time.

There have been other rookies who have opened eyes this summer. Guys like backup catcher Roberto Perez and outfielder Zach Walters could very well see time in the Majors next season. However, they do not seem as likely to be in the Majors to start the year as the other four rookies who have a very good chance of doing so.

In the end, postseason or no postseason, the Indians have found that they have some pretty decent young talent who will be able to help in some way, shape or form in the coming years. Some, moreson than others. As injuries are unavoidable, it is likely that Cleveland will see most, if not all, the first-year players who took a Major League field this year, again at some point.

The kids have shown the Indians have more depth than perhaps previously thought. Just as important, they have tasted, at an early stage, a postseason hunt. That is crucial for the growth of the team going forward.

We will certainly see this young players again. However, Bauer, House, Crockett and Ramirez will likely be seen a lot sooner and a lot more often than the rest.

Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

For the first time in a long time, I can say I feel totally happy with the starting rotation next year. House and Bauer would be fine #4 and 5 guys - and hopefully Salazar/Carrasco are not mirages at 2 and 3.

That's huge, as the front office can focus on the team hitting and defense, while perhaps tweaking the bullpen. Maybe a step back in the standings this year, but a big step forward for the long term.

TFIR wrote:For the first time in a long time, I can say I feel totally happy with the starting rotation next year. House and Bauer would be fine #4 and 5 guys - and hopefully Salazar/Carrasco are not mirages at 2 and 3.

That's huge, as the front office can focus on the team hitting and defense, while perhaps tweaking the bullpen. Maybe a step back in the standings this year, but a big step forward for the long term.

I'd like to see Bauer step up to #2. I think he can do that if they can figure out why he gives up 5 runs in the 1st inning.

Salazer worries me more, I think I'd flip Salazar and Bauer in the rotation.

Here's to hoping Kluber and Carrasco can maintain the level of performance they showed this year.

Last August we thought Masterson was solid too.

Big question is how do we get rid of the albatross of Swisher. As much as he was was being a dickhead and douchenozzel about it, Cali had THAT right. Maybe since he's BrOhio and such a stand up guy he'll rework his contract to something more appropriate for the level he is playing at. Bourne.....not quite as much a bust as Swisher...he was at least somewhat productive when he was healthy. Oh and make Giambi a special assistant to the bench coach or something but get him the f*ck off the roster.

I think we can be sure Giambi is gone. He really didn't get in the way this year, spent about 95% of the pre-expanded part of the year on the DL.
How about finding Swisher a home in southern Ohio: wouldn't the Reds love to add his bat, his defense and his infectious positive attitude to their underperforming team?

Was Swisher really that far off from his career average in 2013 ? Swisher was signed as a name player that would excite fans. Swisher is a guy that once struggled to bat .200 for a full season.

Without Yankees on base in front of him and a short porch in right field hewas never going to recreate those numbers in Cleveland. Never !

Unfortunately he was one of the few players in MLB that would accept the Indians money and move to Cleveland.

Anyone that thought Swisher was going to hit 30+ home runs, 100 rbi or bat .300 was either dreaming or had never watched him play.

rusty2 wrote:Was Swisher really that far off from his career average in 2013 ? Swisher was signed as a name player that would excite fans. Swisher is a guy that once struggled to bat .200 for a full season.

Without Yankees on base in front of him and a short porch in right field hewas never going to recreate those numbers in Cleveland. Never !

Unfortunately he was one of the few players in MLB that would accept the Indians money and move to Cleveland.

Anyone that thought Swisher was going to hit 30+ home runs, 100 rbi or bat .300 was either dreaming or had never watched him play.

I don't think anyone thought he would be that good, but I'm sure it was expected he would have at least a .250 cut (well below his average in 4 years as a yankee) About 20-25 Home runs (Again below his Yankee average) and at least 60-70 RBI's (again well below his Yankee average)

Last year was below average for him at .246 22HR and 63 RBI's. His 2nd lowest in all those categories since 2004.

His lowest BA was .219 in 2008 with the White Sox, but he still had 24 HR and 60 RBI's.

RBI's aren't really a good stat to compare since there had to be Indians on base in front of him and if I remember correctly that doesn't happen very often anymore these years.

THIS was his worst year excluding his 60 AB 2004. He only had 360 At Bats....and he isn't getting any younger or healthier. Not worth 15 Mil next year or 16 Mil the year after (and def not 17 million in 2017).

If he rebounds and does what he did last year then OK.....but really without the help of Roids or HGH....a 34 year old guy probably isn't going to rebound so good.

Take away the inflated Yankee years and it is his average. Why do you think the Yankees did not offer a similar contract. Much different batting with Cano, Rodriguez, Jeter, and Texiria then the Indians lineup.

Last year was below average for him at .246 22HR and 63 RBI's. His 2nd lowest in all those categories since 2004.

Agree with both rusty and civ.

First of all, I do think it's reasonable to expect Swisher to be able to duplicate those above numbers. When healthy. Even so, those numbers represent a drastically overpaid player.

rusty always points out you do have to overpay to get guys to come to Cleveland. That said, at this point we do have some young tradeable pieces. Rather than overpay, why not do some trades instead - a la Tampa Bay?

BTW, I've seen enough of Bourn in the rare times he is healthy to be comfortable with the last 2 years remaining on his contract. I do think he is a very nice player if he can just keep his ass on the field.