That article was evidently written at the start of spring training. Matt Joyce is not with the team. Hanley Ramirez probably will be. Tyler Clippard will not be ready on opening day.

And this is a simplistic assessment:
Cleveland doesn't have a great farm system. [Not maybe great, but we have a good farm system that is getting much better]

There aren't many youngsters coming up who will make sizable impacts on this season. [That is correct. Maybe none. Best chances for this season would be relievers Henry Martinez, Nick Sandlin, Aaron Civale]

Still, Cleveland has a number of interesting prospects who could see their stocks improve greatly over the coming year. Some names to keep an eye on: righty Luis Oviedo, outfielder George Valera, third baseman Nolan Jones, lefty Sam Hentges, and righty Ethan Hankins. [and a whole slew of very talented shortstops]

GOODYEAR, Arizona: Since the Indians aren’t commenting on the signing of Carlos Gonzalez, I decided to talk to myself about the 33-year-old former Colorado Rockies outfielder:

QUESTION: Why did the Indians wait so long to sign Gonzalez?

ANSWER: His agent is Scott Boras, who is known for driving hard bargains. He also is not being afraid to hold his players out of spring training while awaiting the right deal.

Q: Didn’t Gonzalez agree to a minor league contract?

A: He did. Not a penny guaranteed. If he makes the team, his salary is $2 million with some incentives. Boras was looking for a lot more. In 2018, Gonzalez stayed home until March 8, when he signed a $5 million deal with the Rockies. My guess is Gonzalez reached the point this spring where he realized opening day is two weeks away, and he better sign somewhere.

Q: Isn’t he a three-time All-Star?

A: That’s true. His last appearance was 2016 when he batted .298 (.855 OPS) with 25 home runs and 100 RBI for the Rockies. He has been in decline since then.

Q: So, he can’t play?

A: Let’s look at it. Gonzalez batted .276 (.796 OPS) with 16 HR and 64 RBI in 2018. He played in 132 games. Like most hitters with the Rockies, he is aided by light air in Denver. Breaking pitches don’t break as much and fly balls carry farther in the Mile High City.

Q: Meaning what?

A: In the last three seasons, Gonzalez batted .319 (.946 OPS) at home, .243 (.675 OPS) on the road. That’s part of the reason the market was weak for Gonzalez. He spent 10 years with the Rockies. How can you project him playing in Cleveland or elsewhere?

Q: Why did the Indians sign him?

A: There’s no risk because of the minor league contract. He can still do a very good job in right field. According to fangraphs.com, Gonzalez was the second best right-fielder in baseball in 2018, behind Boston’s Mookie Betts.



Tyler Naquin is expected to make the team, assuming he finishes strong in camp. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

The Plain Dealer

Tyler Naquin is expected to make the team, assuming he finishes strong in camp. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

Q: Does he play right field? If so, what happens to Tyler Naquin?

A: Tribe Manager Terry Francona has consistently praised Naquin’s comeback from hip surgery, but also mentioned “he is still getting his timing.” Naquin can move to left field to make room for Gonzalez.

Q: Wasn’t Jake Bauers going to play left field – at least against right-handed pitching?

A: I’m not sure he makes the team. Or he may make the team early, because it’s doubtful Gonzalez will be ready for the March 28th opener. He will need more than two weeks of camp to prepare.

Q: Are you concerned about Bauers?

A: In the long run, not really. He’s only 23. He may need more time in the minors. This spring, he’s batting .234 (8-for-34) with 2 HR and 8 RBI. He also has 10 strikeouts.

Q: How does he look at the plate?

A: Right after arriving in Goodyear, I talked to Bauers. He explained he got into a bad habit of “pulling off the ball” with Tampa Bay last year. That means trying to pull everything. I still see that. He sometimes has a big swing that seems somewhat slow. Bauers and the Indians are working on fixing that.

Q: Do the Indians really need another lefty hitter?

A: As Francona said the other day, he’s looking for “guys who hit, period.” The Indians are loaded with lefty-hitting outfielders: Leoyns Martin, Bauers, Naquin and now Gonzalez.

Q: What about Greg Allen?

A: He’s a switch-hitter, batting .429 this spring. Francona called him “solid . . . reliable.” He mentioned those traits are rare in a young player. I expect him to make the team. He can play all three outfield positions.

Q: How does Gonzalez hit lefties?

A: Not great, he batted .249 (.699 OPS) vs. lefties in the last three seasons. It’s .293 (.851 OPS) vs. righties. He can play against some lefties, but it probably isn’t wise to play him every single day.



Oscar Mercado has impressed Manager Terry Francona. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

The Plain Dealer

Oscar Mercado has impressed Manager Terry Francona. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

Q: What about Oscar Mercado?

A: Francona really likes the rookie outfielder, who is hitting .410 this spring. And he is a right-handed batter. At 6-foot-2, 200-pounds and the speed to steal 39 bases in 2018, he’s a natural athlete. I don’t think he makes the opening day roster, but he could help during the season.

: Do you think . . .

A: Something else about Mercado. He overthrew a cutoff man in Saturday’s game. Francona talked about how Mercado knew he made a mistake, “and I don’t think you’ll see him do that again. . . He’s had a heckuva camp,” added the manager. That’s high praise. Francona loves this guy.

Q: Wasn’t Jordan Luplow supposed to help as a right-handed hitting outfielder?

A: That was the plan when the Indians traded Erik Gonzalez to Pittsburgh for him. But Luplow has had a miserable spring, batting .107 (3-for-28). You can see him pressing. He does have a minor league option left, so my guess is he opens in Class AAA.

Q: Does signing Gonzalez impact Hanley Ramirez?

A: I don’t think so. He’s a right-handed hitter, mostly a DH. The Indians would love to see him make it. It would be a boost to have Ramirez and Gonzalez helping the middle of the order.

A: How does Ramirez look?

A: He’s batting .261 (6-for-23) with a pair of doubles. He is in good shape. I saw him beat out a slow-roller to third base.

Q: What else?

A: Francona said: “He still has his bat speed, I believe that.” The manager explained it’s “hard” to evaluate Ramirez because he came into camp late. He hasn’t played since last June. Francona said they’ve even had three of their scouts watching Ramirez, trying to project how he’ll perform.

: Does he make the team?

A: This is a big week for Ramirez, who can help his cause by getting hot. It’s also possible he’ll make the team because Gonzalez won’t be ready for opening day. After losing Michael Brantley and Edwin Encarnacion, the Indians are looking for some experienced hitters in the middle of the lineup. That’s why they’ve imported Ramirez and Gonzalez after training camp started.

Welcome back, Black Magic Hitter, Carlos Santana. Hopefully he will add some fire back to this team.

-

When the Philadelphia Phillies lost their ninth consecutive game toward the end of last September, veteran first baseman Carlos Santana felt like he needed to send a message to his teammates who he said spent portions of the game against the Atlanta Braves playing video games in the clubhouse. Santana grabbed a bat, retreated to the room at Citizens Bank Park where the gaming took place and smashed the TV to ensure there would be no more Fortnite the final two days of the season.

"I see a couple players -- I don't want to say names -- they play video games during the game," Santana told ESPN. "We come and lose too many games, and I feel like they weren't worried about it. Weren't respecting their teammates or coaches or the staff or the [front] office. It's not my personality. But I'm angry because I want to make it good."

-

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2629 ... smashed-tv

I've always liked his attitude including his willingness to volunteer to play 3rd base; to play LF, RF; he will likely get off to a cold start as usual in the cold weather but eventually he'll warm up and he's a good role model.

Plus he is much younger than EE. I count that overall as a gain.

and far more valuable as a defender.

Since Naquin has not played one game in LF as far as I recall this spring, it seems pretty unlikely that Pluto is right on his shifting there with Bauers being send out, but it would not be impossible. HIs arm would be overqualified for left

Bauer improving Kluber's chances for opening day; surrendered an rbi double in the first and a homer in the second. Maybe Bieber sneaks in and wins the opening day assignment.

another homer, 3-0 in the 2nd. Dead arm period? for Trevor.

fellow named Erlin pitched two perfect innings for SD; he came in at 13.50 for the spring. This is not our day, at least not early on.

Another level to Oscar Mercado’s game? How he’s showing Indians it’s true

T.J. Zuppe Mar 18, 2019 20

GOODYEAR,​ Ariz. —​ It was​ the first week of​ December. Some were​ gearing up for​ the​ holiday season.​ Others were​​ dreaming of sugarplums and deserved time off.

Oscar Mercado was fixated on his swing.

“He came in for two weeks to Cleveland,” Mike Chernoff said. “Nobody does that.”

Mercado journeyed north on two occasions to participate in the team’s offseason swing clinics. Each time, he met with the Indians’ development staff, seeking ideas on how to become a more complete player.

Then, he carried those concepts back to Tampa, where he continued to refine his offense.

As a result of that winter work, Mercado’s place on their radar has been affirmed. He’s opened eyes with an impressive stat line. He has stood out as a bright spot in an outfield lacking shine. Most important, a lot of the elements he targeted this winter have translated.

“He worked so hard in the offseason, trying to kind of revamp his swing,” Terry Francona said. “I don’t care if it’s spring training or not, he’s swinging the bat really well.”

Mercado, the 24-year-old prospect acquired from the Cardinals in July, had already made the successful transition from shortstop to center field a few years ago (though, he considers his early days in the outfield to have been “a circus”). His speed was already a factor. He had even added a bit more pop over the past two years. But he wanted more.

Mercado had already been working with a private hitting instructor, Aaron Capista, a former second-round pick of the Red Sox in 1997. But Mercado also wanted to make sure his offseason work meshed with the Indians’ development path.

So, with baseball’s Winter Meetings underway, Capista and Mercado’s agent, Jason Romano, sat down with Alex Eckelman, the Tribe’s assistant director of player development, to ensure the delivery of a coherent message.

“It worked out perfectly,” Mercado said. “When we met, they asked me what I felt like I needed to work on this offseason. I told them I just wanted to work on driving the ball a little more consistently, especially center, right-center.”

Of course, driving the ball isn’t an uncommon theme given the growing appreciation for keeping the ball off the ground. Mercado understands his speed is still an asset, but he also wanted to make sure he was ready to unload when a hurler made a mistake.

Extremely pleased with Mercado’s response, the organization mapped out a similar idea for how they felt his game could blossom. Then, they formulated a plan for getting him to that level.

“That was something that helped out a lot,” Mercado said. “Just getting taught the same thing from different minds.

“The fact that they kind of sat me down and told me what they thought (was key). My biggest thing was like, ‘OK, so, if I’m here, how can I get there?’ That was my biggest question mark, my biggest starting point this offseason to kind of get to that next level.”
Mercado already had the makings of an interesting prospect. Acquired at the trade deadline in a prospect-for-prospects swap, the right-handed hitter’s offense had just started to show. He was always a stolen-base threat, but in 2017, he flashed a little power, smacking 13 homers at Double A.

When the Indians snagged him last year in an under-the-radar move, he was in the midst of another above-average offensive campaign, this time at Triple A, where he had belted eight more homers and swiped 31 bags.

He struggled a bit in Columbus following the trade — a reality he attributed to pressing in a new environment — but when considering his permanent move from shortstop to center field in 2016, his standing as an above-average defender at one of the Indians’ weakest positions offered a conceivable path to soon demonstrating his talents in the majors.

That, in itself, wasn’t satisfying enough. Given the profile of a guy without massive swing-and-miss totals in the minors, a targeted swing adjustment could prove meaningful.

“You always want to keep working and working,” Mercado said. “That’s something that (was reinforced) when they told me, ’OK, we’re happy to have you. Now, this is what we think, what we kind of know you can be.’ ”

During his first trip to Cleveland, Mercado’s swing was tracked by Blast and HitTrax technologies. The Blast swing analyzer slides onto the knob of the bat and tracks each swipe. It delivers data on the swing plane, bat angle, time to contact and any other piece of information you could ever find useful.

When combined with HitTrax, a hitting simulator that projects each cage connection into video form using data like exit velocity and launch angle, Mercado left the swing camp — with help from Eckelman, Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo and Double-A hitting coach Justin Toole — with a healthy idea of how to accomplish his goals, getting on plane with each incoming pitch sooner.

To continue on the right path, they allowed him to take a Blast unit back to Florida.

“It’s always nice to understand, you take a swing and you look at the numbers,” Mercado said. “You’re like, ‘OK, is it translating?’ It’s good because it gives you a starting point. You could go out in the cage and take a thousand swings and be like, ‘OK, I feel good, but are they good swings? Are they swings that can translate into the game?’ ”

With the right technology in hand, he didn’t have to wonder. And when Mercado returned to Cleveland in mid-January for a second clinic, the work he had put in was notable.

“We saw it firsthand, the changes he was making and the dedication that he had to it,” Chernoff said. “Those changes were real in the batting cage.”

But spring training is littered with players that are in the “best shape of their lives.” Many spent the offseason crafting a new pitch or working on a new stance or maintaining better balance at the plate. It’s rare a player might say they didn’t work on a thing over the winter. There are even fewer who aren’t convinced that big things are on the horizon.

However, it’s hard to knock his results, even if they have come in an unreliable environment.

The right-handed hitter is batting .400 in 20 games. More important, he’s posted a .750 slugging percentage. He’s belted a trio of homers, and nearly half of his hits have gone for extra bases. Those are precisely the type of outcomes Mercado was hoping to generate.

“We’re not sitting here evaluating spring training performance,” Chernoff said. “But from a process level, we feel like, yes, the changes he’s made have transferred. Those are ones that will have the potential to make him a much better offensive player.”

And in Mercado’s opinion, those targeted adjustments to his swing plane and balance are becoming more natural.

“When you start understanding that you’ve got to get somewhere,” he said, “you put in the work behind it and you start seeing results — it can be in any sport, it can be any job — it’s exciting. It feels nice to be able to understand that you worked on something and it’s paying off.”

What his strong spring means for his opening day chances is still tough to fully grasp. The addition of Carlos González on a minor-league deal puts another veteran body in his path, and there’s always the possibility that they’d prefer to let Mercado refine his offense in an everyday environment at Columbus.

Regardless, his production in camp is a positive reflection of his offseason goals. If he’s not part of the group that begins the season in Minnesota, there is little reason to believe he won’t be called upon at some point to contribute in the majors.

Of course, the exact verdict on how much Mercado’s offseason adjustments have raised his ceiling is still murky. Only time and an extended sample can tell us for certain. But the fact they’ve added an additional layer of intrigue can’t be disputed, that much is clear.

“It was an offseason of repetitions and kind of doing things the right way,” Mercado said. “The way it was needed.”

Rosenthal: The Indians’ window for ending their 70-year drought is starting to close. Why the lack of urgency?


By Ken Rosenthal Mar 18, 2019 134

The signing of free-agent outfielder Carlos González will mean only so much. The Indians had a chance to again bury the Twins and the rest of the AL Central, and they spent the offseason offering new life to the competition instead.

The White Sox, Royals and Tigers, all at various stages of rebuilds, are not in position to take advantage of the Indians’ passivity. The Twins, based on two leading projection systems, also might not be capable of altering the seemingly unalterable Central.

PECOTA sees the Indians finishing 94-68, tied with the Astros for the best record in the American League, 11 games ahead of the Twins. Fangraphs’ Depth Charts predicts the Indians will finish 92-70, the fourth-best record in the AL, and 10 games ahead of the Twins.

Why even question the Indians then?

Only because each season is sacred, and the Indians’ 70-year World Series championship drought is the longest in the majors, and the clock is ticking on shortstop Francisco Lindor’s time with the club.

The Indians cite financial considerations as the reason for their retrenchment – their 40-man roster payroll at the end of last season, including $14.4 million in benefits, was $150.825 million, the 16th-highest in the majors, according to the Associated Press.

If the Indians had kept the 2018 roster together – not making any trades, re-signing all of their free agents to the contracts they ultimately received from other clubs – the team’s 25-man Opening Day payroll would have soared to $220 million, club officials say. If the Indians simply had kept the players they traded – catcher Yan Gomes, designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, etc. – the payroll still would have been $150 million.

Now, following the changes, club officials expect the Opening Day number to be between $120 million and $125 million – a more realistic range for a team in one of the worst revenue positions in the majors. Ownership repeatedly has shown a willingness to add salary during the season – Andrew Miller (and Jonathan Lucroy if he had approved a trade) in 2016, Joe Smith and Jay Bruce in ‘17, Brad Hand and Josh Donaldson in ‘18.

But the Indians will open the season with serious questions about their outfield and bullpen at a time when they still should be in serious win-now mode.

Did ownership grow frustrated after the Indians got swept by the Astros in the Division Series and played only one home game in the postseason? Or did ownership and the front office simply recognize they were in a precarious financial state and needed to infuse young talent into the organization?

The answer to the latter question most certainly is yes, but that doesn’t mean it is satisfying, particularly at a time when the future of Lindor, the linchpin of the franchise, is uncertain.

Lindor, 25, will earn $10.55 million this season in his first of three years of arbitration, or $500,000 more than Mookie Betts made at the same service level last season. Betts, 26, will jump to $20 million this season after getting voted AL MVP, but even if Lindor falls short of that figure, the Indians will need to at least consider trading him next offseason.

True, the Indians might be comfortable keeping Lindor at a salary approaching $20 million in 2020 – they will pay right-hander Corey Kluber $17.2 million at age 32 this season. But it’s doubtful club officials will be eager to pay Lindor in the $25 million to $30 million range in ‘21, and even more doubtful they will sign him long-term.

The team’s window is starting to close – outfielder Michael Brantley and relievers Miller and Cody Allen departed in free agency this offseason without the Indians finding comparable replacements. Right-hander Trevor Bauer is a near-certain goner after 2020, if he is not traded before then. Lindor and Kluber are eligible to leave after ‘21.

By that point, at the very latest, the Indians likely will need to rebuild. The timing will be right; Baseball America recently noted the organization’s “lower levels are full of arrow-up players . . . and scouts have taken notice of the team’s collection of young Latin American prospects – a sign of the organization’s recently revamped international program.” But with so much elite major-league talent currently under control at below-market rates, the best use some of those prospects might be in trades to bolster the Indians’ roster in 2019 and ‘20.

Put it all together, and a bigger push this offseason certainly seemed warranted.

The Indians, in addition to losing Brantley, Miller and Allen, traded catcher Gomes and first baseman Yonder Alonso, and swapped out one year of Encarnacion for two years of Carlos Santana at lesser salaries. The only major-league free agent the team signed was left-handed reliever Oliver Peréz, who inked a one-year, $2.5 million deal. The slew of minor-league free agents included designated hitter Hanley Ramirez and relievers Alex Wilson, Justin Grimm and Tyler Clippard, the latter of whom currently is shut down with pectoral tightness.

The outfield remains full of questions, even with González agreeing to a minor-league deal on Saturday. González, 33, had a league- and park-adjusted OPS at 8 percent below the league average in 2017-18, and Fangraphs’ Depth Charts metric projects him for just 1.1 WAR this season. Leonys Martin, who suffered a life-threatening bacterial infection last season, is the top returning outfielder. The rest of the group is unproven and largely unknown.

The rotation – Kluber, Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber – remains the clear strength of the team, the Indians’ biggest edge entering a season in which the Twins might have a superior offense following the additions of Nelson, Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez, Jonathan Schoop and C.J. Cron. But the Indians’ bullpen, even with Hand as the anchor, remains a significant concern. If the relievers repeatedly blow leads in the late innings, the impact of the starters will be diminished, possibly leading to internal frustration.

Depth is another issue. The Indians have evolved into something of a stars-and-scrubs outfit, the stars being Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco, Hand, Lindor and third baseman José Ramírez. The extended loss of any of those players might create a more level playing field in the Central. Lindor already has given the team a scare with his right calf injury, though he still might be ready for Opening Day.

Then again, it’s not out of the question the Indians might get a surprising contribution from some of their young players, most notably outfielder Oscar Mercado, who joined the club in a trade with the Cardinals last July 31. It’s also worth noting that – at least to this point – the team has kept its rotation intact after spending a good portion of the offseason discussing its top starters in trades.

The Indians know the projection systems predict they will win their fourth straight division title by a comfortable margin. They know they will fill up on the baseball equivalent of comfort food, playing nearly 60 games against the White Sox, Royals and Tigers. And they know they again can address any needs that arise before the July 31 trade deadline.

Still, there is a danger the lack of urgency in upper management will leave the team vulnerable, if not during the regular season, then certainly in October.

If that happens – if the Indians waste possibly the last, best opportunity to win with this group – they will have no one to blame but themselves.

good article. Stars and Scrubs is a very good way to describe the team! I'm a big fan of "major league average" players and we're low on those now, Carlos Santana is probably the only one; Martin could reach that level but he's never hit for much. A Kipnis return to average would be a nice gain.

The Indians did take Rosenthal's suggestion

But with so much elite major-league talent currently under control at below-market rates, the best use some of those prospects might be in trades to bolster the Indians’ roster in 2019 and ‘20.

to heart to a degree last off season. They dealt 3 of their Arizona League players including one OF who was rated No. 2 prospect in the year in deals. Mercado was one of the targets.

Cleveland Indians: Terry Francona explains why the game is about more than money – Terry Pluto
Posted Mar 18, 4:30 PM

Cleveland Indians Manager Terry Francona has managed in big and small markets. He is not afraid of the challenge he faces with the Tribe. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)
The Plain Dealer

Cleveland Indians Manager Terry Francona has managed in big and small markets. He is not afraid of the challenge he faces with the Tribe. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)


By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer

GOODYEAR, Arizona — Terry Francona came to the Indians knowing the franchise had many of the same money limitations as other middle market teams.

He came from Boston, one of baseball’s big spenders.

Before Francona was hired as the Tribe manager in 2013, he had a long talk with Chris Antonetti. At the time, Antonetti was the Indians’ general manager and Mark Shapiro was president.

Francona had spent 2001-02 as a special assistant to the Indians, where he got to know Shapiro and Antonetti.



He also knew a lot about the state of the Indians in a sport with no salary cap.

“Chris was brutally honest with me before I came here (in 2013),” said Francona “I knew the landscape when I came in.”

The Tribe increased its payroll every year from 2011 to 2018.

But heading into this season, the Tribe’s payroll is expected to drop from $135 million to $120 million. At some point, Francona knew something like this could happen.

THE BIG PICTURE

Francona said it wasn’t just about cutting payroll.

“That’s not how they approached it,” he said. “We walked through how are we going to keep our window open – so we can show up every spring with a realistic chance to win.”

When I interviewed Tribe Owner Paul Dolan last week, he mentioned how he didn’t want to a be team that “went all in” one year, and then had to sell off players a year or two later.

false
Cleveland Indians: Paul Dolan talks payroll, pitching and contention – Terry Pluto

Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan explains why the payroll was cut and how the team can still contend.

It happened twice with the Marlins, even after they won a World Series. The Marlins had a $101 million payroll in 2012. It dropped to $50 million in 2013.


San Diego had a $108 million payroll in 2015 after bringing in the likes of James Shields, Melvin Upton, Justin Upton and Matt Kemp.

By 2017, the payroll was down to $69 million and all those guys were gone.

The Padres are spending again with the signing of $300 million man Manny Machado. They are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and have never won a World Series.

Francona believes it’s important to have a good team every year, to give the players and fans a chance to win a World Series.

In his six seasons, the Indians have been to the playoffs four times. They have been to the World Series once. They have the best record in the American League in that span.

“Are you going to be the favorite? Maybe not,” said Francona. “We’ve not reached the pinnacle, but we’ve done OK. The idea is to win a World Series. On top of that, it’s to compete every year. That’s hard to do.”

HE CHOSE CLEVELAND

Francona could have managed in other markets. He took the Indians from 93 losses (in 2012) to a 92-70 record in 2013. He has signed two contract extensions to stay here, and is now committed to the Tribe through 2020.


“In a small to medium market, you have to watch what is going on, “ said Francona. “You can be a victim of your own success — like Kansas City.

"They went to the World Series two years in a row (2014, 2015), but because of their market . . . you end up making hard decisions.”

By that, he meant the Royals lost several of their key plays to free agency. The price tag became too high. Kansas City won 95 games and the World Series in 2015. It had a 58-104 record in 2018.

From ownership on down, the Indians are spreading the gospel of “sustaining success.”

Francona has bought in.

“It’s the reality of where we are,” he said. “But rather than make excuses. . . We’re not gonna ever throw in a towel or lose a game and be like, ‘Man, if we had 5 more million dollars.' We don’t feel like that.”

Francona knows what he’s facing. He managed eight years in Boston where the Red Sox consistently have one of baseball’s highest payrolls.

“If you make a mistake (in Boston), you can make it go away," he said. “Here, you have to minimize mistakes. . . We have to develop our own players.”

Francona kept stressing the “culture of the Indians” where the team “cares about people.”


He knows ownership values stability, and patience can be asset because many organizations lack both of those virtues.

“I just value working with people here over spending money for players,” he said. “I enjoy doing it here with who I do it with . . . and figuring out things together.”

I can't tell you how much I agree with this. I love having a team that - day to day - is fun to watch and has a legit chance to get to the playoffs. Much of our lives this was not the case.

Of course I would have loved to win it all in 2016. Extra innings in the 7th game is the equivalent of a coin toss. We lost the toss, plain and simple.

I truly believe this is one of the few mid-small market teams that hasn't succumbed to the "win it all or tear it all down and rebuild" bull. There is all kinds of value to fielding a team that is competitive, fun to watch on tv and in person.

This organization, since Tito arrived, has been good every year and not torn it down. Love that, it's unique.