I thought the Braves were in better shape than that

Ready for playing games that count.

Anybody know why the 2 games played last week in Japan between the Mariners and As counts as regular season games? Were the teams limited to a 25 man squad?

I do know Nintendo at one time bought the Seattle Mariners and still have an owning interest in the team.

As far as the game counting, I don't know. My best guess is that lots of money exchanged hands for these games - way too much to sell it to Tokyo fans as an exhibition game.

We all know what those games are like.

Has Hanley Ramirez officially made the team? I thought his opt-out day was yesterday. He stunk in Texas.

Hanley had a grand total of one good game.

Indians.com roster still shows Kipnis, Lindor and Zimmer, all of whom will be on the DL. That leaves 24 names which is room for Hanley even if he does stink

Some good news!

- - -

Jose Ramirez is expected to be in the Cleveland Indians' opening day lineup Thursday, four days after fouling a pitch off the area below his left knee.

Manager Terry Francona said Tuesday that Ramirez should be ready to go for the opener at Minnesota. The All-Star third baseman worked out Monday and Tuesday in Arizona, testing his bruised left knee while Cleveland finished its exhibition schedule with games against the Rangers in Texas. Ramirez will join the team for a workout Wednesday in Minnesota.

Yeah - "carted off" always sounds so dramatic but fouling a ball off your leg hurts like hell but is rarely serious. Shoot we see it all the time - that's why they wear those guards.

Anyways good news - and we can expect Lindor very soon obviously. I actually think it will be fun to see how some of the newbies play out.

In a sense it beats the boring march to the division we had last year.

And I also think one of the (secret) reasons for the cautious offseason was to save bullets for later on.

What ever they do, they have to figure out a way to keep from fading in October. Running out of gas has been the M.O. of the Indians the past two seasons.

Dammit, so much for the good news. — Frankie Linder twisted his ankle running bases today. He’s out indefinitely with a sprained ankle.

I think the Indians FO deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to bringing on players that have had down years or injuries in the past. Their track record is much better than most teams.

rusty2 wrote:I think the Indians FO deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to bringing on players that have had down years or injuries in the past. Their track record is much better than most teams.

Agreed

Yes, don't let the weak lineup and bullpen scare you. As Rusty says, we will probably have a guy or two surprise us with his output this year. And also, the Indians have shown the willingness to add pieces at trade deadline in recent years. You will see it again this year. Maybe even handcuffed less considering they dropped salary.

Don't forget, in 2016 when we went to the World Series, our opening day outfield was R.Davis, M.Byrd, and Cowgill.

HB - just posted an article basically saying the same thing.

The Indians signed veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin to a minor-league contract on Friday. He was assigned to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.

The 31-year-old has played 12 seasons in the big leagues. He spent spring training with San Francisco, posting a .163 batting average before getting released. Maybin was a member of the 2017 World Series Champion Houston Astros. He has a career .254/.322/.368 slash line.

This appears to be nothing more than a signing to add depth to the outfield. The Indians probably aren't expecting much from Maybin, who spent time with Seattle and Miami last season. This is another low-risk signing that gives the Indians another veteran to evaluate.