Trade tree: The Bartolo Colon deal that changed everything for the Indians

Zack Meisel Apr 22, 2020 13
In many ways, the 2002 Cleveland Indians were unrecognizable, and not just because of their new sleeveless uniforms. The roster had grown old and, in some areas, ineffective. Attendance had declined, the record-setting sellout streak relegated to the rearview mirror.

Mark Shapiro, the new general manager — and, to those not quite ready to accept the burial of the ’90s Indians, the new grim reaper — indicated he was searching for a “Joe Carter-type” trade to jumpstart a rebuilding process. On June 27, 2002, he found one, a deal that officially signaled the end to the Indians’ AL Central reign and ensured the franchise’s first downturn in nearly a decade.

CC Sabathia called it “a shock.” Omar Vizquel said the overwhelming feeling in the clubhouse was “very disappointed.”

For years, the Indians only made trades to improve their chances of surviving October. They dealt prospects such as Sean Casey, Richie Sexson and Brian Giles to patch holes on their roster.

In his first move upon assuming the GM role in November 2001, Shapiro traded Roberto Alomar to the Mets. Alex Escobar was the crown jewel of the exchange, a highly touted center field prospect whom Terry Francona had scouted for the Indians during his one-year respite from coaching. But the Indians also acquired Matt Lawton in the deal and they signed veteran infielder Ricky Gutierrez to replace Alomar at second base.

It was a half-measure, an attempt to bolster the farm system and remain a contender. Shapiro has since admitted it was a mistake, that he should have firmly committed to one direction or another.

There was no such confusion clouding the Bartolo Colon trade. Shapiro was etching the end date onto the ’90s Indians’ tombstone. A new era was underway, as well as a new mode of operation in the front office.

Little did anyone know at the time that Shapiro and company had actually executed one of the greatest heists in baseball history. And it’s still paying dividends for the Indians. The Colon trade tree has branches that extend to Franmil Reyes and the group of prospects the Indians acquired last summer.

June 27, 2002: Indians trade Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew to the Expos for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens
Nine years and one day after they signed a 20-year-old Colon out of the Dominican Republic — they were under the impression he was 18 at the time — the Indians sent him to Montreal for three prospects and a veteran first baseman.

As a kid, when he wasn’t working in the coffee fields with his donkey named Pancho, Colon hurled rocks at coconuts and mangos to build arm strength. When he arrived in the majors, he wielded a fastball that flirted with 100 mph on the radar gun.

Colon was an All-Star in 1998, his first full season in the big leagues. He finished fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting in 1999. He was the Indians’ Opening Day starter in 2000, ’01 and ’02.

The Indians rattled off 11 wins in their first 12 games in 2002. Then, they won two games over the ensuing three weeks. The notion that a seventh division title in eight years was a foregone conclusion quickly vanished.

By mid-June, Shapiro hinted that he would listen to offers for the Indians’ veteran players. On the day of the trade — the Indians were rained out in Boston on the final day of a four-city trip — Cleveland stood at 36-41, 7.5 games behind AL Central-leading Minnesota.

The Expos were 41-36, 6.5 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta. They were also desperate, thanks to the looming threat of contraction.

The Indians were familiar with the Expos’ farm system, as they employed Tony LaCava, Montreal’s former director of player development, and Dave Malpass, who played a role in signing Sizemore out of high school.

Phillips was considered the Expos’ top prospect and No. 20 in the sport, per Baseball America, whose Jim Callis wrote at the time that Phillips was “a rare five-tool shortstop” who “could blossom into a 20-20 player in the major leagues.”

He didn’t stick at shortstop, but Phillips did stick around in the majors for 17 seasons as a second baseman, with three All-Star nods and four Gold Glove Awards. Of course, he earned all of those accolades in Cincinnati, not in Cleveland.

Lee had posted glowing statistics — strong hit and strikeout rates and an improving walk rate — in the minors for the Expos and reported to Class AA Akron following the trade. Callis wrote that Lee had “four above-average pitches.”

Sizemore was the wild card. He hit three home runs in nearly 1,100 plate appearances with the Expos’ affiliates. At the time of the deal, he owned a .699 OPS at High A, but he offered plenty of speed and an impressive strikeout-to-walk rate. A year and a half later, Baseball America pegged him as the No. 9 prospect in baseball.

Stevens plugged a leak in the Indians’ lineup that summer, the final big-league action of his career.

Phillips, Lee and Sizemore combined to amass 109.3 fWAR during their careers. They combined to make 10 All-Star teams. Lee won a Cy Young Award. Phillips and Sizemore claimed six Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Slugger Awards.

Colon somehow nearly outlasted all of them. (He and Phillips both last played in September 2018.)

The Expos failed to make the playoffs and wound up trading Colon to the White Sox seven months later, for Orlando Hernandez, Rocky Biddle and Jeff Liefer. Colon signed a long-term deal with the Angels prior to the 2004 season. He won the Cy Young Award in 2005. Then, he toured the league, pitching for the Red Sox, White Sox (again), Yankees, Athletics, Mets, Braves, Twins and Rangers.

There are trades that signal a seismic shift in franchise direction. The Indians’ deals involving Carter, Sabathia and Andrew Miller are all examples. The Colon trade is perhaps the clearest example, bidding farewell to an unparalleled stretch of Cleveland baseball and embarking upon a new, uncertain future.

At a news conference the following day, Shapiro said: “This very clearly and very definitively demonstrates that we are moving into a formal rebuilding process with players that we all feel are going to be here in the ’04 and ’05 seasons, which are when we feel we can start to emerge as a contender again. From the start of the offseason, we stated that if the difficult goal of transitioning and contending was not successful, we would have to enter into a more dramatic and profound rebuilding process. That is the juncture we find ourselves (at) today.”

For years, the Indians reaped the benefits of the trade. Sizemore developed into an elite center fielder before injuries derailed his career. Lee established himself as a front-line starter. And through further maneuvers, the Indians have kept this trade tree alive.


Brandon Phillips (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
The Phillips Branch
April 7, 2006: Indians trade Brandon Phillips to the Reds for Jeff Stevens

Entering the 2003 season, Baseball America ranked Phillips the No. 7 prospect in the sport. Three years later, after a rocky debut, two years at Class AAA Buffalo and a clash with manager Eric Wedge, Phillips was shipped out to Cincinnati.

Stevens reached Triple A, but he never pitched for the Indians in the majors. He did appear in 33 games for the Cubs from 2009-11.

Dec. 31, 2008: Indians trade Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Gaub to the Cubs for Mark DeRosa

Gaub was a 21st-round pick in 2006 who eventually made four appearances with the Cubs. Archer, on the other hand, bloomed into a two-time All-Star with the Rays.

DeRosa only logged 71 games with the Indians in 2009 before they flipped him to St. Louis.

June 27, 2009: Indians trade Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for Chris Perez and Jess Todd

Todd made 24 appearances with Cleveland in 2009-10 before the Yankees claimed him in 2011.

Perez developed into a two-time All-Star closer who never shied away from speaking his mind. He ultimately became known as much for the contents of his dog’s delivery packages as he did his save totals.

The Lee Branch
July 29, 2009: Indians trade Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to the Phillies for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson

Knapp was the key to the deal, but he never advanced beyond A-ball because of multiple shoulder surgeries. He totaled only 40 innings (and 59 tantalizing strikeouts) with the Indians.

Donald and Marson hung around in reserve roles for a few years. Five years after the trade, Carrasco finally emerged as a viable rotation piece. Since, he has been one of the league’s steadiest — and most inspirational — starters.

Dec. 11, 2012: Indians trade away Jason Donald, Shin-Soo Choo, Tony Sipp and Lars Anderson, receive Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers, Bryan Shaw and Drew Stubbs in a three-team deal with the Reds and Diamondbacks

We revisited this trade in more depth last month, so we won’t rehash what became of each player involved, but it’s worth mentioning that the Indians converted Bauer into Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Scott Moss, Victor Nova and two months of Yasiel Puig. So, in a small, indirect way, the Colon deal continues to pay dividends for the Indians.

(Top photo: Tom Pidgeon / Getty Images)

Would have redefined the Tribe more strongly if Eric Wedge knew how to manage Brandon Phillips.

civ ollilavad wrote:Would have redefined the Tribe more strongly if Eric Wedge knew how to manage Brandon Phillips.

Great point. Is there any question Tito would have handled him just fine?

He was a bit of a hot dog and seemed to put himself before the team - but who knows...

Francona could massage egos.

if Francona could keep Manny Ramirez and a lot of the players from those Boston championship teams in check, I shouldn't think that Brandon Phillips would be a major problem.

Hey! Players love to play for Francona. Phillips loves to play baseball. Could have been the perfect marriage

No secret that Phillips was one of my favorite ball players for the Indians at that time and certainly was magnified by his play in Cincy.

This is not from a well known source so for now just take it as a rumor. Doyle does do some writing for Baseball America though so might be accurate.

-

Sources: No Minor League Baseball in 2020; MLB Expanding Rosters Instead

No minor league baseball this season, but could the big leagues be featuring top prospects instead?

By Joe E. Doyle@JoeDoyleMiLB

Apr 29, 2020, 2:46pm PDT

According to multiple agents representing minor league players, messaging went out Wednesday that there will not be a minor league season in 2020. Instead, Major League Baseball will expand rosters for a condensed big league season. There will, however, be a subsequent developmental league, training and potentially playing games out of spring training facilities.

According to two players associated with those agents, they expect to be playing baseball sooner rather than later.

“Expecting to report in the next three weeks,” one source said via text message. “We’re expecting the season to start in June.”

According to one agent, the news comes on the heels of the NBA opening some of their facilities. Major League Baseball is attempting to follow suit, using the precedent as a means and guide to opening facilities of their own.

“In this political climate starving for businesses to re-open, it was a matter of time,” one agent said. “MLB is clearly following in the footsteps of the NBA in making this happen. They plan on doing so while following social distancing guidelines.”

Players associated with the news said they will be asked to return to their organization’s spring training facilities to train this summer, and some will be involved in the developmental league. It has yet to be determined which players will be involved, or how that “league” will even be constructed.

As far as expanded rosters go, that idea has been communicated to agents as well, though numbers for team construction have not yet been released.

Major League Baseball and Spring Training in general was suspended on March 12. It would appear we are drawing closer to that resuming in the near future.

Adam Plutko’s plan to ensure Cleveland isn’t ‘being left behind’


By Zack Meisel 57m ago
Instead of standing atop the mound and peering in at his catcher as tens of thousands of fans and one anxious batter await his next offering, Adam Plutko recently found himself on a deserted high school field.

At least, until a security guard gave him the boot.

Plutko and Cameron Rupp, a catcher who joined the Indians on a minor-league deal prior to spring training, live about 20 minutes apart in the Dallas area. The two have teamed up with a few other professional players for regular training and bullpen sessions over the last month. After a few locations proved unfruitful, Rupp finally found them a welcoming facility.

Those meetings are as close as Plutko gets to normalcy these days. He works out with his wife, Allison, and they entertain their toddler son, but Plutko has more free time than he’s ever had in any April since the Indians drafted him in 2013.

“It’s a bizarre time,” Plutko said. “That’s for damn sure.”

On an evening walk a few weeks ago, the Plutkos pondered how they could capitalize on their atypically flexible schedule to assist those whose jobs have been deemed essential. Plutko cited Corey Kluber as having a significant influence on him both on and off the field — but Kluber and his foundation are no longer rooted in Cleveland. The Indians dealt the two-time Cy Young Award winner to Texas over the winter.

“I wanted to do something so the city of Cleveland wasn’t being left behind,” Plutko said.

When they returned home from their walk, they jotted down some notes and started brainstorming a name and a logo, two features that would make their ambition marketable to potential partners.

Within a couple of days, they decided upon Plutko Family Partners, or PFP, a nod to a well-known baseball drill: pitchers fielding practice. Plutko’s agency designed a logo that incorporated his number, 45, and a silhouette of his delivery.

The foundation’s mission? Well, that’s fluid.

“We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into anything,” Plutko said.

The focus, for now, is to help those who haven’t been afforded free time during the pandemic. With their first program, they connected with a local stylist for Saks Fifth Avenue, Ashley Kopchak, who sewed face masks with Indians-themed fabric. They supplied more than 50 masks to employees at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and Ohio National Guard. Additional face masks have been made available for sale to the public, with proceeds going to charity.

“We don’t want to just throw money at something,” Plutko said. “Obviously, money always helps. But sometimes, nurses and teachers and grocery store clerks would just like to be acknowledged. And that’s what we would like to do. We want to put money wherever we possibly can, but more than anything, we want to put time that we have right now and time that we’ll have once everything opens up again back into these workers who are putting their time in now while we’re staying at home and watching ‘Tiger King.’”

An employee at the food bank sent the Plutkos a series of photos of the masks being put to use.

“It’s such a powerful image,” Plutko said. “When I looked at those pictures, the various men and women wearing our masks, it just felt amazing.”

⁣⁣
To show our appreciation, we donated 50 handmade @indians logo masks for those on the front lines battling COVID-19. We thank you!


A quick aside: How did the Plutkos meet Kopchak? “My wife and I enjoy shopping,” Plutko said. “I’m a big shoe guy. I get on (Indians TV reporter) Andre Knott all the time about how terrible he looks for work. I’m like, ‘Come on, you’re on TV. You’re a slob. Get it together.’ Shopping has been something that we’ve always enjoyed. Even when I was in the minor leagues making nothing, we’d find that deal that was amazing and we’d go for it.”

When reached for comment, Knott laughed and replied: “Those young Cali boys dress with different swag than us hip, midwestern folks. But, hey, when you’ve been taking advice from Trevor Bauer since college, what do you expect?”

Plutko isn’t the only Indians player to make a charitable effort during the pandemic. Earlier this month, Jake Bauers, Shane Bieber, Brad Hand and Nick Wittgren all contributed donations through the Home Plate Project, which allowed the Indians, Meijer and Dunkin’ to donate 160,000 meals to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

Plutko would typically be spending his days throwing, stretching, working out, studying video, leaning against the dugout railing and traveling from city to city. Instead, he and Allison are flexing new muscles as they craft potential philanthropic initiatives and coordinate with local businesses and charities.

Their next aims are to nail down ways to benefit grocery workers and small businesses and to provide meals to other essential workers.

“To be honest, we don’t really have an end goal,” Plutko said. “Right now, we’re focused on these COVID-19 efforts, but in a few years, it could be helping people with Parkinson’s. It could be helping people with heart disease. We wanted to keep it as open-ended as we could because we don’t want to miss something. And we want to create partnerships. We don’t want to just have a fund and say, ‘Here you go.’

“We want to create long-lasting relationships with these organizations and help in any way we can.”

(Photo: David Maxwell / Getty Images)

BA ran an article which I posted a couple weeks back about the likelihood of no minor league baseball this year and the financial clobbering that will do teams going into 2021. Couple that with the MLB plan to cut back a couple dozen teams and the business of minor league baseball is looking very uncertain.

MLB discussing plan to start season in late June, playing in home stadiums with realigned league

Bob Nightengale. USA TODAY

Maybe it’s a dream scenario.

Maybe it’s premature to get excited.

Then again, maybe it just might work.

Major League Baseball officials have become cautiously optimistic this week that the season will start in late June, and no later than July 2, playing at least 100 regular-season games, according to three executives with knowledge of the talks. They requested anonymity because the plan is still under consideration.

And not only would baseball be played, but it would be played in their own major-league ballparks, albeit with no fans.

MLB is considering a three-division, 10-team plan in which teams play only within their division – a concept gaining support among owners and executives. It would abolish the traditional American and National Leagues, and realign the divisions based on geography.

The plan, pending approval of medical experts and providing that COVID-19 testing is available to the public, would eliminate the need for players to be in isolation and allow them to still play at their home ballparks while severely reducing travel.

The divisions would keep many of the natural rivals together, while playing one another before an expanded playoff format.

Here's a look at the possible realignment structure:

EAST

New York Yankees and Mets, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins

WEST

Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners

CENTRAL

Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers

It’s too early to expound on the details, the officials cautioned, with new ideas floated each week.

It’s also not known whether teams would have to open the season in Arizona, Florida and Texas for several weeks before everyone could return to their home stadiums. Yet, they could squeeze in 100 to 110 games, and perhaps even have several thousand fans in attendance before or during the playoffs.

It’s all coming together,’’ one of the officials said. “I’m very optimistic."

One of the additional benefits to playing in major-league cities is it would alleviate a possible split among players who are opposed to playing the entire season in Arizona/Florida/Texas. Several high-profile players, including the Angels' Mike Trout and the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw expressed strong resistance to playing the season away from their families.

MLB and union officials have yet to engage in formal discussions about the financial ramifications of playing without fans, with three owners telling USA TODAY Sports three weeks ago that they would refuse to play unless the players were willing to take a pay cut. Four other team officials insist they would require financial relief from the players.

Yet, there is now optimism among executives that they could settle their differences in negotiations on a sliding scale depending on the loss of revenue from gate receipts, parking and concessions. Teams also would have to revise their revenue-sharing plan.

The most encouraging signs, the officials said, is that testing is becoming more available, more states are re-opening, and more politicians such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot saying teams could play in their own ballparks this summer.

MLB teams likely will still return to their own spring-training facilities in Arizona and Florida when they resume workouts. Players are expected to be given a week to return to spring training sites, and have 18 to 21 days before the start of the season.

Veteran agent Scott Boras proposed that players report to spring training in May, beginning with the pitchers and catchers. Players would be isolated from the population for three to four weeks, grouping them according to whether they ever tested positive with no symptoms, were hospitalized, have recovered with antibodies or tested negative.

“We have strong young athletes,’’ Boras said, “and we can ready them. They want to create a return to normalcy and certainly our national pastime is a sign of that.’’

MLB officials are hoping it won’t be necessary to quarantine players, and normalcy will prevail once the regular season commences, but the schedule and playoff format promises to be dramatically different.

“This is going to be a season,’’ one of the executives said, “like we’ve never seen.

“But that’s fine. It’s at least a season.’’

So if they play in their own stadiums fans will be much more pissed off about not being allowed inside than if they were all in Arizona. Hotels or office buildings near the park could rent rooms overlooking the fields. I really don't know: are there any buildings that offer ballpark views of Progressive Field?
Or would teams be allowed to sell a thousand tickets a game and carefully sort fans out a few dozen per section?
It's all rather weird, but I'll be happy to watch games on my phone as I usually do.

That Central Division could make 9 of the 10 teams happy but the Braves have no real natural rivals among their 2020 opponents.

civ - just got back from AZ but I was there for many of the 100 degree days out there.

My conclusion - they could play there.

I golfed quite a few times (granted 9 holes, but walking) just fine. There is an awful lot to that "dry heat" thing. It really is a different animal.

Yes it is hot, but these are young stud athletes far an away a different animal than I am and they could do it.

Mike Clevinger or Shane Bieber?

Zack Meisel
Apr 28, 2020
22
Every Tuesday, The Athletic MLB will answer a different variant on a simple question: Who would you rather have? We’ve debated the merits of mascots, managers, prospects and MVPs. This week, we square off two starting pitchers …
Every time Mike Clevinger tells the story, the number plunges to new depths.

The truth is, Shane Bieber’s fastball averaged 93.3 mph during his major-league debut on May 31, 2018. Sure, that velocity dipped in each of his four starts following his debut, but only to 91.4 mph.

Clevinger (and former rotation mate Trevor Bauer) prefer to claim that Bieber was clocking in at 85-90 mph when they urged him to let loose and light up the radar gun and create more separation from his secondary pitches, rather than “massaging the ball to the plate.” Years from now, that number will surely plummet to 60 mph.

To them, Bieber’s fastball was a rickety go-kart humming along at the speed limit in the left lane of the highway. Only when they intervened did it morph into a glitzy sports car that whizzes past in a blur. At least, that’s how they opt to recall their mentorship of Bieber.

Bauer has since relocated to the opposite corner of Ohio, leaving Clevinger and Bieber to anchor the Indians’ rotation and aid Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and any other starter the organization’s pitching pipeline produces.

“I thought I was going to be the little brother of the group for a little bit longer,” Bieber said, “but obviously this is a change that I’m welcoming with open arms.”

Bieber graduated from the Indians’ No. 5 starter at the beginning of last season to the American League’s No. 4 finisher in the Cy Young Award balloting at the end of last season. Clevinger, despite missing two months because of an upper back strain, amassed the seventh-highest fWAR total among AL pitchers.

“I don’t want to have someone in our rotation who isn’t going to keep pushing the bar,” Clevinger said. “Especially, I don’t think anyone wants to be in a rotation when everyone’s putting up crazy numbers and they’re not doing too well. I feel like that’s exactly what drives us to get better. You want to do better each start. Having that pace car of me or (Bieber) going back and forth, a little competitive balance between each other is always nice to have.”

But which of the two would you select to start a must-win game? To which pitcher would you hand the ball for a critical, October outing before a sellout crowd and a national TV audience, with the season hanging in the balance?

The case for Bieber
Bieber was supposed to start on Opening Day, an unseasonably balmy, sunny afternoon in downtown Cleveland in late March. At age 24, he would have been the youngest Indians pitcher to do so since CC Sabathia in 2004.

Ah, but if Clevinger hadn’t been recovering from knee surgery, would Bieber still have earned the honor? That’s one of the world’s great mysteries, one slot behind whether Carole Baskin fed her husband to some tigers.

Bieber was tabbed to start Game 4 of the ALDS against the Astros in 2018. When it became apparent that Houston would sweep the series, Terry Francona pondered sending Bieber to the bullpen so he could at least gain some playoff experience in the ninth inning of the lopsided affair.

Instead, the rookie remained in the dugout, praying for a miracle from the Indians’ offense.

Clevinger started that game. He exited after five innings with a 2-1 lead before the Astros feasted on Cleveland’s bullpen.

“I obviously wish that things could have gone differently,” Bieber said, “but at the same time, I learned a lot by just sitting and watching. Hopefully that time comes much sooner than expected and hopefully it’s as soon as possible, but I’ll be ready for that opportunity when it comes.”

It’s not as though Bieber doesn’t have experience in a meaningful environment. He did claim the All-Star Game MVP award last summer, after all. He struck out Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte and Ronald Acuña Jr. in succession in a 19-pitch magnum opus as his home crowd chanted his name and his manager marveled from the dugout. A couple of hours later, he lifted the clear, bat-shaped MVP trophy over his head and selected his prize, a new pickup truck.

Bieber authored as complete and consistent of a first full year in the majors as anyone could have envisioned. The Indians drafted him in the fourth round in 2016 because he showcased pinpoint command, but no one imagined he’d develop into a frontline starter so swiftly.

He posted a 3.28 ERA, a 3.32 FIP and 5.6 fWAR last season. His strikeout rate ranked in the 86th percentile, as he tallied nearly 11 per nine innings. His walk rate ranked in the top 5 percent of the league. He lasted five innings or more in 31 of his 33 starts.

But this is not a matter of who pieced together the superior 2019 season (that argument hinges on how much one values health/workload). The case for Bieber is simple: He throws strikes. He’s consistent. He doesn’t get rattled.

The case for Clevinger
Clevinger, 29, has choreographed one of the more distinct deliveries in the sport, with limbs swinging violently in each direction and his finishing leg sweep resembling an NFL kicker’s extra-point attempt. But when he’s done dangling his left arm, tapping his front foot in the dirt, lifting his knee to his chin, whipping his long, brown locks from side to side and pointing his right foot toward the sky, Clevinger typically tosses one of the league’s most effective fastballs or sliders.

His average fastball increased nearly 2 mph last season, to 95.4 mph, and he was aiming to boost that number again this year.

“Velocity is always a focus,” Clevinger said, “just getting stronger, more mobile.”

That has resulted from a years-long overhaul of Clevinger’s lower-half mechanics. Bieber figured the upper-90s heaters came naturally to his rotation mate until he watched video of Clevinger’s minor-league delivery and did a double-take.

“A lot of guys can’t even make those changes,” Bieber said. “And if they do, it takes a lot longer than it took him.”

Clevinger logged a 2.71 ERA last season, with a league-leading 2.49 FIP. He boasted an elite strikeout rate (about 12 per nine innings) and an improved walk rate. His Baseball Savant page is a Sherwin-Williams palette full of rich reds, as he ranked near the top of the pitching leaderboards in strikeout rate, exit velocity, expected batting average and expected slugging percentage.



It’s not just his fastball, either. Clevinger’s slider, with horizontal movement nearly twice that of the average slider, baffled the opposition into a .174 average, .281 slugging percentage and 48.3 percent whiff rate.

Clevinger also owns a better home run rate — both last year, when the baseballs were laced with TNT, and throughout his career.

“He’s committed,” Bieber said. “He wants to be one of the best. He’s quickly becoming so.”

The verdict
Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way: There’s no wrong answer here. One league evaluator said it’s “close to a coin flip,” but noted both are among the best pitchers in the league.

But another source stressed Clevinger’s “overall stuff is better,” while citing the hurler’s competitiveness and the unpredictability of his pitches. Clevinger ranked in the 91st percentile in opponent exit velocity in 2019, so on the off chance a hitter does put a ball in play, he isn’t striking the baseball with much force.

No matter the choice, the Indians’ starting pitching has long served as the roster’s foundation. The club’s rotation has ranked in the top three in the AL in ERA each of the last four years (with a fourth-place finish in 2015). Bieber and Clevinger, in any order, will anchor that group whenever the sport resumes.

“Baseball is a crazy sport,” Bieber said. “It’s hard to predict. There are so many different factors that go into it. But when you give yourself a chance by putting four or five good arms out there, there’s really no telling what kind of damage you can do.”

TFIR, remember in the 70’s and 80’s after all those cookie cutter stadiums were built with astroturf, like Riverfront and Veterans Stadium and the like. How hot it would get on the field there?

I remember my dad taking me to Riverfront Stadium to watch The Big Red Machine, and players were putting cabbage leaves in their hats and stuff, trying to stay cool. On a hot summer day it was regularly over a hundred on the field for day games.

And 100 with humidity is an absolute bitch!!

Humidity is the key.

I'm more miserable at 75 degrees with 80 percent humidity than I am at 100 and 20 percent humidity.

I know. I know some of you guys think I'm miserable, regardless