Final Thoughts: The official 2020 Cleveland Indians autopsy, and what lies ahead

Zack Meisel Oct 5, 2020 46
CLEVELAND — Now that the body is cold, it’s time for the annual Cleveland Indians autopsy. Here are 10 thoughts on the 2020 season, a pivotal offseason and the club’s future.

1. Before we dig in on the state of the franchise, let’s tackle a trivia question. Can you name the Cleveland hitters responsible for the final outs of each of the Indians’ last four playoff runs?

That image of Michael Martínez jogging back to the dugout as a sea of Cubs blue flooded the infield is burned into the memory of every Cleveland fan. That’s the 2016 answer.

The following year, Austin Jackson, a productive part-time outfielder in his penultimate season, struck out against Aroldis Chapman as the Yankees completed their ALDS comeback and dismissed the Indians, the odds-on favorites to win the World Series, from postseason play.

In 2018, Melky Cabrera grounded out to mercifully put an end to the Astros’ dismantling of the Indians in the ALDS.

And last week, Austin Hedges, a midseason acquisition who amassed 12 plate appearances as the club’s third catcher, pinch hit for Tyler Naquin with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and with Chapman, as he always seems to be, aiming to end Cleveland’s season. Hedges struck out.

Michael Martínez. Austin Jackson. Melky Cabrera. Austin Hedges.

That’s, um, quite a quartet.

2. This could be a winter of change for the Indians.

There’s the matter of Francisco Lindor, the All-Star shortstop who is well aware that he could be on the move in the next couple of months. More on that in a moment.

There’s the matter of Carlos Santana, the long-tenured first baseman who is tied for fifth in team history in home runs (with Hal Trosky, and behind Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Earl Averill) and second in walks (behind Thome). Santana has a $17.5 million club option for 2021, and even if we avoid placing a ton of stock in a 60-game season with atypical protocols and conditions, Santana made the decision easier on upper management with his .199/.349/.350 slash line.

There’s the matter of Brad Hand, the closer who converted all 16 of his save opportunities during the regular season, only to slip up in the ninth inning of Game 2 against the Yankees. Hand has a $10 million club option for 2021. If another team fixates on his results and not his diminished velocity, maybe they’d trade for him at that price. It’s difficult to envision the Indians paying him that salary.

There’s the matter of Terry Francona, who continues to recover from gastrointestinal and blood-clotting issues. Late in the season, he seemed hopeful to return at some point, whether this year or next, but his status is unknown. He exercised at Progressive Field during games in September and would watch the final few innings in a suite with Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff.

And, by the way, eventually, this team won’t even be referred to as the Indians. The timetable on the name change remains unclear at this point.

3. Those who sense a rebuild approaching, look around. Much of it has already taken place.

The Indians’ aim is never to commit to a full teardown, the sort of multiyear slog that sparks apathy in a fan base. The Indians garnered the top local TV ratings in the league in 2020. There’s interest.

But really, they’ve been retooling for several years now.

4. Consider the pitching staff. Shane Bieber is firmly entrenched as the staff ace for the next four seasons. Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, Logan Allen and Scott Moss are all major-league ready, pre-arbitration starters. Jefry Rodríguez could fill some role. Adam Plutko is out of options. Carlos Carrasco is the only option slated to earn more than the league minimum.

The bullpen has James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase (who was reinstated last week), Cam Hill, Phil Maton, Adam Cimber and a slew of prospects ready for a big-league opportunity, such as Kyle Nelson and Nick Sandlin. Hand and Nick Wittgren are the only relievers in line to earn more than the league minimum.

So, the pitching staff is young, deep and inexpensive. It’ll all be about constructing a formidable lineup.

5. For a few years, the Indians’ mantra has been about tending to the present while simultaneously protecting the future. The front office must multitask because of the limited financial resources granted to it.

The pitching factory the organization has established has made everything a bit easier. The front office isn’t infallible, though.

If Lindor has played his final game for the Indians, did the franchise squeeze the most out of his tenure? They surely won’t be shopping him at peak value (the pandemic could play a role in that; fear of a weak trade market factored into the club’s thinking with the timing of the Mike Clevinger deal). They didn’t surround him with as much talent the last two years as they did earlier in his career.

6. Lindor has proven incredibly polished since he stepped foot in the visitors clubhouse at Comerica Park the morning of his big-league debut in 2015. He’s pretty skilled at providing his own PR.

He admitted he has thought about the possibility that he has donned an Indians uniform for the last time but said it’s only because of the topic’s popularity on social media. He knows how the franchise operates, though. He has watched the team trade Clevinger and Trevor Bauer as they approached the expensive stages of the arbitration process. So, I asked Lindor if he is surprised that it’s such a common discussion.

“No, not surprised,” he said. “It makes sense. It is what it is. You can’t cover the sky with one hand. It makes sense. It’s the reputation this organization has. It is what it is. But on the other hand, I can’t control the future. I can’t control the moves the organization makes.”

True. But Lindor also knew how this would unfold if the two sides never struck a long-term agreement (and it sure appears that they’ve never been close to doing so). Now, the team will either settle for the best offer this winter or hang onto him for one, final season and bid farewell to him in free agency next winter. Again, it’s all about balancing the present and the future.


Has Francisco Lindor played his final game with Cleveland? (Brace Hemmelgarn / Getty Images)
7. Either way, fans will channel their frustrations toward ownership, not toward the shortstop. Lindor was quick to point out that the Indians are valued at (more than) $1 billion, and that the league recently cashed in on another multi-billion-dollar TV deal.

He has never revealed precisely how much money he’d be seeking in a new pact, but he did tell The Athletic during spring training that the Indians had not offered anything north of $300 million. No matter what happens, expect plenty of posturing from both sides in the coming months. (The Indians should probably leak what their largest offer was to Lindor, unless it was embarrassingly low.)

Lindor didn’t produce a standard (for him) 2020 season. His struggles with runners in scoring position — a .189/.293/.308 slash line the last two years — are baffling. But he still represents what every team is seeking in a face of the franchise.

Just imagine the conversations we’d be having if José Ramírez hadn’t signed his team-friendly extension a few years ago.

8. If the Indians trade Lindor, that would create a vacancy at shortstop, unless they address that spot in the trade. They could also have an opening at second base, assuming César Hernández departs via free agency. He turned out to be a great signing, posting a .283/.355/.408 slash line and leading the league with 20 doubles, a skilled contact hitter to sandwich between Lindor and Ramírez.

We’d have a clearer sense of the team’s infield options if there had been a minor-league season. It’s difficult for everyone to evaluate if, say, Tyler Freeman or Nolan Jones will be capable of stepping into a starting role in April. The Indians began fall instructional workouts at their complex in Arizona on Monday. Those will run through the end of the month. The schedule includes games against the Dodgers and Reds. The Indians have 49 prospects in camp; none from the 40-man roster, per league rules.

9. So, the infield could have several openings. If Santana doesn’t return on a cheaper, hometown deal, Josh Naylor, Bobby Bradley and Jake Bauers could all vie to replace him.

And then there’s the outfield. The Indians deployed 26 different starting outfield combinations in 2020. Nothing worked.

If we start with the year 1901, when the franchise was founded, and sort by wRC+ (an all-encompassing offensive metric that measures output relative to the rest of the league, with 100 being league average), we can determine the worst outfields of all time from a hitting standpoint.

The 2020 Indians ranked next to last, ahead of only the 2020 Pirates.

Least productive offensive outfields of all time
2020 Pirates
47
19-41
.317
2020 Indians
53
35-25
.583
2020 Rangers
63
22-38
.367
1981 Blue Jays
68
37-69
.349
2015 Reds
74
64-98
.395
1950 White Sox
74
60-94
.390
1955 Pirates
74
60-94
.390
2011 Mariners
75
67-95
.414
1955 Cubs
76
72-81
.471
1993 Marlins
76
64-98
.395
1910 White Sox
76
68-85
.444
2014 Reds
76
76-86
.469
Granted, it’s a smaller sample size than a customary season, but the Pirates and Rangers owned the two worst records in baseball in 2020. That’s not the sort of company the Indians should aim to keep.

The outfield has been an issue for longer than just this season, too.

More trivia! Can you name the last player to start at least 100 games in a season in center field for the Indians?

That would be Michael Bourn in 2014, when he made 104 starts in center. Even more noteworthy: The Indians have had a different player lead the team in starts in center each year since 2015, when Bourn, who was traded in August, edged out Abraham Almonte for the title.

Number of starts in CF
Delino DeShields, 32
Oscar Mercado, 77
Greg Allen, 65
Bradley Zimmer, 73
Tyler Naquin, 90
Michael Bourn, 80
Oscar Mercado, 19
Leonys Martín, 65
Rajai Davis, 33
Austin Jackson, 38
Rajai Davis, 66
Abraham Almonte, 49
Bradley Zimmer, 6
Greg Allen, 15
Bradley Zimmer, 29
Lonnie Chisenhall, 19
Michael Martínez, 3
Michael Brantley, 24
10. It’s unfair to make sweeping declarations about two games against the Yankees. The lineup remains the team’s Achilles’ heel, even after the pitching staff imploded in the wild-card series.

But count Antonetti among those who hope the 16-team playoff field is a one-year feature.

“I’m not sure eight (in each league) is the right number,” he said, “but maybe there’s some number between five and eight that makes some sense.”

In the AL Central, the White Sox should be a force for years. The Twins need to shore up certain parts of their roster, but they don’t appear to be going anywhere. The Royals and Tigers soon won’t be the pushovers they have been in recent years.

The Indians will continue to balance their present and their future. This is a critical offseason to do so. If they trade Lindor, they can’t misfire. If ownership guts the payroll, the front office needs to pinpoint creative ways to make upgrades. There’s a Cy Young winner and a potential league MVP to surround with talent.

FAs so far. Not including players with club options.

https://www.mlbplayers.com/post/147-pla ... ree-agents

after that disasterous season financially, almost all the options will not be picked up, free agent signings will be very slow, good chance of lots of acrimony between owners and agents. Best possible outcome will be ability to play a full 2021 season in front of actual crowds with not too many veterans retiring unwillingly early.

There's going to be, this offseason, a huge pool of free agents. This makes making a trade that much harder and explains Hand's lack of value.

There will be a huge number of cheaper relievers out there.

As for Lindor, there's no Lindors out there on the market. I think his trade value will be unaffected.

Cleveland Indians win inaugural team Gold Glove Award for outstanding defense in the American League
Updated Nov 06, 2020; Posted Nov 06, 2020

By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Indians defenders can take a bow after the club was recognized Friday with the first-ever American League team Gold Glove Award for outstanding defense in the 2020 season.

With individual Gold Glove winners at three positions, including two-time winners Roberto Pérez at catcher and Francisco Lindor at shortstop, the Indians were able to distinguish themselves through elite run prevention and the ability to make spectacular plays seem routine. The award was based on information compiled by Baseball Info Solutions through their SABR Defensive Index.


In the National League, the Cubs were recognized with the team Gold Glove Award, featuring five-time individual Gold Glove winner Jason Heyward in right field, four-time winner Anthony Rizzo at first base and first-time winner Javier Baez at shortstop.

Eight-time individual Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon of the Royals received his second career Platinum Glove Award in the AL after also winning the top defensive honor in 2014. Baez won his first career NL Platinum Glove for Chicago.

First-year Gold Glove winner Cesar Hernandez added to the club’s defensive depth at second base along with former Gold Glove finalist Carlos Santana at first base and versatile José Ramírez at third. The group turned 46 double plays and registered a .986 fielding percentage. Cleveland’s lineup featured the same four starting infielders in 56 of 60 regular season games.



In the outfield, Delino DeShields Jr. turned in several highlight-reel catches, including a pair of running grabs that ended with him crashing into the wall, while right fielder Tyler Naquin posted five outfield assists and did not commit an error in 71 chances.

2020 SDI Catchers INF OF Pitchers Total SDI
Indians 5.1 7.1 2.6 2.4 17.2
White Sox 5.3 6.1 3.3 -0.2 14.5
Twins 0.7 1.2 9.6 2.3 13.8
Rays -1.1 0.2 9.0 1.5 9.6

Indians infield coach Mike Sarbaugh told MLB Network that the advent of StatCast and the availability of information and metrics has helped make Cleveland’s already skilled defenders even more effective in the last 4-5 seasons.


“Our front office is really good at passing down all the information to us,” Sarbaugh said. “There are a lot of metrics used for positioning. We use that quite a bit. There’s a lot of work that goes into it, a lot of time that the coaches put into it.”





Sarbaugh said when it comes to infield shifting, the Indians have always felt comfortable over the last few seasons to have Ramírez, who came up as a middle infielder, move into the natural shortstop position in an exaggerated shift.

“Having a guy like that is a luxury,” Sarbaugh said. “It’s made my job easier over the last 3-4 years.”

Is our pitching staff's excellence a result of great fielding
or is it he other way around?

Obviously it takes both but it's pitching first. The front office then recognizes it's bread and butter and compliments it with defense.

In our case though they forgot step 3. Don't overdo it so that you have too little offense.

Sliver Sluggers

Golden Gloves

MVPs

Cy Youngs

All nice for players who have incentives in their contracts.

Team still waiting since 1948.

With individual Gold Glove winners at three positions, including two-time winners Roberto Pérez at catcher and Francisco Lindor at shortstop, t

I don't think that's correct; Lindor was not one of the 3 nominees and what I read says the AL GG SS was J.P. Crawford on Seattle who I've never heard of, but that's what I said about Carlos Hernandez when we signed him last winter.

Report: Indians Have Informed Other Clubs They Intend To Trade Francisco Lindor
By Steve Adams | November 5, 2020 at 11:56am CDT

If you’ve been even loosely following things for the past couple of years, the notion that the Indians will trade star shortstop Francisco Lindor this offseason should come as no surprise. Still, it’s nevertheless of some note to see USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweet that Cleveland has informed other clubs of their intent to trade Lindor before Opening Day.

This is hardly the first such indication of the concept. We’ve discussed the possibility here at MLBTR numerous times in the past couple years — most recently two weeks ago when Connor Byrne ran through potential offseason trade partners who could take on Lindor for his final year of club control before free agency next year. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel also took a look at the possible market for Lindor last week, consulting with his colleagues who cover many prospective trade partners for the Indians.

The eventual trade of Lindor will serve as the inevitable culmination of a saga that began two years ago when, asked about the possibility of a Lindor extension, Indians owner Paul Dolan ominously told fans to simply “enjoy him.” Cleveland has long been a low-payroll organization, though the club ramped up payroll after its 2016 World Series run, even signing Edwin Encarnacion to a three-year, $60MM contract that winter.

Since that time — particularly over the past two offseasons — it’s been a steady march to reduce spending and return payroll to normal levels. Encarnacion was traded two years into that deal, while All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley was allowed to leave as a free agent without the club risking a qualifying offer. Cleveland has traded Trevor Bauer, Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger as well and neglected to spend to address a lackluster outfield group in the post-Brantley era, instead focusing on hopeful bargain-bin additions.

All of those payroll-paring efforts came prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that left all 30 MLB clubs without gate revenue for the 2020 season. The Indians themselves raised one of the most substantial red flags regarding the economic turmoil throughout the game when they placed All-Star closer Brad Hand on waivers in an effort to avoid paying a $1MM buyout on a $10MM club option they did not intend to exercise. To the Indians’ credit, the negative framing of that move here at MLBTR was proven to be a bit misplaced when Hand went unclaimed and Cleveland was forced to pay the buyout anyhow.

That said, the decision not to retain Hand, coupled with all of the team’s recent market dealings, paints a clear picture of an organization that feels it necessary to further slash payroll — even at a time when the roster possesses enough talent to contend in the American League Central.

Jason Martinez of Roster Resource/FanGraphs projects that the Indians will have a roughly $72MM payroll for the 2021 season, but that figure includes the $19.5MM salary which MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Lindor to earn. Trading Lindor and potentially non-tendering some members of their arbitration class would put the Indians down into the $50MM range, pending any smaller-scale offseason additions.

It’s worth noting, of course, that Lindor’s trade value is likely at an all-time low. Beyond the fact that he has merely one year of club control remaining, he’s also coming off a poor season at a time when many rival clubs will simply balk at taking on a near-$20MM salary.

Lindor, 27 next week, turned in a pedestrian .258/.335/.415 slash (100 wRC+) with eight homers and six steals in this year’s shortened slate of games. It’s only a sample of 266 plate appearances, and Lindor registered a combined .278/.342/.514 output (121 wRC+) in the 2017-19 seasons combined, playing all-world defense at shortstop and averaging 34 homers and 21 steals per year along the way.

That track record should still fuel demand for his services, but with the benefit of hindsight, many fans will suggest the Indians waited a year too long to move him, given the inevitable nature of his trade candidacy. In addition to Dolan’s “enjoy him” line, it’s crucial to add that Lindor turned down an extension offer reported to be in the neighborhood of $100MM prior to the 2017 season, when he had just over a year of Major League service time. A long-term union between the two sides has never been seen as likely, and the primary question now is one of where — not whether — he’ll be traded.

Lindor himself has acknowledged the possibility of being traded this winter while simultaneously rejecting the notion that the team “can’t afford” to sign him. Asked by Meisel on Oct. 1 if Cleveland should be able to meet his asking price on a contract, Lindor replied: “Of course. It’s a billion-dollar team. Of course.”

Asked later in the interview about his expectations for the game’s economy over the next year in the wake of 2020 revenue losses, Lindor rhetorically answered: “Did you see MLB just signed a $3 billion contract?” The contract referenced by Lindor is the reported seven-year, $3.7 billion deal with Turner Sports to continue broadcasting half of the postseason’s games. Back in 2018, MLB also agreed to a seven-year, $5.1 billion rights deal with FOX for the World Series and the other half of postseason media rights in that same 2022-28 span.

civ ollilavad wrote:

With individual Gold Glove winners at three positions, including two-time winners Roberto Pérez at catcher and Francisco Lindor at shortstop, t

I don't think that's correct; Lindor was not one of the 3 nominees and what I read says the AL GG SS was J.P. Crawford on Seattle who I've never heard of, but that's what I said about Carlos Hernandez when we signed him last winter.

I think it was just saying that Lindor had won the Gold Glove twice. Not this year.

that makes sense; did Carlos Santana win one, once? or maybe just a finalist.

This coach is a Cy Young-producing machine

he first time Carl Willis participated in a big league victory, he was a 23-year-old rookie reliever summoned by the legendary Sparky Anderson to protect the Tigers’ slim lead against the Blue Jays on June 11, 1984. Willis turned in 1 2/3 imperfect but effective innings that day, then handed it off to Willie Hernandez, whose ensuing save was one of 68 games finished in his American League Cy Young Award and MVP season.

In retrospect, we can look back at that hold as a significant starting point in Willis’ long career at the Major League level. Because while he never attained the game’s most prominent pitching prize himself, he has proven an unusually Cy-adjacent individual.

• Bieber, Bauer bring Cy honor back to its roots | Voting results

When Shane Bieber claimed the AL Cy Young honor unanimously on Wednesday night, it was a career first for him but old hat for his Cleveland coach, Willis. Incredibly, Willis has been the pitching coach during the Cy seasons for a record five different pitchers -- the Indians’ CC Sabathia (2007) and Cliff Lee (’08), the Mariners’ Félix Hernández (’10), the Red Sox’s Rick Porcello (’16) and Bieber.

Willis, who will turn 60 next month, even worked with this year’s NL winner, Trevor Bauer, in Cleveland in 2018 and ’19.

“That is pretty cool,” Willis said. “But I haven’t thrown a pitch since 1995. … The focus is on the pitchers themselves. They do the work and make it happen on the field. I’m just blessed to be a small part of their success.”

Willis’ humility is sincere enough that we basically had to beg him to let us write this story. He doesn’t want to be painted as some sort of Cy whisperer.

While Willis is right to want the spotlight on the aces themselves, he has carved out his own small place in MLB lore. Per the research of MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Willis’ work with five different Cy Young pitchers eclipses Dave Duncan (LaMarr Hoyt in 1983, Bob Welch in ’90, Dennis Eckersley in ’92 and Chris Carpenter in 2005) for sole position of the top spot.

The only pitching coach with more Cy Young seasons outright is Leo Mazzone, with six. But all of Mazzone’s came with the Braves’ big three of Greg Maddux (three Cy Youngs with Mazzone), Tom Glavine (two) and John Smoltz (one).

• All-time Cy Young Award winners

Willis’ record did not go unnoticed by the pitcher who put him over the top.

“He’s extremely special,” Bieber said of Willis. “He’s a pro’s pro. He is an absolute gem of a human being and a pitching coach. I’ve learned a lot from him not just about pitching but about life and the big leagues and how to go about things day by day. … It’s no random fact that this is his fifth one, because that’s really special. I hope he’s enjoying this.”

As is the case with many accomplished coaches, Willis’ expertise emerged not from Hall of Fame-level successes in his own playing career but from the grind of 13 professional seasons featuring frequent back and forth between the Majors and the Minors.

When he had first arrived in 1984, Anderson proclaimed Willis to be “another Rollie Fingers.” It didn’t quite work out that way. Willis had a 4.25 career ERA across 390 innings with four teams -- the Tigers, Reds, White Sox and Twins. But the “Big Train,” as the imposing 6-foot-4, 210-pound Willis came to be known, was a survivor who stuck around long enough to make an impact on Minnesota’s run to the 1991 World Series title, including two holds in the American League Championship Series against Toronto.

Willis took the successes and failures and applied them to a coaching career that began in the Indians’ farm system in 1997. He was the pitching coach in the Rookie-level Appalachian League in ’98 when he was asked to go to the airport in Greensboro, N.C., to pick up the Tribe’s first-round pick from that summer’s Draft -- an 18-year-old named Carsten Charles Sabathia.

• Complete 2020 MLB Awards coverage

Thus began a working relationship that would benefit both men. Willis worked with the raw kid from Vallejo, Calif., at three Minor League levels before becoming the Indians’ pitching coach for the first time in 2003. And in the big leagues, he taught Sabathia to trust his breaking ball early in counts and to keep his emotions in check.

The result was Sabathia’s transcendent 2007 season (3.21 ERA in a Major League-high 241 innings) that is an important element of his Cooperstown case.

“[Willis] molded me into what I am now,” Sabathia said last year. “I didn’t have a windup. I didn’t have a delivery. I didn’t have any of that stuff. I owe him everything.”

While Sabathia was celebrating his AL Cy Young win in the offseason following ’07, Willis had a visitor at his North Carolina home. It was Lee, the star-crossed lefty who had been disappointingly banished to Triple-A the previous season. The two spent a couple days talking about baseball and life, with Willis encouraging Lee to be less stubborn, to scrap a slider that wasn’t working and to make the opponent respect his changeup and two-seamer.

The result was Lee’s otherworldly 2008 (2.54 ERA in 223 1/3 innings) that turned his career around.

Despite his key role in developing back-to-back Cy Young Award winners with the Indians, Willis was part of an overhaul of the Cleveland coaching staff at the end of 2009. He landed a pitching coordinator position with Seattle, and, when the Mariners made midseason changes to their staff in ’10, he took over as the big league pitching coach in early August. So he had a front-row seat as King Félix put the finishing touches on his lone Cy season.

“Let’s be clear about this,” Willis said, “I was with Félix for two months in 2010. He had laid the bulk of his work and the foundation of that award prior to my getting there.”

Fair enough.

Willis had a more hands-on role in another Cy season a few years later. After his Seattle run, he had rejoined the Indians as a Triple-A pitching coach in 2015, only to be summoned by the Red Sox in May of that season, when they fired big league coach Juan Nieves. That’s how he found himself working with Porcello, who was in the midst of a miserable first year in Boston. The two ultimately agreed that Porcello needed to re-establish his two-seamer as his primary weapon and reduce his reliance on four seamers up in the zone. The end result was a ’16 season in which Porcello went 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA and edged Justin Verlander for the Cy honor.

When Mickey Callaway left the Indians to become manager of the Mets in 2018, Willis returned to his old post as the Cleveland pitching coach. And it was midway through that season when an unheralded fourth-rounder arrived to pitch in a loaded Indians rotation. Over the next two years, Shane Bieber deepened his repertoire, increased his velocity and learned to command any pitch in any count. Now, he’s the fifth Cy Young Award winner to have worked with Willis.

“The common trait amongst all of them,” Willis says, “is the competitiveness and that drive to make adjustments and adapt. Knowing hitters are going to make adjustments but staying one step ahead of them -- that’s just really special.”

So, too, is Willis’ achievement, whether he wants the credit or not. It’s his personality and adaptability that has made him successful in working with various types of pitchers in a sport that has become so analytically oriented. At a time when experience is not often valued as much as it ought to be, Willis’ success, staying power and Cy assistance stand out.

In the room in his home where he keeps his memorabilia, Willis has hung five jerseys -- one for each of his first four Cy guys and one for Kevin Millwood, who won the AL ERA title while working with Willis in 2005.

Bieber’s jersey is, obviously, going up next.

“You feel so great for the pitcher, for that guy, when they win,” Willis says. “Because we see, more than anyone, the work they put in and the stress and we live every pitch with ‘em in the dugout, when you’re out there doing it. It’s really a great feeling to see them accomplish something special like that.”

Some people are in the right place at the right time.

By the time pitchers reach the Major League level, they are their own self-coaches.

Guys like Willis, who are humble and great listeners, can help ....when asked.

If I recall we were worried that pitching would suffer after Callaway bolted to New York. Didn't hurt. Pitching coaches throughout our organization is top quality and get stolen away regularly.