Cleveland Sports Forum

With the talks surrounding Brandon Moss coming to Cleveland, .... Perhaps a deal with Erik Gonzales and Trevor Bauer as the centerpieces would do the trick?

That's way more value than an even exchange for Joe Wendle, which tells you how serious the surgery is that Moss is hoping to recover from

If Cleveland Indians land Brandon Moss, it will be 1-for-1 deal with Oakland Athletics (reports Paul Hoynes)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The one and only thing left to do is the trade itself. Everything else has been done except the waiting.

If the Indians do acquire Brandon Moss from the A's, it's going to be a one-for-one trade. The Indians will be parting with a player not on their 40-man roster for Moss, who has hit 76 of his 91 career homers in the last three years for the A's.

Second baseman Joe Wendle could be the player headed to Oakland. He is one of the several young players the A's have asked about. Wendle missed much of last season with a broken hamate bone in his right hand.

The A's are in need of a big-league shortstop because Jed Lowrie filed for free agency. It does not appear they'll get one from the Indians, who ended last season with Jose Ramirez, 22, as their starting shortstop, Francisco Lindor, 21, right behind him at Class AAA Columbus and Erik Gonzalez, 23, right behind him at Class AA Akron.

Ramirez and Gonzalez are on the 40-man roster. Lindor isn't, but the Indians consider him their top prospect and all but untouchable.

The Indians are looking for more run production. Last season they didn't receive what was expected from several players including Nick Swisher, Jason Kipnis, Ryan Raburn, Michael Bourn and David Murphy.

They ranked seventh in the AL in runs scored. After the All-Star break, they hit .249 as a team and averaged just 3.7 runs per game. They managed to go 38-30 because the pitching staff posted a 3.03 ERA.

Moss hit .234 last season with 25 homers and 66 RBI. He's a left-handed hitter, which brings frustrated sighs of from some Indians fans because they think GM Chris Antonetti has gone left-handed crazy regarding the lineup. Progressive Field, however, favors the left-handed power hitter.

Last season, according to The Bill James Handbook, Indians right-handed hitters hit only 19 of the team's 72 homers at home. The Indians and the opposing right-handers hit just 57 of the 144 total homers hit at Progressive Field last season.

Over the last three years, lefties have out-homered righties at Progressive Field, 279-179.

Moss has hit only two homers at Progressive Field.

It's unclear if Moss, 31, will be ready for spring training. He underwent surgery on his right hip in October after struggling following an All-Star first half.

The addition of Moss would make for a crowded outfield/first base/DH situation. It means Antonetti might have to make an additional trade to make sure Moss would get regular playing time.

Indians To Acquire Brandon Moss
By Jeff Todd [December 8, 2014 at 11:15am CST]

11:30am: The deal sending Moss to the Indians is done, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter links). Wendle is indeed the return.

11:15am: The Athletics and Indians are “on the verge” of a deal that would send slugger Brandon Moss to Cleveland, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports on Twitter.

Moss, 31, is projected by MLBTR/Matt Swartz to earn $7.1MM this year, his second-to-last of arbitration eligibility. The corner outfielder/first baseman/DH is an accomplished power bat, with a 135 OPS+ and 76 home runs over the last three years. But those figures have trended downward, Moss’s value is limited by his poor defense in the outfield, and he has dealt with a significant hip issue that required offseason surgery.

UPDATE: Brandon Moss traded to the Indians

UPDATE: Jeff Passan reports that the deal is done. Moss has been traded from the A’s to the Indians for infielder Joe Wendle. Who turns 25 in April, has never been above Double-A and is already a 2B/DH, which doesn’t bode well for his long term chances, but there you go.

12:21 PM: It was big talk for a few days, then sort of died, but Buster Olney says that a trade between the Indians and the A’s involving Brandon Moss is “on the verge: of going down.

The A’s are reportedly targeting a young middle infielder in the deal, and if the Indians get Moss, you have to figure that Nick Swisher‘s days in Cleveland are over.

Brandon Moss to Indians: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction
By Adam Wells , Featured Columnist
Dec 8, 2014


Given the lack of power bats available in free agency this offseason, Brandon Moss was one of the most viable trade candidates for the Oakland Athletics. General manager Billy Beane took advantage of the opportunity to deal the first baseman.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Moss will take the 76 home runs he's hit over the last three years to the Cleveland Indians in return for second-base prospect Joey Wendle:

The fact that Moss got traded isn't a surprise. Beane appears to be rebuilding the A's this winter, having already dealt All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson to Toronto, though Bleacher Report's Scott Miller noted there may have been more happening behind the scenes with that surprise move.

Rumors of a potential Moss trade started on December 3, with John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reporting that Cleveland had inquired about the availability of the 31-year-old.

The A's may have been looking to move Moss for two reasons, aside from trying to get younger. He's projected to make $7.1 million through arbitration next season, per Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com, and is coming off a season in which he had his worst slash line in three years with Oakland (.234/.334/.438).

However, those numbers can be attributed to a hip issue that required offseason surgery. Hickey reported on October 23 that Moss' recovery time is expected to be three months.


Moss told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle in late September that he was playing through it during the year and it was worse than initially thought.

"It was worse that we thought it would be," said Moss. "The [cortisone] shot should help me get through the rest of the season, but it won't fix it."

If Moss is able to return to his 2012-13 levels, the Indians will be getting a player who posted a .269/.345/.550 slash line with 51 home runs, per FanGraphs. His projected $7.1 million salary would look like a bargain if that's what he ends up becoming again.

At the very least, Moss has proved himself to be a potent power hitter. Even with the injury last year, he hit 25 home runs in Oakland's cavernous stadium. Getting him out of that environment could push him into 30-35 homer territory, which makes it easy to live with a low batting average.

Sources: A’s trade Brandon Moss to Indians

By Jeff Passan 4 minutes ago Yahoo Sports


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In his three seasons with Oakland, Brandon Moss hit 76 home runs. (Getty Images)

In his three seasons with Oakland, Brandon Moss hit 76 home runs. (Getty Images)
The Oakland A’s traded slugger Brandon Moss to the Cleveland Indians for minor league second baseman Joey Wendle, completing a deal Monday morning that had been widely anticipated for nearly a week, sources told Yahoo Sports.

Moss, 31, is coming off hip surgery following a down second half but brings a potentially powerful bat that the Indians desired. Over his three seasons in Oakland, Moss hit .254/.340/.504 with 76 home runs. He is expected to receive a raise into the $7 million range via arbitration and is under team control for two more seasons.

Wendle is a 24-year-old second baseman drafted by Cleveland in the sixth round in 2012. After their go-for-it deals last season didn’t pan out, the A’s entered this offseason looking to overhaul their team, first with the signing of DH Billy Butler and then the trade of third baseman Josh Donaldson for Brett Lawrie and three prospects.

Cleveland, too, could make further moves, particularly with the logjam now at first base and DH, with Moss, Carlos Santana and Nick Swisher. The Indians, sources said, have sought controllable starting pitching, even with Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, T.J. House and Danny Salazar all set to make near the league minimum this season and Carlos Carrasco in his first arbitration season.

as reported at the Indians website:



SAN DIEGO -- The Indians wasted no time in making some noise at this year's Winter Meetings. On Monday morning, Cleveland finalized a trade with Oakland to land slugger Brandon Moss in exchange for Minor League infield prospect Joe Wendle.
Indians general manager Chris Antonetti is scheduled to meet with reporters on Monday afternoon.



One of Cleveland's goals for this winter was to add an impact bat, and Moss comes with the kind of power that the Indians are interested in injecting into their offense.

Moss is a left-handed slugger with the ability to belt 20-plus home runs and the versatility to handle first base or right field. He can play a similar role to that of Cleveland's Nick Swisher, who will head into Spring Training on the comeback trail after August surgery on both knees. Given Swisher's uncertain status, Moss could offer some insurance for the Tribe.

"The addition of Brandon Moss provides our offense with a proven run-producer and power bat for the heart of our order," Antonetti said in a release. "Brandon not only has great power, but his defensive versatility and personality also complement the team culture [manager Terry Francona] has helped establish over the past two years."

Moss is eligible for arbitration for the second time after earning $4.1 million last year, and he is under contractual control through at least the 2016 campaign.

Last season, the 31-year-old Moss turned in a .234/.334/.438 slash line to go along with 25 home runs and 81 RBIs in 147 games. In the American League Wild Card Game against the Royals, Moss had two home runs and five RBIs for a historic showing in Oakland's extra-innings loss. He made the All-Star team with a strong first half, but faded over the final two months of the season, batting .162 with a .575 OPS in that span.

One factor behind Moss' second-half issues was the fact that he was playing through a right hip injury.

On Oct. 21, Moss underwent surgery on his right hip in Nashville, Tenn., where Dr. Thomas Byrd performed the procedure. The expectation is that Moss will be able to resume running drills by January, putting him on target to be ready for the beginning of the season.

In 2013, Moss hit .256 with 30 home runs, 87 RBIs and an .859 OPS in 145 games for the A's, who signed him as a free agent prior to the 2012 season. In his first year with Oakland, he hit 21 homers and posted a .954 OPS in only 84 games. Moss has a .248/.326/.460 slash line in parts of eight Major League seasons with Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Oakland.

From 2012-14, Moss' rate of one home run per 15.93 at-bats ranked ninth in the Majors among the 159 batters with at least 1,300 plate appearances. Moss (76 home runs) is one of 30 batters to belt at least 70 homers in that time period, but he has the fewest plate appearances among that select group.

Moss played for Francona during the 2007-08 seasons with the Red Sox.

Moss gives Cleveland another right-field option to go along with David Murphy, Ryan Raburn and Swisher (if he is cleared by the medical staff to help in the outfield). At first base, Carlos Santana projects to be the starting option, though Swisher and Moss both have plenty of experience at the position. Francona could also get creative with his use of the designated-hitter role to help the positional glut.

Indians supposedly interested in Justin Upton. That would be an inspired addition but he is a one year rental.

Upton interest might have been before Moss trade.

FOX Sports' Jon Morosi reports that teams have asked the Indians about Carlos Santana.
But Morosi notes that there is no deal on the horizon. Santana is under contract through 2017 at a reasonable rate, so it's doubtful the Indians would part with him unless overwhelmed by an offer. The 28-year-old had 27 home runs and 85 RBI in 2014. Cleveland does have a logjam of DH and first base types with the recent addition of Brandon Moss, but moving Santana could be a big offensive downgrade for a team looking to compete in 2015.


Source: Jon Morosi on Twitter
Dec 8 - 4:04 PM

Moss hopes Progressive Field is a better fit than Oakland

Joe Reedy. FOX Sports Ohio

DEC 08, 2014 10:52p ET

SAN DIEGO -- One of Brandon Moss' initial reactions to getting traded by Oakland to Cleveland is that he doesn't have to call the O.coColiseum his home park anymore.

"I'll be honest, other than it being our home stadium -- I love the fans there -- I hated playing at the Coliseum. It killed me as a hitter," Moss said on Monday a couple hours after the trade became official. "You don't get rewarded for fly balls unless you absolutely crush the ball. It's just a tough place to play, so I'm really excited about playing in a park where I've had some success. I've always enjoyed playing there."

Over the past three seasons, Moss has hit 32 points better on the road. He had a .232/.317/.459 slash line at home compared to .274/.361/.544 in road games. This past season he had a .197 average at The Coliseum.

During his career Moss has a .324 average (11 for 34) with two home runs and 10 RBI at Progressive Field. While nine games is a small sample size, he is mainly a fly ball pitcher, which hits in with the park's profile.

According to STATS LLC, Moss had the second-lowest ground ball to fly ball ratio last year (.71). He is also extremely patient, seeing an average of 4.06 pitches per plate appearance, which was 11th in the American League.

"We think he fits our ballpark very well and his power plays to our ballpark," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. "The thing we wanted to do is get a bat that impacted our lineup and Brandon has a track record of being a very productive middle of the order hitter especially when he has been healthy."

Moss' health remains a little bit of a question. On Oct. 21 he had hip surgery after being bothered by it during the second half of the season. Dr. Thomas Byrd in Nashville performed the surgery, which was to repair a torn labrum and clean up some cartilage instead of having to get a more invasive microfracture procedure.

Moss is not scheduled to begin running into January but indications remain that he should be prepared for the start of the season. He said he is on a conservative rehab plan but that he hasn't done much running during the offseason anyways.

"You don't do a lot of running for distance anyway when it comes to baseball. Everything is quick bursts, so that's the way I do my offseason training, especially with weights and everything," Moss said. "There's no need to train for something you're not going to do. I expect to do that in January and then I guess everything after that is a progression."

Moss said that the hip started to bother him in early May and by late in the season he couldn't hit off his front leg. During the second half of last season, Moss batted .173.

Added Antonetti: "We spent a lot of time on that. He got the procedure performed by one of the best hip doctors in the country in Dr. Byrd. Prognosis for recovery is good with a high success rate. It has gone very well and according to plan. The expectation is he will be ready by the start of the season or shortly thereafter."

Everyone thought that the deal would be done late last week but Antonetti said that a variety of trade scenarios was explored. In the end it ended up being a one-for-one deal with second baseman Joey Wendle headed to Oakland.

Antonetti said talks between the clubs happened after last month's General Managers meetings and began to heat up the last week or two.

"It's been a difficult market to acquire a power hitter," Antonetti said. "We thought the deal for Brandon made sense. We are getting one of the better power hitters in the game. It was a difficult trade for us since we are giving up a lot in Joey Wendle. It's an area though where we had depth in the organization."

In projecting the lineup, Moss looks to be a good fit at designated hitter, but he has versatility at first and the corner outfield spots. Antonetti said the plan is to make sure he is a regular part of the lineup. If it is out in the field, that might be in right field with David Murphy. Right is becoming a bit of a logjam with Murphy, Ryan Raburn, Nick Swisher and now Moss which could mean another deal might be on the horizon.

Besides being familiar with Terry Francona, who was his manager in Boston in 2007-08, Moss is excited to be coming to the Indians. He noted that this group reminds him of the group that was in Oakland in 2012 and '13 that began to gel.

Added Moss about the Indians: "They've got some great arms. They have the Cy Young Award winner (Corey Kluber), which is pretty awesome. I faced the guy that finished runner-up to him a lot (Felix Hernandez). To beat out that guy, you've got to have a pretty special year. And that lineup -- I think it's a great lineup. You can go around the field. There's quality bats everywhere."

Jose Ramirez (Photo: Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

So what does Cleveland have in Jose Ramirez?

Despite his breakout 2014, Ramirez still profiles as an average guy going forward

By Jim Piascik

December 9, 2014

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As the hot stove season heats up, it seems the Cleveland player eliciting the most decisive opinions is Jose Ramirez.

Which raises the question: just what does Cleveland have in Jose Ramirez?

We know what Ramirez has done as a major leaguer. After playing the role of plus-baserunning sparkplug off of the bench down the stretch in the playoff race in 2013, Ramirez spent the first part of the 2014 season in Columbus waiting his turn. Following the trade of Asdrubal Cabrera to the Nationals at the trade deadline, Ramirez assumed the role of everyday shortstop and ran with it.

The results for Ramirez were striking. The shortstop -- competing in just his age-21 season -- put up 1.8 fWAR and rWAR, while also being +7.0 runs in Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and +4.0 runs in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). The pleasant combination was easy to see and a sight for sore eyes.

Ramirez finished fourth in rWAR among Cleveland position players (and fifth in fWAR) and was one of the very few players on the team who rated out positively on defense in 2014.

Naturally, given Ramirez’s youth and the way he came on strong at the major league level, the 22-year-old looks like a building block for years to come.

But it might not be that simple.

The flaws with defensive metrics

Scouting reports have long dinged Ramirez on defense, not seeing him as a player who really stands out as someone who can handle shortstop over the long haul. Being competent at shortstop has its value, but Ramirez seemed to surge past that in 2014.

The problem is, while Ramirez handled shortstop quite well last year, that does not necessarily mean he will continue doing that going forward.

The current, publically-available fielding metrics we have do a pretty good job of determining what happened on the field in a given year, but in order to say with some certainty what a player’s true-talent fielding ability is, we need something approaching a three-year sample. With Ramirez, all we have right now is less than one-half of a season at shortstop.

Given that the scouting reports on Ramirez question his ability as an elite defender -- painting him more as a steady guy -- it appears last year was more of a hot streak in the field as opposed to some huge step forward. In fact, buying all of Ramirez’s performance in the field last year per DRS means believing he is at the same level as J.J. Hardy, the guy who has won three Gold Gloves in a row.

And by UZR, it means believing Ramirez is as good as Andrelton Simmons. It is possible Ramirez is more of an above-average fielder at shortstop than an adequate one, but realistically, quite a bit of regression should be coming for the 22-year-old. He just is not going to stay on Simmons level over the long run.

Ramirez’s WAR totals in half of a season last year look really good, but a lot of that value is coming from his great defense in 2014. But if that takes a few steps back -- as it looks like it should -- it will seriously hurt Ramirez in the future.

They know that Lindor’s on his way

So if we expect Ramirez to fall back toward the pack defensively, it only makes sense that he will lose the job once Francisco Lindor gets the call to the major leagues. There is no timetable set in stone for that happening, but it should be somewhere in the May-June range, once the organization deems the top prospect ready to take over.

With Lindor’s arrival definitely pushing Ramirez out of the everyday shortstop role, the 22-year-old will have to get his playing time elsewhere. While he could play second base, the reality is most teams (the Marlins excluded) do not trade players they just gave long-term contracts. That, combined with the fact that Kipnis is a classic bounce back candidate, will probably keep Ramirez from spending significant time at second base in a Cleveland uniform.

In theory, Ramirez could move to third base -- where he would almost certainly be an upgrade defensively over Lonnie Chisenhall, but offensively, his bat would probably leave something to be desired. The 22-year-old’s .262/.300/.346 line, .084 isolated power, and 85 wRC+ stacks up well enough at shortstop, but moving to the hot corner causes some problems.
Ramirez essentially hit like a league-average shortstop in 2014, but if he were to start spending time at third base, he would be significantly below-average. While the Royals’ World Series run put the spotlight back on defense, teams still need to hit. Ramirez would help defensively at third base, but for a team looking for a few upgrades on offense, moving the 22-year-old to third base would be a step backward at the plate.

Flying high like Altuve, struggling like Segura, or staying the path?

Ramirez hit well enough to rack up some value in 2014, but going forward, how he does offensively will be heavily influenced by his luck on balls in play. Due to Ramirez’s low-strikeout, low-walk, high-contact, and low-power approach, the 22-year-old puts a lot of balls in play while not driving the ball for extra base hits all that frequently.

When Ramirez is sitting right around league-average in BABIP, like last year, he posts a below-average yet acceptable offensive season for an up-the-middle player. But BABIP can be a fickle thing.

A player with a similar offensive profile to Ramirez in 2014 was Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, he of the league-leading .341 batting average and 135 wRC+. Of course, Altuve was very heavily helped by his .360 BABIP, and the year before his elite 2014, he posted a 85 wRC+ and below-average 1.2 fWAR.

On the other side of the coin, another player with a similar offensive profile to Ramirez in 2014 was Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jean Segura, who saw his BABIP sink to .275, and thus, his wRC+ to 67 and his fWAR to an essentially replacement level 0.3.

It is possible Ramirez can hit like Altuve from time to time -- which would make him a fringe MVP candidate -- and it is possible he can sink down to Segura’s level, which makes him borderline unplayable. But it is more likely he will stay on his current path, which leaves him as a roughly average player going forward.

There is nothing wrong with having league-average players on a team -- in fact, they are very necessary -- but Ramirez will soon be a league-average player without a regular position. It is possible that Ramirez could have a season like Altuve in him, but it is also possible he has a Segura-like season in him as well.

The likely result will be in the middle -- also known as Ramirez’s 2014 without the elite defense -- which is something that does not quite fit into Cleveland’s future plans. That is why, if a trade presents itself that fill one of the organization’s other holes -- like for a power hitter like Brandon Moss or some kind of right-handed threat like Yoenis Cespedes -- Ramirez should not be untouchable, even with his years of team control and minimum salary through the 2017 season.

If you want to follow Jim on Twitter, he’s @JimPiascik. If you want to e-mail him, you can do so at jpiasci1@gmail.com. If you want to read his Master's thesis on college athletes and Twitter, you can do so here.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Moss will take the 76 home runs he's hit over the last three years to the Cleveland Indians

Well if it's as simple as that, let's just sign Barry Bonds.

Baseball typists, sheesh.

Moss has missed 107 games over the last 3 seasons yet he has hit enough homers in each of the last 3 seasons that he would have ranked 1st or 2nd on the team each year. If healthy he will definitely be bringing us some homers.

Preparation key to shoring up Indians' defense

Improving offense, adding pitching also remain on agenda for Meetings

SAN DIEGO --

More than anything, it was poor defense that cost the Indians the chance to reach the postseason for the second consecutive year last season. Finding ways to clean up issues in the field has been a priority for the club this winter.

If the Indians head into Spring Training with the same infield alignment they used at the end of last season -- a distinct possibility right now -- then the challenge exists within the preparation. That is why general manager Chris Antonetti, manager Terry Francona and other members of the front office and coaching staff have discussed ideas for improving Spring Training workouts.
"We have room for improvement," Francona said on Wednesday, during the third day of the Winter Meetings. "Our defense was kind of our Achilles' heel last year. When you give teams extra outs or extra opportunities, it makes it more difficult to win. It doesn't mean you can't win, but it makes it harder."

The Indians headed into this offseason with three primary goals: add an impact bat, improve the depth of the pitching staff and tidy up the defense. The Tribe addressed the first issue on Monday with the acquisition of slugger Brandon Moss in a trade with Oakland and the team is in the process of exploring trades and second-tier free agents for its pitching needs.

The defense dilemma is more difficult to solve.

Barring a trade or two, Cleveland projects to open 2015 with Carlos Santana at first base, Jason Kipnis at second, Jose Ramirez at shortstop and Lonnie Chisenhall at third base. That is the same infield at the end of last year, when the club ranked last in the Majors in Ultimate Zone Rating (minus 72.4), Defensive Runs Saved (minus 75) and errors (116).

Antonetti is quick to note, however, that the defense improved in the second half of last season after Santana shifted from third base to first and Ramirez took over as the full-time shortstop. Many of Cleveland's issues occurred earlier in the year, when Nick Swisher handled first, Santana was in an experiment at third and Asdrubal Cabrera was at short.

"We believe that that group of players is better defensively than we performed as a whole last year," Antonetti said. "I think our defense got markedly better in the second half in the infield."

Among American League shortstops with at least 400 defensive innings last year, Ramirez ranked first in UZR/150 (18.9). Cabrera, who was traded to the Nationals before the non-waiver Trade Deadline, had a minus 10.5 UZR/150 in 2014. Swisher posted a minus 18.4 UZR/150 at first base, but did not play a game there after July 19. Santana (minus 39.5 UZR/150 at third) did not play the hot corner after May 22.

The two players in need of the most improvement for 2015 are Kipnis and Chisenhall.

"Carlos did a good job at first base in his time there," Antonetti said. "Jose Ramirez was great -- everything we could possibly have asked for at shortstop. The places we've talked about are Lonnie and Kip kind of getting back more closely to where they were in 2013, rather than the way they performed in '14."

Kipnis has seen his UZR/150 rating decline in each of the past two seasons, dropping to minus 6.3 in 2013 and minus 9.7 in '14 after posting a 2.1 rating in '12. Chisenhall turned in a minus 4.6 UZR/150 for the Indians at third base in 2013 and then declined to a minus 15 rating last season. Both Kipnis and Chisenhall ranked 10th out of 11 qualified AL defenders at their respective position last year.

Antonetti noted that the Indians have worked with Kipnis on developing an offseason training plan that is more focused on agility and quickness. As for Chisenhall, the GM said finding a level of consistency is the key.

The Indians also plan on changing some things this spring.

"We weren't really happy with our team defense last year as a whole," Francona said. "That was something that we fought from Day 1 and kind of interfered with some of our trying to win a lot of games. So, that was something that we really want to try to work on in Spring Training: overall team defense."

Two ideas Francona and the Tribe's staff have come up with are seeing plays to completion and taking grounders in defensive-shift situations.

An example of the first concept would be working on a run-down only if a play during the workout led to a run-down -- the goal being an increased level of unpredictability. The second idea would help simulate in-game defensive shifts, rather than having a fielder stand in the same spot for a stream of ground balls. The Indians are still working on other ideas as well.

"We're going to try as much as we can to have live drills," Francona said. "You have to pick your spots, because you can't have three live drills a day or you're going to kill guys. They'll have sore arms. But, we'll try to also have drills where we run them to completion."

Francona believes that approach can help improve upon what is already in place.

"I think we have guys that can play better than we did statistically last year," he said.

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, and follow him on Twitter @MLBastian. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.