I'm really looking forward to this upcoming season. I'm pretty confident we can win the AL Central. Opening day (hopefully a mild one weather-wise) should be a great time whether you're at the ballpark or just hanging out downtown.
I can't wait to see what this team can do with an elite hitter and getting all our guys back healthy..could be a scary run for the competition
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Brantley was supposed to be able to start "baseball activities" after Christmas. There have also been media / blogger reports that his injury and subsequent surgery were "horrific", which the Indians have denied. But I've yet to hear any updates on his progress ...
Holding my breath with fingers crossed for Brantley's healthy return, because he along with Encarnacion are what will make this a formidable line-up.
Earlier this offseason, the Cleveland Indians signed designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion to a three-year pact worth $60 million -- the largest contract handed out in franchise history. It stood to reason the Indians wouldn't make another big move this winter -- at least not via the free-agent market.
Yet according to Ken Rosenthal, the Indians are continuing to keep tabs on various free agents -- including, believe it or not, Encarnacion's former teammate Jose Bautista:
While the signing of free-agent first baseman Edwin Encarnacion pushed the club beyond its expected payroll limit, team officials are staying in touch with a number of free agents, according to major-league sources.
The list of potential targets includes relievers, corner infielders and corner outfielders, sources said; even Jose Bautista might not be out of the question if his price drops to a point where the front office feels comfortable presenting a contract proposal for ownership's approval.
Rosenthal notes that the Indians are not guaranteed to do anything, and this seems like a situation where the front office is simply remaining opportunistic in case the right situation arises. Nonetheless, it's an exciting note for Cleveland fans -- particularly those concerned about left fielder Michael Brantley's health.
Of course, while Bautista's price tag is likely to be out of Cleveland's reach, you do wonder if the idea of reuniting with Encarnacion and -- more importantly -- chasing a World Series ring could entice Bautista to sign a cheaper one-year deal. There's no telling if that's even a slim possibility, but it's something to dream on -- and perhaps something to ponder if you're Bautista, whose market seems limited to bargain-seekers.
Whether or not the Indians sign Bautista or anyone else of note, you have to respect their front office's aggressiveness. You get only so many shots at winning the World Series -- it's best to make the most of 'em while you have 'em.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Blue Jays, Jose Bautista Nearing Agreement January 16th, 2017 at 9:38am CST • By Connor Byrne 9:38am: A one-year deal is also still a consideration, as are other scenarios tweets Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. Heyman tweets that the current expectation is that the two sides will agree to a deal worth about $37MM over two years, though there’s nothing final. Both the Indians and Rays have bid on Bautista recently as well.
9:15am: Passan reports that the two sides are in the final stages of working out an agreement that will pay Bautista close to $40MM over a two-year term.
7:50am: Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports hears that the two sides are discussing a two-year contract (Twitter link). FOX’s Ken Rosenthal agrees, tweeting that Bautista and the Jays are discussing a two-year pact in the $35-40MM range. That’s a departure from Passan’s report, though it should be noted that Passan’s tweets were around 2am, so there’s certainly been enough time for talks to have changed course.
JAN. 16, 7:13am: Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that the two sides have discussed multiple iterations of a deal but are currently focused on a one-year pact (Twitter links). A deal isn’t quite done yet, but each side is optimistic that something will be completed.
JAN. 15: The Blue Jays have emerged as the front-runners for free agent right fielder Jose Bautista‘s services and are nearing an agreement with the slugger, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (Twitter link). Details regarding the potential pact aren’t yet known, but Toronto hadn’t been willing to give the Octagon/Jay Alou client a deal worth more than the one-year, $17.2MM qualifying offer as of late December.
Jose Bautista (vertical)
Bautista has been on the open market since rejecting a qualifying offer from Toronto in November, though the 36-year-old’s venture into free agency hasn’t gone according to plan. Despite serving as one of the majors’ foremost offensive weapons since an out-of-nowhere breakout in 2010, serious interest in Bautista has been scarce this offseason. Bautista has been willing to consider a one-year deal as a result, but it seems having to surrender a first-round pick to sign him has scared off potential suitors.
It also hasn’t helped Bautista’s cause that he’s coming off a disappointing season, one that featured multiple stints on the disabled list and an offensive decline. While Bautista hit a more-than-respectable .234/.366/.452 with 22 home runs in 517 plate appearances, those numbers represented a stark drop-off from the ones he has typically posted as a Blue Jay. After toiling in anonymity with various teams from 2004-09, Bautista slashed a stellar .268/.390/.555 with 227 homers as a Jay between 2010-15.
Thanks to that otherworldly six-year run, Bautista was reportedly seeking a half-decade-long extension worth $150MM last winter. Toronto unsurprisingly balked at that asking price, and the club’s decision was clearly wise given Bautista’s production in 2016. It’ll look that much better if the team is able to bring back Bautista at what should be a palatable price on a short-term contract.
The Blue Jays have already lost one of the longtime faces of their franchise, first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, to free agency this offseason. Encarnacion landed in Cleveland, which knocked the Jays out of the playoffs last year and has also shown interest in Bautista. But it doesn’t appear the two will reunite this offseason, which is welcome news to a Jays club that’s in dire need of corner outfield help.
Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource is currently projecting that the light-hitting Ezequiel Carrera will man Bautista’s spot in right, while free agent pickup Steve Pearce is slated to start in left. Pearce is far better suited for first base, though, and the Jays could stand to upgrade over Justin Smoak there. Re-upping Bautista would enable them to shift Pearce and their most significant offseason acquisition to date, Kendrys Morales, between first and designated hitter and perhaps platoon Carrera and Melvin Upton Jr. in left.
While retaining Bautista would be a boon to Toronto’s offense (and likely the morale of its fans), he does come with drawbacks. In addition to his offensive regression last season, Bautista continued to fall off in the field, as he finished with negative grades in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-6) and Ultimate Zone Rating (minus-5.6) for the second year in a row. He also failed to provide value on the base paths, making Bautista a one-dimensional player at this stage of his career. That dimension is rather effective, though, and is apparently going to lead him back to Toronto, where he’s an icon. Keeping Bautista will cost the Jays the compensatory first-round pick they’d have netted had he headed elsewhere, but the club seemingly values what he could bring in future years more than that selection.
I am just amazed that we were still in on Bautista. I suspect that we will still be looking for a piece here or there.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
One thing that struck me as really kinda funny is that our former executive. Mark Shapiro, went to the Blue Jays just in time for us to take Encarnacion away from him.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Josh Tomlin is a lock to win the 2017 AL Cy Young.
You hear that cfrs?
He's been working all off season on a slow/fast curve ball/slurve ball pitch.
And word is he can bring it to the plate at 79 1/2 mph!
Don't show them too much Josh.
79 1/2? thats a half a mph faster than his fastball..lol.. I call PEDS
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeyman 33m33 minutes ago More austin jackson has a deal with the indians. $1.5M base on minors deal off injury year, plus $4M incentives
Sources: Cleveland Indians to host 2019 MLB All-Star Game at Progressive Field
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- There's a mid-to-late-'90s vibe emerging at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
The Indians will hold a press conference on Friday morning to announce that they will host the 2019 MLB All-Star Game at Progressive Field, multiple sources told cleveland.com. The city last hosted the sport's Midsummer Classic in 1997, in the middle of a storied (albeit title-less) era in the franchise's history.
In that 1997 exhibition, Tribe catcher Sandy Alomar captured the Most Valuable Player Award for his go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning, which vaulted the American League to a 3-1 victory. The Indians have hosted the All-Star Game on four other occasions, as well. In 1935, 1954, 1963 and 1981, the contest took place at Municipal Stadium.
The 2019 game will mark the sixth in Cleveland. No other franchise has hosted more, and only New York and Chicago -- areas with multiple teams -- have hosted more as a city.
The selection of Progressive Field will snap a string of four consecutive National League sites chosen to host the event. The Marlins will accommodate the league's top talent at this year's game. The Nationals will host next year's game. The Twins were the last AL team to host the affair. They did so at Target Field in 2014.
Since the last time the Indians hosted, the majority of their AL adversaries have also taken a turn.
1999: Boston
2001: Seattle
2003: Chicago White Sox
2004: Houston (an NL club, at the time)
2005: Detroit
2008: New York Yankees
2010: Los Angeles Angels
2012: Kansas City Royals
2014: Minnesota Twins
The Orioles hosted the All-Star Game in 1993, the year after Baltimore began play at Camden Yards. The Blue Jays hosted the game in 1991. The Rangers last hosted in 1995, though they are expected to open a new ballpark in 2020.
The Rays have never hosted the affair at Tropicana Field since their inception in 1998. The Athletics last hosted in 1987, but they remain in need of a new facility.
The Indians have made a series of sweeping renovations to Progressive Field over the last few years. They eliminated thousands of seats in right field and behind home plate, as they installed a large bar and drink rails and an enclosed gathering area for season-ticket holders. They cleared out some of the foundation on the main concourse to improve the view of the field for those walking around the ballpark. They also welcomed a slew of local vendors to the venue.
The club's attendance, seemingly stuck in the mud for a handful of years, ultimately increased last season. It certainly helped that the team captured its first division title in nine years and advanced to Game 7 of the World Series, the club's first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1997.
The Indians anticipate another attendance boost in 2017. The club sold several hundred season-ticket packages following the free-agent addition of three-time All-Star Edwin Encarnacion.
The Indians' next-door neighbors, the Cavaliers, are planning $140 million worth of renovations to Quicken Loans Arena over the next few years. The Cavs are expected to land an NBA All-Star Game in the near-future as well. The Cavs also last hosted the star-studded affair in 1997.
The Indians sent three players to the All-Star Game in 2016: Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar and Francisco Lindor. Salazar did not pitch because of a tender right arm. Kluber earned the victory, which merited the AL home-field advantage in the World Series. That All-Star Game wrinkle was eliminated in the latest collective bargaining agreement.
This is great news. I listened to the presser about the All-Star game today on 92.3FM. I've got my kids excited about it. Going to take them up for the Home-Run Derby and the All-Star game itself. Just two short years away!
Money still matters in major-league baseball. Sure, the small-market, low-payroll Cleveland Indians just made the World Series. And, sure, the small-market, low-budget Kansas City Royals won the World Series the year before, after making it the previous season. And while, sure, the relationship between money and wins did seem to be going down for a time, the capacity to spend has consistently helped a team’s chances — and, last season, the relationship between wins and money was quite strong. This is a generally troubling trend for a team like Cleveland. Nevertheless, the club has done very well to capitalize on the free-agent market and put themselves in good shape for next season.
While it might not be fair to say that Edwin Encarnacion fell into the team’s lap, it would be appropriate to note that, at the beginning of November, the prospect of Cleveland being able to afford Encarnacion didn’t seem realistic. Right after the World Series, I mapped Cleveland’s path back to the playoffs and presumed more modest intentions:
Cleveland doesn’t need to sign a load of free agents to contend again next season, and the expiring contracts of Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher serve as a reminder of what can happen when a club gives out multi-year contracts to middling players. Many of the pieces are already in place, and a few minor additions should bolster a roster ready to compete. With the Detroit Tigers sending signals they want to rebuild, the Kansas City Royals’ run potentially closing, the Chicago White Sox mired in perpetual mediocrity, and the Minnesota Twins licking their wounds from a very tough 2016 season, the Central division will be Cleveland’s to lose — and it might not take as many wins to get to the playoffs next year.
I mentioned names like Carlos Gomez, Matt Holliday, Austin Jackson, Jon Jay, Adam Lind, and Mike Napoli as players Cleveland could add to good effect. Instead, Cleveland went out and signed perhaps the best free-agent hitter available and had to commit only three years to do it. While the recent signing of Austin Jackson won’t make waves, he provides more flexibility in an outfield that could be usefully mixed and matched to provide average production despite a handful of seemingly below-average players. Against a right-handed batter, Cleveland can send out lefties Michael Brantley, Tyler Naquin, and Lonnie Chisenhall, while against lefties, they can sub two of those three for Austin Jackson and Brandon Guyer, maximizing the platoon advantage.
Last season, Cleveland won 94 games. By BaseRuns, they were roughly a 91-win team, so they didn’t have a fluky season. Putting together back-to-back 90-win campaigns with a payroll in the bottom half of the baseball is a difficult task — one that hasn’t been performed since Tampa Bay and Oakland did it in 2012 and 2013. With Cleveland’s additions, however, they’ve put themselves in very good shape to do so. The table below shows the production Cleveland got from each position last season, as well as the production those positions currently project for this season in our Depth Charts.
Cleveland in 2016 vs. 2017 Projections Position 2016 2017 Projection Difference C -0.5 2.4 2.9 1B 2.8 2.7 -0.1 2B 4.7 2.7 -2.0 SS 6.3 5.3 -1.0 3B 3.3 3.2 -0.1 RF 2.1 1.4 -0.7 CF 4.4 1.6 -2.8 LF 3.0 2.3 -0.7 DH 1.9 2.4 0.5 SP 13.8 17.2 3.4 RP 5.0 5.4 0.4 Total 46.8 46.6 -0.2
The projections call for a pretty sizable step back for Tyler Naquin, with Jason Kipnis losing some ground and Francisco Lindor slipping a little off his fantastic 2016 season. However, ZiPS is a bit more bullish on Kipnis and Lindor. Not-terrible production from Yan Gomes and little more health in the rotation makes up for any regression elsewhere. While it might not seem like putting together a roster that’s roughly as good as last year’s would amount to winning in the offseason, repeating as an elite team is difficult.
The graph below shows every team’s BaseRuns Wins from 2016 — essentially showing the production the team received after stripping out sequencing — plotted againt their current projected wins for 2017.
Most teams, like Cleveland, are clustered around the middle, projected to win roughly as many games as their production in 2016 indicated. Teams on the left side of the line are projected to take a step back while teams on the right side of the line are projected to move forward. That Cleveland appears set to remain the same, given the success of 2016, is a good thing. On average, teams that were above .500 by BaseRuns in 2016 lost a little over three wins per team, while teams below .500 gained around three wins per team. It’s a lot easier for poor teams to make moves forward. The Cubs and Red Sox recorded over 100 BaseRuns wins last season, and the Nationals were at 98, so some regression from those clubs is to be expected. Of the seven teams within five of Cleveland’s 91, five have lost ground this offseason, with only the behemoth that is the Los Angeles Dodgers gaining, and some of that might have to do with the expectation of good health from a rotation unlikely to provide it.
Cleveland did expunge around $13 million in dead money from the Michael Bourne and Nick Swisher contracts, including the amount they still owe for Chris Johnson, but they didn’t exactly have a ton of money compared to where they started 2016. Raises for their arbitration-eligible players and those who they’ve signed to long-term contracts added close to $26 million. Andrew Miller will make $9 million after costing one-third of that last season. Removing the salaries of Mike Napoli, Juan Uribe, and Rajai Davis, in addition to the dead money, means that Cleveland was already going to be over their Opening Day mark in 2016.
Signing Edwin Encarnacion indicates that the team was always going to use some of the profits generated by a World Series appearance, as well as the bump in attendance, on the on-field product. Austin Jackson, meanwhile, could provide just as much as Rajai Davis at a lesser cost. The team might not even be done with a bullpen addition potentially strengthening what should be one of the best bullpens in baseball. With the announcement that Cleveland will host the All-Star Game in 2019, the team got another piece of good news. If they can manage to contend until then, they will have one of the greatest runs in franchise history, recalling the late-90s teams that finished in first place five years in a row.
Cleveland exceeded expectations last season, they’ve exceeded expectations this winter, and that success has caused them to move past the times of exceeding expectations, as meeting them would be a tremendous success.
I think the Indians are going to miss Rajai Davis more then many think. He had a way of turning a walk or single into a double pretty quick. He did it 43 times last year. Adding in the 23 doubles he hit, that is 66 doubles in your line up.
Who doesn't want that??
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
I think the Indians are going to miss Rajai Davis more then many think. He had a way of turning a walk or single into a double pretty quick. He did it 43 times last year. Adding in the 23 doubles he hit, that is 66 doubles in your line up.
Who doesn't want that??
Yeah I agree. With all the good signings we've had, I think not bringing Rajai back was a mistake.
The sad truth is that not resigning Rajai Davis was not a mistake.
Every experienced Fantasy Baseball player will agree that it is highly unlikely for a 36 year-old to duplicate a career year. (2016 was the only time Davis led the league in stolen bases) Raj turns 37 this year.
And his on-base-percentage was a below average .306 (each of the last two years)
Extremely rare. A big drop-off in production is a virtual certainty.
Which rookie season was Hank Aaron? Which one was Tyler Naquin's?
And there was this.
It is possible this is just the beginning for Naquin.
lol comparing naquinn to Hank Aaron..come on now, Naquinn had an exceptional 1st half of the season, the second half he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat, not to mention he was below average fielding, I think Jackson will be opening day starter and naquinn will begin in columbus until he can get better discipline at the plate, I'd love to see him get some consistency in both the field and at the plate, last year was a great sample of what he can be and how much better he'll get as he gets more coaching.
Side note, Indians DFA'd Jesus Aguilar, thats surprising, dude hit a ton of HR at AAA and even lead the league last year..never really got a fair shake up at the show
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
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