Mediocre’s finest

What’s the deal with the Indians? All evidence pointed to the team, at a very minimum, making the playoffs this season. The team was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, for Pete’s sake. Yet, the end of the season, the club sits at 81-80, and, despite a third straight winning season, is once again eliminated from the playoffs (and, of course, from World Series contention). The team isn’t even going to bother to make up a postponed game against the Detroit Tigers.

Now team President Mark Shapiro, who has been in the organization for 24 years, is whisking his vision away to the uber-talented Toronto Blue Jays at the end of the 2014-2015 season, and a replacement is not known at the time. Shapiro helped lead the Indians to two World Series towards the end of the 90’s, and has orchestrated countless brilliant moves for the organization, including flipping two players nearing the end of their careers for fan favorites Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo, exchanging two prospects who never found their place in the MLB for Travis “Pronk” Hafner, and even trading future Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips. An unfathomable trade at the time, the Indians went on to win that deal by a landslide. Lee went on to win the same award just three years after Colon, Sizemore became a fan favorite and perennial All-Star before losing his battle to injuries, and Brandon Phillips, although on the Cincinnati Reds, remains a top-tier infielder even today.

Yet none of these moves, no matter how stunningly lopsided, brought a championship to Cleveland. No, even with all these trades, the Indians still have only managed to make the playoffs once in the last seven years, losing to the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card game in 2013. In fact, the last time the Indians won a World Series was 1948. That team was stacked with Hall of Famers including Bob Feller, Larry Doby and player-manager Lou Boudreau, and was considerably better than our team today.

What needs to be done to get the Indians out of this eternal limbo of mediocrity? Here’s a couple suggestions:

INCREASE RUN SUPPORT: This year, the Indians have ranked in the bottom half of the MLB in runs, RBIs and home runs. This was the most prevalent issue all season, as pointed out by last year’s Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber’s record. By the statbook, Kluber has immensely regressed, falling from 18-9 to a horrendous 8-16. However, stats don’t show the whole story. In Kluber’s 16 losses this season, the Indians have averaged a measly two runs per game, giving Kluber no room for error in his pitching. In addition, the Indians have lost multiple games in which Kluber threw double-digits strikeouts. To get his first win of the season, Kluber had to pitch a one-hit shutout with 18 strikeouts, (against the MLB-best St. Louis Cardinals no less) which tied the aforementioned Bob Feller’s franchise record.

SPLASH THE CASH: Last offseason, the Indians had plenty of money to spend, ranking in the bottom five of the league in salary. Despite this, the team proceeded to sign just a minor league relief pitcher and a starting pitcher, Gavin Floyd, for $4 million. This seems to be a common theme, as the team has not signed a marquee, or at least big name, free agent since the disaster in 2012.

During said offseason, the team spent a combined $104 million on hometown hero Nick Swisher and the speedy Michael Bourn, neither of whom, to say the least, have turned out to be worth the money.

Both were dealt in a package deal to Atlanta last month for IF Chris Johnson. Obviously, since, the team has been much more conservative with its funds, but now is the time to make it rain. This year’s class of free agents is the most talented in recent memory, headlined by ace pitchers like David Price and Johnny Cueto, to big bats like Yoenis Cespedes and Chris Davis, to young talents like Jason Heyward and Justin Upton. The market has answers for any need, and the Indians need to pounce on the offer presented in front of them.

DEVELOP THE YOUTH: Cleveland has some very promising prospects at all different positions, all of whom are ready to step up when called. That was demonstrated this season; IF Francisco Lindor replaced Jose Ramirez very nicely, and IF Giovany Urshela replaced Lonnie Chisenhall just as well when Chisenhall struggled early and mid-season. The Indians also traded for OF Abraham Almonte, one of the most sought-after prospects in baseball. The team’s minor league affiliates are stacked with potential as well, including pitchers Brady Aiken (former number one overall pick) and Rob Kaminsky (acquired in exchange for slugger Brandon Moss) and outfielders Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier (both top 40 prospects in MLB, as ranked by MiLB.com). If the Indians develop these talents and help them reach their potential, the club will have the opportunity to build a dynasty around these young stars.

There’s the recipe for success. If the Indians follow these steps, they should be able to make the playoffs next year and for years to come. Maybe they’ll win the division for the first time since 2007. Maybe they’ll end Cleveland’s 51 year title drought. Only time will tell.