What the hell are the Indians doing?

[tkraft24]

Just looking at strike outs is a pretty skewed way to judge the offense, don't you think? Here's a blog post that makes a decent argument:
http://www.theclevelandfan.com/cleve...h-mark-madness

I'm really happy with the moves they've made.....sure, they may have overpaid, but every ML quality starter in his prime gets overpaid. That's the business. The core of younger guys is with the organization now so they have to add some vets (***relevant vets) now or they might as well just blow the whole thing up and start from ground 0 with prospects.

[gladdyontherise]

No they aren't. Highly unlikely he'll even make the roster unless he has a monster spring.

Having a monster spring doesn't mean much, example would be the Indians future utility player Ryan Raburn last year. Giambi is pretty much Travis Hafner, though. Both are old, both are slow, both can only DH and both aren't very good at staying on the field.

[jbrian96]

My pops and I were just talking about this. I may not agree with everything their doing but I believe they're heading in the right direction. I have high hopes for this season.

[pwaldo]

Seems like they are doing what a lot of teams that have been bad for a long time do. Just sign a bunch of guys to try and get the ball park filled and the fans interested and buzzing about the team. I agree with you though that I don't think that they are going to be good.

[jrdalton24]

Looks like they need to make a new Major League movie cause things really perked up for them after those first few movies were out. Willie Mays Hays and Dorn could really turn that team around.

[baseballboy2]

The Bourn contract was pretty much right on the money. He's a guy who can bat .300+ out of the lead off spot and steal 30+ bases. The Swisher signing was a bad idea. You know what Swisher is going to give ya, .260 with 20+ homers and 80+ RBIs. Doesn't sound bad, until you realize that he is just about out of his prime years. Considering how they got Reynolds for close to nothing, I'd consider that another good signing. The guy is excellent defensively at both corner positions and has pop. On the same token, he is almost a guaranteed 180+ strikeout guy. This is clearly a team that wants to compete now. After all, they wouldn't be signing guys who are 30+ years old for the future. Overall, I'd say their odds at competing are decent. They are in arguably the worst division in all of baseball. Sadly, they don't even have an outside shot at winning it all.

[tkraft24]

Without even looking at stats, lets just look at last years starting lineup to this years projected lineup.....

1B: from Kotchman to Swisher......RIDICULOUS UPGRADE
3B: from Hanahan to Chisenhall......UPGRADE
DH: from Hafner to Reynolds.....SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE
OF: from Shelley Duncan and Shin-Soo Choo to Michael Bourn and Drew Stubbs......UPGRADE

I'll assume the rest of the lineup to be a wash since they are the same guys (though I suspect several guys will improve). So if you take a look at who the new guys are replacing....it's not even a close comparison, the Indians lineup has improved by leaps and bounds.

The Indians also picked up much needed bullpen depth from Arizona...the bullpen was all Perez, Pestano, and Smith last year. Also, late season sensation Cody Allen will be back as well as Hagadone from injury and a flame-thrower in Trey Haley will be waiting in Triple-A. A deeper bullpen and better defense should take a lot of pressure off of the starters.

But in reality, starting pitching is what will keep this team from being a legit playoff contender.

But that's where all the WHAT IF's come in. WHAT IF Masterson and/or Ubaldo comes back to form......IF Matsuzaka or Kazmir makes a comeback......IF Carrasco can come back stronger from Tommy John.......IF McAllister can blossom into a solid #3-4 starter.....IF Brett Myers makes a successful transition back to the starting rotation

There's enough guys in the mix with WHAT IFS that leaves me to believe: WHO KNOWS!?! And I'll take that after the garbage job the Indians organization has done over the past few years.

[baseballboy2]

I doubt that they're going to play Swisher at 1st. Reynolds will probably play the majority of the season at 1st. This lineup looks about right.

Lineup	Player	POS	Team	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	FVal
1	Michael Bourn	OF	CLE	615	91	6	52	41	0.268	0.341	0.369	$15
2	Jason Kipnis	2B	CLE	567	83	15	68	21	0.265	0.340	0.407	$14
3	Asdrubal Cabrera	SS	CLE	577	79	17	78	10	0.274	0.339	0.428	$16
4	Nick Swisher	OF	CLE	485	77	21	75	2	0.264	0.365	0.460	$8
5	Carlos Santana	Catcher	CLE	504	80	21	77	4	0.256	0.373	0.448	$16
6	Mark Reynolds	1B	CLE	453	69	25	67	4	0.223	0.333	0.442	$-0
7	Michael Brantley	OF	CLE	480	61	7	54	12	0.281	0.345	0.396	$-3
8	Lonnie Chisenhall	3B	CLE	447	56	14	59	4	0.257	0.308	0.414	$-7
9	Drew Stubbs	DH	CLE	345	46

[sanfran22]

The Bourn contract was pretty much right on the money. He's a guy who can bat .300+ out of the lead off spot and steal 30+ bases. The Swisher signing was a bad idea. You know what Swisher is going to give ya, .260 with 20+ homers and 80+ RBIs. Doesn't sound bad, until you realize that he is just about out of his prime years. Considering how they got Reynolds for close to nothing, I'd consider that another good signing. The guy is excellent defensively at both corner positions and has pop. On the same token, he is almost a guaranteed 180+ strikeout guy. This is clearly a team that wants to compete now. After all, they wouldn't be signing guys who are 30+ years old for the future. Overall, I'd say their odds at competing are decent. They are in arguably the worst division in all of baseball. Sadly, they don't even have an outside shot at winning it all.

I don't think Bourn has hit .300 ever. He also has a not so great on base %. Swisher can get on base and has pop, so no problems there. Reynolds and Bauer and stubbs were basically free so good there. all around, they are doing a decent job this ofseason offensively. They really needed a decent pitcher or two to anchor the staff......

[pwaldo]

I don't think Bourn has hit .300 ever. He also has a not so great on base %. Swisher can get on base and has pop, so no problems there. Reynolds and Bauer and stubbs were basically free so good there. all around, they are doing a decent job this ofseason offensively. They really needed a decent pitcher or two to anchor the staff......

No you are correct Bourn has never hit .300 before and I doubt he will since he couldn't do it in his "prime" years. Also for the past 2 years he has led the league in getting thrown out while attempting to steal.