A Look At... The Indians 25 Man Roster

Well hello there favorite blog followers. I know I've been a bit absent on here for the last month, but with an expanding role at Spec, there's been a little less time—along with a not too much to talk about—to write on here. But lo and behold, I'm back and fired up for the Indians season to start.

Here's the deal, though—are the Indians really ready to compete for the 2012 AL Central crown with their current 25 man roster?

Let me put it simply—NO.

You know how the Indians have their "What If?" campaign? Yeah, that's very nice to have for marketing, but if you ask me, it's not the way you put a team together.

I've already weighed in on the Grady Sizemore injury, but that is really what got them into this mess. Yes, friends, it really came to the Indians reportedly trying to deal for Bobby Abreu—a 38 year old, washed-up has-been, who hit .253 with just eight HRs and 60 RBI. Now if Abreu were just injured or something, maybe he'd have a better cae for wanting to resurrect his career someplace else, but the man played 142 games!

But the sad part—and I mean really sad part—is that Abreu would've been a whole lot better than what we've gotten out of the crop of players that were supposed to compete for the LF job this spring.

No one, and I mean no one grabbed the bull by the horns and took that job away, which means—if things stay as they are right now–Shelly Duncan will be the opening day, regular left fielder for the Cleveland Indians.

Now, I like Shelly Duncan. I think he did a good job this spring, leading the team with six HRs and 19 RBI. But let's face it—the man is 32, and he's been a part-time player for his entire career! It's unrealistic, and perhaps a bit unfair, to all of a sudden rely on him to be a productive, everyday player.

And that brings me to the real purpose of this post—I'm going to go through the 25-man roster and place a "?" next to players I'm at least a little concerned about going into this year. You may or may not agree, but, let's see what we have, huh?

(By the by, the list comes from mlb.com Indians beat writer Jordan Bastian's blog.)

Indians rotation

1. RHP Justin Masterson
2. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (?)
3. RHP Derek Lowe
4. RHP Josh Tomlin
5. RHP Jeanmar Gomez (?)

Indians bullpen

CL Chris Perez
RHP Vinnie Pestano
LHP Tony Sipp
RHP Joe Smith
LHP Rafael Perez
RHP Dan Wheeler (?)
RHP Jairo Asencio

Indians projected lineup

1. Michael Brantley, CF (?)
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
3. Shin-Soo Choo, RF (?)
4. Carlos Santana, C
5. Travis Hafner, DH (?)
6. Casey Kotchman, 1B
7. Jason Kipnis, 2B
8. Shelley Duncan, LF (?)
9. Jack Hannahan, 3B (?)

Indians bench

INF Jose Lopez
INF/OF Jason Donald
OF Aaron Cunningham (?)
C Lou Marson

To be quite honest with you, I actually have less question marks than I expected.

Clearly, the biggest question is Ubaldo Jiminez—and he certainly didn't help his case by drilling Troy Tulowitzki yesterday afternoon. But he also had a pretty bad spring, with an ERA over 7. That's awful. The only way he's going to be able to combat the perception that he stinks is if he starts to pitch like someone who deserved to be traded for Drew Pomeranz and Alex White. And right now, that's not looking so great as Pomeranz will be in the Rockies rotation, and White will be in their bullpen. 

I put a mark by Jenmar Gomez simply because he hasn't been in the majors for a full season yet. But based on his Spring Training, I think he's going to be alright.

When you move to the position players and the lineup, there are more questions, but not too many. 

Michael Brantley simply needs to step up and keep his development going in the right direction as a major leaguer. I think he'll be able to do that. Keep in mind he's only 24.

Shin-Soo Choo could get rid of that question mark right away this season if he comes out and looks like the Choo everyone got to know between 08-10. He reportedly looked in fantastic shape during Spring Training, and should be able to get back to his .300 average, with 20 HRs and 80 RBI form. 

Hafner, though...he has the biggest question mark of all—besides the non-listed Grady Sizemore, of course. Can he actually stay healthy for a full season? I doubt it. But if he can play 140 games with a .280 average and, say, 25 HRs? I think the Indians would be way more than pleased with that. And so would I.

I've already gone over Shelly Duncan earlier, so I'll skip to Hannahan. He only has the question mark denotation because of his offense—I expect his defense to be solid. But will he be the man who figured out how to hit after his son was born in August of last season, or will he be the hitter he's been for the rest of his career. Again, the guy is 32, so it's a bit unfair to ask him to do something he's never been able to do before. But maybe he'll hit enough to get by. At least until Lonnie Chisenhall is ready to take his place from AAA.

As it stands right now, the Indians have done absolutely nothing to improve the offense since the end of last year, and are relying on people staying healthy the whole season, or doing things they've never done before in order to contend in the AL Central. 

So here's the deal—if there are so many questions about people who will be playing most of the games for the Tribe, there are just too many "What If?" questions for the Indians to be thought of as serious contenders in the division. 

I'll have more for Thursday as we get ready for Opening Day. And even though I just hit you with all that negativity, I'll explain then why the Indians could still be fun to watch this season.

Just three more days, Tribe fans. Can't wait!

~MAS

Grady Sizemore's back!

Looks like we won't be seeing this swing in uniform for a
while, Tribe fans.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

—is injured.

Yes, everyone, Grady Sizemore will not be ready for Opening Day because of another injury—this time it came when he was rehabbing his knee and hurt his back.

While this is a pretty big blow, were you really expecting him to be healthy all year long? I know I certainly wasn't.

The days of Grady playing all 162 games and being the heart and soul of the Indians lineup are long over.  The most realistic picture of a healthy season for him was probably 120-130 games, with 20-25 HRs and 70-80 RBIs. And based on what he's been doing lately, .250 would probably be a realistic batting average.

But alas, it was not meant to be. Sizemore has turned out to be as fragile as the teacup that covered his junk in those leaked pictures from a few years ago. And by that, I mean really freaking fragile.

We can all debate the merits of re-signing Sizemore for $5 million, but at the price we got him and with the rest of the free agent market pretty thin (although I still think we should've made a big play for Michael Cuddyer...), it was probably worth it. Hell, it could still be worth it if Sizemore comes back and plays his butt off in order to try and prove that he's healthy enough to get a good deal in free agency.

The prospect of cashing in during free agency can make athletes play at a significantly higher level.

But now we've got a hole in our outfield to fill, and we don't have a highly touted prospect with which to fill it.

We do, however, have a bunch of guys that could really make some things happen if the stars align properly. I think we'll see Michael Brantley slide over to center which makes a hole over in left. So with that in mind, let's take a look at some of the Grady replacement possibilites!

Shelly Duncan
The Dunk Tank already had a leg up on the competition for a bench spot, but now he could take center stage in left field. Duncan, who is 32 and has had a fairly up and down career, had a great September batting .265 with 7 HRs and 23 RBIs—including a game where he hit two jacks off of eventual Cy Young and MVP, Justin Verlander. If he has a good Spring, I wouldn't be surprised if his name were in the lineup every day—if not against lefties as a platoon guy.

Jason Donald
The Indians have been trying to groom him as a "Super Utility" man, but I think he could be a dark horse to fill this everyday role. Donald, of course, was supposed to be the Opening Day third baseman last year, but was injured in Spring Training. That opened the door for Jack Hannahan to flash his superb glove at third, and the rest is history. Donald did well last year in 39 games, batting .318 with sic doubles, one triple, one HR and eight RBIs. He did strike out 35 times, though—a number that's got to be cut down if he's going to play every day. He's a dark horse in this race, but from everything I've heard, he did well in the outfield in winter ball. Donald is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Matt LaPorta
Manager Manny Acta said a few days ago that Lappy was competing for a 1B/LF/DH backup role, but with this injury to Sizemore, LaPorta could maybe go back to his natural position and finally become the hitter everyone wants him to be. At 27, it's time for him to get his mess together to prove he was worthy of being picked in the first round in 2007, and not just a AAAA player. Perhaps going back to his natural position of left field would do that for him. That said, I really don't see LaPorta opening the season anywhere but Columbus.

Aaron Cunningham
The Indians acquired this guy from the San Diego Padres for a low level pitcher, and at the time it was considered a depth move. Cunningham is only 25, and was drafted by the White Sox in the sixth round of the '05 draft. He's been around a while, but has never truly made an impact at the major league level. To be honest, if he does end up with a role, it'll probably be as a backup. His career numbers are nothing to write home about (his career average is just above the Mendoza line), and although he's right handed, his numbers against lefties don't really inspire much confidence. He'll have to have a fantastic Spring for Acta 'n co. to put their faith in him.

Ezequiel Carrera 
This little dude's claim to fame was a suicide squeeze bunt early in the season against the Red Sox, but as the season went on and Carrera made the trip multiple times form Columbus to Cleveland and back again, it because more and more apparent that Carerra is most likely destined to be a fourth outfielder. September was especially unkind to the Porsche as he hit just .197 with two doubles, two triples, and eight runs scored in 23 games. He also struck out 13 times in that span and had an OBP of just .238. Yikes. Experience can be valuable, but I'd be pretty shocked if he opened up the season in left.

Russ Canzler
Okay, I saved him for last because right now, he's the one I want to have the job. The Indians received him from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash a few days before signing Casey Kotchman. Here's the deal, he played all four corner positions last season at AAA Durham (a part of the Rays organization) where he showed pretty good defensive prowess in the outfield—he made no errors in 60 games in left. Canzler ended up being the International League MVP by hitting .314 with 18 HRs and 83 RBIs to go along with 40 doubles. And that's where I get excited—to me if you can have a guy who bats right handed in this lineup with a .270-.300 average who can get you 30-40 doubles, that's exactly what we need. Canzler has only played in three games with just five plate appearances—I think it's time he got a shot at an everyday role. It stinks that Sizemore had to go down for this chance, but if there's any horse I'm pulling for in this race to see who'll be the left fielder, it's definitely Canzler.

Keep checking back as Spring Training rolls along, friends, as I'm sure there will be more stuff about which I'll have an opinion!
~MAS