An open letter to Indians' management

5-18

4-7-1

Dear Indians Management,

It is about 3 weeks from Christmas.   This is what you have to compete against as far as your competition for Cleveland's sports entertainment dollars.

Doesn't seem like that hard of a task, right?  

You are in a rebuilding division.   You have the best rotation and a couple of the best (maybe the two best) position players in the division.

Shouldn't be hard to win your division and, as a result, have a winning team, right?

This is why your front office's performance this off-season is so puzzling.  

Your goal is to cut budget.   I get that.   I know that is why Gomes got traded and one of your starting pitchers will get traded.  Got it.

The problem is that your off-season transactions are garbage.

I know you feel Gomes had to be traded.   I just don't know why you took the other team's questionable prospects in return for a catcher who is well above league average.  You are in Cleveland where prospects matter.   So why wouldn't you try to get the best prospect return, even if that meant taking prospects still in the lower minors, rather than taking high minors prospects who are likely to NEVER help you be competitive?   If you want to be competitive long-term you don't take guys with 4th outfielder and middle relief potential.

As far as the trades that got us Luplow, Moroff, Lockett and Chih-Wei Hu, we lost an important trade chip in Erik Gonzalez and a number of pitching prospects in Mendoza, Thomas and Feliz and an intriguing infielder in Gionti Turner.  All of the guys we got back have been either failures or mediocre so far in their careers.    I know, your FO will look like heroes if they take other teams' rejects and turn them into viable and important parts of the Indians roster this season.   But why would you even gamble on that?

So we are trading low minors prospects for 4A-level talent and when we trade a veteran we get mediocre, 4A level prospects back?

While I get Gomes I don't get the return for Gomes.   I also don't get any of the other trades the Indians made this off-season.   It gives the Indians questionable bullpen arms and questionable position players, neither of which is going to help the team win this year or, likely, in the future.   It is embarrassing to say that there is a real chance that NONE of the six players we have acquired this off-season will EVER have a positive impact on Cleveland Indians baseball.

And if you think that your analytics are better than those of other teams, realize that you got your butt handed to you in the playoffs by a team, the Houston Astros, who actually knows how to use analytics.   So don't count on convincing us that the 4a level players you traded for this winter will be better than what they appear to be.   You don't have the track record to even TRY to sell us that bill of goods.

So, while you are doing your Christmas shopping ponder on Cleveland sports fans doing theirs.   You are in a unique position to be the only viable sports franchise in Cleveland and you are doing NOTHING to help yourselves get people to buy tickets.

If you want your front office to do something useful, have them find a way to dump Younder Alonso and Jason Kipnis without lessening the return for whatever starting pitcher we trade.

The Indians can run this town like they did in the 90s.   Just tell your front office to stop blowing the opportunity out of their butt!