The Indians are about to make several roster decisions. My fear is that all of these roster decisions will be philosophically wrong. Let's examine where we are and those roster decisions.
CURRENT STATE OF THE CLEVELAND INDIANS
Starting pitching: Bieber has not looked right since the end of the regular season last year. The Indians are doing their best to hide it but he is just not right. You all know it is my opinion that this stemmed from the game where he threw about a million pitches in a game we were winning 1000-0. On top of that Civale is looking shaky and McKenzie looks more like the guy I expected last season, someone with talent who needs more minor league seasoning. Plus Quantrill is pitching like a wannabe starter who is really best as a reliever. Take away Plesac's last outing and he looks the same as the other guys. Basically, the starting rotation that we are building EVERYTHING else around (see below) is shaky.
Position players: Really no different and maybe a little weaker than last year.
Bullpen: We will give them a pass and say they are the same as last year.
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS FOR 2021
The Indians are trying to compete this year. The ability to compete has one major assumption: The starting pitching is dominant and the rest of the team only has to be supportive of the starting pitching. That means the bullpen has be to solid without question marks and the team has to be able to catch the ball and hit a little better than last year. That being said there is an elephant in the room: We traded away good players over the past few years and we have to show a return on those trades.
So, with that backdrop, let's take a look at these upcoming decisions:
Bauers vs Bradley: This is simple. Bauers can catch the ball better than Bradley and Bauers is out of options. Bradley, on the other hand, has a hugely greater upside and has had a much more dominating spring. If the Indians keep Bauers it is only to support the starting pitching AND to avoid having the Indians have to DFA him, as I said many times previously, having egg on their face for the Yandy Diaz trade. If they keep Bradley it is because he is the future and they are giving up a little defense to support having more hitting this year and the in the future.
Bradley Zimmer vs Oscar Mercado vs Ahmed Rosario: Look, Mercado can't hit, Rosario can't play defense. \Zimmer has won this competition, hands down, this spring. The only reason to put Rosario in CF is for offense. But if we do that our support for the starting pitching is not the most importatnt thing as Rosario will cost those pitchers a lot of runs this year with his inexperience in CF. But Rosario was a key trade chip in the Lindor/Carrasco deal. Just like with Bauers we have to consider that they want to avoid egg on their face by not having a place for Rosario, meaning that he becomes a throw-in in the biggest Indians' trade in years.
Hedges vs Beau Taylor: I have to admit, I was drinking the Hedges koolaid all winter. I remember what life was like with Perez. Still, I have watched Hedges multiple times last year and this spring. There is clearly no way ANY major league player can hit this bad. No way. I mean Bo Naylor would hit more than Hedges. But Hedges is an excellent defensive catcher, meaning he is a talented backup when Perez doesn't play. But you can't have a hole in a ML lineup like this guy is. If the Indians keep Hedges they are supporting the defense at the expense of the offence. It doesn't matter if it is Taylor on someone else. They will be inferior to Hedges defensively. But they will make a lot less and hit a lot more. The Indians need to release Hedges to save most of his salary and go with Taylor as the backup.
Bullpen: This one is easier. Oliver Perez and Bryan Shaw have track records.. I was surprised that Hembree was re-assigned so early as he has a track record, too. Their competition consists of Nelson, Stephan, Gose and Sandlin, all untested rookies, and guys who are locks to make the team in Karinchak, Maton, Wittgren and Clase. Plus, we have to include Plutko and, most likely, Quantrill (see below) in that group. Plus you also have minor league invitees like Parker. The easy choice is to support the starting pitching with experienced bullpen guys. With the inexperience of Clase and Karinchak, you would go with Plutko, Perez, Shaw, Quantrill, Wittgren and Maton. This supports the starting pitchers in a way I can understand. But, still, the rookies just go to the alternate site where they really don't get experience or even get better. That is hard to swallow for a team that we know is in some level of rebuild.
Logan Allen vs Cal Quantrill: The same theme that we have with Bauers and Bradley. The spring training winner getting screwed because the FO had made up their minds on Quantrill before ST started. Logan Allen should be the #4 starter, Mckenzie the #5 and Quantrill in the bullpen. THAT is best for the team as it gives the bullpen the best chance to not have to be burned out with short starts that we are likely to get with Quantrill and, maybe, MckEnzie. We will see what happens.
So, there you have it. The Indians are doing whatever they can to build a team around the starting pitching even though the starting pitching is shaky and some of their decisions are questionable relative to supporting the starting pitching (Rosario in CF?).
Next we will talk about the batting order, which should be:
Hernandez, Gimenez, Ramrez, Reyes, E. Rosario, Perez, Bradley, Centerfielder, Naylor
Anything beside that makes NO SENSE at all as Ramirez and Reyes need the protection that Eddie Rosario provides. If Ahmed Rosario is the centerfielder this gives us a left-right alternation throughout the whole order, too. If you want, you could switch Gimenez and Naylor.
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