Tribe Talk 8.22.15: 2015 Was EXACTLY What The Indians Needed #Indians

By @DaSportsGenius7

Let's all be honest, the Cleveland Indians season hasn't gone the way most of us had hoped or planned.  But maybe, while fans don't see it now, in a few years I think this season will be deemed as more of a success than a failure.  Yes Sports Illustrated picked us to win the World Series and we haven't lived up to expectations.  Now there's a lot of blame to go around from the people that assembled the team, to the manager, to the players themselves.  But after 2 years of above .500 baseball and a Wild Card Game appearance, now is not the time to blow things up.  In fact throughout the past few weeks, I think Chris Antonetti, Terry Francona and the players have shown that they deserve another year.  So let's rewind to right before the deadline to review what has happened and at the end of all of this, Indians fans trust me, this season was exactly what we needed.

July 30th- Indians trade Brandon Moss to St. Louis for LHP Rob Kaminsky- Brandon Moss was the Indians key acquisition this offseason and although he provided some power in the lineup, he wasn't working out.  In the weeks prior, Chris Antonetti had stated he wasn't interested in trading Moss, but in Antonetti fashion, he got a deal too good to pass on.  Analysts have said this trade is an absolute steal for the Indians, adding a nice young lefty pitcher to the organization.  The Indians could've kept Moss as they did have some club control left on Moss, but Antonetti got a great offer and took it.  While maybe not really popular, Antonetti I think once again stole a prospect from arguably the best organization in baseball.

July 31st- Indians trade Mark Rzepcynski to San Diego for OF Abraham Almonte- While Almonte is a Cleveland fan favorite for now, I'm not expecting huge things from him.  But the Indians found a possible bench player in exchange for a reliever who wasn't pitching like we've been used to.  The Indians can now utilize young lefty Kyle Crockett.  Crockett is more than capable as he's shown before to pitch at the big league level.  Remember this kid had a 1.80 ERA in 43 games in 2014 and in 16 games had a 2.79 ERA in 2015.  Um...what does Francona have against this kid to begin with?

August 7th- Indians trade Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and cash to Atlanta for UTIL Chris Johnson- Remember this trade Indians fans, this is the move that turned everything around.  Bourn and Swisher were brought in to be these veteran leaders that produced, but in the 3 years they've been in Cleveland they've done next to nothing and from rumors with Bourn, were hurting the Clubhouse.  In this deal, Cleveland gets a lefty masher in Chris Johnson.  While the Indians have to pay Johnson a good amount of money, to get rid of Swisher and Bourn, it was the best move they could've made.

Now after reviewing the deals made in the past few weeks, eliminate the fact that Cleveland has actually played better for me.  The key is that the Indians have finally told the young core of Kluber, Kipnis, and Brantley that it's their team now.  The veteran leaders like Bourn, Swisher, and Giambi are gone.  In the players minds its time for them to put up or shut up.  In a lot of ways, this is exactly what the players needed.

Since August 8th, the day after the Bourn and Swisher trade, the Indians have gone 7-5.  Now although its not great, its a nice sight to see the core of the Indians that Chris Antonetti and staff have identified as the core have stepped up.  In this 10 game span, we've seen Danny Salazar dominate batters and look like the pticher we were hoping to see on a consistent basis.  We've seen Jose Ramirez return to the bigs and although more recently has slumped, has shown for the most part he can contribute.  And possibly the most promising sight, Lonnie Chisenhall is showing he can play some outfield and be that guy who can give players a night off next year.

While there are bright spots, there remains a lot of questions to be answered.  One of my biggest concerns is the position of Right Field.  One of my targets would be Yoenis Cespedes, but I get the feeling that he's not in their plans.  I do feel however that this is going to be one of, if not the biggest priority over the offseason.  There are plenty of potential big time trade targets that the Indians can look into (I'll dive into that in the offseason).  But the sense I get from people I know, it's an area that will be addressed.

In hindsight if I myself had looked at the roster more closely, I wouldn't have gotten as all hyped up.  I got hooked, I think we all got hooked honestly.  This year proved to me that the Indians have the pitching to put themselves into contention, but they need the offense.  Look at the Mets, outstanding staff, lackluster offense, then they add Yoenis and they're a major threat.  I think the Indians right now are stuck where the Mets were.  One of my biggest beliefs is if you have the true cleanup hitter, the rest of the batting order will fall into place.  It's Chris Antonetti's job to explore every option that becomes available this offseason.

At the end of the day, the Indians had a bad year, think of it like 2006.  But in a lot of ways, this was the best thing to happen for the Indians.  The Indians now are forcing their core players to become the leaders.  I think with the rest of the season to let Brantley, Kipnis, Kluber and co. to establish their leadership in the clubhouse, plus the right moves to fill in the rest of the gaps on this team, the Indians will make a run in 2016.  But what if I told you that maybe it was best if the team waited until 2017 to make their run?  But that's a topic for another day.  Just remember the future is bright Cleveland, the Tribe has a young core that finally have assumed leadership.  All in all, while we won't probably reach our goals, we're setting ourselves up to a better 2016 season.

Inside The Batter's Box 4.24.15: #Indians vs. #Tigers Preview

By @B_Rock1978

Is it time to hit the panic button Tribe fans? Can we just forget that this series against the White Sox ever happened? Another very disappointing series from our Tribe the past three days. Worst of all, again it was to another team in our division. We now stand at 3-8 against our divisional teams.
(Que Price Is Right waa waa waa waaaaaaaaa defeat music here.)

Game one, Ryan Raburn got things going for the Tribe in the second inning, launching a solo shot. Raburn finished 2 for 3 with an RBI. "Dr. Smooth" Michael Brantley unloaded a double in the third inning, picking up an RBI. Top of the fifth, Brett Hayes, delivered another solo shot and the Tribe looked like they were well on their way to a win. Or so we thought. Tribe closer, Cody Allen, gets rocked in the bottom of the ninth, gives up 4 runs and the ChiSox turn a 3-0 score into a 4-3 win. You got to be kidding?!

Game two, saw both Carlos Santana and David Murphy launch the long ball. Ryan Raburn continued to hit well, going 2 for 2 with 2 RBI. "Dr. Smooth" Michael Brantley added an RBI single. Jason Kipnis sac flied in an RBI. Carlos Carrasco went 5 innings, giving up 1 ER, 8 strikeouts and no walks. Cody Allen pitched the ninth, held onto the lead this time, recording 2 strikeouts and the Tribe won 6-2.

Game three, was a complete nightmare. Tribe ace, Corey Kluber is pitching, we got this right? Wrong! Kluber gets his glove handed to him by the ChiSox. Kluber goes six innings, but gives up 13 hits, 6 ER, 6 strikeouts and 1 walk. Meanwhile, Jeff Samardzija, completely shuts down the Tribe in six innings. The Tribe lose 6-0 and lose the series to the ChiSox. Good grief!!

Next up, the Indians kick off a three game set with divisional rivals, the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. In case you forgot, the Tigers swept the Tribe in their opening weekend series. Looking back at that series, and looking at how the Tribe have played since that series, I'm honestly scared Tribe fans. How did the Tigers do this week? The Tigers battled the Evil Empire, aka the New York Yankees, in a four game set. Let's take a look at how the Tigers did in their series with the Yanks and who our Tribe will have to watch out for in this series.

Game one, J.D. Martinez got the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single. Yoenis Cespedes followed with another RBI single. Alfredo Simon goes 7 1/3 innings, with 7 strikeouts and gave up no walks. Joakim Soria picks up save number 5 and the Tigers stayed hot, winning 2-1.

Game two, J.D. Martinez went 3 for 4, but wasn't an RBI threat. Yoenis Cespedes picked up a sac fly RBI in the seventh inning. Rajai Davis drew a walk in the ninth with the bases loaded, picking up an RBI. Kyle Lobstein went six innings, with 1 ER, 3 strikeouts and 4 walks. The Tigers bullpen collapsed in the seventh inning, however, and the Yanks grab the 5-2 win. 

Game three, the Tigers put four on the board in the bottom of the first. J.D. Martinez picked up another RBI in the series, drawing a walk with the bases loaded. Yoenis Cespedes picked up an RBI with an infield single. Nick Castellanos grounded out into a fielders choice, picking up an RBI. Alex Avila singled in an RBI during his at bat. The Tigers were shut down the rest of the way, losing to the Yankees 13-4.

Game four, Victor Martinez gets a sac fly RBI, but that's all the Tigers can muster as the Yankees cool off the Tigers 2-1 and take the series.

*** Starters For The Series ***

* Tigers *

- Game 1: Shane Green (3-0), makes his fourth start of the year, winning every start this year so far. Green stands with a 0.39 ERA, 11 strikeouts and 5 walks.

- Game 2: Alfredo Simon (3-0), makes his fourth start of the season, sitting at three perfect apperances. Simon takes the mound with a 1.74 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 2 walks.

- Game 3: Kyle Lobstein (1-1), makes his third start of the season, having a decision on all starts so far as well. Lobstein has a 3.27 ERA, 6 strikeouts and 6 walks.

* Indians *

- Game 1:  Danny Salazar (1-0), makes his second start of the year, after being called up from AAA last weekend. Salazar has a 3.00 ERA, with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks on the season.

- Game 2: Trevor Bauer (2-0), makes his fourth start of the year. Bauer, is currently the only original starter from season's beginning, that has had a good year so far. Bauer checks in with a 0.95 ERA, 26 strikeouts and 11 walks.

- Game 3: Carlos Carrasco (2-1), makes his fourth start of the year. Carrasco has a 2.38 ERA, 18 strikeouts and 1 walk on the year.

There is your Indians vs. Tigers preview, continue to join me all season, with Inside The Batter's Box. I'll bring you series previews, recaps, videos and pictures, on the Triple Threat CLE Twitter and Facebook pages.

~B~

Leadoff with Lee 7.15.14

-Swagger Like us, No one in the NFL got Swagger like us! Browns Vice President of fan expirence Kevin Griffin announced a new mascot is coming to the Dawg Pound. He is a bull mastiff named Swagger the will lead the charge on the field for the 2014 NFL season. Cleveland is the 4th team in the NFL to use a live animal onto the field. The Broncos have a white Arabian horse named Thunder II, the Ravens have ravens named Rise and Conquer and the Seahawks have a hawk named Tamia. Now the Browns have Swagger, I know how the city of Cleveland feels now with Johnny Football here and LBJ. Yes, Cleveland has some swag and Swagger now.

-Browns owner and Pilot Flying J owner Jimmy Haslem have reached a agreement with the U.S Department of Justice, which says the D.O.J will NOT prosecute Pilot Flying J or Jimmy Haslem. At this time all the details of the agreement have not been disclosed. What is know is monetary damages will be paid to the companies affected over the next two years in the sum of $92 million dollars and a agreement to work with prosecution. It's obvious that Jimmy Haslem had know knowledge of the rebate scandal and will help weed out the people who put him and his business in jeopardy.

-The Ohio State Buckeyes have a chance to put some new hardware in their trophy case this season. The NCAA has announced that a new National Championship trophy will be presented this year. It's far removed from the Chrystal football that has been seen kisses by Matt Wilhelm and Mike Doss in the past, but is definitely an upgrade and something different that hopefully the Bucks can still kiss and pass around.

-Oakland's Yoenis Cespedes took home his 2nd straight Home Run Derby championship, beating Cincinnati's Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round. The last player to win in back to back years was Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998 and 1999.