Cleveland Indians 2016 Season Thread
 

Figured since the A's, Tigers, Yankees and Mets have one, why not the Tribe! ;)

I honestly did not see them at 51-33 around the midway point of the season, especially with Brantley out and playing Chisenhall in RF. I am curious to see who they target in trades to upgrade in the OF and the bullpen. I personally would have liked to see them go after Reddick and Doolittle (before he went on the DL). But I would be ok with bringing in Jay Bruce but I guess it depends on what they have to give up to get him.

Yup, now that we own y'all again, you decide to start a Indians thread.....:o

I honestly think the Tigers are going to make a run at the Indians in the Central. They have too good of an offense, especially when JD Martinez comes back off the DL. And after that performance yesterday, I hope the front office sees that Zach McAllister should be on waivers ASAP.

And with that last statement about McAllister. this happened :p

7/7/16 Cleveland Indians placed RHP Zach McAllister on the 15-day disabled list. Right hip discomfort.

7/7/16 Cleveland Indians optioned Mike Clevinger to Columbus Clippers.

7/7/16 Cleveland Indians recalled Austin Adams from Columbus Clippers.

7/7/16 Cleveland Indians recalled Joseph Colon from Columbus Clippers..

Ehh, I'm sure the Tigers guys are sick of me invading their thread anyway. Go Tribe!

Also announced today - Corey Kluber announced to the All-Star Team. I feel a little better being a first place team with 3 all-stars rather than two. Glad Lindor is there - he's da man!

Actually you need to keep coming round or it's going to be open season on Tom Hamilton:o

Second half starts with the Tribe up (essentially) 7 games on the rest of the division. Three game series with the Twinkies seems to lineup with the following matchups:

Carrasco v. Santana
Bauer v. Duffey
Tomlin v. Gibson

Hopefully we can take advantage of a "weaker" opponent coming out of the break, though we have not played them well yet (2-4 against them so far).

I guess the biggest questions in the short term are:

1) What to do at catcher, with Yan Gomes sporting a solid .516 OPS. I think they are stuck with him to some extent since he has a long term contract. Maybe down the stretch/playoffs, they end up pinch hitting in his 3rd AB in important spots as needed. To me, a Lucroy acquisition seems unlikely, but you never know I guess.

2) What the Indians do at the deadline. I think it seems obvious they will get one RP at least. Interesting to see if they splurge for like Chapman (unlikely) or settle for more like Jake McGee or Will Smith (more likely) or some righty. OF upgrade seems less likely now with Brantley seemingly working toward a return. I still would like to see them get another bat (outside of Brantley) as I don't want to enter a stretch relying on Ramirez and Chiz to bat in key RBI situations against good pitching.

The Twins for some reason are the only team in the division that they have trouble with, I hope that they snap that and get at least 2 of 3 in the series up in Minnesota.

I think they are going to stand pat at catcher, especially with Perez coming back from his thumb injury. Both Perez and Gomes have options left, so one of them could end up in Columbus for a bit or they could include Perez in a trade somewhere, but what I think is most likely going to happen is Perez is optioned to Columbus and they keep Giminez and Gomes in the majors because they have the best chemistry with the pitchers and they don't want to mess that up. I would not rule out Gomes going down, but I think that Perez makes most sense to go down.

They have to get another arm or two in the bullpen and an upgrade in the OF. I see them going after maybe Reddick in Oakland and when Doolittle comes off the DL, maybe they work a deal to get both of them? I could also see them getting Will Smith or Jeremy Jeffers from Milwaukee and then find another OF option.

I am with you, I don't feel comfortable with Ramirez and Chiz in the OF, especially Ramirez in LF defensively....he has been ok out there, but I don't want him out there with a game on the line.

I also am a little worried that Josh Tomlin will remember he is Josh Tomlin and come back down to earth, but they do have options at Columbus to toss out there. But with Kluber, Salazar and Carrasco as the top 3 and Bauer is looking like maybe he figured it out, so maybe it's not something to really worry about.

Seems like they will continue to juice the Ramirez orange as much as possible, unless he quits hitting. I assume he will move to third mostly full time when Brantley returns. I think his OF days are somewhat numbered. I hope.

That is what they are planning once Brantley comes back, Uribe will go to the bench and play 2-3 days a week at 3b and Ramirez will get the rest of the load. Good news is Brantley is going to be in Akron this weekend, and if all goes well he may be activated by next weekend at the latest.

I am curious to see Erik Gonzalez play a little (they just recalled him from Columbus and sent House back down). He is having a good year .296, 6 HR 39 RBI down there and has played SS, 2b, 3b, CF and LF so maybe he is the replacement to Martinez or maybe a showcase for a possible trade.

Win 2 of 3 against the Twinkies (as expected), still up by 6.5 games as the Tigers and Royals played each other, the Yan Gomes problem has sorted itself out. Everything coming up Milhouse for the Tribe.

Indians play three games in KC in the middle of their RNC roadtrip, rolling out Klubot/Salazar/Carrasco for a key divisional series. Would be nice to gain another game on them in the standings.

Read they are going to call up Roberto Perez to replace Gomes, who is supposed to the DL with a separated shoulder. Perez can at least walk and hit the occasional homer, so that should be an upgrade over Gomes - who's OBP slipped to .198 before the injury.

I just ran a query on BB-ref for seasons with > 250 PA and OBP < .200. One name came up....

Yeah from listening to local sports talk radio, Gomes went on the DL and they are going to activate Perez today and he will serve as the primary catcher and Giminez will be backup/Bauer's personal catcher. I feel bad for Gomes, he has never been the same since being injured a couple years ago. You can tell he is doing whatever he can to break this funk he is in but they need to do something, so perhaps this injury will force their hand. Names that popped up that they may look at as possible rentals are Kurt Suzuki and Nick Hundley since they will be cheaper to acquire than a guy like Lecroy.

I also just heard that the Indians are pushing to deal for Andrew Miller from the Yankees. Hopefully they can give up a couple second tier prospects to get him.

I think the Indians are deep enough to give up an OF prospect, particularly since Zimmer is still struggling at AA - I hate guys with poor hit tool. Not sure how to value Aiken; part of me would feel good about potentially selling high on him, the other part wants to see him next year (second year away from TJ surgery).

I'd be OK if they took Zimmer or Frazier or Bradley. I feel strongly about striking while the pitching is hot, so to speak. The window is definitely now. I'd like them to do something like this. I'm starting to even talk myself into Lucroy.

You just named their top 3 prospects, no way you give one of them up for a relief pitcher, even if he is under control for 2 more seasons after this one. I have heard P- Mike Clevinger (#7), C - Francisco Mejia (#8), IF- Erik Gonzalez (#11) and 3B - Yandy Diaz (#13) all tossed around. The one package that made sense to me was Clevinger, Mejia and another low level guy for Miller. Either way, it's nice to be talking about being buyers instead of what prospects they will get back for our major leaguers.

Yeah that's probably why I am not the GM lol.

Francona is typically a good game manager but two moves with his starting pitchers the last few games have had me scratching my head (at the time they happened, not with the benefit of hindsight).

The other night he leaves Bauer in to start the 7th, despite him being at about 102 pitches. The bullpen was pretty rested and coming off of the All-Star Break. I didn't see why he didn't go to the bullpen there. As a result, Bauer gives up some baserunners and, combined with the bullpen, gives up the lead and, ultimately, the game, in extra innings.

Last night, with Kluber at 95 pitches, with a shutout through 7, he goes to Shaw for the 8th. Why do that? As a result, the bullpen implodes and they steal defeat from the jaws of victory.

He tends to listen to Bauer when he says he is good to go, not sure why that is, maybe to keep his ego/personality in check? He should have gone to the bullpen and maybe they win in extra innings.

As for Kluber, he had some cramping in his calf and they took him out because of that, otherwise he would not have taken him out.

Ah. I had checked the score before I went to bed using the MLB At Bat app and it didn't mention the cramping, just that Shaw was in. I just read a recap now that did mention it.