They have a nice corps of young players, but, IMO, they didn't get a few solid veterans to show the young guys how to consistently win in the majors......for an example, see the Tigers ---- they picked up Rodriquez, The Gambler, and the other guy whose name I can't remember
Anyway - you need a mixture of young players and experienced, solid vets.
The Indians really screwed up this past offseason. Letting 2 of their consistent starting pitchers (Millwood & Elarton) slip away in free agency while signing Jason Johnson and Paul Byrd to replace them was a huge mistake. But the biggest mistake was not keeping their strong bullpen intact - Riske was traded away like he was practically worthless, Howry left for bigger money, and they just unloaded Sauerbeck so 3 of the 5 guys that made up the core are gone.
Another big problem is that a lot of guys self-destructed all at once. Cliff Lee had a career year (but no one noticed his K/9 rate declined sharply and has declined again this season) and sure enough, the results have tailed off as well. Jhonny Peralta looked like he was going to become an all-star SS, but his average is down over 40 points while he's shown little power. Aaron Boone, who used to be a decent player, is no longer even worthy of a roster spot, yet they still are starting him. And Jason Michaels has not been a good replacement for Coco Crisp, not that Crisp was fantastic, but he did a good job.
their only chance is if some of the kid pitchers that have been called up really start producing out of the bullpen. otherwise forget about it...they will start unloading players soon if they don't keep winning. And it's great to see them pound the Yankees....19-1, 22-0 a few years ago. In the local paper they even mentioned that they beat them up 24-6 way back when....in fact three of the worst losses that the Yanks ever have had were playing Cleveland.
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Anyway - you need a mixture of young players and experienced, solid vets.
JMO, of course.
Another big problem is that a lot of guys self-destructed all at once. Cliff Lee had a career year (but no one noticed his K/9 rate declined sharply and has declined again this season) and sure enough, the results have tailed off as well. Jhonny Peralta looked like he was going to become an all-star SS, but his average is down over 40 points while he's shown little power. Aaron Boone, who used to be a decent player, is no longer even worthy of a roster spot, yet they still are starting him. And Jason Michaels has not been a good replacement for Coco Crisp, not that Crisp was fantastic, but he did a good job.
I'm hoping they make a 2nd half run like last year.... that was an exciting year.