2009 Outlook: Cleveland Indians

catman · #2 02-08-2009, 12:24 AM

Good forecast, although you might be a bit optimistic in the win total and the finish in the AL Central.
I see problems in the rotation, as Lee might regress to his previous form. Carmona is good, but after that there could be trouble. The bullpen should be OK, and Wood might be a great addition.
The infield is a mess, but the players have talent. If Marte can put it together, it straightens the mess out a lot. Garko should be fine at 1B and the group at 2B is better than most teams have to pick from. DeRosa is a very solid utility guy. Barfield was going to be the 2B of the future, and could still make that. Cabrera is likely another utility guy that could play 4 games a week at 2B and SS.
The outfield is good, but if there were a legitmiate option for CF (other than Sizemore), Sizemore would be better in left. He has a minus arm, but excellent ball-reading skills. He gets great jumps on flyballs and his weak arm doesn't hurt him except on balls in the left-center gap, running away from his arm. He is fast enough to compensate for this "weakness" by playing farther toward left than one with a better arm would, but he still gets to the ball in right-center very well.
Catcher is the strength of the team, but how long will Shoppach settle for only getting 15 ABs a week? Martinez has good skills and is a very good hitter. It would be a shame to let him miss ABs.
Another question is this -- has Travis Hafner recovered completely? Can he continue playing with the intensity he had in the past? If so, DH is fine. If not, it could be another problem area.
I see the Indians finishing with somewhere around 85 wins this season, which should be good enough for 3rd in the division.

love_that_reefer · #3 02-08-2009, 01:55 PM

I agree with most but disagree with some. I don't see Garko being the regular first baseman. I believe that will belong to Martinez with Shoppach getting most of the work behind the plate. Garko will fill in when needed. Wedge has already said as much. He said Martinez and Hafner will play everyday and Shoppach will play more this year. Marte shouldn't even be mentioned anymore. He was a complete bust and Pheralta will be manning third this season. Cabrera will move to SS and DeRosa will play second base. That makes the infield better.

I too see the Indians winning this division. They were the best team in he second half last year and should be even better with Hafner and Martinez coming back healthy. Biggest improvement goes to the bullpen though. That was their biggest weakness and they corrected it. AL Central champs sounds about right.