Over the next 14 days I'm going to write about each position in the Tribe's starting 9, some relief pitching, and front office staff, as well as give my opinion on what they should do to limit their futility in the future. I find it flat out embarrassing as a fan of this team that our front office claims our lack of success is because they "overvalued some of the core pieces of this years' team." WOW. So you're saying whoever is in charge of deciding whether or not this team can compete needs fired? Owner Larry Dolan? President Mark Shapiro? GM Chris Antonetti? Manager Manny Acta? Director of Player Personnel Derek Falvery? Someone needs to be held accountable. I'm not saying fire everyone. I'm saying they need to re-evaluate the way small market teams contend, develop an organizational philosophy, find a style of play that fits that philosophy and build each and every team (from the AZL to Cleveland) from there.
Clearly there are some small market teams that are thriving in baseball's current top-heavy culture. The first that comes to mind is the Tampa Bay Rays. They compete in the toughest division in baseball at a fraction of the payroll with homegrown talent and castaways from other teams. I think it helps that Joe Madden is such a good manager, but I'll save managerial talk until my post on Manny Acta. You could also look at the Cincinnati Reds, who have taken a lot of their home grown talent (Cueto, Votto, Stubbs, Bruce, Cozart, Frazier) and combined it with other teams' castoffs (Ludwick, Rolen, Phillips).
I want to start today with one of the Tribe's few bright spots: shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. ACab (or Drubie, as I fondly refer to him as) has been a consistent bat all season long, whether batting second or third in the order. His power numbers have returned to their normal range (13 HR), and he's committed 16 errors on the season at shortstop. He's been a guy that Cleveland fans have loved having, and would hate to see go, but the first step in rebuilding this team is trading what few assets we have for valuable players. With a contract that is small-market team friendly, there are a variety of options that could open up. Teams that need a shortstop and are close to (or are) contending now (Arizona, Oakland, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and even teams like Philadelphia, San Diego and Milwaukee) could all be potential spots. The D'Backs have a great upper-level farm system that could offer some solid return that is close to major league ready, and each of the other organizations have pieces that would work too. It'd be fun to see a trade to Seattle bring Cabrera's career back to where it started.
How would the Indians fill the hole left by Cabrera's absence? Well quite frankly, they won't get production like his until Francisco Lindor is in the big leagues. Until then, Jason Donald has proven to be a very capable shortstop, and should start there every day without Cabrera. Lindor is having a rather pedestrian first year in pro ball (hitting .263 with 27 SBs), but its nothing to worry about. Once he gets used to the grind and knows how to prepare himself physically during the offseason, he'll show why he's the #1 prospect in the organization. What would the Indians get back for Cabrera? How about some outfielders? I know that LeVon Washington has Kenny Lofton-type tools, but he's currently rehabbing for the AZL Indians. Someone who can play LF would be nice, and maybe a starting pitcher as well. I'm not asking for a Mike Trout or Dylan Bundy, I'm talking about guys that scouts see as every day players or middle of the rotation (at best) guys. This is another reason why I like the D'Backs for a landing spot. The strengths of their minor leagues are in starting pitching and outfielders, so its a natural fit.
In conclusion, as much as it pains me to say it, my final verdict on Asdrubal Cabrera is to trade him. He's brought me many great memories as a Tribe fan, and I'll always appreciate what the wide-eyed second baseman turned shortstop who wore pearls as a rookie and made great defensive plays did for this team.
I agree that it is hard to say trade ACab, a Venezuelan SS wearing #13, who has made the best highlight reel plays of the last 2 seasons while consistently being at or near the team lead in basically all offensive categories...but at the same time, he def seemed a step off this year compared to last, and being at or near the top of this offense makes you just a pretty valuable role player on most contending clubs out there.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to have a better idea on Lindor b4 Cabbie goes on to a contending club, but for the right package of talent, I don't see how the Tribe could pass at this point.
It is hard to not be emotionally attached to these guys now that my sons follow the Tribe. They like ACab as well and remember him from when they ran the bases at Progressive field and that he hit a HR the first time they went to see a game in the CLE, along with Pronk's grand slam. Just like when I was a kid and remember thinking that guys like Joe Carter and Cory Snyder and Brett Butler were the best players in MLB, bc they were the best on some terrible Tribe teams, we can only hope that the dissemination of what talent there is in this era of the Tribe can reap the rewards that it did when the Tribe of the late 80's morphed into the Tribe of the 90's