seagull wrote:So Tito was in Newport RI.

Brought bad weather with him.

I just got in Thursday from AZ. I live in Portsmouth, RI about 7 miles from Newport.

Freezing my ass off. I'm sure Tito was too.

I know Tito lives in Tucson so he's used to AZ weather. So am I. Saturday, Sunday and Monday daytime temps in the 40's wind and 3 inches of rain.

Good thing the wedding was indoors.

Finally, the sun today.

Tito left town.

LOL seagull - I bailed AZ awhile ago - you going from THOSE temps in late May to THESE temps had to be indeed shocking.

Fixing the Indians’ roster: Back and forth on potential moves

By Zack Meisel and Jason Lloyd Jun 2, 2021 47


CLEVELAND — A handful of off days await the Indians, which will allow Terry Francona, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff to assess their roster and make tweaks. The offense could use some reinforcements. The starting rotation could use some clarity.

However, those players are tired. The first third of the season has unfolded at an exhausting pace, full of dramatic peaks and valleys. Teams will soon exceed the number of games they played in 2020, with another four months of results on the horizon. So, Jason, Cleveland’s brain trust has opted to take a break and enlisted us to fix the roster.

What’s your first move?

Lloyd: Shake Jake Bauers’ hand and ask if he prefers a Lyft or an Uber.

This isn’t to pick on Jake. Hardly anyone in this lineup is hitting. But I’ve seen enough of the Bauers experiment. He slugged .243 in April and .322 in May. I know the Indians don’t want to give up on him and then watch him develop into Gio Urshela elsewhere. They can’t afford another miss like that. But Bauers is nearing 800 at-bats in the majors, and he has a career OPS of .677. That’s about 350 more at-bats than Bradley Zimmer has received with the Indians. We have enough data to call this what it is.

The problem: Who is better? Bobby Bradley is striking out in 37 percent of his at-bats at Triple A. Nolan Jones, presumably the team’s top prospect, is striking out 53 percent of the time! Bradley, Jones, Daniel Johnson and Oscar Mercado are all batting below .200 in Columbus. If the Indians had a better option in the minors, Bauers would probably be gone by now.

I assume Bradley will get his chance at some point sooner than later, but it sure looks as if Josh Naylor is the best option at first base. If I’m in charge, I put Naylor at first and start trying to figure out the outfield. Zimmer showed a pulse over the weekend, which is all that qualifies these days for a longer look in the lineup. I’ve already admitted to being the president of the Bradley Zimmer Fan Club, so a few more days like Monday and he might pull me back in again. If Bauers can get 100 at-bats this season despite showing so little, Zimmer’s power-speed combination surely warrants 100 or so at-bats in the outfield this summer.

Meisel: I wonder if there’s a certain point at which we should just disregard Triple-A numbers altogether. Don’t we know by now what Bradley and Johnson can accomplish at that level? The only mystery is whether they can produce in the big leagues. Johnson, especially, voiced his frustration about not breaking camp with the Indians. He even said: “They know what I can do. I don’t have to prove anything else.” Now, that might be a bit presumptuous, but Johnson, whose strikeout rate is even uglier than Bradley’s at the moment, turns 26 next month. Bradley is 25. If I’m captain of the front office, I want both on the big-league roster, attempting to prove they belong. And there’s plenty of space for them with Franmil Reyes on the shelf.

So, my first order of business would be to summon both players to the majors and option Yu Chang to Columbus (along with one of the millions — and millions — of pitchers on the roster). Bradley can serve as the designated hitter. Owen Miller can continue to bounce around the diamond. Johnson can, at a minimum, play center field or right field against righties. I don’t see any downside. Even if they flop, at least you have answers. The Indians need to learn about Bradley and Johnson, and they’re both justified if they’re growing tired of cramped bus rides and unappetizing pregame spreads.

Lloyd: It’s curious that Johnson has received exactly 22 at-bats in the big leagues and Bauers has, again, nearly 800 — and they’re three months apart in age. I hear what you’re saying about Triple A, and I tend to agree. I wrote before the season that we have to find out this year whether guys such as Bradley and Johnson can play in the majors. There is nothing else to prove in Columbus. You’d just like to have them on some sort of roll when they come up, like Miller.

They don’t necessarily have to be hitting .400 to get called up, just something more than striking out every other at-bat would be great. Such is life this year in baseball. Everybody is striking out and hardly anybody is putting the ball in play.

Meisel: Yeah, that’s fair. I just think the Indians need to be confident in their evaluation of Bradley and Johnson by the end of the year. And the longer they wait, the less time they have to assess their ability. Not to mention, there will be a significant 40-man roster crunch this winter. The Indians will need to clear out some of the clutter to create space for their eligible prospects.

Though Bradley and Johnson might be exhibiting some warts in the minors, it’s not like the Indians don’t have a desperate need for anyone with a pulse to strap on some batting gloves. Entering Tuesday, they ranked in the bottom third of the league in production at first base, catcher, shortstop, second base and the outfield. It would be easier to say that, outside of José Ramírez and Reyes and the occasional flash from Naylor or one of the Rosarios, the lineup is begging for some new faces.

Lloyd: Now that we’ve addressed the lineup (sort of), what happens with this pitching staff? The off days certainly help, but this team still needs five starters, and I count only two who are healthy and can be depended on: Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale. Sam Hentges’ spot seems safe for now, and Cal Quantrill was impressive in his first start Monday. Is Quantrill a starter now? Is Eli Morgan the fifth starter? Where does Triston McKenzie fit into all of this?

Meisel: Thursday is an important day. The Indians will finally be able to exhale and hit the reset button.

Here’s what we know:

Wednesday: Rainout
Thursday: Off
Friday: Jean Carlos Mejía
Saturday: Civale
Sunday: ???
Monday: Off
Tuesday: ???
Wednesday, June 9: ???
Thursday, June 10: Off

After that fourth off day (including Wednesday’s rainout) in a span of nine days, the Indians will embark on a stretch of 30 games in 31 days. So, they’re going to need five starters they can trust (to some extent). Until then, they can manipulate things a bit. McKenzie returned to Triple A after his start Monday, but he probably won’t stay down for long. Francona even noted that McKenzie can officially be added back to the roster Sunday, if the team chooses. The Indians want to see how Quantrill bounces back from throwing a season-high 60 pitches Monday. They can be patient with him because they probably wouldn’t need him to start until next week in St. Louis.

Mejía has pitched well enough in a few brief outings to at least deserve consideration for a spot. He was scheduled to take the mound to begin Wednesday’s game but now will start the series opener Friday in Baltimore. (For what it’s worth, Sunday would be Bieber’s day to start, but the Indians have TBD listed at the moment. If Bieber doesn’t start Sunday — Quantrill could be an option there, or Hentges or Morgan — he’ll start Tuesday in St. Louis.)

Got all that?

McKenzie and Quantrill made the Opening Day roster for a reason. They’re former first-round picks for a reason. I think they’re the most major league-ready of the bunch, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them secure rotation spots once the team sorts out its options. We’re not exactly splitting the atom here, but that’s how I’d arrange it. I’d lean toward Mejía when the team needs a fifth starter. Hentges seems destined for a bullpen role later in the season. He and Morgan could use some fine-tuning at Triple A for the time being.

Lloyd: I’ve been on the Quantrill train all season. When he was included in the Mike Clevinger trade with San Diego last summer, I assumed Carlos Carrasco was going to be dealt and Quantrill would be his replacement. Then Quantrill had a lousy spring and ruined everything — for like a month or two.

Just as the Indians need to figure out what they have with Bradley and Johnson, the same is true of Quantrill. He’s 26, the same age as Bieber and a year older than Civale. He belongs in the rotation just to see what he’s got. To me, he’s no worse than Adam Plutko, and he’s (maybe? probably? hopefully?) better. But we won’t know until they get him stretched out to 100 pitches and give him a few turns through the rotation.

I know he was charged with five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings Monday, but McKenzie was far more impressive than his final line. Did something click when he was sent down? I say that half-jokingly because he hasn’t really been sent down yet. But I wonder if McKenzie realizing he was at the end of his leash, at least for now, changed something in the way he attacks hitters. He has looked like a different pitcher these last two starts. It isn’t Kluber-Bauer-Carrasco-Clevinger, but a rotation of Bieber-Civale-Quantrill and a rejuvenated McKenzie doesn’t feel quite as terrifying as it might look right now.

Meisel: And eventually you can add Zach Plesac back to the mix, nefarious undershirts be damned, and all of a sudden that rotation seems daunting for the rest of the American League to conquer. Maybe. We’ve witnessed the benefits and pitfalls of employing such a skilled yet inexperienced rotation. McKenzie and Quantrill maintaining an upward trajectory is the key.

The DNA of a formidable team is to have one area of the roster cover for another when it enters a rough period. The bullpen has saved the Indians on a regular basis through the first two months. Soon, it might be time for the rotation to return the favor.

Lloyd: Bryan Shaw’s renaissance is its own discussion topic. Until then, Jake Bauers, your Uber has arrived.

it sure looks as if Josh Naylor is the best option at first base AGREED And experiment with the OF crowd behind him.

Quantrill back to the rotation and McKenzie makes 4. How long is Plesac out?

When I see the scoops Naylor makes at 1B it's obvious how comfortable he is there. I'm sure overall Bauers is a better fielding 1B but...

Zimmer is still exploding with natural ability. He is now a veteran guy - not that young anymore. Let him go and mix and match the outfield.

I feel for guys like Daniel Johnson but he simply can't come up and suck like he did. That's his chance!

Johnson's chances have been very limited --- not as long as we have given Owen Miller let along Bauers. That said, Johnson has always been rated as a good but hardly a great prospect; he had a very solid season in AA and AAA in 2019 as did Ka'ai Tom who was lucky enough to be a Rule 5 pick and now getting some playing with the terrible Pirates. Johnson deserves as much with the not quite so terrible Clevelanders

If they will settle on Naylor at 1B maybe Johnson then can get another shot.

As for the terrible Pirates - again that points to why we are NOT in a total rebuild.

In a total rebuild you let Daniel Johnson play for months at a time to see if he sucks. If he does, he kills your team but you don't care.

So as long as we are never in that mode - the downside is less wide open opportunities for youngsters.

If we fall out of the race in August, that's different. Then you tank for a couple months and those types play.

Lloyd: 20 years later, Indians have discovered how to contend while rebuilding
By Jason Lloyd 1h ago 3
One month into his role as Indians general manager, Mark Shapiro traded Roberto Alomar to the Mets in a deal he later regretted. It wasn’t so much that the return didn’t materialize (it didn’t), it was the motive behind it.

The Indians’ farm system was stripped bare after a pair of World Series runs and was trying to rebuild while still contend in 2002. It did not end well. They received Alex Escobar, Matt Lawton, Billy Traber, Earl Snyder and Jerrod Riggan in exchange for a 12-time All-Star second baseman. Although the veteran Lawton made an All-Star team during his brief stay in Cleveland, the four prospects acquired combined for a 0.8 career WAR. The deal was a bust on both sides and Shapiro later pointed to it as the worst trade he ever made.

“That was a trade that was firmly in the middle,” Shapiro said in 2016 when MLB.com asked him to pick his worst trade as a GM. “We were recognizing that we needed to rebuild with the addition of prospects but also looking to remain competitive. Had we been more firmly committed in one direction — either contending or rebuilding — we would have made a trade that netted a better return.”

Twenty years later, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, two Shapiro protégés, sent another perennial All-Star middle infielder from Cleveland to the Mets in another offseason blockbuster. The Indians are succeeding playing the middle, constantly remaking the roster while enjoying playoff runs three of the last four years. Why does it work so well today when it wouldn’t work 20 years ago?

For a franchise that had already traded away Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger, sending Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to New York was supposed to not only slam shut their contention window but also put bars around it. Lindor was the face of the franchise and Carrasco was its soul following his battle with leukemia in 2019.

It was hard to find anyone outside of Cleveland’s front office who thought the Indians could contend amid the mounting talent drain. The four aces combined for 82.7 WAR and more than 4,300 strikeouts as members of the Indians. Add Lindor to that list and the five players traded away in the last 22 months totaled eight All-Star appearances and five top 10 MVP finishes.

It hasn’t always been pretty — the offense ranks near the bottom in most statistical categories this season and Jean-Carlos Mejia will be the 10th starting pitcher they’ve used in 55 games — yet the Indians remain just three games out of first place in the American League Central Division. They’ve certainly been aided by a slew of injuries to the White Sox and a complete collapse in Minnesota. Nevertheless, they’re on pace to win 90 games again and they’re percentage points behind the Mets, the team that began the season with World Series aspirations after acquiring Carrasco and Lindor.

Carrasco hasn’t thrown a pitch yet this season because of injury and Lindor has struggled badly thus far in New York, just as Alomar did two decades ago. Those were different times, both in Cleveland and across baseball. The consecutive sellout streak at Jacobs Field had ended early in the 2001 season and Shapiro was trying to hang onto the magic of the 1990s that rejuvenated baseball here while delivering six division titles and two World Series appearances.

Teams were more motivated to trade top prospects at the start of the millennium. Escobar, whom Indians manager Terry Francona scouted as a front office assistant before the deal, was considered the jewel of the Mets’ system. A knee injury after the trade wrecked his career.

The Indians also were looking at 18-year-old Jose Reyes as part of the deal. Had Shapiro and the Indians elected to tear it all down and not worry about a veteran such as Lawton, perhaps they could’ve convinced the Mets to include both Reyes and Escobar. Reyes hit .283 over his 16-year career with 145 home runs. He also led the league in steals three times. His inclusion would’ve made the Alomar deal look much, much better in hindsight.

Smart teams are loathe to part with top prospects now. No minor-league season certainly impacted trades last year, but it’s still worth noting only one top 50 prospect from Keith Law’s preseason rankings last year has been traded since the start of last season: Luis Patino, who was sent from the Padres to the Rays for Cy Young winner Blake Snell. It’s another great example of a cash-strapped organization figuring out how to continuously contend and rebuild. The Rays, while in first place, recently traded their starting shortstop for a couple of relievers. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The Indians have a deep history now of trading key players before they get to free agency, determining the 5-6 year wait for a compensatory pick to develop isn’t very efficient. By slowly and methodically dismantling body parts — an arm here, a leg there, a Cy Young winner this winter and a shortstop next spring — rather than cutting the heart out in one massive offseason teardown, the Indians can keep the blood flowing and the organization breathing.

No Detroit or Baltimore-style full-scale rebuild is coming to Cleveland anytime soon. An already withering fan base may never return if the Indians became irrelevant for 3-5 years. Instead, they received 17 players in exchange for Kluber, Bauer, Clevinger, Lindor and Carrasco. Nine of them have already played in Cleveland this year (Franmil Reyes, Emmanuel Clase, Cal Quantrill, Austin Hedges, Owen Miller, Josh Naylor, Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez and Logan Allen). Gabriel Arias and Isaiah Greene (and Miller) began the year ranked in Keith Law’s top 20 Indians prospects. Only two players from the deals, Yasiel Puig and Delino DeShields, are no longer with the organization.

Those trades have reshaped a farm system that now ranks second in baseball behind only the Rays, according to Law. Since 2015, eight of their last nine selections were high school players, a clear sign in drafting for upside and playing the long game. In other words, the assembly line is still rolling and some of the best talent hasn’t even reached Class AAA yet. The Indians’ streak of eight consecutive seasons above .500 doesn’t seem in danger of ending anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean they’ve got it all figured out. For all of the secret sauce the Indians slather on their pitchers, they’re still well behind in developing hitters. They entered Thursday’s off day 28th in batting, 29th in on-base percentage, 21st in slugging and 24th in OPS.

But they’re in contention again, just like always. Shapiro had the right idea. He was just 20 years too early.

farm system that now ranks second in baseball behind only the Rays, according to Law

Most rankings are lower, from about 8th to 14th. The talent is mostly at lower levels so is largely unproven. And most of the prospects are not playing up to expectations in the early going this summer. Part of that may be due to so many of them skipping over a level [the one they would have played at last year if they had played at all]. We'll see.

The Tribe truck backed up to the San Diego farm system for a refill.

The next (and perhaps final) chapter of the Indians’ Bobby Bradley-Jake Bauers saga
By Zack Meisel Jun 6, 2021 24
BALTIMORE — Bobby Bradley’s mother, sister and aunt visited him in Columbus in June 2019. The Triple-A Clippers were set to honor Bradley with the International League Player of the Month award, but Bradley told his family to scrap their plans.

That directive sparked some confusion. His mother, Deloris, had driven across the country to watch her son play baseball over the years, from her home in Gulfport, Miss., to California, to New York and, of course, to Ohio. She traveled to Columbus to watch her son smack home runs, collect hardware and patrol first base.

After a suspenseful pause, Bradley provided an explanation: “I just got called up to Cleveland.” Deloris cooked eight turkey legs and four sweet potato pies and packed it all for the postgame meal after her son’s major-league debut.

On Friday, the Clippers played a doubleheader in Indianapolis. Bradley collected three hits in the first game and socked a homer in the second. After the nightcap, Bradley learned he was returning to the majors. His first move: calling his mom. This conversation wasn’t as dramatic, but like the first, it was long-awaited.

Deloris, naturally, wanted to drive to Baltimore, a 16-hour trek, and be there for the mid-afternoon first pitch on Saturday. They agreed, however, that she should instead travel to Cleveland at the end of the month, when she can catch more than a game or two before the team departs for another city.

This wouldn’t be Bradley’s big-league debut, after all. But he did admit it sort of feels like a sequel, even though he wasn’t in the starting lineup against Orioles lefty John Means. Bradley hadn’t appeared in the majors since July 2019, and he wasn’t sure when this promotion would materialize. He thought an offseason transformation of his physique, which he parlayed into a sterling spring showing, would earn him a spot on the Opening Day roster. Instead, the Indians backed Jake Bauers, mostly because he had exhausted his minor-league options.

That’s a non-factor now, as the Indians designated Bauers for assignment on Saturday morning. They granted Bauers 55 games, about two months of the schedule, to prove he was worth keeping. He failed to offer anything resembling a convincing argument.

So, it’s Bradley’s turn to construct a worthwhile sales pitch.

“I feel like there’s actually less pressure now,” Bradley said.

Bradley, 25, presented the more compelling case for a roster spot in spring training, but it was never a fair fight. Bauers’ lack of options was always going to tip the scales. The Indians had traded for Bauers and didn’t want to bail on him until they were unwaveringly confident he wouldn’t pan out in Cleveland.

“Just being kind of bluntly honest,” manager Terry Francona said, “when a guy is out of options, you need to take that into consideration as an organization. And I understand that. It was a difficult conversation with Bobby for sure, but organizationally, I think everybody felt like it was the right thing to do. Saying that, and I don’t doubt that Jake’s going to hit, I just don’t know if it was going to be with us.”



On the final day of the 2018 Winter Meetings, the Indians, Rays and Mariners struck an agreement on a trade as president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff boarded their flight back to Cleveland and Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto rested in a hospital bed. The deal returned Carlos Santana to Cleveland, where he produced his signature season, an All-Star campaign he credited to the comfort of being back at “my sweet home.”

Bauers, though, never developed into the player the Indians envisioned, a guy who could play slick defense at first base, possessed the versatility to shift to a corner outfield spot, could hit 20 homers and 20 doubles and even rack up some stolen bases. They were enamored with his ability to prove he belonged at each minor-league affiliate, despite being especially young at each level.

Bauers is still only 25, but after 924 plate appearances in the majors, there’s little evidence hinting that the player Cleveland’s front office had projected exists. He owns a .211/.309/.365 career slash line, and this season, that clip tumbled to .190/.277/.280 despite Bauers holding the platoon advantage in 87 percent of his plate appearances. He attended the organization’s offseason swing camps. He and Francona aired out grievances in the manager’s office. But no team this season has received less production from its first basemen, and it’s not particularly close.

“Sometimes, things just don’t click the way you wanted them to,” Francona said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t. I just didn’t know that it was going to happen with us, not with the timetable we were looking for.”

The part of the trade that stung the most for the Indians, at least initially, was the inclusion of Yandy Díaz, who registered an .816 OPS, a career-high 14 homers and 20 doubles in 79 games during his first season with Tampa Bay. This year, Díaz has a .253/.388/.292 slash line, with an exceptional walk rate but zero power. Outside of the 2019 season, Díaz has totaled three home runs in 656 trips to the plate. That’s not to say the Indians couldn’t use a guy who reaches base with his frequency — even without a homer, his slugging percentage still exceeds Bauers’ mark — but his high groundball rate and “topped percentage” explain the lack of power from a guy with boulders for biceps.

Hidden within the complex, three-team deal that included big names, stacks of cash and close friends in Santana and Edwin Encarnación, was a 28-year-old reliever. The Indians drafted Cole Sulser out of Dartmouth in the 25th round in 2013. He reached Triple-A Columbus in 2016, ’17 and ’18, but never broke into the majors with Cleveland. The Orioles claimed Sulser off waivers from the Rays in October 2019. He struggled last year, but this season, the 31-year-old boasts a 1.56 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings. He tossed a scoreless seventh inning Friday against his former team.

Bradley doesn’t project as some savior for Cleveland’s run-starved offense. His strikeout rate may soar and his on-base percentage might not impress, but his power potential should at least add some thump to the lineup to compensate for the absence of Franmil Reyes. Bradley hit a pinch-hit double to right field in the eighth inning on Saturday.

“I had a little hiccup the last two weeks,” he said. “Just, like, lost it. But I found it again.”

The Bauers-Bradley saga has reached perhaps its final chapter. The Indians got their answer on Bauers. Now, it’s Bradley’s chance to supply one.

“With all the moves that happened,” Bradley said, “now they’re looking at me.”

More than curious that the totally power-less Yandy developed a home run stroke and then entirely lost it again.

on the juice...off the juice

kind of looks that way doesn't it?

For the record I don't buy that since they are tested regularly these days. Could it be that pitchers started taking him more seriously and found a hole or holes?

Indians’ trade deadline plans, Jake Bauers, the pitching pipeline and the 40-man roster crunch: Meisel’s Mailbag By Zack Meisel 2h ago 9
BALTIMORE — He owns one of the league’s highest hard-hit rates and one of the best strikeout rates, and ranks near the top of the exit velocity leaderboard. His batted-ball metrics suggest that, in a perfect world, he would be boasting a batting average of .335 and a slugging percentage of .537. His last name is Ramirez and he hits in the middle of Terry Francona’s lineup.

Who would have guessed those facts tell the story of Harold Ramirez, not José Ramírez? There’s nothing wrong with José’s statistics or his underlying metrics. But Harold, who seemingly doesn’t have a bloop setting on his bat, has captured the club’s attention. The Indians claimed him off waivers from the Marlins in late February. Now, he bats cleanup.

Let’s get to your questions. (Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.)

What are your thoughts on the Tribe trading Cesar Hernandez before the deadline? It feels like they could get an OK return from a true contender and free up a position for Owen Miller to get an extended audition. — Alex D.

There’s precedent, even in a season in which the Indians pseudo-contended: In 2011, they dealt Orlando Cabrera to the Giants so Jason Kipnis could play every day. At the time, the Indians were 53-51, 1 1/2 games behind the division leader. There are differences, of course. Cabrera had been abysmal at the plate and was in the twilight of his career. He netted the club Thomas Neal, an outfielder who totaled 41 big-league plate appearances.

If the Indians plummet in the standings over the next eight weeks, it would surely increase the chances they move Hernandez. They likely wouldn’t receive much in return, though if a team believes Hernandez’s offensive potential exceeds his output to this point, his $6 million club option for next season might pique its interest.

The caveat to all of this: Miller would have to show signs of life at the plate for this to even be a consideration. That hasn’t happened yet. In 43 trips to the batter’s box, Miller has four singles, a double, one walk and 20 strikeouts.

I’ve heard talk of the upcoming 40-man roster crunch at season’s end and how it might affect the Tribe’s approach to the trade deadline. Can you explain? — Kevin C.

Any player who originally signed before his 19th birthday is eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft after his fifth professional season. Any player who signed after his 19th birthday is eligible to be signed after his fourth season. Teams must protect eligible players by an annual deadline, which usually falls in late November, in advance of the Rule 5 draft.

Notable Cleveland prospects who will be eligible this year: Brayan Rocchio, Aaron Bracho, George Valera, Jose Tena, Bo Naylor, Richie Palacios, Tyler Freeman, Joey Cantillo, Robert Broom, Cody Morris, Adam Scott, Bryan Lavastida, Johnathan Rodriguez, Jhonkensy Noel and Yainer Diaz. Now, not all of those players will be protected. The Indians will evaluate these guys all summer, then determine which players other teams might pluck. (Via the Rule 5 draft, Ka’ai Tom and Luis Oviedo are members of the Pirates’ roster.)

The Indians will need to create space for at least a handful of these players. To do that, there will be some roster churn. It’s why they want(ed) answers on more established prospects such as Bradley Zimmer and Jake Bauers. Some of this will work itself out. Players will get traded or injured or won’t develop as anticipated. Veterans such as Hernandez, Eddie Rosario and René Rivera will depart.

The Indians might have to get creative, though. It might behoove them to package a few prospects in a trade. The tricky part about that is many of these prospects didn’t play last year, so teams don’t have as strong of a feel for their players’ development, let alone the development of other team’s prospects, and that might make the rival clubs a bit risk averse.

What are the chances a new city will be picking the new team name of the Indians? — Chris R.

Equal to the chances the Orioles have of scoring 18 runs in a game against Cleveland’s pitching staff.

Ope!

But really: What you laid out is not happening.

Do you think the Indians actually didn’t expect to compete this year (regardless of what’s been said publicly), so wins are just a bonus and they wouldn’t plan on trading prospects for a playoff push? — Chris W.

It’s a fair question because my sense is the Indians were hopeful some things would break their way, some young guys would blossom and they could hang around in the race. But their roster is so young and so many of these players lack track records that they really just didn’t have a good grasp on what was possible. Really, anyone who was certain about how this season would unfold was either lying or wrong, and that’s backed by this team sitting at 31-27 despite having so few players actually performing well.

Saying that, what the front office believed in March should have little bearing on how they act in July. This is supposed to be the recalibration year that sets them up for the next window, so if they could acquire a player with more than a year of team control and address a weakness — especially one that won’t be automatically fixed internally, cough, ahem, the outfield, cough — there’s no reason they can’t pursue a solution this summer. They’ve done this in the past with trades involving Ubaldo Jiménez and Andrew Miller. In this instance, they’d probably prefer someone a bit younger and perhaps with even more team control than the two and a half years those players carried.

In 2015, the Indians changed course and traded every veteran who occupied a locker in the clubhouse. That made the 2016 season the launching-off point. They embarked on that season without really knowing what they had until they rattled off 14 consecutive wins to enter July confident in their status as contenders. Then, they unloaded four prospects for Miller and nearly four more for Jonathan Lucroy. I don’t think they’ll act with that degree of urgency, because this team doesn’t seem as ready as that one, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some tweaks or smaller upgrades, and if there’s an available, controllable hitter, they’ll at least be interested.

It’s safe to say the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Orioles and Rangers should be willing to sell off any spare parts, but we’ll need to see more movement in the standings before we can identify who else might join that side of the trade market. There might not be a better fit for Cleveland’s roster (and payroll) than Ketel Marte, but our Diamondbacks writer shot down that notion rather emphatically.

There are eight weeks until the trade deadline, though. The Indians first need some upgrades in performance from those already on the roster.

If Francona were on a deserted island and only had one phone call to an individual to rescue him, why would that person be Bryan Shaw and Bryan Shaw only? — Josh H.

Wouldn’t Shaw already be on the island with him? He already boasts the beard of Tom Hanks’ character from “Castaway.”

In your time covering the team, who is one player who comes to mind who didn’t work out, but you thought, if they were given more of an opportunity, could have succeeded? — Rob J.

I’ve been duped by just about any reliever who either threw hard or posted consistently strong minor-league numbers: Jon Edwards, Perci Garner, C.C. Lee, Scott Barnes, Preston Guilmet.

Cord Phelps always mashed minor-league pitching. I was surprised he never figured it out in Cleveland. He did hit a walk-off home run in one of the first games I ever covered.

Like seemingly every Clevelander, I thought Yandy Díaz would be the club’s long-term third baseman.

And I remain surprised that Matt LaPorta was playing in Mexico before his 30th birthday. That made me think of this comparison:

Matt LaPorta: 1,068 plate appearances, .238/.301/.393 slash line
Jake Bauers: 924 plate appearances, .211/.309/.365 slash line

Speaking of …

If Bauers becomes the next player who figures it out after leaving the organization, who would be to blame, and would anyone be on the hot seat? — Cody S.

It’s important to remember, like with many cases in sports, it’s rarely just one thing. When a player flounders in one place and flourishes elsewhere, multiple people might deserve criticism. It can be a failure in instruction and an organizational flaw.

Bauers is only 25, so it’s entirely possible he joins the Tigers, Mariners or Orioles and starts hitting the ball with authority. But he has also racked up nearly 1,000 plate appearances with little evidence that his results in Cleveland were on the verge of rebounding, and the Indians have other players to learn about. They couldn’t wait forever.

Every player presents a different case. Jesús Aguilar never received much of an opportunity in Cleveland, but he was blocked by Carlos Santana and Edwin Encarnacion. Gio Urshela flopped in Cleveland, then Toronto. The Yankees extended him a non-roster invite to spring training and he ultimately unlocked a hitting prowess the Indians never knew existed.

If players head elsewhere and thrive, it’s imperative that the original team examines why it didn’t work in its environment, so history doesn’t repeat itself. The Indians (and, presumably, all teams) study this sort of thing constantly. I dove into that in detail when examining the Indians’ struggles with hitting development.

With Tyler Freeman, Andres Giménez, Amed Rosario, Yu Chang, Miller and Gabriel Arias all able to play shortstop, whom do you see winning the position in the long run? Of the others, who stays and plays other positions? — Jason C.

Freeman is the best pure hitter of the bunch, and, ho-hum, he’s batting .351 with a tiny strikeout rate at Double-A Akron. So, he’ll wind up somewhere, in addition to the top of the lineup, but my hunch says second base. Giménez and Arias are probably the favorites to stick as the long-term shortstop. It’ll just depend on who proves they can produce at the plate. It’s easy to forget Giménez is 22 and this is his first taste of Triple A. He’s off to a solid start at Columbus (.279/.323/.393 slash line in 15 games). Arias is 21 and this is his first season above A-ball.

Clearly, there’s a surplus of candidates, which makes this difficult to handicap. Miller would really benefit from a surge in the batter’s box, since he has the first opportunity. The competition next spring should be fascinating. Ramírez’s future will factor into this equation, too. Most of these guys can play third base.

After having a run on starting pitching for the past decade, where are the next round of future starters coming from? We’ve heard about all the potential in Triple A, but is there enough quality or is it mostly quantity? — Nicholas M.

With the Indians, it’s dangerous to place a ceiling on any pitching prospect. Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac were never noteworthy prospects, and now they form the top of the rotation.

The lack of a minor-league season in 2020 — and the series of starting pitcher trades — threw everything into disarray and cast a cloud of mystery over some of these prospects. J.C. Mejía essentially leaped from A-ball to the majors. Sam Hentges’ last minor-league work came in Double A in 2019, and it was a struggle. He should probably be pitching in Columbus. Those guys, along with Eli Morgan and Scott Moss, don’t project as more than mid- to back-end rotation members, but, again, Cleveland’s recent history suggests it’s wise to abandon all preconceived notions.

The Indians are in a weird spot with their starting pitching. Bieber, Plesac and Cal Quantrill are all 26. Civale will turn 26 this week. Triston McKenzie is 23. So, they’re banking on this group to stick around for a while, and that timeline can work because their top pitching prospects — Daniel Espino, Tanner Burns, Joey Cantillo, The Other Logan Allen, Josh Wolf, Carlos Vargas and Ethan Hankins, though Hankins and Vargas recently underwent Tommy John surgery — are a few years away.


Who from this team will make the best Random Jersey Sighting 10 years from now? René Rivera? Someone else? — James G.

The third catcher is always a wise choice, yes. In a decade, will you recall that Ben Gamel made the 2021 Opening Day roster, or has everyone already deleted those 17 plate appearances from their memory?

Rank these from highest to lowest by the end of the regular season:

• José Ramírez Helmet Tracker
• Indians’ wins
• Bobby Bradley major-league at-bats
• Games with Bauers on the 26-man roster
• Twins’ losses

— Michael J.

This task became simpler once the club replaced Bauers with Bradley.

1. Bradley at-bats (I’ll guess 350 or so.)
2. José’s helmets (He’s on pace for 93.)
3. Indians’ wins (84 sounds about right.)
4. Twins’ losses (I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say 83, but, good grief, what a mess they’ve created.)
5. Bauers’ games (55)

(Photo of Harold Ramirez: Julio Cortez / Associated Pre