Cleveland Indians 2018-2019 Offseason Outlook

[Steve_424]

No way Indians move before the Rays and Oakland. As much as people dislike the Dolans, I don’t think they would move the team either.

Agreed, they aren't moving.

 

[bigfoot5415]

2022.

What would be year 1 of a Lindor extension...

I wonder if we would know the contract value before negotiations with Lindor.

 

[BimboColesHair]

I wonder if we would know the contract value before negotiations with Lindor.

One of the few things that need to fall into place that I’ve mentioned in here before with regards to him potentially re-signing, and why that door is not closed. Cause they are in line to see a pretty significant increase in their TV deal.

 

[chuck0609]

I think that is why people have a hard time figuring out where we would land. A lot has to happen, but its not out of the question.

1) The team would need to be sold to a suitor who already has moving in the back of his mind.
2) You would need to find a market to hold an MLB team. How many markets out there would even want an MLB team? Austin, Charolette, Vegas cant think of a ton.
3) One of Oakland or TB would need to move 1st. Given that the A's are getting a new stadium & the city has only one professional sports team starting next year. Tampa would be the likely 1st choice.
4) If we struggle with attendance & profitability (attendance definitely falls on the fans) when we are good; how the hell do they keep the lights on when we are bad?

I would be interested to see if we could renegotiate our TV deal early since we have such a high tv viewership. While the Cleveland market may be small, our TV market covers quite a bit & is somewhere in the teens when nationally ranked.

The day and age of people suffering outside is over.

You want to solve some of the issues with this team’s attendance? Put a retractable roof over the stadium. People will be much more comfortable investing in a game. No worries over rain or cold. I’m not saying it will solve everything, but it eliminates the weather issue, which is more than a “concern” in NE Ohio.
Hell, you can close it when it’s 85 or higher too; you roast in the sun.

They should do the same thing over Browns stadium.

 

[EdMonix11]

I've kinda bit my tongue on this whole Indians offseason.....

First off, for me, Dolan is easily the best owner of a professional sports organization in Cleveland.... by a mile. He lets his front office do their jobs and be innovative-- there's a reason why there's more former Indians front office execs as GM's than any other organization. Being an owner isn't just writing checks.... I like Dan a lot but, personally, I'd rather work for Dolan than Gilbert.

I respect the fact that he doesn't throw money at their roster problems. People think it's being cheap, I think it's being smart. Why not lean on and challenge your unbelievable front office to find and develop players to keep costs down? That's the only way to both sustain success and maintain financial flexibility; which is what 99% of every professional sports organizations strive for.

Look around the league. Nobody is spending. If the Indians didn't have such a great FO, I'd be way more concerned. If the Indians didn't have a top-5 farm system, I'd be more concerned. If the Indians didn't rearrange some of the deck chairs to add more talent to the upper minors, I'd be more concerned.

I don't think a lot of you understand just how good this organization is from top to bottom..... a lot of you guys just look at the fucking payroll.

Last year the Indians got nearly zero positive value out of anybody not named Lindor, Ramirez and the entire starting pitching staff. You can't convince me that they're any worse off going into this season compared to when they finished last year. More question marks? For sure. On paper, the Tribe should've been World Champs the past two years and we all know how that worked out.

Are the Indians going to move? No, don't be stupid.

This happens every year..... people piss and moan in the winter time about the Indians offseason moves so they have an excuse to ignore the team in the spring. Once the weather gets nice, people start to show up to the park. Once football starts up, attendance will dip until the playoffs and people will start to pretend to care about the team again so they can act indignant when they don't win it all. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Steve_424]

One of the few things that need to fall into place that I’ve mentioned in here before with regards to him potentially re-signing, and why that door is not closed. Cause they are in line to see a pretty significant increase in their TV deal.

Like, franchise-changing? Or, like, can sign an extra Marwin Gonzalez-type-changing?

 

[Lee]

The saddest thing to me is no one has come from our minors the last few years and just blew up like Jose Ramirez did. I am hoping Allen is that guy, as i just see so much potential in him, but something is keeping him from taking that next leap.

 

[Cassity14]

The saddest thing to me is no one has come from our minors the last few years and just blew up like Jose Ramirez did. I am hoping Allen is that guy, as i just see so much potential in him, but something is keeping him from taking that next leap.

I'd settle for a relief pitcher doing it.

 

[daddywags]

The day and age of people suffering outside is over.

You want to solve some of the issues with this team’s attendance? Put a retractable roof over the stadium. People will be much more comfortable investing in a game. No worries over rain or cold. I’m not saying it will solve everything, but it eliminates the weather issue, which is more than a “concern” in NE Ohio.
Hell, you can close it when it’s 85 or higher too; you roast in the sun.

They should do the same thing over Browns stadium.

I'm with you on the Indians' stadium, not so much on the Browns.

 

[Lee]

I'd settle for a relief pitcher doing it.

We have such a good system and several players are on the brink. Bieber broke out recently, need a relief pitcher to do it and one more hitter.

I think Carlos can still be dynamic, obviously Lindor and Jose, and if we just found one more dynamic hitter with a solid bullpen and our rotation, we could just fucking win this whole thing.

 

[Cassity14]

We have such a good system and several players are on the brink. Bieber broke out recently, need a relief pitcher to do it and one more hitter.

I think Carlos can still be dynamic, obviously Lindor and Jose, and if we just found one more dynamic hitter with a solid bullpen and our rotation, we could just fucking win this whole thing.

Agreed. They certainly have a shot, and if Bieber is what he's shown to be capable of, this will be the best the rotation has been in this window.

Hand is lock down in the bullpen, and guys like Otero/Ramirez are decent, but that's nowhere near the collective the Yankees trot out there every night.

I'm very hopeful that Leonys Martin can get back to his consistent, usual self. If he's batting leadoff, that means Lindor can hit second, which would be huge.

 

[Urban]

Fix the attendance by installing a $200m retractable roof is a new one

 

[BMAN]

The saddest thing to me is no one has come from our minors the last few years and just blew up like Jose Ramirez did. I am hoping Allen is that guy, as i just see so much potential in him, but something is keeping him from taking that next leap.

Bieber? Clevinger? Or you talking hitters?

 

[Lee]

Bieber? Clevinger? Or you talking hitters?

Yes, let me be clear, hitters, sorry, should have been more clear.

 

[BMAN]

Yes, let me be clear, hitters, sorry, should have been more clear.

Hoping Zimmer and Allen break out. I just don’t know with Zimmer though, strikes out way too much.