MLB Season Preview - Cleveland Indians

2016 Record: 94-67	Manager: Terry Francona (2012)
1st in Division	General Manager: Mike Chernoff (2015)
Won ALDS 3-0 against Boston Won ALCS 4-1 against Toronto Lost World Series to the Cubs 3-4	AAA Affiliate: Columbus Clippers AA Affiliate: Akron RubberDucks

News

• No news

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
1B	Mike Napoli	Texas Rangers	1 year, $8.5 million
OF	Rajai Davis	Oakland Athletics	1 year, $6 million
OF	Coco Crisp	Free Agent

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
1B/DH	Edwin Encarnacion	Toronto Blue Jays	3 years, $60 million
OF	Austin Jackson	Chicago White Sox	1 year, $1.5 million
RP	Boone Logan	Colorado Rockies	1 year, $6.5 million

Top Prospects

• OF Bradley Zimmer - MLB.com (22), BA (62), BP (80)
• C Francisco Mejia - MLB.com (40), BA (28), BP (34)
• RHP Triston McKenzie - MLB.com (57), BA (68), BP (55)
• 1B Bobby Bradley - MLB.com (95)

Projected Lineup

Order	POS	Number	Bats	Name	Age
1	DH	41	S	Carlos Santana	30
2	2B	22	L	Jason Kipnis	29
3	SS	12	S	Francisco Lindor	23
4	1B	10	R	Edwin Encarnacion	34
5	LF	23	L	Michael Brantley	29
6	3B	11	S	Jose Ramirez	24
7	RF	8	L	Lonnie Chisenhall	28
8	C	7	R	Yan Gomes	29
9	CF	30	L	Tyler Naquin	25
Bench	C	55	R	Roberto Perez	28
Bench	IF	9	R	Erik Gonzalez	25
Bench	OF	6	R	Brandon Guyer	31
Bench	OF	26	R	Austin Jackson	30

Projected Pitching Staff

Role	POS	Number	Throws	Name	Age
1	SP	28	R	Corey Kluber	30
2	SP	59	R	Carlos Carrasco	29
3	SP	47	R	Trevor Bauer	26
4	SP	43	R	Josh Tomlin	32
5	SP	31	R	Danny Salazar	27
LR	RP	75	L	Hoby Milner	26
MID	RP	34	R	Zach McAllister	29
MID	RP	61	R	Dan Otero	32
MID	RP	48	L	Boone Logan	32
SU	RP	27	R	Bryan Shaw	29
SU	RP	24	L	Andrew Miller	31
CL	RP	37	R	Cody Allen	28

Most Important Player

• SP Corey Kluber - In a quality starting rotation that is still relatively young, Kluber is the staff ace and when he is pitching well and leading the rotation, the Indians have a shot in any game or series. Two of the past three seasons, Kluber has been excellent, winning the A.L. Cy Young Award in 2014 and finishing third in voting last season.  The odd year, 2015, when he went just 9-16 and had a 3.49 ERA, the Indians won four fewer games than in 2014 and 14 fewer games than in 2016.  This may simply be a correlation, but I think it goes a long way to show Kluber's value and his importance to the Indians rotation.

Breakout Candidate

• CF Tyler Naquin - So I didn't see anyone who could potentially make the Indians roster out of spring training or even get a call up before September that will have a big impact.  Naquin is the closest that there is to fulfilling this category even though he has already appeared in 116 games and has had 321 at-bats in the big leagues.  In those games, Naquin has batted .296, with 14 home runs, and 43 RBIs.  It seems like now with over half a season under his belt in the majors, Naquin should continue developing into a quality major league player.  I think he could become better in the field, especially, where he was a below average center fielder.  He could also reduce his strikeouts and further become a better contract hitter, despite always having a high on-base percentage.

Regression Candidate

• 3B Jose Ramirez - I don't actually think that Ramirez will experience any kind of regression in 2017, but he is still young and 2016 was his first full season in the majors.  He has always been a solid contact hitter, typically having a high on-base percentage even when his batting average hasn't been that high.  The only reason I picked Ramirez is because his batting average rose nearly 100 points from 2015, when he appeared in 97 games, to 2016, when he became Cleveland's everyday third baseman.  His true average is probably closer to .295 instead of .312 but he will still be a great hitter and provide depth to the Indians lineup.

Bounceback Candidate

• LF Michael Brantley - Brantley missed nearly all of the 2016 season, appearing in just 11 games after undergoing should surgery in the offseason and then having a second surgery in August.  He will look to enter 2017 healthy, which he says he is, and will be one of the Indians' best players if he can return to his pre-injury form.  Brantley had back-to-back seasons with a batting average above .300 and provided a bit of power in the middle of Cleveland's lineup en route to finishing runner-up in the MVP Award voting in 2014.  If he is able to be the player once again, Brantley will be a welcomed surprise to the team that is already stronger than the one they fielded in 2016 when they won the A.L. pennant. 

Season Outlook

• The Indians will look to build upon an excellent 2016 season when they made it all the way to game seven of the World Series before losing a heartbreaker to the Cubs.  It was their first return to the playoffs since 2013 and the front office has a roster in place to win for several seasons going forward.  They return basically the same roster as the one they used in the World Series except for a few key additions.  They added first baseman Edwin Encarnacion to replace Mike Napoli, added Austin Jackson for lineup depth, and grabbed lefty reliever Boone Logan to even out the team's bullpen.  They will also get all-star outfielder Michael Brantley back from injury and he should provide a spark for the team, and they will have a healthy starting rotation finally. This team has gone all-in on winning a World Series, but still has a quality farm system that includes Bradley Zimmer.   It's World Series or bust for the Indians for the next few seasons.

Predictions

• I think the Indians will end up running away with the A.L. Central.  They have a better offense this season than last and should score more runs and, if their pitching rotation can return to form, the staff should be able to restrict opposing offenses.  I think that the Indians are a 95-win team this season and the best team in the American League.  A second consecutive trip to the World Series is certainly possible but will probably need more rotation depth to compete with deeper rotations like the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, and Nationals.

*All stats and information came from baseball-reference.com, mlb.com, espn.com, spotrac.com, fangraphs.com, baseballprospectus.com, baseballamerica.com, and rosterresource.com