How good can the Indians be?
The 2017 Indians are poised and experienced to really take that next step it looks like. With a manager like Terry Francona at the helm and the motivation he provides this can be a magical year on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
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The young guys Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Tyler Naquin will be a year older and hopefully grow and improve even more then they did last season. With a healthy season from Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes this will deepen the lineup and give the lineup a huge lift even from last year. If Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana can just put up the numbers they did last year, or improve on them this lineup could be great even without the big addition of Edwin Encarnacion. The platoon of Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer this year could be invaluable just like it was during last years postseason. This could be by far the deepest lineup in the American league.
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Now to the engine that makes the team run the Starting rotation. The Indians made it to game 7 of the World Series with one dependable starter. Josh Tomlin showed his worth and his grit throughout the postseason. Corey Kluber showed the country how good he really is pitching on 3 days rest pretty much from the ALCS on. Indians fans are left to wonder what if they have Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar in early season form in the rotation throughout the playoffs. Not looking backwards the rotation of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, and Josh Tomlin is deep and can only be matched by maybe 1 or 2 AL teams. And the experience that Mike Clevenger gained last year was invaluable and could pay off as an option in case of more injuries or ineffective pitching by anyone.
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The Bullpen carried the team's pitching staff on days that Kluber didn't pitch in the playoffs. Andrew Miller's addition was probably the best mid season trade for the Indians in many years. And if a closer in this day and age can go under the radar it is Cody Allen and the dominate job he has done and the playoffs he had. How about the rubber armed Bryan Shaw who did struggle at times last year but is usually a dependable option. The pickup of Dan Otero was greeted with crickets at beginning of year but really paid huge dividends throughout the year and in the playoffs. These are the main guys the Indians should and will probably look towards in the bullpen.
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Of course the brillant use of the rotation, bullpen and the platooning of the lineup by Terry Francona was fantastic last year. Now he could have a healthy Brantley and an up grade with Encarnacion his job can be a lot easier. If the Rotation stays healthy Tito's nervous gum chewing in the dugout will be a lot less. After last years heart breaking loss he will be able to go in that clubhouse and motivate this team to take that next step. The tools at his disposal can anyone doubt him?
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And last but not least the front office who seems to have a green light now to do what they can do to improve the team. The big investment in Encarnacion shows that management is all in. The Indians still have prospects to move around to do what they can do on the run. The Dolan's seem to be ready to spend some money and get this team over the hump which maybe the most important part of this whole process.
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