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The Cleveland Indians...

Posted: February 12th, 2013, 7:50 pm
by AllstonRockCity
...have a really good lineup.

They have a nice tandem at Catcher.

They have 2 good/really good MI's with a tremendous backup (Aviles)

They have enough movable parts at the corners/DH that finding the right combo shouldn't be an issue (Swisher, Reynolds, Chisenhall and Giambi)

They have 3 OFs with good to great speed.

Imagine what they could do if they had a pitching staff.

Re: The Cleveland Indians...

Posted: February 12th, 2013, 7:56 pm
by Captain Hook
My guess is that the addition of Bourn is going to make the pitching staff look better - at least on balls hit to the oufield. We will see if they can minimize the number of free passes they issue and keep the ball in the yard ... IF so they may surprise this year

Re: The Cleveland Indians...

Posted: February 13th, 2013, 12:46 pm
by deansdaddy
I agree with Perry. It will help Jiminez for sure. He is an extreme flyball pitcher and I think you will see the Tribe deploy their best defensive OF alignment behind him when possible. Masterson, they could go the other way and get Brantley/Stubbs out of the lineup from time to time to get a little more offense in there.

Whatever - Bourn makes them better. It gives Francona flexibility and I expect he'll be moving all these parts around.

Re: The Cleveland Indians...

Posted: February 13th, 2013, 1:19 pm
by AllstonRockCity
For the record, I wasn't saying I thought they didn't have a good staff. They have a "to be determined" type of staff. It could be pretty darn good, or it could be atrocious. If it's halfway decent or better, look out. I think they would seriously challenge for that division.