Cleveland Indians 2002 Season Preview

by Adam J. Ulrey

Can Cleveland still rule the AL Central?

There are a lot of people in Texas who are thrilled to have GM John Hart; I'm one who is glad he finally left Cleveland. He did some very positive stuff in the beginning, but in the end he hurt the Indians way more than he helped them. In trying to win the title he mortgaged all of the best young players in the system to pick up missing parts that usually turned out to be horrible trades. The Indians should have an infield of Sean Casey, Damian Jackson, Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome and Einar Diaz. Instead they have Thome, Ricky Gutierrez, Omar Vizquel, Travis Fryman at the end of his career, and Diaz. But where the trading miasma really shows is in the outfield, where the Indians should have Richie Sexson in LF, Brian Giles in center and Manny Ramirez in right, which would have formed one of the best young outfields in the game. Now they will field Russell Branyan to play left (Mr. No field and tons of strikeouts), Milton Bradley in center, who to this point has been a head case and the only decent outfielder they have, and Matt Lawton playing right. Brady Anderson, at the ripe old age of 38, is the back-up. Which lineup would you rather have? After trading away Giles, Sexson, closer Danny Graves, Jackson, and Casey, and letting Ramirez become a free-agent, all they have to show for all that activity is Ricky Rincon, a left-handed set up pitcher and Bob Wickman, an overpaid closer. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out who got the short end of the stick. Since 1994 they have pretty much had their way with the A. L. Central, winning title after title, but that might come to a screeching halt this year.

Steady first baseman Jim Thome had a terrific year, finishing tied for second in home runs with 49 and drove in 124 runs with a .291 batting average. His OBP was .416, the 7th time in the last eight years he has been over .400. The Indians thought the best way to improve second base was to trade Roberto Alomar, the greatest player of his time at the position, and signed Ricky Gutierrez for three years. Are you kidding me? I know Robbie was making 9 million a year, but this is the best they could come up with to take his place, journeyman Gutierrez? He had his first OK hitting year last year at 32 years old and even that wasnt anything to write home about (.290/ .345/ .402, 10, 66 with 76 runs, compared to .336/ .415/ . 541, 20, 100 and 113 runs scored for Alomar). GM Mark Shapiro must have thought he was John Hart and when he awoke from his nap he had already pulled the trigger. Nice move Mark! The ever-steady shortstop will be Omar Vizquel, who can still field with the best, but his legs are finally leaving him as he only had 13 stolen bases , by far his lowest total in over seven years. All of his offensive numbers were down and at the age of 35 they are unlikely to go back up either. Travis Fryman is hoping to get back to form after dealing with injuries for the last year and a half. At 33 hes still young enough to contribute, but he might be past the 25 homers and 100 RBI per year that he was accustomed to. He still has a great glove and will hit some, but don't expect pre-injury numbers. The catching will be handled by Einar Diaz, who is a solid everyday catcher with a little pop in his bat, evidenced by his 34 doubles. He is above average behind the plate and will be counted on to help the young pitchers this year. At DH is the one of the better right handed hitters in the league, Ellis Burks. His primary problem is the lack of knees, as his are shot, limiting how many games he can play, even at DH. In limited playing time he still hit 28 dongs and drove in 74 runs while hitting .280. At 37 though his days are numbered.

The Indians strong point is pitching, where they have many good young arms. The Indians will only go as far as the pitching staff will take them. Bartolo Colon is the ace of the staff and the Indians are hoping he can be more consistent, as he has one of the best young arms in the game. When he's on you can't touch him, but when his ball gets up in the zone he will get torched. He has very powerful legs, but tends to come into camp out of shape, which affects his stamina. He still ended up 14-12 with his highest ERA to date, 4.09. It was the fourth consecutive year he has had 14 wins or more.

If not for Ichiro, C.C. Sabathia would have won the Rookie of the Year Award with his outstanding year. The big lefthander was probably the Indians' most consistent pitcher coming down the stretch. He ended the year 17-5 to lead the club adding 171 strikeouts to go with a 4.39 ERA. Chuck Finley will be back as the #3 starter, but is looking to rebound from one of the worst years in his long, successful career. Finleys 22 starts was his lowest total in the last 14 years and he had his highest ERA of his career at 5.54. He also failed to win at least 10 games for the first time since 1992. The Indians need the 39-year-old Finley to rebound to his first year (2000) with the Indians, when he won 16 games. Rounding out the rotation will be the kids, Danys Baez and Ryan Drese. Baez had a terrific year as the long reliever for Cleveland, pitching in 43 games, winning 5 and compiling a very solid 2.50 ERA. Now he must take the next step up and show he can give the Indians at least 6 if not 7 innings per game. Mr. Drese will be getting his first real taste of major league pitching after working just 36 innings last year. He will be counted on to make big contributions right off the bat. Throughout his young career he has averaged a 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. If he cannot handle the role, look for either one of the veterans -- Charles Nagy or Jaret Wright -- to step in.

The bullpen is very solid, with Paul Shuey coming back from an injury to help set-up along with Ricky Rincon, who will be the lefthander out of the bullpen late in games. The closer will be Bob Wickman, who lost his job when John Rocker came over last year only to regain it when Rocker couldn't find the plate. Wickman ended with 30 saves for the third straight year. He also had a terrific ERA of just 2.39, his fifth year in a row under a 3.72. He has been very consistent over his career and gives manager Charlie Manual a reliable pitcher to close out games. A young arm to keep your eyes on is David Riske who at some point will probably move into the rotation, if not this year maybe by next year. He can really bring it with an above average fastball that has some wicked movement on it. One of the feel good stories is Scott Radinsky, the lefty who has battled cancer and arm troubles to come back. In early spring this year he was very impressive. The Indians could use another quality lefthander out of the pen to help keep Rincon from being over-used.

If everything breaks just right for the Indians they still could win the Central, as its a pretty weak division this year. They need big years from Colon and Finley. On the offensive side they need Fryman to return to form and one of the kids to step up. This will be a different kind of team for Indian fans, but they still will be a factor in the ALC.

Ten Years Ago...

Our Indians Preview from April 1992, by Gena Pascual:

Strength and weaknesses: "Cleveland's Kiddie Corps"---strength or weakness. They have a couple, Catcher Sandy Alomar and Outfielder Albert Belle, who are on the verge of superstardom, if Alomar can recover from injuries and Belle can control his monstrous temper. Except for a patched-together rotation, the rest of the club is all youngsters. This could be a strength, because they are young and hungry (Cleveland's total payroll is around $7 million. They have a lot of talented kids, like outfielders Glenn Alen Hill and Mark Whiten, who came from Toronto in the deal that sent Candiotti to Toronto. 3B Jim Thome is a blue chip rookie with power, Reggie Jefferson (1B) also hits the long ball, and top CF candidate Kenny Lofton (a star point guard at Arizona State in '89) is a speedy lead-off type but has little experience. He'll be challenging incumbent Alex Cole, who was to be the saviour last year (they moved back the fences to emphasize his speed game; he stole 27 and hit .295 but his fielding reminded me of one wag's description of Milt Thompson - "He looks like an octopus trying to fold up a beach chair." Another potential all-star is Carlos Baerga, a sleeper in the Alomar deal, who had trouble moving from third to second (27 E), but hit .288 with 69 RBl.

While the line-up has great potential, the pitching staff, a former strength, is a mess, with the departures of Candiotti and Swindell. Cleveland got Jack Armstrong and Scott Scudder for Swindell. Ho hum. Former hot prospects Otto (Oak) and Cook (Phil) probably wil be in the rotation. Ho hum. The bright spot is ace Charles Nagy, who was 10-15, 4.23 in his first full year, but improved as the year progressed. The bullpen---closer Steve Olin (who can't get lefties out), Shawn Hillegas and a bunch of rookies)---isn't worth discussion.

Outlook: Better than '91, when they lost a franchise record 105, but still a second division ball club. Virtually the whole club is recent, no new free agent defections for years. So in 1994, when they occupy their new stadium, they will contend. Facile comparisons to Braves a limited; there are no Glavines, Averys or Smoltzs here.