Speaking of teams that need help! The Indians aren't as in need as the Royals, but let's face it, they're going to fight for the bottom of the AL Central with Kansas City.
Manny Acta enters his second season with Cleveland, going 69-93 in 2010. He was also that manager of the Washington Nationals from 07-09, where he was 158-252 before getting fired at the All-Star break midway through the 2009 season.
Cleveland did a very subpar job of shopping for talent during the off-season, but at least they picked up anyone at all. Veteran infielder Orlando Cabrera, OF Austin Kearns, INF Adam Everett and RHP Chad Durbin are the makup of the Indians' off-season transactions.
They might need to think about acquiring a big name pitcher to come and save them on the mound. Fausto Carmona is going to be pulling a lot of weight being the ace of the staff this season. He'll be backed up by Justin Masterson, Jeanmar Gomez, Carlos Carrasco and Josh Tomlin. Carmona might not be the ace that Cleveland wants to get them back to their winning ways. I honestly think that the Indians need a somewhat bigger named pitcher to take some of the load off of Carmona.
The bullpen is in need of really desperate help. Have you ever heard of Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Jensen Lewis and (CL) Chris Perez?? I haven't either, so I'd have to say that I feel bad for Manny Acta in that aspect of having a subpar starting rotation and to follow it up with an even weaker bullpen that will faulter on command this season. Good luck with this team Manny, really!
The starting lineup is a mix of veterans and youngblood that could produce some runs that may or may not save the pitching staff.
C Carlos Santana (I wonder if this one plays guitar too?!)
1B Matt LaPorta
2B Orlando Cabrera
SS Asdrubal Cabrera (or Adam Everett)
3B Jayson Nix
LF Michael Brantley
CF Grady Sizemore
RF Shin-Soo Choo
DH Travis Hafner
This team has potential to do something with the bats, but like I said, I'm not sure if it'll be enough at points during the season to save the pitching staff from looking like opponents are taking batting practice on them for 9 innings at a time!
AL Central prediction: 4th
No comments:
Post a Comment