Asdrubal Cabrera image taken from Google Images

There just has to be a big bat out there somewhere. At least that’s what the Indians keep thinking. According to press conferences from various front office personnel over the past week, the team claims they have achieved all of the offseason goals they set for themselves except for one: finding a big bat to add to the lineup.

One of the goals that were cited in these discussions was that they needed more depth in many areas on the team. They recently made a move to add some depth when they dealt for Russ Canzler with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Canzler was named MVP of the International League (AAA) last year after he played in 131 games during which he started at four different positions. Among his accomplishments, were leading the league in slugging percentage and doubles. Overall, he batted .314 with 18 homeruns and produced 83 RBIs on the season.

The Indians also recently came to terms with left handed reliever Rafael Perez on a one year contract worth $2.005 million. The contract allowed the team to avoid going to arbitration over Perez’s 2012 salary. Perez played his fifth full season with the Tribe in 2011 when he went 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 71 appearances.

Another move the Indians recently made was to sign additional first basemen to compete with Canzler and Matt LaPorta for the first base job in spring training. The team may have found their man in Casey Kotchman who they inked to a one year deal worth $3 million.

Kotchman has played for five different teams during his eight year major league career and has been a consistent hitter, posting a career average of .268 with 59 career homeruns. While he may not have the strongest bat for a first baseman in the league, his fielding percentage of .998 is the highest in Major League history when compared to all first basemen who have at least 700 games in that position.

The last player the Indians have to agree to terms with in order to avoid arbitration is All Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. Recent reports state that the Tribe and Cabrera are not only in talks to avoid arbitration, but are also working on a longer term extension that would seemingly keep Cabrera in Cleveland for most of his prime. Cabrera, who recently won Athlete of the Year at the Cleveland Sports Awards, was no doubt the most exciting player to watch for the Tribe last year.

To follow-up on news reported in last month’s edition of Indians reflections, Tribe pitcher Fausto Carmona, legally known as Roberto Hernendez Heredia, seems no closer to rejoining the team. The Tribe does not currently have to pay Carmona any of the $7 million from the contract he was under primarily because it now isn’t a legally binding contract due to the incorrect name and date of birth. The Indians still hold the rights to Carmona and have examined what their options are if and when the pitcher is cleared to join them.

The Indians recently completed a tour around Northeast Ohio during which manager Manny Acta and four or five of his players would hold a type of press conference in the local malls for fans to have a chance to ask questions and get autographs. Despite the fact that the Indians did not finish strong last season, Tribe fans still came out in droves to support their home team, many able to walk away with autographs from those who they believe to be the future of the organization and who may take them to the promise land of the playoffs.

There are certainly still some moves to make and players to sign to the famous but inevitable Minor League contract with a Spring Training invite, but many of the Tribe’s brass feel confident they currently have a team that can compete for a Central Division title. Spring Training games officially start for the Tribe on Saturday March 3 when they face off against their interstate rival, the Cincinnati Reds.

Photo of the player to be named taken from Zimbio via Google Images

At this point, the Indians off season can unfortunately be described by three words: Roberto Hernandez Heredia.

Before mid-January, those three words didn’t mean anything to anyone in baseball circles perhaps except for the man who was calling himself Fausto Carmona.  As it turns out, when Carmona tried to get his new visa to come back to the United States from the Dominican Republic, to play another season for the Cleveland Indians, there were some problems with his paperwork. Not only was it discovered that Carmona wasn’t actually named Carmona, but the fact that he is actually 31 and not 28 like most thought, including those from the Tribe organization, was also discovered.

Carmona, or should I say Heredia, hasn’t pitched lights out in the past few years, but he has been a reliable starter. He has represented the Indians in the All Star Game and came in third in the American League Cy Young voting in 2007 behind his teammate at the time CC Sabathia and Boston Red Sox hurler Josh Beckett.

At this point, it is too early to tell what exactly will happen with Carmona, who is due $7 million this year if he is somehow able to recoup his losses. The smart thing for the Indians at this time would seem to be is to not overact and immediately distance themselves from Carmona as he could still certainly give the team some quality innings. The Tribe brass needs to be careful to not undervalue what Carmona being their property could do with a potential trade or even if he is able to come back as nothing more than an innings eater. There is a strong chance that when Carmona does get his situation worked out, the Indians will be able to rework his contract to a situation that would be much more favorable financially for the team.

One bright spot of the Carmona situation is that it could potentially free up some money that would have been designated for him to perhaps target the big bat the Indians so badly need. Currently, the only well-known player the Indians signed this off season was Grady Sizemore, and that was just a month after the team declined not to pick up his option, so it hardly counts as an addition.

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

Right now, the Indians are working to finalize the contracts of the last few players who are eligible for arbitration. The most prominent player still left to be wrapped up is shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who was by far the Indians most productive player last year. There is no doubt that Cabrera will be an Indian this year, but the Tribe are trying to avoid heading to arbitration as they have the longest streak in the Majors for avoiding that trip.

In a move that seems to be somewhat reactionary to the Carmona situation, the Indians recently traded for right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey from the Colorado Rockies for minor league reliever Zach Putnam and cash. Slowey isn’t expected to be an immediate replacement for Carmona, but if this was a move the team was considering, the Carmona situation only gave them more reason to execute on it.

Image via Wikipedia

A couple of the team’s other recent moves include signing outfielder Ryan Spilborghs and infielder Gregorio Petit to minor league contracts. Spillborghs was most recently with the Colorado Rockies during 2011 when he played in 98 games, but batted a dismal .210 with just three homeruns and 22 RBIs. Petit hasn’t played since 2010 due to injuries. The 26-year-old spent the 2010 season in AAA with Oklahoma City and hit .251 with seven homeruns and 53 RBIs.

The Tribe have been rumored to be interested in several different free agents, the majority of which were veteran corner outfielders, but they have yet to sign someone who will be an addition to the everyday line-up. It seems there is still a lot of work to do this off season for the Indians to even get back to where they were last year.

A healthy Travis Haffner is a goal for 2012.

Offense

Let’s run down a few offensive statistics to see how the Indians faired in relation to the rest of the majors:

• Runs 704: 16th in the Majors
• Batting Average .250: 18th in the Majors
• On Base Percentage .317: 17th in the Majors
• Slugging Percentage .396: 16th in the Majors

As evidenced by the numbers, the Indians were not a particularly strong offensive team in 2011. Even though Asdrubal Carbrera had a break-out year and made his first All-Star team, it is rarely a good thing when the shortstop leads the team in almost every offensive category.

Much of the lack of production from the offense did have to do with the many injuries the Tribe went through. Most notably, injury-prone designated hitter Travis Hafner, spent more than his share on the disabled list again in 2011. Hopes were high when he was batting more than .325 during his first full month of the season that he was back to the form the fans had seen in 2007. However, this did not last and the city found out once again that when Hafner’s health goes, his bat leaves with it.

Hafner wasn’t the only Indian whose talents could have helped the lagging offense who was bit by the injury bug. Centerfielder Grady Sizemore spent three stints on the DL this season as well and even when he was in the line-up, he was unable to return to the form the team was needing. Even just when the Indians seemed to be making moves to get back into the race about a month after the All-Star break, their new starting second baseman, Jason Kipnis, had to be shelved as well, putting another hole in the beleaguered line-up.

Pitching

Just as the offense had its up and downs throughout the season, the pitching staff seemed to go through the same stretches of greatness and mediocrity.

Here’s how the Tribe pitching staff finished in relation to the rest of the Majors:

• Earned Run Average 4.23: 23rd in the Majors
• Quality Starts 85: 17th in the Majors
• Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched 1.34: 21st in the Majors
• Batting Average Against .263: 23rd in the Majors

Overall, the Indians pitching staff is very young and much of the hurlers’ problems during the last half of the year may be able to be explained due to fatigue in the long season. However, seasoned veterans, such as Fausto Carmona, provided problems for the Indians throughout the season as they seemed to be a completely different people every time they took the mound. In fact, the suggestion was raised by many in the area that the Indians perhaps experiment with a 10-man rotation since the pitchers seemed to have a quality start every other time they toed the rubber.

During the team’s early success this year, the team’s relievers became known as the “Bullpen Mafia” for their ability to come in a game and shut the other team down.

Unfortunately anointing them with that name didn’t necessarily mean they were as consistent as the real Mafia. However, the likes of Tony Sipp and Vinny Pestano were very promising and even though all of the relievers saw some hot and cold streaks throughout the year, the team should feel very good about their bullpen moving toward 2012. In addition to the middle-inning relievers, the Indians also went the entire season with an established closer in Chris Perez, who made his first All-Star team in 2011. Having someone to count on in the back end of the ‘pen is not something the Tribe has had for some time, and it should give them some sense of security going into the off-season.

Mid-Season Moves

Indians fans are used to being the sellers at the trade deadline, so when the front office decided to buy before July 31 to make a push for the playoffs, Northeast Ohio wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

The major move took place when the Indians traded for Colorado Rockies’ ace Ubaldo Jimenez to bolster the pitching staff. If this was all fans were told, it would be a great story, but unfortunately, the Tribe had to trade away their top two pitching prospects in Alex White and Drew Pomeranz, as well as additional prospects to get the deal done. While Jimenez wasn’t awful for the Tribe, he didn’t exactly light the city on fire with his performance.

The Indians also sent their starting second baseman Orlando Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for a minor-league outfield prospect. This seemed a good move at first as it opened the door for Jason Kipnis at second base where he immediately started producing. Although when he sustained an injury, it left the Tribe with an unfortunate and unexpected hole in the line-up.

Attendance

The fans did respond to the team’s winning ways during the mid-season run by showing up more consistently than they had in past years.  After the first couple weeks of the season, the Tribe were dead last in attendance, but at season’s end had risen to 24th by averaging 22,726 per home contest. While not fantastic, the Indians actually had an increase of more than 400,000 fans attending games at Progressive Field in 2011 over 2010.

Off-Season

One major improvement the Indians can hope for in 2012 is something they cannot trade for: health. The team has to decide if it is going to pick up the option on Grady Sizemore before the season starts or if management is comfortable looking elsewhere for a corner outfielder and  perhaps Michael Brantley as the full-time centerfielder in 2012.

The team also must make a decision of whether they are going to bring back hometown hero Jim Thome for another year. A move near the waiver deadline brought Thome back to Cleveland where his career started. Although he recently said he would like to be back, the Indians may want to stay youthful and that could leave Thome without a roster spot.

One thing that will stay the same in 2012 will be the manager as the team has already announced it has  picked up the 2013 option for Manny Acta, avoiding a lame-duck situation. Acta will have his hands full with high expectations going into 2012 as many feel the experience the team gained this year from being in the race for part of the year should help the young players prepare for success in the very near future.

Jimenez watches as the Tigers continue to score in a weekend series sweep of their division rivals.

The Indians were just involved in a series sweep with the division rival Detroit Tigers, but unfortunately they were the ones getting swept. At one point in the season, the Indians had a seven game lead in their division with fans planning their schedules for October, but now with just over a month left in the season, they find themselves three games back of the team who just swept them.

In the past month, the Indians’ front office did a number of surprising acts that fans haven’t become accustomed to over the past few years. Instead of trading away stars with the idea that they can win with a loaded farm system, the Indians went with a win now approach, making three different deadline deals and sacrificing future prospects in the process.

The most notable move was the Indians trade with the Colorado Rockies for their “ace” Ubaldo Jimenez. The Indians gave up their two minor pitching prospects for Jimenez in the attempt to win now. Jimenez has been underwhelming during his first half month with the team. While he did have an outing where he gave up no earned runs through eight innings of work, he has also had outings of under-five.

Cleveland has also been hit by the injury bug as of late. Just two weeks after coming off of the disabled list, fan favorite Grady Sizemore hurt his leg again while running out a double and is now projected to be back in the beginning of September. Second basemen Jason Kipnis has played very well when on the field, and even allowed the Indians to trade Orlando Cabrera for an outfield prospect at the deadline. Unfortunately Kipnis recently injured his hamstring and will be out for two weeks. This has led to a hodgepodge of attempts to fill in for Kipnis at second base, none of which have worked.

Most recently, designated hitter Travis Hafner hurt his leg again and will more than likely take yet another trip to the disabled list after running out a hit.  Pinch hit specialist Shelley Duncan also came up lame the day before Hafner was injured, leaving another hole in the line-up.

With a week and a half left in August, the Indians have to hope to get healthy and hope for some home cooking. With all of their remaining August games occurring at Progressive Field, the Indians have a chance to rebound from a disappointing trip to Detroit and get right back in the thick of the race for the postseason.

In order to do this, the bullpen must continue their strong play. Lead by All Star closer Chris Perez, the Indians have been able to rely on the majority of the pen to step up in big spots, or even just eat up some innings, when needed. Vinnie Pestano, who always turns heads by is all-out sprint from the bullpen to the mound, has been strong all season. Middle relievers Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Joe Smith have also been very consistent throughout the summer and have created a sense of security for Indians fans.

The Indians do not currently have an active player hitting over .300, which has been a weakness all season. Hopefully when the health returns, so will the bats and the Indians can take some pressure off of the pitching staff.

The Indians have the most reliable roster they have had in three years and are doing everything they can with the new win now mentality to make sure they make a play for the Central Division title in 2011. Hopefully the roster expansion that will occur in September will help them find a diamond in the rough who can push them through the final month of the season.

                When the Indians started the season out on a 30-15 clip, everything was clicking. The average result of a game was a win by 1.5 runs. They had a respectable .265 batting average and their ERA was a sparkling 3.38. They were looking like a true team as well. The Tribe was consistently coming back to win games that they never should have won, thanks to above-average hitting and stellar pitching. However, all hell has broken loose.

After the first 45 games of the season, the Indians are playing .400 ball. During the last 51 games, their batting average has shrunk to a measly .238, while their ERA ballooned up to 4.56 during the span. And worse, the average result of a game during this stretch is a loss by 1.2 runs. But all of this is understandable: they are a young team, they have been plagued by injury worse than just about anybody in baseball, and every team goes through some rough patches. However, true teams can handle adversity. The worst thing about the Indians is that they are not playing as a true team.

The so-called “WINdians” are not playing good baseball at all. But that’s no reason to keel over and die, is it? On July 7^th, the Indians looked like the Tribe of old, when they came back in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Blue Jays on a walk off grand slam by Travis Hafner. That should be a huge motivation to the team, right? Nope; they would go on to lose the next three games to the sub-.500 Blue Jays. During a four game series in Baltimore, the Tribe came out and pounded the Orioles in the first two games, because they are simply the better team. However, they stopped playing their hardest and conceded the next two games to the O’s. Think they learned their lesson? Wrong again. The next series, they committed the same exact crime and even found new, creative ways to lose. But when the mighty Yankees came to town, the Indians decide to play hard and they took two of the three from the Bombers. It seems that they play to the level of their opponents, and it costs them dearly.

But at least they have each others’ backs as a team, right? I’m afraid you’re mistaken. In the last month, Lonnie Chisenhall was hit in the head with a pitch. About a week later, Travis Buck was hit in the head with a pitch. Additionally, Shin-Soo Choo was hit on the thumb with a pitch that was directed straight for his head. Now I’m not saying that any of these HBPs were on purpose, but regardless, why was there no retaliation at all? No one from the bench was upset about it; no pitcher felt the obligation to offer a little payback. The team has no fire in its belly. No drive at all. I think part of the blame goes on Manny Acta for not preparing and firing up his team, but at the end of the day the players have to step up.

I’m an Indians fan, so I’m allowed to say this: the 2011 Indians are a bunch of losers. I don’t mean losers in the derogatory sense; they’re not losers at life. They just have no idea how to win games. It almost seems like they are satisfied with their success up to this point in the season, and they don’t care what happens the rest of the way. I speak for the entire city of Cleveland when I say that the Indians better start to play like contenders instead of playing like chumps.

Image via Wikipedia

During the mid-1990s Akron was a buzz about the possibility of having a team playing downtown. The current AA Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, the Canton-Akron Indians, played about a half hour away from Akron and was really associated with the city by name only, like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, or whatever they are called today.

When the team moved to Akron for the 1997, there was a poll to choose the name for the team. Eventually the team settled on the Aeros as the name of their new hometown team in order to honor Akronite Judy Resnik who was one of the astronauts aboard the Challenger when it exploded in space in 1986. The team was briefly thought to be called the Blast, but in the end, the Aeros name and alliteration won out and a new era of AA baseball in Akron was born.

The team not only took on the name, but the space ideal as well. Their mascot is a space-cat named Orbit, and there has been a rocket with the Aeros logo on the side of it down the left field side of the concourse for most of the team’s existence.

Now, 14 years and various division and league titles later, the team is considering a name change. The conventional wisdom is that re-branding every so often is good for business. People will have to replace all of their Aeros memorabilia with new Akron hats and jerseys that have the updated logo and perhaps the kids with think it’s hip. If this is the case, the Yankees marketing department must be doing something terribly wrong.

Even so, the team put the responsibility of the possibility of a new name on the fans again, which is really the only way to do it. During stage one, fans were instructed to submit their entries for a new team name through the local newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal. Fans could also chose to keep the current team name during this process as well.

Now in stage two of ONC (Operation Name Change), the team has partnered with the paper again to have fans vote on the top 15 names that were submitted.

The 15 finalists are (in alphabetical order):

Akron Aeros

Akron Bulkers

Akron Canal Diggers (Akron was along the C&O Canal, and their stadium is not only along side a formal canal, but it is also called Canal Park.)

Akron Canal Rats

Akron Devil Strips

Akron Gum Dippers

Akron Hoggies

Akron Oats (Locals consider the Quaker Oats downtown building to be one of its unique trademarks.)

Akron Rubber Burners (Akron has been known for decades as the rubber capital of the world and still houses the headquarters of Goodyear.)

Akron Rubber Ducks

Akron Scrubbers

Akron Skippers

Akron Tire Jacks

Akron Vulcans

Akron Whitewalls

There are some positives to the process. Not only is the team letting the fans decide (assume they go along with the name that gets voted the winner), but they are creating regional attention on the team that hasn’t been seen since, well, prior to the season when their new menu items even made it onto Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

That aside, the blogosphere in Northeast Ohio has paid much more attention to the Indians’ little brother than they have in past years, and the coverage has largely revolved around the potential for the rebranding.

Perhaps it has to do with my traditionalist mindset, or the fact that I did intern for the team for a summer under their current name, but either way, while I love the team receiving publicity, I will cast my vote for the Aeros.

Well Tribe fans, have they made a believer out of you yet? As of this writing, the Indians are 43-37 and .5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the lead in the American League Central. While it’s a far cry from the seven game lead they had just a month ago, the Indians are still playing solid baseball.

Perhaps some of the Indians faithful got ahead of themselves when the seven game lead stayed consistent for about a week, but just as in any other season, this one for the Indians will have its ups and and downs.

The main downer for the team has probably been the pitching of Fausto Carmona. Currently, Carmona is 4-10 with a 5.89 ERA and he has been chased from the game early in almost every start over the past month. Fausto was thought to be the next CC Sabathia in Cleveland after finishing third in the Cy Young voting in 2007 behind Sabathia and Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox. If he is to get there, it doesn’t look like 2011 will be the year, as Buster Olney from ESPN reported last week that Carmona will likely be pitching for his job over the next couple starts. Editor’s Note: Carmona has since been placed on the 15-day DL.

The Tribe has hit more than expected thus far, but it has come from some surprising places. While former heavy hitters Grady Sizemore, Shin Soo Choo and Carlos Santana continue to struggle, the Indians have found offense in unexpected places. Coming off of a number of seasons that have been mired in injury, designated hitter Travis Hafner has found his form yet again and has posted strong numbers throughout the season. When he was out for three weeks due to an injury, the team’s offense took a nosedive and essentially allowed the Tigers to get back in the race.

The Indians recently brought up third base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall and second base prospect Cord Phelps to the Big League club. While initial plans were to bring both of those players up later in the season, the Tribe brass was looking to give a shot of new life into a slumping offense. Phelps was welcomed to the Tribe with open arms especially after hitting a walk-off homerun during his first week with the team. Chisenhall has already taken the starting third base job over from Jack Hannahan and has swung the bat well during his first few weeks in the Majors.

The major spot that the Indians will no doubt look to address is in left field. Currently they are playing a combination of Austin Kearns, Shelley Duncan and Travis Buck. While Duncan has been responsive in spot pinch hitting duty, he hasn’t shown an ability to hit consistently when in the everyday line-up. Kearns and Buck have both underperformed as well for a position that is supposed to provide the team with some consistent power.

Closer Chris Perez has been another bright spot for the Tribe this season. During his first year of full time closer duty, Perez has converted 19 of 20 save opportunities and currently carries a 2.37 ERA. His performance recently had Tribe manager Manny Acta pushing for his inclusion in the All Star Game. Editor’s Note: Perez has indeed been named to the AL All Star roster.

With the season not yet halfway in the books, the Indians are keeping their fans on their toes as they continue to flirt with the division lead. Since the middle of last month, the Indians have climbed from last in the league in attendance to 26^th. While this may not seem impressive, it is a sign that residents of Northeast Ohio are starting to buy into what the Dolan family is selling (at least for now).

Justin Masterson Image taken from Google Images

Much to the delight of Cleveland fans, the Cavs season is over. In all seriousness, Tribe fans, young and old, have not experienced this success since their pennant run in 2007, when they were one game away from the Fall Classic. In the month of April, Cleveland went 18-8 and was clearly the surprise of the month. On Baseball Tonight, Eduardo Perez predicted that the Indians were here to stay and from then on, were considered contenders by everyone from Curt Schilling to Tim Kurkjian.

And it wasn’t all hype, either. They had found an ace in Justin Masterson, and solid numbers two and three in Josh Tomlin and Mitch Talbot. They had Fausto Carmona. They also had young prospects, such as Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. Things looked good from the pitching side. Additionally, they were the best defensive team in the AL.

At the plate, they were just as good. Grady Sizemore had just returned from his injury-ladened 2010 season with a bang, Travis Hafner looked like the Pronk of old, and they found a star shortstop for years to come in Asdrubal Cabrera, who is finally attempting to partially fill the size 16 shoes left by Omar Visquel. We were winning and scoring runs in bunches, and our two hitters with the highest hopes, Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana, were both struggling. So, naturally, we Tribe fans thought they would only improve from April. But then, how could they?

From April 1 to May 17, the Tribe went 26-13, batting .271 with over 5 runs scored per game. They were even averaging almost 10 hits per game! Meanwhile, the team ERA was a cool 3.41 and the bullpen was stellar. It was eerily similar to the 2007 ballclub, as the staff was stellar, the bullpen was brilliant, and every player in the lineup, from top to bottom, was positively contributing to the team. Defensively, they were giving up an unearned run only once every five days. Things were looking good.

On that fateful day on May 18, the Indians hit a wall, and it wasn’t made out of “dry wall”, it was six inches of steel. The opposing team was the ChiSox, and on the mound was Jake Peavy, making his first start since surgery. Peavy was masterful. He held the Tribe to three hits in his complete game shutout. Masterson pitched well, giving up only a sac fly in his eight innings of work, but still got the loss.

The Indians are still sliding down that wall, and can’t seem to find a way to climb back up. From May 18 to June 5 (the date of this writing), the Indians are 7-11 with a .225 average and a miniscule .285 OBP. If you can’t get runners on, then you can’t score runs, which explains the 3.4 runs per game the Tribe put up during that stretch. Meanwhile, the team ERA ballooned to 5.16 during this range of games. They were also giving games away: they gave up three unearned runs every five games. All was not well on the shores of Lake Erie.

There is some hope yet. Carlos Santana is starting to heat up a little, and Shin-Soo Choo seems to be on his way out of a slump as well. Hafner is hopefully on the mend (it’s no coincidence that Pronk has been out during nearly the entire Indians swoon; he was amazing during the first month and a half of the season) and Sizemore is nearly at 100%. Additionally, the pitching stats I threw forth were actually quite deceptive. In 10 of the 17 games in the Tribe’s sputtering, the pitching gave up four or fewer runs. Those days were just hidden by the five days that they gave up eight or more runs.

However, I just don’t see the Indians making the playoffs this year. Don’t call me a pessimist, or a bad Indians fan, because I’m not. I’m just not naïve. You don’t have to be a member of AARP to remember some classic chokes by the Tribe—2007, one game away from the Fall Classic; 2005, lost six of their last seven to finish at 93-69 (two games behind the Wild Card and six games behind eventual World Series winning ChiSox); 1997, okay, they did make the World Series, but they lost to the Marlins (no disrespect). The Tribe plays mostly teams above .500 for the rest of June, and if they don’t improve soon, I think the Tigers will sneak up from behind. Don’t count your chickens.

Asdrubal Cabrera image taken from Google Images

No one, including the most optimistic fans in Cleveland, thought with the season headed into June, the Indians would be in the discussion of the best teams in baseball. In fact, even employees of the team were saying before the season that they were realistically two years out of contending. To fans, this felt like the same old, tired message coming from a team whose owner didn’t want to pay everyone and whose general manager wanted to trade anyone who wanted to get paid. This has all changed, however, with one simple thing: winning.

With former favorite son LeBron James leading the Miami Heat in the finals and the NFL season looking more and more like it may at the very least be shortened, the Indians are back on the forefront of sports’ fans minds in Cleveland.

One of the secrets for their success this season is manager Manny Acta. Acta was hired before the 2010 season because the front office said he could teach kids how to play the game the right way. Fans in Northeast Ohio rolled their eyes at this concept since most wanted Bobby Valentine and thought he didn’t get the job because he wanted too much money.

Acta has thus far proved to do just what management stated he would. While former manager Eric Wedge had problems bringing up young players, Acta has succeeded where Wedge failed. Wedge seemed to give the players who wouldn’t develop too much time on the field, while sacrificing time for those who still hadn’t been able to show what they could do.

Armed with a load of young talent, and a few veterans signed to small, short-term, contracts, Acta has shown his strengths at managing a line-up and it has led to success in 2011.

A plus for the Indians is that most of their division is not playing very well, so even if they do something like lose five out of six games, they still maintain a decent lead on the field. Many believe the Chicago White Sox to be their biggest threat, but in reality the biggest threat to the Indians is, well, the Indians.

With the team founded in youth, many have wondered how long the Tribe can last with players who have barely played one full season in the Majors. Thus far, the team has been getting contributions from players who they weren’t expecting, but has also seen slumps from some players who they thought would have breakout seasons.

While Asdrubal Cabrera has swung the bat like Roberto Clemente this summer, leading the team in almost all offensive categories, Shin Soo Choo hasn’t picked up where he left off in the 2010 season. Many believed Choo would have a breakout year as he is due to cash in after many years of waiting to get out of his military service requirement in South Korea. Another player who hasn’t started as strong as the Tribe had hoped is catcher Carlos Santana. Santana wowed fans in 2010 with his bat speed and composure behind the plate, but this year he has toiled with an average in the mid-.200 range and has spent much of his time in the field at first base.

While fans are starting to get optimistic, they do not want to get too carried away, as their hearts have been broken so many times in the past. While Josh Tomlin has looked good so far, there is legitimate concern about whether the Indians have a true number one starter as both Fausto Carmona and Justin Masterson seem to struggle more with every outing.

All that being said, there is still a lot of season left to be played, and at least fans are starting to show up to the ballpark to see if the Tribe can hold on to their lead.

The Indians started the off season by firing their manager and his coaches, but keeping most of the other front office personnel in place. They staged some what of an extensive manager search and ended on former Washington Nationals’ skipper Manny Acta.

There was a big deal made in Cleveland about bringing Bobby Valentine in for an interview as well as some discussion about Indian legend Mike Hargrove coming back to coach the Tribe. As it turned out, the Indians didn’t want to pay the money it would take to pry Valentine from Japan and Hargrove probably didn’t want to come back to a team that is continually trading away their best players.

Another name in the discussion was former Tribe third baseman Travis Fryman, who currently coaches one of the team’s Minor League clubs. His interview seemed more as a courtesy from the Tribe then a feeling of genuine interest.

So, Acta is now in charge of the ball club on Lake Erie. Many have questioned why Mark Shapiro picked Acta, who got fired from one of the only teams that have been worse than the Indians in the past few years. Speculation has it that Shapiro wanted someone who wouldn’t question his moves, which seem to be primarily decided by ownership, and who would be willing to coach whatever players were there at not a very high price.

Former Indian C Sandy Alomar Jr.

One of the traditions in Northeast Ohio is for fans to want to bring back anyone and everyone who had a hand in the Central Division winning teams in the 1990s. Well, they got their wish this off season as Sandy Alomar Jr. was signed on as a coach. This hire may have received more press action and comments in the area then the hiring of Acta did. In retrospect, this was by far the best pickup the Tribe made all off season.

Following in line with moves that should be a trade mark of the Indians, Shapiro traded away a few more starters for some players to be named later and continually insists that the Tribe is headed in the right direction. There have not been any free agency acquisitions to publicize; in fact, the Tribe has virtually done everything possible to stay out of the news since ending the regular season.

There was some excitement around the Hall of Fame voting when former Indian Roberto Alomar was believed to be a lock to get in, possible wearing an Indians hat. Unfortunately, Tribe fans couldn’t even console in that good news as Alomar came up just short, and will have to try again next year.

With Spring Training just around the corner, the Indians are starting to try to find a way to possibly get some people inside of the park, but seriously, how many Grady Sizemore promotions can one team have? The Indians were at the bottom of the league in attendance last year, and things don’t look to be getting any better.