Cleveland Indians Season Preview

2012: 68-94 4th in AL Central

Nick Swisher

Cleveland sports fans finally have something to be excited about, their management went out and spent money.. A lot of money. The departures of Shin-Soo Choo and the injury ridden Travis Hafner left big holes in their lineup. In retaliation, Indian management began their spending spree by picking up Nick Swisher. He  provides about 25 home runs a year with a .270 batting average and somewhere in the upper .300s in the on base department. Swisher's stats are in no way significant enough to make the Indians competitive against the Tigers, so they went out and got Mark Reynolds. He provides a lot of power, but he lacks in the batting average department and is notorious for racking up the strikeouts. Nonetheless, he gives their lineup some pop from the right handed batters box, which they had been lacking in 2012. Next on their shopping spree was pitching, they received highly touted prospect Trevor Bauer in a trade from the Diamondbacks, but they weren't done there. They picked up Brett Meyers, who should do a great job eating up innings, and then signed Japanese hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka.. because he was.. there. Finally, Cleveland came out of nowhere and signed Michael Borne at a cheap price.

Justin Masterson

So what does this mean for the Indians? Has this "aquisition spree" made them suddenly competitive in the playoff picture? Well it all comes down to Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez at the top of the rotation. Both guys have proven they have elite stuff, it's a matter of throwing strikes and staying healthy. Its time for these guys to step away from mediocrity and start living up to their potential. 

Prediction: 84-78 2nd in AL Central

Although the Indians have made big strides with their roster, their pitching is still too inconsistent to make them relevant in the American League. Masterson is sketchy, Ubaldo is unpredictable, Matzusaka is shaky and Meyers is just average. I think their offense is good enough to compete, but they are a few years away from putting it all together.

-Blake Dale Lepire