Team: Cleveland Indians
2007 Regular Season Record: 96-66
2007 Postseason Record: 6-5; lost in ALCS
Cost per Win: $61,673,267 / 102 = $604,639 per win
2007 Season Recap: The regular season went a lot better than expected with the Indians tying for the best record in baseball and winning the AL Central division by 8 games. These results led to manager Eric Wedge being named AL Manager of the Year. They won 96 games in the regular season and lost to the Red Sox in the ALCS in 7 games after beating the Yankees 3-2 in a great ALDS. All of this was done with a payroll that ranked 23rd in the majors. In addition when the Indians do spend money they spend it in the right places. There highest paid player was C.C. Sabathia with a salary of a little under $9 million. All Sabathia did was win the AL Cy Young Award so you could definitely say that was well spent money.
As far as on the field batting performances the Indians didn’t have any one big time stand-out which is the way a lower salary team would like to perform. The pitching on the other hand had several standouts. They had 2 pitchers who had 19 wins, Sabathia and 24 year old Fausto Carmona. Paul Byrd also contributed 15 wins for the Indians. In addition closer Joe Borowski had 45 saves.
If there weren’t any outside batting performances you would probably assume that there where then some poor batting performances. This however is really not the case. The worst performer on the team was Josh Barfield who batted only .243 as the starting 2nd baseman, he also had 15 errors on the season which isn’t that high of a number especially when you consider his $400,000 salary. Overall the Indians played a good team game and were successful for it. They play baseball the way it should be played in my opinion.
Key Free Agents: CF Kenny Lofton an RF Trot Nixon; The Indian have already exercised club options to keep pitchers Paul Byrd, Joe Borowski, and Aaron Fultz so their offseason losses won’t be to severe. Lofton and Nixon are both seasoned veterans who put up good numbers but they are getting old and a well run team like the Indians should be able to find some young talent to fill their places. If they don’t turn to their own farm system then this is an off-season ripe with talented outfield free agents.
Offseason Needs: The Indians are another team that is on very solid footing going into the 2008 season. They do however need to have some more consistent bats in the lineup or to add a big bat. With players like Sizemore and Hafner on the team though the talent is already there it is just a matter of them getting in a groove and hitting the ball more consistently. When your team has the pitching that the Indians will have you can get away with a few less .300 hitters in the lineup. There biggest need in the offseason will be finding a new center fielder but there are many available on the market so they may be able to get one at a good value.
Prediction for the 2008 season: I definitely see the Indians contending for the AL Central again. The Tigers and White Sox have to do something to improve to be able to put runs on the Indian’s pitching staff. They will have a hard time affording a lot of the big name guys so the Indians have the advantage going into the start of the season. I however don’t think the Indians have the bats to get past the ALDS next year unless they make some roster moves to improve that lineup.
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