2009 AL Preview: Cleveland Indians

by Erik Hahmann on Feb 2, 2009 2:00 PM EST

Team Name: Cleveland Indians

2008 W-L Record: 81-81

Place in division: 3rd

2009 Projected Lineup
Player	Pos.
Victor Martiez	C
Ryan Garko	1B
Asdrubal Cabrera	2B
Jhonny Peralta	SS
Mark DeRosa	3B
Ben Francisco	LF
Grady Sizemore	CF
Sin-Soo Choo	RF
Travis Hafner	DH

Key Bench Players
Player	Pos.
Jamie Carroll	IF
Dave Dellucci	OF
Kelly Shoppach	C

2009 Projected Rotation
Player	Pos.
Cliff Lee	SP1
Fausto Carmona	SP2
Aaron Laffey	SP3
Jeremy Sowers	SP4
Anthony Reyes	SP5

Key Relievers
Player	Pos.
Kerry Wood	Closer
Jensen Lewis	Setup
Joe Smith	Setup
Rafael Perez	Specialist

2009 Outlook Paragraph:

The Indians under achieved in 2008, falling four runs short of their Pythagorean W-L record. However, they should be an improved team in 2009 with the additions of Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood. DeRosa is coming of the best season of his career with Chicago, where he had an OPS of .857 and a WAR of 4.2. He'll add a much needed bat at third base, while also being able to play any of the outfield positions. After having one of the best bullpens in the league in 2007 the Indians had one of the worst in 2008. The addition of Kerry Wood should help stabilize that. He posted a 2.32 FIP and an 11.40 K/9, which was the second highest of his career. If he can stay healthy that should put the rest of the bullpen in order. Kelly Shoppach had a breakout season in the absence of Victor Martinez. If he can continue hitting the way he did in 2008(his BABIP was .359) that could allow Cleveland to move Martinez to first and bench Ryan Garko. The rotation should be ok behind CY Young winner Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona. Their 3-5 starters are a bit iffy with Sowers, Laffey, Reyes, Lewis and Pavano competing for those final spots. The AL Central should be a wide open race in 2009, with the Indians right back in the hunt.

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Comments

In the name of Lou Brown, I must post this picture!

In the name of Shinji Mori, we shall win!

by thebaddancingraysfan on Feb 2, 2009 2:40 PM EST reply actions

Not abrasive enough

We need the other team’s homers to pile on and criticize all of these.

You seem pretty sunny on DeRosa though. I can’t say I like this team as much as last year’s. Pronk’s coming off a horrible year, and moving VMart to 1B gets rid of most of his value.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Feb 2, 2009 3:30 PM EST reply actions

I agree on DeRosa

i doubt whether he sees an 850 OPS again

by Raymondo on Feb 2, 2009 5:39 PM EST up reply actions

He's a much better option than Andy Marte

by Erik Hahmann on Feb 2, 2009 7:19 PM EST up reply actions

I'd put Cabreraat ss

DeRosa at 2B and Peralta at 3B

by Raymondo on Feb 2, 2009 9:28 PM EST up reply actions

That's fine, as long as Marte isn't out there

by Erik Hahmann on Feb 2, 2009 11:24 PM EST up reply actions

Fuck the Indians

Hope they finish last

by Raymondo on Feb 2, 2009 5:38 PM EST reply actions

Visiting from LetsGoTribe.

Re: the projected lineups, while I think Martinez will still play a lot at catcher, the working assumption at the moment seems to be that as long as Hafner is healthy, Shoppach will get more playing time than Garko, so I would adjust the default lineup accordingly.

The default rotation should include Pavano rather than Sowers. Pavano enters spring training with a guaranteed rotation spot, so unless he gets hurt or completely implodes in March, he’ll be there. Laffey is competing with many others for the final spot, but he’s considered the incumbent for a variety of reasons.

Joe Smith will be used as a specialist, but Perez never has been. The 2008 bullpen implosion was not that surprising considering the 2007 bullpen was not at all deep — the closer was mediocre, we had two dominant setup guys named Rafael, and Jensen Lewis arrived mid-year to do a great job. But outside of those three setup guys, the rest of the bullpen was pretty terrible in 2007.

by Jay on Feb 8, 2009 5:44 PM EST reply actions