JAN
29
Off-Season Stockpiling
Posted January 29th ago via Bugs and Cranks
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With the taste of the ALCS still in our mouths, it feels odd to suggest that the Indians will have an uphill battle getting back to the postseason in 2008. Odd not only because this is Cleveland (where fans have come to anticipate sports-induced heartbreak every year), but odd because this team is built well'built to win now and in the future. After all, the Indians boasted the third best AL ERA in 2007, the league leader in saves, 5 players with more than 20 HR none of whom were over 30 years old, and some of the best young starting and relief pitching in baseball. They steamrolled the Yankees in the ALDS and took Boston's juggernaut to within a game of the World Series before they realized it was their duty to let the fans down.

Yet Cleveland did not leave '07 sated: in fact, the team and city now feel poised to move beyond the euphoria of making it to the postseason with a World Series appearance. But with Detroit's pillaging of the Florida Marlins, the Twins hanging onto Santana (at least for the time being) coupled with Francisco Liriano's return, the White Sox continued mad spending, and even the Royals making noises with the free agent signings of Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo, the AL central is looking increasingly like a scary place to call home. So scary that the team who won it last year by eight games should not rest on its laurels; to that end, here are the two most significant moves made by the Indians so far this off-season:

  • Signing Japanese relief pitcher Masahide Kobayashi to a three year deal
  • Acquiring Jamey Carroll from the Rockies for the infamous PTBNL

Now one doesn't want to be too much a naysayer before pitchers and catchers even report, but I think I speak for the city when I say: What? Not only are these m...

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