Six Things To Follow and Keep an Eye On This Indians Offseason

There's plenty of offseason questions for the Indians, as despite winning the 3rd most games in franchise history, fans and the team are still shell shocked after the team lost in five games to the Yankees after having a 2-0 series lead.

Today we take a look at some of the more compelling offseason questions, with some thoughts and solutions on each, and what the team might do.

From the debate about what to do at first base to why this team is failing to close out series' after having leads, we look at it all in this latest look at the Tribe.

So sit back and enjoy 'Six Things To Follow This Indians Offseason.'

1.) 1st Base Debate

A chain reaction of what the Indians will do this offseason should all be started by the domino at first base. Carlos Santana who has been with the big-league club since 2010, will enter free agency and puts the team in a tough spot.

At 32 years old come April, he has yet to hit over .268 in any of his eight seasons in the big leagues, however his ability to draw walks has yet to wield him a season with an OBP under .350. Defensively he is not a standout but has done a fine job there.

Edwin Encarnacion was paid to be the designated hitter so if they choose not to resign Santana they will need to look internally or externally for options. Internally is pretty limited. Looking down in the farm system, the Indians third best prospect Bobby Bradley is not yet ready for the majors.

In AAA Columbus, Chris Colabello and Nellie Rodriguez failed to muster any kind of offense. That would mean either Lonnie Chisenhall or Jay Bruce if they resign him would make a move to first. Neither would be ideal.

In free agency, the team is not going to have the money to offer Eric Hosmer who will be one of the crown jewels of a good 2018 class a contract. That would leave other reasonable options in Logan Morrison, Lucas Duda, Yonder Alonso, Mitch Moreland, Mark Reynolds, and Mike Napoli as the 1B class is pretty deep this year.

Ideally the Indians will muster up some kind of contract in the two year range for Carlos to make another run at a title.

2.) Jason Kipnis

2017 proved to be some kind of whirlwind for Jason Kipnis. After being an all-star second baseman in 2013 and 2015 and hitting a career high 23 home runs with a .275 batting average last season, Kipnis now needs to find a home.

After dealing with a hamstring problem in the spring and throughout the season, he got off to a slow 2017 and never recovered. In a lot of statistical categories, he had the worst season of his career. Whether that was due to the constant injuries or the start of a decline is the question.

Terry Francona has found a new love with Giovanny Urshela at third so much that when Kipnis came back from injury he lost his spot at second and was moved to CF for the first time since college.

Bradley Zimmer, the Indians top prospect is the future in CF though leaving the question of where to play him. Jason is under contract through 2019 so the Indians must figure something out.

Will he go back to his natural spot at second base and move Ramirez to third and give Urshela a little more time to work on his bat to match his spectacular defense?

Does Kipnis find a more permanent role in the outfield somewhere during spring training and get consistent reps there? Can the Indians find a trade partner for him and get a piece in return that will not be a downgrade and help their chances of winning a World Series?

I have no idea what they will do with him but I am curious to see what they decide on.

3.) The Corner

While the Corner is the bar that sits in RF at Progressive Field, the Indians have to figure out their corners in the outfield. Michael Brantley has an 11 million dollar option that has to be decided on shortly after the World Series concludes and Jay Bruce is a free agent.

Possibly both can be gone with Brantley’s injuries over the last couple of seasons limiting him to just 101 games. Austin Jackson is also a free agent after having a resurgent year and will likely find another home.

Excluding Zimmer in center, that leaves Greg Allen, Abraham Almonte, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer, and Tyler Naquin as the only other options on the 40 man roster.

Those names are not going to cut it next year. The Indians should pick up the Brantley option or work with him on a one year deal to make one more run at it and hope that he can stay healthy.

Jay Bruce would be wonderful to have again as another big bat in the lineup but it has yet to be seen if Dolan will open his pockets again this year to keep everybody after spending last year. A few free agent names that would make a lot of sense to keep an eye on include Melky Cabrera, Jarrod Dyson, and Colby Rasmus.

4.) Lock It Up

Cleveland over the years has done a good job at locking up its young talent early to avoid competing in free agency with bigger market teams.

Some names in that list include Michael Brantley, Carlos Carrasco, Yan Gomes, Jason Kipnis, Corey Kluber, Roberto Perez, and Jose Ramirez.

With the team playing like it has, it would make sense to try and keep the core rolling. Obviously the big name would be Francisco Lindor.

It was rumored the team offered him over 100 million before the season which he turned down. If that is the case it might hard to come to terms on an extension this year and with him not arbitration eligible for another year it can be tabled to after 2018.

Two names I would look at this offseason would be Lonnie Chisenhall and Trevor Bauer. 2017 is the last year of arbitration for Chisenhall before he becomes a free agent next year. He has quietly been one of the more solid and consistent players in the lineup.

Originally considered just a platoon guy against righties, Chisenhall has gotten off to quick starts in the season and has hit .280 in three of his last four seasons. Injuries have occasionally hampered him and the Indians could look to capitalize on that and lock him in longer instead of him banking on himself in a contract year.

He made 4.3 million this past year so a contract in the 5-8 million range with his versatility to play first if need be too would make a lot of sense with the questions surrounding the current outfield.

Trevor Bauer would be the other name to try and immediately lock up. The starters this year set all kinds of records and that included a lot of them having a slow start.

To keep that core would be amazing. Kluber and Carrasco are already signed and Bauer would be another perfect fit. After he was drafted third overall in 2011, he seemed to flip a switch in the second half of 2017. He developed a stronger slider to mix in with his fastball and slow hooking 12-6 curve.

That has lead to a new career high strikeout average for him. He finished third on the team with 17 wins, just one behind Kluber and Carrasco and will only be 27 next year, meaning he has a lot of good baseball still ahead of him. It seems as if he is finally getting comfortable and finding a groove and to not sign him now would be a mistake before that price tag shoots way up.

5.) Domination

I believe the postseason exposed one of the Indians weird weaknesses. That is the lack of dominant arms in the backend of the bullpen. Looking at recent years, when the Royals made their run to back to back World Series they had a lot of big arms.

The Yankees who the Indians lost to in the ALDS this year had the same. Playoff baseball is much different than the regular season in that the bullpen will tend to go almost the same amount of length as a starter does in a game. When you have a bullpen going for five innings you need dominant arms.

Between Chad Green, Aroldis Chapman, Tommy Kahnle, and Dellin Betances to name a few, the Yankees had a variety of guys that can light up the radar gun and make it tough for hitters.

The Royals were the same with Kelvin Herrera, Luke Hochevar, Wade Davis, Greg Holland, and Ryan Madson. The Indians do not have that same type of bullpen.

Granted the Cleveland bullpen was no slouch by any means with Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller, and Cody Allen but that is only three pitchers they relied heavily on and do not have the same power arm. Shaw was the only reliever to average over 95 mph in the 96 range while Allen and Miller hang around 94.

Shaw is now a free agent and no reliever in baseball gets used more than Shaw by Francona. I cannot imagine him not being resigned but it might be of interest to try and acquire another dominant back arm or start looking to draft and develop them with there not being a lot of those guys on the market this offseason.

That could also help protect the three. In 2017, Allen, Miller, and Shaw combined for 16 losses. All the starting pitchers combined for just 40. If they can get just one more power arm in there I think it will make a huge difference and put less strain on the big three if Shaw remains.

6.) Replacing The Mentors

One thing that does not get spoken about enough is the coaching staff that is assembled here in Cleveland. Francona leads the bunch but not enough can be said about the rest of them.

Mickey Callaway has done a tremendous job with the pitchers in Cleveland and could be a manager for another team next season. The Philadelphia Phillies have already asked to interview him for their opening.

Sandy Alomar a beloved Indian will also continue to get looks for a manager position and may not be far behind in getting his opportunity.

Brad Mills on the bench has already served as a manger in his career and although I do not see him going back to a manager any point soon could always end up complimenting a new manager on their staff. There are also reports of Ruben Niebla the minor league pitching coordinator possibly getting his shot in the majors somewhere after developing a lot of great young pitchers for Cleveland.

It will be hard to replace some of these names whose work has gone under the radar if they get their opportunities on other teams. Hopefully Tito can nab some solid replacements in case. John Farrell the recently fired manager of the Boston Red Sox would be a name to watch as him and Tito were very close during their time in Boston and when they played for Cleveland back in the 80s.