How Do the Cleveland Indians Stack Up in the Newly Proposed Cactus League West for 2020?

The clock continues to tick without baseball, as more of the 2020 MLB season is still in doubt if it’s going to happen, and fans keep waiting for good news about when we will hear umpires yell “play ball.”

Fans reaction last week seemed mixed when they heard about a proposal from Bob Nightengale from USA Today, who says that a shortened season will indeed get played, with games in Arizona and Florida.

The proposed season will see each team play 108 games, and the divisions will look very different from what we are all use to.

Gone for 2020 would be the AL Central for Indians fans, and instead the Tribe would play in the “Cactus League West” along with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers.

While Indians fans are very use to seeing the White Sox for 18 games a year and every year playing the Reds, they only see the Angles twice per season, and the Dodgers once every few years.

Last week we wrote how the standings would look from the results of 2019 if this division existed.

Los Angeles Dodgers 106-56

Cleveland Indians 93-69

Cincinnati Reds 75-87

Chicago White Sox 72-89

Los Angeles Angels 72-90

The Indians would be in second place, a healthy 13 games back of the first place Los Angeles Dodgers, who likely would be the favorite if this division ends up happening for the shortened 2020 campaign.

Let’s look at what the win/loss projections would look like according to Bleacher Report, with a reminder that they are projecting it as if 162 games would be played.

Los Angeles Dodgers 101-61

Los Angeles Angels 86-76

Chicago White Sox 85-77

Cincinnati Reds 82-80

Cleveland Indians 81-81

Ouch.

The Indians pulling up the basement of the proposed West division would be a massive letdown for the 2020 shortened season, but before you put dirt on the Tribe just yet, let’s take a look at this division and how these teams really stack up.

Dodgers – Yes there’s no doubt that in this division the Dodgers are the cream of the crop, as they had a busy offseason making the biggest deal grabbing MVP candidate Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox.

The Dodgers are on one of those mid-1990’s Indians runs where winning their division is almost an afterthought, and you can start to print playoff tickets by the 4 of July.

Los Angeles also acquired pitcher David Price in the Betts deal, and many think that their 32-year drought without a title will end this year no matter the division they are in.

Angels - The other team in Los Angeles boasts two MVP caliber players in Mike Trout and offseason pickup third basemen Anthony Rendon who will give the teams offense a major boost in 2020.

The Angels also have a new manager in Joe Maddon, who Indians fans know well from his time with the Cubs including the 2016 World Series. The starting rotation isn’t anything to write home about, led by Andrew Heaney and Julio Teheran, but the offense will score runs.

White Sox – The White Sox have gotten plenty of press this offseason, picking up catcher Yasmani Grandal, DH Edwin Encarnacion and pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Keuchel. It seems like one of those ‘win it or bust’ years for the Sox, and you to wonder if this is truly enough to put them in a position to get into October baseball.

Youngster Elroy Jimenez is another player to watch out for, and like the Angeles this team’s offense very much overshadows their starting rotation, which is anchored by 2019 AL All-Star Lucas Giolito. Keuchel and Gonzalez will help their rotation.

Reds – Quietly the Reds had a successful offseason in making a few moves, including picking up Mike Moustakas, Nick Castellanos and Japanese outfielder Shogo Akiyama, who is penciled in the starting lineup.

The rotation includes Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and former Indians hurler Trevor Bauer, who should have a better season in his second run with the Reds after being dealt to Cincy last year prior to the trade deadline. Are they better than the Indians? Remains to be seen.

Indians – Everyone knows the Tribe’s shortcomings including an outfield that remains very iffy, and they are counting on a couple young pitchers at the back of the rotation (Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale), that are being counted on to be big contributors.

The strength of the team is their infield, which includes All-Stars Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor, and slugger Jose Ramirez who after a slow start had a solid few months in 2019 before getting hurt.

It’s hard to believe this team with Terry Francona running it that they will not do enough to challenge for the postseason, but there’s a lot of questions about this team as we all already know.

In case you don’t recall, here are the other teams that the Indians would see in Arizona in the Cactus League Northeast and Northwest

Northeast – Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Oakland A’s

Northwest – Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers

Under the story last week, the Indians would play these teams 12 times apiece. One doubleheader per day would be played based on the fact there’s an odd number of teams in each state.

Nothing is official yet, but Major League Baseball powers that be continue to work towards getting ready for some type of season, and as of now this still appears to be the strongest and best proposal.

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