Cleveland Indians Information
Season ticket holders will watch as new Skipper Manny Acta and the Cleveland Indians take the field for their 110th season in Major League Baseball. After finishing in 4th place in the AL Central, the franchise made a number of moves to try and better them even though most see this as a rebuilding year for the club. The new arrivals include RHP Mitch Talbot, RHP Hector Ambriz, C Mike Redmond, INF Brian Bixler, RHP Jamey Wright, INF Mark Grudzielanek, INF Luis Rodriguez, OF Austin Kearns, Shelley Duncan, RHP Jason Grilli, RHP Saul Rivera and 1B Russell Branyan.
The projected pitching rotation looks to be RHP Jake Westbrook followed by Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, David Huff and Aaron Laffey. The projected Bullpen is RHP Kerry Wood (closer), RHP Chris Perez, RHP Joe Smith, LHP Tony Sipp, LHP Rafael Perez, RHP Jess Todd and RHP Saul Rivera.
The franchise announced on February 18, 2010 that following the 2010 season , GM Mark Shapiro will be promoted to Team President with current President Paul Dolan becoming the Chairman and CEO. Chris Antonetti will take the General Manager position.
The Cleveland Indians have been able to accomplish an amazing amount in the last decade. They made the playoffs six times in a seven year span (also winning the division with the same consistency), they appeared in the World Series twice, and they had a strangle hold on the AL Central. As unfortunate as it is, they might possibly be best known for their futility in the biggest games. In 1995, they were on the losing end of game 6 in the World Series, allowing the Braves to get their only championship in recent memory. In 1997, they played the expansion Florida Marlins and lost a heartbreaker in Florida in game 7.
The Indians call Jacobs Field home. Located in the heart of Cleveland, Jacobs Field was opened in 1994. It can hold almost 44,000 people, and even has a terraced bullpen area in right field. It’s a baseball-only facility, and is only 375 to the alleys in left and right center, but has an oversized wall in left field to compensate for the lack of distance. Jacobs field also hosted the all-star game in 1997, where the AL beat the NL 3-1. Although the fans have embraced the team in the past, and Cleveland is known as quite a baseball city, the revenue production has slowed down over the years. This team is quite different from the teams of the 90s, because they play “small ball” now instead of mashing like the teams of old. The team in 1995 that won 100 games had Albert Belle hitting 50 homers that year, but last year’s leading home run hitter was relative-unknown Jody Gerut with 22.
This year, it will be up to Matt Lawton to set
the table for the rest of the lineup. He and longtime
Indian Omar Vizquel will be asked to take more walks
and steal more bases this season due to the lack
of power behind them. Youngsters Travis Hafner and
Casey Blake are the odds on favorite to lead the
team in home runs and runs batted in although their
numbers shouldn’t threaten to lead the league
in either category. Fan favorite Coco Crisp should
solidify his starting role in left field and amaze
the fans with some of the diving plays he makes throughout
the year.
On the mound, the loss of closer Danys Baez to Tampa Bay opens up a spot for
young gunner David Riske. C. C. Sabathia will anchor the staff again, and should
approach his usual 200 innings pitched for the season. Cliff Lee and Jason
Davis will likely step into starters roles after pitching the past few years
in the minor leagues. Jake Westbrook will shift between starting and long relief,
and Rafael Betancourt will be asked to pitch the 8th innings more often then
not in order to get Riske the ball in save situations.