Michael Bourn - CLE

[nheath22]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-bi...7109--mlb.html

Looks like the Indians outfield may not have a spot for Stubbs everyday... Bourn, Swisher, and Brantley would be the everyday starters by my estimation with Stubbs coming off the bench as a 4th outfielder unless Swisher is going to DH.

That being said, Cleveland's lineup will be pretty good again next year with Cabrera and Kipnis to combine with their outfield. Might be contenders in the AL Central depending on how Detroit holds up this year.

[90reds]

I've read some people saying they should move Stubbs to left and Swisher to either DH or first, but I don't think Stubbs is good enough offensively to play left field. You can almost deal with a .200 hitter if he plays good defense in center, but I don't see how you can put up with that kind of production from left field. So it looks like the Stubbs era in Cleveland didn't even last til Spring Training.

[90reds]

Also I still don't think Cleveland has the pitching to compete with Detroit or the other top AL teams, but that lineup is a lot scarier than it looked before

[BlackPete Ibold]

Swisher will be the every day DH, Stubbs will start in CF.

At least for the first 100 to 120 games anyway!

[Vander]

Can't really blame them for not handing the keys to Stubbs after his past few years of regression. However, he's a pretty good 4th outfielder, and if they contend, might (..... might) have some trade value at the deadline. It all really depends on whether or not Tito thinks he can "fix" him or not.

But I really don't understand why so many analysts suddenly think they can contend for a wild card when their rotation is being led by Ubaldo and Masterson... Bourn is good, but he can't pitch, and that's what they need more than anything.

[nheath22]

Originally Posted by Vander

Can't really blame them for not handing the keys to Stubbs after his past few years of regression. However, he's a pretty good 4th outfielder, and if they contend, might (..... might) have some trade value at the deadline. It all really depends on whether or not Tito thinks he can "fix" him or not.

But I really don't understand why so many analysts suddenly think they can contend for a wild card when their rotation is being led by Ubaldo and Masterson... Bourn is good, but he can't pitch, and that's what they need more than anything.

Definitiely agree their pitching is their Achilles heel, but their lineup is pretty solid.

Masterson and Jiminez are decent starters but definitely not aces for a staff. Both are somewhat consistent but never dominant in their careers.
Bret Meyers is a wild card from not starting last year for most of the year, but if he can muster up his old stuff, he could be a decent middle of the rotation guy.
Trever Bauer or one of their other young guys will probably be in their rotation as well. Bauer has talent and could turn into a decent starter although he definitely has a big learning curve ahead of him.

A signing like Loshe could go a long way for them in my opinion and give bauer more time to develop while allowing them to contend now.

[Vander]

Originally Posted by nheath22

Definitiely agree their pitching is their Achilles heel, but their lineup is pretty solid.

Masterson and Jiminez are decent starters but definitely not aces for a staff. Both are somewhat consistent but never dominant in their careers.
Bret Meyers is a wild card from not starting last year for most of the year, but if he can muster up his old stuff, he could be a decent middle of the rotation guy.
Trever Bauer or one of their other young guys will probably be in their rotation as well. Bauer has talent and could turn into a decent starter although he definitely has a big learning curve ahead of him.

A signing like Loshe could go a long way for them in my opinion and give bauer more time to develop while allowing them to contend now.

I agree that their offense will be legit, but that won't get them a wild card if they can't keep runs off the board. And as for signing Lohse, I honestly would have used the money they just spent of Bourn on him. Ask yourself this: Which is weaker? An Indians offense without Bourne, or an Indians rotation without Lohse?

Now, I don't know what their financial situation looks like right now, so for all I know, they're working on signing Lohse as we speak. But still, as things stand, I think Lohse would have been a better signing. If I were an Indians fan, I just wouldn't trust Masterson or Ubaldo at all right now.

[Kilgore_Trout]

I think it's a solid addition for the Indians, though I do agree with the poster above me who suggested that a Lohse signing may have been more beneficial. Just a cursory glance over their rotation's statistics for last season suggests a dire need of a reliable arm. Barring health, Lohse could have been that guy.

Not that I particularly care, but it will be interesting to see what happens with Stubbs. John Heyman suggested in an article on CBS Sports that Drew is "eminently available," or at least the odd man out.

[nheath22]

Originally Posted by Kilgore_Trout

I think it's a solid addition for the Indians, though I do agree with the poster above me who suggested that a Lohse signing may have been more beneficial. Just a cursory glance over their rotation's statistics for last season suggests a dire need of a reliable arm. Barring health, Lohse could have been that guy.

From what I have heard about Lohse is that many analysts think he is asking for both too much money and too many years for many teams to think of signing him. While we can look at the stats from last year and say he could be an ace pitcher right now, he definitely has been been consistant throughout his career and could just as easily flop as put up another good season in 2013. Bourn was the safer play in my opinion in terms of knowing what you are going to get.

With 2 new guys in the rotation this year also, hard to compare all of the numbers to last year, but they definitely could use all the help they can get in the pitching department in order to become a contender.

[Vander]

Originally Posted by nheath22

From what I have heard about Lohse is that many analysts think he is asking for both too much money and too many years for many teams to think of signing him. While we can look at the stats from last year and say he could be an ace pitcher right now, he definitely has been been consistant throughout his career and could just as easily flop as put up another good season in 2013. Bourn was the safer play in my opinion in terms of knowing what you are going to get.

With 2 new guys in the rotation this year also, hard to compare all of the numbers to last year, but they definitely could use all the help they can get in the pitching department in order to become a contender.

Honestly, they're both risky free agents. Your points on Lohse are more than valid. However, Bourne is also risky as his entire value is based on being fast. As soon as he slows down a little bit, there goes his career.

But you can't look at the two in a vacuum. We're talking about a team that already had a pretty good offense, but with a starting rotation that, quite frankly, has been terrible.

[holster10]

Cleveland trying "to buy" a competitive team. Never been a fan of Nick Swisher but kudos to him for hitting "pay dirt".

[JB12]

Does anyone know the status of Cleveland's minor league pitching. Any potential down there that might make an appearance this year? Not that it'd be enough to really make that push that their rotation needs... although, stranger things have happened.

[nheath22]

Originally Posted by JB12

Does anyone know the status of Cleveland's minor league pitching. Any potential down there that might make an appearance this year? Not that it'd be enough to really make that push that their rotation needs... although, stranger things have happened.

This article I read this morning talks about some of their young guys who might make the rotation this year including Corey Kluber, Scott Kazmir, and Trever Bauer. Not to mention Zach McCalister who started several games for them last year and could be better after an MLB off season. Interesting read and good overall analysis of the Tribe's rotation.

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index..._spring_2.html

[Captain13]

Trevor Bauer is supposed to be the real deal, he was part of the Choo trade. We will see how he pans out; how many "can't miss" pitching prospects have we seen miss in Cincy, or Louisville or Dayton or Billings...

[Vander]

Originally Posted by Captain13

Trevor Bauer is supposed to be the real deal, he was part of the Choo trade. We will see how he pans out; how many "can't miss" pitching prospects have we seen miss in Cincy, or Louisville or Dayton or Billings...

I think the "can't miss" label is a bit tarnished now that he's been traded and we have a better idea of what his mind set is. He's kind of a loon and his warm up routine is enough to make you think he'll wear down pretty quickly.