Central Intelligence: Indians Vulnerable

It sure would be nice for our Twins to put the Cleveland baseballers in their place and knock them down a peg in 2019. I suppose sustained excellence will naturally cause jealousy from the also rans. Although there has been an aroma of arrogance coming from Clevaland's fans this winter. The whole '2018 was boring because we had no competition' vibe is annoying.

I have been annoyed with them for longer than I care to admit. Nothing would make me happier than to knock them off their smug perch and watch them pout all winter.

They won 11 less games than 2017 and Dolan the owner recently stated they were losing money. Last I looked payroll is at 112M. When a team starts dumping salaries, it's usually all over. Also, it was certainly no secret that Kluber and Bauer were both available this offseason.

102 win teams generally regress in the win column. And the 2018 Cleveland club had little incentive to try to win that many again -- as it was, they still won the division by 13 games with only 91 wins.

 

I wouldn't put too much stock into the owner's assessment -- that's pretty standard fare for MLB owners, who want to appear benevolent in public. Likewise, Kluber and Bauer being available for a high asking price doesn't mean much either.

 

Obviously they weren't comfortable keeping the opening day payroll around $130 mil but neither were the Twins. I don't see them slashing it it further quite yet -- in fact, if they are in the race I wouldn't be surprised to see them add salary in-season as they did several times in recent years.

 So they won 11 less games because teams that win 102 games generally regress and they had no incentive to win as many in 2018. Sounds to me, you're just making excuses. I put a lot of stock in the owner's assessment, and there is no standard fare for MLB owners. Kluber and Bauer being available may not mean much to you, but it certainly does to them, their teammates, and Cleveland fans.

Does a guy who hits 50 HR one season, and only 40 HR the next, need an "excuse" to explain the drop? Does it necessarily mean he had less talent in power hitting the second season?

 

I subjectively agree the 2018 Indians weren't as good as the 2017 team, but I don't think "minus 11 wins" is necessarily an accurate measure of that drop.

 

Has any MLB owner ever publicly stated how much money they made from their team? Yes, it's pretty standard for MLB owners to say they're losing money, or at best, breaking even.

 

That's not to say Cleveland is going to go on a spending spree now -- but I'm guessing they are fairly comfortable staying at their current level, and wouldn't need a whole lot of incentive to push up to 2017-2018 levels again. The owner crying poor certainly doesn't convince me otherwise.

You don't read MLBTR do you? They are convinced. Last I looked they are at 112M. Also, rarely have I heard an owner stating they are losing money. Last time was the pizza guy in Detroit who lost 7M one year.

I dont care what they do as long as we kick their A$$es 16 more tumes in 2019.