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Cleveland Indians State Of The Union For 2016
The Indians had a disappointing 2015 with an 81 – 80 record, however some trades midway through the year have cleared the deck to acquire some upgrades at the OF and 1B positions. They should take advantage of this, and a lot of depth at the Starting Pitching to address their needs. If they play their cards right, they could some top players near the Trade Deadline next year and contend for a playoff spot in the American League.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Indians have had three straight losing seasons. The problem is that they have gone from 92, to 85 to 81 wins over the last 3 years. That is not the kind of trajectory you want to be on.
With the strong onus on the clubs drafting and decent trades over the last few years, it has been the Free Agency signings they haven’t fared so well on.
Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn killed their budget over the last few years, but at least they got from under those two players by dealing them both with some cash to Atlanta for 3B Chris Johnson. The result is some better flexibility with cash going forward.
It is funny though, as they could use a CF and a 1B/DH type as their top two needs on the acquisitions market this winter. They could use a guy with some pop from the right side as a Center Fielder. The Tribe should definitely target Austin Jackson as a priority. Read the rest of this entry
Minnesota Twins State Of The Union: Looking For The Playoffs In 2016
The Twins finished 2nd in the AL Central and could be the Houston Astros type of 2015 club in 2016. If you think they can finish 2nd in the AL Central one more time, it may be enough to secure a Wild Card Spot. I think the AL East will beat each other up – and will only produce one playoff team in 2016. The management needs to realize that the next 2 or 3 years represents the best time for the organization to take back the helm of the AL Central like they did from 2001 – 2010.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Minnesota Twins know how to build a winner. From 1992 – 1999 the team was not the greatest team around and they gradually built a ton of players through the draft like Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau and later Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano and Joe Mauer.
Being a good franchise means a smart game plan, and especially when you are a smaller market.
From 2001 – 2010 the club won 6 AL Central Titles and were always on the verge of sneaking through. They never seemed to have great depth Starting Pitching to move past clubs in the postseason (despite having Santana).
After the club moved into Target Field, it should have alleviated some of the financial concerns the organization had. They were in the top 10 for total team salary. Except for the core was getting older. Veterans were traded and the management focused on replenishing the Minor League System.
Lean years followed from 2011 – 2014, and it cost Ron Gardenhire his job after the 2014 campaign. Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The Indians Hitters Were Acquired: 2014 Roster Tree Shows A Good Job Done By The Organization
Terry Francona took over a team that ended up 68-94 after being competitive for the first couple of months of the 2012 season. The team aadded some key offensive FA talent in 2013., but Francona also cultivated the attitude of this young team all the way to a playoff berth and an AL Manager Of The Year Award. His club’s offense was a big reason why the team was able to do this, and the team is competitive again in 2014 with virtually the same roster – and nice power threats.
How All Of The Indians Hitters Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
When we look at how this offense was put together, we saw a lot of decent draft picks, a few nice trades sprinkled in, and a few Free Agents signed along the way.
With Francisco Lindor coming along the way, this is probably the swan song for SS Asdrubal Cabrera, however one can’t forget this franchise fleeced the Mariners for the asset that was Eduardo Perez. to obtain his services.
Cabrera has had a nice stay in Cleveland, with 2 ALL – Star Selections, one Silver Slugger – and has provided nice defense for the last 8 years.
It wasn’t the 1st time Cleveland won out in a trade with Seattle. Does Anybody remember Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard?
As you will see in a future Pitchers Roster Tree for the “Tribe”, Cleveland has Josh Outman, Trevor Bauer and Bryan Shaw for the original Perez deal now. Read the rest of this entry
Cleveland Indians Payroll In 2014 + Contracts Going Forward
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 & Jeff Kleiner (Org Depth + Payroll Expert – find his website here) Follow @prosportsroster
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Indians were big players in the 2012 offseason – heading into the 2013 year.
The club stepped up and signed 1B/OF Nick Swisher to a 5 YRs/$70 MIL deal – and inked OF Michael Bourn to a 4 YR contract worth $48 MIL.
Indians Management also took a risk on SP Scott Kazmir.
But perhaps their best acquisition in the 2012 winter was picking up Terry Francona as their new bench boss. Read the rest of this entry
Cleveland Indians State Of The Union For 2014
The Indians hosted the Wild Card Play in Game for the right to play Boston in the ALDS in 2013, but were ultimately ousted by the Tampa Bay Rays. Now minus several pieces from last years team, they turn to their franchise depth in hopes of another playoff berth in 2014. The club ended the year on a 10 game winning streak – and extended it by 1 in the Season Opener at Oakland. The Indians are pretty much going with ‘status quo’ into this year. They lost key Starters Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez to Free Agency. Of course they saw Joe Smith sign with the Angels and they released Chris Perez, so other than Terry Francona winning the Manager of The Year in the AL, it wasn’t a banner offseason.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Indians had one hell of a rollercoaster ride in the 2013 year. It ended with the club making their 1st playoff game since the 2007 ALCS.
To make it to the #1 Wild Card Slot, Cleveland reeled of 10 straight victories, and hosted the one game battle against the Rays.
Albeit the team could not beat the Rays, and were left to settle with one home date in the postseason.
With 92 Wins, with no lineup player having an exceptional year except for maybe Jason Kipnis, there was no doubt Terry Francona peeled off one of the great managerial jobs ever.
Almost instantly after the year, the club lost Ubaldo Jimenez, Scott Kazmir, Chris Perez, Joe Smith and Drew Stubbs (trade). Read the rest of this entry
Cleveland Indians Payroll In 2014 + Contracts Going Forward
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 & Jeff Kleiner (Org Depth + Payroll Expert – find his website here) Follow @prosportsroster
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Indians were big players in the 2012 offseason – heading into the 2013 year.
The club stepped up and signed 1B/OF Nick Swisher to a 5 YRs/$70 MIL deal – and inked OF Michael Bourn to a 4 YR contract worth $48 MIL.
Indians Management also took a risk on SP Scott Kazmir.
But perhaps their best acquisition last winter was picking up Terry Francona as their new bench boss. Read the rest of this entry
The Cleveland Indians Players In All Organizational Affiliates, Prospects + Depth Charts (MLB + MiLB) 2014
The Indians hosted the Wild Card Play in Game for the right to play Boston in the ALDS, but were ultimately ousted by the Tampa Bay Rays. Now minus several pieces from last years team, they turn to their franchise depth in hopes of another playoff birth in 2014.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 & Jeff Kleiner (Org. Depth Chart Expert) Follow @prosportsroster
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Indians had a triumphant and surprising year in 2013. They blasted their way out of the gate led by Mark Reynolds and Jason Kipnis and Justin Masterson.
Halfway through the year, renaissance pitching from Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir helped jump into the foray among all the best AL clubs.
This club took advantage of a cupcake schedule – in order to reel off a 10 game winning streak to tend the campaign.
For those people who failed to see what a tough May.15 – June.15 schedule they had, in which they played almost all of the Division leaders across the board in the MLB, being all over .500 teams.
Because of that stretch, they deserved the late season ease of sked.
Jason Kipnis Highlight Reel 2013
Who Owned Baseball Yesterday (September.12th) – Updated Yearly ‘WOB’ Standings
(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Ryan Raburn got on base 4 times, homered and drove in 5 runs, leading the Indians to a 14-3 thrashing of the White Sox.
A. J. Griffin moved the A’s closer to a second straight Division Title by holding the Twins to 2 hits, 1 walk and 1 run while striking out 8 over 7 innings in Oakland’s 8-2 victory.
Freddie Freeman went 3-4 with a homer and a walk, driving in a pair, helping the Braves beat the Marlins, 6-1.
Jeff Locke pitched the Pirates back into first place by throwing 7 innings, letting only 3 Cubs get hits and letting up just a single run, getting the 3-1 win.
They all owned baseball on September 12, 2013.
My explanation for “Who Owns Baseball” can be found here.
At the end of the year, we will tally up who owned baseball the most individual days and see how it compares to the final MVP and Cy Young vote.
To view the Yearly Leaders for Who Owned Baseball Standings – Click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON
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To View The List of just the nightly winners (WOB dedicated Page) starting from Mar.31/2013 – today click here
Top MLB Teams 1 – 30: Monthly Rankings + (Top 200 Stats For Reading And Fantasy Baseball)
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Follow @mlbreportsThursday July.11/2013
The Giants have gone 9 – 23 in their last 32 Games – and are in danger of having a brutal campaign just one year after capturing the World Series. Key injuries and overlogged pitchers have been the main point of contention. They lost 8 Ranking Spots this past time. Should they also become sellers at the Trade Deadline, Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence could fetch a few players in return. The Giants are currently 40 – 50 and 6.5 Games behind the NL West Leading DBACKS – but are in last in the NL West.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The time has come for the July Power Rankings with Stats Edition. There will be one each for May, June, July, August, September – and then a special playoff edition Power Rankings will be done in October.
I will not do a weekly Power Rankings during these weeks, because in essence, these are the weekly rankings done on a much larger scale.
These Reports are done with a heavy thought to how the teams project by the end of the season – along with how the clubs have fared so far.
I will point out who has had great months for the all 30 MLB Teams. I reward the good performances in these rankings – and leave the poor ones for the Podcasts or future articles. CLICK THE READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON or scroll past the video and picture.
Current Top 5 MLB Home Run Leaders in the AL + NL: Home Runs Hit May 20th
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Follow @mlbreportsTuesday, May.21, 2013
Robinson Cano is leading all Second Baseman + is tied in the AL with Chris Davis for HRs with 13. In a sign of what he might do this year, in his last 163 Games since last year, Cano has a 3 Slash Line of .310/.374/.952 – with 42 HRs and 110 RBI. This type of season would land Cano a deal similar to the one Prince Fielder received a few years ago (9 Years/$214 MIL)
DH on our home site pages – Stands for Daily HR Hitters in the Majors.
We are going to run the gauntlet on the previous days HRs for all MLB Players.
I loved it when MLB XM Radio used to do a running total every night on their Roundtrip with Mike Ferrin (Laser Show). So I am bringing it every day on this website. To view every nights big boppers for the whole year (from May 8th on) visit the DH page!
Click beyond the Youtube link or click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON to see who hit yesterdays big flies.
Miguel Tejada Mix of Highlights:
[]http://youtu.be/a0wc3W6wmzA Read the rest of this entry
Cleveland Payroll In 2013: Indians Organizational Rosters + Depth Charts – (MLB + MiLB)
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday, Apr.28/2013
The Indians were one of the top franchises for organizational Drafts, signing players, making trades and having their core players locked up to long term contract during the 1990’s. In the early part of the millennium, they traded several of these players for a new core of players. This time, their return wasn’t as significant. The club prides itself on not making big mistakes on the Free Agent market and developing its own talent. For the first time in 2 decades, the management is really under scrutiny for team operations.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 and welcome Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB) – visit his website here Follow @prosportsroster
You guys are all in for a treat. Jeff Kleiner recently contacted me about a partnership merge for the website. He has developed a site (prosportsrosters.com) that covers all organizational affiliates in the Minors for all of the Major League Baseball Clubs. We are going to combine efforts to bring you the best look at salaries, current 25 Man Player Rosters and Depth Charts for all 30 teams.
Jeff is going to provide the documents in form of spreadsheets and I am going to accompany the posts with deep analysis of what the numbers tell us from my perspective. If you can’t wait for all of my assessments for each club, go and visit Jeff’s website over at http://www.prosportsrosters.com.
In Speaking with Jeff, he is one of the more passionate fans I have come across towards the game of baseball. He spends enough time in updating his MLB Facts for it to be a Full-Time Job. So after the usual Video Clip and READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY button, you will find some serious &*!@?!#!
Jeff updates this page below on a daily basis. After you click on it….Bookmark it. There is a 3 year salary forecast and stats not listed here on this page. Jeff updates these pages daily and these changes include any Roster moves!
For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the Royals Organization click here
The 1st half of the Central Division winning Indians 2007
Cleveland Indians Payroll In 2013: And Contracts Going Forward
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday Feb 24, 2013
The Cleveland Indians have been around since 1901. During the years the Indians have won 8,792 games & have lost 8,573 games. The Indians have won the World Series 2 times & have 31 players in the Hall Of Fame.
By Larry Myers (Indians Correspondent): Follow @TribeFanz1969
The Indians finished the 2012 season as a huge disappointment. The Indians had a strong first half before falling apart in the second half. The Indians the 2013 season with many new faces after a busy winter.
GM Chris Antonetti and President Mark Shapiro decided to make some major moves to improve the team for the 2013 season. The first move the Indians made was replacing Manny Acta with Terry Francona as manager. The Indians then traded Shin-Soo Choo & Tony Sipp in a 3 team trade to pick up Drew Stubbs, Matt Albers. Bryan Shaw & Trevor Bauer. The Indians signed a few Free Agents with the four biggest names being Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Brett Myers, & Michael Bourn. The Indians showed that with the moves they made they are ready to contend now & in the future.
Cleveland Indians 2012 Season Highlights:
The Tampa Bay Rays: The Franchise 1998-2012: Part 1 Of A 5 Part Article Series
Thursday, December.20, 2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5. The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles section here.
The many Rays Logo’s over the years. Is the best of this franchise yet to come?
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Tampa Bay Rays Franchise can be summarized into two different categories: “The Devil Rays Days” and the “Rays Days.” The Devil Rays endured 10 straight losing seasons to start the club’s history. From 1998-2007, was a complete gong show (645-972) and last place finishes in a tough AL East every year, except for 2004, when they finished 4th, although they did stockpile several top Draft Picks based on their horrid regular seasons. In 2008, all of that changed when the ‘Devil’ was literally and figuratively knocked away from the Tampa Bay team. Their young stars finally saw their potential realized and they appeared in the 2008 World Series versus the Philadelphia Phillies. The Franchise would lose in 5 hard-fought, weather fulfilled games, however the team was now one of the model clubs in baseball. From 2008-2012, the club has gone 458-352.
The Rays have made the playoffs in 2010 and 2011 since, plus featured two other over .500 records in 2009 and 2012. The club has now had 5 winning seasons in a row. There is still a long way to go as they feature the worst winning percentage in MLB History, with a 1103-1327 Franchise Record (.454). The next worst team is the Padres at .463. The Arizona DiamondBacks were the NL Expansion cousins of the Rays and they feature a Win Percentage of (.498), which is second overall for the Expansion teams. The Arizona DiamondBacks also have made the playoffs 5 times and won the World Series in 2001. Still if you asked anyone right now, the Rays would gladly be the team everyone picked.
Franchise Series Links:
The Hitters: The Tampa Bay Rays: The Hitters 1998-2012: Part 2 Of A 5 Part Article Series
The Pitchers: The Tampa Bay Rays: The Pitchers 1998-2012: Part 3 Of A 5 Part Article Series
2013 Team Payroll: Tampa Bay Rays Payroll 2013 And Contracts Going Forward: Updated for Myers Trade Dec.11/2012
Tropicana Field Expert: An Interview with Tropicana Field Expert Kurt Smith
MLB Reports 
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