For those of you curious (as I was), I'll put that link here for your convenience.
Now oddly enough, this set of Power Rankings only lists #1 through #15, so it's not a true and full representation of the baseball playing field. But imagine my surprise when the list reveals...
The Indians are nowhere in the Top 15???
The lone-wolf representative from the AL Central is the Tigers, and that's largely because of their World Series appearance. The list is dominated by the East and West in both leagues, with only 3 teams (Detroit, Cincy, and St. Louis) coming from the country's heartland. The only sub-.500 team in the list is the Blue Jays (73-89), and this is a year removed from both Oakland and Baltimore coming from equally (or more) abysmal 2011 seasons (74-88 and 69-93, respectively) to make the Playoffs in 2012!
Oh baseball pundits... Have you not learned anything about the leveling of the playing field?
Now granted, I'm not advocating shooting the Indians to #1, or even the Top 5, of the list. The teams that are in those areas are legit, and have made acquisitions (or kept pieces) to warrant being where they are. But I look at teams on the outside fringes, I see some puzzlers.
#15 Philly, according to the blurb in the Rankings, is relying heavily on Ryan Howard and Chase Utley to return to form after injuries. Now, Clevelanders know how that kind of hope goes (I'm looking at you, Grady... And yes, you too, Pronk). If the Philly Phaithful are putting all their eggs in those two (possibly) fragile baskets, they could get burned.
#11 Arizona is a little surprising, too. Mentioned prominently is the loss of their rookie outfielder Adam Eaton, which leads me to believe that he was this year's Strasburg-type player. With that in mind, and the fact that the only other player on the D-Backs roster actually mentioned by name is Martin Prado, I get the impression that Arizona wasn't a very comfortable pick to be in the list.
A lot of these teams listed are based around acquisitions that no one knows how they'll pan out, and "emerging talent" that might fall flat on its face. How can Cleveland not be at least cracking that list?
Let's see:
- The "pick-up" that started it all, new manager (and architect of the Boston Red Sox success story) Terry Francona.
- The multi-player deal that rid us of Shin-Soo Choo and got us, amongst others, a premier outfielder in Drew Stubbs and a young power arm in Trevor Bauer.
- The releases of oft-injured Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner.
- Nabbing some infield depth with Mike Aviles.
- Solidifying first base with power bat Mark Reynolds, and further depth there with Nick Swisher.
- Low-risk depth signings like Brett Myers, Scott Kazmir, Ryan Raburn, "Dice-K" Matsuzaka, and even Jason Giambi.
- And probably the steal of all of free agency this off-season, Michael Bourn.
- Oh by the way... All this while guys like Chisenhall, Kipnis, Santana, McAllister, Smith, and Pestano grow another season older and wiser... And better.
So new directions, new faces, comeback players, and young kids growing into their own.
That's the same that can be said about many of the teams in the "Power Rankings".
Where's the love, MLB.com?
If you're interested in a little lengthier opinion, keep reading below to find my response to the actual Power Rankings discussion. And for those not quite in the know, TL;DR means "Too Long; Didn't Read" in Internet Speak... Usually lets those with short attention spans get the general point of a post.
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TL;DR: Indians woefully underrated in MLB.com Power Rankings, could turn into this year's O's
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Look, I know their starting pitching is pretty suspect, there's a lot of new blood, and Spring Training doesn't mean a thing... But for the Indians to not even break the Top 15 is shameful.
They're coming off of the most productive offseason in years. They found a top-tier manager in Terry Francona that has a passion that haven't seen since Mike Hargrove in his heyday. Players look up to him, will play for him (unlike that debacle with Manny Acta late last year), and he has the experience of building a top-flight organization from the ground up. Half of the Tribe's offseason signings wouldn't have happened without him.
They have an up-and-coming young core of guys (Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, Michael Brantley, even Carlos Santana) with that little bit of experience and clubhouse presence (Nick Swisher, Brett Myers, Ryan Raburn, Jason Giambi) mixed in. They're solid defensively up the middle with Asdrubal Cabrera and Kipnis, with what will arguably be one of the best outfields in the game in Drew Stubbs, Brantley, and Michael Bourn. There's that mix of speed and pop that makes the 2013 Tribe's 1-9 a multi-faceted lineup that can create runs and maintain flexibility. And without a full-time DH (sorry, Pronk), they can afford to give fielders rest days while keeping their bat in the lineup. Plus, they'll have a bench with guys like Raburn, Mike Aviles, and Lou Marson; all above-average players that can fill various roles, and allow even more lineup and fielding flexibility. This is not going to be a lineup that will have trouble scoring runs, unlike recent seasons.
The starting pitching... Yes, it's a work in progress. But Ubaldo Jimenez is showing some promise this Spring that he'll be closer to his 2010 season than his 2012 season, and recovering even a fraction of whatever it was he had in '10 will be key this year. Justin Masterson will be solid, if not spectacular, as will the combination of Scott Kazmir and Carlos Carrasco. A move back into the starting rotation will likely set Myers for a above-average season (compared to the rest of the rotation). The wild-card of the Starting 5 is going to be Zack McAllister. It's hard not to see a tremendous amount of upside from his appearance with the club during last season, where he was arguably the best hurler on the team. This year he's breaking in from Opening Day, so even if he just carries to last year's form, the Indians rotation will benefit right off the bat from his arm.
The bullpen, which has been the Indians' strong suit in recent years, has new faces but similar stopping power. Newcomers Matt Albers and Rich Hill have been around the Bigs for a while, and have shown solid numbers in recent years on proven veteran arms. Bryan Shaw, also new to the team this year, looks to be finding himself early in his career, and will be a welcome addition to the "Bullpen Mafia". Cody Allen will break the Opening Day roster, and showed himself to be a vital part of the 'pen last season. He's young and finding his groove, but will be protected (along with Shaw) by the more veteran arms of Albers and Hill. Nick Hagadone might be the only question mark in the bullpen with Frank Herrmann getting sidelined by Tommy John surgery, but the feeling is that Hagadone is much more cool, collected, and focused on his game after his poor judgement following a bad outing last season got him injured. The anchors of the bullpen (Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez) are unchanged, and should find continued success with the Tribe this season. Perez seems to be satisfied with the direction taken by the front office this offseason, and (with the help and "guiding hand" of Francona) should be able to get back to his normal duties of closing games. Perez, nursing a shoulder strain from early in Spring Training, should be a "go" for Opening Day. However, Pestano would be able to fill-in easily should there be a setback with Perez, with Joe Smith readily settling in the set-up role for however long there might be a need.
On top of all this is the talent that can be found at the Triple-A level. Trevor Bauer, the lynchpin in the deal that sent Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati, was reassigned to Columbus to be a part of the regular rotation for more seasoning. However, he could see a call-up by the All-Star Break if one of the big club's Starting 5 falters. He is just a touch under Major League ready, but could possibly find the control "under fire" that could vault him into ace status. Scott Barnes is a highly viable bullpen option should Allen or Shaw buckle. Cord Phelps and Tim Fedroff are familiar names to Indians followers, and can help the club up the middle if needed, but both need some regular ABs in Columbus before they're truly ready to come to fruition. The two names that are on everyone's lips are Mike McDade and Chris McGuiness. McGuiness, a Rule 5 acquisition from the Rangers, is a true MLB rookie whose developing power has the Indians front office trying to work on a trade to keep him in the Triple-A fold. McDade has seen some time in the Bigs, and was good at finding holes and plating runs through limited ABs with the Indians late last year. Two other names that could really find a home on this team (with a little more work in the Minors) are Matt Capps and Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom were both signed to full-fledged Minor League deals today. Matsuzaka was released by the Tribe on Sunday, but more as a formality as "Dice-K" had agreed to take an assignment in Triple-A Columbus to get himself back into a normal starter's routine. Francona and Tribe GM Chris Antonetti have told Matsuzaka that they see him as being a contributing part of the big club this year, and that helped Dice-K make the decision to take the Minors assignment with the Tribe, saying he was "more comfortable staying" after speaking with Francona and Antonetti. Matsuzaka has shown some good life in his pitches coming back from Tommy John surgery in 2011, but was limited this Spring by calf cramping. Capps was released on Monday, and apparently his agent has been busy trying to find Capps a Major League taker. Either that never surfaced, or Francona and Antonetti had a similar talk with Capps, as he now also has a spot in Columbus. Capps was pitching well in Spring ball, but an already crowded bullpen field limited his opportunities. He is another arm that could easily come up an contribute immediately if injury or lackluster performance hit any of the bullpen arms early.
This Indians team came out swinging, loaded themselves up with quality names, improved a woeful offense, and took some low-risk measures to shore up a shaky starting staff. This is a team that came to play this season, and I feel it's about time they got the recognition they were due.
