World Series Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland Indians

[The Q]

He pitched out of his mind during the playoffs. Extremely difficult to do with his family situation. The kid definitely has heart, and I'm glad he'll be back next year.

Think about this series with a healthy Salazar and Carrasco, along with no Arietta or Hendricks for Chicago. There's a reasonable chance this could've been a sweep.

Exactly. I can't recall ever seeing a team missing it's best position player and legitimate #2 caliber starters in the 2/3 slots and making the WS, much less winning it.

 

[The Q]

Kluber - signed through the next 5 seasons
Carrasco - signed through the next 4 seasons
Salazar - signed through the next 4 seasons

Yeah, I didn't say they were done. Just that I like Chicago's chances better in the near future.

You guys seem to forget I've picked the Indians to win the WS the last 2 seasons.

 

[Shanemansj13]

your crazy.

Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Bauer, Tomlin- are all signed up and together for at least the next 3 years at very very affordable prices.

Miller is signed up for 2 more years. Allen is not even arbitration eligible yet. Lindor is fast becoming one of the best players in the game.

Napoli is the only significant free agent and he is 34 and wants to be here.

If Napoli is the only one, I am fine with it but it's not like they don't have other guys that will have playing time if he isn't there. Almonte was pretty good and he couldn't play in the postseason too. Their rotation and bullpen is set in stone. The lineup will be almost the same but they will have Brantley back which is a HUGE key.

OF - Brantly, Naquin, Davis, Chisenhall, Almonte, (Guyer), (Crisp)
3B - Ramirez
SS - Lindor
2B - Kipnis
1B - Santana, (*Napoli)
C - Gomes, Perez

Their team is set other than minor changes and Napoli is up in the air, but this team is still relatively young, especially the rotation.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Yeah, I didn't say they were done. Just that I like Chicago's chances better in the near future.

You guys seem to forget I've picked the Indians to win the WS the last 2 seasons.

Chicago is freaking LOADED. They should be a damn good team for 4 to 5 years at least. That's why the Indians need to win it this year, even without key players. It's Game 7, anything can happen!!

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

True.

But they only really are going to need to replace Chapman from this team (the rumor is he's going back to NY), which is very doable in this current FA market. Quite a few good options out there.

The Indians have a lot more ?s about next year, and I'm not sure you can count on Miller and Allen being THIS good in the post season again. This is simply historically great. Better than Rivera great. Those kinds of runs don't happen very often.

You're missing the point. Ineffectiveness, injuries, bad luck, etc can all work against a team.

No team has a good enough chance of making next year's World Series for them to let one get away.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Kluber - signed through the next 5 seasons
Carrasco - signed through the next 4 seasons
Salazar - signed through the next 4 seasons

exactly

that pitching staff is the envy of every other american league club....just think about a team like boston who is paying Price more then the ENTIRE Indians staff- for a pitcher who chokes in the postseason.

the Tribe has elite starting pitching and elite bullpen pitching- and a star to build around in Lindor- and a future Hall of Fame manager.

no team in the AL has a better future outlook the next 3 seasons. i dont think you can look further than that forward.

 

[The Q]

If Napoli is the only one, I am fine with it but it's not like they don't have other guys that will have playing time if he isn't there. Almonte was pretty good and he couldn't play in the postseason too. Their rotation and bullpen is set in stone. The lineup will be almost the same but they will have Brantley back which is a HUGE key.

OF - Brantly, Naquin, Davis, Chisenhall, Almonte, (Guyer), (Crisp)
3B - Ramirez
SS - Lindor
2B - Kipnis
1B - Santana, (*Napoli)
C - Gomes, Perez

Their team is set other than minor changes and Napoli is up in the air, but this team is still relatively young, especially the rotation.

Almonte was ok, he's probably a decent option against LHPs, but I wouldn't want to count on him more than that.

Technically they probably lose Coco and Napoli as well. And again, I wouldn't expect Naquin to even have an 800 OPS next year. A BABIP over .400 for a guy who isn't a burner (and who was the worst defensive everyday CF in the AL last year). Their OF needs more changes than they think, and I'm not sure how they're gonna replace Napoli.

 

[The Q]

exactly

that pitching staff is the envy of every other american league club....just think about a team like boston who is paying Price more then the ENTIRE Indians staff- for a pitcher who chokes in the postseason.

the Tribe has elite starting pitching and elite bullpen pitching- and a star to build around in Lindor- and a future Hall of Fame manager.

no team in the AL has a better future outlook the next 3 seasons. i dont think you can look further than that forward.

This is probably true.

It'll be interesting to see what they do. At least they've covered some of the big positions long term.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

If Napoli is the only one, I am fine with it but it's not like they don't have other guys that will have playing time if he isn't there. Almonte was pretty good and he couldn't play in the postseason too. Their rotation and bullpen is set in stone. The lineup will be almost the same but they will have Brantley back which is a HUGE key.

OF - Brantly, Naquin, Davis, Chisenhall, Almonte, (Guyer), (Crisp)
3B - Ramirez
SS - Lindor
2B - Kipnis
1B - Santana, (*Napoli)
C - Gomes, Perez

Their team is set other than minor changes and Napoli is up in the air, but this team is still relatively young, especially the rotation.

I don't think holding on to Napoli is out of the question. In fact, I think it's more of a question of if they think he's worth it as opposed to if they can afford it. What's he going to get? $14MM? That's another $7MM for a team that just went to the World Series.

Frankly, if I were the Indians, I'd probably resign him on principal. It would be a relatively small price for ownership to pay and go a LONG way in getting the fan base back in their corner.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Their OF needs more changes than they think

The Q has a sharper baseball mind than the Indians' front office. . .

lmao

 

[WiggyRuss]

I don't think holding on to Napoli is out of the question. In fact, I think it's more of a question of if they think he's worth it as opposed to if they can afford it. What's he going to get? $14MM? That's another $7MM for a team that just went to the World Series.

Frankly, if I were the Indians, I'd probably resign him on principal. It would be a relatively small price for ownership to pay and go a LONG way in getting the fan base back in their corner.

2 years 30 million for Napoli sounds fairly reasonable-

hell- why not just give him the qualifying offer?--- 1 year 17 sounds like it gets nap paid and mitigates the tribes long term risk---- and if another team bowls him over with an insane offer the tribe does not want to match- they get a first rounder out of it.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I don't think you can expect Naquin or Napoli to repeat their 2016 numbers.

On Napoli, why? His 2016 OPS+ was actually lower than his 3-year average.

 

[WiggyRuss]

This is probably true.

It'll be interesting to see what they do. At least they've covered some of the big positions long term.

the power is the concern....Carlos Santana will be in the last year of his deal next year- and Napoli- regardless- is 34.

Bradley Zimmer is the likely CF of the future in my estimation- coming into this year he was more highly regarded then Frazier by many publications.

Between Clevinger, Cody Anderson, and some other minor league ptichers, Aiken, etc...they have ammo to go out and make another deal as well if need be.

you gotta love the infield of Jose Ramirez, Kipnis and Lindor.....but the Tribe could really really use Michael Brantley getting healthy- which like u said- is a question mark.--- but if he does comeback its gonna be a huge addition to this team.

id love to see this team next year with brantley back in the lineup and go something like:

1. DH- Carlos Santana
2. 2B- Jason Kipnis
3. SS- Frankie Lindor
4. LF- Michael Brantley
5. 1B- Mike Napoli
6. 3b- Jose Ramirez
7. RF- Lonnie Chiz
8. C- Perez/Gomes
9. CF- Zimmer/Naquin

 

[The Q]

the power is the concern....Carlos Santana will be in the last year of his deal next year- and Napoli- regardless- is 34.

Bradley Zimmer is the likely CF of the future in my estimation- coming into this year he was more highly regarded then Frazier by many publications.

Between Clevinger, Cody Anderson, and some other minor league ptichers, Aiken, etc...they have ammo to go out and make another deal as well if need be.

you gotta love the infield of Jose Ramirez, Kipnis and Lindor.....but the Tribe could really really use Michael Brantley getting healthy- which like u said- is a question mark.--- but if he does comeback its gonna be a huge addition to this team.

Ramirez repeating his 2016 is another thing to watch.

Zimmer had a bad year this year.

I would've rather dealt him than Frazier. That was probably a mistake by the FO.

I think the Indians should be cashing int their guys and going for it.

Inciarte from the Braves would be a nice get to solve their CF woes.

There should be some interesting DH types on the market that Tito could platoon, or they could try to get Beltran to DH to keep up their platoon advantage (so many switch hitters at the top of the order). Beltran would be a great fit, but will CLE have the money to get him is another question.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

You guys seem to forget I've picked the Indians to win the WS the last 2 seasons.

That's not it. What I've forgotten is why I would care who you picked.

Admittedly, I've seen some really good baseball ideas from you, but on the other hand, some of the shit you post is so off the wall that it tarnishes your overall body of work.

 

[The Q]

2 years 30 million for Napoli sounds fairly reasonable-

hell- why not just give him the qualifying offer?--- 1 year 17 sounds like it gets nap paid and mitigates the tribes long term risk---- and if another team bowls him over with an insane offer the tribe does not want to match- they get a first rounder out of it.

I don't think that's impossible at all.

 

[The Q]

If you guys haven't noticed, I TOTALLY geek out over roster construction conversations.

Fans of all teams, can we please do this all winter?

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

2 years 30 million for Napoli sounds fairly reasonable-

hell- why not just give him the qualifying offer?--- 1 year 17 sounds like it gets nap paid and mitigates the tribes long term risk---- and if another team bowls him over with an insane offer the tribe does not want to match- they get a first rounder out of it.

The most Napoli was ever paid was $16MM per year and he got that contract at age 32 and after basically the best season of his career. Now he'll be three years older and his OPS is 24 points lower than the season that landed him the $16MM.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Nothing like a game 7 for all the marbles.
This has been an awesome World Series.



But that being said... I'm already longing for opening day 2017....

Can't wait!

How many days until Major League Baseball Season Opening Game/Night?

 

[The Q]

On Napoli, why? His 2016 OPS+ was actually lower than his 3-year average.

He's 34.

His strikeout % went way into the danger zone at over 30%.

And his HR rate was out of line from those years. I doubt he's hitting 30 homers again.