The era of the four-hour game at Jacobs Field is over. The success of a pitching staff built around one of baseball’s most powerful trios will determine if the Cleveland Indians’ dominance also is at an end.
With Juan Gonzalez, Roberto Alomar and Kenny Lofton gone from a lineup that has had a swagger since Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez arrived, the Indians no longer can count on pounding the opposition into submission.
Many see owner Larry Dolan’s decision to cut the payroll as a turning point for the franchise that has won six American League Central titles in the last seven seasons. But Cleveland players believe they can win a different way behind a talented pitching staff.
The rotation could be dynamite if Cuban Danys Baez delivers on his potential to be as effective as Bartolo Colon and second-year lefty C.C. Sabathia.
“I’m sick of answering questions about the guys we don’t have,” closer Bob Wickman said. “We have some guys here who can play baseball. We still have a good chance to make the playoffs, and we could go all the way.”
Manager Charlie Manuel knows he must answer many questions in spring training.
Is Milton Bradley ready to take over as the center fielder and leadoff man? Who’s in left, Russ Branyan or Brady Anderson? Can converted shortstop Ricky Gutierrez become comfortable at second base? How productive can Matt Lawton, Jim Thome and Ellis Burks be in the middle of the order?
But Manuel believes his team is still the most balanced, top to bottom, in the Central.
“If they want to overlook us, I think that’s fine,” he said. “I see nothing wrong with that. It’s up to us to show how good we are. I don’t want to sit here and brag, but I know this–our talent is better than people think. As quick as we develop it, that’s how good we will be.”
Wickman, who joined the Indians down the stretch in 2000, was thrilled to get a three-year contract extension in the off-season. He said he wouldn’t be this happy if he believed the team was spiraling downward. He points out the Seattle Mariners were better after losing Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr., even if few were touting them last spring.
“We have just as good of a team as Seattle did last year,” Wickman said. “They won 116 games without one of those big boppers. They just won ballgames and played like a team all year. You might just see us do the same thing.”
Quick question: Where’s Ichiro Suzuki?
The Mariners compensated for the loss of Rodriguez by importing Suzuki, who was the AL’s Most Valuable Player in his rookie season. The Indians’ biggest import is Lawton, a seven-year veteran who never has scored or driven in 100 runs.
Cleveland needs to make up for its loss of muscle by manufacturing runs better than it has in the past. But its lineup includes two of the league’s strikeout leaders in Branyan and Thome and has little speed without Alomar, who was traded to the New York Mets for Lawton and minor-league prospects, and Lofton, who signed with the White Sox after the Indians failed to exercise his option.
Gone, too, is John Hart, the architect of teams built around sluggers. Mark Shapiro, Hart’s successor as general manager, is remaking the Indians around pitching. He also leans toward low-maintenance pros such as Wickman, Thome and third baseman Travis Fryman.
For the first time since Cleveland began its run in 1995, its clubhouse stands a reasonable chance to be scandal free. Belle, Jose Mesa, Ramirez and John Rocker all have gone their separate ways.
For them not to be missed too badly, the Indians are going to have to get a major improvement from the pitching staff.
It is possible, perhaps likely, that Cleveland will fall from the AL’s top six in runs scored for the first time since 1992. Finishing with a winning record could be a challenge if the pitchers duplicate 2001, when they allowed 5.1 runs per game, the ninth-highest total in the league.
“I think guys are excited and ready to take care of that,” said the 21-year-old Sabathia, who went 17-5 as a rookie. “You can’t replace guys like Robbie, Kenny and Juan, but you can get guys working together and do the job.”
Veteran Chuck Finley, the ace when he joined Cleveland two years ago, will work behind Colon and Sabathia in a rotation that will also include Baez, a 24-year-old who had a 2.50 earned-run average along with 52 strikeouts in 50 innings as a reliever last year.
“He has a big upside to me,” Manuel said.
Rookie Ryan Drese, who pitched his way onto the playoff roster in 2001, is likely to be the fifth starter. Usual suspects Charles Nagy and Jaret Wright are both in camp but aren’t being counted on.
During the Indians’ seven-year run, the bullpen often was a source of concern. But there’s real excitement about the depth that Shapiro has assembled. He re-signed Wickman and added free agent Mark Wohlers to a set-up corps that was led by Paul Shuey, who had a 2.82 ERA in 47 appearances last year.
“Those are three closers right there,” Sabathia said. “All the great teams have good bullpens, and I think we will. With those guys for the seventh and eighth [innings], you feel real confident going out of a game.”
Left-hander Ricardo Rincon, for whom Hart traded future All-Star Brian Giles to Pittsburgh, has had a sub-three ERA the last two seasons. The Indians are hopeful about a comeback from Scott Radinsky, who pitched only two innings the last two seasons because of an elbow injury.
Stranger things have happened than the Indians winning while making the transition from heavy metal to jazz. They know that the White Sox and Minnesota Twins believe the time is right for a changing of the guard, but they also know talk can be cheap.
“Nobody knows how this is going to come out,” Wickman said. “We can say this or we can say that. So can anybody else. But let’s just go out all season and play baseball. When the season is over, we’ll see what we have to say.”
