Parents weekend is an October tradition here at Kenyon College. Cars have clogged the streets and green spaces and parents attending classes make finding a seat an unnecessary ordeal. To cope with this often aggravating situation, I'm lying low this evening until the elders head off to bed and I can reclaim my campus with my fellow young adults. Until then, I'll escape into a baseball fantasy world.
C- I'd suggest, and I'd imagine the Indians will, play some combination of Lou Marson and Wyatt Toregas for the first two months of the season. Carlos Santana looks good to go hitting wise after he posted a .290/.413/.530 line at AA following his monster 2008 season, however he could use a little seasoning at AAA. By all accounts, he's an excellent blocker and has a cannon of an arm behind the plate, but his English needs improvement and his game calling from what I hear is lousy. Plus by keeping Santana in Columbus until June, they can avoid Santana becoming a super 2 and have him through 2013 as a non-arbitration eligible player and 2014-2016 as arbitration eligible.
1B- Well, a couple days ago I would have said Matt LaPorta should be a shoo in for this spot. However with his 4-6 month recovery time, this possibly creates and opportunity for Andy Marte and Jordan Brown. I don't really view Brown, 26, as much more than Ryan Garko and Marte is a slick fielder, but sports a laughable career line of .216/.272/.352, good for an OPS of .624 in 668 AB. Whether it be Brown or Marte, they'll just be a fill in for Matt "Blue Chip" LaPorta.
2B- Luis Valbuena's line of .250/.298/.416 doesn't look particularly impressive to the naked eye, but as a 23 year old playing a premium position.... it looks good to me. Valbuena isn't afraid to swing and I love the somewhat stunned expression on his face when he makes contact. I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple years Valbuena consistently put up .280/.340/.460 seasons, pretty damn good from a 2B. Baseball America even commented in its 2009 handbook "[Valbuena] has a higher offensive ceiling than Asdrubal Cabrera." And if Valbuena catches a case of the 2nd year hitting blues (like Asdrubal before him) or fails to improve his sometimes shaky defense, the tribe has Jason Donald to step in and show what he's got. And, maybe, just maybe Omar Vizquel could be signed to help tutor the tribe's young 24 year old infielders in addition to selling tickets.
SS- Asdrubal Cabrera, Asdrubal Cabrera, Asdrubal Cabrera. Asdrubal fulfilled his promise and proved himself to be a incredibly special young player in 2009. His .799 OPS (already excellent for a SS) only ranked behind Pablo Sandoval, Justin Upton and Billy Butler amongst players 23 and younger. He easily bested hyped rookies Colby Rasmus (.714) and Elvis Andrus (.702). He's good with the glove too and only will improve with more time to adjust back to SS from 2B. I hope the tribe offers this 23 year old stud a long term contract like the 6 year contract with a 7th year option offered Grady Sizemore after 2005 (with a little lower dollar amounts).
3B- Ugh. Jhonny Peralta's atrocious .690 OPS ranked him 10th from the bottom amongst qualified players in 2009. I thought Peralta was ready for a breakthrough 30 HR season in his year 27 season. However, he disappointed and regressed from his exceptional second half of 2008. It's hard to believe he had 83 RBI. Nonetheless, he's under contract for next year and should rebound at least to the .730-.750 OPS range which isn't god awful. Where are you Chisenhall?
LF-Michael Brantley. This 22 year old wasn't incredible in AAA this year, but I like his Kenny Lofton-esque spark-plug style and 46 steals in 5 months. From Keith Law's September 1 blog:
"Michael Brantley, CF, Cleveland: Brantley has great bat speed combined with outstanding bat control, which is how you can go 2,161 plate appearances in the minors with more walks (258) than strikeouts (190). He's also a plus runner and can play center field, although that position is occupied in Cleveland by Grady Sizemore at the moment. Brantley has below-average power, so playing in an outfield corner might be a stretch, although I think he'll hit for enough average to make it work."
That's encouragement enough for me. I could see him developing into a .310/.400/.450 hitter in his prime (optimistic I know).
CF-Grady Sizemore. Sizemore battled injuries all year and still had a .788 OPS, good for a CF. He's an good fielder with excellent speed and is just entering his age 27 season. The tribe is lucky to have him cheaply signed through 2012. I think with good health, he'll bounce back to his 40 HR MVP potential over the next couple years.
RF-Shin-Soo Choo established himself as a premier player over the past year and a half. He followed his .309/.397/.549 line of 2008 with a .300/.394/.489 in 2009. A 20-20 guy with a cannon of an arm, he might be the Indians best corner outfielder since Juan Gonzalez in 2001. I hope the Indians lock him up this offseason for his four remaining years of team control and maybe his first year of free agency.
DH-Travis Hafner. Hafner had a respectable year putting up a line of .272/.355/.470 in only 338 AB. Hopefully next year, he can be healthy the entire year and give the tribe 500 AB of a veteran slugger this team desperately needs. He'll never post a 1.098 OPS again, but I wouldn't be surprised if he managed 450 AB next year and a line of .275/.370/.500. He didn't completely lose it, but he's not the slugger who took a big discount and signed a 4 year 57 million dollar extension to be a DH in 2007.
There you have it. While the Indians look to have an above average offense in 2010, the pitching well.... that's another story for another day.
Alex Trebek
PS: Add me on twitter "trebek90" for irrelevant baseball banter all the time!
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