Low payroll root of Cleveland’s hitting woes
CLEVELAND — By August, Progressive Field may be nothing but a giant bar.
Or a great place to clean out your email.
Or the perfect spot to watch spectacular fireworks. If outdoor relaxation is what Northeast Ohio sports fans seek, the setting will be a fun entertainment option. Beer, brats and a new bourbon bar certainly have appeal. Presumably, a pandemic will not quash Dollar Dog Night.
But if a reincarnation of the 1990s sweet-swinging, big-bopping Cleveland baseball teams is the attraction, this might not be the year.
Six games do not represent a serious sample size, even with a 3-3 record and a .216 team batting average entering Saturday’s game. But the faith and trust President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff have earned from loyal followers is already being tested.
The lineup cards manager Terry Francona is forced to turn in significantly lack run-producers.
We’ve seen slow starts before. The 2019 team won 93 games and hit .215 in March and April. In 2016, it hit .248 in those two months on the way to the World Series. Carlos Santana, who spent 10 years in Cleveland and is now with the Royals, carries a career .238 average in March/april; fan-favorite Jason Kipnis posted .220 in his career before the calendar hit May.
Even with two World Series championships and three pennants to his credit, Francona can only do so much with what he currently has. First base and center
field need to be upgraded.
Perhaps those spots can be filled by players in the minor leagues. But Cleveland’s front office may have to abandon its usual patience in bringing top prospects along slowly if the offense fails to click.
Ultimately, the financial constraints imposed by owner Paul Dolan and the supposed massive economic losses brought on by the pandemic have robbed Antonetti and Chernoff of what few magic tricks they have left to support the team’s outstanding starting pitching.
According to USA TODAY’S annual MLB survey, the lowest payrolls on Opening Day 2021 belonged to Pittsburgh ($45.3 million), Cleveland ($49.8 million), Baltimore ($54.1 million) and Miami ($57.1 million).
Dolan may have offered a glimmer of optimism for the future in a Monday morning interview with “Wills & Snyder” on WTAM 1100. Although he will remain majority owner, Dolan said he might be willing to offer an investor more than John Sherman’s minority stake, reportedly currently held in trust after Sherman bought the Royals in 2019.
According to Crain’s Cleveland Business, Sherman’s share of the team has been widely reported at 15 to 30%. Upping the available stake might help find a buyer.
Sherman’s Cleveland deal was finalized in August 2016. That season, reliever Andrew Miller was added at the trade deadline and he became a crucial part of the World Series run. Going into the 2017 season, the team signed Edwin Encarnacion to a franchise-record free-agent contract and added Jay Bruce and Joe Smith before the deadline.
Considering that history, it’s not out of the realm to believe that Dolan might spend more on the roster if Sherman’s stake and “a little bit more” can be sold.
Fans will not hold their breath, especially with Dolan’s “we’re not in any hurry” comment. He made other remarks along those lines when explaining why expectations remain high.
“This is a talented team, starting with the reigning Cy Young Award winner and the reigning runner-up to the American League MVP,” Dolan said on WTAM in reference to Shane Bieber and Jose Ramirez. “You may have heard Tito say it, there are more questions about this team than there may have been the last few years and we need to get answers.
“We need to find out who amongst the talented group of young players we have are actually going to be successful major leaguers. That’s what I would characterize the first half of the season is about.”