The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Tribe may lose 10 free agents next month
Indians have the longest World Series championship drought in MLB history
There are holes in the outfield, holes in the bullpen and one giantsized hole in the collective hearts of the Indians after being swept out of the ALDS by the Houston Astros.
About 48 hours after the Astros sent the Indians packing by pounding them, 11-3, in Game 3 on Oct. 8 at Progressive Field, team president Chris Antonetti, general manager Mike Chernoff and manager Terry Francona conducted a wake/season wrapup in the same building. They held a similar news conference a year ago after the Indians were knocked out of the ALDS by the Yankees after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the series.
The Indians have lost six straight playoff games and nine of their last 11.
“They’re all different. They all hurt,” Antonetti said. “We set out to try and win the World Series and that didn’t happen, and so regardless of how that comes to an end, it’s painful and this year is no different. It hurts a lot.”
Ten players – four pitchers, four outfielders and two infielders - are eligible for free agency next month.
The bullpen is getting hit hard; Andrew Miller, Cody Allen and Oliver Perez plus starter Josh Tomlin will have the chance to cash in with another team. Miller, and especially Allen, were unreliable in 2018.
“Not knowing is a really difficult thing,” Francona said. “And there was a lot of unknowns, which was different for this bullpen. So it was challenging. And on top of that, some of these guys are free agents to boot.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us putting together a bullpen that we think can get us where we want to go. Doesn’t mean we can’t do it. In fact it’s going to be fun trying to do it, but we know we have some work to do.”
Outfielders Michael Brantley, Lonnie Chisenhall, Rajai Davis and Melky Cabrera will be free agents. Third baseman Josh Donaldson and second baseman Adam Rosales (he played in only 13 games) are the infielders heading to free agency.
All eligible players become free agents at 9 a.m. the morning after the World Series ends. That starts a five-day period of making qualifying offers. Non-contracted players can start signing with another team at the end of that five-day period.
Don’t hold your breath on many, or possibly any, of the major free agents returning to the Indians. The Indians’ 2018 total payroll of $142,804,703 was the highest on franchise history and 14th highest in all of baseball. A large chunk of that amount would come off the books if none of the free agents is re-signed, but that does not mean the Tribe will be able to go on a shopping spree when free agency begins.
“The one thing we do know is whatever payroll might be coming off the books with the free agents we may be losing, we’re going to need just as much if not more to retain the guys through arbitration raises and increases in guaranteed contracts,” Antonetti said. “It would be a payroll even above where we are right now even before we add anyone externally.”
It was not all gloom and doom in the final media session with the Indians’ brain trust before all will gather again for TribeFest in January. Just the opposite, actually.
The Indians have won the AL Central Division championship three straight times, and, despite the expected November defections, they should be favored to repeat in 2019. The challenge for Antonetti, Chernoff and Francona is taking the next three steps to earn Cleveland its first World Series championship since 1948. The Indians have the longest drought in Major League Baseball.
“I think we’re in a really healthy spot with where we are as an organization right now,” Antonetti said. “We will be faced with some really difficult decisions, but the reason we’re having those difficult decisions is we have a lot of really good players on our team that are returning, some of whom will earn a lot more than they did (in 2018).
“We have a very healthy minor league system. I think we continue to work on build an organizational culture that’s established winning as being a foundational outlet there, which is an important thing. It’s taken a while to get to that point. So I feel like we’re in a very healthy spot moving forward.”
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us putting together a bullpen that we think can get us where we want to go. Doesn’t mean we can’t do it. ”
— Terry Francona, Indians manager