Now that the Indians have picked up Ubaldo Jimenez's option, the next step needs to be fixing him for the 2012 season. When Jimenez came to the team in 2011 it was too late in the year to work on much of anything and he struggled through the end of the year. In 2012, Jimenez struggled again through most of the year, although he did have moments of brilliance. By utilizing his option, the Indians are showing they want to compete now, rather than rebuild again, as he is only signed through 2014 anyway.

If the Indians want to compete in 2013 and 2014, they will need Jiminez to be better than he was during the past season, when he pitched well below replacement level. For him to be better, he will first have to find out what he did wrong.

One major issue Jimenez had last year was control. When he was able to get ahead in the count, he was able to unleash his nasty curveball that gave hitters fits. This was especially evident in those games when he was almost unhittable, like on 5/6 against Texas and on 7/24 against Detroit. One of his biggest issues this year was that he was unable to get ahead in the count consistently. In 2012, Ubaldo went 1-0 to 426 batters and 0-1 to 417 batters (compared to 443 1-0 counts and 474 1-0 counts in his best year, 2010). These control issues, especially early in the season, likely lead to Jimenez throwing easy pitches to lead off at bats, just trying to throw a strike. As a result of this, during the 72 at bats that ended after the first pitch, he gave up a batting average against of .371 compared to a .261 BAA in similar situations in 2010. Interestingly enough, this appears to have continued even if he did throw a good first pitch, as he allowed an average of .424 after a 0-1 count (.215 BAA in 2010). One last note on count situations, once Jimenez gave up the first ball, he often had hard time getting back into the at bat, walking 75 batters after starting off 1-0 and 33 (out of 52 total chances) after getting down 3-0.

Jimenez's struggles have often been blamed on his mental outlook. It has been stated all over the web that he felt dismissed when Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez each signed long-term contracts with the Rockies. Ubaldo felt he was part of the future of the franchise and was slighted by his much smaller contract offer. More likely, the Rockies saw a flash in the pan who far outperformed his expected ability in 2010 and was poised for a fall. The trade further pushed Ubaldo down his current train of thought and instead of striving to prove his old team wrong, he proved them right.

If his problem is mental, maybe he will be able to use his current contract situation to help work it out. At 28, Jimenez has one more shot at a big contract, but if he blows 2013, he won't even get the $8M option he already has offered for 2014. If he pitches like he has in the past next season, he could move back into the elite starter level, make $8M in 2014 and have the potential for much more once he leaves the Indians. If he doesn't pitch well next season, no team will trust him with a long term contract, even if he wins the Cy Young in 2014. If this isn't enough motivation to push Jimenez to his highest potential, then the problem isn't motivation.

If the problem isn't mental at all, but physical, this will be the job of new pitching coach, Mickey Callaway. His main goal should be to focus on Ubaldo's concentration, making sure he works for every pitch, throwing good pitches to start each batter off rather than get-me-over fast balls. If Ubaldo can get this together, he may never be able to be the pitcher he was during the first half of 2010 again, but he still could be a great starter for the Cleveland Indians for the next two seasons making the entire rotation stronger at the same time.

With a strong Ubaldo at the front of the rotation, the Indians would have Justin Masterson, and Jimenez as two strong starters, followed by the mid level Carlos Carrasco and Zach McAllister and whoever else the Indians choose to fill out the rotation. If Ubaldo struggles, the Indians will have no hesitation replacing him in the rotation as his 2014 option is not the deal the 2013 one was. He will be on a much shorter leash in 2013 with Corey Kluber, Eric Berger and others waiting in AAA, who would have been better than the 2012 Ubaldo Jimenez. Since the Indians already need a fifth starter with Ubaldo in the rotation, removing him would push the Indians pitching depth to a point that should be uncomfortable for management. Because of this, fixing Ubaldo needs to be the Indians number one in house priority this offseason.

Saturday, the Indians traded the recently acquired Esmil Rogers to the Toronto Blue Jays for short stop Mike Aviles and Yan Gomes. Aviles was just acquired by the Jays from Boston when they traded their manager to the Red Sox. Rogers spent just half a season with the Tribe after being picked up from waivers from the Colorado Rockies, where he had allowed an 8.06 ERA in 23 games. For the Indians, Rogers threw 53 innings, making him the fifth most used reliever and held an ERA of 3.06. This amazing turn around had a lot to due with increased control, some of which was probably due to the decrease in altitude. Rogers walked 18 batters during his limited time in Colorado, but just 12 while playing for Cleveland.

An even bigger part of his turn around was his BABIP (batting average on balls in play). While with Colorado in 2012, his BABIP was .425, almost 150 points higher than later in the season with Cleveland. While some of this may have been caused by park factors, and some to because of better pitch selection (not as many 3-0 fastballs) it is also a good show of how lucky Rogers was. Rogers was great during the second half of 2012 with the Indians, but the chances of him repeating that performance are almost zero. The Indians traded Rogers at his absolute peak, making this trade an almost certain win for the Indians no matter what the returns are. Bullpen depth is the Indians biggest team strength and Rogers was the most expendable of the group and the one that outperformed his talent level by the most last season, making him worth the most to other teams.

The two players the Indians got in return are at opposite ends of their careers. Indians fans should remember Mike Aviles from his time with Kansas City, but Yan Gomes is a young player who just made his debut this past year. While Aviles is the big name of the trade, Gomes is almost certainly the player the Indians are more excited about. In 2012 in Las Vegas, Gomes hit .328 with 43 extra base hits. He did this while transitioning into his first year playing third. Since his first professional season in 2009, he has been primarily a catcher, catching 172 games in the Blue Jay minor league system. The Indians are in drastic need of a back-up catcher after Lou Marson put in one of the worst seasons by an Indians back up catcher in team history. While this isn't a position worth wasting free agent money on or trading a big name for, this trade filled this hole perfectly. I entirely expect Yan Gomes to be a front runner for the back-up catcher job going into Spring Training next year. With any luck he could even pan out to be more if Carlos Santana is needed to cover the DH or firstbase positions in the future.

Aviles is a past his prime middle infielder, although he did have career highs in home runs and RBI last season for a very bad Boston team. For the Indians he will be at most fill in as a utility infielder with all the infield spots taken with very talented rising stars in Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera and Lonnie Chisenhall. Each of these players are already more productive than Aviles ever was and they are all younger and under team control. The current utility man, Jason Donald, however, is very replaceable. In 2012 Donald was one of the worst players on the team and his numbers make Aviles look like an All-Star. Since the Indians were willing to trade for him, he should simply be given the utility role outright and Donald can now be traded or released to make room for other, more productive players.

Overall, this trade looks fantastic. This is the type of move the Indians need to make to stay competitive, by trading players who are outperforming their own abilities for undervalued players who could turn into something special, but are acceptable even at their current level. This trade fills two minor holes on the 2013 roster without creating a new one (Frank Herrmann or Nick Hagadone could easily fill his place in the pen) and makes the team just a little bit better than it was before.

The Cleveland Indians announced their coaching staff for the 2013 season today and there are a lot of new faces. Starting with the returning coaches;

Sandy Alomar, Jr. will remain with the team as bench coach. He was interviewed for the manager position but beaten out by Terry Francona. He is the only coach returning in his position from 2011 and has been on the Tribe coaching staff since 2010.

Mike Sarbaugh received a promotion and will be the first base coach this year after spending the last three seasons with the Columbus Clippers as their manager and winning two championships. He has been a coach in the Indians farm system since 1995 when he was a hitting coach for Kinston. Before managing the Clippers he managed the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (SS), Lake County Captains (A) and Kinston Indians (A+) and won the Carolina League championship in 2006. After Manny Acta was fired, Sarbaugh took over for Alomar as bench coach on the Major League team. This promotion is a long time coming and should help him on his way even further up the Major League ladder.

As expected close collegue of new manager Terry Francona, Brad Mills will be coming to Cleveland and his role has been announced as third base coach. This is a slight drop off after being manager of the Houston Astros. Before being a manager, Mills was a bench coach from 1997-2000 with the Phillies and manager Francona and then in 2003 (with the Montreal Expos) and from 2004-2007 with the Red Sox with Francona again.

The Indians were looking for something rare in their new pitching coach and they found a Unicorn. A Hyundai Unicorn from the Korean Baseball Organization. New Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway was a two time all-star during his three year (2005-2007) international career. Since 2010, Callaway has been in the Indians organization as the pitching coach for the Midwest League Champion 2010 Lake County Captains and Kinston Indians. In 2012 Callaway served as the Minor League pitching coordinator for the entire organization, so the jump to the big league club should not be a huge stretch. Callaway has seen most of the Indians staff at some point during his tenure with the Tribe and should be familiar with all the pitchers. This should help him next season as he does his best to get the most out of the staff, especially the starting rotation.

There were also some surprises on Francona's new staff. Kevin Cash recently retired from a nine year baseball career where he was an unsuccessful back up catcher when he was able to make it to the majors. He has served as a scout for the Chicago Cubs since 2012 and will now be the Indians bullpen coach. Since Luis Isaac is still alive I have no clue why he wasn't a shoe-in for the job. Either way it shouldn't really matter who takes this spot as the Indians bullpen is the most dominant part of the team. All Cash will have to do is keep the peace and make sure not to mess up a good thing.

In another shocking decision, Ty Van Burkleo was picked as the teams new hitting coach. Burkleo had been the hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics from 2007-2008 (and every one knows how amazing those teams were offensively), before moving to be the bench coach for the Mariners the next season. From 2010 until 2012 he served as minor league hitting coordinator for the Houston Astros and was chosen as their interim hitting coach after the Astros fired old hitting coach Mike Barnett (as part of the cleaning house along with manager Brad Mills.

Overall this staff looks pretty good as it combines a large amount of experience and allows people to work together who already know they can successfully work as a team. The use of internal options like Alomar, Sarbaugh and Callaway will also help the players have some sense of familiarity with the staff while still improving the overall staff. The additions of Francona and Mills are the most important and will bring years of experience, not just in the game of baseball, but in winning on the Major League level, something individuals from inside the Indians organization can have no firsthand experience with.

In the most fitting home field advantage in World Series history, the Tigers went off to face the Giants in San Francisco. The reason the Giants were the first team to ever actually earn home field advantage is that is used to just alternate season by season before it was replaced by the new system where the winner of the All-Star game gets home field. This year, Tigers ace Justin Verlander started for the AL while the NL starting lineup was filled with Giants. Matt Cain started for the NL, Melky Cabrera, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval all started offensively. The Giants hitters combined for a home run, a triple, a single, a walk, four runs and five RBI while Cain threw two innings or scoreless ball. Verlander on the other side gave up five runs in a single inning and took the loss.

Game 1: Tigers 3 - Giants 8

The Giants owned every part of game one. Barry Zito impressed over 5.2 innings after being a disappointment over the past couple seasons after signing a big contract with San Francisco. Tim Lincecum came in for Zito in relief and allowed no runs pitching through the 8th. Verlander on the other hand gave up five runs in four innings, much of that coming while Kung Foo Panda was at bat. The most impressive thing about this game was Pablo Sandoval's three home runs that tied a Major League record for most home runs in a World Series game (Babe Ruth did it twice, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols last season). He hit a single in his final at bat, giving him a perfect offensive day with 3 runs and 4 RBI.

Game 2: Tigers 0 - Giants 2

After Zito had a great game in game one, Madison Bumgarner outmatched him in game two. Both Bumgarner and Tigers starter Doug Fister pitched through six innings allowing a single combined run. In what was a great pitched game overall, the Giants scored their first run on a double play off Drew Smyly and their second after Smyly walked the bases loaded the next inning and allowed a sacrifice fly. This was all the Giants needed to win behind their great bullpen.

Game 3: Giants 2 - Tigers 0

Back in Detroit it was more of the same as the Giants blanked the Motor City Kitties for the second game in a row. This time San Francisco used a combination of Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum and Sergio Romo to keep the Tigers off the board. Offensive has been at a premium during most of the postseason this year and the Giants made the Tigers look Yankees through the first three games of the World Series.

Game 4: Giants 4 - Tigers 3

Game four was the first truly competitive game of the World Series, with the Tigers pushing the Giants into extra innings before being eliminated in the tenth. This was the first game that the Tigers came back to take the lead in, although they immediately lost it when Buster Posey hit a two run home run in the sixth to take back the lead. In the tenth Marco Scutaro (the likeliest of World Series heroes) knocked in Ryan Theriot.

It is to bad for those who wanted to see a little back and forth as the Tigers, while they may have been the worse team, were incredibly handicapped during this series. The pitching match-ups were set for the Tigers to take the first two games, with their top pitchers going while the Giants top pitchers going in games three and four. Once the Tigers lost the first two, there was very little chance for them to come back. Most likely the reason Verlander lost game was was the extended time off before the start. He is a pitcher who gets stronger as the game goes on and seems to pitch better after being a little tired. This length of time off almost certainly hurt him and pushed the Tigers to their 0-1 start.

With the Giants World Series Champions, we can now move on to much more important things like the free agent season. Now that the season is over, the Indians can start entering into some trade talks with other team, can make decisions on players under contract and finish signing the coaching staff. One positive point of Series for the Tribe is that of all the purchased teams filled with superstarts (the Tigers, Yankees, Rangers, Phillies, Angels, etc) ended up failing while a team that was mostly home grown based around good pitching and role players rather than pure power. One last Cleveland Indians point, the Indians went 10-8 against the World Series teams this year and had a .433 winning percent against all playoff teams during the regular season, up from a .412 winning percent against all other teams.

The free agent market is a little shallow this year, but there are still a few players the Indians should look at that are within their price range. With the biggest holes on the team being first base, DH, left field and starting pitcher, those will be the positions highlighted. None of the players listed are perfect. The Indians will not be pursuing Josh Hamilton or Zach Greinke this off-season as they are out of their pay range, but those players could help fill the needs of the richer teams, leaving some of these other players for the taking.

Lance Berkman

Berkman is old (37 next year) and hurt, giving him just enough negatives to put him in the Indians price range. He has discussed retirement and may not be interested in playing for the Tribe, but a new focus in Cleveland, started by new manager Terry Francona could help him change his mind. One thing that could entice Berkman is the full time designated hitter role. While he has played first and left field for his entire career, a move to DH could extend his baseball life while he recovers from injury. Since 2000 Berkman has only had two seasons with less than 20 home runs. In 2011 he finished in the top ten in MVP voting, although injuries kept him off the field for all but 32 games this year. He has already stated that he will not decide what team to sign with until next February, but it couldn't hurt the Indians to make an offer. Of course this offer would have to be significantly lower than the price for Travis Hafner's option or exchanging one injured DH for another would be pointless.

Melky Cabrera

Cabrera has a very different problem from Berkman. His suspension for using PEDs just recently ended, but the Giants have decided morally to keep him out of the playoffs. This shows that they are probably ready to cut ties with Cabrera. Melky was great for the Royall in 2011 hitting 44 doubles along with an impressive 18 home runs. This year he technically (although unofficially) won the NL batting title, batting .346 in 113 games. Cabrera would be a great fit in left field for the Indians in 2013 and a possible replacement for Shin-Soo Choo in right if he leaves for free agency the following season. He is one of the few players in the league that could replace Choo and play at his same level. The Indians should make a multiple year offer to Cabrera that is maybe a little higher than they would normally go. He is just entering into the prime of his career and, while there is still some risk of loss of playing time with future steroid use, should be productive for his next seven years or so. A five year deal worth around $50M could be enough to pluck this star away from the Giants. 

Ichiro Suzuki

Suzuki would have to take a significant salary cut to join the Tribe, but he probably will no matter where he wants to go. Cleveland doesn't have the spotlight that he obviously enjoys, but they could offer him a starting job in left field with the opportunity to DH when he needs to. Suzuki has been steadily decreasing in production, but still outperforms almost every player currently on the Indians at the age of 38. Like Berkman, this would be a one year only solution while the Indians try to find a more permanent answer from within. 

Kevin Correia

Correia has fallen off some since leaving San Diego's cavernous Petco Park and moving into the friendly confines at PNC. In Pittsburgh he averaged a 4.49 ERA over two years and 59 games. He has started at least 25 games each of the last four years, something only Ubaldo Jimenez can claim on the current staff. In 2012 a pitcher that started 25 games with a 4.49 ERA would have been pitcher of the year.

If the Indians don't sign any of these players, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. The free agent market is so thin, it may artificially inflate prices, efficiently hedging the Indians out. Signing one of these players would be huge however, as it would allow the team to focus on one less position and give them more prospects to trade. There are a few other players of limited interest in the market, but signing of more players like Travis Buck, Casey Kotchman, Mark DeRosa, Jose Lopez or Austin Kearns (who are all free agents this upcoming off-season) would be a complete waste of money and a waste of a roster spot. It would be better to sign nobody than to sign players of this quality.

The Cubs are tired of Alfonso Soriano and have been looking to move him for more than a year. He has an incredibly high contract based completely on his high level of production year after year. The Cubs know they have no chance to compete during the rest of the length of Soriano's contract (through 2014) and would love to save a little money by dropping some or all of the last $36M owed to him. The Cubs would much rather use that $18M a year for more productive causes and give Soriano's at bats to players that could actually be on the team when the should be back in contention in a few years.

Soriano would be a perfect fit for the Tribe. He is a veteran, a power hitter and a left fielder. He also has a lot of postseason experience, playing 44 games between the Yankees and Cubs. He has had over 40 extra base hits every single season that he has had more than 50 at bats, a time spanning from 2001-2012. This includes last season when he hit 33 doubles, 32 home runs and knocked in 108 runs. When compared to all Indians hitters in 2012 he would have lead in home runs, RBI, slugging percent and OPS.

The Cubs may be interested trading with the Indians in this situation when they may not normally for the case of the salary dump. Just a few months ago the Red Sox traded all of their high talented, expensive players to the Dodgers in a move that freed up hundreds of millions of dollars. The Marlins also just dumped a lot of salary, moving closer Heath Bell and short stop Hanley Ramirez. While the Indians would be unable to take on all of Soriano's salary, they could make up for a large part of it with prospects, especially the young pitchers in Akron and Columbus. The Indians were willing to trade their best starter in Akron (Stephen Wright) for a journeyman AAA first baseman (Lars Anderson), so they can't say they value anyone else in the system too highly.

The Indians are ready to win now, despite what one bad month made the 2012 season look like. Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera are reaching the end of their time under team control and Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley are all heading into what should be career seasons. If the team was better, they might not have to spend very much to compete, but the fact is there are still problem areas. Trading for Soriano would fill one of those holes, allowing the team to put more focus on the starting rotation. With Soriano in left, finding a powerful DH or first baseman would no longer as big of an issue, although that doesn't mean they should stop looking.

If the Indians do make a move for Soriano, they should offer to pay for no more than $24 million of the remainder of his salary. This is about what he would deserve if he was in the free agent market now, and would allow the Indians to pay the majority of his salary while not being stuck with the whole thing. Soriano does have a full no trade clause in his contract, but has stated that he is willing to go to a contender. With the new addition of Terry Francona and a renewed sense of urgency, the Indians can hopefully convince Soriano that they are just one power hitting left fielder away from their next Central Division title.

With the firing of Manny Acta and Scott Radinsky earlier in the season, the Indians are set for a complete overhaul in the coaching staff. With the hiring of Terry Francona the Indians have already started making some changes. Interim manager and bench coach for the last few years, Sandy Alomar has been retained for an undisclosed position while third base coach Steve Smith and batting coach Bruce Fields have been let go. The Indians have yet to announce any formal changes outside of Francona, so it is yet to be known whether or not they will exchange pitching coach Ruben Niebla or bullpen coach Dave Miller for coaches chosen by Francona himself. Former Columbus Clippers manager Mike Sarbaugh finished the year as the team's interim bench coach, but will almost certainly go back to 2013. He didn't take over the job until long after the end of the AAA season, so he was already spending each game in the Indians dugout.

There have already been some rumors and speculation about possible replacement coaches, the strongest being about former Houston Astros manager Brad Mills. The Indians have had interest in Mills for awhile now, as the looked at him as a possible manager before hiring Acta in the first place. Now that the Astros are cleaning house before their move to the American League, Mills is available again and has a lot of close ties to new manager Francona. Mills spent six years under Francona as the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox. The most likely job for Mills would be bench coach, but that position has been tentatively filled by Alomar. Alomar is unlikely to accept a demotion to base coach and the same is true of Mills. One position that is open is that of batting coach, which Mills could possibly take over, although that is unlikely.

An unorthodox move that could work out is the transition of Alomar to pitching coach. After catching Major League pitching for more than 20 years, there are few people around baseball more capable of taking over the Tribe's staff. He could be given the bullpen coach job or the full time pitching coach job where he would be able to stay in Cleveland and still work with Carlos Santana while having his main focus on helping out the Indians young relievers. This would allow Mills to become the bench coach with holes at the base coaches and hitting coach.

While Francona may want to bring the whole bunch back together in Cleveland, he will be unable to bring his old hitting coach from Boston, Dave Magadan, as he was recently signed by Texas to be their new hitting coach. Hitting coach will probably be the most important decision for the Tribe as the team is mostly filled with young players who would benefit greatly from a good teacher.

If Sarbaugh does not go back to AAA, I wouldn't be surprised to see him be instated as the new third base coach. It is not the most important position on the staff, but is a good introductory job for a potential future manager. It would be a step up from his current position in Columbus and help he see how things are done at the Major League level on a day to day basis. If he is promoted, Aeros manager Chris Tremie should get a shot in Columbus after the fantastic things he did with a fluctuating roster in Akron this year. Akron was the most successful part of the entire Cleveland Indians organization, winning the Eastern League title by beating the Trenton Thunder.

Whoever the Indians decide to hire, they are expected to make their decisions soon, so the entire coaching staff can get some input on the make-up on the roster. Hiring Terry Francona was the most important move and retaining Sandy was the second. Now the most important thing is to get a group of people together that can work as a team and bring the Indians back to excellence.

The Tigers are moving on to the World Series in impressive faction by sweeping the Yankees and scoring almost more runs in a single game (8) than the Orioles did in the entire five game series against New York (10). Former Indians factored largely in the final game with Jhonny Peralta hitting a two run home run off C.C. Sabathia, the crushing blow that cemented the Tigers victory. Sabathia gave up 5 earned runs in all and Derek Lowe gave up another run. During the entire postseason with the Yankees Lowe showed how valuable he can be by pitching a whole inning and allowing two runs. There is an important lesson here that a first place team should probably not be picking up players that are dropped by a last place team.

On the other side, the Giants completed an improbable comeback against the Cardinals after being down 3-1 early in the series. Former Indians weren't as important in this series although Ed Mujica did pitch four shut out innings in relief and earned a win for St. Louis. Guillermo Mota allowed two runs while recording just two outs in his single appearance for San Francisco. Out of hatred for the division rival Tigers, Indians fans will have to switch allegiences now, rooting for the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series.

It will be interesting to see how the extended time off will effect the Tigers who finished their series on the 18th. The Tigers will get six games off between games with ace pitcher Justin Verlander getting 9 days of rest. Max Scherzer will likely pitch game two, also on 9 days rest and if Doug Fister pitches game three it will be on 14 days rest. The Giants on the other hand will get just a single day off between series as they took the Cardinals to the limit, needing to win each of the last three games to advance. While the Tigers starters have been pitching on the side, this is not the same as facing real hitters, especially the best team in the National League. 

Before moving into the Hot Stove season when the Indians will start to look into improving their roster, it is important to know what needs to be improved upon. The roster should be broken down into a few different groups of players based on the probability of their return.

The Returning Starters

C Carlos Santana

2B Jason Kipnis

3B Lonnie Chisenhall

SS Asdrubal Cabrera

CF Michael Brantley

RF Shin-Soo Choo

These players are all signed through next season and are considered big parts of the future of the Indians. They will almost all certainly return for 2013. It would take a huge trade to pull any of these players out of Cleveland.

The Returning Pitchers

SP1 Justin Masterson

SP2 Ubaldo Jimenez

SP3 Zach McAllister

CP Chris Perez

RP1 Joe Smith

RP2 Vinnie Pestano

RP3 Esmil Rogers

RP4 Cody Allen

RP5 Rafael Perez

Although these pitchers did not all perform at their expected level, they will probably all return for next season. All but Jimenez are signed through 2013 and he has a $5.75M option. This option should really be considered a $4.75M option since there is a $1M buyout if the Indians don't take the option.

Internal Fillings

1B Russ Canzler

C2 Luke Carlin

MI Brent Lillibridge

CI Jack Hannahan

OF Ezequiel Carrera

SP4 Carlos Carrasco

RP6 Nick Hagadone

With the exception of Carrera and Carrasco, these players are just recommendations out of the plethora of choices that are available. These positions could certainly be filled by better players currently outside of the organization, but should not be a top priority. There is a lot of flexibility here as Carrera can play all three outfield positions and Canzler can move some too. I have listed Carlin instead of Marson as he couldn't possibly any worse and deserves a true shot in the Majors.

Holes

With all these players in place there are only three roster spots open for 2013. These spots are for a starting pitcher, a left fielder and a designated hitter. The Indians lineup is extremely lacking in power and the two positions that are missing are notorious for housing players that are well endowed in that ability. There are upcoming free agents and players on the trading block that could easily fill these holes in the roster, the Indians will just have to decide where to put there money and which players are most expendable when acquiring new talent.

Who Will Go

With three empty roster places and over 30 players on the final roster, there are obviously a few players that will not be returning at the start of 2013. Most of these players will be returning to AAA for next season. This includes Corey Kluber, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, Jeanmar Gomez, Scott Barnes, Juan Diaz, Scott Maine, Thomas Neal, Cord Phelps, Vinny Rottino, Chris Seddon and Frank Herrmann. Josh Tomlin will also miss all of next season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

A few players have expiring contracts that should be removed from Indians payroll, giving the team more monetary flexibility. These are Casey Kotchman, Travis Hafner and Roberto Hernandez. None of these players played up to the level expected of them in 2012 and should not be returning for next season.

There are also three players still under contract who should not be returning in any form. David Huff, Tony Sipp and Matt LaPorta are all out of options and should be given a chance to leave the Indians and play elsewhere. They all have replacements already with the team that are better than they are and are still under team control. These players could be used in trades prior to arbitration next Spring or simply released, but there is no reason to keep them on staff when they have already shown exactly who they are.

Focus

The Indians need to put all their efforts into filling those three open positions. While it may be easier to find slight improvements over the players listed as internal fillings, the fact is that those positions are just not as important. Any money saved from expiring contracts or extra money put into the team needs to go first to finding a new DH to replace Hafner. The importance of a DH that doesn't rotate has been expounded upon already. Left field will be a tougher position to fill, but could be done internally if absolutely necessary. The Indians do not have a hitter who could inspire fear in opposing pitchers like a good DH should. The inclusion of Canzler on the roster will give the Indians a little more flexibility as he can play first or left field, allowing the Indians to sign a first baseman if possible, although this shouldn't be the first choice. A new starting pitcher should be the Indians final priority as there are quite a few potential options in Columbus that could possibly work. This is still an important hole to fill in the roster and the Indians need to do as much as they can to find some new blood to help fill out the rotation.

Looking forward to next year, the majority of the players will likely be returning through various states of team control. These break down into a couple of categories, with most players being either in their arbitration years or earlier in their careers. Every player currently on the 40 man roster and those on the DL/restricted list are mentioned below.

Pre-Arbitration

Michael Brantley (1), Vinnie Pestano (2), Lonnie Chisenhall (3), David Huff (4), Jason Donald (5), Jeanmar Gomez (6), Jason Kipnis (7), Cody Allen (8), Lars Anderson (9), Scott Barnes (10), Russ Canzler (11), Ezequiel Carrera (12), Cord Phelps (13), Juan Diaz (14), Chris Seddon (15), Frank Herrmann (16), Corey Kluber (17), Zach McAllister (18), Scott Maine (19), Thomas Neal (20), Vinny Rottino (21), Danny Salazar (22), Fabio Martinez (23), Carlos Carrasco (60 Day DL), Nick Hagadone (MiLB Restricted) and Josh Tomlin (60 Day DL) will all be back for 2013 assuming they don't get released or traded prior with the exception of Tomlin who will miss the entire season after Tommy John surgery. 

Arb 1

Tony Sipp (24), Brent Lillibridge (25), Lou Marson (26), Esmil Rogers (27) and Matt LaPorta (28) are all going into their first years of arbitration. 

Arb 2

Chris Perez (29), Justin Masterson (30) and Jack Hannahan (31) are going into their second arbitration seasons.

Arb 3

Shin-Soo Choo (32), Kevin Slowey (33) and Joe Smith (34) are all entering their final years of arbitration. Rafael Perez (60 Day DL) is entering his fourth year of arbitration after missing almost all of 2012 with injury.

Signed through 2013

Asdrubal Cabrera (35) and Carlos Santana (36) are the only two players with guaranteed contracts going through next year. Both are a steal for their level of production and show the value of signing young players to long term contracts. Santana will make $556,000 while Cabrera will pull in $6.5M.

Options

Travis Hafner (37), Roberto Hernandez (38) and Ubaldo Jimenez (39) each have options of varying values. Hafner's is a $13M option with a $2.5M buyout, making it a net difference of $11.5M for the Indians to keep him. Jiminez has a $5.75M option with a $1M buyout (net of $4.75M), while Hernandez has a $6M option with no buyout.

Free Agents

Grady Sizemore (60 Day DL) and Casey Kotchman (40) are the only free agents that have the option of leaving the Indians under their own free will going into 2013.

This article is mostly meant as a reference point and primer for future articles.