Omar was always one of the most exciting defensive players on the baseball field being compared to Ozzie Smith as one of the greatest defensive short stops of all time. Not only was Omar able to make the plays expected of any short stop (he ranked second or higher in fielding percent each year from 1997 through 2002), but he made some truly amazing plays as well, showing the greatest range that any Indians fan has ever seen.

In a combination almost never seen, Omar was not just the best defensively, but was also one of the greatest offensive short stops in Indians history. Compared to all Indians hitters, he ranks in the top five in at bats and steals while ranking in the top ten in runs, hits, doubles, total bases and walks. His steals were one of his most impressive stats, since he was always overshadowed by Kenny Lofton in that department. From 1995 through 2000 Vizquel averaged more than 30 steals a year. Since then no player has come close to matching that feat, with only Grady Sizemore averaging 30 or more steals for more than a single season.

In addition to his prowess during the regular season, Vizquel was one of the greatest post season batters in Indians history.  During his six post seasons with the Indians he played in more playoff games than any other player in team history. He also leads the team in hits, triples and steals, ranking in the top five in runs scored, doubles, RBI and walks. The 1997 ALDS against the New York Yankees was his best single series, posting a .500 batting average over the five games, going 9 for 18. After going 1 for 25 in the following ALCS, Omar came back for the World Series, stealing five bases and making an amazing game saving diving catch during game six against the Marlins.

Omar originally came to the Indians in 1993 in what turned out to be a very lopsided trade with the Mariners for Reggie Jefferson and Felix Fermin. Vizquel was the final major piece to what turned out to be one of the greatest Indians teams of all time, breaking in Jacob's Field in 1994 and continuing through their five consecutive Central Division championships. In 2004 a combination of a monetary disagreement and a new power hitting shortstop named Jhonny Peralta (who started at short during most of 2003 with Vizquel out with injury) lead Omar to his first year of free agency.

He spent the next four seasons with San Francisco as the starting short stop and played fairly, but was not as good as Peralta was for the Indians, showing that they made the right choice. The Giants made a similar choice in 2008 which forced Omar to leave town again, this time playing for Texas as a reserve infielder. He finished his career playing for Chicago and Toronto before calling it quits after 2012. After playing his first 16 seasons with just two teams, he split his last eight in four different cities. Even 45 years old in his final season, Omar still impressed defensively, but he was just a shadow of his former self, which we still remember as the Gold Glover who manned short stop for Cleveland.

A week after dropping Jeanmar Gomez from the 40 man roster the Indians have traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Quincy Latimore. Not only does this exponentially increase the amount of Quincy's in the Indians farm system, but it allowed them to gain some advantage from losing Gomez. This is the ideal way to lose a player. Gomez has had a few years to earn his place on the team and despite showing some signs of greatness (especially his AA perfect game and his first few starts in 2012), in the end it was decided that he will not be part of the future of the franchise.

The Indians have already lost the rights to quite a few players this offseason (including Russ Canzler twice) and this is the first time they got anything in return. Latimore looks to be a talented young player, poised to make his AAA debut in 2013. He has 50 steals already in his six seasons and has averaged more than 70 RBI per season since making it to single A. He has spent most of his time in left field, but has played a considerable amount in center as well and will do a lot to replenish the extremely depleted Indians minor league outfield depth.

Odell Hale was one of the Indians greatest second basemen in team history, playing for Cleveland for almost a decade during the 1930's. During his prime (1934 through 1937) Hale scored at least 70 runs (high of 126 in 1936) and knocked in over 80 (high of 101 in 1934 and 1935) each season. During the first three of those seasons, Hale was incredibly efficient as well, batting over .300 and slugging over .470 each year.

In his career Hale was the Indians fourth longest tenured second baseman, playing in more than 1,000 games for Cleveland. He also ranks second among seconds in doubles and third in home runs and RBI. While the 1930's Indians were never successful in reaching the post season, it wasn't because of their offense as they scored more than 800 runs per season during Hale's time with the team. 

In 1935 Hale moved to third base for three seasons and holds an interesting distinction for his first year. In 1935 he went from leading the league in errors at second base in 1934 to leading the league in games played, assists and errors at third base. Before the 1941 season, the Indians traded Hale along with Frankie Pytlak and Joe Dobson to the Red Sox for Jim Bagby, Jr., Gene Desautels and Gee Walker. This trade made the Bagby's the first father and son duo to play for the Cleveland Indians. Hale played just two seasons away from Cleveland before retiring. He died in 1980 at the age of 71.

It happens at least once every off-season. Players become names on a piece of paper, far removed from the human beings and are thrown into the wind, just waiting to see where they will land. This year's 40 man roster trash is Russ Canzler. A victim of Major League Baseball's minor league option rules, Canzler has bounced back and forth between American League teams who think they might want him, then decide they'd rather have someone else.

Canzler was a late round draft pick (30th) in the 2004 draft by the Chicago Cubs and moved through their minor league system over the next seven seasons. He proved to be incredibly productive for a 30th round pick, especially his 2010 AA season for the Tennessee Smokies when he hit 21 home runs and knocked in 66. The Cubs disagreed and released Canzler at the end of his contract.

His first real chance came with Tampa the next year, when he won the International League MVP in his first year in AAA. He was a September call-up at the end of that year and played in five games for the Rays. At the end of the year, he didn't fit on the Rays 40 man roster and he came to Cleveland for the first time. He spent another year in AAA and was actually used as a September call-up in 2012, playing in 26 games for the Tribe. In fact, he played so well he looked to be a strong contender for the first baseman's job in 2013. With the signing of Mark Reynolds, the Indians decided they didn't have any more use for him, so they removed him from the roster.

The Blue Jays took advantage, thinking they found a diamond in the rough and brought Canzler into the fold. A quick change of mind brought Canzler back to Cleveland when the Jays signed another player and the Indians released Jeanmar Gomez. This strange decision by the Indians to bring Canzler back after already admitting they didn't want him made little sense as they had two more roster moves to make within the next week after adding Nick Swisher and Brett Myers. 

As the low man on the totem pole, Canzler was gone again (although he made it through the Swisher signing). Russ Canzler is currently a member of the New York Yankees 40 man roster, but who knows how long he will stay there. If the Yankees decide they have no use for a 30 round draft pick that has bounced around the Majors, he could easily be somewhere else by next week. The last three moves have occured during the last two weeks, giving him a tour of North East.

The problem with all this is that he is being treated as a rounding error without any consideration to him as a human being. His talent level hasn't changed in the past two weeks. The Indians depth at first base hasn't changed. So why did they bring him back into the fold when they had to have known they were going to release him again? The same is true of the Blue Jays. What could possibly have changed within their organization within that week that made a player they were interested in become disposable?

Canzler is a talented baseball player that has beaten the odds to make it as far as he has, but, as a borderline Major Leaguer is now being treated like dirt. At some point Canzler will find his fit, whether it is with the Yankees or elsewhere. Hopefully, for his sake, he will find it before he becomes a waiver wire frequent flier.

  Willie Mitchell was another great starting pitcher for the early Cleveland teams, coming up with the Naps in 1909. He joined a rotation that included the greatest pitcher of all time, Cy Young, the best Indians starter, Addie Joss, and a few other pitchers who never had problems keeping an ERA under 3.00 (Cy Falkenberg and George Kahler). Mitchell had six great seasons for the Naps/Indians, each year throwing more than 150 innings and keeping an ERA near or under 3.00 (except in 1911). Mitchell had a career year in 1913, setting a career high with 14 wins and a low ERA of 1.91. His .190 BAA still ranks in the top ten all time among Indians starters.

Mitchell's career numbers were slightly lower than could have been since he was used as a reliever more than many of the other starters on the early Cleveland teams. Over his career he threw in relief in 71 games and had just 74 complete games, a very low completion percentage for a pitcher of his age. In 1916, after posting a 5.15 ERA in 12 games, Mitchell was released by the Indians and claimed by the Detroit Tigers where he finished the last three years of his career. The Indians picked the right time to let Mitchell go, as he had just a single great year left before struggling over his last two. In 1919 Mitchell retired after throwing just 17.2 innings over his last two seasons. For his production during his time with the Tribe he should be considered one of the Indians top ten starting pitchers. He died in 1973 at the age of 83.

The Cleveland Indians signed veteran right hander Brett Myers to a one year, $7M deal today with a club option for 2014. They also announced that he will be added to the starting rotation, a surprise move considering the Indians rotation had already looked set and Myers spent all of 2012 in the bullpen. This move is disappointing in that it will mean Trevor Bauer will be starting 2013 in AAA with the rest of the rotation made of Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Carlos Carrasco and Zach McAllister. It is understandable that the Indians want to be careful with their prize that cost them a year of Shin-Soo Choo, but it certainly seems Bauer is ready for the Major Leagues.

Myers has been a very durable pitcher over his career and has the added benefit of being versatile, switching from starting to the bullpen when need be. After four slightly above average seasons as a starter with Philadelphia to start his career, he easily moved into the closers role in 2007 and saved 21 games. After that one season, he spent the next four in the rotations of Philadelphia and Houston, but was back in the pen for 2012. Myers is 32 and should be a decent improvement over Derek Lowe as the Indians new aging starter. 

The best thing about this signing is the added depth. Last season when a few pitchers were injured and everyone struggled, the Indians ran out of options, going as low as to start David Huff in multiple games. Having Myers will allow the Indians to spare Jeanmar Gomez, Corey Kluber and Bauer so they can be used as replacements if/when Jiminez has a repeat of last season or when the next hurler needs Tommy John surgery.

The Indians will need to make a 40 man roster move to add Myers to the team after his physical. Likely candidates are Huff, Thomas Neal  or Lou Marson (wishful thinking).

The Indians have been lucky to have some great right fielders in team history and this list includes five of the greatest Indians of all time. Outside of those five, there is a big drop off and a departure from the stereotype that corner outfielder is a power position. The top five however, can't be understated. It includes one Hall of Famers and another player that should be in. Of the other three, two are not eligible yet, but one deserves a place and a plaque in Cooperstown when he is.

10. Cory Snyder - Years Starting RF - 1987-1990

Snyder was the Indians first right fielder to place a higher value on power than average. His .245 batting average is 50 points lower than most of the players on this list, despite his over 100 home runs. He is one of just three Indians right fielders with more than 100 home runs, but his other stats make him look like a marginal player.

9. Elmer Smith - 1919-1921

Smith played just a short time in right for the Indians, but played near 700 games overall with the team. He is also the only player on the list to have won a World Series while being the starting right fielder for the Indians. His .284 average and 300+ runs and RBI would normally make him look like a player that should be higher on the list, but compared to the other players, he looks mediocre.

8. Dick Porter - 1930-1933

Porter only started four seasons in right field for the Tribe, but made the most of his time with 146 and almost 400 runs scored. Porter showed a lot of promise during his short time, but fizzled right after getting hot as he retired just after finishing the 1934 season with the Red Sox after a mid-season trade.

7. Homer Summa - 1923-24, 1926-28

Summa maintained a batting average above .300 for more than 750 games with the Indians, but was never a very productive player, scoring less than 400 runs over that time, a feat accomplished by other players on the list in far less time. Summa was still an effective player over his career, rapping 159 doubles out of his 861 hits.

6. Bruce Campbell - 1935, 1937-39

Campbell was one of many high batting average right fielders, adding little power to his all around game. He impressed while with the Tribe, scoring almost 350 runs and batting over .300. One thing that keeps him as high as he is is that the players below him had even less power than he did. His 41 triples and 37 home runs look very good compared to Summa's 49 triples and home runs and Porter's 42.

5. Rocky Colavito - 1956-59, 1965-66

The Rock could have been number one on this list if not for an ill-timed trade for Harvey Kuenn. Despite missing a few of his prime years away from Cleveland, Colavito still ranks high on the list of best Indians right fielders, ranking second in both home runs and RBI to just Ramirez.

4. Shin-Soo Choo - 2008-Active

Choo is the current starting right fielder for the Cleveland Indians and has already hit 83 home runs and stole 85 bases. From 2009 through 2012, Choo was the teams top offensive performer every season (except an injury shortened 2011), setting career highs in 2010 with 22 home runs and 90 RBI. In addition to his impressive offensive statistics, Choo also has a great arm from right field, ranking in the top 10 in outfield assists from 2009 to 2011 including leading the league in 2010 with 14.

3. Shoeless Joe Jackson - 1911-1915

Shoeless Joe is more famous for his time with the Chicago Black Sox, where he was banned from baseball for "throwing" the World Series, but he played in Cleveland first. He certainly never tried to lose with the Indians as he batted .375 over his time there including the last .400 season by any Indians hitter. As a right fielder, Jackson was also one of the top defensive players on this list with a great throwing arm to go along with his speed.

2. Elmer Flick - 1902-1905, 1907

Flick is the only current Hall of Famer on this list and he got there a different way than the average right fielder. In Indians history, Flick ranks in the top five in triples and top ten in steals as the prototypical speed outfielder. His most impressive feat was maintaining a high average through the length of his time with the Naps as he ended with over 1,000 hits during his time in Cleveland.

1. Manny Ramirez - 1994-2000

Ramirez, hated by many for his care-free attitude and lack of loyalty, was one of the best hitters in Indians history, leading all players ever in slugging percent and OPS. Among right fielders he leads in almost every statistical category, including RBI and home runs. Ramirez made the most of his time in Cleveland, starting off as a solid rookie and leading the league in RBI before he left for Boston.

Borderline: Joe Wood, Braggo Roth, Charlie Spikes, Chuck Hinton, Bob Kennedy

For fans of the modern Cleveland Indians, who may not be aware of Woodie Held, he was Jhonny Peralta long before Peralta was born. Over his seven years with the Indians, Held hit 130 total home runs and committed 123 errors. Held and Peralta remain the only Indians short stops to hit more than 100 home runs with the team. Held played long before the age of power short stops that came around in the 1990's so he was well ahead of his time. Instead of being heralded as a great power hitting short stop, Held was switched from position to position moving to second base and outfield, eventually getting traded to Washington in 1964.

Woodie Held was involved in another trade with the Indians that turned out to be one of the worst in team history. To obtain Held originally, the Indians traded top prospect Roger Maris to the Kansas City Royals for Held and Vic Power. While both Held and Power had decent careers for the Indians, Maris went on to star with the Yankees breaking Babe Ruth's single season home record by hitting 61 home runs in 1961.

Woodie Held died in June of 2009.

Jim McCormick pitched for the Blues from 1879 to 1884, in an era that cannot be compared to modern baseball. McCormick played through the entire franchise history of the original Cleveland Blues and he was the only pitcher they needed over those six years. The first season of the Blues, they used two total pitchers for the teams 82 games, McCormick and Bobby Mitchell. Apparantly, Mitchell didn't pull his weight as McCormick started 60 of those 82 games and had to relieve Mitchell twice.

Over his time with the team, he averaged more than 500 innings per season (only Jersey Bakley passed 500 IP after), a feat that seems impossible in this age. Included in his gaudy statistics are the pre-AL Cleveland records for single season wins, losses, ERA, games, starts, IP, strike outs and WHIP. In consecutive seasons (1879 and 1880) he lost 40 games, then won 45. Since then, no pitcher has come close to 40 in either decision (although Cy Young passed 30 a few times. Even when the Blues picked up a few more pitchers, McCormick maintained as the work horse, throwing 359 innings in his final season with the team. 

In his career, McCormick is second to Young in almost every pre-1901 Cleveland pitching stat, except ERA, WHIP, BAA and strike outs, where he was number one. During his career he completed 98% of his games averaging more than 8.2 innings per game. Not only was he an ace for the Blues, but he also was the top in the league as well, leading the NL in wins, starts and innings twice each and complete games three times. In 1883, in what was possibly his most impressive feat, he lead the NL in ERA (1.84) and winning percent (.700) in over 300 innings.

McCormick was just the third pitcher in American baseball history to be born in the United Kingdom, coming out of Glasglow. He died in 1918 at the age of 61.

The signing is complete and there is no looking back now, Nick Swisher is an Indian and will be one through 2016 (possibly 2017). At this point everyone knows that he will be making $56M over those first four seasons with an option for the fifth. What we don't know is what he will produce.

The first thing to discuss is Swisher's age. He is going to be 32 in 2013 and playing in his tenth professional season. He has been incredibly durable over that time, averaging more than 150 games since 2006. He has produced at a pretty even level throughout that time, but did have a notable peak in 2009 and 2010 (age 28 and 29 seasons). It is likely that he will continue to slow as he ages, with his numbers dropping all over the board. Don't expect more than 20 home runs from Swisher again or a batting average over .275.

The second thing to look at is the Yankee effect. Simply by being on the Yankees, playing with that short right field and batting before or after some of the greatest hitters in baseball history can do a lot to help your stats. This is one of the reasons players can't be evaluated using regular statistics as these numbers won't correlate to other teams. 

Since 2008 (the year before the Yankees bought a World Series), the Yankees have had five starting players leave the team and go on to play elsewhere. These players, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and Hideki Matsui, all had significant trends in their numbers after leaving New York. While most of these players were older than Swisher and past their prime when they left, the fact that Cabrera is included and has the same trends shows that it isn't simply a matter of age.

Averaging together each players three final years with the Yankees and first three years away from New York, it is easy to see the difference. On an average, each player lost 22 RBI and 22 runs per season, the most important stats to note, because they have the smallest basis in actual talent. The extra base hits that have lowered have to do with the aging players and the park factors more than the actual lineup around them. 

The most important individual player to look at is Melky Cabrera, because he is the exception where he actually improved as a hitter after leaving the Yankees. He has since played with Atlanta and Kansas City, most recently won a batting title (unofficially) with the Giants. The best seasons to compare are Cabrera's second full season in 2007 and his 2011 year with the Royals. Each year he played around 150 games, but in 2011 he hit ten more home runs and batted over .300 for the first time. Despite these amazing improvements he only knocked in 14 more runs (making him the only player to actually average more RBI after leaving the Yankees than before). 

The Yankees buy players, use them up and throw them away. It has been their team strategy for more than a decade and looks only to be increasing in severity. They want to win the World Series in 2013, just like they do every year and if they thought Swisher could have helped them, they could have afforded to resign him. As a 30+ year old outfielder, Swisher's numbers will more likely resemble Abreu and Damon rather than Cabrera. It's too late to do anything, but play him, but everyone should temper their excitement now, or risk wanting the home town kid's head when next summer comes around. The combination of age and leaving the Yankees look to smack Swisher back to reality, so expect numbers closer to 20 home runs, 70 RBI and 50 runs scored. These are still good numbers compared to the average Indian in 2012, but simply don't seem worth more than $56 million.

Oh, yeah. Merry Swishmas.

Here are the numbers for those who want to check my math: