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Sabathia lone player that Tribe could lose
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Sunday, Mar 30, 2008
There, Shapiro could look at an Indians team well positioned to make another run at the World Series, a defending division
champion with stars in the starting
rotation, the bullpen, center field and
at catcher.
Shapiro also could see a team that should be competitive for years to come.
These Indians are not built only for today.
''I'm not looking for us to be here today and gone tomorrow,'' manager Eric Wedge said as the 2008 season approached. ''I said that from Day One. We're looking to sustain a level of championship play.''
Shapiro would argue that the team has done just that the past three years.
In 2005, the Indians won 93 games.
In 2006, they won 78 games because of a bullpen collapse, but Shapiro points out that the team's run differential was plus-88 and its starting pitching and run scoring were among the best in baseball.
In 2007, the Indians won 96 games and went to the American League Championship Series.
The team's run, Shapiro said, already has started.
''We're right in the middle of it, probably,'' he said. ''You really have to look at '05 as the beginning.''
Shapiro concedes that there is a frailty to the Indians' situation every year, especially because of their financial position. The Indians are not the New York Yankees, who have led the major leagues in payroll each of the past seven years. The Indians must be more careful and judicious in the ways they spend money, making their margin of error slim and their challenge that much greater.
But the Indians' position the next few years is summed up this way: The only major player whom they could lose to free agency is starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia.
''We're forced to confront decisions every year,'' Shapiro said. ''We don't lose much next year. We lose one core player next year . . . maybe not. But then the two years that follow we lose almost no one — and none of our core players.
''The biggest challenge that we've got over the next four years, the three years that follow this one, is how we handle losing C.C., if we lose him.''
It would appear the Indians already are prepared. Fausto Carmona could step into the No. 1 starter's role. Jake Westbrook could move up. Cliff Lee has been more like his old self this spring. And the Indians have Adam Miller, Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers in the minors.
Talk to Sabathia, though, and he says how much he enjoys being part of the Indians' run. The future, to hear him talk, is in Cleveland.
''We went through the whole rebuilding deal, but I think we're at the start,'' Sabathia said. ''With the silent confidence we have, we know that if we can play our brand of baseball we can beat anybody.''
It's not easy to build a championship team, but the Indians turned things around in a hurry. They started rebuilding in 2002, and by 2005 were one game from the playoffs. Compare that to the Kansas City Royals, who have been near .500 once since 2002, or the Baltimore Orioles, who have not won more than 78 games in the same years.
Only two teams have repeated as World Series champions in the past 30 years.
In the past three seasons, six American League teams have played in the AL Championship Series.
The Chicago White Sox have not been back to the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2005.
The Detroit Tigers went to the World Series two years ago and missed the playoffs last season.
Only five of the 14 AL teams have won 90 games in two of the past three seasons. The Indians are among that list.
In the 13 years of the AL Division Series, only three teams have made seven appearances. Two of them are the big spenders: the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
The third? Your Indians.
Most of those playoff appearances came, though, in the heydey of the '90s. At that time, the Indians, buttressed by sellout after sellout, were in the top five in league payroll. This team is in the bottom third of league payroll, yet it has won and appears ready to keep winning.
The job of maintaining is complex. The Indians conduct studies, compile charts, make sure contracts are staggered, conduct revenue projections and try to determine industry trends to ensure they are ahead of the game.
''There isn't much that's available to us that we don't look at,'' Shapiro said.
Being good, though, means picking lower in the amateur baseball draft.
''That's probably our single greatest challenge that no one realizes,'' Shapiro said.
Since 1995, the Indians have had only one occasion to pick in the top 10. Compare that to the Tigers (six picks in the top eight since 1996), Minnesota Twins (three in the top two since '96) and Oakland A's (four in the top 10 from '95-'99).
The baseball draft does not get the publicity of the NFL Draft, and baseball drafts do not produce immediate major-leaguers. To Shapiro, however, they're vital, especially to a team in a market such as the Indians, because they never can and never will be able to count on free agency in the present financial environment.
Shapiro said a player taken in the top five of the draft should be a core player, one taken in the top 10 a starter. He said the difference between picking in the top five and 25 to 30 ''in terms of chance of impact and level of impact is dramatic.''
That forces the team to supplement its minor leagues via trade. The Indians missed when they dealt second baseman Brandon Phillips, but they have made some huge acquisitions via trade, including second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and designated hitter Travis Hafner.
Shapiro called it creative compensation, which he tries to use in the international markets and in the draft as well.
He also has to look very closely at the character of the people he signs. The Indians simply cannot afford to give big money to a player whose off-field behavior affects the team.
In that regard, the Indians have been very successful.
''It's very unique,'' said pitcher Paul Byrd, who has been with six organizations in his career. ''Young guys, old guys. Guys with a lot of experience, guys with only a year or half a year. It's just a really nice blend of guys — with great chemistry.
''I don't know if there's a formula to put together chemistry, but Mark Shapiro has definitely assembled it here.''
What helps most is that the team's best players, its leaders — players like Hafner, Sabathia, catcher Victor Martinez and center fielder Grady Sizemore — are also the ones without obvious egos.
''It's very rare to have the quality of personality, quality of people and quality of talent on the field together,'' Byrd said.
Sabathia said the chemistry is a product of growing up together, of rebuilding together. He said a player with ego would stand out, and not in a positive way.
''For any guy to come in here and have an ego would be weird,'' he said.
Add the pieces, and the picture is a bright one. The situation of any team can change in a hurry, but the Indians appear in the midst of, or on the verge of, fielding a team that could be good for years to come.
''We won 93 games a couple years ago,'' Wedge said. ''We won 96 games last year. That's pretty good.
''We went a lot further last year than a couple years ago. We still want to go further than that.
''We'll see.''
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com.
There, Shapiro could look at an Indians team well positioned to make another run at the World Series, a defending division
champion with stars in the starting
rotation, the bullpen, center field and
at catcher.
Get the full article here.
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