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Well, everybody thought Detroit was going to run away with the division and Detroit fans thought they were untouchable after adding Prince Fielder, but it is now June and the Indians are still sitting on top of the division with a modest lead. Not to mention, they have a really good chance to widen the gap as our next nine games are against teams in our division while the Tigers go off to face the Yankees and the Red Sox and the White Sox face Tampa Bay after playing us.
I had actually said at the beginning of the year that if Kipnis was the real deal and if we could get even 85% production value out of Choo and Sizemore, we would be averaging 5+ runs a game and would have a decent chance to win the division. Currently, without Sizemore, we are averaging a little over 4 a game, which is pretty solid. (At least we were. I haven't checked in about two weeks.) However, they say defense wins championships and our pitching hasn't been that great. We are not getting the same production value out of Masterson and Jimenez still can't control the ball (However, Masterson may have finally decided to start his season after beating Verlander.) and yet somehow we are still sitting at the top of the division. With that said, I can only imagine what we could accomplish if they were actually pitching really well.
Aside from that, we still need to face the fact that we will not be able to contend later in the season with the way the team is right now. The Indians NEED to trade for a good bat if we expect to be serious contenders, because eventually Detroit's bats will wake up and many of our hitters are too injury prone to rely on them for a full season. With that said, what teams do you expect to be selling and who do you think will be the best hitter available via trade? I know it is kind of early, but I'm sure you could name a few. I was thinking maybe the Phillies with Ryan Howard or perhaps Utley. If not them, maybe the Red Sox deal Youkilis. Anyway, fire away!
I had actually said at the beginning of the year that if Kipnis was the real deal and if we could get even 85% production value out of Choo and Sizemore, we would be averaging 5+ runs a game and would have a decent chance to win the division. Currently, without Sizemore, we are averaging a little over 4 a game, which is pretty solid. (At least we were. I haven't checked in about two weeks.) However, they say defense wins championships and our pitching hasn't been that great. We are not getting the same production value out of Masterson and Jimenez still can't control the ball (However, Masterson may have finally decided to start his season after beating Verlander.) and yet somehow we are still sitting at the top of the division. With that said, I can only imagine what we could accomplish if they were actually pitching really well.
Aside from that, we still need to face the fact that we will not be able to contend later in the season with the way the team is right now. The Indians NEED to trade for a good bat if we expect to be serious contenders, because eventually Detroit's bats will wake up and many of our hitters are too injury prone to rely on them for a full season. With that said, what teams do you expect to be selling and who do you think will be the best hitter available via trade? I know it is kind of early, but I'm sure you could name a few. I was thinking maybe the Phillies with Ryan Howard or perhaps Utley. If not them, maybe the Red Sox deal Youkilis. Anyway, fire away!