Overlooked Indians poised to make another playoff push
Overlook the Cleveland Indians all you want. They're used to it.
The Indians play in a shrinking market, they no longer draw fans to Progressive Field and they haven't won a World Series championship since 1948.
Maybe they deserve to be snubbed, but with manager Terry Francona in the dugout the past two seasons, Cleveland has been one of the most surprising teams in baseball.
Even though the Indians used 12 rookies last season, they threatened to make the playoffs before finishing with an 85-77 record.
In 2013, his first year in Cleveland, Francona led another supposedly overmatched team to the postseason as a wild card with a 92-70 record.
"I think the guys in here get their energy and perspective from him," relief pitcher Scott Atchison told the Boston Globe this spring. "We all love coming to work every day."
Atchison played for the Red Sox under Francona in 2011-12, and there always seemed to be daily drama.
It's been all baseball in Cleveland, and Francona appears to have a good shot at getting the Indians back to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
While they are hardly household names, starting pitcher Corey Kluber and left fielder Michael Brantley were two of the top players in the game last year.
Kluber went 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA while winning American League Cy Young Award honors.
Brantley put up a .327/.385/.506 hitting line while finishing third in MVP voting, and he also became the first player in Indians history to have at least 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a single season.
It takes more than two stars to get a big-league team into the playoffs.
Offensively, Cleveland is going to rely on Carlos Santana to again provide power behind Brantley. Santana led the Indians with 27 home runs last year.
Catcher Yan Gomes also returns, as does second baseman Jason Kipnis, who is coming off a subpar season.
The big newcomer is Brandon Moss, who is expected to add needed power to the Indians' lineup after hitting 25 homers with Oakland last season.
Kluber showed how good he is in 2014, but the rest of Cleveland's rotation is a question mark.
Former White Sox starter Gavin Floyd was expected to win a starting job in spring training before going down for the season with another elbow injury.
Trevor Bauer looks like the Indians' No. 2 starter, with T.J. House, Josh Tomlin, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Zach McAllister, Bruce Chen and Shaun Marcum competing for the final three spots.
Headed by closer Cody Allen, who converted 24 of 28 save opportunities last season, Cleveland's bullpen is solid.
With Allen getting help from Bryan Shaw, Marc Rzepczynski and Nick Hagadone in 2014, the Indians' bullpen had the fourth lowest ERA (3.12) in the league.