The Tribe and the run for the World Series

The Indians just came off of a win; this after two embarrassing losses at the hands of the lowly Twins. Why has this team been so up and down this year? What can they do to right the ship? And why the hell aren't there more people going down to the games?

This team is right in the chase with Detroit for the Central Division. They're only 1.5 games behind and this is despite going through some fairly rough patches of baseball earlier this year. Reynolds started the season hot and has been ice cold for over a month now. Chisenhall has been up and down. However, he has come on offensively over the last month or so. Cabrera has been an overall disappointment this year. On the bright side, Kipnis is realizing all of his promise off and even more. Brantley is having a spectacular year. RF has been a disappointment, but then again, I'm not sure all that much was really expected out of that position. Swisher has been disappointing but he was able to hide in that incredible Yankees lineup last year which probably inflated his numbers a bit. It does appear that he's pushing a bit trying to do more than is needed from him, but he could hit .190 and I'd be ok with it because he's the biggest bro in history and he's an OSU bro on top of it all. So Swisher, you rock.

What do I propose the Indians do to fix things? First, they need to make room for McAlister's return. This is going to be huge. I think the Indians starting rotation should be adjusted to be, in this order:

1. Masterson
2. McAlister
3. Kluber
4. Salazar
5. This one was a tough decision because I think both Jimenez and Kazmir have improved, but you almost have to give it to Kazmir because he's been slightly less up and down than Jimenez. Maybe Jimenez could be converted to the bullpen as a long reliever or even a setup man, since Pestano sucks

That should shore up the rotation and I don't believe the Tribe needs to make a trade for a starter if they make these moves. Instead, I think they need both a bat and a relief pitcher. I don't really have good suggestions for trades on the relief front but I do think I have a couple suggestions for bats. I'd love to see the Indians get someone affordable to their cheap ownership like Kendrys Morales or maybe they would be convinced to splurge a little for someone like Morneau. I don't think they need to find a 3B because I think Chisenhall is finally coming around. They do need a DH though. I wouldn't even mind trading Santana if needed because 1) he's not that good and 2) he's the worst defensive catcher in the league and 3) I love what I've seen from Gomes. Then again though, Santana is one of the best contracts in baseball, 750k a year. You can't really be unhappy with that. Anyways I think if they can find a way to trade for a bat and a reliever like Crain, Perkins or Parnell they'd be solid. If they're lucky enough to get rid of Perez and maybe even Pestano in the process they'd be even better off. Get to work Tribe. Roll Tribe.

Oh right one more thing, GET YOUR ASSES TO THE BALLPARK. This team has real potential and even if they fail we all know you're not doing anything better. Quit being homers waiting for the Browns season and spend some money on the Tribe, maybe it will convince the ownership that when THEY spend we'll spend. Roll Tribe.