New Owner Looks to Restructure Indians

"There's some talent o­n this ball club, but organizationally it's a mess."

Those were the first words out of the mouth of new Indians owner Joe Thomas at a press conference he called at Jacobs Field yesterday to announce his purchase of the club. "We plan to build a ball club that the fans in Cleveland can be proud of. We look to bring a World Series to this city within five years.

Big words, but how will Thomas move a club filled with veterans and o­nly flashes of talent to the level he speaks of? He acknowledges the future will be difficult.

"At the major league level we are handcuffed by three or four contracts. They will make it challenging to restructure this team into the kind that fans will want to come and see. The league has a hard cap of $85 million, but we really o­nly have about $70 million to work with; the other $15 is tied up in poorly laid plans."

"When you sign a 34-year-old former ace like Jesus Abdullah to a three-year, $36 million deal you are thinking you will someday be devoting a chunk of your resources to a 36-year-old. It's a risk, but it's a risk you take.

"But when you sign a 36-year-old to a four-year, $25 million deal... well, I have no idea what you are thinking."

Thomas was obviously referring to veteran starter Pedro Juarez who has more than two years and $15 million left o­n his free agent contract he inked with Cleveland back in 2016. The Dominican hurler will be almost 40 when the deal expires.

Not all of the Indians are old, however. Thomas indicated that Cleveland is talented and young up the middle. Centerfielder Elmer Sweet (.294, 12, 56) has blazing speed, stealing 25 of 28 bases this year. Second baseman Randy Gonzalez (.310, 7, 47) has complemented his Gold Glove rookie season by developing tremendous patience and discipline at the plate. Struggling shortstop Al Quinto (.261, 3, 43) is coming off back-to-back .300 seasons. If he can return to form the Tribe may have a solid core to build a contender around.

Most of Thomas's speech was focused o­n the future so a new-owner assessment of the Indians minor league system was inevitable. The AAA Buffalo Bisons seemed to take most of Thomas's ire.

"There are twenty-one pitchers in Buffalo. Twenty-one. We could play double-headers every day and go extra innings o­n the weekends. It's ok, really, because it's balanced out by the total of eight pitchers in the rest of our minor league system. That's just good planning."

Thomas indicated he would monitor and assess the rosters of his farm system over the remainder of the season and make significant off-season adjustments based o­n how the numbers crunch.

"You cannot trade for all of your needs. A healthy farm system is what takes teams to the next level. Look around the league. Where you see teams who every year compete for the pennant you will find minor leaguers making the transition from o­ne level to the next.

“We need to fill our system with more players like Anthony Weil and Juan Urias and fewer like Buster Wiley and Zoilo Munoz. That means we draft smart, trade for what we need, and have a plan so that we don't end up with a backlog of mediocre pitching."

With o­nly a sprinkling of talent at each level in their organization it will take more than bold words and obvious criticisms to right the ship here in Cleveland. New ownership has a lot to prove before anyone should start making plans for October.