Why Change Is Necessary for the Cleveland Indians

Perhaps maybe there is a need for some type of change for the Cleveland Indians.  Eric Wedge has been the manager since 2003 and this is right now going to be his seventh season.  Mark Shapiro has been the General Manager starting in the 2002 season, as he would be the successor to John Hart.  It does seem that ever since John Hart left the team as the General Manager, the Indians have not been a consistent contender.

Under Mark Shapiro when it comes to picking talent and drafting, he has been okay but could be better.  His most famous trade would have to be the one that brought in Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore.  If that is the best he can do, what else does it say about him about success?  It doesn’t say much about his success.  He had Travis Hafner, whom has been having injury problems with his shoulder but that can happen to anyone.  Choo has worked out well for the team.

There is one thing to be said when it comes to drafting.  The Indians in general have not been able to get it right.  To be fairs, drafts are hard to figure out because you never know about players at all.  Sure, it could look good on paper but the bottom line is results matter and if they don’t perform, then it does not bode well for the organization and the people choosing players.

Now, to go with the results of the team, the Indians were 570-564 having just two winning seasons, four losing seasons, and last season finishing with a .500 record.  Now this year, they are terrible and do not appear to be getting better.  Combine the record now with the Indians record with Shapiro, as the GM does not look good.  As a matter of fact, they have only made the playoffs one time.  Now, this doesn’t mean fire them after one season.  You give him time to assemble a team that can win and not just get to .500 for a season.  Shapiro has been one of the biggest problems in Cleveland because it seems that he could care less about winning and would be a lot quicker to quit on a season than improve the team for now.  Trying to find a replacement maybe hard but it can be done.  If you can find one with a proven track record and more of a guy who will go all out to find talent to win, then by all means do it.

Now, moving along to Eric Wedge, who isn’t going to be off the hook.  He has been the Indians manager since 2003 and came in through developing from the Indians Minor League system.  He was an unknown coming in and based upon how the team has done, not great but okay.  Through the seven years wit him, the Indians have only managed to have one playoff appearance and it doesn’t matter if they were within one game of the 2007 World Series.

This season is really his worst season ever and that’s pretty hard to top considering his very first season with the Indians if they finish even worse.  It is pretty evident that he has a problem with letting pitchers pitch complete games.  For instance, how many games has Cliff Lee pitched so well with run support that the bullpen gets sent out and it goes to waste?  Far too many if you want to be there.  He had done it to Pavano, it nearly happened in the first game of the series with the Pirates when Huff pitched eight innings only to see the bullpen give up four runs in the bottom of the ninth.  Of course, Pavano has as of late been roughed up.  It wasn’t a huge amount that he was getting with the Indians.

Eric Wedge with the Indians had a record of 496-476 during his tenure.  Of course, with having the worst record in the American League it is not as good but it shows.  He has been with them for seven seasons and only making it once.  Sure, he was the AL Manager of the Year in 2007 but did that stop the Rockies from firing their manager or the Diamondbacks as well? 

As far as a new regime goes, it would be best to do to them what the Browns did to Crennel and Savage and that doesn’t mean give them a long term extension this season and then fire them the next.  The reason for change is because as long as both Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro are still with the Indians or even one of them, it will continue a trend of being mediocre and that is unacceptable.