The plans of the Indians' management team -- and past decisions -- top this week's mailbag to beat writer Paul Hoynes.
View full sizeThe decline in production from Travis Hafner has crippled the Indians' payroll, but revisionist thinking from fans can't alter the fact that most observers praised the team for signing Hafner to an extension during the 2007 season.Hey, Hoynsie: The 800-pound gorilla in your interview with Tribe CEO Paul Dolan is the foolish contract he gave to Travis Hafner, which will continue to hamstring the club for the next two seasons. He accepts no personal responsibility for bringing the Indians to this lowly state, and seems detached from reality in choosing to blame injuries, the market and the times for his predicament. Do you think that punishing the fans for the Pronk contract, slashing the payroll and turning the ballpark into an embarrassing winter wonderland is the correct way to win back long suffering Tribe fans? -- Joseph Ladd, Cleveland
Hey, Joseph: The Travis Hafner contract has turned into a millstone, but at the time the deal was done, the general consensus was that it was a sound deal. The Indians knew Hafner's game would decline over the course of the contract because of his age, but they had no idea it would drop so sharply because of the injury to his right shoulder. It should be noted that while Dolan and his father, Larry, signed off on the deal, they did so based on the opinion of their baseball people.
Hey, Hoynsie: I read recently that this is not the right time for the Indians to invest in free agents. I believe if the Dolan family spend money on good free agents they will make more money on their return because fans will support the team at the gate. -- Benny Burgos, Brunswick
Hey, Benny: Paul Dolan, Indians CEO, says the time for ownership to spend is when the team is better positioned to contend than it is for the 2011 season. As for more fans coming to see a better product on the field, that has not been the case with the Indians under this ownership.
In 2005, when the Indians won 93 games and were in contention until the final weekend of the regular season, they drew just over two million fans to rank 24th among MLB's 30 teams. Traditionally, after a strong performance like the Indians gave in 2005, ticket sales increase the next year. In 2006, however, the Indians ranked 25th in attendance at 2.0 million.
In 2007, when the Indians won 96 games and came within one victory of reaching the World Series, they drew 2.3 million fans to rank 21st. In 2008, they drew 2.2 million to rank 22nd.
Hey, Hoynsie: If the Tribe does trade for a third baseman and pitching instead of buying players, who can it trade for good quality players? There does not seem to be abundance of talent on their 40-man roster. -- Julius Moomer, Cleveland
Hey, Julius: With teams putting more value on young players, I think the Indians have enough talent to do a deal. They have depth in relievers, second basemen and young starting pitchers.
Hey, Hoynsie: With the recent discussion of adding one wild card team to the MLB playoffs per league, I was wondering which teams would have benefited by being the extra playoff team in the past five seasons? Is this change really adding more hope for small market teams to make the playoffs? -- Don Manuszak, Parma
Hey, Don: Over the last five years, here are the teams that would have qualified for the extra wild-card spot in each league: 2010: Boston (AL), San Diego (NL), 2009: Texas (AL), San Francisco (NL), 2008: New York (AL), New York (NL), 2007: Detroit and Seattle tied at 88-74 and would have needed a one-game playoff (AL), San Diego (NL) and 2006: Chicago (AL), Philadelphia (NL).
Shin-Soo Choo will certainly be receiving a boost in salary as arbitration looms, but he won't immediately zoom to the top of the Tribe's payroll, says Paul Hoynes.Hey, Hoynsie: Now that the military service question is out of the way, all that is left for Shin-Soo Choo is arbitration. Will he be the Indians' second-highest-paid player on Opening Day? -- Joe Winnfield, Columbus
Hey, Joe: No, he won't be.
At this stage of Choo's career, service time plays a critical part in his salary. He has played three full seasons in the big leagues and is eligible for arbitration for the first time.
His performance over the last 21/2 seasons has been good, but I wouldn't call it precedent setting ala San Francisco's Tim Lincecum. The comparable players who came before Choo, and what they earned after their first three seasons in the big leagues, will play a role in what he will be paid for 2011.
Those guidelines could change, of course, if the Indians sign him to a multiyear deal.
Choo made $461,100 last season. The second-highest-paid Indian in 2011, if the season started today, would be Grady Sizemore at $7.5 million. Choo, however, has a great chance of cracking the Indians' top five in player salaries.
Hey, Hoynsie: Don't the Indians have to document to MLB that they are using certain revenue sharing funds to improve the team? How many players on the 25-man are close to league minimum? -- Clarissa Darlin, Stow
Hey, Clarissa: Each team that receives revenue sharing has to submit annual reports on how that money is being spent. The owners and players association review the information annually.
When last season opened, the Indians had 28 players on the 25-man roster, including three injured players. Sixteen of those players made between $400,000 and $461,100. The major-league minimum is $400,000.
Hey, Hoynsie: I've been an Indians fan for a long time and I like the Chief Wahoo logo. What do the players think? Do players traded or acquired by the Indians like the emblem, hate it, or does it even matter? Has the organization ever thought about dropping it and just going with a "C" or an "I" as they do with some of their uniforms? -- Jim Wensits, South Bend, Ind.
Hey, Jim: Most of the players I've talked to about Chief Wahoo are neutral about him.
As for the organization, I think there have been times when they've thought about dropping the logo. Over the last several years, they've introduced several different logos on uniforms and merchandise to increase revenues and, in my opinion, to distance themselves from the controversial Chief Wahoo.
Wahoo is not as prominent as he once was as a symbol for the ballclub. However, he is still a key part to the various uniforms worn by the players and merchandise sold by the team.
Hey, Hoynsie: Do you expect change in the front office if 2011 is yet another losing season? -- Danny Torrence, St. Louis
Hey, Danny: In good and bad organizations, there is always change regardless of a team's final record. I can't predict how much would take place with the Indians if 2011 does not go according to plan, but if there is change, it won't be sweeping. If anything, I think GM Chris Antonetti's front office is still evolving. I think there will be additions before there are any big changes.
Hey, Hoynsie: Tribe fans seem to despise the Dolans. I know you'll disagree but, I'm not sure even a winning season would help the relationship, do you? -- Tom Goodsite, Kirksville, Mo.
Hey, Tom: Couldn't agree more. A mere winning season isn't going ease the tension between the Dolans and the paying public. I don't know if a World Series championship would, because the fan base is as angry as I can remember in 28 years of covering the Indians.
I have to imagine this relationship will one day lead the Dolan family to sell the club.
Hey, Hoynsie: I understand that baseball has a huge problem when it comes to competition among its "haves" and "have nots." I mean each league is geographically divided into three divisions, so clearly each division will have its own "Yankees" to deal with. In the AL Central how can the Indians possibly be expected to compete when they have to constantly try and keep up with the Tigers and the Twins of the world? Detroit has such a booming economy with the unbreakable backbone of the American automobile industry to rely on. While Minnesota has St. Paul in its shadow which really gives the Twins two cities to draw in their unbelievable wealth. Of course I say all this in response to the Tigers signing Victor Martinez, so I'm left scratching my head saying, "how can they do it, when we can not?" -- Joe Cepec, Dublin
Hey, Joe: Your sarcasm is noted, but if you really look at the AL Central, you'll see why the Twins and Tigers are better than the Indians.
The Twins, who have won six Central division titles in the last nine years, opened a new ballpark last season with a payroll close to $100 million. As soon as they find a way to beat the Yankees in the postseason, they'll belong to the big boy club for a long time. Cleveland and Detroit seem to regularly trade places for the poorest city in the country. The Tigers, however, have two things the Indians don't. They have an owner who spends endlessly in Mike Ilitch and a fan base that has turned out in far bigger numbers over the last five years than their Cleveland counterparts for a team that has reached the postseason the same number of times the Indians have in that period -- once.
In the last five years, the Tigers have never drawn fewer than 2.5 million fans per season, while averaging between 30,400 and 40,000 fans per game.
In the same period, the Indians topped out at 2.3 million in 2007 while averaging between 17,400 and 28,000 per game. In the last three years, the Tigers payroll has been between $115 million and $137 million per year. The Indians payroll has been between $61.5 million and $81.6 million.
Those are some of the reasons why the Tigers and Twins are doing it and the Indians aren't.
-- Hoynsie