ALL DECADE INDIANS

The favorite team of most blog contributors, I know this is a team that'll be released to great fanfare/controversy! Accordingly, I'm turning this All Decade team's breakdown over to Matt (who you can follow @mlbshowdowncup on twitter for great content), who's been helping me a lot with the Showdown card creation! From my perspective, the Indians are going to be the AL Central frontrunner. They lack any discernible weakness, have a bunch of OB 10s and speed in the lineup, aces galore in the rotation, and three Tier 1 pitchers out of the pen. They're going to be really hard to (a) keep down for an entire series; (b) consistently score on. With that combination, watch out AL playoff race! A quick note -- I took Bob's Tier 1 2017 Corey Kluber card for the team because Kluber led the AL in both ERA and WHIP during his Cy Young season.... but the Tier 2 Carrasco was too far off to fly. Although I'm impressed with Carrasco's consistency -- he's put up the same Control 5, on at 16, David Cone type card in 2016, 2017, and 2018! Injuries kept him from getting a card in 2019, but look out 2020! I'm taking this opportunity to show off a Michael Brantley that just missed the cut that was made by Matthew P (different Matt and big fan of the Twins) in his gorgeously made 2015 set:

I really love this card's look, but the extra singles on the 2014 card pushed this Brantley to the bench!

LINEUP: Thanks Peter for giving me a chance to talk about my hometown Cleveland Indians. All the banter between Peter and I about all decade teams, and I had a good feeling about my Indians for a couple reasons. Pitching rotation has had some top tier talent the last 3 years, and being able to turn the game over to Andrew Miller after they are done. As an Indians fan ownership usually is the reason we are disappointed, the all decade 2000-2009 team would show the talent they had, and traded Cy Young winners back to back seasons. Those trades really make a young fan upset, but let’s look at the return of those trades. July 7th 2008 the Indians shipped CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for 2 pitchers that barely made the big leagues, Matt LaPorta who played 4 years for the Indians, and lead off hitter of the all decade Indians Michael Brantley. 3 time allstar and silver slugger in 2014. His card is just as smooth as him, no huge power but singles and doubles with some speed and a high on base. Next up in the order is Shin Soo Choo much like Brantley low power but tons of hitting coming from him. As shown on Peters twitter, Choo has been the model of consistency over his career. After that a third straight 10 on base, speed A player in Jose Ramirez 2018. This is probably my favorite Indians current player, and my favorite Indians Showdown card, along with 1995 Albert Belle. Right after that is the power bat of the lineup 2018 Francisco Lindor. Much like the CC example earlier in my post, Francisco Lindor could be the next chip ownership cashes in on to deepen the farm system for the next big run they make. Hopefully I am wrong and they are able to sign him to a big extension, but us Cleveland fans might know better than to get our hopes up on that. The high infield defense and power makes Lindor the perfect clean up hitter for when the 10s get on base. Another 10 on base protecting Lindor and looking to knock in the high speed runners ahead of him, Carlos Slamtana, in the DH role is another player that can consistently get on base and drive in runners. If the first 5 batters get on base the Party at Napolis will look to bring them home. Same power as Lindor, Mike Napoli will be hoping to get the party started for this team. Followed by 2016 walk off inside the park home run sensation Tyler Naquin is the only 9 on base on the team but brings another speed A to the bunch. As long as pitchers aren’t throwing him high fastballs he should be getting on base when he gets his chart. Batting 8th, 2019 World Series Champion Yan Gomes. The Yanimal dealt with injuries his last few years in Cleveland but was a great defensive catcher in his time here. 2013 he had some offense to go along with it, making him a steady catcher to have with an 8 on base in the 8 spot of the order. Last batter turning it over back to the top is another 10 ob no power speed A. Jason Kipnis looks to keep the merry go round on the bases for this squad. That’s the Indians offense which isn’t the home run hitting beasts of the American League, just like real life, the Indians will look for small ball their way onto the score board.

ROTATION: The beautiful Bob version of Cy Young Corey Kluber who has been dominant in his Indians run this past decade. This rotation will not take many steps down going from Kluber to Trevor Bauer who also has a dominant 6 control card with no doubles. Next up is the 2019 Mike Clevinger which will also bring no doubles to the table. Hitting off these pitchers charts isn’t very rewarding and will need multiple hits together on their charts to do damage. The final starter is 2018 Carlos Carrasco and he brings me back to my trading Cy Young winners from earlier in the post. The Indians traded Cliff Lee to the Philadelphia Phillies for 3 guys that didn’t do much, and Carlos Carrasco. Another successful trade in terms of replenishing the farm system when losing a top notch player. 

BULLPEN: Three tier 1 bullpen pitchers to clean up those starters messes makes this team tough to beat if managed correctly to minimalize runs. Cody Allen 2015 was the height of Cody Allen’s indians career. The last few years of it was bumpy, but when he was at his best he was lights out. Next is a refreshed version of 2016 Andrew Miller and this lights out card is worth every point that he costs. Chris Perez, when not getting weed shipped to his dog, was lights out early on in his indians career as well, much like Cody Allen it was a bumpy ride on the way out. Another World Series team player Dan Otero and his top tier talent brings the high control to get pitchers out of jams if needed early in the game. Finally closing out the squad is Bryan Shaw, the workhorse of the Indians bullpen for many years leading the pen in innings pitched is a great fifth option to be able to turn to if needed. To anyone that read this all the way through thank you for allowing me to express my Indians fandom again and I promise you this won’t be the last time either. 

Thank you to Matt, definitely fun to get a fan's perspective!! Overall, the Indians clock in at a commendable 6880 points!! Cleveland and Seattle tied in points, but Cleveland *feels* like a much better roster. Their rotation soaks up 2280 points, nearly a third of the budget to 4/18 players! The lineup isn't as pricey as others since there's only one player over 500 points, but the depth is demonstrated by a 430 point hitter being in the 9 hole! Plus, there's no 2 IP reliever to add pork to the bullpen's point total. Accordingly, this team will definitely compete with the higher priced teams and, frankly, is more than a match for its foes in the AL Central (and currently top dog for points against its divisional competition)! Here's the standings so far:

1.   Dodgers             8010 points
2.   Yankees             7920 points
3.   Nationals           7670 points
4.   Astros                7420 points
5.   Blue Jays           7140 points
6.   Rockies              7090 points
7.   Indians               6880 points
8.   (T7) Mariners   6880 points
9.   Orioles               6830 points
10.   Giants                6800 points
11.   Marlins              6750 points
12.   Tigers                6710 points
13.   Royals                6570 points