Cleveland Indians: Roster taking shape for Tribe

With Spring Training winding down, the Cleveland Indians roster is taking shape. From NRI Joba Chamberlain making the team to Tyler Naquin claiming his spot, the Tribe might look a little different than anticipated.

As Opening Day approaches for the Cleveland Indians, things are starting to come into view a little more clearly. First, even with Michael Brantley‘s triumphant return, it’s unlikely he’ll be ready for the opener as most of us had hoped. Tyler Naquin, however, earned his roster spot with a fantastic spring–now to see if he gets the chance to play or stuck on the depth chart behind Rajai Davis (Let’s hope not).

Non-roster invitee Joba Chamberlain made the team, while another veteran NRI Tom Gorzellany was told he had not. Opinion on Chamberlain is mixed. Once the Yankees next “big thing”, his career hasn’t been memorable as he bounced around last season with Detroit, Toronto and Kansas City.  With a career ERA of 3.87, his Spring Training numbers pretty much fell into line with those. I think we’ll get what we expect for Chamberlain.

Another cut that wasn’t a surprise as much as it was expected was Giovanny Urshela being optioned to Triple-A Columbus. But it was still disappointing. Urshela struggled at the plate last year, but has shown progress this spring–but after Juan Uribe was signed it was all but expected he would start the season in Columbus. One of the best springs wasn’t enough to keep him in Cleveland while Uribe seems to have spent more time dealing with his lingering visa issues than playing baseball.

Mike Napoli has been a pleasant surprise in camp. I think many (including me), were prepping for another free agent disappointment. But Napoli has been anything but that. He’s batting .459 with three home runs and 13 RBI in 14 games. For Napoli, it will still be proving he can do this for the long-haul–but this is a much better start than I expected.

Next: Time to just Play Ball

The decision to keep Naquin made me feel like the Indians were getting away from the “veteran” mentality, but the Urshela move destroyed that theory. Still, the Indians have Francisco Lindor and hopefully Naquin can follow in his footsteps. Not necessarily with the exceptional rookie numbers but with instilling faith in the Indians to go to the youth in the system over signing every veteran desperate for a job in the winter.

But as Joe Carter said, “they don’t put spring training numbers on your baseball card”. The regular season is almost here, and those are the only ones that matter.