Cleveland Indians: Some fun honors to finish up award season

The Cleveland Indians had two players take home some honors as MLB award season finally comes to a close and the offseason continues.

The Cleveland Indians had finalists for all three major postseason awards, but couldn’t come home with the clean sweep.

However, Corey Kluber did bring home his second American League Cy Young Award, which is something to smile about as the stress of free agency continues.

The MVP announcement last week concluded the major awards, but a few fun ones were announced on Friday.

The Esurance MLB Awards may not be seen as a big deal to some fans, but there is nothing wrong with Indians players getting recognized for a great season.

Adding to his Cy Young Award, Kluber took home Best Pitcher honors as part of the Esurance MLB Awards, while Austin Jackson was honored with the Best Play on defense for his miraculous catch at Fenway in August.

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As I said, these awards aren’t the major ones, but I see no problem with handing out some more awards at the end of any given season. These players work hard and deserve some recognition.

Kluber is being expected to have another dominant year in 2018, which is a fair expectation from fans given the way he has played the past few years.

Jackson winning this award brings to mind the fact he may not be returning to Cleveland in 2018. Free agency is still in its early stages, which is smart for both sides. The players want to test the market while teams want to find the best deals available and avoid overspending.

Jackson may be rewarded with a multi-year deal from a team, and that could very well be the Indians. That likely depends on whether Carlos Santana is given a lucrative offer by the Indians, and whether he accepts. Him leaving, along with Jay Bruce and Bryan Shaw, could open up some money to pay Jackson a bit more and have a reliable veteran in the outfield.

Next: Top 10 wins from 2017

We shall see.