Cleveland Indians: No need to panic over Stanton signing with the Yankees

The New York Yankees added a star in Giancarlo Stanton, but that doesn’t mean the Cleveland Indians can’t win it all in 2018.

The offseason is always an interesting time to be a Cleveland Indians fan.

Each move that is or isn’t made causes panic for some, while others know that one player doesn’t make or break an entire season.

That remains true in 2018, which is the year in which the New York Yankees will return to their old ways of big money baseball.

The Yankees acquired Giancarlo Stanton earlier this month from Derek Jeter‘s fire sale in Miami, pairing him with Aaron Judge in a lineup that already led the team to the ALCS in 2017.

This move led to some immediate doom from some Indians fans on Twitter, which only got worse once Carlos Santana left town and the bullpen lost a few key pieces. But one player doesn’t change the outlook for the 2018 season.

Stanton is going to hit some absolute moonshots at Yankee Stadium next year, and so will Aaron Judge. But when it comes to a potential playoff series against the Indians, I trust the pitchers here in Cleveland.

Some fans will point to the 2017 ALDS as evidence that the Yankees will only beat the Indians worse now that Stanton is in town, but that is not the case. It could indeed happen, but Stanton is not going to single-handedly win the series. If he does, Derek Jeter should have to resign.

The Indians found a way to pitch to Judge in the ALDS, and the same will be true against Stanton, both in the regular season and in a potential postseason matchup.

It is also possible that the Indians don’t even see Stanton in the postseason, given both teams do make it. Don’t laugh, baseball is full of surprises.

The Houston Astros enter 2018 as the defending champions and could eliminate the Yankees in the ALDS, or the Yankees could fall to a Wild Card team. So much can happen throughout the season, making it plain lazy to sit back and say anything is even remotely decided.

Next: What fans can look forward to in 2018

A new season means a fresh start, and no one should be projecting any sense of doom so early in the year.