Cleveland Indians: Fans should remain highly confident in 2018

The Cleveland Indians have lost some talented players this offseason, but no one should be panicking in any way heading into the season.

The Cleveland Indians could very easily win 100 games in 2018.

Most of the roster is returning and the team still boasts arguably the best starting rotation in all of baseball. But this offseason has seen the usual bouts of negativity on social media.

I know, social media is a place made for hot takes and doom, but Indians fans should be excited about this team rather than focusing on a few players that left.

Losing Carlos Santana is upsetting because he has been a reliable player for the Indians for so long, but his absence isn’t changing any projections. The team is still expected to roll through the AL Central and return to the playoffs for the third straight season.

The same goes for Jay Bruce, who gave fans some fun moments in 2017, but was not the player to make or break the season. Losing Corey Kluber or Jose Ramirez would be a different story.

The weather is awful and fans just want baseball, but there is no reason to be frustrated with this team. This is a great era of Indians baseball and while the ALDS exit was hard to deal with, it’s not like that was the last chance at a title. Another year of experience for this somewhat young group should only help in 2018.

ICYMI

The ideal starting lineup in 2018

Is the World Series window closing?

Tribe agrees with Chisenhall, Salazar; not Bauer

Waiting for baseball

Trade rumors

Another holiday break

It is a cold one out there, but at least some of us get the day off to hopefully relax and stay warm.

Next: Top 5 home run hitters in franchise history

We will be having a roundtable discussion focusing on predictions for the 2018 season hitting the site today, so be sure to check back with us for that and all the January coverage of the Indians you could ever want.