Indians Decade in Review: 2010 and the start of the Manny Acta era

The Good

2010 was all about young guys getting their starts.

Carlos Santana made his debut in June of that year and ended up with the third-best WAR (2.0) of any position player on the team. He posted that in only 46 games.

Michael Brantley made his debut at the end of the 2009 season, but 2010 was when he started getting regular playing time. His -1.2 WAR was not much to write home about, though the experience he got helped him raise that mark to 2.1 in 2011.

The 2010 season saw the man then known as Fausto Carmona, now Roberto Hernandez, make his first and only All-Star Game. He finished with a 3.77 ERA and started 33 games. This came after he struggled mightily in 2009 and the extra experience of being older than we thought probably helped a bit.

Shin-Soo Choo also had a nice year, leading the way with a respectable WAR of 5.9. But nothing the team did on the field matched the top positive from the year.

A bad record in 2010 meant the Indians were busy at the trade deadline. The most notable move came when the team moved Jake Westbrook, continuing the trend of trading top pitching. The trade was a three-team deal, but only one player involved matters to Indians fans.

That player is Corey Kluber.

The San Diego Padres sent him to Cleveland and got Ryan Ludwick from the St. Louis Cardinals. Kluber was not a top prospect at the time and fans may have been wondering if the Indians would ever be good again.

Getting that unknown prospect goes down as one of the best trades of not only the decade, but of the century.