Cleveland Indians: A five point offseason checklist for the Tribe

Step #4: The Outfield

The Cleveland Indians have pieced together a below-average outfield each of the last few seasons. Normally, one or two pieces of the puzzle click, but rarely, if ever, have all three outfielders been firing on all cylinders over the last few seasons.

This past year saw flashes from a few different players, all at different times, and the story was similar in 2019 as well. Players like Josh Naylor and Oscar Mercado have shown potential, but not consistency.

What the Indians need to do this offseason is lockdown one outfield position for the entire season. Find one player that can play consistently in the outfield and be an every day player. Whether it be signing Joc Pederson, giving Daniel Johnson a shot or something else, it doesn’t matter how it happens, it just needs to happen.

If the Tribe can find an every day player for one of the outfield spots that just leaves two for the game of musical chairs that we’ve seen the past two years. That means that you need to ride the hot hand, or even find the hot hand, at just two positions rather than all three. It might not be the biggest leap for this team, but it could solve a lot of the issues that we have witnessed the past two seasons.