Cleveland Indians: New arrivals falling short of expectations early

New arrivals to the Cleveland Indians falling short of expectations early

While roster turnover has become a norm in today’s sports world, the Cleveland Indians saw more than the average offseason going into this year. The Tribe moved on from more than a few well known names and made moves to essentially reinvent the roster to save money for the club. The hope was that the moves would welcome new, young talent that would step into roles and keep the team at the top. However, the new arrivals are still catching on.

Luckily, the players who have been in Cleveland a bit longer are helping to turn the offense around in the early going, but the lack of production from the players that were added is a bit concerning. Like any job, it will take time for these players to settle in. As we near the end of April and look to enter the second month of play, that settling in period is coming to a close.

Most of the roster for the Cleveland Indians has been added within the last couple seasons. Even some of the “new arrivals” this offseason are more like homecomings for players that went elsewhere for a few seasons. See Bryan Shaw. The ones that are struggling, though, are the ones that are in their first season ever in the Cleveland organization.

The players that were brought up through the minors are doing well and even Emmanuel Clase who had a season a member of the organization, albeit a suspended one, looks settled in to his role. However, the four players that were added to the roster this past offseason and put on a Tribe uniform for the first time in Spring Training are the ones that are struggling to find their footing early on in the season.

Now, they aren’t alone. There’s others that are having a slow start as well, but these four are falling short of the expectations that they brought with them when they joined the Tribe.