2011 World Series a pipe dream?

Now is not the time to panic for the Cleveland Indians.  The Tribe should not give in to temptation and trade any of the organization’s best prospects in the name of contending this year.

This is just not the year to make such moves.

This statement is not a plea to raise the white flag or throw in the towel.  By all means, the Tribe should continue to look for internal options and should even look to trade a minor prospect for veteran help this year.

But they should in no way entertain the option of trading Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and especially not Drew Pomeranz, or any other prime prospect in the attempt of making a run at the playoffs.  The team’s recent slide has exposed major holes in the Indians Major League roster, far too many holes to fill through a trade or two.

Sure, Vladimir Guerrero, Michael Young, or David Wright would look great in an Indians batting helmet.  The offense has been atrocious and any of these players would serve as an upgrade at any number of positions.

In fact, the offense needs to improve if this dream season is to continue.  But if it does improve, either through trade or internal improvement, what kind of dream is possible this year?

Do the Indians want to dream about the playoffs or do they want to dream about a World Series title?

There are those who will say that after getting to the playoffs, anything is possible.  Yes, 

anything is possible; the Dallas Mavericks had no hope of defeating the Miami Heat when The NBA Finals began, right?

 

 

But for this baseball team this year, reaching and winning the World Series really is a pipe dream.

It’s a pipe dream because in the baseball postseason, pitching is the name of the game.  And while pitching has been the team’s strength this year, it is just not good enough at this point to win it all.

Make no mistake, the Bullpen Mafia can hold its own with any bullpen in the Major Leagues, but the starting pitching cannot.

Perhaps if a time machine could be invented to place the 2007 vintage Fausto Carmona in the Tribe’s 2011 rotation, the Indians would have a fighting chance in baseball’s contrived postseason.  

Unfortunately, the Indians have the 2011 version of Carmona and there is no way they can have any faith in him to be even consistently adequate from start to start.

By this point in the season, they should have faith that Justin Masterson is the real deal and can be counted on to give the team a chance to win.  He’s the staff ace.  And as the staff ace, he will be counted on to face the aces of the other teams in the postseason.  Honestly, how well does he stack up against the likes of CC Sabathia, Josh Beckett, David Price, Justin Verlander, and Felix Hernandez?

What about the second slot on the staff?  For the Indians, that position is currently a toss-up between Carlos Carrasco and Josh Tomlin.  Would either of those guys realistically be expected to outduel Jon Lester, James Shields, or Michael Pineda?

Carrasco has the stuff and is showing he can harness it, but he is still a work in progress.  Tomlin will give the team everything he’s got, but would it be good enough?

All of this is not to get down on the Indians.  2011 has been a great ride so far and should continue to be fun for the duration of the season.  But they have arrived a year or two early.  Just wait, the future looks bright.

Down in the minor leagues, Pomeranz looks to be an ace in the making, a pitcher that can legitimately be matched up against the elite aces on other teams.  Before his injury, Alex White showed glimpses that he would be able to as well.  So did Carrasco on Monday night.

The timing is just not right to push the envelope of contention.  The Indians can still make the playoffs this year, but the playoffs are this team’s ceiling.  In two years, the playoffs just might be the floor for expectations of an Indians' season.  It will just take patience from the team’s front office and a long-suffering fan base.

Posted in: Cleveland Indians