Well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?
The Indians’ surprising run of contention for the Central Division championship officially came to an end Friday night, though it had been over for them long before the Tigers clinched.
Too many injuries to key players ensured that baseball’s biggest surprise over the first two months of the season – a club that at one time led the division by seven games – would not be making its first playoff appearance since 2007.
Though some disgruntled Tribe fans will look to blame the front office for not doing enough to improve the team, manager Manny Acta for not making the right moves and the players for not getting the job done on the field – the real culprit was the disabled list.
It began getting crowded with key cogs – Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Josh Tomlin and Carlos Carrasco to name a few – at the worst possible time for the Indians, who finally succumbed and coughed up their division lead.
That left Cleveland to play catch up in a pennant race with a depleted lineup littered with a ton of guys that should have still been at Triple-A Columbus honing their skills.
What did you think was going to happen?
I’m all for criticizing the organization, but in this instance, it’s not warranted.
It’s not general manager Chris Antonetti’s fault. Outside of landing Ryan Ludwick, who wouldn’t have changed the fate anyway, it appeared the first-year GM did what he could at the trading deadline by acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez and Kosuke Fukudome.
Yes, the Indians needed offense more than pitching, but picking up a supposed frontline starter such as Jimenez doesn’t exactly hurt a bid for the postseason.
Fans certainly didn’t criticize the rookie GM when he added some of that offense in the form of Jim Thome, who was booed lustily as an opponent but greeted with gushy warmth upon his return.
Antonetti couldn’t add a new team, which was pretty much required to contend with the Tigers, who got hot just as the Indians were fading.
Don’t go in Acta’s direction with the daggers, either.
The Indians were picked by most to finish no higher than fourth in a suspect division and the second-year manager had them in contention for nearly the entire season.
That’s how Managers of the Year are elected, and Acta, who is still a candidate, would have been a lock for the award had the Indians “shocked the world,” as Brantley predicted at the beginning of the season, and won the Central.
Regardless, Acta went a long way to proving he is the right guy for the job. His players like him, they play hard for him and he is probably going to be rewarded with a contract extension sometime during the offseason.
The 25-man roster is ultimately responsible for the final score, but it’s tough to blame Indians players for failing to live up to expectations that weren’t even there when the season began, especially with the short-handed lineup that was run out on a regular basis for much of the year.
With the odds stacked firmly against them, the Indians have yet to quit at this point, a characteristic they showed throughout the season as one of the league leaders in comeback and last at-bat wins.
The Indians played hard. They just didn’t have enough to contend with the likes of a talented Tiger team that employs a stacked lineup, Cy Young front-runner Justin Verlander and the game’s top statistical closer, Jose Valverde – not a real surprising development.
In the end, the Indians will most likely finish where many thought they would – below .500 and well off the pace of the division winner. And with nothing to blame but another poor performance in the health department.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
