Should the Indians Fire Eric Wedge?

At 12-21, the Indians are one of the biggest disappointments in baseball so far. As we highlighted yesterday, there are plenty of reasons why the Indians should be concerned about their slow start. Obviously, there are going to be many that call for Manager Eric Wedge's job until the Indians turn it around.

But for now, Wedge is not concerned about his job status.

ESPN.com:

CLEVELAND -- Rather than spend time worrying about his job status, Cleveland Indians
manager Eric Wedge is thinking about tinkering with the lineup.

The Indians went into Monday night's game against the Chicago White Sox at
11-21, the worst record in the majors.

"It is my fault," Wedge said. "I'm not playing, but I take full
responsibility when things are not going well. And we are a better team than we
have shown.

"My situation is not something I spend time on. My entire energy is on
getting guys back on track," he said.

But the question remains, should the Indians fire Eric Wedge?

My answer, for now, is no.

The Indians were expected to be one of the better teams in the AL Central this season, but that has not happened so far. On the surface, that would seem to be a good enough reason for Indians management to pull the plug on Wedge.

But here is why I think the answer is no. If you look up and down the Indians roster, you will see tons of guys having down seasons and underperforming, especially on the pitching side. People can blame the manager all they want for the Indians struggles, but management must be aware that the pieces they supplied the manager have been pretty bad so far. Could another manager have done a better job than Wedge 33 games into the season. I don't think so. With that in mind, management should give Wedge every opportunity to succeed with this team.

On the other hand, I'm sure some will call for Wedge's head in order to "motivate" the team and "salvage" the season. We have seen a "motivational managerial switch" work before, the 2003 Marlins come to mind, but the fact remains: when you stink, you stink. I don't care who the manager is, there is only so much a manager can do when a team is struggling.

However, the reality is that if the Indians lose 5-6 in a row, Wedge will likely lose his job.