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The Indians are on a mission to make you pay attention whether you want to or not
Francisco Lindor and the Indians have been all smiles of late. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Indians are on a mission to make you pay attention whether you want to or not

Baseball has always been a game driven by big markets. Aaron Judge and New York Yankees; Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers; the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals all check in among the most visible teams in the game from a national broadcast, merchandise sales and visibility standpoint. Of the first 11 ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball" telecasts of the year, 10 of those games featured at least one of the aforementioned ball clubs, with the lone exception a Rangers-Tigers contest. The Rangers of course, make their home in the Dallas area, which is the fifth biggest media market the country.

All the while, one team that was strangely absent from the mix was one half of last year’s World Series pairing, the Cleveland Indians. Despite participating in the most viewed World Series in nearly 25 years, the defending AL champions had to wait to make their debut appearance on the nation’s top MLB broadcast until July 9, more than three months into the season. By that juncture, the Indians were already nearly a month into yet again taking control of the American League Central standings, a position they still hold.

August 2017 marks the seventh month in the last 11 in which the Indians have claimed a piece of control in the division. Yet it marks the second year in a row when the Indians have found themselves relegated to second-class citizenship among the big-ticket names around the game,. This is despite possessing the second-highest sustained winning percentage in the American League over the same time period, behind only the Red Sox.

Unlike the Red Sox, the team they eliminated in a three-game sweep in the ALDS a year ago, the Indians have reached the pinnacle of the game in that time. Yet after coming within inches of claiming their first World Series title since 1948, the Indians were not welcomed with both arms open to the ranks of the most visible franchises in the game. Instead, they were sent back to whence they came — a middle-class team that shook up the establishment en route to springing a World Series run that few forecast but none could deny. It is a position in which they have not only continued to thrive, but on that has also become what seems to be a strategic advantage in the process. 

The Indians aren't so much underestimated — rather they have mastered the art of becoming baseball’s foremost ninjas. They are efficiently successful in everything they do. On the heels of last year’s run, their roster produced a handful of breakout stars, as Andrew Miller, Corey Kluber and Francisco Lindor saw their popularity skyrocket. A year after being the game’s pre-eminent secret weapon, Jose Ramirez found himself a starter in the All-Star Game over the likes of the much more popular Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson and Evan Longoria. The recognition even spread to the already notable Terry Francona, who had for years been the popular part of a nondescript Indians lineup card.


Jose Ramirez is a legit MVP candidate this year. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Yet despite this increased individual popularity and sustained success in the standings, the Indians remain outsiders on the radar among elite MLB franchises. Maybe it is being located in Ohio without a LeBron James to boast from their roster. Or maybe it is the fact that their emergence was eclipsed by the star power that radiated from the Cubs in wake of their parallel date with destiny. Whatever it may be, the Indians are not only positioned yet again to make considerable waves in the latter rungs of this season, but they could quietly be a sneaky favorite to win it all.

How could that be? With the runaway hot start out of the blocks the Houston Astros experienced, along with the resurgence of the Yankees and continued success of the Red Sox, the steadfast performance of the Indians has barely been a blip on the radar. Yet all the while, they have been most consistent team in the American League, carrying at least a .500 record against 13 of their 14 home league opponents (with AL-worst Oakland oddly the only exception). It is a tenaciousness that has increased as the level of competition has as well, saving their best for matchups with their peers.

Against the current top contenders for AL postseason positioning, the Tribe has a 22-12 record vs. the likes of the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, Angels and Mariners, all of whom are either in division/Wild Card leading positions or within a game of taking the lead.


Edwin Encarnacion was Cleveland's big free agent acquisition. Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The true reasoning why Cleveland’s continued success has gone less noticed as the success of their peers is because after their tremendous romp through the 2016 postseason, they did make a slew of brash, headline-worthy moves in neither the offseason or at the recently passed trade deadline. Instead, general manager Mike Chernoff set out on the business of strategic, strictly need-based additions to make up the inches, not miles, between his existing roster and a World Series title.

This began in the opportunistic signing of Edwin Encarnacion, who remained on the free agent market longer than most anticipated. In adding him to their roster, the Indians upgraded the lost power of Mike Napoli, whom they smartly moved on from, and added a much-needed elite power presence to their shifty, on-base-heavy lineup.

Outfield defense was also an Achilles heel for last year’s Indians, a deficiency that was exploited in the World Series. To address it, athletic center fielder Austin Jackson was acquired to contribute in both center and left, where has better than a 1.0 WAR for the just over $1 million on the season.

Outside of that, Chernoff understood the recipe that worked to facilitate the Cleveland rise initially: Be true to internal options and trust the process. Part of adhering to that process was betting on returning quantities to pick up where they left off. That recipe yielded strong returns within the everyday lineup from Michael Brantley and to the rotation from Carlos Carrasco. Brantley made the AL All-Star team after hitting .304 in the first half. Meanwhile Carrasco, who missed all of the postseason a year ago with a fractured pitching hand, has returned in full health and ranks in the AL top 10 in wins, ERA, strikeouts and WHIP thus far.

Furthermore, a return by catcher Yan Gomes, a solid rookie effort by Bradley Zimmer and the quick adaptation of Jay Bruce, who was acquired in a post-trade deadline deal from Mets, have further paved the path for the ever-resilient Indians.

They could still conceivably be seen as underdogs, but they will bring forward a cadre that is in more complete condition than it was a year ago (if Miller’s recent knee troubles subside) and is firing on more cylinders than it did a year ago. Kluber is at the heart of the Cy Young race, while Ramirez is an MVP candidate amid a team whose greatest strength lies in performing as an ensemble. And perhaps more importantly than anything else, there is the confidence that experience brings, which is an edge they possess on any of their would-be challengers come October.

Indeed, there is a much to believe in when it comes to assessing Cleveland’s long-term potential over the short remaining run of the 2017 season. The Indians have cornered the market in operating in a top-notch fashion,while still managing to remain hidden in plain sight. Because of this, the team that everyone is still managing to look past — whether intentional or not — is booting up to once again be the last team standing in the AL and last team standing overall, an endeavor they could very well conquer the second time around.

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