Lineup according to Rototimes - comments according to me:
1 Coco Crisp - made strides/unproven
2 Aaron Boone - injury questions - can he return?
3 Victor Martinez - made strides/unproven
4 Travis Hafner - made strides/unproven
5 Ben Broussard - made strides/unproven
6 Casey Blake - consistently improving/appears dependable
7 Ronnie Belliard - career year last year
8 Grady Sizemore - unproven
9 Jhonny Peralta - unproven
While that lineup has a HUGE upside, what are the chances that they all work out like we think they can? That is an extremely young and inexperienced lineup.
I'm not saying they won't be good, I'm saying beware of the volatility. They could just as easily be the most disappointing offense as the most improved.
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” --Henry David Thoreau
They scored a ton of runs last year and this year they added Aaron Boone. It's not about flash; those 3-4-5-6 hitters can definately hit. Losing Lawton hurts, but Boone replaces him in the lineup so it isn't that bad. I don't think Crisp and Belliard are as good as they played last year though.
"Jack, will you call me, if you're able?"
"I've got your phone number written, in the back of my Bible."
In Cleveland we are seeing the lineup a little differently. I think it will go
Crisp CF
Belliard 2B
Victor C
Juan Gone RF
Hafner DH
Blake LF
Broussard 1B
Boone 3B
Perralta SS
Gonzalez and Hafner may be flipped. This is if Gonzalez can stay healthy. This lineup looks better than last year, but I don't know how we scored so many runs last year. Victor and Hafner are the only ones who excite me. All of the other ones look like good mid to late round picks.
Why do people bother to use the phrase "unproven"? Guys with minor league experience are not unproven. Their minor league numbers either prove they are a hitter or prove they are not.
I'm not sure why anyone would doubt the Indians offense. They finished fifth in runs last year. They should be able to do that again, easily.
GotowarMissAgnes wrote:Why do people bother to use the phrase "unproven"? Guys with minor league experience are not unproven. Their minor league numbers either prove they are a hitter or prove they are not.
I'm not sure why anyone would doubt the Indians offense. They finished fifth in runs last year. They should be able to do that again, easily.
Hmm. I can't think of a better single word to mean "they did it one year in the majors, but have yet to do it consistently in the majors."
I doubt the Indians offense because many of their players fall into this category. I actually like a lot of their hitters, but the chances of most of them repeating or improving doesn't seem likely. But if it happens, you're right - they would be 5th best in the league easy.
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” --Henry David Thoreau
People say unproven even with minor league numbers because they are well... unproven. Many players can produce in the minors but fail in the majors. Also, very few major leaguers are consistent. That being said, hitters are more consistent than pitchers, and one good hitting team is usually a good hitting team the next year.
Yes, there are alot of question marks on the Cleveland team, but with so many players with huge upsides, if only 2-3 meet potential that line-up will score some runs. Counting on Gonzalez to be injury-free is a little too optimistic... the guy's career is most likely over.
...Boston papers now and then suffer a sharp flurry of arithmetic on this score; indeed, for Williams to have distributed all his hits so they did nobody else any good would constitute a feat of placement unparalleled in the annals of selfishness. -Updike
unproven = adj : not proved; "unproved allegations"; "unproved assumptions"
I am pretty sure thats the exact word to use here, the fact is most of those guys have had either one good season or a good minor league career and have in fact yet to validate the ability to do it again this year. While I would argue that Clevelend has a huge upside and could very easily turn out to be a top notch offense if the keys work right. We must also agree that they could easily end up garbage. They are simply 'unproven.'
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by Sticky Spice » Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:30 am 
