A New Age: How the Indians Look to Contend With an Improved Clubhouse Feel
"Sure, they have a slightly above average record. And then they got rid of anything they ever had for nothing in return, and now they're a team full of no-names." An anonymous GM told me last week that Indians fans have nothing to be optimistic about, and that manager BB Bambino Jr. is leading the team down the wrong path.
That's one side of the argument. In fact, chances are the majority of the MLR agrees with that anonymous GM. But as we say in the business, never judge a book by it's cover. The Season 2 expansion draft started the talks of the Indians clubhouse being set up for failure. Former GM Roger Dorn went into the season with a strategy to acquire the best players, no matter what the media says about them. This led to a draft with G.H. Morello, Filthy Frank, and BB Bambino Jr, all controversial figures. And then Packer Jacker and Ethan Franklin, more controversial figures, were added in through free agency after Bambino took over the team. The famous words "Fuck the Indians" spread throughout the league's social media in January after the rivalry with the Devil Rays picked up. They were the evil empire, the most hated team in the league.
Most teams would say they didn't want to be the Indians. However, if they were actually in charge of the possible playoff contender Indians, would they really be willing to blow it up. BB is a bold GM though, and he's willing to do anything to make what he believes can be a super-team.It started in session 3, when Fernando Trouble was traded to the Devil Rays. It wasn't that meaningful at the time, but he was trouble after all, so it must have foreshadowed the moves to come. And then in session 5 Bambino went crazy. In one day he traded the core in terms of activity of the Indians. Ethan Franklin went to Philly, and both GH Morello and Packer Jacker went to the Motor City (Morello would later be flipped to his hometown Texas Rangers). The league was in shock as Bambino made the quickest flip on a team in MLR history, especially by changing the team's identity. They weren't so easy to hate on anymore. They were just the Indians.
The critics came out big time after what Indians fans now call "T-Day" (for Trade-Day). Great, so now the Indians weren't hated anymore, but they traded their identity to become a completely forgettable team. Dick Pole, Casey Nine, and Brohei Brohtani? They weren't known by half the league, and the ones who knew Brohei just knew him as another clubhouse struggle. How could they have possibly pulled that trigger without getting even the slightest bit more. Some sources even tell me that the Indians were offered Michael Voorhees just a week earlier, to flip him back for Dick Pole was certainly skeptical.
So why did Bambino do this all of a sudden? Why feel the sudden urge to change your team's identity? When asked in the press conference regarding the moves, Bambino replies "I think the team had a very negative look. We were the laughing stock of the MLR in many ways. When I took over as the GM of the Indians it was session 3 against Tampa. I can't lie I was definitely someone who liked to nudge and tease while being a cocky person during that session, but after that I realized the way the team was starting to go towards. I felt a need to change the persona and the way the Indians played and feeled. Making the team more likeable was the goal, and with a few moves I think I achieved that." Those same critics would go on and say they were soft and let the pressure get to them, but in reality, it looks like the Indians are on the rise.
As of midway through session 9, the Indians are 5-3 and in a position to become 6-3. They aren't a joke team. Stig Bond and Tommy Foxconn have numbers that replicate that of some big names, and Jim Boeheim and Big Tuna are leaders that the rest of the league does not recognize as well as they should. The so-called "culture change" didn't hinder Cleveland, but made the remaining players feel better about where they stood. They've reached the point where the clubhouse, and Bambino, feels confident that no more moves need to be made, and as Brohei Brohtani repeatedly put it, "We're all in this together".
What the future holds isn't known yet, but they just won against the Orioles, and Dick Pole and Joe Runzer appear to be on the rise. Foxconn may be the most underrated pitcher in the MLR. And last but not least, the front office clearly seems willing to make the moves necessary to make the clubhouse a fun place to be, while still keeping it serious for game-time. There's certainly a lot in store for these Indians, even if it's not obvious to most.