Season Preview Contin.

How then, with a year as consistently productive as 2005, do the Indians improve and take the next step into the post-season? Well, with the subtraction of a few key players, the Indians were forced to spend some money and make some trades and, apparently for the time being, have created a team potentially more formidable than last year’s, one that won’t make the rest of the American League excited.

Key Losses: Kevin Millwood, the team’s ace for 2005 and the AL leader in ERA (2.86), was lost in free agency to the Texas Rangers. This came as no surprise though to the Indians’ management; they knew that with a good season Millwood would soon elevate out of their price range. Also, in what was essentially the biggest transaction of the year, the Indians dealt Coco Crisp, catcher Josh Bard, and reliever David Riske to Boston for number-one prospect Andy Marte, catcher Kelly Shoppach, and a cool $1 million.

Key Additions: To replace Coco, the Indians then traded reliever Arthur Rhodes (something that also freed up salary space) for left fielder Jason Michaels. Michaels has a lot of potential (the dreaded “p” word has made another appearance) and it was evident when he drew the same number of walks (44) as Coco in 300 less at-bats. In Marte the Indians received a franchise player at the position they were weakest at: third base. Marte is expected to be in Cleveland by the end of 2006 and could arrive sooner if Aaron Boone stumbles again out of the gate.

To fill the void left by Millwood, the Indians signed two veterans: Paul Byrd of the Angels and Jason Johnson of the Tigers. Byrd provides excellent veteran leadership and Johnson was second only to the Tribe’s Jake Westbrook in ground ball out to fly ball out ratio. The key to the pitching staff will be if C.C. Sabathia or Cliff Lee can step up and solidify their identities as being ace pitchers (it also doesn’t hurt that they are both lefties). .

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