Cleveland Indians: The biggest remaining need in 2018

The Cleveland Indians enter the 2018 season with plenty of depth, but one area on the roster could use an upgrade or two.

The frustration of a slow offseason should be wearing off a bit for Cleveland Indians fans as the team prepares to begin Spring Training this month.

It was easy to sit on Twitter and wait for news of an addition, but it became clear that Yonder Alonso was the big buy this winter. And that is just fine, given the talent already in town that won over 100 games in 2017.

All the depth on the roster sets up the Indians as favorites to win the AL Central, yet one position group isn’t quite as strong on paper as it was a year ago.

The bullpen still has Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, but the loss of Bryan Shaw may have a major impact on the team this season. Joe Smith‘s absence may be noticed as well, even though he was only here for a few months.

David Schoenfield of ESPN.com recently wrote an article detailing the biggest remaining holes for all 30 MLB teams and listed bullpen depth for the Indians.

From the article:

"They lost iron man Bryan Shaw and in-season acquisition Joe Smith in free agency, though they bring back five relievers with sub-3.00 ERAs, plus lefty Tyler Olson, who didn’t allow a run in 20 innings. I could see the Indians adding a low-cost vet."

He goes on to list Peter Moylan and Fernando Abad as two players to potentially sign.

Related Story: Tribe linked to Peter Moylan

As of right now the bullpen consists of Miller, Allen, Tyler Olson, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister and Dan Otero. Mike Clevinger and Danny Salazar could potentially fill that seventh spot or the team could choose a player from the minors, such as what we saw with both Goody and Olson in 2017.

The team doesn’t necessarily have to go after someone in free agency, and right now I don’t see it happening. The surplus of starting pitching means someone is headed to the bullpen, and the front office can save money by going with in-house options for any final bullpen spots.

A pitcher from Columbus can always come up and provide the Shawn Armstrong role of being an extra arm after a taxing day for the bullpen, or for any doubleheaders.

Next: Top 5 home run hitters in franchise history

Do you want the Indians to go after someone in free agency? Or would you rather have the team go with the current group in the organization?