Cleveland Indians: At peace with the uneventful offseason

The start of a new Cleveland Indians season should help fans get over what was a slow offseason filled with more subtractions than additions.

Wednesday marked the unofficial start to a new Cleveland Indians season as pitchers and catchers reported to camp in Goodyear, Arizona.

A lot of familiar faces returned, with Yonder Alonso being the only real new player of note to keep an eye on. At least right now.

The lack of any major offseason additions had fans frustrated at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, but the start of a new season should help everyone focus on actual baseball once again. If the team gets off to a hot start, it will be hard to keep being angry at the front office and ownership.

A legitimate gripe is the money given to Michael Brantley, but his contract had little to no effect on retaining Carlos Santana or Jay Bruce. It is clear that the team just didn’t value either player at the level of money they received. And if Brantley stays healthy, it is hard to argue with the deal.

The strategy seems to be similar to what the team did with Bruce last season, which was to avoid overpaying for someone in the offseason, and instead target them midseason, even if only for a rental.

ICYMI

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Some initial sights from the new season

This is making me want to go outside and throw a baseball. The weather in Cleveland is rather mild right now. Maybe it’s a sign of goodwill from Mother Nature.

Some sad news from Wednesday

Indians fans on social media likely saw the news about the death of Tito Francona, the father of our very own Tito. We wish Terry and the rest of his family all the best during this time.

The march continues

The countdown to Opening Day continues and we are getting some Arizona weather of our own here in Northeast Ohio. There isn’t as much sun, but anything above freezing this time of year feels like beach weather.

Next: Predicting who will break out in 2018

And while we enjoy the temperature, we can continue to live vicariously through the Indians social media accounts as pictures of people playing catch and stretching continue to excite the fan base.