Cleveland Indians: Brantley, Kipnis, and baseball justice

Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis have undeservedly drifted into the background of a loaded Cleveland Indians roster. Redemption awaits them in 2018.

Perhaps the most difficult thing for any professional athlete to endure is to become a spectator to the success or failure of his team as a result of injury. While it is one thing to lose playing time as a result of poor performance, it is an entirely different burden to know that he belongs on the field, and would be if not sidelined by his own body.

The Cleveland Indians have won a combined 196 games the last two seasons, exactly 95 more than Michael Brantley has played in over the same stretch. He sat out the entirety of the Tribe’s magical 2016 postseason run, and was unavailable throughout their supernatural 22-game winning streak in 2017. It is safe to say Brantley can speak intelligently as to the frustration of extended stays on the disabled list.

Jason Kipnis can offer insight on a similarly discouraging set of circumstances. Having been the subject of nearly every Indians trade discussion since the lights went out at Progressive Field last October, the longtime second baseman also knows a thing or two about the possibility of missing out.

Kipnis weathered the misfortune of a few nagging injuries of his own last season, resulting in a winter-long conversation as to whether the Indians still need him going forward.

Together, Brantley and Kipnis will combine to account for just under 20 percent of the Indians’ total 2018 payroll, leading some factions within the Tribe community to question whether that money could have been more wisely allocated in other ways.

This sentiment should come as anything but a surprise in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of sports, but it is uninspiring to witness nonetheless.

In 2014, both Brantley and Kipnis signed contract extensions with a team that was trending up but was still many miles away from being a World Series contender. Even with a superstar like Francisco Lindor waiting in the wings at the time, it was tough to imagine the transformation the Indians would undergo in just two years.

Kipnis was among the league’s top second basemen at the time, and was just coming off a 2013 campaign in which he hit 17 home runs, stole 30 bases and ranked seventh in the American League in offensive WAR. Much like his team, he was on the rise. He could have elected to wait, to bet on himself, before signing an extension with the Indians. Instead, he accepted a six-year, $52.5 million deal that would keep him in Cleveland for the duration of his prime.

Brantley was in a similar situation when he signed a four-year, $25-million extension, although his best season would come immediately following the agreement, as he finished third in AL MVP voting that same year.

The Indians would pay their two most important position players just $12.5 million combined in base salary from 2014-15. Brantley in particular could have commanded a much more lucrative payday if he had waited just one more year. Two blossoming stars chose to agree to long-term deals on a small-market franchise without an especially rich history of winning. If nothing else, it was a show of faith on the parts of Brantley and Kipnis.

Then came a flurry of new developments: the arrival of Lindor, the metamorphosis of Jose Ramirez, the dominance of Corey Kluber, the acquisitions of Andrew Miller, Edwin Encarnacion and, for a short time, Jay Bruce. Along with the indiscriminate injury bug, these elements all combined to send Brantley and Kipnis fading suddenly into the background.

Bad luck befell each at different times; Kipnis at least got to play a crucial role in the World Series that almost was in 2016. Brantley has missed two-thirds of the last two seasons.

To watch both players battle through injuries, to see their value overlooked, to listen to their roles on the team going forward come into question–it’s all been the very definition of unfair. If they are no longer the faces of the franchise then so be it, but to suggest they should be cast aside or sent away is an exercise in thanklessness.

Regardless, spring training is well underway and both Brantley and Kipnis remain members of the Indians organization. Kipnis, apparently motivated by the rumor mill that tried to chew him up all winter, has seven hits in 11 spring at-bats, four of them home runs.

Brantley continues to recover from offseason ankle surgery, and may not be ready for Opening Day, but is progressing steadily through his rehab activities. Both will have the opportunity to play key roles in the Tribe’s quest for a World Series in 2018–an opportunity they’ve more than earned.

There’s been no shortage of doubt, no scarcity of questions regarding Brantley and Kipnis of late. But sometimes from within the catacombs of uncertainty emerges a shot at redemption, an issuance of justice. Before the Indians were a championship-caliber team loaded with Cy Young and MVP candidates, they were an up-and-coming club led by two budding talents who gave the organization the best they had.

Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis are still giving the Cleveland Indians the best they have. Their shot at redemption lies ahead, and if there is any such thing as baseball justice, they will both get to leave their marks on the 2018 season.

Next: Players who have stood out so far this spring

Maybe it ends with a World Series, maybe it doesn’t. But they deserve their chance to leave it all on the field, because that’s where they belong.

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