Cleveland Indians make the smart decision with Michael Brantley

The Cleveland Indians continue to make roster moves ahead of Opening Day, and the latest one sees Michael Brantley headed to the disabled list.

Today is the final Sunday without Cleveland Indians baseball for the next six to seven months and that should be a reason for fans to rejoice.

However, some are upset with the latest roster news to come out.

Michael Brantley is opening the season on the disabled list, which is something that seemed likely throughout the past month.

Even though this seemed like a sure thing, some fans are angry. That doesn’t make sense to me at all. Brantley is opening on the DL but it isn’t like he is out for months with an injury. The team is just taking it slow and not rushing him back on Thursday.

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He could still return in two weeks and fans will likely see him play sometime in April.

Brantley’s situation means Tyler Naquin will open the season with the Indians, but it’s not like the team is committing to him as a key player for the entire season.

Opening Day rosters are rarely identical to what will be seen in October, and it is much more important for Brantley to be playing in October than it is for him to suit up at the very beginning of the season.

The money committed to Brantley has some fans wondering if he could have been moved on from in favor of retaining Carlos Santana or Jay Bruce, but it is way too early to consider Brantley a bust in 2018.

If he plays in 130-140 games, it doesn’t matter if any of those came in the first two weeks of the season.

In addition to the Brantley news, one roster decision remains and it all depends on the health of Brandon Guyer.

This is another move that isn’t too big of a deal. Guyer is going to be on the team soon enough, even if he misses some time in April.

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Championships aren’t won in April, and no one should be overreacting to any of the latest news. Brantley and Guyer will be back soon, and there are still some moves likely to be made throughout the season.