Cleveland Indians: No surprises on the ALDS roster

The Cleveland Indians have nearly announced the entire ALDS roster and there aren’t any major surprises based on the information out there.

The Cleveland Indians have only been off for a few days but it has already felt like an eternity.

The team is back in action this Friday and today brought news of what the ALDS roster will look like.

First, the pitchers:

A pretty easy decision for Terry Francona with this group. The only notable absences are Neil Ramirez and Josh Tomlin. Notable in the sense that they were options available. I doubt anyone will be mourning Tomlin’s absence from the roster.

Next up, the position players:

Once again, no real surprises. Greg Allen played his way into a roster spot and can be a weapon on the bases late in games. The same is true for Rajai Davis, although he is not on the roster just yet. That would make sense considering Allen and Brandon Guyer are outfielders. However, he may be more valuable than Erik Gonzalez given his base-running abilities.

If Gonzalez is only there as an emergency backup, his value goes down compared to Davis’.

This is an extremely strong roster and one that can compete with any team. Add Trevor Bauer into the bullpen and teams will be facing a whole new dynamic after already having to worry about Andrew Miller and Brad Hand.

It is easy to get caught up with the reserve players, but since this is not National League baseball the focus will be on the starters. If the Indians are lucky enough to reach the World Series, Francona can use a different strategy to stack his bench with great bats.

I’m ready to move past any roster speculation and just get to the games. Less than 48 more hours to go.