Cleveland Indians: Face of the franchise in the 21st century

The Cleveland Indians are a team stacked with talent. One player appears to stand out as one of the better players to ever suit up for the team.

When Cleveland Indians fans think of the greatest players in franchise history, names like Bob Feller, Jim Thome, Bob Lemon and several others come to mind.

The best ever played during eras when the Indians were playing great baseball and even won a few championships.

A recent article on Call to the Pen took a look at the face of each MLB franchise during the 21st century. Obviously, the Indians have not won a World Series this century.

But the team has been a contender as of late and fans are watching some players who may go down as some of the greatest ever to wear an Indians uniform.

The Call to the Pen piece lists Corey Kluber as the team’s face of the franchise this century. I find it hard to argue with that point.

From the article:

"Acquired by the Indians in 2010, Corey Kluber has become that most vital of talents, a bona fide ace. His career 94-55 record and 3.09 ERA has been achieved entirely in Cleveland spanning nearly 1,300 innings of work, with at least 200 innings annually since 2014."

The two Cy Young Awards won by Kluber set himself apart not only in Indians history, but in MLB history. He has also been the Opening Day starter four years in a row, after Justin Masterson had that honor for three years.

Francisco Lindor is a close second for the face of the franchise this century, and will certainly take that crown if he remains on the team for years to come. Although that may be out of the team’s budget, unfortunately.

Other players who come to mind are Victor Martinez and CC Sabathia, but neither were on a team that was a perennial contender in Cleveland.

Some fans may be upset with the way Kluber has pitched in the postseason the past two years, but he is still one of the best pitchers to ever play for the Indians and is considered an elite arm in the league right now.

That puts him in a very exclusive group when it comes to players to represent the city of Cleveland on a baseball diamond.