Mildly frustrated over the lack of moves this offseason by the Cleveland Indians’ front office, I decided to take a look at the Indians current depth chart and see how the team would look if they remained healthy for a full 162-game season.

There were no variables thrown into the calculations, it simply assumed a 162-game average based upon past major league performance only. The calculations did not take into account those who are up and coming (Kipnis, Chisenhall, Brantley) or those who are winding down in their career (Hafner).

It did provide an interesting look at what we hear so often as Tribe fans—potential.

Carlos Santana, C

In a full 162 game season, Santana would hypothetically bat .244 with 27 home runs, 81 RBIs, walk 108 times, and have an OBP of .362. The key figure here is the number of walks, which makes his less than spectacular batting average a lot easier to swallow.

Matt LaPorta, 1B

LaPorta’s less than savory numbers over three seasons would translate into a .238 batting average with 18 home runs, 69 RBIs, and an OBP of .304 over a 162 game season. These are hardly the numbers of the power-hitting prospect LaPorta was supposed to be.

Jason Kipnis, 2B

If Kipnis were to play a full 162 game season based upon his major league history he would potentially bat .272 with 32 home runs, 86 RBIs, steal 23 bases and have an OBP of .333. Could he be the power-hitter the Tribe so desperately needs provided he stays healthy in 2012?

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

All-Star Cabrera continues to be a bright spot in the Indians’ offense in his 162-game average. He would bat .281 with 13 home runs, 78 RBIs, and boast an OBP of .343. Pair that with his stellar defense and you got one of the key players the Indians need to ink to a long term deal as soon as possible.

Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B

Much like Kipnis, Chisenhall’s potential cannot be factored into his limited major league performance. In a hypothetical 162-game average, he would bat .255 with 17 home runs, 54 RBIs, and have an OBP of .284. We all know the future of Chisenhall is much brighter than this.

Travis Hafner, DH

Oh, what I would not give for a healthy Travis Hafner for full 162 games this season. Based upon his career statistics he would bat .281 with 30 home runs, 103 RBIs, and boast an OBP of .383. Sadly there is very little realism in this hypothetical scenario.

Shin-Soo Choo, RF

The opportunity to have Choo be productive for a full season would greatly impact the Indians. He would potentially bat .291 with 20 home runs, 91 RBIs, and have a team high .384 OBP.

Grady Sizemore, CF

The one question many Tribe fans are left asking is what a healthy Grady Sizemore would look like if he were able to play a full 162 game season based upon his historical performance. He would bat .269 with 25 home runs, 83 RBIs, steal 24 bases, and have an OBP of .357. Wouldn’t that be nice to see?

Michael Brantley, LF

Brantley is another of the Indians’ players whose experience does not show his potential as a hitter in my opinion. He would bat .265 with eight home runs, 60 RBIs and have an OBP of .316.

More Cleveland Indians Commentary from this Contributor:

Meet your Cleveland Indians’ minor league free agents: A fan’s look

Fan’s take: Does the Cleveland Indians’ front office care about the fans?

Fan’s view: Are the Cleveland Indians asleep this offseason?

Cleveland Indians have room for Pie this holiday season: A fan’s reaction

Cleveland Indians sign free-agent Pagnozzi to minor league deal: A fan’s reaction

Sources:

All data provided by MLB.com

Paul Rados is an avid Cleveland Indians fan and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook. For a complete look at his freelance work please visit his Blog.

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Jim Thome(notes) has hit 604 homers since entering the league with the Cleveland Indians in 1991. The 41-year-old returned to the Indians before the trading deadline this summer and could end up playing there again next season, according to MLB.com.

“We’ve talked to Jim a little bit about it,” Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said, the site reports. “He wants to take a little bit of time with his family and then assess things as the offseason progresses. The one thing that he demonstrated is that he certainly has the ability to contribute to a team, both offensively and in the clubhouse. The decision of whether or not to play next year will be Jim’s.”

In the 22 games the designated hitter played for the Indians this season, he batted .296 and hit three homers along with four doubles.

From the sound of it, he’s likely to return. “I still love to play,” Thome said, MLB.com reports. “I would say that the percentage is higher of me coming back next year than not.”

If Thome returns, of course, he’ll have to share DH duties with Travis Hafner(notes), whose injury prompted Cleveland to go get Thome from the Minnesota Twins.

Find out before your friends. Follow Scoop du Jour on Twitter or Facebook.

 

Source: MLB.com

Related: Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins

Read More: twins baseball, minnesota twins baseball, indians baseball, cleveland indians baseball, twins at indians, twins vs indians, twins indians score, twins indians recap, Jim Hoey (P – MIN), Travis Hafner (DH – CLE), Francisco Liriano (P – MIN), Jack Hannahan (3B – CLE), Kosuke Fukudome (CF – CLE), Matt LaPorta (1B – CLE), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Carlos Santana (C – CLE), Trevor Plouffe (SS – MIN), Danny Valencia (3B – MIN), David Huff (P – CLE), Jason Kipnis (2B – CLE), Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, Sep 24, 2011 12:05 PM CDT

The Minnesota Twins’ bullpen, as has been their propensity for much of the 2011 season, completely fell apart in the opener of their doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after Twins’ starter Brian Duensing was pulled to pace them to an 8-2 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Cleveland got on the board first, thanks to Shelly Duncan’s two-run double in the bottom of the first to give the Indians an early 2-0 lead, but the Twins fought back. They got a run in the top of the fourth when Danny Valencia scored on a wild pitch by Indians’ starter David Huff, and a single run in the top of the sixth when Valencia scored again on a double by Trevor Plouffe, tying the game at two going into the bottom of the sixth.

Then, the Twins pulled Duensing and brought Francisco Liriano in to relieve him. Here is how Liriano’s afternoon went.

-Walk to Jason Kipnis
-Walk to Carlos Santana, Kipnis to second
-Hit Travis Hafner with a pitch, loading the bases
-Sacrifice fly by Duncan (Kipnis scores, 3-2 Cleveland)
-Double by Matt LaPorta (Santana scores, 4-2 Cleveland)
-Single by Jack Hannahan (Hafner scores, 5-2 Cleveland)

Liriano was then pulled for Jim Hoey, who was greeted by a single by Kosuke Fukudome, scoring LaPorta and making the score 6-2. Duncan eventually concluded the scoring with a two-run single off of Hoey to make the score 8-2.

Liriano took the loss for the Twins, getting charged with five runs (all earned) on just two hits in one-third of an inning. Reliever Zach Putnam picked up the win for Cleveland, his first of the season.

The second half of the double-header is scheduled to get underway at 6:05 PM Central time at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Chicks aren’t the only ones who dig the long ball. Travis Hafner feels the same.

“If you’re a hitter, you love your home runs and RBI,” said Hafner. “I think everybody likes to hit homers.”

Hafner has homered twice in the last three games entering Thursday night’s season finale against Chicago. Before hitting a two-run homer against the White Sox on Tuesday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader, he drove in two runs with a single against Seattle on Monday.

How does Pronk prefer his hits? Long and gone, thank you.

“I’ll take the homer every day,” said Hafner. “If the RBI are the same, I’ll take the homer.”

This season hasn’t been the kind Hafner wanted on Opening Day. Two trips to the disabled list cost him games and at bats. He went into Thursday’s game hitting .280 (86-for-307) with 14 doubles, 13 homers and 57 RBI. He is hitting .388 (31-for-80) with runners in scoring position.

Hafner’s two-run homer in Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to Chicago gave him 999 hits for his career. The homer was his 188th as an Indian, two behind Rocky Colavito for ninth place in franchise history.

Hafner came off the disabled list Sept. 10 after straining a tendon in his right foot. It had been speculated that he’d need surgery, but that does not appear to be the case now.

“I feel fine,” said Hafner. “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

More importantly, he feels good at the plate.

“I feel great right now. Much like the whole first half,” said Hafner. “I just want to go up there and hit the ball really hard and I feel I’m going to do that.”

The Indians homered in 19 of their last 24 games, totaling 31 homers, before Thursday’s game. They opened Thursday game with consecutive homers by Kosuke Fukudome and Jason Kipnis.

Kudos: Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh gave credit to the Indians farm system for giving him the players necessary to win his the Clippers second straight Class AAA national championship.

With the Indians taking most of Sarbaugh’s players from the Triple-A roster, players arrived from Class AA Akron to fill the holes.

“Tim Fedroff was having a big year at Akron and up and played well in center field for Ezequiel Carrera,” said Sarbaugh. “When Luis Valbuena was called up, Juan Diaz came up and did a nice at shortstop. Down the stretch Jared Goedert really played well at third base.”

Fedroff hit .343 (12-for-35) as the Clippers won Governor’s Cup in the International League playoffs.    

Tonight’s lineup:

White Sox (76-79): LF Juan Pierre (L), SS Alexei Ramirez (R), C A.J. Pierzynski (L), CF Alex Rios (R), DH Adam Dunn (L), 1B Dayan Viciedo (R), RF Alejandro De Aza (L),
3B Brent Morel (R), 2B Gordon Beckham (R), RHP Phil Humber (9-8, 3.59).

Indians (76-78): RF Kosuke Fukudome (L), 2B Jason Kipnis (L), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (S), DH Travis Hafner (L), C Carlos Santana (S), CF Grady Sizemore (L), 1B Matt LaPorta (R), 3B Jack Hannahan (R), LF Ezequiel Carrera (L), Jeanmar Gomez (4-2, 3.78).

Lineup notes: Asdrubal Cabrera is back in the lineup after missing the second game of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader and Wednesday’s game with a strained back muscle.

Umpires: H Bill Welke, 1B Jeff Nelson, 2B Tim Tschida, 3B Marty Foster.

Him vs. me: Beckham and De Aza are 1-for-2 against Gomez. Santana is 1-for-1 with a double against Humber.

Lefty-righty: Lefties are hitting .330 (32-for-97) with one homer and righties .276 (27-for-98) with three homers against Gomez. The White Sox have four lefties in the lineup.

Lefties are hitting .271 (93-for-343) with six homers and righties are hitting .207 (48-for-232) with two homers against Humber. The Indians have eight lefties, including two switch-hitters, in the lineup. 

Next: The Indians open a four-game series against the Twins on Friday with Justin Masterson (12-10) facing former Indian right-hander Carl Pavano (8-13, 4.40). STO and WTAM will carry the game.

CLEVELAND — Somehow, some way, they’ve scrapped, clawed and limped their way into contention. And now that September’s here, the Cleveland Indians plan to hang around.

For as long as they can.

“We all know what we’re facing,” manager Manny Acta said following a 7-0 loss Thursday to the Oakland Athletics. “There’s no time to complain, no time to rest, no time to shut it down. We just have to get after it.”

The Indians opened the season’s final month with an ugly loss, a rarity for a team that has played 46 one-run games and made dramatic wins routine. They remain 5½ games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central, a deficit the Indians hope doesn’t grow by the time the Tigers come to town next week.

“We’re still very much in it,” reliever Tony Sipp said.

Gio Gonzalez (12-11) pitched seven shutout innings and baffled Cleveland again as the A’s avoided a four-game sweep.

Gonzalez improved to 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA in six career starts against the Indians, extending his scoreless streak to 27 2/3 innings against them. The left-hander allowed four singles and was never in trouble against a lineup missing several injured regulars.

“Gio was tough on us again,” Acta said. “Even when we have a full deck of cards he is always tough on us. He’s got an overpowering fastball and one of the best breaking balls in the league. He always cruises against us, and he did it again.”

Cliff Pennington had four hits and three RBIs as the A’s did just enough against Fausto Carmona (6-13) and snapped a five-game losing streak.

Afterward, the Indians packed and left for Kansas City, where they’ll open a three-game series on Friday. On Monday, they’ll open a critical three-game set at home against the Tigers. At this point, the Indians may need a sweep to keep their unexpected comeback season alive.

With their next win, the Indians will match their total for all of 2010, when they finished 25 games out of first.

“We’ve actually opened some eyes because nobody thought this was for real and were waiting on us to hit that skid and head down that downward spiral,” Sipp said. “That hasn’t happened yet.”

After winning a 16-inning marathon that ended at 12:07 a.m., the Indians took the field at 12:06 p.m.

Their bats never awakened against Gonzalez, who won his third start in a row after five consecutive losses. He worked out of three two-on jams, twice getting Asdrubal Cabrera to pop to right for the final out. In four starts in Cleveland, Gonzalez is 4-0 with a 0.67 ERA.

He has no explanation for how he does it.

“Honestly, I really don’t,” Gonzalez said. “The defense does a great job. Our catchers do a great job studying video. All I try to do is pound the strike zone. That’s it.”

Only hours into the season’s final month, the Indians had to make yet another roster move because of an injury.

Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was placed on the 15-day disabled list, the latest tough break for the South Korean, whose 2011 season has been marred by injuries, an arrest on drunken-driving charges and subpar stats. Choo strained a muscle in his side on a check-swing last week.

Choo joined the Indians’ ample DL, which includes outfielders Michael Brantley and Grady Sizemore, DH Travis Hafner and starters Josh Tomlin and Carlos Carrasco. Acta has been forced to juggle his lineup for months, and Thursday he had to use two rookie relievers, Nick Hagadone and Corey Kluber, who made their major league debuts shortly after arriving from Triple-A Columbus.

“We’re hanging in there,” Acta said. “We’re doing well. We’ve won five of the last seven games, and if you win five out of seven the rest of the way good things can happen. These guys are going to go out and battle and if we get a couple of the cards back in the next couple weeks, maybe it will give us a lift.”

Oakland strung together three straight two-out singles and got aggressive on the basepaths to take a 2-0 lead in the fifth against Carmona.

That was more than Gonzalez needed to keep the Indians — injured or not — in check.

“That team is fighting for first place,” Gonzalez said. “They can definitely hit a fastball up and any mistake pitches. I’m just trying to do my job. You can’t do anything about it except stay away from the bats.”

When: Friday through Sunday.

Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio all games; WKYC, Ch. 3 Friday; WTAM AM/1100.

Series: Indians lead, 10-5, this season. They lead, 293-277, all-time.

Pitching matchups: Indians RHP Justin Masterson (10-8, 2.83 ERA) vs. LHP Bruce Chen (10-5, 3.94), Friday at 8:10; LHP David Huff (2-2, 2.08) vs. RHP Luke Hochevar (9-10, 4.97), Saturday at 7:10 p.m.; RHP Jeanmar Gomez (1-2, 4.55) vs. LHP Jeff Francis (5-14, 4.64), Sunday at 2:10 p.m.

Indians update: They are 29-36 on road, including 4-2 at Kauffman Stadium. … Masterson ranks among American League leaders in ERA. … Among Indians who have performed well against Kansas City this season: 3B Jack Hannahan (15-for-43, two homers, 13 RBI); SS Asdrubal Cabrera (20-for-62, two homers, seven RBI); and reliever Joe Smith (2-0, 4 2/3 scoreless innings).

Royals update: They have lost at least 10 games in the season series for eight straight years. … Chen is 2-0 against Indians this season and 5-0 since joining Royals in 2009. He gave up one run on five hits in 7 1/3 innings last Sunday in a 2-1 victory over Masterson at Progressive Field. … Among Royals who have performed well against Cleveland this season: LF Alex Gordon (18-for-59, three homers, 11 RBI); CF Melky Cabrera (20-for-61, two homers, 13 RBI); and RF Jeff Francoeur (17-for-54, three homers, eight RBI). All three have been good defensively — notably, Gordon.

Injuries: Indians — RF Shin-Soo Choo (left oblique), OF Trevor Crowe (right shoulder), CF Grady Sizemore (right knee), RHP Carlos Carrasco (elbow), RHP Josh Tomlin (elbow), DH Travis Hafner (right foot) and 2B Jason Kipnis (right hamstring) are on disabled list. OF Michael Brantley (right hand) is out for season. Royals — RHP Felipe Paulino (back) is day-to-day. C Jason Kendall (shoulder) is out for season.

Next for Indians: Three-game series against Detroit begins Monday at Progressive Field.