Grading every team’s World Series chances after the trade deadline
By Brad Weiss
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are once again one of the teams to beat in the American League, and they added a big arm to their bullpen during the trade deadline season. Already sitting in first place of the worst division in baseball, there is nothing stopping them from another run to the American League Playoffs.
In a trade with the San Diego Padres, the Indians got bad reliever Brad Hand, who is going to be a nice addition to their bullpen. Hand has been an All-Star the last two seasons for the Padres, who have been having a hard time producing All-Stars in that time.
With the Indians, Hand should slide in on the back end of their bullpen, giving them another solid option late in games. On Tuesday, the Indians added a nice piece to their outfield, trading for Leonys Martin, who has been a regular for the the Detroit Tigers this season, smacking nine home runs.
With the Tigers well out of the race in the AL Central, it seems they figured why not trade within the division. Not only are the Tigers out of the mix for the divsion title, but so is the rest of the division, as the Indians are the only team with a winning record of the four squads that make up the NL Central.
Cleveland has what it takes to make another run in 2018, and they certainly have the right manager pushing the buttons in Terry Francona. It will be hard to overcome the likes of the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Boston Red Sox, but if anyone can do it, it is Tito.