Your predictions please??

[Swanny]

I'm sticking with 78-84. I expect some of you to post as many as 90-92 wins and some to say they will win even less than I am predicting. I will say this about the 2002 Indians. They might be the hardest team in the majors to actually figure out how many wins they might get. If the pitching is as good as Shapiro thinks it is(Finley is still the no.3 starter isn't he??) and the team manages to score some runs most nights I think they could win up to 85 games. However my gut feeling is that Finley is finished, Drese and Baez will go through some growing pains and the team certainly won't score the runs like they used to. I think the important thing this year is to see all the young players develop and mature nicely and the team play some consistent and fundamentally sound baseball. If they do that and win 78 games I'll be happy. YES I'LL BE HAPPY!

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[supersleuth]

I agree almost totally, except that I think Finley will be respectable if he stays healthy. Even so, wins should be in the 78-82 range. Watching CC, Baez, Drese, Branyan and Bradley develop will be the real interest this year. If they progress as we all hope, this team has a bright future- brighter still if Escobar can come back and start living up to the potential that he gave glimpses of this spring before going down.

But Dolan had better understand that using an attendance dip this year to excuse another big salary slash- especially if he loses Thome- will lead to an unstoppable downward spiral, whereas building another winning team will fill the seats and ultimately more than pay for itself. I have yet to see any sign that he gets it. Shapiro's BS about attendance determining how much thay can offer Thome suggests that his boss still has things bass-ackwards.

Gee, I'm sounding more like you all the time, Swanny! If you want to say "I told you so", I don't mind.

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[Swanny]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by supersleuth:

But Dolan had better understand that using an attendance dip this year to excuse another big salary slash- especially if he loses Thome- will lead to an unstoppable downward spiral, whereas building another winning team will fill the seats and ultimately more than pay for itself. I have yet to see any sign that he gets it. Shapiro's BS about attendance determining how much thay can offer Thome suggests that his boss still has things bass-ackwards.

[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Excellent!!!

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[Alex]

I think the entire season may hinge on whether we keep Anderson and Cordero or not.

If we keep them both, I think we barely win 80-85.

Let me put it this way, the younger our outfield, the more games we win.

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[the teacher]

I agree with Swanny on one thing: the Tribe is one tough team to predict this year. I count 7 major question marks: Finley, Drese, Baez, Fryman, Branyan, Cordero, Bradley. If those guys all perform adequately, and 2 or 3 exceed exptations, and we stay healthy, this team is capable of winning 90. That is not likely, however.

The intangible is the coaching staff. I'm sorry to lose Grady; I suspect he provided much needed support (read: bolstering Charlie) and the players loved him. I really like Shapiro's picks for pitching and hitting coaches, though. Brown and Murray seem to be doing very well at this early stage and that is a big plus.

Frankly, we'll benefit from a weak division. Prediction: 86 wins.



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Gramen artificiosum odi.

[Edwardo]

Tribe wins 84 games, noses out Twins for title. Drese is rookie pitcher of the year.

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[The Crank]

81-85 - will be in a pennant chase for the majority of the year but around the end of August will start slipping back and end up third

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[srg]

84-86 depending on Brady Anderson and Nagy.

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[Swanny]

Where the **** are all of the predictions? It's 24 hours before the first game! I guess many don't wan't to make a prediction and then end up being so wrong and have to answer to it.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 30, 2002 09:09 PM: Message edited by: Swanny ]</font>

[The Genius]

OK Swanny, I'll repeat what a said a couple weeks ago. This is a .500 team. Maybe a few more wins if Baez and Drese surprise and Charlie gets the ax early, maybe a few less if CC has the jinx and one or two regulars go down.