We like to remember the past here on BurningRiverBaseball, but part of that is integrating the present. Each off-season, we come out with a group of top ten lists including a few years ago, lists of the greatest Indians players at each position in team history. While these were created two years ago, rather than just being a static list, they are updated after each season. With just ten players featured at each position, it is impressive how many current players can be included among the greatest in the Indians 114 year franchise history. Below are the lists updated this season with the changes and links to see the lists in their entirety.
Short Stop
To start, there was no change in the short stop top ten other than finalizing Asdrubal Cabrera‘s stats. After eight seasons, Cabrera remains sixth in Indians history in our short stop rankings.
Right Handed Relief Pitchers
In a similar situation to the short stops, another top ten Indian’s career can be finalized. This time there were minor updates to two different players, Joe Smith (ranked third), who left through free agency to the Angels last off-season and Vinnie Pestano (ranked seventh), who was traded to the Angels during the past season. In addition to the updated bios and stats, a deeper look into Stan Williams career has discounted his efforts as a reliever (he started 47 games for the Indians) and dropped him back to eighth.
Closing Pitcher
The Indians closer ranks are generally weak, largely because the position didn’t become wildly used until the late 1980’s with Doug Jones. This year, despite just a single season in the role, Cody Allen was able to break into the top ten out of nowhere. He dispelled Ernie Camacho as the tenth best closer in Indians history, pushing Joe Borowski out of the top 15. One of the main reasons for this was because Allen has struck out 206 batters in 169 innings compared to Camacho’s 97 in 179.2.
Second Base
After his fourth Major League season, Jason Kipnis has broken into the top ten greatest second basemen in Indians history after joining the top 15 after last season. This year, he surpassed Riggs Stephenson, Ronnie Belliard, Tony Bernazard and Ray Mack, pushing Bernazard out of the top ten.
Catcher
This is a case where a player is ranked in the top ten all-time at a position right now, but will probably not be next year. Carlos Santana has still played more games as a catcher than any other position, so for the moment he will move to the fifth best catcher, surpassing Johnny Romano and Luke Sewell. Of course, assuming he continues as the Indians starting baseman in 2015, he will be removed from this list and possibly added to the first base list, although the competition is much tougher.
Left Fielder
Like the difference between catcher and first base, the top ten list for left field is significantly weaker than center field. Last season, despite not being good enough to be ranked as a center fielder, Michael Brantley became the 11th best left fielder in team history, just by changing positions. This year, he posted an MVP quality season and moved even further up the rankings. He surpassed Al Smith and Mel Hall and is now the team’s ninth best left fielder. Brantley has only played a few more games in left than center at this point, so if he converts back, he would have to switch lists again.
Ace
Since there may be some interest, I thought it worth noting Corey Kluber here as well. Despite his amazing season, the many Hall of Fame Indians pitchers that preceded him have made the ace list a tough one to crack. Kluber is in just his third season with the Indians and will likely need a few more to break the top 15. With three more years similar to the one he just had, he could be at the level of Bartolo Colon and Sonny Siebert. For him to receive comparisons with the greats, like Bob Feller, Addie Joss and Sam McDowell, however, he would need to repeat his 2014 effort for about another ten years. While he will likely breach the top ten within the next three seasons, and his team friendly contract situation will keep him around longer than that, there is almost no chance he will ever near the top of the list. The fact is, the Indians top ten aces list is one of the most elite in all of baseball history.
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