There is a tendency for fans to react dramatically to wins and losses early in the season. Remember, the MLB season is a marathon.We are just a few steps into the race. We don’t really know everything about clubs this early. That being said, the Cleveland Indians showed us what their talented roster could do last year as they represented the AL in the World Series. They took the Cubs to the brink in Game 7. It was clear that the Indians would be one of the best teams in the American League this year too. They have a young and controllable roster and they made a few moves to improve as well. 

One thing is clear so far into this young season; there is no hangover effect. They still have every bit of energy they showed last year. Plus, they have an “unfinished business” look in their eyes. Their bullpen was dominating in October and this season, they look every bit the same. The starting rotation was undermanned in the playoffs as both Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar were dealing with injuries. They are healthy this year. The addition of Edwin Encarnacion and the return of Michael Brantley to their outfield makes them even deeper offensively. Second baseman Jason Kipnis is nursing a sore shoulder but will be back in a month or so. 

They won’t win every game, but they will win quite a few. I have no doubt that they will be there in October again this year. They don’t have many flaws, but their greatest vulnerability is the health of the starting pitching. They were able to overcome injuries last year to their second and third starters, but that is asking a lot out of a bullpen. If any bullpen can protect a starting staff it is their deep and balanced group, but the more Terry Francona uses his bullpen because he has to and not because he wants too, the more they can wear down. 

 

With the season underway, teams have to take stock in their organizational depth. As rosters were pared down, some players inevitably were released or lost on waivers. There are also injuries that occur during spring training which impact inventory. This is a time when general managers around the game are assessing available players to see if they can make additions to protect in-season losses.

One such player for the Blue Jays to consider is outfielder Angel Pagan. He didn’t sign with anyone during the off-season but still prepared himself to play as he participated in the WBC as a member of Team Puerto Rico. He is a gritty hard-nosed baseball player. His mentality fits the Blue Jays like a glove. I actually thought he was a solution in December and I still believe that today. I drafted Pagan back when I was the New York Mets general manager.  He is the same player today; he has speed, a little pop and plays with a chip on his shoulder. 

Reports were that Pagan didn’t think he deserved a minor-league contract with an opportunity to make a club. He thought he should get a guaranteed big league deal. But things change. If Pagan wants to play, he needs to accept and understand that at this stage of the process no one will just add him to their big league roster. He needs to go to AAA, get at bats and show that he is ready to contribute. The former Cub, Met and Giant can play any outfield positon. He performed close to his career averages last year: .277/.331/.418. He is a contact hitter who hit 12 homers and stole 15 bases. I am surprised he hasn’t been signed already since the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays need experience in the outfield. 

The Blue Jays released Melvin Upton Jr. at the end of camp and opted for the extra infielder in Ryan Goins. It made sense because they control Goins for more years than they could Upton, plus they are protecting Devon Travis’ knee at second base. Dalton Pompey is on the DL recovering from a concussion, but should be back at some point. Even though the Jays don’t want to block Pompey's path to play in Toronto, there is a window to make a deal with Pagan. Signing him protects the Jays from an injury in the outfield or underperformance by Justin Smoak at first base, which could prompt moving Steve Pearce to first base more regularly, with Pagan handling duties in left. 

I would offer Pagan a minor-league contract, paying him $15,000 a month. I would send him to AAA and let him play. I assume Pagan would want an opt-out in his deal, so I would insert a clause that if he wasn’t promoted to the majors by May 15, that he could be released from the deal. I would also be willing to insert a clause that if any other major league job became available that I would trade him to that team within 24-hours of a request. That would allow me the necessary time to decide whether I want to keep him on my club.

 

I am anxious to see how the new “pace of play rules” will impact the actual pace of play. Managers only have 30 seconds now to decide whether they want to challenge an umpire’s call. There is also an alternative to throwing four pitches to a batter for an intentional walk; the manager can just hold up four fingers to indicate the free pass and the batter can go to first base. 

It was pretty funny when L.A. Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was intentionally walked by Padres manager Andy Green. Green signaled to the umpire his intention to walk Puig, but when the umpire pointed to first base, Puig didn’t understand. It took almost as much time to explain what was going on as it would have had the pitches been thrown. Of course, that won’t be the norm, but the impact won’t be too substantial as there are not that many intentional walks anyways. In fact, there are fewer than one per game. 

Arizona Diamondbacks rookie manager Tory Lovullo was told he couldn’t challenge a call because he didn’t initiate the appeal in the allotted 30 seconds. I get that managers shouldn’t be allowed a minute to decide on a challenge, but 30 seconds is too short for me. I would rather get the calls right than speed up the games. 

Pace of play will be impacted more substantially next year, when commissioner Rob Manfred can unilaterally implement a new higher strike zone, a pitch clock and reduced mound visits. 

 

Red Sox ace Chris Sale looked almost unhittable in his debut against the Pirates, tossing seven shutout innings. But almost as impressive was Pirates starter Jameson Taillon, who matched Sale pitch-for-pitch. Ironically, Taillon was selected 11 picks before Sale in the 2010 draft. They have taken different paths but have ended up in the same place, both at the top of their game.

Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is one of the top five players in the game and few casual fans are aware of this. He is a beast at the plate and even better defensively. His performance gets discounted because he plays half his games in Colorado, but it’s time for that to stop. He is great everywhere he plays. 

You can’t hide a player anywhere; the ball always seems to find the player out of position. Cardinals manager, Mike Matheny, inserted first baseman Matt Adams in left field for the first time ever because of an injury to Stephen Piscotty and immediately the ball found Adams. That same inning, he was tested with his first fly ball. He handled it just fine. In Adams second game in the outfield though, he tried tackle a fly ball to left and ended up falling all over himself.  Why do managers always try to pound square pegs into round holes? 

Just one week into the season, we may have already seen the worst at bat and worst inning of the year. The “worst at bat award” goes to Kevin Pillar: On opening day, Pillar had an at bat where he helicoptered two separate bats in the stands after consecutive swings and misses. Then he swung again, held on to the bat but hit into a double play. Yikes.

I mentioned the injury to Stephen Piscotty of the Cardinals above. He is already the leader in the “worst inning of the year award.” Piscotty was at the plate in a game against the Cubs and was hit by a pitch in his right elbow. He shook that off and went down to first base. Piscotty read a pitch in the dirt to the next batter and tried to advance to second on the wild pitch. He ran and slid into second base, but the throw from the catcher hit him in the left elbow. He remained in the game with two very sore elbows. The next batter tapped a slow roller to Cubs second baseman Javier Baez who over ran the ball a bit and couldn’t make the play at first base. Piscotty darted from second to third on the play and then raced home after Baez missed the ball. Baez recovered and threw a laser to home plate trying to nail Piscotty. The throw however went up the third base line a bit and drilled Piscotty in the head. He was safe at home plate but had to leave the game with concussion-like symptoms. He has checked out OK but that is an inning he will never forget, if he remembers it at all.