Indians out of spending zone

Sheldon Ocker

CLEVELAND — General Manager Mark Shapiro had two choices: Trade Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez or go through an entire season with no outside acquisitions: no free agents, no players obtained in trades. Not one.

Both Shapiro and owner Paul Dolan, the Indians’ president, told the same story. Unless the payroll was reduced significantly, partly by getting rid of the $16 million owed to Lee and Martinez in 2010, there would be a freeze on spending.

These players are gone, but don’t expect Shapiro to go wild in the free-agent market or make a deal for a player who makes $10 million, or even $4 million. The tone of Dolan’s message was clear: The club will lose at least $16 million this year, maybe less next season, but losses of some magnitude are assured.

Shapiro insists that Dolan didn’t order him to trade Lee and Martinez, but he certainly knew which path the owner wanted him to follow. Taking it was a no-brainer. Dolan, after all, is the boss.

But what if Shapiro had decided to keep Lee and Martinez? The GM (and Dolan) said he had serious doubts the Tribe could keep up with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins in next year’s Central Division race. That’s debatable. So let the debate begin.

For starters, it’s clear next season’s roster would not be identical to the one that began the 2009 schedule. There’s no way that Carl Pavano, Ryan Garko, Mark DeRosa and Rafael Betancourt would have been back, mostly because of financial issues.

These losses would have made it more difficult to contend, even in a division in which the three top teams are having trouble maintaining plus-.500 records. And who is to say that one or more of these clubs won’t improve in 2010?

On the other hand, the economic strictures that have impacted the Indians are no less confining to the Twins, White Sox and Tigers, who like the Indians, are mid-market franchises.

So could a Tribe rotation of Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, Lee and either Jeremy Sowers, David Huff, or maybe even hotshot prospect Hector Rondon, compete with the three probable contenders?

The answer is maybe. Laffey has shown impressive consistency the past several weeks, but it’s only been weeks. Carmona has demonstrated flashes of his former dominating presence, but it’s evident that we won’t know if he has regained his edge until next season.

Westbrook will be coming off Tommy John surgery, which means it probably will take time for him to remember how to pitch. Sowers, Huff and Rondon? There simply is no way to know, but at least they offer the club alternatives.

The lineup won’t rival the 1995 Indians, but few lineups ever have. There certainly are holes to fill. Who will play first base? Maybe Matt LaPorta, a rookie, and rookies can’t be counted on to do the heavy lifting.

Luis Valbuena has shown incremental progress at the plate and has dazzled at second base, the way Asdrubal Cabrera has at shortstop. And Cabrera has become a valuable hitter, particularly in clutch situations. We know what to expect from Jhonny Peralta at third: two- or three-week periods when he either is on fire or mired in a lethal slump.

Presumably, Grady Sizemore will have resolved the elbow problem that has plagued him virtually the entire season, and Shin-Soo Choo will have one more valuable year of experience on which to draw.

Who will play left? Maybe LaPorta. Then again, it might be Trevor Crowe or someone not obviously in the picture now (Michael Brantley?)

Of course, under my scenario, Victor Martinez would be behind the plate. So that leaves Travis Hafner as the designated hitter. How his season would play out is anyone’s guess.

Rebuild or try to contend is the question. You tell me.

X Ocker covers Cleveland Indians baseball for the Akron Beacon Journal