Last two spots on the bench

It would be an interesting side question as to which of Duncan or Cunningham would be more likely to get through waivers and still be available if they did go with Lonnie at 3B and Hannahan on the bench.

Is he a “borderline candidate” because of playing time or because the voters are stupid?

Who’s in charge of maintaining the Regular Setback Schedule?

My big complaint with that approach is our only OF depth on the roster is then Duncan and Donald…neither of whom can play CF

I guess my other issue is that the Indians 40-man roster is currently pretty full in the infield. Asdrubal, Chisenhall, Kipnis, Donald, Kotchman, Hannahan and Phelps seem to be guaranteed spots. I doubt the team would DFA Juan Diaz after giving him a spot prior to the Rule 5 draft. That only leaves LaPorta and Canzler as replaceable infielders. And all of this with only two catchers on the 40-man roster. I suppose the addition of an infielder would come at the expense of an OFer on the roster, though, where there is more wiggle room.

Almost did the same thing, then read them again and saw it.

I would love Chiz to rake for 162 games, but Hannahan’s valuable enough to let Chiz start in AAA.

Flip it for me – I want to see Chiz impress and clearly “win” the starting 3B spot.

I wish there was an option for “No doubt, clear-cut winner to claim the spot” – but I’ve been looking for that option for many years.

Chisenhall is really the only young buck in the mix, and they’d have to keep him in the minors clear through August in order to set his clock back. He’s more or less right where they want him at this point.

Given the narrow window — and I am a believer in that concept for the moment — I can’t see them not going with their best players at every point this season.

I do think there’s a good chance they’ll keep LaPorta from getting 86 days in the majors this season, which he’d need in order to reach arbitration. But even in his case, if they think the roster’s better with him at any point, especially as an everyday player, I don’t think they’ll hesitate.

We had a poll last year during spring training about who should be the starting 3B and Hannahan easily won. Not the same thing as the starter for 2012, but we were pretty happy with the prospect of Hannahan a year ago.

Are you really surprised?

Only means that Canzler means nothing to us.

Yes Canzler represents something the populous hasn’t seen before, which is presumed to be better than what was seen and determined as lacking. It’s mostly subjective emotional vile against Laporta (though objectively, this would lead anyone to believe that on the whole within this community their is a near consensus that Laporta creates a vile response from a Cleveland fan).

I also believe, in reverse, this is what is probably working against Cunningham and in favor of Hannahan. Unfortunately there isn’t much that separates most of these players, other than player options/contract situations and obviously position flexibility. Projected talent level will probably be a distant third behind those first two categories in the final decision.

74 wins