(Photo Credit: Arturo Pardavila III)
It's rare that a baseball team wins 102 games—including an American League record 22 in a row—and considers that season a failure. But that's what happened to the Cleveland Indians last year.
Terry Francona's club started sluggishly after their World Series disappointment in 2016, but by the summer had a stranglehold on the AL Central and entered the playoffs as the top seed. They then took a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the ALDS, then dropped three straight, eliminated for the second year via spectacular collapse.
Almost the entire team is back and in the relatively weak AL Central, they should cruise back into the postseason for a third straight season. But with some key contributors headed for free agency, this may be the last time the team as currently made up will make a run.
Fortunately, this team has all the pieces to make another run at a championship. Will they finally make it to the promised land after 70 years? Let's inspect.