When Will The Indians Win?

This question was asked of me, “When do you think the Indians will contend for a World Series?”

My answer, “When Larry Dolan sells the team.”

I wish I was kidding. I truly believe that this team will never be competitive, save for the random season every now

Indian's Owner Larry Dolan

and then, when all the the stars line up, and all the young players end up having career years, and the rest if the central division totally sucks. Even then its been proven over and over again that Dolan won’t give GM Mark Shapiro the green light to add payroll to trade for the player who could put them over the top. Its been proven that, that strategy does not work.

How many people out there really expect Grady Sizemore to be with the team when his contract is up in 2012? In fact, I would be willing to bet, that he will be traded in 2011, for a never ending string of sub par prospects, of which, we would be lucky to get 1 pan out as a mediocre player. Like CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and many others before him, Sizemore will be peddled off like a prize cow, with the justification in the “fact” that Dolan can’t afford him.

Here’s a little history lesson for you. Larry Dolan had bought the Indians in the year 2000, for a tidy sum of $323 million from Dick Jacobs, who bought the team in 1986 for a mere $36 million. When he bought the team, they were in midst of a run for the ages in Cleveland sports, possibly being duplicated right now by the Cavaliers. They were 3/4 of the way through the famed 455 consecutive sell out streak, starting June 12, 1995, ending April 4, 2001. It was a record till the Red Sox broke it in 2008. It seemed like a good investment right? Well, the team had completely maxed out their revenue potential at that point, selling out 5 straight years at that point, leaving no room to generate new money. And to make matters worse, Larry Dolan refuses to ever operate in the red, something that every good owner knows is going to happen from time to time in pursuit of a title. He actually came out and said, when the fans come to the ballpark, he will spend money to put a good team on the field. That would be like going to a steakhouse, ordering a filet, getting a hamburger patty with the promise that when you pay for a couple more filets, you can finally get one.

With one of the better ballparks in MLB, and a fan base that has proven that they will come to the park to see a winner, you would think that there would be motivation to put a good team out there. Knowing that playoff runs are highly lucrative, I would think Dolan would be motivated to contend every season, even if it meant losing money every now and then. Instead, we have an owner who will not lose a dime. Owning a pro sports team is a hobby, not a profit making business. The irony of it is, that owners that spend the money, ends up making the most money. Ask Dan Gilbert, he spends money like its going out of style, yet he makes crazy amounts of jack every year. Granted, he has Lebron James, but he still is doing what it takes to win. Dolan refuses to. I’m getting angry just writing this article.

Last year, Larry Dolan came out on a radio program, and said that the best this team can hope for is to contend every 5 years or so. In the meantime please spend your hard earned money while waiting, watching players who are less than major league material. Then maybe, if we are really lucky, the Indians might contend. We get to watch our star players get traded, or leave in free agency year after year, a move that used to draw rabid boo’s, but now draws indifference.

Larry Dolan, I beseech you to sell the team to someone who wants to win. Someone who cares about the fans of Cleveland.

Please let us know your thoughts.