Back in May, I wrote an article titled ‘The Cleveland Indians Need James Karinchak to Make Brad Hand Expendable.’
The thought process was simple. Facing a year without ticket revenue and eventually having to decide what to do with closer Brad Hand’s $10 million option for next season, the Indians needed James Karinchak to make said decision easier for them. If the popular prospect could thrive in the bigs, Cleveland could feel more at peace with the idea of declining Hand’s option over the winter.
Sure, the Indians weren’t rooting for the veteran to struggle. Heck, in a perfect world, Karinchak sees big league success while Hand proves still capable of maintaining his role as closer.
Right now, this perfect world is exactly where Cleveland is living.
Casey Drottar is a Cleveland Indians writer for Sports Illustrated. Subscribe to his podcast, or follow him on Twitter and Facebook