Jim Ingraham: If Tribe goes for broke, market has some options Golf Tips

Jim Ingraham: If Tribe goes for broke, market has some options

June 30, 2011, 10:12 am

San Diego Padres’ Ryan Ludwick stretches to get a hand on the plate to score on a single by Anthony Rizzo during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, June 29, 2011, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

So now what?

Do the Indians go for broke this season?

There’s an old baseball saying that when you have a chance to win a division, you do whatever it takes to try to do so, because you never know when you’ll get another chance.

There’s also an argument that the Indians this year are playing with house money. Since they weren’t expected to contend for a division title anyway, they should just ride it out and hope for the best. Don’t jeopardize the future for a one-shot chance at winning the division this season — with a patchwork, injury and slump-riddled roster — at the expense of disturbing what could be a three- or four-year window as a contender starting next season.

That’s the issue.

You could argue it either way. A variety of teams in the past have faced the same quandary and reacted to it by coming down on both sides of the equation.

In other words, this is the old fork-in-the-road moment for the Indians in 2011.

The July 31 trade deadline is less than a month away. Should they swing for the fences in hopes of winning a division this year?

Or should they stand pat, or relatively pat, and try to nickel and dime their way to the post-season, secure in the knowledge because they haven’t given up any of their key assets they can reasonably hope to be a contender over the next three or four seasons?

If they choose to swing for the fences, it would probably mean giving up one of their top prospects, and perhaps a second-tier prospect.

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