Who Was Better? The 2005 Indians or 2007 Indians? (Part Two)

The ‘what could have been’ question could be posed for both the 2005 and 2007 Cleveland Indians’ ball clubs.

Each team won over 90 games in their respective seasons but fell short to achieving true October success.

The 2005 squad, which was 93-69, fell short of the postseason, finishing second in the American League Central Division behind the eventual World Series Champions, the Chicago White Sox.

Meanwhile, the 2007 team finished, 96-66, and won the AL Central, but later went on to blow a 3-1 series lead in the American League Championship Series to the eventual World Series Champions, the Boston Red Sox.

When taking a quick glance, both the 2007 and 2005 Indians’ teams mirror each other, as there are a lot of the same faces on those teams along with both having solid pitching staffs.

However, which team was truly better? Here is part two of a two-part series where we take a look at who might have just been the better team.

Left Field

2005: It was a career year for Coco Crisp in 2005 as he slashed .300/.345/.465 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI while recording a career-high 4.4 WAR in 145 games. In the outfield, Crisp committed five errors but had a 19.1 UZR and a 0.7dWAR.

2007: The term ‘platoon outfielders’ would be heard quite often in 2007, especially in left field, as the Indians saw the likes of David Dellucci, Jason Michaels and Kenny Lofton in the corner spot.

Michaels played the bulk of his games in left field when facing left-handed starting pitching. In those games against lefties, he hit .273/.333/.441 with six home runs and 27 RBI compared to .264/.310/.330 with one home run and 12 RBI against righties. For the season, Michaels slashed .270/.324/.397 with seven home runs and 39 RBI, producing a 0.1 WAR. Defensively, Michaels sported an 11 UZR with a -0.3 dWAR and no errors in 74 games in left.

Dellucci was the counterpart to Michaels, playing left field and hitting a majority of the time against right-handed starters. In the 54 games that Dellucci started, 47 of them were against righties, where he hit .240/.306/.403 with four home runs and 20 RBI. Overall, on the season, Dellucci posted a .236/.290/.382 slash line with four homers and 20 runs batted in while logging a -0.3 WAR. Dellucci, in the outfield, had a -0.8 UZR with no errors and a dWAR of -0.2 in 51 games.

On July 27, 2007, the Indians made a trade with the Texas Rangers sending catching prospect Max Ramirez for the six-time All-Star in Lofton. This would also be Lofton’s third stint with the Indians and a much-needed jolt in left. In 52 games with the Tribe, Lofton hit .283/.344/.370 despite hitting no home runs and having just 15 RBI. With the Indians, Lofton turned in a 0.7 WAR and a 3.1 UZR, with no errors, and a 0.2 dWAR in 50 games in left.

Edge: 2005 Indians.

2005 was arguably Crips’ best offensive season of his 15-year career and was the table-setter for that club's offense. Crisp also had solid numbers in left and manned the position throughout the year. As for 2007, the offense from the left-field position was minimal, as it never brought much stability, until the deal for Lofton was made at the trade deadline.

Center Field

2005: It was a breakout season for Sizemore in 2005 after playing sparingly in 2004. In 158 games, Sizemore hit 22 home runs and 81 RBI, slashing .289/.348/.484 along with a team-high 6.6 WAR. Defensively, Sizemore had respectable numbers, as he had a 7.2 UZR with three errors and a 1.5 dWAR.

2007: Sizemore turned in another solid season in 2007, leading all position players on the team with a 5.5 WAR while hitting .277/.390/.462 with 24 home runs and 78 RBI. Sizemore also won his first of two Gold Gloves of his career, committing just two errors to go with a 0.2 UZR and a 0.1 dWAR.

Edge: 2005 Indians.

Both 2005 and 2007 were solid seasons by Sizemore, but the edge goes to 2005, as his WAR was higher, despite having two home runs less and a lower on-base percentage than 2007. Also, Sizemore’s numbers in 2005 argue he was much better defensively that season than 2007 despite winning a Gold Glove that year.

Right Field

2005: Blake in 2005 played a majority of the time in right, hitting .241/.308/.438 with 23 home runs and 58 RBI in 147 games. Blake that season had a 2.0 WAR along with an okay defensive showing in right, posting a 5.4 UZR with three errors and a 0 dWAR.

2007: Like left field, the right field position also saw different faces, mostly the likes of Trot Nixon and Franklin Gutierrez. Nixon, who served a majority of the time in right, hit .251/.342/.336 with three home runs and 31 RBI in 99 games. Nixon, however, had a -1.2 WAR, while also not fairing too well defensively with a -7.0 UZR along with two errors and -1.4 dWAR.

Gutierrez also played a good chunk of time in right field in 2007, appearing in 88 games with a 7.1 UZR to go along with one error and a 0.7 dWAR. Offensively, Gutierrez hit a slash line of .266/.318/.472 with 13 home runs and 36 RBI to go with a 2.1 WAR.

Edge: 2007 Indians.

Despite never having a consistent right fielder, the 2007 squad as a group was slightly better than Blake in 2005, mostly due in part to Gutierrez’s play. Blake in 2005 was decent in the outfield, but offensively it was not one of his more productive years.

Starting Pitching

2005: Health and consistency were the two mainstays for the 2005 starting staff. For starters, no pun intended; the Indians only used six starters for the entirety of their season, meaning their starting staff was intact and healthy virtually the whole year, which is a rare feat. For perspective, the 2006, 07, and 08 teams each used eight or more starters in a season. All five of the Indians’ starters in 2005 turned in 30 games or more, with the exception of Jason Davis, who was the sixth starter that season and started just four games.

Leading the pack for the Tribe was free-agent signee, Kevin Millwood, who played mediocre with the Philadelphia Phillies the previous year. Millwood signed a one-year deal with the Indians and put together a solid year, going 9-11 with a league-high, 2.86 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.219 while posting a 2.4 BB/9 and a 6.8 K/9. Millwood, who ended the 2005 season with a 4.0 WAR, finished sixth that year in the AL Cy Young Award Voting.

Cliff Lee put together a fine season, going 18-5 with a 3.79 ERA, along with a 1.218 WHIP and a 2.3 BB/9 and a 6.4 K/9. Lee finished fourth that year in the AL Cy Young Award voting while posting a 2.4 WAR.

Despite what the traditional numbers say, 15-11 with a 4.03 ERA, CC Sabathia’s 2005 season was not all that horrible. Sabathia that year had a 1.256 WHIP, followed by a 3.79 FIP, which is a similar stat to ERA, but focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over, such as strikeouts, unintentional walk, hit-by-pitches, and home runs. Sabathia also had a 2.0 WAR that season along with a 2.8 BB/9 and a 7.4 K/9.

Scott Elarton and Jake Westbrook were solid innings eaters for the Tribe, as they both pitched over 180 innings while posting WHIPS of 1.305 and 1.301 respectively.

2007: One could argue Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, had a better storybook season than Sabathia that year. After all, Hernandez was coming off of a 2006 season where he was horrendous as a starter and putrid in the bullpen. The once-promising prospect looked like he was destined for another year in the minors, but in fact turned in the best season of his career, going 19-8 with a 3.04 ERA and a WAR of 6.1. Hernandez, who pitched 215 innings, had a WHIP of 1.209 while striking out a career-high 137 batters.

Sabathia, the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner, was a workhorse, pitching a league-high 240 innings while going 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA and a 6.4 WAR. The Southpaw that season also struck out 209 batters while recording a 1.141 WHIP along with 1.4 BB/9 and 7.8 K/9.

The other two key contributors in the 2007 rotation were 36-year old Paul Byrd and Westbrook. Byrd that year went 15-8 with a 4.59 ERA and a 1.338 WHIP in 192.1 innings. While Westbrook, on the other hand, went 6-9 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.408 WHIP in 152 innings.

Edge: 2005 Indians.

Some may argue that the 2007 starting staff might have the edge over 2005, as Sabathia and Hernandez finished first and fourth respectively for the AL Cy Young Award, but there was a major drop off after that.

With 2005, there was a run of consistency and health throughout the year, while 2007 failed to deliver consistent back end starters, as they plugged away with the likes of Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, and Jason Stanford. Lee not being himself in 2007 also hurt, as he was sent to the minors to work things out, after going 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA and a 1.521 WHIP in 16 starts.

Bullpen

2005: The 2005 Indians bullpen was the bread and butter of the team, posting a 2.80 ERA with 350 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.128 in 446 innings. This squad in save situations had a 2.16 ERA and a 0.70 ERA when recording a save.

Bob Wickman was the closer in 2005, recording 45 saves in 62 innings with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.258 WHIP. The true MVP of this squad was setup man, Bob Howry, who held opposing batters to .191 average with 48 strikeouts while posting a 2.47 ERA and 0.890 WHIP in 73 innings.

2007: The Bullpen in 2007 was respectable, as they posted a team ERA of 3.75 and a WHIP of 1.335 with 401 strikeouts in 441.1 innings. In save situations they had a 2.72 ERA while posting a 1.69 ERA when recording a save. Closer Joe Borowski may have saved 45 games in 65.2 innings, but he had an ERA of 5.07 ERA and a WHIP of 1.431.

It was both Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt, who truly held the pen down, as each appeared in over 60 innings for the Indians and had an ERA under 1.80. Betancourt and Perez were especially valuable to the Tribe that year, as they recorded a 4.3 a 2.3 WAR respectively, which was good enough for fifth and ninth on the team.

Edge: 2005 Indians.

As a whole, the 2005 squad had depth from top to bottom, as Arthur Rhodes, Matt Miller, Fernando Cabrera, David Riske, and Betancourt all had ERA’s under 3.25 while pitching a fair amount of innings. As for 2007, the bullpen was pretty much carried by Perez and Betancourt the whole year but did have some solid contributors in Aaron Fultz and a rookie in Jensen Lewis.

You could argue it is 2007, since that team made a deep run into the playoffs, while the 2005 squad fell short.

However, if you used that logic, you could argue the 1997 squad was better than 1996 because they made the World Series, despite going 86-75.

The bottom line is each season is different, and luck happens a lot in baseball. The 2005 team had a tremendous amount of luck when it came to staying healthy, they just were not so lucky at the end of the season, falling short of the postseason in a division that had the eventual World Series Champs atop them.