LeBron Leaving? 5 Reasons to Make the Tribe Your New Cleveland Team

As of 2:45 p.m., approximately 6 hours and 15 minutes away from the official LeDecision, most sources seem to agree LeBron James will leave the Cavaliers and sign with the Miami Heat. I won’t get into my feelings about this, as this is an Indians blog, not a Cavs one.

That being said, if the rumors are true, that means Cleveland will most likely have three mediocre sports teams. Here are five reasons why the Indians should become your new favorite team.

1. Need A Superstar? Meet Carlos “Supernatural” Santana

Ok, so I am putting a lot of weight on this kid’s shoulders. And no, Santana will never become the type of superstar LeBron is. But he’s already mashing the ball, and figures to get only better. If Santana continues to develop as pretty much every scout and analysist thinks he will, the Indians will have a perennial All-Star. As of today, Santana has a .422 OBP and a 1.014 OPS with 5 home runs in only 81 ABs. This guy’s a rookie, folks. He’s only gonna get better.

2. It’s cheaper than an NBA game.

You’re paying at least $20 a ticket for the worst seats at Quicken Loans Arena for a Cavs game. To most games, that ticket price for the same quality of seat is only $9 at Progressive Field. Which leaves you more money to spend on beer and food, and let’s not forget the Indians have promotions out the wazoo to save you money (such as the brilliant dollar dog nights). Besides, if you don’t like your seat, you can always move – right now there’s about 30,000 open seats!

3. Be a proud parent

Why jump on a bandwagon? Stick around and watch this Indians team grow. Yeah, there’s gonna be bumps along the road, but how cool will it be if the Indians return to respectability and you were able to say you watched these kids learn how to play baseball? I know I’ll be telling youngsters about Matt LaPorta’s horrible sophomore slump, and how Michael Brantley couldn’t hit a lick when he first came up. Hopefully I won’t have to tell the youngsters any more because guys like LaPorta and Brantley will be established major leaguers by then, but even if they aren’t, there are still some good stories to tell about this team.

4. The Indians won’t trade EVERYBODY

Realistically, Jake Westbrook is the only Indian that could be traded this season that has any kind of tenure with the Tribe. And while the small market economics are a reality in baseball and especially in Cleveland, the Indians figure to be able to hold onto this pack of kids for at least a few years. And besides, the Cavs apparently can’t keep their players and the Browns never get anyone good anyways.

5. Don’t you want to be different?

Everyone has a LeBron James jersey. Hell, even I do (albeit a baseball jersey). But how cool and original will you be if you’re strolling down the street in a Matt LaPorta jersey? Carlos Santana? Shin-Soo Choo? Who wears those jerseys, except to Tribe games? Be a trendsetter.  Join the Tribe.

I hope this post turns out to be moot, and LeBron stays with the Cavs. But even if he does, you really should give this Cleveland Indians team a second look. There’s talent here, even if it’s not ready yet. As the sun sets on the Cavaliers run of good teams, the sun begins to rise on this Indians’ team. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but it will soon.