Which 2012 Indians Will Be Gone in 2013?

Last week, 20 Cleveland Indians writers from six different websites and media outlets took part in a survey to reflect on the 2012 season and look ahead to the offseason and beyond. We’ve already released our player awards for the 2012 Indians and our thoughts on the organization’s direction and philosophy. Today, our series continues with our predictions about whether or not 10 Tribe personnel will still be in Cleveland on Opening Day 2013.

First up, we asked our panelists about four high-profile Indians players who have been rumored to be trade bait: Shin-Soo Choo, Chris Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Justin Masterson.

We were pretty evenly divided on Choo, but 11 of 20 voters think he’ll still be an Indian next season, though whether he’ll be in Cleveland in 2014 (or even August) is another story. Perez is pretty clearly gone, while most of us think Cabrera will stay. Interestingly, none of us think Masterson will be dealt this winter.

Next, we asked about some potential free agents: Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, and Roberto Hernandez.

About a third of us think Sizemore will be back in 2013, and six voters said the Indians will either exercise their option on Hernandez or sign him to a lesser deal. But Hafner seems as good as gone, with 16 of 20 respondents saying he’ll be in another uniform come 2013. That’s the same vote distribution Chris Perez got.

Moving on, we took a look at a couple former top prospects who have failed to permanently latch onto the parent club: Matt LaPorta and David Huff.

It’s a 60/40 split in favor of retention for Huff, who will presumably compete for a rotation spot if he’s still in the organization in 2013. But we’re far less optimistic about LaPorta’s chances of sticking around—less so even than we were for Grady Sizemore.

Finally, we asked our panel about bench coach and former interim manager Sandy Alomar:

Alomar accepted a position on Terry Francona’s coaching staff this week, but just over half of us think he’ll end up getting a better offer with another organization. We didn’t ask this question, but I’d bet that we’d have unanimously said we hope he stays in Cleveland.

Huge thanks to the writers who participated in this survey: Mike James from the Defend Cleveland Show; Mike Brandyberry, Vince Guerrieri, David Roberts, Kevin Schneider, and Ronnie Tellalian from Did The Tribe Win Last Night?; Charlie Adams, Kevin Dean, and Jim Piascik from Indians Prospect Insider; Nino Colla from The Tribe Daily; Ed Carroll, Brian Heise, Steve Kinsella, Lewie Pollis, and Evan Vogel from Wahoo’s on First; Craig Lyndall and TD from WaitingForNextYear; and Geordy Boveroux, Andy Cooper, and David McGarry.