The Cleveland Baseball Club made their decision about who will start at first base.
This is not the outcome many expected or hoped for, but Jake Bauers will be the starting first baseman for the Cleveland Baseball Club on Opening Day. Bauers is getting the nod over Bobby Bradley as he did make the roster along with some other fringe players.
Like it or not this outcome was inevitable. Jake Bauers was out of options and they still really do not know what they have in him. While there are extremely large sections of the fanbase done with him, the fact of the matter is that 213 career MLB games for a 25-year old is not nearly enough to come to a conclusion about who he is as a player and what his future could be.
The Cleveland Baseball Club owes it to themselves to give Jake Bauers a legitimate chance before moving on. There are so many who complain that the team moves on from players to often (Jesus Aguilar and Yandy Diaz come to mind, but they are middling at best), but at the same time want to shift their focus to the younger Bradley. Bradley should get his chance at some point, but Jake Bauers needs to play right now. Cleveland can afford to make Bradley wait just a little bit longer. If and when a time comes to move on from Bauers, Bradley can hopefully step right in and make an impact. Until then it is the Jake Bauers show at first base.
