Top sportswriter Terry Pluto goes behind closed doors in the Cleveland Indians front office to analyze the team's controversial recent move to scrap a roster of popular stars and rebuild on a
budget.After a decade of hot teams and growing payrolls, savvy owner Richard Jacobs sold his franchise at the top of the market in 2000. New owner Larry Dolan and new general manager Mark
Shapiro faced a challenge: how to keep winning without blowing their bankroll. They made radical changes. Stars such as Manny Ramirez, Roberto Alomar, and Jim Thome were gone, replaced with
roster of unproven youngsters and veteran retreads. Fans were alarmed and dismayed. Yet, as predicted by Shapiro, the Indians were back in contention for the playoffs within three years of
announcing their rebuilding plan. At the end of the 2005 season, the Tribe was one tantalizing game away from a return to the playoffs--and Shapiro was voted the league's "G.M. of the Year."
How was it done? In his familiar clear prose, Pluto explains for fans the many risky moves made by management and tells which ones paid off, which ones failed, and why.
