Sparse Crowds Will Likely Mean Sparse Payroll for the Tribe Next Season

The Cleveland Indians have the second lowest average home attendance in the American League. Next season, the team will likely reflect their poor performance at the gate (22,241 fans per game) with a drastically reduced payroll. The New York Post is reporting that the Indians will trim their payroll to a miserly $55 Million next season and try to dump both Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee at the trade deadline. Joel Sherman wrote yesterday:

An AL exec said he was "1,000 percent" certain that Lee and and Victor Martinez would be traded for financial reasons.

This executive described the Indians as devastated by their combination of bad play and a poor economy with the need to have about a $55 Million payroll in 2010. Cleveland has already committed $33M to three pretty much untradeable players (Travis Hafner, Kerry Wood, Jake Westbrook).

So the fire sale will likely be worse than what you probably are already are expecting and the Indians will probably be nearly unwatchable till at least 2011.