Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Indians

If it had been any other year, the Indians would have won a World Series. But...the Cubs came in with an 108-year-mission and nobody could stop them, no matter who they were.

I actually had a ton of respect for the Indians this year, making something from what seemed like nothing, and getting a fantastic squad together from the ground up. Carlos Carrasco had a pretty great season, but he was on the DL by the time the Indians were truly gaining momentum. It proved that the rotation can be pretty stellar, even without him.

Ryan Merritt was a rookie with only a few games to his name before Terry Francona handed a crucial playoff start over to him, thanks to the losses of Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer. He handled things admirably, keeping playoff hopes alive and becoming an equally dominant playoff option, especially with Corey Kluber and Josh Tomlin in the rotation.

Brandon Guyer was the Indians' Bench Player Extraordinaire. He came in from a trade with Tampa in August, and proceeded to light Progressive Field up every time he went to bat, becoming a fantastic late-game option, and an even better option for a starting position in 2017.

I hope they can build on this for 2017, because they were just so much fun to watch.

Coming Tomorrow- Huge start, disappointing finish...which should be the Mariners' motto at this point...