Among the top execs of Cleveland's three major pro sports teams, Indians Chair & CEO Paul Dolan's name "might be the most loathed by his team's fan base," and the fans' distrust "might not dissipate until Dolan can deliver Cleveland a Fall Classic triumph," according to Zack Meisel of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. While other owners "have their flaws," skeptics "cite effort as Dolan's shortcoming." The Indians' payroll "ranks in the bottom fifth" of the league, and the "absence of wads of cash can give off the impression that the thirst for superiority is lacking." Dolan "delegates authority" to President Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti, who have "worked with him throughout his family's reign." Antonetti said, "The one thing I'm confident in saying is that at no point in any season in the past have we been limited in the players we've sought to acquire at the trade deadline." Shapiro: "What kills deals 95 percent of the time is not payroll but player asks. Salary is not usually where it stops but (the players a team asks for in a trade)." While Dolan "attends team functions," he "rarely speaks to the media." He "maintains a low profile" and "avoids the public eye, the one that relentlessly glares in his direction." While he "works out in the Progressive Field weight room," he does not "flood Antonetti's voicemail with suggestions on which trade targets to zero in on" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 2/17).
INDIANS' BARE CUPBOARD: Meisel wrote Progressive Field was a "vast sea of green seats" for much of '14, as the Indians "ranked 29th out of 30 big-league teams in average attendance." They only filled 42.4% of Progressive Field's capacity, when "no other team filled less than half of its park." Shapiro said, "When you look at ballparks built 20 years ago to now, there has been a 15 percent reduction in space" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 2/18).
