Jackie Jensen had just crushed the baseball, sending it screaming over the infield. Larry Doby’s trademark reflexes already had him sprinting in pursuit. In stride, he scaled the chain link fence, leaning and reaching over it.

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With the non-waiver trade deadline a little more than a week away, Cleveland Indians general manager Chris Antonetti has a big decision to make.

Should he be a buyer to help the Tribe stay in the race with Detroit in the AL Central Division and, if so, at what price?

Despite losing three of their first four games coming out of the All-Star break, the Indians went into Tuesday night’s game in Seattle just 2.5 games behind the Tigers. The Indians were 5.5 games back of Detroit a little more than a month ago and fought their way back into the race. While we don’t want to see them fall that many games back again, obviously, with the way this team has streaked (both good and bad) this season it’s not unreasonable to think that they can bounce back in the standings again.

But even if the Tribe gets hot over the next 10 days and forces Antonetti’s hand in making a trade, what are the realistic options and how much should Antonetti – and fans – expect to see from this particular Tribe team if it somehow finds its way into the playoffs come October?

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If you are a long time reader of what I do, or at least around last year at this time, right around when the Indians started to nose dive, you may remember this. If you do, you are quite the Indians fan.

But remember the comparison of last year's losing streak to a festering wound? As gross as that might sound, when you think about it, what happened really was just that. 

As frustrating as this team has been this year in situations like this past week of games, never once have I thought they had the capability of becoming the festering wound that they were last year though. Despite it all, this team won't let it fester. Just look at what happened yesterday afternoon against Seattle and in the finale against Minnesota.

Last year's team might be starting at a six-game losing streak. This year's team found a way to make something out of this situation and are now going home off a game in which they look like they cannot be stopped offensively. Just when you may think that this team is not what you were hoping for, they do what you were hoping for but didn't think they could do.

INDIANS - 10 | MARINERS - 1

W: Scott Kazmir (6-4)

L: Joe Saunders (9-9)

[BOXSCORE]

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At the All-Star break last year, the Cleveland Indians sat at 44-41, three games back of the division lead. They had seemingly stayed afloat with many like to call smoke and mirrors, carrying a negative run differential and benefiting from a surprisingly sluggish Detroit Tigers squad.

That should have been no surprise though. They did it in 2011 too, five games up, a more credible run differential with a positive four, and an impressive 27-19 home record.

We now look at this team in 2013, in a rather familiar position. A Cleveland team that is a few games up record wise, very much in the playoff hunt, and looking like a team with some promise after all.

That promise has come crashing down the past few seasons, more spectacularly in 2012 with abhorrent losing streak that effectively cost Manny Acta his job and spurred a revised plan of attack in the offseason.

We've been over that plan. That plan seems to be working.

Of course the question is now simple. Can the plan continue to work? Can this team avoid the same fate they succumbed to the previous two years? Do they have the staying power in 2013 that they didn't have in 2011 and 2012?

Considering I have plenty of statistical and analytic data to  help us evaluate those questions, why waste any more time in answering the big question. Are these Indians for real? While I hope so and want to believe so, I'm leaning toward thinking that they really are.

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