Cleveland Indians release 2014 schedule

The Indians announced their 2014 schedule today. Thanks to the 15-team American League, there's not a lot of difference in Intraleague play from year-to-year (the Indians play some East/West teams 7 times, others 6 six times), but the Interleague schedule will be changing. Next year, the Indians will be playing all five NL West teams, and that will mean double the usual games on the West Coast. Here's the Interleague schedule:

• San Diego - April 7-9
• @San Francisco - April 25-27 (@LA Angels Apr 28-30)
• Colorado - May 30-June 1
• @Arizona - June 24-25 (@Seattle June 27-29)
• @LA Dodgers - June 30-July 2*
• Cincinnati/@Cincinnati - August 4-7
• Arizona August 12-13

*Because Vin Scully will be back in 2014, that means we'll be able to hear him do one more Dodgers-Indians series.

So the Indians will have made most of their NL road trips before the All-Star Break, with only the two-game series in Cincinnati in the second half. Also, all the West Coast trips will also be made in the first half.

The Indians open their season in Oakland, but head home to Cleveland right afterwards. Their home opener is on Friday, April 4th against the Twins. Because the Twins come to Cleveland two more times, those games won't be difficult to make up if we get the typical Cleveland weather for that series. But if you notice the Interleague schedule, you'll see that the San Diego Padres follow the Twins into town (April 7-9), so if any of those games have to be made, that's going to be a problem given the travel constraints listed in the CBA.

The Indians make three 10-game trips. In June, the Indians travel to Texas (June 6-9), Kansas City (June 10-11). and Boston (June 12-15). After the All-Star Break, they travel to Detroit (July 18-20), Minnesota (July 21-23), and Kansas City (July 25-27). And in September, they go to Detroit (Sep 12-14), Houston (Sep 15-18), and Minnesota (19-21).

Here's the scheduled off-days (not including the All-Star Break):

• March/April:2
• May: 3
• June: 3
• July: 2
• August: 4
• September: 2

Here's the home/road splits by month:

• March/April: 13/15
• May: 15/13
• June: 11/14
• July: 13/12
• August: 13/14
• September 16/10

And here's the holiday schedule:

• Memorial Day (May 25): @Baltimore
• Independence Day (July 4): Kansas City
• Labor Day (September 1): Detroit

And finally here's the AL opponent breakdown:

• Baltimore: @May 22-25, August 15-17
  
• Boston: June 2-4, @June 12-15
  
• Chicago: @Apr 10-13, May 2-4, @May 26-28, July 11-13, @Aug 26-28, Sep 5-7
  
• Detroit: @Apr 15-17, May 19-21, June 20-22, @July 18-20, Sep 1-4, @Sep 12-14
  
• Houston: Aug 22-24, Sep 15-18
  
• Kansas City: Apr 21-24, @June 10-11, July 4-6, @July 24-27, @Aug 29-31, Sep 22-24
  
• Los Angeles: @Apr 28-30, June 16-19
  
• Minnesota: Apr 4-6, May 5-8, @July 21-23, @Aug 19-21, Sep 9-11, @Sep 19-21
  
• New York: July 7-10, @Aug 8-10
• Oakland: @Mar 31-Apr 2, May 16-18
  
• Seattle: @June 27-29, July 29-31
  
• Tampa Bay @May 9-11, Sep 26-28
  
• Texas: @June 6-9, Aug 1-3
  
• Toronto: Apr 18-20, @May 13-15

Whew. It's way too early to start handicapping the relative strengths of schedule (after all, Toronto was supposed to be a contender this year), but it's fun to see how the quirks set up for next year. If the Indians are contending again in 2014, September looks to be their easiest month if you're looking at home/road splits, with June the most difficult month.