Young Tribe core offers promise for 2016 and beyond

It's Friday, everyone, and the Tribe is getting ready to host the The Angels Angels of Anaheim. While you're waiting for your nice, heaping helping of Trout, take a gander at what's going on in MLB-land:

Indians news & notes

Talkin' about the lineup, the kids, and the future | Cleveland.com - Sometimes Terry Pluto talks to himself, and this is one of those times. He thinks that despite the Tribe's similarly bad first and second half records, the team has been more exciting in the second half for several reasons. He also has some thoughts on next year's potential lineup.

Core, contracts create optimism in Cleveland | Indians.com - This season has gone so far off the rails, that it seems surreal to think back to SI's World Series predictions. But despite the overall disappointment, the strong group of youngins on desirable contracts gives us all something to look forward to.

Lindor living up to high expectations | Did the Tribe Win Last Night? - Francisco Lindor entered the league with lofty expectations and, despite those, he's managed to not only meet but surpass them. Is a Rookie of the Year award in his near future?

The rise and fall of Chris Perez | Cleveland.com - We tend to focus on Chris Perez' pot smoking dog, but forget that he was once a pretty dominant closer. Now that Perez has retired, Zack Meisel has penned a fair and balanced retrospective. He reminds us that though Perez often carried himself like a clown, much of his "big" personality was driven by his passion to win.

Tidbits from around MLB

• The Nationals, holding on for dear life in the playoff race, got some rough injury news: Denard Span is out with a potentially season-ending injury, and Yunel Escobar left yesterday's game after being hit in the hand
• Jon Heyman reports that Barry Bonds has lost his collusion case against MLB
• In what is surely the best part of Macklemore's new video, Ken Griffey Jr. has recreated his rookie card
• The White Sox wore the worst jerseys in baseball history as a throwback yesterday
• One independent league has switched to all automated umpiring - are you ready for the robot umpire overlords?
• Check out this ridiculous 1-3-1 play the Mets made: