The Cleveland Indians should learn something about their fan base over the next couple of years. Even as the Indians rolled to a division title in 2016, the Indians still finished 28th among 30 teams in attendance, drawing about 1.6 million fans -- less than the Marlins, less than the rebuilding Cincinnati Reds.

Now the Indians have shocked the baseball world by adding Edwin Encarnacion to a team that played to the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series. The Indians’ ownership has stepped up with an investment far and above previous deals, and no fair-minded person can fairly whine about the Dolans being cheap.

Keith Law's top free agents This year's free-agent class is light on top-tier talent and depth, but there's plenty of power to go around, including a few 40-homer guys. • Top 50 MLB free agents

If Cleveland’s market doesn’t support this team in 2017 and 2018, before some difficult payroll decisions to come for the 2019 team, some natural questions would probably evolve about whether the stands at Progressive Field can be consistently filled under any circumstances. This will be a near-perfect opportunity, because the 2017 and 2018 Indians have a chance to be great, and return to the World Series again.

That the Cleveland Indians have served as the one-stop shop for teams looking for baseball operations brain power says a lot about their hiring and their sound process for deal-making. The Blue Jays, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Twins are among the organizations that have drawn on this marrow.