In Anthony Castrovince's latest mailbag (you do read the best team blog online, right?), he mentions that Mark Shapiro more or less said that the Tribe blew it's wad of cash by signing Kerry Wood. What this means, basically, is that all remaining holes will be filled either internally, or through trades.
Since we can (and will) speculate until the cows come home about trades, let's work under the assumption that the Tribe is, officially, done, and that our line-up next year will be determined by Spring Training. Sound scary? Well, it's not quite as bad as you might think.
The addition of Kerry Wood (and Joe Smith) actually, on paper, gets this team to the post-season. Last season, the Tribe had 51 save opportunities and converted 31 of those, blowing 20. If Wood helps the Tribe pick up even 10 more saves (and realize that Borowski had just 6 last year) -- and you add that to our record last year -- we're 91-71, first place in the AL Central.
And what about our offense? The Tribe actually ended the year with the 6th most runs in the AL, although the Twins, White Sox, and Tigers were all ahead of us. But that was a year without Hafner (who, even if he was off in '07, still drove in over 100 runs) and basically without Martinez. With Shoppach getting extra at bats and the return of Martinez and (hopefully, but not neccessary for those numbers to remain the same) Hafner, the Tribe should be fine in the offense department. And, not to be mean, but the less at bats lost to Marte and Gutierrez will help, too.
So, then, what about fielding? The Tribe finished 9th in fielding. Moving Peralta to third will probably be a wash, but shouldn't drop our team score. Cabrera at short will most likely raise our score, and I would imagine any combination of Carroll/Barfield/Valbuena will hold even at second. The Garko/Martinez combo at first should stay the same and the Martinez/Shoppach combo will hold steady. Our outfield, while losing a great player in Gut, will still feature Choo (with a cannon of an arm), Sizemore ('nuff said) and Francisco. Should be pretty good.
Clearly, I'm willing to make a lot of assumptions here. Where, then, is the big concern? I think that's pretty obvious: our rotation.
There's no way we can count on Lee to repeat what he did this past year. That would just be insane. I have no idea which Fausto Carmona will show up. Anthony Reyes looked good in his few starts with us, but that assume he can a) stay healthy and b) maintain that production. Which leaves us with two open spots in the rotation, at least until mid-season, assuming (a big assumption) that Jake Westbrook returns and pitches like we all remember.
The upside is that we have a number of guys competing for those two spots, so we should, in theory, be able to get good people in there. The downside is that they're all really young. The list includes Aaron Laffey, the good Jeremy Sowers, the bad Jeremy Sowers, David Huff, Scott Lewis, the Zach Jackson for four good innings, and the Zach Jackson for one bad inning. That's five guys and two spots, which should make for some nice competition.
Given how the season ended, odds are that Lewis will make the cut. I would expect Laffey to win the other spot, unless Sowers has learned how to be consistent or Jackson has learned how to beat the one bad inning which always seems to ruin him.
Not unlike 2007, we're going to need a young arm to step up the way Fausto did if we're really going to make a run at it.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Off Season
Why do they call it the "Hot Stove?" Does anyone know?
Anyway, as things have progressed I've decided to revamp my ideas on what the Tribe should do during the off season. Here are my suggestions:
1) Sign Trevor Hoffman. Yes, I'm a big fan of Jensen Lewis, so much so that I even think he can step in and do the job if need be. But, I also see the advantage of having a guy like Hoffman in the interim, a guy who can not only save games for us, but also teach guys like Lewis and Adam Miller what it means to be a big league closer. And it's clear that he loves Cleveland and isn't looking for a long deal. Really, this should be the deal that all Cleveland fans are pushing for the most, as it's the one free agent signing that actually seems feasible. The Tribe needs to pull the trigger.
2) Trade Kelly Shoppach. You heard me. My reasons for this are many, but the main one is that Shoppach's trade value will never be higher than it is now. Why? Because he will never get the playing time he got last year unless he's starting somewhere else. I know that we can move Victor to 1st when we need to, but even if we go with some kind of rotating cast between catcher and first, Shoppach still won't play every day, which is ultimately what he did for almost the entire year in 2008.
And I know that people worry about dealing Shoppach when we don't know what to expect from Travis Hafner or even Ryan Garko. But you know what? We didn't have Martinez then, either, and there's no reason to believe Victor won't produce like he always will. Unlike Pronk or Garko, Victor has never lost his ability to produce when he's healthy. In other words, Shoppach's offensive pop will be filled by the guy whose spot he was filling.
There are so many teams out there looking for a young, power hitting catcher that the Tribe should be able to get a good deal, perhaps even some pitching (the Rangers were said to be talking to Boston about Justin Masterson, for crying out loud, and Shoppach is younger than anyone Texas has).
3) Make Adam Miller a reliever (already done!) and do whatever it takes to keep him healthy. Wrap your brain around this possibility in the 'pen: Hoffman, Lewis, Perez, Miller. I'd feel pretty good about the 8th and 9th with those four.
4) Deal for Brian Roberts. I know, I know, this is the rumor that won't die, but it makes all kinds of sense for both teams. The Orioles are not only in desperate need of pitching, they're in rebuilding mode (yet again). I don't know that a guy like Jeremy Sowers is a big enough prize to be the center piece of any such trade, so it might mean giving up someone like Laffey, Lewis, or Huff. I would also guess the addition of a guy like Barfield and/or one of our outfielders might be needed. But, in the end, the Tribe would kill two birds with one stone: we'd shore up our infield, we'd add a proven lead off hitter, and we'd solidify the middle of our order by moving Grady down to third. This deal would fix A LOT of our problems in one move.
Those are my four suggestions. I could go farther and include my various daydreams (like the Tribe dealing for Jake Peavy), but I'll try to stay as realistic as possible.
December is only a few days away -- the time for deals is soon...
Anyway, as things have progressed I've decided to revamp my ideas on what the Tribe should do during the off season. Here are my suggestions:
1) Sign Trevor Hoffman. Yes, I'm a big fan of Jensen Lewis, so much so that I even think he can step in and do the job if need be. But, I also see the advantage of having a guy like Hoffman in the interim, a guy who can not only save games for us, but also teach guys like Lewis and Adam Miller what it means to be a big league closer. And it's clear that he loves Cleveland and isn't looking for a long deal. Really, this should be the deal that all Cleveland fans are pushing for the most, as it's the one free agent signing that actually seems feasible. The Tribe needs to pull the trigger.
2) Trade Kelly Shoppach. You heard me. My reasons for this are many, but the main one is that Shoppach's trade value will never be higher than it is now. Why? Because he will never get the playing time he got last year unless he's starting somewhere else. I know that we can move Victor to 1st when we need to, but even if we go with some kind of rotating cast between catcher and first, Shoppach still won't play every day, which is ultimately what he did for almost the entire year in 2008.
And I know that people worry about dealing Shoppach when we don't know what to expect from Travis Hafner or even Ryan Garko. But you know what? We didn't have Martinez then, either, and there's no reason to believe Victor won't produce like he always will. Unlike Pronk or Garko, Victor has never lost his ability to produce when he's healthy. In other words, Shoppach's offensive pop will be filled by the guy whose spot he was filling.
There are so many teams out there looking for a young, power hitting catcher that the Tribe should be able to get a good deal, perhaps even some pitching (the Rangers were said to be talking to Boston about Justin Masterson, for crying out loud, and Shoppach is younger than anyone Texas has).
3) Make Adam Miller a reliever (already done!) and do whatever it takes to keep him healthy. Wrap your brain around this possibility in the 'pen: Hoffman, Lewis, Perez, Miller. I'd feel pretty good about the 8th and 9th with those four.
4) Deal for Brian Roberts. I know, I know, this is the rumor that won't die, but it makes all kinds of sense for both teams. The Orioles are not only in desperate need of pitching, they're in rebuilding mode (yet again). I don't know that a guy like Jeremy Sowers is a big enough prize to be the center piece of any such trade, so it might mean giving up someone like Laffey, Lewis, or Huff. I would also guess the addition of a guy like Barfield and/or one of our outfielders might be needed. But, in the end, the Tribe would kill two birds with one stone: we'd shore up our infield, we'd add a proven lead off hitter, and we'd solidify the middle of our order by moving Grady down to third. This deal would fix A LOT of our problems in one move.
Those are my four suggestions. I could go farther and include my various daydreams (like the Tribe dealing for Jake Peavy), but I'll try to stay as realistic as possible.
December is only a few days away -- the time for deals is soon...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
What I Think/Hope We'll See
I'm sure I'm jumping the gun here, but I would like to point out that I called Jensen Lewis as future closer last year. I'm just sayin'.
After much deliberation, some thought as to the Tribe's money issues, and some consideration of the free agent market, I've decided that this will be our line-up next year (and I'm hoping beyond hope on some of it):
1) Grady Sizemore, CF: I'm willing to concede Grady batting lead off. Why? Because I think we'll have enough power in the rest of the line-up with Pronk and Martinez back. And Grady does tend to set the tone for games, particularly when he goes yard.
2) Ben Francisco, LF: I think Benny's done a good job of proving himself this year, particularly getting stuck in the three hole so often. He's hitting for average these days and he's got some untapped speed.
3) Travis Hafner, DH: If he's healthy, we're great. If not, well, I think we'll have some depth next year.
4) Victor Martinez, 1st: Yes, put him at first base. He can catch when Shoppach needs a day off and we can keep Garko on the bench as back-up catcher/first baseman.
5) Jhonny Peralta, 3rd: Yes, put him at third base. He clearly isn't the defensive short stop that we need, but he has a big bat, something we haven't had at the corners in some time.
6) Shin Soo Choo, RF: He's definitely turned it on lately. He's got a great arm and he's really hitting the ball.
7) Asdrubal Cabrera, SS: Yes, put him at short stop so the Cleveland fans can get the short stop they're used to having. He's starting to get more disciplined at the plate these days, which is why I have him batting seventh and not ninth.
8) Kelly Shoppach, C: Yes, put him behind the plate full time. He's got nice pop that will be good to have towards the bottom of the order, just like we used to have with Casey. His power will be nice behind Cabrera, too.
9) Josh Barfield, 2nd: I'm assuming a lot for Barfield here, not the least of which is that he'll start hitting the ball. He's got speed, though, so if he can just start getting on base more often he'd be a great threat, particularly with Grady hitting at the top of the order.
Bench:
Jamey Carroll
Ryan Garko
Franklin Gutierrez
David Dellucci (yes, I know)
Rotation:
Cliff Lee (hopefully as good as he's been this year)
Fausto Carmona (fully recovered)
Aaron Laffey
Adam Miller
Anthony Reyes
I think Laffey will be fine after some down time in Buffalo to end the season. Assuming Miller is healthy, he can be huge. I think Reyes will get the nod over Sowers, who has still been inconsistent. Zach Jackson's performance has been interesting. He and Sowers should provide some good depth for us.
David Huff is an interesting case. His ERA is under 3 and he's average a K per inning. He can be pretty dominant, but I have to wonder, given our needs, if he might be the flamethrower out of the bullpen that we've been looking for.
Keep in mind that I'm not counting on Jake Westbrook for anything, since he'll be coming back from surgery. But there's a chance we could see him in time for the post-season.
So my theoretical bullpen would be:
Jensen Lewis
Rafael Perez
David Huff
Rafael Betancourt (I know)
Masa Kobayashi (I know)
Unnamed free agent reliever
Unnamed free agent reliever
I don't think the Tribe will give up on Betancourt or Kobayashi given the money they've invested and, honestly, a good off season program could get them where they need to be.
I'm currently of the opinion that we should save the money we'd spend on a closer and use it to get two middle relievers. We need more bang for our buck and I have faith in Lewis.
That is the team that will win us a World Series.
No, really!
After much deliberation, some thought as to the Tribe's money issues, and some consideration of the free agent market, I've decided that this will be our line-up next year (and I'm hoping beyond hope on some of it):
1) Grady Sizemore, CF: I'm willing to concede Grady batting lead off. Why? Because I think we'll have enough power in the rest of the line-up with Pronk and Martinez back. And Grady does tend to set the tone for games, particularly when he goes yard.
2) Ben Francisco, LF: I think Benny's done a good job of proving himself this year, particularly getting stuck in the three hole so often. He's hitting for average these days and he's got some untapped speed.
3) Travis Hafner, DH: If he's healthy, we're great. If not, well, I think we'll have some depth next year.
4) Victor Martinez, 1st: Yes, put him at first base. He can catch when Shoppach needs a day off and we can keep Garko on the bench as back-up catcher/first baseman.
5) Jhonny Peralta, 3rd: Yes, put him at third base. He clearly isn't the defensive short stop that we need, but he has a big bat, something we haven't had at the corners in some time.
6) Shin Soo Choo, RF: He's definitely turned it on lately. He's got a great arm and he's really hitting the ball.
7) Asdrubal Cabrera, SS: Yes, put him at short stop so the Cleveland fans can get the short stop they're used to having. He's starting to get more disciplined at the plate these days, which is why I have him batting seventh and not ninth.
8) Kelly Shoppach, C: Yes, put him behind the plate full time. He's got nice pop that will be good to have towards the bottom of the order, just like we used to have with Casey. His power will be nice behind Cabrera, too.
9) Josh Barfield, 2nd: I'm assuming a lot for Barfield here, not the least of which is that he'll start hitting the ball. He's got speed, though, so if he can just start getting on base more often he'd be a great threat, particularly with Grady hitting at the top of the order.
Bench:
Jamey Carroll
Ryan Garko
Franklin Gutierrez
David Dellucci (yes, I know)
Rotation:
Cliff Lee (hopefully as good as he's been this year)
Fausto Carmona (fully recovered)
Aaron Laffey
Adam Miller
Anthony Reyes
I think Laffey will be fine after some down time in Buffalo to end the season. Assuming Miller is healthy, he can be huge. I think Reyes will get the nod over Sowers, who has still been inconsistent. Zach Jackson's performance has been interesting. He and Sowers should provide some good depth for us.
David Huff is an interesting case. His ERA is under 3 and he's average a K per inning. He can be pretty dominant, but I have to wonder, given our needs, if he might be the flamethrower out of the bullpen that we've been looking for.
Keep in mind that I'm not counting on Jake Westbrook for anything, since he'll be coming back from surgery. But there's a chance we could see him in time for the post-season.
So my theoretical bullpen would be:
Jensen Lewis
Rafael Perez
David Huff
Rafael Betancourt (I know)
Masa Kobayashi (I know)
Unnamed free agent reliever
Unnamed free agent reliever
I don't think the Tribe will give up on Betancourt or Kobayashi given the money they've invested and, honestly, a good off season program could get them where they need to be.
I'm currently of the opinion that we should save the money we'd spend on a closer and use it to get two middle relievers. We need more bang for our buck and I have faith in Lewis.
That is the team that will win us a World Series.
No, really!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Not drastic, per se
It's time for the Indians to quit being pansies.
Or, at least it's time for the decision makers to quit being pansies.
A few things that inform this statement:
1. Jhonny Peralta has been hitting like crazy lately.
2. Ryan Garko has not.
3. Neither has Andy Marte.
4. Kelly Shoppach, however, has also been hitting like crazy lately.
5. Asdrubal Cabrera could be an All-Star shortstop
6. Grady Sizemore will have 30+ home runs this year.
These things add up to the Tribe needing to just suck it up and make some changes next year.
Jhonny Peralta, who plays 3rd base in his winter league, needs to play 3rd base in his spring and summer league, too.
You match that move by making Victor Martinez the every day 1st baseman. He was originally an infielder, remember. And, look at that! Suddenly we have bats at the corners again.
Shoppach becomes the every day catcher and we've got some potential additional power in the line-up every day. Ryan Garko (assume he beats out Michael Aurbry or Jordan Brown) becomes the Brandon Inge of the team, backing up Martinez AND Shoppach (Garko is a converted catcher).
Asdrubal then moves in at short where he belongs and second is left up for grabs between Jamey Carroll and Josh Barfield.
In the outfield, I think we can count on Grady and Ben Francisco winning spots. Beyond that, you have Franklin Gutierrez, Shin Soo Choo, and Trevor Crowe battling for two remaing spots (assuming we release David Dellucci as we should).
And, of course, we move Grady down in the batting order, for the of god.
As for our rotation, we build around Lee and Carmona, of course, with hopes that Laffey works out his issues in Buffalo and Sowers' new turn around is for real. That would leave us with one open spot for either a free agent or perhaps someone like David Huff or Anthony Reyes, who will probably get called up in place of Ginter in the near future.
What about Adam Miller, you ask? Even working under the assumption that he's healthy, I think it's safe to say he's going to the bullpen. If we're goinly going to get a certain amount of innings out of him every year, better they happen over more games.
And what about that bullpen -- who will try to fix what went horribly wrong this year? I would say we'll see Perez, for sure, plus Kobayashi and I would imagine Miller and Meloan, who we got for Casey Blake. That's four. The next two spots will be a toss up between Betancourt, Lewis, Mujica, and Donally, who will probably get the call from Buffalo soon. I think Mastny is done for the Tribe. This would leave a spot open for a closer, a real closer, in the form of...
...Huston Street. You heard me. I think the Tribe will deal for him instead of forking over the gajillions of dollars it will take to sign one of the free agent closers that hit the market after this year. They'll probably send a AA pitcher and whichever outfielder doesn't make the cut.
Those are my guess, anyway.
Regardless, it's time for this team to change it up a bit.
Or, at least it's time for the decision makers to quit being pansies.
A few things that inform this statement:
1. Jhonny Peralta has been hitting like crazy lately.
2. Ryan Garko has not.
3. Neither has Andy Marte.
4. Kelly Shoppach, however, has also been hitting like crazy lately.
5. Asdrubal Cabrera could be an All-Star shortstop
6. Grady Sizemore will have 30+ home runs this year.
These things add up to the Tribe needing to just suck it up and make some changes next year.
Jhonny Peralta, who plays 3rd base in his winter league, needs to play 3rd base in his spring and summer league, too.
You match that move by making Victor Martinez the every day 1st baseman. He was originally an infielder, remember. And, look at that! Suddenly we have bats at the corners again.
Shoppach becomes the every day catcher and we've got some potential additional power in the line-up every day. Ryan Garko (assume he beats out Michael Aurbry or Jordan Brown) becomes the Brandon Inge of the team, backing up Martinez AND Shoppach (Garko is a converted catcher).
Asdrubal then moves in at short where he belongs and second is left up for grabs between Jamey Carroll and Josh Barfield.
In the outfield, I think we can count on Grady and Ben Francisco winning spots. Beyond that, you have Franklin Gutierrez, Shin Soo Choo, and Trevor Crowe battling for two remaing spots (assuming we release David Dellucci as we should).
And, of course, we move Grady down in the batting order, for the of god.
As for our rotation, we build around Lee and Carmona, of course, with hopes that Laffey works out his issues in Buffalo and Sowers' new turn around is for real. That would leave us with one open spot for either a free agent or perhaps someone like David Huff or Anthony Reyes, who will probably get called up in place of Ginter in the near future.
What about Adam Miller, you ask? Even working under the assumption that he's healthy, I think it's safe to say he's going to the bullpen. If we're goinly going to get a certain amount of innings out of him every year, better they happen over more games.
And what about that bullpen -- who will try to fix what went horribly wrong this year? I would say we'll see Perez, for sure, plus Kobayashi and I would imagine Miller and Meloan, who we got for Casey Blake. That's four. The next two spots will be a toss up between Betancourt, Lewis, Mujica, and Donally, who will probably get the call from Buffalo soon. I think Mastny is done for the Tribe. This would leave a spot open for a closer, a real closer, in the form of...
...Huston Street. You heard me. I think the Tribe will deal for him instead of forking over the gajillions of dollars it will take to sign one of the free agent closers that hit the market after this year. They'll probably send a AA pitcher and whichever outfielder doesn't make the cut.
Those are my guess, anyway.
Regardless, it's time for this team to change it up a bit.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
That was quick.
A four game winning streak before the break, a series win on the road after the break, and taking the first game of a three game series from the best team in baseball. Like Pavlov's dog, we all started salivating, visions of the triumphant return of Fausto Carmona, visions of continued great pitching performances from Paul Byrd, visions of the triumphant return of Victor Martinez, and, of course, the return to form of Rafael Perez. Oh, and don't forget that Masa struck out the side for the save. Have Tribe fans ever been so happy this season?
But a team that just swept the Red Sox isn't going to rollover and die. And 48 hours later, the Tribe had lost two straight, lost the series, and was now back to being 13 games back and 12 games under .500.
Ah, a cold bath of reality for all of us crazy Tribe fans.
So what do we do now? What should our next steps be?
Well, the most obvious is to deal Casey Blake, which seems to be in the works. As much as I've enjoyed watching Casey play lately, it's too little, too late for us. Let's try to get a few prospects in return.
Paul Byrd pitched great against the Angels, but he doesn't have many starts left before the trade deadline, so I don't know how much value he'll have on the market. You also have to wonder, if he's starting to turn a corner, would the Tribe think of bringing him back? I know he's been pretty bad so far this year, but if he can get back to where he was last year, he'd probably be a steal for a one year deal as a fifth starter. And it's pretty clear that we need the depth.
Then again, I suppose we could deal him and re-sign him again next year if he does turn it around.
Tom Mastny needs to be sent back down and I don't like his odds for next year.
The worst part of the Mastny meltdown was that our bullpen had seemed to turn a corner. Rafael Perez, Edward freaking Mujica, and Masa Kobayashi seemed to be working out great. But we quite obviously can't pitch them every day. But at least it's something to build on going forward.
As much as people are clamoring for the Tribe to spend a lot of money in the offseason, we all know it won't happen, not just because we're not that team, but also because we need bullpen help. Bullpen help is expensive. So if we're going to sign a reliever, chances are good we won't have the money to sign a bat. We're going to need our injured guys to come back strong.
I still like our chances for next year. I think we have a solid core. And the rest of the season should be interesting. We have these things to watch for:
1) Who will get traded and for whom?
2) Can Cliff Lee win the Cy Young?
3) Will Andy Marte step up?
4) Will Ryan Garko come back?
5) Will Aaron Laffey get back on track?
6) Will Fausto return to form?
7) Will Victor return to form?
8) Will Pronk return to form?
9) Is Mujica the real deal?
10) Can Masa close regularly?
There are more, of course, but those are the ones I'm watching for. I'd also like to see the Tribe at least hit .500 by the end of the year, but that might be asking a lot.
But a team that just swept the Red Sox isn't going to rollover and die. And 48 hours later, the Tribe had lost two straight, lost the series, and was now back to being 13 games back and 12 games under .500.
Ah, a cold bath of reality for all of us crazy Tribe fans.
So what do we do now? What should our next steps be?
Well, the most obvious is to deal Casey Blake, which seems to be in the works. As much as I've enjoyed watching Casey play lately, it's too little, too late for us. Let's try to get a few prospects in return.
Paul Byrd pitched great against the Angels, but he doesn't have many starts left before the trade deadline, so I don't know how much value he'll have on the market. You also have to wonder, if he's starting to turn a corner, would the Tribe think of bringing him back? I know he's been pretty bad so far this year, but if he can get back to where he was last year, he'd probably be a steal for a one year deal as a fifth starter. And it's pretty clear that we need the depth.
Then again, I suppose we could deal him and re-sign him again next year if he does turn it around.
Tom Mastny needs to be sent back down and I don't like his odds for next year.
The worst part of the Mastny meltdown was that our bullpen had seemed to turn a corner. Rafael Perez, Edward freaking Mujica, and Masa Kobayashi seemed to be working out great. But we quite obviously can't pitch them every day. But at least it's something to build on going forward.
As much as people are clamoring for the Tribe to spend a lot of money in the offseason, we all know it won't happen, not just because we're not that team, but also because we need bullpen help. Bullpen help is expensive. So if we're going to sign a reliever, chances are good we won't have the money to sign a bat. We're going to need our injured guys to come back strong.
I still like our chances for next year. I think we have a solid core. And the rest of the season should be interesting. We have these things to watch for:
1) Who will get traded and for whom?
2) Can Cliff Lee win the Cy Young?
3) Will Andy Marte step up?
4) Will Ryan Garko come back?
5) Will Aaron Laffey get back on track?
6) Will Fausto return to form?
7) Will Victor return to form?
8) Will Pronk return to form?
9) Is Mujica the real deal?
10) Can Masa close regularly?
There are more, of course, but those are the ones I'm watching for. I'd also like to see the Tribe at least hit .500 by the end of the year, but that might be asking a lot.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Why Baseball Is the Devil
A four game winning streak.
A decent outing from Jeremy Sowers.
Thirty-one runs in four games.
Great performance by the new 1-2-3 bullpen of Mujica, Perez, and Masa.
Ryan Garko hitting the ball.
Andy freaking Marte hitting the ball.
Cliff Lee named All-Star starter.
Grady Sizemore leading the AL in home runs.
Jhonny Peralta thriving in the 4 spot.
The possible return of Fausto Carmona.
Six more games against the White Sox this year, including the last weekend of the season.
You see what I'm getting at here, right?
The worst thing about baseball is that it makes you think insane things. It makes you sit around and day dream about an A-esque winning streak that would put the Indians back in contention, even though they currently sit 12 games under .500 and 13 games out of first place. And yet I look at that and I think "well, that's only 7 games they'd have to make up if they sweep the White Sox both times they play them." GAH!
Complain all you want, but injuries really have been the worst thing that happened to this team this year. It informs every other problem. Adam Miller would be in the bullpen by now if he were healthy, because they would need him there and they wouldn't need him in the rotation that was made up of Sabathia, Carmona, Westbrook, Lee, and Laffey, after they traded away Paul Byrd for prospects. David Dellucci would have followed Jason Michaels out the door with the arrival of Shin-Soo Choo because Franklin Gutierrez wouldn't have spent the first half of the season trying to swing through every pitch. Ryan Garko would be hitting like crazy because he wouldn't be doing that, either, both trying to make up for the loss of power because Pronk and Victor are no longer around.
Seriously, just imagine what this season would have been like without the injuries. Just imagine...
The Tribe has 13 games left in July. Let's say they can pick up 2 or 3 games in that span. And then they get Carmona back. Oh, and guess who comes back in the beginning of August? Victor Martinez, that's who.
And in theory we should have Pronk back by the beginning of September.
Crazy talk? Yep. But that's exactly what baseball will do to you.
Until we lose four straight when the season starts up again.
A decent outing from Jeremy Sowers.
Thirty-one runs in four games.
Great performance by the new 1-2-3 bullpen of Mujica, Perez, and Masa.
Ryan Garko hitting the ball.
Andy freaking Marte hitting the ball.
Cliff Lee named All-Star starter.
Grady Sizemore leading the AL in home runs.
Jhonny Peralta thriving in the 4 spot.
The possible return of Fausto Carmona.
Six more games against the White Sox this year, including the last weekend of the season.
You see what I'm getting at here, right?
The worst thing about baseball is that it makes you think insane things. It makes you sit around and day dream about an A-esque winning streak that would put the Indians back in contention, even though they currently sit 12 games under .500 and 13 games out of first place. And yet I look at that and I think "well, that's only 7 games they'd have to make up if they sweep the White Sox both times they play them." GAH!
Complain all you want, but injuries really have been the worst thing that happened to this team this year. It informs every other problem. Adam Miller would be in the bullpen by now if he were healthy, because they would need him there and they wouldn't need him in the rotation that was made up of Sabathia, Carmona, Westbrook, Lee, and Laffey, after they traded away Paul Byrd for prospects. David Dellucci would have followed Jason Michaels out the door with the arrival of Shin-Soo Choo because Franklin Gutierrez wouldn't have spent the first half of the season trying to swing through every pitch. Ryan Garko would be hitting like crazy because he wouldn't be doing that, either, both trying to make up for the loss of power because Pronk and Victor are no longer around.
Seriously, just imagine what this season would have been like without the injuries. Just imagine...
The Tribe has 13 games left in July. Let's say they can pick up 2 or 3 games in that span. And then they get Carmona back. Oh, and guess who comes back in the beginning of August? Victor Martinez, that's who.
And in theory we should have Pronk back by the beginning of September.
Crazy talk? Yep. But that's exactly what baseball will do to you.
Until we lose four straight when the season starts up again.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Here We Are Again
Ah, rebuilding, it seems like only yesterday...
Buster Olney had a column up on ESPN.com the other day making the case that the Tribe does not, in fact, have to rebuild completely, simply retool or "reload" as the saying goes these days. The assumption, of course, is that we'll have a core of players to build around, something we didn't have a few years back (or, we had them, they just weren't really that good yet).
It would seem that the core he's looking at would be Grady Sizemore and a healthy Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. It's hard to see the forest from the trees when your "core" consists of three guys, two of whom are currently on the DL. But I understand the point.
One would have to assume that Asdrubal Cabrera is a part of that core, even if he is in Buffalo at the moment. I think he's proven himself down there, although is AVG has leveled off at the .320 range.
Oh, and a note on Cabrera. I've long maintained that he's hitting better in Buffalo because he has less pressure on him, probably a bogus belief considering how well he performed for the Tribe down the stretch last year. What HAS been different in Buffalo as opposed to Cleveland are these two things: he's playing short stop every day, and he's BATTING LEAD OFF.
You heard me.
Mull that one over. Cabrera is hitting lead off and doing a pretty good job of it.
Grady Sizemore leads the LEAGUE in homers.
The writing is on the wall, Wedge.
You also have to assume that at least ONE of our young outfielders will pan out, be it Ben Francisco or Shin Soo Choo. I'd like to see both of them do well, honestly, but we really do need more runs produced from those spots.
I shake my head at the bullpen. I have no idea what we're going to do there.
Our strength could, again, be our rotation. We'll go 1-3 with Carmona, Lee, and Laffey. If I have to sacrifice live chickens myself to make it happen, Adam Miller will be healthy and we'll finally see all that potential. That would leave us with Sowers in the #5 spot, a prospect that's only barely tolerable the way he's been throwing these days. Still, that's a pretty impressive rotation.
Now, for those complaining about the Sabathia trade along the lines that we didn't get enough in return, let's keep a few things in mind:
1) The Tribe was desperate to move him. We're out of the running, which means the most we have to look forward to at the end of the year is waving good-bye and getting two draft picks, neither of which would be very high in the first round.
2) No team in the Majors was going to give up Major League ready talent for a rental. And that's exactly what CC is.
3) We need to stock up our farm system again. We've gone to the well the last two years and it's time to keep things moving. We're a mid-market team -- we have to thrive on that.
As for what we got specifically, some people are complaining that our big catch, Matt LaPorta, is only hitting .288 (with 20 homers) in AA (in his first year, mind you, which means he's moved up the ranks pretty quickly already).
You think that's bad, at least we didn't take a guy hitting .258 with NO home runs in TWO seasons in advance single A! That would have been a horrible deal, particularly if we traded an ace to get him.
Oh, wait, we already got a guy like that for an ace. We got him for Bartolo Colon. His name is Grady Sizemore.
The lesson? Wait and see, people. Grady looked like chopped liver on paper when we made that trade.
I'd say he's doing pretty well these days.
Buster Olney had a column up on ESPN.com the other day making the case that the Tribe does not, in fact, have to rebuild completely, simply retool or "reload" as the saying goes these days. The assumption, of course, is that we'll have a core of players to build around, something we didn't have a few years back (or, we had them, they just weren't really that good yet).
It would seem that the core he's looking at would be Grady Sizemore and a healthy Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. It's hard to see the forest from the trees when your "core" consists of three guys, two of whom are currently on the DL. But I understand the point.
One would have to assume that Asdrubal Cabrera is a part of that core, even if he is in Buffalo at the moment. I think he's proven himself down there, although is AVG has leveled off at the .320 range.
Oh, and a note on Cabrera. I've long maintained that he's hitting better in Buffalo because he has less pressure on him, probably a bogus belief considering how well he performed for the Tribe down the stretch last year. What HAS been different in Buffalo as opposed to Cleveland are these two things: he's playing short stop every day, and he's BATTING LEAD OFF.
You heard me.
Mull that one over. Cabrera is hitting lead off and doing a pretty good job of it.
Grady Sizemore leads the LEAGUE in homers.
The writing is on the wall, Wedge.
You also have to assume that at least ONE of our young outfielders will pan out, be it Ben Francisco or Shin Soo Choo. I'd like to see both of them do well, honestly, but we really do need more runs produced from those spots.
I shake my head at the bullpen. I have no idea what we're going to do there.
Our strength could, again, be our rotation. We'll go 1-3 with Carmona, Lee, and Laffey. If I have to sacrifice live chickens myself to make it happen, Adam Miller will be healthy and we'll finally see all that potential. That would leave us with Sowers in the #5 spot, a prospect that's only barely tolerable the way he's been throwing these days. Still, that's a pretty impressive rotation.
Now, for those complaining about the Sabathia trade along the lines that we didn't get enough in return, let's keep a few things in mind:
1) The Tribe was desperate to move him. We're out of the running, which means the most we have to look forward to at the end of the year is waving good-bye and getting two draft picks, neither of which would be very high in the first round.
2) No team in the Majors was going to give up Major League ready talent for a rental. And that's exactly what CC is.
3) We need to stock up our farm system again. We've gone to the well the last two years and it's time to keep things moving. We're a mid-market team -- we have to thrive on that.
As for what we got specifically, some people are complaining that our big catch, Matt LaPorta, is only hitting .288 (with 20 homers) in AA (in his first year, mind you, which means he's moved up the ranks pretty quickly already).
You think that's bad, at least we didn't take a guy hitting .258 with NO home runs in TWO seasons in advance single A! That would have been a horrible deal, particularly if we traded an ace to get him.
Oh, wait, we already got a guy like that for an ace. We got him for Bartolo Colon. His name is Grady Sizemore.
The lesson? Wait and see, people. Grady looked like chopped liver on paper when we made that trade.
I'd say he's doing pretty well these days.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Indians @ White Sox, 6/30/08
Since I'm such a prolific blogger, I'm now on a once a week schedule with this blog, so the game of the day title will usually be irrelevant.
But today's game is important (and we're currently losing 3-1) because it is most likely the beginning of the end. Even if the Tribe were to sweep the White Sox, they'd still be 6.5 games back with two other teams between them and Chicago. It would take a multi-game win streak to turn this ship around and we haven't been able to do that all year.
Which means it's time to look at who's expendable. I offer you, gentle reader, this list:
Sabathia
Sowers
Byrd
Borowski
Gutierrez
Dellucci
Marte
Blake
Peralta
Garko
Shoppach
Barfield's probably only safe because he's on the DL.
Yes, I think even Garko and Shoppach are on the line. With Michael Aubrey and Jordan Brown heating up in Buffalo, I think Garko's in a dangerous position. And while it would be a really bold move to trade Shoppach, there's no denying that he has a great deal of value, as many teams would love him as their every day catcher.
I will say this much: there's a certain freedom that comes with the idea that we can make deals for next year. We have so many holes to fill, that starting now can only help.
Let's look at the positives, though -- the best case scenarios, if you will.
Cabrera has been hitting like crazy in Buffalo, so hopefully that's something that will stick with him when he eventually gets recalled.
It's clear that Victor and Pronk had legitimate reasons for their performances this year (and before anyone starts talking about Pronk last year, remember that the guy still had 100 RBI). Let's say their stints on the DL get them back in prime form.
It's pretty clear that Choo and Francisco could be big time players given regular playing time to get experience, which they should get from here on out.
Grady will be Grady.
That's a good start right there.
Our bullpen will be another issue. That could be where we spend the most of our money.
As for the rotation, we'll have to go get at least one free agent, depending upon how much dealing we do. As of right now we'd have Carmona, Lee, Laffey, and Sowers, with (in theory) Miller stepping in, assuming (big assumption) he's healthy. David Huff would also be in the mix, I think, after spending the rest of this season in Buffalo. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'll be completely happy with a rotation built around Carmona, Lee, and Laffey.
Here's a good way to look at our future: with Casey officially gone next year, we can go out and sign a big bat at third. Add that to a healthy Pronk and Victor and suddenly we have an offense again.
Overly optimistic? Sure, but at this point that's all we have.
But today's game is important (and we're currently losing 3-1) because it is most likely the beginning of the end. Even if the Tribe were to sweep the White Sox, they'd still be 6.5 games back with two other teams between them and Chicago. It would take a multi-game win streak to turn this ship around and we haven't been able to do that all year.
Which means it's time to look at who's expendable. I offer you, gentle reader, this list:
Sabathia
Sowers
Byrd
Borowski
Gutierrez
Dellucci
Marte
Blake
Peralta
Garko
Shoppach
Barfield's probably only safe because he's on the DL.
Yes, I think even Garko and Shoppach are on the line. With Michael Aubrey and Jordan Brown heating up in Buffalo, I think Garko's in a dangerous position. And while it would be a really bold move to trade Shoppach, there's no denying that he has a great deal of value, as many teams would love him as their every day catcher.
I will say this much: there's a certain freedom that comes with the idea that we can make deals for next year. We have so many holes to fill, that starting now can only help.
Let's look at the positives, though -- the best case scenarios, if you will.
Cabrera has been hitting like crazy in Buffalo, so hopefully that's something that will stick with him when he eventually gets recalled.
It's clear that Victor and Pronk had legitimate reasons for their performances this year (and before anyone starts talking about Pronk last year, remember that the guy still had 100 RBI). Let's say their stints on the DL get them back in prime form.
It's pretty clear that Choo and Francisco could be big time players given regular playing time to get experience, which they should get from here on out.
Grady will be Grady.
That's a good start right there.
Our bullpen will be another issue. That could be where we spend the most of our money.
As for the rotation, we'll have to go get at least one free agent, depending upon how much dealing we do. As of right now we'd have Carmona, Lee, Laffey, and Sowers, with (in theory) Miller stepping in, assuming (big assumption) he's healthy. David Huff would also be in the mix, I think, after spending the rest of this season in Buffalo. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'll be completely happy with a rotation built around Carmona, Lee, and Laffey.
Here's a good way to look at our future: with Casey officially gone next year, we can go out and sign a big bat at third. Add that to a healthy Pronk and Victor and suddenly we have an offense again.
Overly optimistic? Sure, but at this point that's all we have.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Dodger Blew
I went to the Tribe game yesterday, braving the sweltering Southern California heat to witness a one run loss. Fortunately, our field level seats (which were amazing) were just under the overhang, so we stayed out of the sun.
Living in Los Angeles, I watch a lot of Dodgers games. I'm a sucker for baseball and HD TV. And I've never really had an issue with the Dodgers or their fans. I'm re-thinking that now.
A few years ago, the Dodgers FINALLY returned to the post-season. They lost in the division series to the Cardinals, 3-1. After they were eliminated (in Los Angeles), they came out and shook hands with the opposing team, a sight you don't normally see in the majors. It was very...lovey dovey.
It was odd, to say the least, but I thought nothing more of it.
Until yesterday.
Some context: The Tribe had one the first two games of this three game series. They were going for the sweep yesterday, while the Dodgers were looking to prevent being swept at home. These two teams haven't met up since 2003 in a series in Cleveland, so there's no much in the way of rivalry or even familiarity.
And yet yesterday I watched (and listened) as Dodger fans would yell things like "You suck, Garko!" whenever Ryan Garko would come to the plate. They would repeat that witty banter for more or less every Indians' batter, even going so far as to yell "good-bye" to any player who struck out.
I thought that was really strange. I mean, it wasn't like we were the Giants or something. Why would they possibly have such animosity towards the Indians? Surely this wasn't holdover frustration from the 1920 World Series when they were known as the Brooklyn Robins.
When the game ended, it got worse. As god as my witness, had I not been aware of the situation I would have thought the Dodgers had just won the pennant. For that matter, Dodger fans started shooing Tribe fans out of their stadium with an arrogance that's second only to Yankee fans.
I was expecting happiness and relief at avoiding a sweep. I didn't expect jubilation and hubris.
While initially I got pretty defensive about this (I believe I pointed out that we'd won the series to more than a few Dodger fans), as time passed I began to realize just how sad it was. This is an organization that should be on par with the Yankees; they should be the West Coast equivalent of the Evil Empire. They should compete for their division every year and win it more often than not.
Famous Dodgers color man Vin Skully once commented (and there was context to this) that he thought it might be interesting if MLB went back to 8 teams in each league. There's no way you could widdle the National League down to 8 teams and NOT keep the Dodgers. They're a storied organization.
But all they have is their past. Their present has been sad and their future doesn't appear to be any brighter.
Maybe shaking hands after a sorry showing in the NLDS was as good as it gets for them these days. Maybe they have to take what they can get and hold on to it with both hands...or one, rather, as the other will be shaking hands with the team that just eliminated them.
So perhaps I'll look past the sad, sorry excuse for fans I met yesterday in Chavez Ravine. Because it was unbearable hot and I can't imagine they were very happy...and probably haven't been for a long time.
Living in Los Angeles, I watch a lot of Dodgers games. I'm a sucker for baseball and HD TV. And I've never really had an issue with the Dodgers or their fans. I'm re-thinking that now.
A few years ago, the Dodgers FINALLY returned to the post-season. They lost in the division series to the Cardinals, 3-1. After they were eliminated (in Los Angeles), they came out and shook hands with the opposing team, a sight you don't normally see in the majors. It was very...lovey dovey.
It was odd, to say the least, but I thought nothing more of it.
Until yesterday.
Some context: The Tribe had one the first two games of this three game series. They were going for the sweep yesterday, while the Dodgers were looking to prevent being swept at home. These two teams haven't met up since 2003 in a series in Cleveland, so there's no much in the way of rivalry or even familiarity.
And yet yesterday I watched (and listened) as Dodger fans would yell things like "You suck, Garko!" whenever Ryan Garko would come to the plate. They would repeat that witty banter for more or less every Indians' batter, even going so far as to yell "good-bye" to any player who struck out.
I thought that was really strange. I mean, it wasn't like we were the Giants or something. Why would they possibly have such animosity towards the Indians? Surely this wasn't holdover frustration from the 1920 World Series when they were known as the Brooklyn Robins.
When the game ended, it got worse. As god as my witness, had I not been aware of the situation I would have thought the Dodgers had just won the pennant. For that matter, Dodger fans started shooing Tribe fans out of their stadium with an arrogance that's second only to Yankee fans.
I was expecting happiness and relief at avoiding a sweep. I didn't expect jubilation and hubris.
While initially I got pretty defensive about this (I believe I pointed out that we'd won the series to more than a few Dodger fans), as time passed I began to realize just how sad it was. This is an organization that should be on par with the Yankees; they should be the West Coast equivalent of the Evil Empire. They should compete for their division every year and win it more often than not.
Famous Dodgers color man Vin Skully once commented (and there was context to this) that he thought it might be interesting if MLB went back to 8 teams in each league. There's no way you could widdle the National League down to 8 teams and NOT keep the Dodgers. They're a storied organization.
But all they have is their past. Their present has been sad and their future doesn't appear to be any brighter.
Maybe shaking hands after a sorry showing in the NLDS was as good as it gets for them these days. Maybe they have to take what they can get and hold on to it with both hands...or one, rather, as the other will be shaking hands with the team that just eliminated them.
So perhaps I'll look past the sad, sorry excuse for fans I met yesterday in Chavez Ravine. Because it was unbearable hot and I can't imagine they were very happy...and probably haven't been for a long time.
Friday, June 20, 2008
C.C.
I think the writing is on the wall. The baseball gods have spoken: It's time to trade C.C.
Too many things have fallen into place to let me believe keeping C.C. Sabathia is our best move. Let's look at them all:
1. C.C. doesn't re-sign before the season begins. Evidently, there's still distance between what the Tribe offered and what he wants.
2. The Tribe is bad. We just got swept by the Rockies, we're now in fourth place, and we're 8.5 games out of first place.
3. Our DL is well populated. Every time I think this team might be able to get it together, I remember that we're out 40% of our starting rotation and 44% of our starting line-up.
4. Aces are dropping like flies. The Cubs, Yankees, and Dodgers have all lost their aces in the last TEN DAYS. The Red Sox also lost their depth, with Colon going on the DL and Schilling officially lost for the year. Like I said, all of this news came within the last week and a half. That HAS to be a sign.
Right there we have reasons for the Tribe to deal C.C. and four big market teams who could afford him.
I'll admit: I'll get choked up when he goes. C.C. has been a fixture in the rebuilding process for this team. He has meant nearly as much as Grady Sizemore has with regards to the team's image. It really won't be the same without him.
But we won't re-sign him and we're not going to compete now, so we need to get what we can.
I think the Cubs are the most likely spot for him to go. They are DESPERATE for a championship and seem willing to pay any price to get one. C.C. also handles the stick pretty well, so I think he'd be great in the NL. I'm not so sure about the Dodgers, though, simply because they have way more problems than just the loss of their ace.
I can't see the Red Sox really putting much into it considering how well they've done without Schilling and Colon and considering they'll have a chance to get C.C. on the free agent market next year. And I can't see the Tribe sending C.C. to New York unless they get someone like Phillip Hughes in a package with other prospects, and the Yankees seem unwilling to move him.
So let's hope he goes to the Cubs and that the Cubs have a few relievers in their system.
Because, honestly, I like the core of what we'd come back with next year. I'll take a rotation built around Carmona, Lee, and Laffey. I'll take an offense built around Sizemore, Francisco, Choo, and Garko. If we can get Pronk and Victor back to form next year, then that's a pretty good looking line-up. I have no idea what we do about the rest of our infield, but it's a start.
But, yeah, I think it's time to pull the trigger. Hey, you never know, maybe we'll just leave C.C. with the Dodgers after this weekend.
Too many things have fallen into place to let me believe keeping C.C. Sabathia is our best move. Let's look at them all:
1. C.C. doesn't re-sign before the season begins. Evidently, there's still distance between what the Tribe offered and what he wants.
2. The Tribe is bad. We just got swept by the Rockies, we're now in fourth place, and we're 8.5 games out of first place.
3. Our DL is well populated. Every time I think this team might be able to get it together, I remember that we're out 40% of our starting rotation and 44% of our starting line-up.
4. Aces are dropping like flies. The Cubs, Yankees, and Dodgers have all lost their aces in the last TEN DAYS. The Red Sox also lost their depth, with Colon going on the DL and Schilling officially lost for the year. Like I said, all of this news came within the last week and a half. That HAS to be a sign.
Right there we have reasons for the Tribe to deal C.C. and four big market teams who could afford him.
I'll admit: I'll get choked up when he goes. C.C. has been a fixture in the rebuilding process for this team. He has meant nearly as much as Grady Sizemore has with regards to the team's image. It really won't be the same without him.
But we won't re-sign him and we're not going to compete now, so we need to get what we can.
I think the Cubs are the most likely spot for him to go. They are DESPERATE for a championship and seem willing to pay any price to get one. C.C. also handles the stick pretty well, so I think he'd be great in the NL. I'm not so sure about the Dodgers, though, simply because they have way more problems than just the loss of their ace.
I can't see the Red Sox really putting much into it considering how well they've done without Schilling and Colon and considering they'll have a chance to get C.C. on the free agent market next year. And I can't see the Tribe sending C.C. to New York unless they get someone like Phillip Hughes in a package with other prospects, and the Yankees seem unwilling to move him.
So let's hope he goes to the Cubs and that the Cubs have a few relievers in their system.
Because, honestly, I like the core of what we'd come back with next year. I'll take a rotation built around Carmona, Lee, and Laffey. I'll take an offense built around Sizemore, Francisco, Choo, and Garko. If we can get Pronk and Victor back to form next year, then that's a pretty good looking line-up. I have no idea what we do about the rest of our infield, but it's a start.
But, yeah, I think it's time to pull the trigger. Hey, you never know, maybe we'll just leave C.C. with the Dodgers after this weekend.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Fun and Games
You know, a few weeks ago this team was damn near unwatchable.
And it's not just the fact that they're actually winning more often than they lose lately. It's the fact that we now have reasons to watch, reasons like Ben Francisco, Shin Soo Choo, and the unreal Jamey Carroll.
I can't imagine that any or all of them will continue to hit like they have, but it's still entertaining to watch. There's just something about seeing young guys take advantage of getting the call, or seeing a lifelong utility guy get the shot at a starting gig that makes you want to watch every at bat of every game.
So thank god for those guys.
In other news, the worlds "Yankees" and "Indians" have been in the news a lot lately following the injury to Chien-Ming Wang. The Yankees are clearly desperate for starting pitching now, having lost their ace until September. The whole world is wondering if New York will make an offer for C.C. Sabathia, as if they could just ask and get him.
This puts Shapiro in something of a rough spot. If he trades Sabathia, it's a pretty clear sign that we're not going to complete this year, no matter how good Carmona, Lee, and Laffey might be at any given moment. C.C. is our ace and has pitched like it for the last month plus. Considering the fact that the Indians are going to have to something like over .600 the rest of the season to come anywhere close to the record they had last year means we need every quality start we can get.
On the other hand, I don't think anyone has much faith in Sabathia returning to the Tribe after this year. So the idea of getting guys who are further along than two draft picks would be nice -- but would the Yankees even have anything like that to offer?
In the end, I have to believe it's going to come down to a few factors:
1) How does the Tribe do in the next week? If we can pick up another game in the next week, you have to think we'll stay pat, considering we have Fausto coming up at the end of the month, Pronk a few weeks off, and Victor in August, hopefully.
2) What does New York have to offer? Most sports journalists seem to think that there's no way the Tribe will take any deal that doesn't include Philip Hughes (and others, of course), a guy most sports journalists also think the Yankees won't move. While I have my reservations about Hughes, I think the Indians could help him reach is potential, particularly if he goes to Buffalo first (which he would, I imagine, if Jeremy Sowers manages to hold on to the open spot in Cleveland after C.C. leaves).
3) What does C.C. want? You have to figure that, at some point, Shapiro is just going to have to sit down with Sabathia and his agent and say "look, I have to do what's best for the organization. Keeping you would be ideal, but if we can't afford to re-sign you, then I need to get something back in return to keep this team afloat."
I can't see the Yankees parting with much major league ready talent just for a possible half season rental in the form of Sabathia.
I'm torn, honestly. Every time I see the big man pitch, I think "we HAVE to re-sign him -- he means to much to this team." But when I think about it logically, I just don't see how we can tie up that much money in one player, particularly one who only plays every fifth game.
This would all be a lot easier if Adam Miller could stay healthy.
And it's not just the fact that they're actually winning more often than they lose lately. It's the fact that we now have reasons to watch, reasons like Ben Francisco, Shin Soo Choo, and the unreal Jamey Carroll.
I can't imagine that any or all of them will continue to hit like they have, but it's still entertaining to watch. There's just something about seeing young guys take advantage of getting the call, or seeing a lifelong utility guy get the shot at a starting gig that makes you want to watch every at bat of every game.
So thank god for those guys.
In other news, the worlds "Yankees" and "Indians" have been in the news a lot lately following the injury to Chien-Ming Wang. The Yankees are clearly desperate for starting pitching now, having lost their ace until September. The whole world is wondering if New York will make an offer for C.C. Sabathia, as if they could just ask and get him.
This puts Shapiro in something of a rough spot. If he trades Sabathia, it's a pretty clear sign that we're not going to complete this year, no matter how good Carmona, Lee, and Laffey might be at any given moment. C.C. is our ace and has pitched like it for the last month plus. Considering the fact that the Indians are going to have to something like over .600 the rest of the season to come anywhere close to the record they had last year means we need every quality start we can get.
On the other hand, I don't think anyone has much faith in Sabathia returning to the Tribe after this year. So the idea of getting guys who are further along than two draft picks would be nice -- but would the Yankees even have anything like that to offer?
In the end, I have to believe it's going to come down to a few factors:
1) How does the Tribe do in the next week? If we can pick up another game in the next week, you have to think we'll stay pat, considering we have Fausto coming up at the end of the month, Pronk a few weeks off, and Victor in August, hopefully.
2) What does New York have to offer? Most sports journalists seem to think that there's no way the Tribe will take any deal that doesn't include Philip Hughes (and others, of course), a guy most sports journalists also think the Yankees won't move. While I have my reservations about Hughes, I think the Indians could help him reach is potential, particularly if he goes to Buffalo first (which he would, I imagine, if Jeremy Sowers manages to hold on to the open spot in Cleveland after C.C. leaves).
3) What does C.C. want? You have to figure that, at some point, Shapiro is just going to have to sit down with Sabathia and his agent and say "look, I have to do what's best for the organization. Keeping you would be ideal, but if we can't afford to re-sign you, then I need to get something back in return to keep this team afloat."
I can't see the Yankees parting with much major league ready talent just for a possible half season rental in the form of Sabathia.
I'm torn, honestly. Every time I see the big man pitch, I think "we HAVE to re-sign him -- he means to much to this team." But when I think about it logically, I just don't see how we can tie up that much money in one player, particularly one who only plays every fifth game.
This would all be a lot easier if Adam Miller could stay healthy.
Friday, June 13, 2008
That makes sense...?
And now it's all becoming clear.
Or at least some of it.
I think.
So Victor Martinez is on the DL and will be out for the next six weeks at least. Evidently he -- and Travis Hafner -- have been playing hurt all year, as evidenced by the numbers (as well as Victor started, he hasn't hit for power at all this year).
The power outage from our big two actually explains a lot about the rest of the line-up, too.
You can tell that Ryan Garko, Jhonny Peralta, and Franklin Gutierrez were all swinging through the ball, as if they needed to show more power since Victor and Pronk weren't showing any. Add to that the sophomore slump from Cabrera, and that's 2/3 of our line-up right there.
And while Wedge might argue that an injured Martinez in the line-up is better than no Martinez at all, I don't think that's true, particularly given the events of last night.
Sure, we're a better team with Victor -- we're a much better team. But we have a catcher that other teams have been trying to trade from us for their starter, a guy who can call a good game and, while he'll never hit for average the way Victor can, has good power. So why not put that guy in every day until Victor is healthy?
It also seems that Ryan Garko and, to a lesser extent, Franklin Gutierrez learned from their early season mistakes and are back to hitting like we know they can, like they should. Clearly, Jhonny's a bit behind the curve on that one, but Garko went to Stanford.
It probably didn't hurt matters that both Garko and Gutierrez saw their time dwindle with call-ups.
And what about those call-ups? Our top two hitters are Shin Soo Choo and Ben Francisco. Who knew?
One other positive side effect of the injuries: we now have the most consistent hitting infielder on our team in the line-up every day. Could Jamey Carroll keep this job? It's possible, although in three games in Buffalo Cabrera is already hitting .333 -- and he was shut out in one of those three games. Clearly, that's a man who was forcing the issue in Cleveland and is hitting just fine with the pressure off.
So can the Tribe win with 40% of their starters on the DL (one until next year), 33% of their roster on the DL, and an ineffective bullpen? Strangely enough, I think so, and I was about to suggest selling the farm when Victor went down.
If the offense can keep hitting, I think we have a real shot at being competitive. But I think we need to make a few more changes. They are:
1) Grady Sizemore needs to move down the order. I know that will be hard for a lot of people because we all love the "unique" aspect of having Grady up there. But our HOME RUN LEADER shouldn't be in the lead off spot. Grady is evolving into a true #3 and every game just hammers this point home. With the team low on power, it just makes sense to move him.
1a) Consider this my first official foray into the "Jamey Carroll for lead off" campaign.
2) Whichever of the four great, young outfielders doesn't play in the field should DH. They need all the at bats they can get and while I appreciate the desire for experience in the line-up, Dellucci isn't exactly knocking the cover off the ball lately. Let the kids get some hacks in there.
3) Might I suggest sticking with (at the very least) this for the next week (at least):
1. Carroll
2. Francisco
3. Sizemore
4. Garko
I'd love to see what that top of the order could do day in and day out for a week or so.
As for the bullpen, well, if our offense plays well then we can concentrate on making a deal for relief. And while I think our problems are across the board in there (aside from Perez, who's been good lately, and Elarton, who has pitched out of his head lately), Huston Street should be on our radar. Peter Gammons mentions a few weeks back that the A's have a new closer in waiting and that they'd probably be willing to trade Street even if they were still in contention. He specifically named the Tribe as a team that would benefit from a guy like Street, which is the god's honest truth. The concern, of course, is that Street can be somewhat delicate physically, but I'll take a lights out closer every third day than Borowski every second day.
We'd still be in a pinch for set-up guys. We really need Betancourt to turn it around, let alone Lewis in Buffalo. But with the additon of Street we'd at least have long relief in Elarton, a lefty in Perez, and set-up in Masa, to go with a dominant closer.
I'd take that.
And now, let the abomination that is interleague play begin!
Or at least some of it.
I think.
So Victor Martinez is on the DL and will be out for the next six weeks at least. Evidently he -- and Travis Hafner -- have been playing hurt all year, as evidenced by the numbers (as well as Victor started, he hasn't hit for power at all this year).
The power outage from our big two actually explains a lot about the rest of the line-up, too.
You can tell that Ryan Garko, Jhonny Peralta, and Franklin Gutierrez were all swinging through the ball, as if they needed to show more power since Victor and Pronk weren't showing any. Add to that the sophomore slump from Cabrera, and that's 2/3 of our line-up right there.
And while Wedge might argue that an injured Martinez in the line-up is better than no Martinez at all, I don't think that's true, particularly given the events of last night.
Sure, we're a better team with Victor -- we're a much better team. But we have a catcher that other teams have been trying to trade from us for their starter, a guy who can call a good game and, while he'll never hit for average the way Victor can, has good power. So why not put that guy in every day until Victor is healthy?
It also seems that Ryan Garko and, to a lesser extent, Franklin Gutierrez learned from their early season mistakes and are back to hitting like we know they can, like they should. Clearly, Jhonny's a bit behind the curve on that one, but Garko went to Stanford.
It probably didn't hurt matters that both Garko and Gutierrez saw their time dwindle with call-ups.
And what about those call-ups? Our top two hitters are Shin Soo Choo and Ben Francisco. Who knew?
One other positive side effect of the injuries: we now have the most consistent hitting infielder on our team in the line-up every day. Could Jamey Carroll keep this job? It's possible, although in three games in Buffalo Cabrera is already hitting .333 -- and he was shut out in one of those three games. Clearly, that's a man who was forcing the issue in Cleveland and is hitting just fine with the pressure off.
So can the Tribe win with 40% of their starters on the DL (one until next year), 33% of their roster on the DL, and an ineffective bullpen? Strangely enough, I think so, and I was about to suggest selling the farm when Victor went down.
If the offense can keep hitting, I think we have a real shot at being competitive. But I think we need to make a few more changes. They are:
1) Grady Sizemore needs to move down the order. I know that will be hard for a lot of people because we all love the "unique" aspect of having Grady up there. But our HOME RUN LEADER shouldn't be in the lead off spot. Grady is evolving into a true #3 and every game just hammers this point home. With the team low on power, it just makes sense to move him.
1a) Consider this my first official foray into the "Jamey Carroll for lead off" campaign.
2) Whichever of the four great, young outfielders doesn't play in the field should DH. They need all the at bats they can get and while I appreciate the desire for experience in the line-up, Dellucci isn't exactly knocking the cover off the ball lately. Let the kids get some hacks in there.
3) Might I suggest sticking with (at the very least) this for the next week (at least):
1. Carroll
2. Francisco
3. Sizemore
4. Garko
I'd love to see what that top of the order could do day in and day out for a week or so.
As for the bullpen, well, if our offense plays well then we can concentrate on making a deal for relief. And while I think our problems are across the board in there (aside from Perez, who's been good lately, and Elarton, who has pitched out of his head lately), Huston Street should be on our radar. Peter Gammons mentions a few weeks back that the A's have a new closer in waiting and that they'd probably be willing to trade Street even if they were still in contention. He specifically named the Tribe as a team that would benefit from a guy like Street, which is the god's honest truth. The concern, of course, is that Street can be somewhat delicate physically, but I'll take a lights out closer every third day than Borowski every second day.
We'd still be in a pinch for set-up guys. We really need Betancourt to turn it around, let alone Lewis in Buffalo. But with the additon of Street we'd at least have long relief in Elarton, a lefty in Perez, and set-up in Masa, to go with a dominant closer.
I'd take that.
And now, let the abomination that is interleague play begin!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Crossroads
Don't look now, but the Tribe has to do better than .600 for the rest of the season to have any hope of ending with a good enough record to make the post-season. Kind of seems like a pipe dream at the moment, doesn't it?
And yet we enter a three game series with the Twins tonight only two games behind them, just two games out of second place. Yes, I know we're still 8.5 games out of first, but we're going to have to take baby steps with this, people.
So where's the good news?
Well, it would appear that Ryan Garko has learned how to hit again. And while our outfield definitely lacks in power, we're really starting to see how formidable they could be down the line. Choo is hitting .333 in eight games. That's eight hits -- 5 for extra bases (four doubles and a home run), a stat the Tribe is sorely lacking in. He also has 5 RBI and scored 5 times. Not bad at all.
Ben Francisco is coming down to earth a bit, but he's still hitting .302. On May 30th, Franklin Gutierrez was hitting .236. He's now up to .252, a pretty nice upswing which hopefully will continue. And, of course, there's Grady, who leads the team in home runs and is always a threat to do pretty much anything.
But we're obviously not going to get power from the outfield any time soon, which means it's got to come from the infield. Victor Martinez only has 11 extra base hits, all doubles. And, as we've seen lately, Garko is better off when he doesn't try to hit it out.
In other words, we need the old Pronk back in a bad way.
And let's not even get into the bullpen.
Let's face facts, we need to play small ball and we need our starts to go at least six innings every time out. That's the only way we're going to win until we get our bullpen patched up and Travis Hafner returns from whatever planet he was kidnapped to and replaced by this guy we've seen lately.
But we've got a struggling Twins team and a Padres team that scores less than we do coming in to the Jake this week. If there were ever a time to get things going, it would be now.
Site News: For those of you who might actually read this thing, it's now part of what I like to consider a network of sites and blogs, all created by yours truly. The main hub is www.kylegarret.com. I have two other blogs as well as a page on the main site with samples of my writing that's updated every Sunday.
What does that mean? Well, that means there are six days a week for three blogs, which means twice weekly updates. This one will be updated every Tuesday and Friday.
You know, in case you wanted to mark your calendars.
And yet we enter a three game series with the Twins tonight only two games behind them, just two games out of second place. Yes, I know we're still 8.5 games out of first, but we're going to have to take baby steps with this, people.
So where's the good news?
Well, it would appear that Ryan Garko has learned how to hit again. And while our outfield definitely lacks in power, we're really starting to see how formidable they could be down the line. Choo is hitting .333 in eight games. That's eight hits -- 5 for extra bases (four doubles and a home run), a stat the Tribe is sorely lacking in. He also has 5 RBI and scored 5 times. Not bad at all.
Ben Francisco is coming down to earth a bit, but he's still hitting .302. On May 30th, Franklin Gutierrez was hitting .236. He's now up to .252, a pretty nice upswing which hopefully will continue. And, of course, there's Grady, who leads the team in home runs and is always a threat to do pretty much anything.
But we're obviously not going to get power from the outfield any time soon, which means it's got to come from the infield. Victor Martinez only has 11 extra base hits, all doubles. And, as we've seen lately, Garko is better off when he doesn't try to hit it out.
In other words, we need the old Pronk back in a bad way.
And let's not even get into the bullpen.
Let's face facts, we need to play small ball and we need our starts to go at least six innings every time out. That's the only way we're going to win until we get our bullpen patched up and Travis Hafner returns from whatever planet he was kidnapped to and replaced by this guy we've seen lately.
But we've got a struggling Twins team and a Padres team that scores less than we do coming in to the Jake this week. If there were ever a time to get things going, it would be now.
Site News: For those of you who might actually read this thing, it's now part of what I like to consider a network of sites and blogs, all created by yours truly. The main hub is www.kylegarret.com. I have two other blogs as well as a page on the main site with samples of my writing that's updated every Sunday.
What does that mean? Well, that means there are six days a week for three blogs, which means twice weekly updates. This one will be updated every Tuesday and Friday.
You know, in case you wanted to mark your calendars.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Bright Spots?
June came in just about as badly as May left, worse, if you consider the fact that we didn't even have good starting pitching today.
Is there a bright light in all this? How can we stay positive when our entire line-ups seems determine to swing at the first pitch they see when they have runners in scoring position? How do we stay positive when our players seem unwilling and unable to bunt or take pitches? How do we stay positive when we have a new line-up every day?
Simple: trades. Let's face facts, even with Carmona (and now Miller...AGAIN) on the DL, we still have depth at the starting job. And there are plenty of teams out there who need pitching.
Bright Spot #1: The Orioles are in last place in the AL East. The longer they sit down there, the better the chances that Brian Roberts will be available for the right price.
Bright Spot #2: Jeremy Sowers pitched 7 innings today in Buffalo, giving up 1 earned run. His ERA is 2.08. The better Sowers does in Buffalo, the greater his trade value. The optimist in me would love to deal him instead of Laffey, but the realist thinks that Laffey's MLB performance makes him more likely to go. Still, Sowers' number indicate that at least he'd be able to step up and keep the rotation performing at the same level.
Bright Spot #3: The Rockies are still in last place and don't appear to be going anywhere any time soon. This means that Garrett Atkins should be available for the right price.
Bright Spot #4: Grady Sizemore's sudden burst of power. I'll get to that in a minute.
Bright Spot #5: Pronk on the DL. Whether he gets better and comes back like the Pronk of old or not, he needed to be removed from the line-up (not that we have anyone better to replace him).
So going by the numbers, Garrett Atkins would seem to be the best pick-up for the Tribe. He's hitting .313 with 8 HR, 30 RBI, and 28 runs. That's pretty impressive and I doubt I could make a case for anyone else. But I'm going to and it will sound at least a little irrational, but follow me.
By comparison, Brian Roberts is only hitting .267, has only 4 HR, only 18 RBI, and has scored only two more times, giving him 30 runs. However, he does have 14 stolen bases, compared to known for Atkins.
Atkins currently has just 9 walks to his 35 strikeouts. Roberts has nine more strikeouts, but also has 30 (yes, 30) walks.
Here's the kicker: Atkins currently bats 4th for the Rockies. Roberts is the lead off man for the Orioles.
Looking at Roberts' numbers, they're actually very similar to Grady's, aside from the fact that Sizemore now has 11 HR and Roberts takes more walks.
In other words, we get Atkins we get a good power bat to add to the middle of a line-up that doesn't exactly get on base a lot.
We get Roberts, we get a lead off batter who takes a lot of walks. Then we can move Grady's power down the order to, say, #3. And while Francisco is still getting a hit every game, he's not hitting for power and probably never will. So we go something like this:
Roberts
Francisco
Sizemore
Martinez
That's a pretty nice top of the order. Granted, it would all go to hell after that unless people start to improve, but there you go. I think adding Roberts would actually improve the line-up more, even though his numbers are less than Atkins.
And, hey, maybe there's a chance we could get him for Sowers and one other player (most likely Peralta, but at this point I'm fine with that).
Is there a bright light in all this? How can we stay positive when our entire line-ups seems determine to swing at the first pitch they see when they have runners in scoring position? How do we stay positive when our players seem unwilling and unable to bunt or take pitches? How do we stay positive when we have a new line-up every day?
Simple: trades. Let's face facts, even with Carmona (and now Miller...AGAIN) on the DL, we still have depth at the starting job. And there are plenty of teams out there who need pitching.
Bright Spot #1: The Orioles are in last place in the AL East. The longer they sit down there, the better the chances that Brian Roberts will be available for the right price.
Bright Spot #2: Jeremy Sowers pitched 7 innings today in Buffalo, giving up 1 earned run. His ERA is 2.08. The better Sowers does in Buffalo, the greater his trade value. The optimist in me would love to deal him instead of Laffey, but the realist thinks that Laffey's MLB performance makes him more likely to go. Still, Sowers' number indicate that at least he'd be able to step up and keep the rotation performing at the same level.
Bright Spot #3: The Rockies are still in last place and don't appear to be going anywhere any time soon. This means that Garrett Atkins should be available for the right price.
Bright Spot #4: Grady Sizemore's sudden burst of power. I'll get to that in a minute.
Bright Spot #5: Pronk on the DL. Whether he gets better and comes back like the Pronk of old or not, he needed to be removed from the line-up (not that we have anyone better to replace him).
So going by the numbers, Garrett Atkins would seem to be the best pick-up for the Tribe. He's hitting .313 with 8 HR, 30 RBI, and 28 runs. That's pretty impressive and I doubt I could make a case for anyone else. But I'm going to and it will sound at least a little irrational, but follow me.
By comparison, Brian Roberts is only hitting .267, has only 4 HR, only 18 RBI, and has scored only two more times, giving him 30 runs. However, he does have 14 stolen bases, compared to known for Atkins.
Atkins currently has just 9 walks to his 35 strikeouts. Roberts has nine more strikeouts, but also has 30 (yes, 30) walks.
Here's the kicker: Atkins currently bats 4th for the Rockies. Roberts is the lead off man for the Orioles.
Looking at Roberts' numbers, they're actually very similar to Grady's, aside from the fact that Sizemore now has 11 HR and Roberts takes more walks.
In other words, we get Atkins we get a good power bat to add to the middle of a line-up that doesn't exactly get on base a lot.
We get Roberts, we get a lead off batter who takes a lot of walks. Then we can move Grady's power down the order to, say, #3. And while Francisco is still getting a hit every game, he's not hitting for power and probably never will. So we go something like this:
Roberts
Francisco
Sizemore
Martinez
That's a pretty nice top of the order. Granted, it would all go to hell after that unless people start to improve, but there you go. I think adding Roberts would actually improve the line-up more, even though his numbers are less than Atkins.
And, hey, maybe there's a chance we could get him for Sowers and one other player (most likely Peralta, but at this point I'm fine with that).
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Rangers @ Indians, 5.25.08
Today's loss was particularly painful because it was Ben Francisco who let the go ahead run come in. It's a shame, really, as Francisco has really been the main reason two watch the Tribe these days, at least from an offensive stand point.
Even worse, it was another blown hold by the bullpen, although they really didn't deserve it. At least Betancourt had a good outing.
So it should be clear by now that the Indians need to make a deal soon.
Fausto Carmona's injury complicates things, but not so much that the writing isn't still clear on the wall. In fact, keeping Laffey in the rotation could be a good thing if he continues to pitch as he had. His stock will only rise.
I know I keep assuming that Laffey's the one to go, but as well as Sowers has pitched in Buffalo, I don't see us getting that great of a return from him; he just doesn't have the MLB credibility that Laffey has managed to rack up.
I should probably be more concerned about our bullpen, but for some reason I'm just not. I think they need stability and an offense that lessens the pressure. I also have hopes for Adam Miller to join them in the next month, which I think will make a big difference. I think it's just a matter of finding the right mix.
I'm going to bring up something I've mentioned before, although it's become less relevant as Ryan Garko has struggled. But is there no way to get Michael Aubrey or Jordan Brown action at third? Why are our two best hitting prospects first basemen? We have a glut at first and no one at third. And considering how many people make that switch (if Carlos Guillen can do it, my grandmother could do it), why hasn't that been an option? It would seem to make sense to me, particularly given that Aubrey is showing much better plate discipline than almost anyone else in Cleveland and Jordan Brown is off to a great start since moving up to Buffalo.
Still, we're going to have to make a deal soon. I don't envy Shapiro.
Even worse, it was another blown hold by the bullpen, although they really didn't deserve it. At least Betancourt had a good outing.
So it should be clear by now that the Indians need to make a deal soon.
Fausto Carmona's injury complicates things, but not so much that the writing isn't still clear on the wall. In fact, keeping Laffey in the rotation could be a good thing if he continues to pitch as he had. His stock will only rise.
I know I keep assuming that Laffey's the one to go, but as well as Sowers has pitched in Buffalo, I don't see us getting that great of a return from him; he just doesn't have the MLB credibility that Laffey has managed to rack up.
I should probably be more concerned about our bullpen, but for some reason I'm just not. I think they need stability and an offense that lessens the pressure. I also have hopes for Adam Miller to join them in the next month, which I think will make a big difference. I think it's just a matter of finding the right mix.
I'm going to bring up something I've mentioned before, although it's become less relevant as Ryan Garko has struggled. But is there no way to get Michael Aubrey or Jordan Brown action at third? Why are our two best hitting prospects first basemen? We have a glut at first and no one at third. And considering how many people make that switch (if Carlos Guillen can do it, my grandmother could do it), why hasn't that been an option? It would seem to make sense to me, particularly given that Aubrey is showing much better plate discipline than almost anyone else in Cleveland and Jordan Brown is off to a great start since moving up to Buffalo.
Still, we're going to have to make a deal soon. I don't envy Shapiro.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
It's getting to be that time.
Yes, I've returned. I've been horribly derelict in my duty, I'll admit. But sometimes the real world prevents me from blogging about the Tribe -- I know, totally lame.
But let's get right to it. We've managed to lose 4 straight and fall below .500 yet again. And, really, we're getting to the point where something needs to be done.
The two solutions that I actually enjoy would involve the rise of both Shin Soo Choo and Adam Miller. Choo was 3 for 4 in Buffalo today with a homerun. Miller threw five scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.88.
Now, these are some big assumptions to make, but if Choo can live up to his potential (the few times he was up with the Tribe) and Miller can do the same, those would be some nice additions to our outfield and our bullpen (where Miller would most likely have to go). An outfield of Choo, Sizemore, and Francisco could be amazing, if they all perform like they can.
But clearly we can't bank on such things. Our division is simply too competitive for that.
As much as it pains me to say this, I think we're going to have to trade away some pitching.
The worst part of that is the fact that two of our starting five are free agents after this year. In theory, we'd need to bring up two guys from Buffalo to fill those spots next year, and that would leave us really exposed, especially since we've already used 7 different pitchers this year.
Even worse, Aaron Laffey seems to be the focus of most of these trade rumors, which makes sense as he'll get sent down when Westbrook returns. I'd rather part with Sowers, but Laffey's value is pretty high.
So where do we send him? There's been talk about Garret Atkins in Colorado, a great third baseman. There's also been talk about Brian Roberts in Baltimore, a move that many like because it would allow the Tribe to move Cabrera to short full time.
And while I love the idea of Cabrera as our shortstop (and I've defended Peralta a lot in my time), I think I prefer the Atkins option, simply because we have NO depth at third. There's also the fact that he'd probably be available much sooner than Roberts, as the Rockies are clearly dropping faster than the Orioles.
Still, the bottom line is that the Tribe is going to have to make a deal soon, because as leaky as our bullpen has been lately, our offense is the only reason we're losing.
Consider this, though: if Francisco is for real, then we have a good start, with Benny, Sizemore, and Martinez. That's at least something to build on.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Mariners @ Indians, 4/28/08
What a difference a day makes.
Even though the Tribe split with the Yankees, I was actually pretty happy with how that series went. The 1-0 loss could be the very definition of a "positive loss," as it add support to the theory that C.C. has worked out his issues and is back to the C.C. of old. I'll gladly take one loss if it means we've got Sabathia back in form.
The second loss was simply bad luck, but yet another good showing by a young pitcher. It seems like Laffey will be rewarded with more starts at the big league level, too.
Of course the lack of offense was discouraging, but I was willing to give the opposing pitchers the benefit of the doubt.
And then last night happened.
While I'm still apprehensive about Carmona's no found love of walking people, it was yet another wasted pitching performance.
As many have pointed out, a big part of our offensive woes is Travis Hafner. I'll take that a step further. He's actually gone from not being a threat to being an easy out. That's how bad it's gotten. And I simply can't figure it out.
He can't be seeing the ball, at least not clearly. He swings at things that are clearly out of the zone from the very start, yet let's obvious strikes go right by. It's baffling.
Even more baffling is Franklin Gutierrez, who is now 7 for 16 in this homestand. Why is he unable to hit on the road? And it's not even that hits poorly on the road and hits well at home. He hits for SQUAT on the road and hits GREAT at home.
Michaels needs to be let go. Dellucci needs to be in the line-up every day and he needs to bat second. When Choo returns next month, he needs to platoon with Gutierrez, obviously making a lot of starts on the road.
Then what do you do with guys like Peralta and Garko? They're two sides to the same coin, either hot or cold. How do you break such streakiness?
And, if you're going to put Marte in and move Blake to first to sit Garko, shouldn't you make a similar move to sit Hafner? It would seem to make sense to get Shoppach behind the plate and let Martinez DH periodically until Pronk figures out what's wrong.
It's almost May. We're going to end the first month under .500. It's probably time to start making some moves.
Even though the Tribe split with the Yankees, I was actually pretty happy with how that series went. The 1-0 loss could be the very definition of a "positive loss," as it add support to the theory that C.C. has worked out his issues and is back to the C.C. of old. I'll gladly take one loss if it means we've got Sabathia back in form.
The second loss was simply bad luck, but yet another good showing by a young pitcher. It seems like Laffey will be rewarded with more starts at the big league level, too.
Of course the lack of offense was discouraging, but I was willing to give the opposing pitchers the benefit of the doubt.
And then last night happened.
While I'm still apprehensive about Carmona's no found love of walking people, it was yet another wasted pitching performance.
As many have pointed out, a big part of our offensive woes is Travis Hafner. I'll take that a step further. He's actually gone from not being a threat to being an easy out. That's how bad it's gotten. And I simply can't figure it out.
He can't be seeing the ball, at least not clearly. He swings at things that are clearly out of the zone from the very start, yet let's obvious strikes go right by. It's baffling.
Even more baffling is Franklin Gutierrez, who is now 7 for 16 in this homestand. Why is he unable to hit on the road? And it's not even that hits poorly on the road and hits well at home. He hits for SQUAT on the road and hits GREAT at home.
Michaels needs to be let go. Dellucci needs to be in the line-up every day and he needs to bat second. When Choo returns next month, he needs to platoon with Gutierrez, obviously making a lot of starts on the road.
Then what do you do with guys like Peralta and Garko? They're two sides to the same coin, either hot or cold. How do you break such streakiness?
And, if you're going to put Marte in and move Blake to first to sit Garko, shouldn't you make a similar move to sit Hafner? It would seem to make sense to get Shoppach behind the plate and let Martinez DH periodically until Pronk figures out what's wrong.
It's almost May. We're going to end the first month under .500. It's probably time to start making some moves.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Indians @ Twins, 4/20/08
Okay, let's break it down as the Good, the Iffy, and the Bad:
The Good:
Every game of this series featured a great pitching performance from our rotation. This was Paul Byrd's second quality start, which would seem to support the idea that he's made the adjustment he needed to make after his first two starts. Lee and Westbrook were as great as they've been all year so far. Add to that the fact that Carmona worked out the problems that caused his one bad start, and you have four starters who are just fantastic. If C.C. ever comes around, we'd have the best rotation in baseball.
The Iffy:
Obviously, our bullpen is inconsistent. I mentioned a while back that I thought part of the problem with our bullpen was that there was no structure. When our bullpen was at its best last year, every reliever had a set role. Now it seems completely random. And I think today is a good example of the problem. Perez is a specialist/set up man. He comes in to face lefties or to set up our closer. He's not a middle reliever. And yet today that's what he was, and he clearly isn't cut out for that. You have to wonder if he's throwing differently knowing that he could be out there for three innings of work. We should be trying to get more than four outs from him. And while it would be easy to blame Wedge, he didn't have much choice. He had no idea how long the game was going to go and Perez was pitching well. And he had no idea how long the game would go becasue of...
The Bad:
Our offense is so bad. A lot of people point to various call ups from last season as the main reason we were good. You know what a big part of that was? The Tribe started well. That was a big key last year and it's clearly not one we're hitting this year. But what do we do about it? I stand by my claim that an easy move would be to let Dellucci play every day -- there's no reason to bog down our line-up with Michaels. I think liberally mixing in Carroll is a good move, too. Still, I can't see any big changes happening until we get Shin Soo Choo back from the DL.
We've got three against a tough Kansas City team, then four against the hated Yankees, and then end the month agains the Mariners. Nine games to end the month. We have to go 7-2 to end the month above .500.
That seems like a longshot.
The Good:
Every game of this series featured a great pitching performance from our rotation. This was Paul Byrd's second quality start, which would seem to support the idea that he's made the adjustment he needed to make after his first two starts. Lee and Westbrook were as great as they've been all year so far. Add to that the fact that Carmona worked out the problems that caused his one bad start, and you have four starters who are just fantastic. If C.C. ever comes around, we'd have the best rotation in baseball.
The Iffy:
Obviously, our bullpen is inconsistent. I mentioned a while back that I thought part of the problem with our bullpen was that there was no structure. When our bullpen was at its best last year, every reliever had a set role. Now it seems completely random. And I think today is a good example of the problem. Perez is a specialist/set up man. He comes in to face lefties or to set up our closer. He's not a middle reliever. And yet today that's what he was, and he clearly isn't cut out for that. You have to wonder if he's throwing differently knowing that he could be out there for three innings of work. We should be trying to get more than four outs from him. And while it would be easy to blame Wedge, he didn't have much choice. He had no idea how long the game was going to go and Perez was pitching well. And he had no idea how long the game would go becasue of...
The Bad:
Our offense is so bad. A lot of people point to various call ups from last season as the main reason we were good. You know what a big part of that was? The Tribe started well. That was a big key last year and it's clearly not one we're hitting this year. But what do we do about it? I stand by my claim that an easy move would be to let Dellucci play every day -- there's no reason to bog down our line-up with Michaels. I think liberally mixing in Carroll is a good move, too. Still, I can't see any big changes happening until we get Shin Soo Choo back from the DL.
We've got three against a tough Kansas City team, then four against the hated Yankees, and then end the month agains the Mariners. Nine games to end the month. We have to go 7-2 to end the month above .500.
That seems like a longshot.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tigers @ Indians, 4/16/08
So...
What now?
My girlfriend, who knows a decent amount about the Tribe because of me, suggested to me that C.C. is trying too hard, much, she pointed out, like he did in the post-season last year. And I'm more than willing to accept that. I'm more than willing to believe that Sabathia is putting the weight of the world on his shoulders, determined to live up to the Cy Young award, the All-Star of the team, the big pay day he's due at the end of the year. I completely believe that this weight is what's causing him to pitch so badly.
And I don't really care.
Because knowing why he's pitching like garbage doesn't change the fact that he's pitching like garbage.
So what do we do now?
We hope that whatever advice that Carl Willis gave to Paul Byrd that got him to throw strikes was also passed on to Fausto Carmona. And then we make C.C. a new contract offer in hopes that he'll take it and move on. Because at the rate he's going now, I don't know how big that pay day at the end of the year is going to be.
He's only thrown four innings so far, but it's probably time to start giving Craig Breslow more work. His walk to strikeout ratio isn't the best, but he hasn't allowed a run yet, and four innings without giving up a run is a big deal in our bullpen these days. For that matter, he needs to start getting into games in middle relief situations instead of Rafael Perez, who we need later in the game.
Again, David Dellucci proved that he should be in the line-up every day. I was more than willing to let him go earlier in the season, but after going 0 for 9 at the start of the season, he's gone 8 for 22, or .363 since then. He's also drawn six walks in 29 at bats, which would nearly put him on base every game he plays. That sounds like a #2 guy to me (and this is coming from a guy who has been preaching for Cabrera in that spot) It would be mind boggling to me to see Dellucci sit on the bench with how hot he's been, regardless of who we're facing.
We were 3 hit by some guy I've never heard of. And tomorrow we get Justin Verlander.
Good times.
What now?
My girlfriend, who knows a decent amount about the Tribe because of me, suggested to me that C.C. is trying too hard, much, she pointed out, like he did in the post-season last year. And I'm more than willing to accept that. I'm more than willing to believe that Sabathia is putting the weight of the world on his shoulders, determined to live up to the Cy Young award, the All-Star of the team, the big pay day he's due at the end of the year. I completely believe that this weight is what's causing him to pitch so badly.
And I don't really care.
Because knowing why he's pitching like garbage doesn't change the fact that he's pitching like garbage.
So what do we do now?
We hope that whatever advice that Carl Willis gave to Paul Byrd that got him to throw strikes was also passed on to Fausto Carmona. And then we make C.C. a new contract offer in hopes that he'll take it and move on. Because at the rate he's going now, I don't know how big that pay day at the end of the year is going to be.
He's only thrown four innings so far, but it's probably time to start giving Craig Breslow more work. His walk to strikeout ratio isn't the best, but he hasn't allowed a run yet, and four innings without giving up a run is a big deal in our bullpen these days. For that matter, he needs to start getting into games in middle relief situations instead of Rafael Perez, who we need later in the game.
Again, David Dellucci proved that he should be in the line-up every day. I was more than willing to let him go earlier in the season, but after going 0 for 9 at the start of the season, he's gone 8 for 22, or .363 since then. He's also drawn six walks in 29 at bats, which would nearly put him on base every game he plays. That sounds like a #2 guy to me (and this is coming from a guy who has been preaching for Cabrera in that spot) It would be mind boggling to me to see Dellucci sit on the bench with how hot he's been, regardless of who we're facing.
We were 3 hit by some guy I've never heard of. And tomorrow we get Justin Verlander.
Good times.
Red Sox @ Indians, 4/15/08
Surprisingly enough, last night's loss didn't bother me. I mean, it did, but not any more than a normal loss would bother me. While it might not do anything to alieviate my concerns about our bullpen, I'm willing to give Jensen Lewis and Jorge Julio the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure that's more than they deserve, but that's where I'm at.
And let's look at the positives: Paul Byrd threw a good game. I had very little faith in him going into last night, but clearly he made some kind of adjustment, which is a good sign going forward.
Assuming, as I am, that our bullpen works itself out (a big assumption, I know), the main focus falls squarely on our offense.
It seems like the bats we expected to be there -- Sizemore, Hafner, Martinez, Peralta, and Garko -- will be there as the season progresses. Sure, Pronk and Sizemore still strikeout too much, but Hafner seems to be getting hits when we need them and Grady is as Grady does.
But what about the rest of the order?
Franklin Gutierrez showed why he could be so great: he can steal bases. We don't have a lot of speed on the base paths as it is, so Gutierrez getting aboard could be a great weapon for us. The problem there, of course, is that he actually has to get on base.
My dad had a good point the other day about Gutierrez: shouldn't there be a point where we send him back down and bring Ben Francisco up? I'd never considered that option before, but what's the worst that could happen? You'd give Franklin a chance to work on that strikeout problem of his and you'd give Ben Francisco (who is just starting to warm up in Buffalo) a chance at hitting on the major league level.
You also have to wonder about Casey Blake. It's not that I don't expect him to turn around, but the theory is that Andy Marte is our third baseman of the future, assuming he can step up and earn it. Why not give him that shot? What's the worst that could happen, he hits .150? Because that's what Casey is hitting.
And while I've often defended Wedge, coming out of the Oakland series David Dellucci had really begun to heat up. In fact, since FINALLY getting his first hit against the Angels, he's hitting .350. Which begs the questions: why so much inconsistent hitting, why bench a guy like that? Because he's not supposed to hit against lefties? Why not? And, again, what's the worst that came happen if you let him hit against lefties? He hits .097? Because that's what Michaels is hitting.
What I think I (and many others) forget is that each aspect of the team affects the others. I can only imagine that the bullpen is putting extra stress on itself knowing that once the Tribe scores four runs, that's it. There's no more water coming from that well, so if you give up that fourth or fifth run towards the end of the game, you've lost the game. And imagine what that does to the starters!
The reverse is also true. Imagine the outlook for the hitters if the starter gives up five runs in the first two innings. Imagine how the offense feels when we're up by one and ball is handed to the bullpen.
Tonight should be interesting. Our "ace" versus some kind no one has ever heard of. While I thought the Red Sox series was a big one, the next two nights could be even bigger.
And let's look at the positives: Paul Byrd threw a good game. I had very little faith in him going into last night, but clearly he made some kind of adjustment, which is a good sign going forward.
Assuming, as I am, that our bullpen works itself out (a big assumption, I know), the main focus falls squarely on our offense.
It seems like the bats we expected to be there -- Sizemore, Hafner, Martinez, Peralta, and Garko -- will be there as the season progresses. Sure, Pronk and Sizemore still strikeout too much, but Hafner seems to be getting hits when we need them and Grady is as Grady does.
But what about the rest of the order?
Franklin Gutierrez showed why he could be so great: he can steal bases. We don't have a lot of speed on the base paths as it is, so Gutierrez getting aboard could be a great weapon for us. The problem there, of course, is that he actually has to get on base.
My dad had a good point the other day about Gutierrez: shouldn't there be a point where we send him back down and bring Ben Francisco up? I'd never considered that option before, but what's the worst that could happen? You'd give Franklin a chance to work on that strikeout problem of his and you'd give Ben Francisco (who is just starting to warm up in Buffalo) a chance at hitting on the major league level.
You also have to wonder about Casey Blake. It's not that I don't expect him to turn around, but the theory is that Andy Marte is our third baseman of the future, assuming he can step up and earn it. Why not give him that shot? What's the worst that could happen, he hits .150? Because that's what Casey is hitting.
And while I've often defended Wedge, coming out of the Oakland series David Dellucci had really begun to heat up. In fact, since FINALLY getting his first hit against the Angels, he's hitting .350. Which begs the questions: why so much inconsistent hitting, why bench a guy like that? Because he's not supposed to hit against lefties? Why not? And, again, what's the worst that came happen if you let him hit against lefties? He hits .097? Because that's what Michaels is hitting.
What I think I (and many others) forget is that each aspect of the team affects the others. I can only imagine that the bullpen is putting extra stress on itself knowing that once the Tribe scores four runs, that's it. There's no more water coming from that well, so if you give up that fourth or fifth run towards the end of the game, you've lost the game. And imagine what that does to the starters!
The reverse is also true. Imagine the outlook for the hitters if the starter gives up five runs in the first two innings. Imagine how the offense feels when we're up by one and ball is handed to the bullpen.
Tonight should be interesting. Our "ace" versus some kind no one has ever heard of. While I thought the Red Sox series was a big one, the next two nights could be even bigger.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Red Sox @ Indians, 4/14/08
This afternoon I was complaining about the bottom of our batting order. I was complaining to a guy who is a Red Sox fan.He mentioned that it's early in the season and that the batting average after 12 games doesn't mean much down the line. And he's right.
Which made me realize something about my friend, the Red Sox fan: He no longer understands.
I turned on the game late today because it was a 4:00 start and I have a day job. And I was fully prepared, as my TV flickered to light, to see the Tribe losing by a substantial number.
Not because they were playing the Red Sox.
But because they're the Indians.
And that's what we expect.
Four years is a long time, and while my friend can certainly sympathize with my plight as a Tribe fan, he can no longer empathize. He has complete confidence in his team, while my confidence level changes from day to day. Even at my most confident, there's still a part of me that doesn't think the Tribe belongs in the same sentence as teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, etc.
He no longer remembers what it's like to feel like your team is walking a tight rope, that at any given minute the entire house of cards will come crashing down. He no longer remembers what it's like feel like the entire season can depend upon a single game, a single inning, or single out.
Because it's been four years since he's been anywhere near that feeling.I don't know that he'd ever admit to any of that, but he's on the other side; he doesn't even realize it.
Me? I'll just sit on my side with the rest of the Tribe fans, anxious over every pitch, popping more antacids, and pouring myself another drink.
Which made me realize something about my friend, the Red Sox fan: He no longer understands.
I turned on the game late today because it was a 4:00 start and I have a day job. And I was fully prepared, as my TV flickered to light, to see the Tribe losing by a substantial number.
Not because they were playing the Red Sox.
But because they're the Indians.
And that's what we expect.
Four years is a long time, and while my friend can certainly sympathize with my plight as a Tribe fan, he can no longer empathize. He has complete confidence in his team, while my confidence level changes from day to day. Even at my most confident, there's still a part of me that doesn't think the Tribe belongs in the same sentence as teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, etc.
He no longer remembers what it's like to feel like your team is walking a tight rope, that at any given minute the entire house of cards will come crashing down. He no longer remembers what it's like feel like the entire season can depend upon a single game, a single inning, or single out.
Because it's been four years since he's been anywhere near that feeling.I don't know that he'd ever admit to any of that, but he's on the other side; he doesn't even realize it.
Me? I'll just sit on my side with the rest of the Tribe fans, anxious over every pitch, popping more antacids, and pouring myself another drink.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
A's @ Indians, 4/12/08
So when should we start to worry?
Clearly, this walk problem of Carmona's is not only real, but very serious.
There should be some concern that the league has figured out the two Rafaels.
And what to do with an offense that suggests we change the name of the team to the Cleveland LOB?
Oh, and there's the matter of our ace and our seasoned veteran and their penchant for giving up lots and lots of runs.
Cliff Lee has to be our stopper tomorrow. Can you imagine such a phrase coming last season?
So what do we do?
Well, it's probably safe to say it's too early to really DO anything. It's a long season. We have to give C.C. and Byrd a chance to work themselves out. We have to give the Rafaels a chance to become regular role players again (which can only happen if our starters actually last more than three innings). And we have to give the offense a chance to come around.
But perhaps there are some small things we can do about that last point.
First, there's this: David Dellucci is hitting .278! This is a man who started 0-9! Obviously, we need to ride his hot streak as much as we possibly can, so he's got to be our every day left fielder, regardless of pitcher. His platoon partner is hitting .111, so why not?
What about right field, then? Gutierrez is only hitting .167, but a big chunk of that is due to his horrible run on the road, whereas Michaels hasn't been hitting anywhere. So you go with the lesser of two evils.
Now for the one spot to make a drastic change: third base. Casey Blake is hitting .143. Andy Marte has made one start so far and went 1-3. Granted, there's no way of projecting his numbers, but why not give him a shot? At this point, what do we have to lose over at that corner?
Marte's last start came in a Sunday afternoon game after a Saturday night game, so it would seem to only make sense to give him another chance tomorrow. If he does well, I hope to god we go to him again, because something needs to happen.
And let's not forget: we have the Red Sox on Monday.
Clearly, this walk problem of Carmona's is not only real, but very serious.
There should be some concern that the league has figured out the two Rafaels.
And what to do with an offense that suggests we change the name of the team to the Cleveland LOB?
Oh, and there's the matter of our ace and our seasoned veteran and their penchant for giving up lots and lots of runs.
Cliff Lee has to be our stopper tomorrow. Can you imagine such a phrase coming last season?
So what do we do?
Well, it's probably safe to say it's too early to really DO anything. It's a long season. We have to give C.C. and Byrd a chance to work themselves out. We have to give the Rafaels a chance to become regular role players again (which can only happen if our starters actually last more than three innings). And we have to give the offense a chance to come around.
But perhaps there are some small things we can do about that last point.
First, there's this: David Dellucci is hitting .278! This is a man who started 0-9! Obviously, we need to ride his hot streak as much as we possibly can, so he's got to be our every day left fielder, regardless of pitcher. His platoon partner is hitting .111, so why not?
What about right field, then? Gutierrez is only hitting .167, but a big chunk of that is due to his horrible run on the road, whereas Michaels hasn't been hitting anywhere. So you go with the lesser of two evils.
Now for the one spot to make a drastic change: third base. Casey Blake is hitting .143. Andy Marte has made one start so far and went 1-3. Granted, there's no way of projecting his numbers, but why not give him a shot? At this point, what do we have to lose over at that corner?
Marte's last start came in a Sunday afternoon game after a Saturday night game, so it would seem to only make sense to give him another chance tomorrow. If he does well, I hope to god we go to him again, because something needs to happen.
And let's not forget: we have the Red Sox on Monday.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Indians @ Angels 4/7/08
Well, now.
I would imagine most of the people who read this blog probably got an e-mail from me last night. And I send out my deepest sympathies to those of you who stayed up to watch the game.
The great thing about baseball, though, is that you only have to suffer with that memory fresh in your head for 24 hours, then you get an entirely new game to think about.
So let's look at what we've seen from our boys so far:
The Good: Our rotation is solid, even with C.C. doing his best to mess it up. Cliff Lee looked great against Oakland and Jake Westbrook looked great against Chicago. Fausto Carmona was solid last night, although he's clearly struggling. It's a great sign that he's able to make pitches without his best stuff, but I would love to see his best stuff show up soon.
The Bad: Our bullpen, and I don't just mean Joe Borowski. I can't be the only one who's a bit worried about Betancourt. I keep thinking that perhaps people have figured him out. Let's face facts, with the way he throws, decent solid contact could send the ball out.
The Good: Ryan Garko, who has shown a lot of maturity at the plate so far this season. Jamey Carroll who was unbelievable in the field last night. Grady Sizemore, who still strikes out too much, but who's hitting well and has 4 RBI. Victor Martinez, who is obviously the offensive catalyst to this team. I don't care if he gave up five stolen bases last night, since those ultimately didn't make a difference in the game, and Victor's bat did (or should have).
The Bad: Where to begin? The word before the season started was that the Tribe needed bats in the corner outfield spots and at third, and that word has held true. After starting out like gangbusters, Franklin Gutierrez is hitting .182, getting his first hit last night since opening day. Casey Blake is hitting .143, making an excellent case for more time for Andy Marte who, as questionable as he might be, probably couldn't be any worse (and actually went 1 for 3 in his one start this season). And then there's left field. Oh, Shin Soo Choo cannot come off the DL fast enough. Michaels is hitting .056. Dellucci is hitting .000.
Yes, it's early. It's very early. But this are all trouble spots that were diagnosed going into the season, so the fact that they are so clearly on display is a little unsettling.
We need a win tonight. We need one in a bad way.
I would imagine most of the people who read this blog probably got an e-mail from me last night. And I send out my deepest sympathies to those of you who stayed up to watch the game.
The great thing about baseball, though, is that you only have to suffer with that memory fresh in your head for 24 hours, then you get an entirely new game to think about.
So let's look at what we've seen from our boys so far:
The Good: Our rotation is solid, even with C.C. doing his best to mess it up. Cliff Lee looked great against Oakland and Jake Westbrook looked great against Chicago. Fausto Carmona was solid last night, although he's clearly struggling. It's a great sign that he's able to make pitches without his best stuff, but I would love to see his best stuff show up soon.
The Bad: Our bullpen, and I don't just mean Joe Borowski. I can't be the only one who's a bit worried about Betancourt. I keep thinking that perhaps people have figured him out. Let's face facts, with the way he throws, decent solid contact could send the ball out.
The Good: Ryan Garko, who has shown a lot of maturity at the plate so far this season. Jamey Carroll who was unbelievable in the field last night. Grady Sizemore, who still strikes out too much, but who's hitting well and has 4 RBI. Victor Martinez, who is obviously the offensive catalyst to this team. I don't care if he gave up five stolen bases last night, since those ultimately didn't make a difference in the game, and Victor's bat did (or should have).
The Bad: Where to begin? The word before the season started was that the Tribe needed bats in the corner outfield spots and at third, and that word has held true. After starting out like gangbusters, Franklin Gutierrez is hitting .182, getting his first hit last night since opening day. Casey Blake is hitting .143, making an excellent case for more time for Andy Marte who, as questionable as he might be, probably couldn't be any worse (and actually went 1 for 3 in his one start this season). And then there's left field. Oh, Shin Soo Choo cannot come off the DL fast enough. Michaels is hitting .056. Dellucci is hitting .000.
Yes, it's early. It's very early. But this are all trouble spots that were diagnosed going into the season, so the fact that they are so clearly on display is a little unsettling.
We need a win tonight. We need one in a bad way.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Indians @ A's, 4/4/08 and 4/5/08
Well, this has been a fun two days -- three, really, if you include the last game of the White Sox series. Evidently, we don't believe in offense anymore.
Still, it would seem reasonable to write off Paul Byrd's start last night as a fluke. The man is never that wild and the walks and hit batters really hurt him.
But C.C.'s performance is a bit disconcerting, no matter how you slice it. Sure, you can use the excuse that he's overthrowing, first in the home opener, then again pitching in front of his family and friends. The problem is that we've gotten that excuse multiple times up until this point. At some point you start to think "an ace is a guy who always deliver in the big games." And you just have to wonder about C.C's ability to do that sometimes.
Still, it's only two starts, but an ERA of 7.59 isn't pretty.
Some other thoughts after five whole games:
How long before Cabrera is in the 2 spot for every game? He's currently hitting .200, but he's currently hitting .417 when he bats second, which should be an indication of how poorly he's hitting anywhere else.
That number leads nicely into my next point: we don't have a hit from left field yet. Both Jason Michaels and David Dellucci are hitting .000. While it's only been five games, that would seem to indicate that, at the very least, Cabrera should be hitting behind Grady.
I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that the 40 game mark needs to be decision time for left field. Regardless of how Choo performs when he returns, we've got a guy in AAA who's ready for the show.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow; I'd really like to see Cliff Lee return to form.
Still, it would seem reasonable to write off Paul Byrd's start last night as a fluke. The man is never that wild and the walks and hit batters really hurt him.
But C.C.'s performance is a bit disconcerting, no matter how you slice it. Sure, you can use the excuse that he's overthrowing, first in the home opener, then again pitching in front of his family and friends. The problem is that we've gotten that excuse multiple times up until this point. At some point you start to think "an ace is a guy who always deliver in the big games." And you just have to wonder about C.C's ability to do that sometimes.
Still, it's only two starts, but an ERA of 7.59 isn't pretty.
Some other thoughts after five whole games:
How long before Cabrera is in the 2 spot for every game? He's currently hitting .200, but he's currently hitting .417 when he bats second, which should be an indication of how poorly he's hitting anywhere else.
That number leads nicely into my next point: we don't have a hit from left field yet. Both Jason Michaels and David Dellucci are hitting .000. While it's only been five games, that would seem to indicate that, at the very least, Cabrera should be hitting behind Grady.
I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that the 40 game mark needs to be decision time for left field. Regardless of how Choo performs when he returns, we've got a guy in AAA who's ready for the show.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow; I'd really like to see Cliff Lee return to form.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
White Sox @ Indians, 4/2/08 (with a little 4/3/08)
One of my favorite things about living on the West coast (aside from the weather) is the time difference. And there's no better example of how great that is than a noon East coast start time for the Tribe, which means I get to roll out of bed and start watching baseball (okay, roll out of bed, get ready for work, drive to work, and then watch baseball while working).
What it also means, however, is that I don't have a lot of time between a night game and a day game to write about said night game. So here I am, writing about last night's win while watching today's pitchers' duel between Jake Westbrook and John Danks.
Last night's game was a great example of how Carmona has matured as a pitcher. Sure, he was fairly dominant, but it was clear that he had to fight to make his pitches. I'm sure the cold weather had a lot to do with that. And even giving up four walks, he was able to shut down the White Sox.
And while it might still be early yet, I think Asdrubal Cabrera is making a strong case to stay in that #2 spot regardless of whether the opposing starter is a lefty or a righty. He just seems more comfortable there than in the 7 spot.
How great is Kelly Shoppach? What other team could lose a guy like Martinez (even for just a few days) and not see a huge drop off? It really makes you appreciate the fact that Shapiro was so determined not to trade Shoppach.
One thing I've noticed both last night with Carmona on the mound and now today with Westbrook on the mound (and I hope I'm not jinxing him by pointing this out): Jhonny Peralta seems to have more range this year. I know that every year we hear that he's been working on his range, but he's made a few plays just this afternoon that covered a great deal of ground.
Okay, back to the game. We need some offense!
What it also means, however, is that I don't have a lot of time between a night game and a day game to write about said night game. So here I am, writing about last night's win while watching today's pitchers' duel between Jake Westbrook and John Danks.
Last night's game was a great example of how Carmona has matured as a pitcher. Sure, he was fairly dominant, but it was clear that he had to fight to make his pitches. I'm sure the cold weather had a lot to do with that. And even giving up four walks, he was able to shut down the White Sox.
And while it might still be early yet, I think Asdrubal Cabrera is making a strong case to stay in that #2 spot regardless of whether the opposing starter is a lefty or a righty. He just seems more comfortable there than in the 7 spot.
How great is Kelly Shoppach? What other team could lose a guy like Martinez (even for just a few days) and not see a huge drop off? It really makes you appreciate the fact that Shapiro was so determined not to trade Shoppach.
One thing I've noticed both last night with Carmona on the mound and now today with Westbrook on the mound (and I hope I'm not jinxing him by pointing this out): Jhonny Peralta seems to have more range this year. I know that every year we hear that he's been working on his range, but he's made a few plays just this afternoon that covered a great deal of ground.
Okay, back to the game. We need some offense!
Monday, March 31, 2008
White Sox @ Indians, 3/31/08
Well, THAT was interesting.
So, um, weren't we supposed to win game because of our great pitching? And isn't it the Tigers' offense that's supposed to score 1,000+ runs this year?
Whatever, I'll take it. And Victor is day to day, evidently, which I'll also take. I like Shoppach and I think he's good enough to give Victor a break more than once every five games. And Garko can play every day.
A few weeks ago I told my friend Matt to remember the name Franklin Gutierrez. Sure enough, I was able to remind him of that conversation today. I think we can expect great things from him this season.
Yes, our pitching left a lot to be desired, but I'm willing to look at it that everyone has off days. Tomorrow should be particularly interesting, though, as the White Sox have had success off of Carmona in the past.
Borowski started his season exactly where he left off last season.
Oh, and the new uniforms looked pretty sweet.
A strange start to the season to be sure, but one I'm willing to take.
So, um, weren't we supposed to win game because of our great pitching? And isn't it the Tigers' offense that's supposed to score 1,000+ runs this year?
Whatever, I'll take it. And Victor is day to day, evidently, which I'll also take. I like Shoppach and I think he's good enough to give Victor a break more than once every five games. And Garko can play every day.
A few weeks ago I told my friend Matt to remember the name Franklin Gutierrez. Sure enough, I was able to remind him of that conversation today. I think we can expect great things from him this season.
Yes, our pitching left a lot to be desired, but I'm willing to look at it that everyone has off days. Tomorrow should be particularly interesting, though, as the White Sox have had success off of Carmona in the past.
Borowski started his season exactly where he left off last season.
Oh, and the new uniforms looked pretty sweet.
A strange start to the season to be sure, but one I'm willing to take.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Spring Battles
I have to wonder at what point will someone think "hey, maybe we should see if Michael Aurbrey can play 3rd..."
If you've been following the Indians' spring training at all, you no doubt noticed that Micahael Aubrey is not just healthy, but hitting the ball well. It would seem to be a given that he'll start out in Buffalo this season.
The Tribe has always had high hopes for Aubrey. The only issue was whether he could stay healthy. He's a hitting machine, or at least he can be, and has adapted to each new level. For those who don't know, Aubrey plays 1st.
And not to say that those two spots are interchangeable or anything, but there seem to be a lot of guys who play both corner spots and, as I've said before, the fast track to the bigs through the Indians' system is 3rd or left field (although we have plenty of outfielders).
So why not see if Aubrey can swing 3rd? A full season in Buffalo at 3rd could show us something. He could be our saving grace if Andy Marte remains stagnant.
In other news, Cliff Lee had a good first outing. Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers...less so. I stand by my prediction that Lee gets the #5 spot.
No other real surprises so far in spring training. We did well against the Tigers, but that doesn't mean much now.
Only 26 days until the start of the season!
If you've been following the Indians' spring training at all, you no doubt noticed that Micahael Aubrey is not just healthy, but hitting the ball well. It would seem to be a given that he'll start out in Buffalo this season.
The Tribe has always had high hopes for Aubrey. The only issue was whether he could stay healthy. He's a hitting machine, or at least he can be, and has adapted to each new level. For those who don't know, Aubrey plays 1st.
And not to say that those two spots are interchangeable or anything, but there seem to be a lot of guys who play both corner spots and, as I've said before, the fast track to the bigs through the Indians' system is 3rd or left field (although we have plenty of outfielders).
So why not see if Aubrey can swing 3rd? A full season in Buffalo at 3rd could show us something. He could be our saving grace if Andy Marte remains stagnant.
In other news, Cliff Lee had a good first outing. Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers...less so. I stand by my prediction that Lee gets the #5 spot.
No other real surprises so far in spring training. We did well against the Tigers, but that doesn't mean much now.
Only 26 days until the start of the season!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Spring Is Here!
Ye gads, I missed a day! I've been so good about posting every Tuesday and Friday but yesterday just passed by without notice. I blame my newly pending (over a year from now) nuptials. Every time I sit down to write, my fiance blinds me with that diamond I just paid for.
And speaking of diamonds, let's talk baseball!
(Yes, I did that)
There was an interesting spring training preview for the Tribe up on CNNSI.com the other day. In it, they mention something I hadn't heard anywhere before (a side note, I thought they were particularly harsh on our boys, but I suppose teams that don't make big deals are boring to sports writers): Peralta to 2nd so Cabrera can play shortstop.
This would obviously never happen because Cleveland sports teams in general thrive on the belief that if it ain't broke, don't fix it (the simple fact that it's taken the Cavs this long to make a trade is a good point to that effect). But a decent argument could be made that 2nd requires less range than shortstop. Ultimately, though, the idea of moving Peralta to third has more merit, simply because we don't have a viable third baseman after this season, but we do have a viable additional middle inflielder.
This could be a difficult spring for Franklin Gutierrez. The big criticism about the Tribe is that we have no pop in our line-up beyond the middle of the order, that our bottom third is a steep drop off. That's a legitimate concern. If you look at the projected bottom of the order, you know what you're going to get from Casey Blake. Franklin Gutierrez, on the other hand, is somewhat of an unknown. His Buffalo numbers seem to indicate that he could step up and really produce, but he hasn't had the time in Cleveland to really prove that, and his performance in the post-season (giant homerun in Boston notwithstanding) was less than encouraging.
Perhaps in a worse position is Shin Soo Choo who will more than likely take the final spot on the bench, blocking the path of minor league batting champ Ben Francisco. Choo has shown some great ability in the few games he's play in Cleveland, but Francisco's stock is extremely high coming into spring training. There could be a point a few months in when people are clamoring for Francisco to get the call, and since Choo is out of options he also might be out of luck.
But the person who really has the most on his shoulders -- whether he knows it or not -- is David Dellucci. Yes, he knocked in the winning run in one of the greatest games we saw last year, but no one seemed terribly upset when he went down with an injury. At that point he was hitting .230. Even worse, his injury paved the way for the return of Kenny Lofton, who clearly added a spark to the team and the city.
Ideally, Dellucci should be hitting second. He hit .292 with the Phillies in 2006, but only drove in 39 runs with that average. He needs to be the one brought in, not the one getting people in, something a .292 average and a spot ahead of Hafner, Martinez, and Garko would allow for. And as much as I like the "I can bunt more times in a row than anyone ever" ability of Asdrubal Cabrera in the 2 spot, I don't know if we can expect a repeat performance from him at that level.
Oh, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Adam Miller has been shut down for a week becasue of a blister...again.
Jeremy Sowers seems to have worked out his problems from last year and his velocity has increased over the winter. At the same time, Cliff Lee's command of his fastball appears to be back, so I'll stick with my predicition that Lee gets the 5 spot in the rotation.
Perhaps the biggest question for the Tribe when they start the season is who will be on their roster by the end of the year. Even if they stay in contention (which would rule out dealing any of their big guns), they still have a number of people they could move for the right price, from Andy Marte to Shin Soo Choo to Cliff Lee or even Paul Byrd (who's contract is up after this year).
I know it's only spring training, but I, for one, am excited about the games starting up again.
And speaking of diamonds, let's talk baseball!
(Yes, I did that)
There was an interesting spring training preview for the Tribe up on CNNSI.com the other day. In it, they mention something I hadn't heard anywhere before (a side note, I thought they were particularly harsh on our boys, but I suppose teams that don't make big deals are boring to sports writers): Peralta to 2nd so Cabrera can play shortstop.
This would obviously never happen because Cleveland sports teams in general thrive on the belief that if it ain't broke, don't fix it (the simple fact that it's taken the Cavs this long to make a trade is a good point to that effect). But a decent argument could be made that 2nd requires less range than shortstop. Ultimately, though, the idea of moving Peralta to third has more merit, simply because we don't have a viable third baseman after this season, but we do have a viable additional middle inflielder.
This could be a difficult spring for Franklin Gutierrez. The big criticism about the Tribe is that we have no pop in our line-up beyond the middle of the order, that our bottom third is a steep drop off. That's a legitimate concern. If you look at the projected bottom of the order, you know what you're going to get from Casey Blake. Franklin Gutierrez, on the other hand, is somewhat of an unknown. His Buffalo numbers seem to indicate that he could step up and really produce, but he hasn't had the time in Cleveland to really prove that, and his performance in the post-season (giant homerun in Boston notwithstanding) was less than encouraging.
Perhaps in a worse position is Shin Soo Choo who will more than likely take the final spot on the bench, blocking the path of minor league batting champ Ben Francisco. Choo has shown some great ability in the few games he's play in Cleveland, but Francisco's stock is extremely high coming into spring training. There could be a point a few months in when people are clamoring for Francisco to get the call, and since Choo is out of options he also might be out of luck.
But the person who really has the most on his shoulders -- whether he knows it or not -- is David Dellucci. Yes, he knocked in the winning run in one of the greatest games we saw last year, but no one seemed terribly upset when he went down with an injury. At that point he was hitting .230. Even worse, his injury paved the way for the return of Kenny Lofton, who clearly added a spark to the team and the city.
Ideally, Dellucci should be hitting second. He hit .292 with the Phillies in 2006, but only drove in 39 runs with that average. He needs to be the one brought in, not the one getting people in, something a .292 average and a spot ahead of Hafner, Martinez, and Garko would allow for. And as much as I like the "I can bunt more times in a row than anyone ever" ability of Asdrubal Cabrera in the 2 spot, I don't know if we can expect a repeat performance from him at that level.
Oh, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Adam Miller has been shut down for a week becasue of a blister...again.
Jeremy Sowers seems to have worked out his problems from last year and his velocity has increased over the winter. At the same time, Cliff Lee's command of his fastball appears to be back, so I'll stick with my predicition that Lee gets the 5 spot in the rotation.
Perhaps the biggest question for the Tribe when they start the season is who will be on their roster by the end of the year. Even if they stay in contention (which would rule out dealing any of their big guns), they still have a number of people they could move for the right price, from Andy Marte to Shin Soo Choo to Cliff Lee or even Paul Byrd (who's contract is up after this year).
I know it's only spring training, but I, for one, am excited about the games starting up again.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Chemistry
There were some interesting articles out this morning around the web about how the Tribe players feel about the fact that there were no real changes made to their roster in the off season. They all said that it only served to build their confidence that the front office felt no need to bring in new players or trade people to stay competitive. Someone even mentioned that the other teams were making deals to compete with the Tribe, the implication being that the Tribe were the top of the line and other teams were making moves to join them.
Along with those articles, there were a few character pieces, small stories about how the guys interact with each other now that they're back together for this extremely long season. And for as much as Tribe fans might complain about a lack of another bat at 3rd or in the outfield, it's clear during the season that strength of character and team chemistry ultimately mean the most.
How else, for example, can you explain the almost irrational (and I'm guilty of this) fondness of Josh Barfield that so many Tribe fans had? Or, on the flipside, the almost irrational dislike for Jhonny Peralta? Barfield was just as guilty of poor fielding as Peralta (and worse throws) and certainly hit much worse, yet Peralta never got the benefit of the doubt. The bottom line: Barfield has personality. And Peralta, by virtue of saying little, doesn't come across as well.
Another great example is Barfield's (former?) roomate, Ryan Garko. Remember the crazy outcry when there was a chance he wouldn't make the roster last year? Again, Garko is well spoken and personable, exactly the kind of guy we like on our team.
Which is exactly why possibly losing C.C. is so hard. Second perhaps only to Victor Martinez, C.C. is the party guy. He and Victor could have smiling contests. And C.C. does nothing but compliment his teammates. There was a moment in '04 where C.C. had pitched a great game only to hand the ball to David Riske for the close. Riske, as was the norm for every member of that bullpen, blew the save rathter handily. Afterwards, Sabathia said he had no concerns about giving the ball to Riske again (C.C. was probably the only one who felt that way). And I can't even count the number of times I've read quotes from Sabathia about how Martinez makes him better.
For as worried as Tribe fans might be about the state of the AL Central, we all need to take a look at our team and remember what they accomplished last year -- and why we cared so much. It's not just what they did, it's how they did it, and it's nice to have that same group of guys back.
Along with those articles, there were a few character pieces, small stories about how the guys interact with each other now that they're back together for this extremely long season. And for as much as Tribe fans might complain about a lack of another bat at 3rd or in the outfield, it's clear during the season that strength of character and team chemistry ultimately mean the most.
How else, for example, can you explain the almost irrational (and I'm guilty of this) fondness of Josh Barfield that so many Tribe fans had? Or, on the flipside, the almost irrational dislike for Jhonny Peralta? Barfield was just as guilty of poor fielding as Peralta (and worse throws) and certainly hit much worse, yet Peralta never got the benefit of the doubt. The bottom line: Barfield has personality. And Peralta, by virtue of saying little, doesn't come across as well.
Another great example is Barfield's (former?) roomate, Ryan Garko. Remember the crazy outcry when there was a chance he wouldn't make the roster last year? Again, Garko is well spoken and personable, exactly the kind of guy we like on our team.
Which is exactly why possibly losing C.C. is so hard. Second perhaps only to Victor Martinez, C.C. is the party guy. He and Victor could have smiling contests. And C.C. does nothing but compliment his teammates. There was a moment in '04 where C.C. had pitched a great game only to hand the ball to David Riske for the close. Riske, as was the norm for every member of that bullpen, blew the save rathter handily. Afterwards, Sabathia said he had no concerns about giving the ball to Riske again (C.C. was probably the only one who felt that way). And I can't even count the number of times I've read quotes from Sabathia about how Martinez makes him better.
For as worried as Tribe fans might be about the state of the AL Central, we all need to take a look at our team and remember what they accomplished last year -- and why we cared so much. It's not just what they did, it's how they did it, and it's nice to have that same group of guys back.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Projections
Spring training games begin next week, and considering all the talk about 2009 that we've already heard, let's say we pull back a bit and start to talking about the end results of the next month.
Yes, it's time for wild speculation, although in the case of the Indians there's not much room for that.
Here's what I would imagine our starting line-up will be, Opening Day of 2008:
Grady Sizemore CF
Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Victor Martinez C
Ryan Garko 1B
Jhonny Peralta SS
David Delucci/Jason Michaels LF
Franklin Gutierrez RF
Casey Blake 3B
With the platoon in left, we'll have spots for three people on the bench, so I'm relatively sure (barring a trade) that we'll get Jaime Carroll, Shin Soo Choo, and Andy Marte.
The bullpen is also laid out pretty clearly:
Borowski
Betancourt
Perez
Lewis
Kobayashi
Fultz
Even money is that Tom Mastny gets the last spot, although Scott Elarton put up decent numbers from the bullpen in Buffalo last year, so you never now. You have to figure Brendon Donnelly has something to prove and he does have some talent. I think Mastny might be able to live on his Ortiz/Ramirez glory from the post-season.
The rotation is only a bit more interesting:
Sabathia
Carmona
Westbrook
Byrd
Laffey/Lee/Sowers
Now, at first look I'd go with Laffey winning this spot. You have to like how he pitched when he got his chance last year. On the other hand, we know Sowers has real talent and he seems like a really nice guy as opposed to, say, Cliff Lee who desperately needs a PR guy in Cleveland. That said, the intellectual part of me points to the fact that Lee is a big league pitcher who had a bad year and that the bad year was unusual for him. As much as I'd like to see the youngsters get a shot, I'm leaning towards Lee getting the final spot.
Lofgren needs a full year at Buffalo, I think, and Miller needs to throw a decent number of games without getting hurt.
Buffalo should have a hell of a rotation if my predictions hold: Miller, Laffey, Sowers, and Lofgren, plus probably Brian Slocum.
As for call ups during the season, I'll hold off on any guesses there until we see a few spring training games. My initial impulse is to point towards Laffey or Sowers and Ben Francisco or Josh Barfield, but we'll see how they do in the practice games.
Yes, it's time for wild speculation, although in the case of the Indians there's not much room for that.
Here's what I would imagine our starting line-up will be, Opening Day of 2008:
Grady Sizemore CF
Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Victor Martinez C
Ryan Garko 1B
Jhonny Peralta SS
David Delucci/Jason Michaels LF
Franklin Gutierrez RF
Casey Blake 3B
With the platoon in left, we'll have spots for three people on the bench, so I'm relatively sure (barring a trade) that we'll get Jaime Carroll, Shin Soo Choo, and Andy Marte.
The bullpen is also laid out pretty clearly:
Borowski
Betancourt
Perez
Lewis
Kobayashi
Fultz
Even money is that Tom Mastny gets the last spot, although Scott Elarton put up decent numbers from the bullpen in Buffalo last year, so you never now. You have to figure Brendon Donnelly has something to prove and he does have some talent. I think Mastny might be able to live on his Ortiz/Ramirez glory from the post-season.
The rotation is only a bit more interesting:
Sabathia
Carmona
Westbrook
Byrd
Laffey/Lee/Sowers
Now, at first look I'd go with Laffey winning this spot. You have to like how he pitched when he got his chance last year. On the other hand, we know Sowers has real talent and he seems like a really nice guy as opposed to, say, Cliff Lee who desperately needs a PR guy in Cleveland. That said, the intellectual part of me points to the fact that Lee is a big league pitcher who had a bad year and that the bad year was unusual for him. As much as I'd like to see the youngsters get a shot, I'm leaning towards Lee getting the final spot.
Lofgren needs a full year at Buffalo, I think, and Miller needs to throw a decent number of games without getting hurt.
Buffalo should have a hell of a rotation if my predictions hold: Miller, Laffey, Sowers, and Lofgren, plus probably Brian Slocum.
As for call ups during the season, I'll hold off on any guesses there until we see a few spring training games. My initial impulse is to point towards Laffey or Sowers and Ben Francisco or Josh Barfield, but we'll see how they do in the practice games.
Friday, February 15, 2008
...Aaaaaand there it is.
Dear Adam Miller,
Time to live up to the hype.
Your friend,
Kyle
A mere 48 hours after my last blog, C.C. made it known that he and his agent would be suspending any contract negotiations until after the '08 season aka he will be a free agent. And while there remains some small grain of hope, this can't be a good sign. At least he didn't say he'd have to have the Indians jersey torn off his body.
So where does this leave us?
In some ways, if the Indians DON'T compete next season it might not be the worst thing that ever happened. Because then the Tribe could deal C.C., not to mention perhaps move some of the other expiring contracts like Michaels and Byrd (and Dellucci, although he has another year) and make some call ups. Because let's face facts, starting your rookie season with the expectation of stepping in for C.C. is daunting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still picking the Tribe to win the Central as no one has been able to convince me that the Tigers aren't going to have the same exact problems they had last year. But there's a silver lining if we don't.
We're looking at replacing 2/5 of our rotation next year as opposed to more than likely none (assuming Laffey gets the 5 spot again) this year. And while we should have money to spend on the free agent market, we might need that for a third baseman or a closer.
So who's ready for such a step up? Will Adam Miller stay healthy? Will Jeremy Sowers return to form? Will another year in Buffalo be enough for Chuck Lofgren? And the real kicker, is Cliff Lee still salvageable?
The Tribe doesn't seem to have a lot of question marks this year. Next year, however...the mind boggles.
Time to live up to the hype.
Your friend,
Kyle
A mere 48 hours after my last blog, C.C. made it known that he and his agent would be suspending any contract negotiations until after the '08 season aka he will be a free agent. And while there remains some small grain of hope, this can't be a good sign. At least he didn't say he'd have to have the Indians jersey torn off his body.
So where does this leave us?
In some ways, if the Indians DON'T compete next season it might not be the worst thing that ever happened. Because then the Tribe could deal C.C., not to mention perhaps move some of the other expiring contracts like Michaels and Byrd (and Dellucci, although he has another year) and make some call ups. Because let's face facts, starting your rookie season with the expectation of stepping in for C.C. is daunting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still picking the Tribe to win the Central as no one has been able to convince me that the Tigers aren't going to have the same exact problems they had last year. But there's a silver lining if we don't.
We're looking at replacing 2/5 of our rotation next year as opposed to more than likely none (assuming Laffey gets the 5 spot again) this year. And while we should have money to spend on the free agent market, we might need that for a third baseman or a closer.
So who's ready for such a step up? Will Adam Miller stay healthy? Will Jeremy Sowers return to form? Will another year in Buffalo be enough for Chuck Lofgren? And the real kicker, is Cliff Lee still salvageable?
The Tribe doesn't seem to have a lot of question marks this year. Next year, however...the mind boggles.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The future is now!
The word on the various Cleveland sports web sites is that the deal with C.C. is not being held up because of money, but because of length. The Indians have offered a 4 year deal at close to $20 million, while C.C.'s camp would like something longer. I can't imagine the Tribe locking in for that much money for more than four years, though.
Regardless of how it turns out, this move is going to affect the farm system one way or the other. If C.C. resigns, 1/3 of our total payroll will be going to him. If you thought the Indians were thrifty when it came to free agents before, you ain't seen nothin'. That means we'll need guys from AAA to step up into spots where we might look for free agents.
On the flip side, if C.C. goes that means we'll need our younger pitchers to step in and to step in big. They'll have some awfully big shoes to help fill.
In the end, the C.C. deal will tax our farm system one way or the other. The question is whether our pitchers or our hitters can suffer it more easily.
Let's look at our pitchers. Adam Miller could be an ace if he stays healthy, but I can't imagine sticking him in a rotation where he'll be expected to pick up the slack that C.C. has left will do him that much good. You'd have to think we'd want his expectations to be pretty low for his first year. The same can be said for Laffey, Lofgren, Sowers, et al. Stepping in to replace Paul Byrd is one thing; stepping in to replace C.C. would be quite another.
Something else to consider: in the latest issue of Scout magazine, they compare Miller to other pitchers, one of which being Joe Nathan. Evidently, there's some thought that Miller could close. I can't see that happening if C.C. leaves, though.
As for our hitters, if there's a fast track to the majors through the Indians farm system, it's at third. I can't imagine the Indians paying Casey Blake to stick around after this year; they really need to find a guy to stick in there for years to come. Unfortunately, Andy Marte isn't hitting. The top rated third baseman in our farm system is Wes Hodges, but that's mostly for his bat. He had 19 errors in 93 games last year, although he'll start the season in Akron regardless. It will be interesting to see if they move number one prospect Jordan Brown from 1st to 3rd when he moves to Buffalo. Regardless, something's going to have to give over the course of the next year.
In other words, the Tribe might have to pay for a third baseman at some point.
There's left field, too, of course, although the sole outflield position available on the Tribe's bench (with the Michaels, Delucci platoon in left) will most likely go to Shin Soo Choo who is out of options. That's fine with me as I've always liked him and he seems to have real talent, I just hope he's not wasted on the bench all year. Then again, given Wedge's fondness for mixing up the roster, I'm sure he'll see a decent amount of time.
Of our top twenty prospects, eight of them are pitchers, but we all know how fragile pitching talent can be. There's less of a learning curve there. I can only imagine that it's much easier to learn how to hit a curve ball than it is to learn how to throw one (a good one, at least).
Do I think we can weather losing C.C.? Of course. I wouldn't be much of a fan. And, like I said, we have more than a few arms in Buffalo that could bolster a rotation lead by Carmona. But it would tough.
I really don't see us giving Sabathia more than four years, though...
Regardless of how it turns out, this move is going to affect the farm system one way or the other. If C.C. resigns, 1/3 of our total payroll will be going to him. If you thought the Indians were thrifty when it came to free agents before, you ain't seen nothin'. That means we'll need guys from AAA to step up into spots where we might look for free agents.
On the flip side, if C.C. goes that means we'll need our younger pitchers to step in and to step in big. They'll have some awfully big shoes to help fill.
In the end, the C.C. deal will tax our farm system one way or the other. The question is whether our pitchers or our hitters can suffer it more easily.
Let's look at our pitchers. Adam Miller could be an ace if he stays healthy, but I can't imagine sticking him in a rotation where he'll be expected to pick up the slack that C.C. has left will do him that much good. You'd have to think we'd want his expectations to be pretty low for his first year. The same can be said for Laffey, Lofgren, Sowers, et al. Stepping in to replace Paul Byrd is one thing; stepping in to replace C.C. would be quite another.
Something else to consider: in the latest issue of Scout magazine, they compare Miller to other pitchers, one of which being Joe Nathan. Evidently, there's some thought that Miller could close. I can't see that happening if C.C. leaves, though.
As for our hitters, if there's a fast track to the majors through the Indians farm system, it's at third. I can't imagine the Indians paying Casey Blake to stick around after this year; they really need to find a guy to stick in there for years to come. Unfortunately, Andy Marte isn't hitting. The top rated third baseman in our farm system is Wes Hodges, but that's mostly for his bat. He had 19 errors in 93 games last year, although he'll start the season in Akron regardless. It will be interesting to see if they move number one prospect Jordan Brown from 1st to 3rd when he moves to Buffalo. Regardless, something's going to have to give over the course of the next year.
In other words, the Tribe might have to pay for a third baseman at some point.
There's left field, too, of course, although the sole outflield position available on the Tribe's bench (with the Michaels, Delucci platoon in left) will most likely go to Shin Soo Choo who is out of options. That's fine with me as I've always liked him and he seems to have real talent, I just hope he's not wasted on the bench all year. Then again, given Wedge's fondness for mixing up the roster, I'm sure he'll see a decent amount of time.
Of our top twenty prospects, eight of them are pitchers, but we all know how fragile pitching talent can be. There's less of a learning curve there. I can only imagine that it's much easier to learn how to hit a curve ball than it is to learn how to throw one (a good one, at least).
Do I think we can weather losing C.C.? Of course. I wouldn't be much of a fan. And, like I said, we have more than a few arms in Buffalo that could bolster a rotation lead by Carmona. But it would tough.
I really don't see us giving Sabathia more than four years, though...
Friday, February 8, 2008
Dis-parity
Well, that experiment failed miserably, didn't it? As my friend Matt pointed out, three times a week was something of a pipe dream. I barely make it to work three times a week and they PAY ME.
Yet, for a guy who added an entry almost daily for a decent chunk of last season, three times a week seemed like cake.
A bit more realistically, I'm going to shoot for twice a week, at least until the season begins. Those two days will be Tuesday and Friday. I should be able to manage TWO blogs a week, right?
The recent Santana deal dovetails nicely into my proposed discussion on parity, or the illusion of parity, which is what we really have in baseball and what we will always have in baseball without salary caps. I've often stated that the most hated man in America would be the commissioner who takes office, instills a salary cap, watches as all the owners and players strike, brings in minor leaguers to replace them, and then holes up for five to ten years as time passes and the country accepts this new version of the game. He (or she) would be the most hated man in America, yes, but would eventually be the most loved.
That person would also be shot before they could ever put such a plan in action.
As both Peter Gammons and Buster Olney (two of the best baseball reporters in the game) have said in recent columns, the Santana deal underscores that the rich keep getting richer. While it's nice that there was some semblence of a trade involved, the bottom line is that the Mets signed Santana as a really expensive free agent, one which cost them players as well as money. Ultimately, the prospects were secondary as there are plenty of teams with better farm systems than the Mets. The money is what mattered.
That's what I find most unfortunate about such situations. I've heard plenty of Red Sox fans defend their team by siting trades they've made. "We traded for Josh Beckett," they say, "we didn't get him as a free agent." Yes, but the only reason you got him was because you were able to take on Mike Lowell's giant contract as well. It's like the Yankees claiming they put their team together through trades and pointing to getting A-rod from Texas. Sure, there's some amount of trade involved, but it only happens because of the money involved.
Which brings us back to the Santana deal. There were exactly three teams in the running and, not surprisingly, they were three of the richest teams in the league. At the time, if he had gone to the Red Sox it would have been all over but the crying. Now, though, you have to wonder if Boston would have pushed harder, what with Schilling supposedly out for at least half the year. Had the Yankees gotten him, I think the Tribe's chances of going to the post-season would have diminshed greatly, as the wild card spot would have been spoken for (even though I think we'll win the division again this year). Thankfully, he went to the NL...
...but how thankful can we really be?
As pretty much everyone has pointed out, Santana's giant deal has priced Sabathia right out of the Indians' hands. I'd love to think that a love of Cleveland will keep C.C. there, but I can't help but think about Jim "they'll have to tear this jersey off my back" Thome.
The issue isn't whether or not the Tribe CAN pay Sabathia that kind of money, it's if they should. I have little doubt that they could come up with $20 million a year to keep C.C. around. But SHOULD they? Should they spend 1/3 of their entire payroll on one guy, one guy who only plays every fifth day? What kind of bats could you get for that money? What kind of a closer could you get next year for part of that money? Is the investment worth the return?
People who call the Indians cheap for not forking out big cash for players are missing the point. It's not a matter of having the money or even being willing to spend it, it's a matter of comparison shopping.
Which means all eyes turn towards Buffalo in hopes of seeing one or more guys who can step in, guys some Tribe fans would have had us trade during the off season, guys who could be the only thing that keeps this team competitive beyond 2008. But more on that Tuesday.
My prediction? If C.C. does hit the open market, I think he'll go to San Francisco. It's close to home for him, he'd dominate in the NL, he'd get to bat, and San Francisco has shown they're willing to spend money for pitching. And, honestly, by 2009 Sabathia could turn that team into a legitimate competitor.
Yet, for a guy who added an entry almost daily for a decent chunk of last season, three times a week seemed like cake.
A bit more realistically, I'm going to shoot for twice a week, at least until the season begins. Those two days will be Tuesday and Friday. I should be able to manage TWO blogs a week, right?
The recent Santana deal dovetails nicely into my proposed discussion on parity, or the illusion of parity, which is what we really have in baseball and what we will always have in baseball without salary caps. I've often stated that the most hated man in America would be the commissioner who takes office, instills a salary cap, watches as all the owners and players strike, brings in minor leaguers to replace them, and then holes up for five to ten years as time passes and the country accepts this new version of the game. He (or she) would be the most hated man in America, yes, but would eventually be the most loved.
That person would also be shot before they could ever put such a plan in action.
As both Peter Gammons and Buster Olney (two of the best baseball reporters in the game) have said in recent columns, the Santana deal underscores that the rich keep getting richer. While it's nice that there was some semblence of a trade involved, the bottom line is that the Mets signed Santana as a really expensive free agent, one which cost them players as well as money. Ultimately, the prospects were secondary as there are plenty of teams with better farm systems than the Mets. The money is what mattered.
That's what I find most unfortunate about such situations. I've heard plenty of Red Sox fans defend their team by siting trades they've made. "We traded for Josh Beckett," they say, "we didn't get him as a free agent." Yes, but the only reason you got him was because you were able to take on Mike Lowell's giant contract as well. It's like the Yankees claiming they put their team together through trades and pointing to getting A-rod from Texas. Sure, there's some amount of trade involved, but it only happens because of the money involved.
Which brings us back to the Santana deal. There were exactly three teams in the running and, not surprisingly, they were three of the richest teams in the league. At the time, if he had gone to the Red Sox it would have been all over but the crying. Now, though, you have to wonder if Boston would have pushed harder, what with Schilling supposedly out for at least half the year. Had the Yankees gotten him, I think the Tribe's chances of going to the post-season would have diminshed greatly, as the wild card spot would have been spoken for (even though I think we'll win the division again this year). Thankfully, he went to the NL...
...but how thankful can we really be?
As pretty much everyone has pointed out, Santana's giant deal has priced Sabathia right out of the Indians' hands. I'd love to think that a love of Cleveland will keep C.C. there, but I can't help but think about Jim "they'll have to tear this jersey off my back" Thome.
The issue isn't whether or not the Tribe CAN pay Sabathia that kind of money, it's if they should. I have little doubt that they could come up with $20 million a year to keep C.C. around. But SHOULD they? Should they spend 1/3 of their entire payroll on one guy, one guy who only plays every fifth day? What kind of bats could you get for that money? What kind of a closer could you get next year for part of that money? Is the investment worth the return?
People who call the Indians cheap for not forking out big cash for players are missing the point. It's not a matter of having the money or even being willing to spend it, it's a matter of comparison shopping.
Which means all eyes turn towards Buffalo in hopes of seeing one or more guys who can step in, guys some Tribe fans would have had us trade during the off season, guys who could be the only thing that keeps this team competitive beyond 2008. But more on that Tuesday.
My prediction? If C.C. does hit the open market, I think he'll go to San Francisco. It's close to home for him, he'd dominate in the NL, he'd get to bat, and San Francisco has shown they're willing to spend money for pitching. And, honestly, by 2009 Sabathia could turn that team into a legitimate competitor.
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