Ray Chapman's Revenge

Tough Week

2011-08-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

The common perception was that this past week was going to be the true test of whether or not this Indians team was really going to be able to compete for first in the Central Division. And, like every other thing we've seen from this team so far this year, the answer is still unclear. Had they gone, say, 2-5 or 1-6, I think we could put a fork in them. Had they gone 5-2 or 6-1, we'd have real reason to be excited for the rest of this season. After all, the Red Sox and the Rangers are two of the best teams in all of the American League; taking them on -- on the road, no less -- was going to be a big challenge.

We went 3-4 on this road trip, which really isn't that bad, considering the opponents. On top of that, the Tribe lost those 4 games by a combined total of 5 runs. If a hit or a pitch had gone our way in three of those games, we'd have come out of this week with a winning record.

The real bright spot in the past week was the offense. Granted, they were playing in hitter friendly parks, but they were also facing good pitching. While Santana had spurts of greatness and awfulness, the 1-4 we're currently throwing out there every day (Brantley, Kipnis, Cabrera, and Hafner) looks like it could be the real deal. Fukudome has also started coming along. Honestly, when Choo returns I would expect/hope for him to go into the #5 spot, possibly moving Santana as low as #7 and leaving Fukudome where he's at.

The obvious dark spot was the bullpen, who struggled most of the week. I'd like to chalk that up to overuse because, let's face facts, most of those guys haven't pitched this much before. It also might be time to think about making a few changes. It's obvious that Acta is remiss to use either Hermann or Durbin in serious situations. The further we get into the season and the more important each game becomes, it's clear that we can't afford to have a bullpen with ostensibly only five pitchers.

The day off tomorrow is a double edged sword. On one hand, it would be great to get back out there and get the bad taste out of our mouths after a tough loss. But a day off could definitely help the bullpen.

The upcoming three game series against the Tigers is obviously a big one. The Tribe has to win the series, and even then they'll only pick up one game. A sweep is the best possible outcome, but Verlander is pitching the third game, so that's going to be tough. Still, taking tow out of three would be pretty fantastic, and, I think, a big lift for this team.

So we still don't know if this team is for real or not, but at least we've made it this far with at least some spark of hope.

Thoughts on the Big Trade

2011-07-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that the Indians had yet another walk off home run tonight and that is probably the secondary story on the Tribe tonight.

The big news, of course, is the "almost done" trade that sends Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Matt McBride, and Joe Gardner to Colorado for Ubaldo Jimenez.

My gut reaction is that I hate to see both Pomeranz and White on that list. But I can get over that, because I think that this is ultimately a good deal for the Indians. Here are my reasons:

1) Jimenez has struggled this year, but his big problems have come at home, place known as Coors Field. The Rockies' stadium is the most pitcher unfriendly park in baseball. Jimenez's ERA at Coors is closer to 6 than 5. His ERA everywhere else is 2.83. Granted, he's been in the NL, but his numbers away from Coors are better than everyone in our rotation but Masterson.

2) Alex White has never been projected at anything higher than a #3 starter, so losing him is more of a product of the fact that he's a guy we actually drafted, and we've had so few home grown pitchers make it to the major league team. Pomeranz, of course, projects as an ace. The problem, however, is that these are projections. There's no guarantee that he'll pan out, although I do think he will. Still, at the earliest we'd see him next year, more more likely 2013, which is a ways off.

3) Yes, this is a deal made because the Tribe is (now) only 1.5 games out of first place. But let's not look past the fact that this is also a trade for the future. Jimenez is locked in through 2013, with an option for 2014 (although he can void that since he was traded). This means that heading into next year (and probably the year after), the Tribe won't be wondering who's going to be in their rotation. In fact, they'll have about 9 guys between Cleveland and Columbus who could make a go of it, and suddenly two guaranteed front of the rotation guys in Jimenez and Masterson.

4) I would expect Carrasco to get sent down to make room for Jimenez. He clearly needs to work something out given his last 5 starts. I don't have a lot of faith in Huff, but he's been really good since getting called up, so no reason to send him down. But let's not forget what Carrasco did in his 5 starts before those. He obviously has the stuff to be a front end guy, and perhaps sending him back down to AAA will turn him around. But, again, if we can get him straightened out, that's a heck of a 1-3.

5) Yes, we still need offense. Rumor has it that the Tribe is in a good position to acquire Ludwick from the Padres. While Ludwick's overall numbers aren't great, his OPS against left handed pitching ranks him at the top of the Tribe's order, so getting him to face just lefties would be great.

6) The time is now for the Indians organization. Why? Because Cleveland can really only support two sports teams, and the Browns will always be number one. Attendance for Cavs games is only going to drop, if they even play next season. Now is the time for the Indians to win back the city. Not only does this move improve their chances of winning the division, it shows the fan base that they're serious about winning right now. That's huge for the franchise.

Anyway, looking forward to see Jimenez pitch and I'm hoping we find a way to get Ludwick. Should be a fun next couple of weeks.

Angels at Indians, 7/27/11

2011-07-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well, that was painful.

After pulling a game out of their collective rear ends on Monday, we saw the Tribe lose a game they really should have come back to win (or at least send to extra innings) last night and then saw them get no hit today...and commit FIVE ERRORS.

But what did we really learn from all of this?

Well, we learned that if the front office makes a deal for a pitcher and doesn't make a deal for a bat, our front office is watching a different team than the rest of us.

Also, I don't care how badly he needs work or whether or not it's "baseball logic," Chris Perez should never pitch unless it's a save situation.

According to what I've read, the Indians actually offered the Mets a "good" prospect (I would guess Phelps or McCallister) and agreed to pick up ALL of Beltran's remaining salary. But Beltran was never told about the deal, one would think because his agent, Scott Boras, scoffed at the idea of sending one of his big guns to Cleveland. It appears now that he's going to San Francisco for less than what the Tribe offered, but you can't say it won't be easier for him to reach the post-season with that team.

The silver lining in this is that it's clear the front office is serious about adding offense to this team, and that they are willing to spend money to do it. The problem now, however, is that there just aren't that many quality bats out there. The best of the bunch is Hunter Pence, but the Astros seem to want the world for him, and the Tribe won't part with White, Pomeranz, Chisenhall, or Kipnis, and I don't blame them.

What's particularly frustrating about the situation for the Tribe right now is that, come the beginning of September, they could get 3 guys back from the DL, all of whom can have an immediate impact. We saw what Grady Sizemore could do when he's healthy this season, and Choo's career numbers suggest that he'll get back on track. They've decided to rehab White as a reliever for the big league team, and while there's no doubt he'll help, he could also slot in nicely if a rotation spot comes available. He certainly performed better than the back of our rotation so far this year.

But we faced the Angels' three best starters in this series and countered with a guy who has been abysmal, a guy who has been roughed up lately, and a guy who has never had success in the majors, and we were right there in every game. If we had any kind of offense at all, we probably could have taken all three.

I feel bad for Chisenhall and Kipnis, as I think they can make real contributions to this team, but they're being thrown into the fire with little room for error. Even if we make a trade for a bat, though, one of them is going to have to start hitting more, ideally so we can slot them in the number two spot and move Brantley back to lead off.

There has also been some talk about starting Lou Marson more because he's the superior defensive catcher. It's actually not a bad idea, assuming that Santana would then play first more. Santana's BA is horrible, but he gets on base far more than Matt LaPorta, whose BA isn't too great, either. In fact, LaPorta's hitting less than Marson, so the entire move would be an upgrade. At the very least, Marson should start against every lefty we face.

I have no idea if the Indians will be able to make an impact deal before the trade deadline. I really hope so, because the potential is there. And once you get into the post-season, anything can happen.

2012 Indians: All Is Not Lost

2011-06-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

Before this season, I predicted the Tribe would go 82-80. The way they are playing right now, that seems inevitable, and perhaps even optimistic. But there is hope.

I don't mean that there's hope for this season. There really isn't much of that. There's no reason to believe that the return of Travis Hafner and the addition of Cord Phelps will turn the offense around so dramatically, or at least return it to what it was before Hafner was hurt. I'm sure it will get better, but I can't imagine it will be what it was at the start of this year.

There's also the simple fact that the Tigers are a really good team, which only makes sense, given how much they cost. Even with a healthy line-up, the Tribe doesn't have any offense that can match Detroit's.

One thing that people seem to be ignoring during this Cleveland/Detroit series is the fact that the White Sox are now only 4.5 back. Again, they're a really good team, which only makes sense, given how much they cost. This, then, would give the Tribe two teams with payrolls twice as large as theirs that they have to contend with to win the division. The odds of that are not great.

Because this is parity in baseball; the big market teams can compete every year, the mid and small market teams can compete every 4 to 5 years.

And that's fine. I've accepted that. It's not good, but it is what it is.

All that said, Tribe fans should be focusing on the good that has already come out of this season instead of the fact that we're no longer in first place.

Justin Masterson has shown he can be a real starter. He's gotten hosed by the offense as late, but his ERA stands at 3.16. What's particularly amazing about this is the fact that he still can't get out lefties; they hit .308 against him! It's mind boggling that he would be pitching so well with such an obvious hole in his armor. But this also means that, if he finds a way to at least lower his BAA for lefties, he could be even better than he is now.

We've all heard how great Carlos Carrasco's "stuff" is, and now we're beginning to see it. It's clear that Carrasco is beginning to mature right before our eyes, and a full season under his belt will only take him that much further. Imagine where he could be come next year.

Alex White proved that he's ready for the big leagues. His injury has hurt the team, but, if the Tribe is smart, they'll bring him back to the Show when he's off the DL. A half season in the Majors can only help him at this point. But he showed that he's not over matched by big league hitters.

Mitch Talbot is a strange case. When he's good, he's dominate, but when he's bad...it gets ugly quick. But having a guy like him in the back of the rotation would be great, assuming he can stay healthy.

It's hard to say what's wrong with Fausto Carmona. The man who fought off the midge invasion seems to crack under pressure these days. Carmona's a tricky situation for the Tribe. His trade value has to be pretty low right now. But if he starts pitching well again, would the Tribe deal him? He has team friendly options on his contract, so trading him away (assuming he improves) seems like a bad idea, particularly if the Tribe is planning on contending next season.

Josh Tomlin is currently going through is inevitable fall back to earth after a ridiculous start. Tomlin will never be anything more than a four or five starter, but at least he throws strikes. I'm not entirely sure there's a place for him next year, which is strange to say given how well he's pitched this season.

And, of course, there's Drew Pomeranz, who has dominated at the minor league level and is currently following the Alex White schedule of promotion. He's currently in advanced A at Kinston, where's he got a 2.01 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 53.2 innings. I would expect him to send the season with the AA Akron Aeros and to start next season with the AAA Columbus Clippers. And I would guess we'll see him at mid-season next year, which would be like trading for a great starter.

Adding Cord Phelps to the line-up hasn't really paid any dividends yet, but it's a good move. While Lonnie Chisenhall hasn't been lighting it up so far this season, his time will come, as will Jason Kipnis'. It will be interesting to see what kind of battle we might get between Phelps and Kipnis at second; Phelps could get a real leg up for next season if manages to start hitting in the majors.

It also bares repeating that Grady Sizemore is coming back from an injury. Yes, I know he came out of the gate like a raging bull, but it was only a matter of time before he dropped down. His timing is clearly off at the plate. This, I think it's safe to assume, will get worked out over time.

And another year is that much distance between Choo and his DUI.

I truly believe this team has a chance to win the division next year, if not go to the World Series. I said as much a few months back. And I'm fine with waiting. I'll take my fond memories from the first part of this season and store them away until next year.

And I'll spend this season watching a .500 slowly transform into a winner.

The Lost Season (and, sadly, is hasn't even gotten here yet)

2009-07-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

What a difference a series makes.

At a certain point you do have to wonder, if the Indians were so bad, why have all of our players been traded to teams in the middle of playoff races? Garko and Betancourt are going to battle each other for the NL Wildcard, DeRosa is fighting for first in the NL Central, and now Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco are going to be extending the Phillies lead in the NL East (and I've just now noticed that we have only dealt guys to the NL, which is interesting).

I give credit to Mark Shapiro on at least one point, though: he's being honest. While I don't know that I completely agree that the Tribe couldn't compete next year (even with a command from on high to cut payroll), he would certainly know better than I. At least he's not pretending and trying to sugar coat this. He doesn't think we have the pieces to compete next year and, in the interests of full disclosure, he told us that we don't even have the money to get those pieces. So it's time to rebuild (and that's what it is -- screw this "reload" B.S.).

Could we have gotten more for Lee and Francisco? It sure seems that way. It is odd that, for a team so desperate for pitching, half of the guys we got were position players? Definitely. Is it even stranger that one of them is a catcher, when we currently have three catchers on the major league roster, two catchers on the AAA roster (one of whom, Toregas, has better numbers than the new guy), and one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball on the AA roster? Hell, yes. But, for as much as Shapiro wants to keep things a secret, it's clear that those players are around for other reasons -- either as replacements for guys who are going to get dealt or as pieces to sweeten another deal.

All eyes are on Victor Martinez. And everyone should be looking at Victor Martinez, but let's not forget about Jhonny Peralta, Jamie Carroll, and Carl Pavano. If the Tribe is serious about rebuilding for 2011, all four of those guys should be dealt in the next two days. There's absolutely no reason NOT to.

I expect Martinez to go to the Red Sox in some kind of deal that gets us Justin Masterson. That's my best guess, though. I have no real inside knowledge on this.

So where does that leave us, going forward? Well, assuming we deal the guys I listed above, and working under the completely darkness of not knowing who we might get for any of them (I'm willing to guess we'd make a spot in the bullpen for Masterson, if need be), I'm suggesting this, beginning this weekend (after the trade deadline):

Infield:

Marte (3rd)
Cabrera (SS)
Valbuena (2nd)
LaPorta (1st)
Gimenez (C)

Outfield:

Choo (RF)
Sizemore (CF)
Brantley/Crowe (LF/4th OF)

Bench:

Shoppach (because I don't think they'll deal both of our experienced catchers)
Hafner (DH)
Barfield or Donald (utiltiy INF)
Brown (1st/OF/DH)

Rotation:

Carmona
Laffey
Huff
Sowers
Carrosco (from the Lee deal)

Bullpen:

Wood
Perez
Perez
Todd
Lewis
Sipp
Smith

There's no reason to hang on to our mis-matched bullpen. Veras, Gosling, Abreau -- these guys are not the future of our bullpen. Sure, Sipp has had problems and it's hard to imagine giving R. Perez and J. Lewis another shot, but by the hell not? If they need to work themselves out (and they've been perfect in AAA), let them do it at the top level.

I'll be honest: I'm fine with this. Oh, I'm not saying I won't get really misty-eyed if/when Victor is traded, but I would much rather we be upfront about it than pretend otherwise. The Tribe is a mid-market team in a city with more teams than it can support. I understand that this is how it works.

It's just really sad that this generation of Indians -- Sabathia, Lee, Martinez, Peralta, etc. -- are headed out, having come SO close to getting us that championship we've been waiting for all these years. It was a heck of a ride.

There will be a few holdovers, though, thankfully. Sizemore is signed through 2011 with an option for 2012, which HAS to be picked up. Hafner is signed through 2012 with an option for 2013 (much less likely to be picked up as I don't know that he'll be needed). Cabrera is arbitration eligible starting in 2011, but I would expect all these moves to be a precursor to signing him to a long term deal.

And let's look at it this way, too: we have a lot of pitching options in the pipe between now and the start of the 2011 season. There's Carmona, there's Laffey, there's Huff and Sowers. Then we've got Scott Lewis and the newly aquired Carrasco. Beyond that, we have our big star, Hector Rondon, who's pitching next to Chuck Lofgren in Columbus. Two years is enough time for AA guys to make a run, too -- guys like Edell and Graham, who both have ERAs under 3 in Akron. That's ten guys I just rattled off, and I'm not even counting potential bullpen guys or anyone we acquire between now and then.

Do I wish we could have made a go of it last year? Of course -- I wish we could have made a go of it this year. I want a championship to come to Cleveland and I want the Indians to be the first team to do it (I'm looking at you, Cavs). But I'm fine with rebuilding if we're actually going to commit to it.

Sadly, that means trading a few players that I've really grown to like over the years. But that's the nature of the game, isn't it?

Cleveland Matters

2009-07-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Time flies when your favorite team is awful, doesn't it?

I watched "The Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush" on HBO again today. It's one of those shows that's impossible to turn off when you stumble across it, the story is just that interesting (I should point out that it was followed by "Ted Williams," a documentary about, well, Ted Williams, during which his nephew, named Ted Williams -- really -- claims that, because of the debacle that was Williams' will, his famous uncle will now be most commonly known as "the frozen guy," not, say, "the greatest hitter baseball has ever known." The lesson here is that Ted Williams' nephew, Ted Williams, is an idiot.). The Dodgers clinched the pennant in 1955 rather handily, and waited to see who they would play in the World Series. One of the Dodgers' mentioned that they didn't really care whether they would play the Yankees or Cleveland.

This was, of course, one year after the Indians would get swept in the World Series by the Giants.

Anyway, I think, given the decades of irrelevance that the Tribe has experienced in its history, it's easy to forget why the Indians matter. They don't have the mystique that the Yankees or the Red Sox have, yet in the early days of baseball they were right there, just as important the the league as anything coming out of New York or Boston or even Detroit.

I once read an article in which famed Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully suggested that perhaps the best thing that could happen to baseball would be to cut the league back down to eight teams in each league. It made me wonder, in today's bi-coastal, media controlled world, which teams would make the cut. And I began to worry that my beloved Tribe wouldn't be one of them.

Cleveland's biggest problem these days -- aside from the staggering job loss and crippling depression -- is that it is a one sport town; the people of Northeast Ohio can really only afford to support one team at a time. Who are you going to go see, Ryan Garko (who I happen to like) and Kelly Shoppach (who I happen to not like), or LeBron James (who I like despite his front runner tendencies) and Shaq (who I like despite having played with Kobe)? Honestly, the NFL might want to reconsider extending the season any further, because at a certain point Cleveland fans are going to have to regularly decide between those Browns' tickets and those Cavs tickets', and we all know how that decision would go these days.

It is no coincidence that the Indians dominated after the Browns left and the Cavs got bad again.

So, what, then? Do we wait for LeBron to move to New York before the Tribe can go the World Series and lose again? No, we just hold out hope that we can catch lightning in a bottle again, like we did in '07, and realize that the karma of a city will only allow those years to happen as an exception, not as a rule.

Speaking of karma, does that mean we should trade Cliff Lee? Hey, at least Sabathia had the manners to win the Cy Young while getting our team into the post-season (granted, he actually had help). What could it possibly take to get Lee from the Tribe, given that we have a really cheap option on him next year? And, if we DO trade him, aren't we basically admitting that we have no shot next year, either?

Well, yes to that last one, which might not be too far from the truth. Keeping Cliff Lee means making a number of assumptions, specifically about our future pitching staff. It assumes that Jake Westbrook will be able to return to form after half a season of play this year (he's due back at the beginning of August). It assumes that Fausto Carmona, who was sent all the way to the Rookie League just a month ago, has figured it out, and can be the Cy Young contender he was in '07. It assumes that Hector Rondon's first two starts since getting the call to AAA Columbus are indications of what he'll do the rest of the season, and what he can do next year. It assumes that Aaron Laffey and Scott Lewis, if healthy, can live up to their potential. And it assumes that we can get something out of our AAAA guys, David Huff and Jeremy Sowers, who always seem to be one inning away from being solid pitchers.

It also assumes that any of those guys could move to the bullpen if they don't land a starting job and, in doing so, save said bullpen from itself.

And, yes, I would go so far as to say it assumes we have a new manager.

That's an awful lot of assumptions to make. That's an awful lot of "what if's."

Sadly, at this point, that's all we have.

Is There Hope?

2009-05-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

So, here, we are, the end of May. The only thing keeping most people from paying attention to the Indians has gone away, the same way that most good things go away for Cleveland fans: painfully. There's no more shiny thing to distract us. In a few days, most of us will get over the latest in a long line of Cleveland sports miseries and focus will be placed squarely on our baseball team.

It's the end of May, the Tribe is 22-30, 8 games under .500 and 7.5 games out of first place. Oh, and that's not even the worst of it.

No, the worst of it is this:

Victor Martinez
Grady Sizemore
Travis Hafner
Joe Smith
Rafael Betancourt
Scott Lewis
Aaron Laffey
Jake Westbrook
Anthony Reyes

That is the list of players who are currently injured (although Martinez is day to day and not on the DL). The bottom third of our order today is hitting .211 or less. The (arguably) three remaining faces of our franchise since C.C. left -- Victor, Grady, and Pronk -- were no where to be seen. And there are now SIX pitchers on that list.

This all begs the question: how the heck do we win?

The truly frustrating team about this team is that, as bad as they've been, they're not yet completely out of it. All the teams in the division have flaws and one good winning streak against division rivals could put the Tribe on top. But you really have to wonder how that's possible when we're missing our RBI leader, our home run leaders, and we only have two dependable starters? How do we win more than 40% of our games with Fausto Carmona's continued problems and the back of our rotation made up of Jeremy Sowers and David Huff?

I don't know that we can. But here are some rather hopeful ideas.

First, we have to pray that Victor Martinez is only out for a few days. We're done without him. There's no way around that.

Second, we need to make a deal for a starter. We don't need an ace (we have one) or even a #2 (as Pavano has stepped it up). We need a back of the rotation guy who can give us a fight chance every five days and who can keep us competitive through the month of June. A guy like Brad Penny is a good option, but there's probably going to be a bidding war for him (I would guess, at this point, that it would take at least Kelly Shoppach to get him -- which I'm fine with).

Grady going on the DL isn't as bad as it seems. He's been ineffective so far this year and hasn't played outfield for a few weeks now. With Pronk need yet MORE rehab, this means we finally have a shot of getting Ryan Garko in the line-up. So we're going to need him to produce.

It's time to call up Jordan Brown. Wedge seems understandably hesitant to go with a young outfield, so it seems like DeRosa will get more time there. Brown has also gotten some time in the outfield recently, or he can play first when Garko is DHing, or even DH if need be. But, as of right now, if we have DeRosa in the outfield and Garko at first, we have no real hitter available to DH, at least no one with power. Brown's got a higher SLG in Columbus than LaPorta.

I stand by my "second starter" theory and, while Vinnie Chulk has been performing well in Columbus and is a righty, Zach Jackson can give us more innings. He just can't ever start for us again. Bring him in from the 'pen for three innings every three days or so, but no more.

Here's something to think about:

Cliff Lee
Carl Pavano
Jake Westbrook
Aaron Laffey
Scott Lewis

That's assuming Fausto doesn't get his act together (and it doesn't look like he will). But THAT is a rotation that can win the Central. But it's going to be another month before that's even a possibility.

Do we have anything in our favor that could get us to that point, to the All Star break? Well, no, not really. We're not facing any of the other bad teams in the AL until we get Oakland 4th of July weekend. In the meantime, we face six series against Central teams and then interleague play against arguably the best division in baseball right now.

That does mean, however, that if we manage to stay close by the All Star break, we have a much easier schedule in the second half, including a second series against Oakland and two each against Seattle and Baltimore, not to mention 9 games against Detroit, who seem to be the the best team in the division right now (and 12 against Minnesota, who could be right there as well).

So there IS hope.

How long it sticks around, though, should be evident in the next 30 days.

Once More, Into the Breach

2009-05-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

The Indians suck.

Let's not humor ourselves into thinking otherwise.

In fact, I'm going to try not to go completely insane while writing this. I won't get all angry about the fact that the last four guys in our line-up today are hitting a combines .186 and that both Francisco and Garko have higher averages than all of them (Garko even has a higher average against righties). I'll hold back from punching the wall when I mention that Mark DeRosa's a life long second baseman who has played over 2100 innings at that position, yet hasn't played more than 10 games worth at first. I'll refrain from screaming at our new platoon at second base which only serves to a) break up momentum and b) take ABs at one of the best bats on our team (Ryan Garko). I'll even bite my tongue on the fact that our lead off man has the second lowest OBP of all the lead off men in the AL (third worst in baseball).

No, perhaps it might be better to do what I did last time, and throw out some crazy ideas, as the last one I threw out (Laffey to the 'pen) actually happened, and has ultimately helped more than it hurt (just barely).

We should continue to carry 8 relievers, because there's no reason not to. Our much hyped "versatility" means we don't need to carry as many position players. So 8 relievers and 5 starters will leave us with 12 spots, which should be, as of this very moment:

Choo
Sizemore
LaPorta
Francisco
Peralta
Cabrera
DeRosa
Garko
Martinez
Shoppach
Carroll
Dellucci*

*Based only upon the assumption that the Tribe will never part with him.

Valbuena needs to go back to Columbus to play every day.

That line-up not only gives us some flexibility, it also gives us stability. Also, Kelly Shoppach needs to return to his '07 position: he catches for one guy, and this time around it's Cliff Lee (that is, of course, unless the Tribe goes out and signs free agent Paul Byrd, which I'm thinking they should probably look into right now).

Then there's our rotation. Obviously, Cliff Lee is back in form. We've got to keep Fausto, just for the occasionally glimpses of greatness we get. Pavano only last 5 innings today, but he did manage to keep us in the game. Beyond that? Well, I don't know. That has a lot to do with our bullpen.

After Anthony Reyes' last outing, I became convinced it was time to move him to long relief. He didn't give up a single hit in his first three innings of work yesterday. But after one time through the order, they figured him out and he got hit hard. This seems to be a trend for Reyes -- just like Jeremy Sowers. As we don't have a right hander to compliment Laffey, maybe it's time to make that person Reyes.

Sure, this would leave us with yet ANOTHER hole in our rotation, but at this point it wouldn't be much of a hole.

In fact, I would suggest bringing Tomo Ohka from Columbus. His numbers have actually been better than David Huff, the guy we're calling up for tomorrow's start.

And then? Then I would start something called "2nd Starter."

We've already seen this happen with Laffey. In his very first relief appearance, he came in after Pavano went six innings to get a three inning save. And I think this will have to continue.

It's time to start pairing people up.

Look at it this way: Cliff Lee can pitch deep, so he won't need this kind of help. That leaves us with four starters who will all need "2nd Starters." We carry 8 relievers, that leaves us with four guys to choose from each night if our 1st and 2nd starters only get us through seven.

You heard me.

My crazy theory is this:

Rotation
Cliff Lee
Fausto Carmona
Carl Pavano
David Huff
Tomo Ohka (until Scott Lewis returns)

2nd Starters
Aaron Laffey
Anthony Reyes
Zach Jackson
Jeremy Sowers

Relievers
Tony Sipp
Rafael Betancourt
Luis Vizcaino/Matt Herges

Closer
Kerry Wood

In theory, when Scott Lewis returns we can cut down on a second starter, assuming Lewis can pick up where he left off when he was healthy last year. For that matter, we have no idea that Huff won't be able to go deep into games, but, at this point, why take a chance? Over time, we'll need our 2nd Starters less and less. And, over time, we'll get back a healthy Joe Smith, an improved Rafeal Perez and Jensen Lewis from AAA, and a healthy Jake Westbrook.

Is my idea insane? Sure, but if it can keep us within striking distance until the All-Star break, why not give it a shot?

Drastic Times

2009-05-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, 25 games into the season, 5 games out of first place at 9-16. I would call this season a bust if it weren't for the fact that our division is so tightly packed. But time is running out and I think it's time for some drastic moves.

So here, without further ado, are Kyle's Drastic Move Suggestions:

1) Call up David Huff for the bullpen. Huff is currently 4-0 with a 3.21 ERA as a starter in Columbus. I know that the Tribe would like to keep him as a starter. But he's also got 23 K's in 28 innings and a heck of an arm. I say we give him a shot in the 'pen and return him to the rotation next year -- or hopefully later this year, as Lewis and Perez get themselves figured out. He's a lefty, though, so we'd still be missing a right handed set up man.

2) Play Ryan Garko every day. With the DH open, we can still get Victor into the line-up when Shoppach is catching. Garko has the second highest AVG on the team with runners in scoring position. Considering how often Wedge laments our poor at bats in those situations, why ISN'T Garko in the line-up every day? He's also hitting .293 with limited ABs.

3) While the sample size for both of them is pretty small, Asdrubal Cabrera's on base percentage is .435, second only to Victor Martinez. Grady Sizemore's is 100 points lower. On the flipside, though, Grady is currently tied for 1st in RBI. AC currently has 4 stolen bases to Grady's 5. I think you can see where I'm going with this. While I'd love to wait and make sure that Cabrera's numbers are for real, it's time to get drastic. Let's move him to the lead off spot and move Grady down in the order.

4) Cabrera, Garko, DeRosa, and Martinez need to play every day. They're the only ones hitting over .260 with RISP. As this has been one of our biggest problems, there's no reason any of them should ever sit.

5) Get LaPorta and Valbuena in two out of every three games. Why not?

BONUS SUPER CRAZY, IRRATIONALLY DRASTIC IDEA

6) Move Aaron Laffey to the bullpen and call up Jeremy Sowers, who's been very good in Columbus. Sure, that sounds insane, considering how much our rotation improved when Laffey came up, but bare with me. Laffey does something that no one in our bullpen appears able to do: get double play balls. Imagine being able to bring someone in to get a double play ball and having him actually do it. That would be invaluable. Granted, this move would also be dependent upon Pavano continuing to pitch well and actually turning into a #3 guy, not to mention the good Jeremy Sowers sticking around for a while (at least until Scott Lewis is healthy).

Like I said, drastic times call for drastic measures and I, for one, would have no problems with any of these moves. At this point, I'd take any changes they'd be willing to make.

Why I'm Not Panicking Yet

2009-04-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, perhaps the Tribe should consider bringing in the priest from "The Natural." Although maybe it's not losing that's he disease, so much as bad pitching.

So we're 0-4 and we've given up more than forty runs in just four games. Our best starter has an ERA of 8.31 and didn't even go five innings. Shouldn't I be really concerned?

Well, I am, mostly because I enjoy watching baseball and I'd actually like to watch games that matter come last summer/early fall. But I'm not going over board just yet, and here's why:

Our pitching can't really be this bad. No, really. I mean, Rafael Perez gave up five runs tonight -- Rafael Perez, people! The man never gives up runs! It's unnatural for him, and it's been unnatural for over two years now. This isn't like Cliff Lee or Fausto Carmona -- good one year, bad the next and vice versa -- this is a guy who was pretty much the only reliever we could count on for much of last year (we even had to send Jensen Lewis down to AAA at one point, remember). So there's obviously something going on here.

As I said, bad pitching seems to be contagious.

The other thing that keeps me from freaking out entirely is our division. The Central doesn't really have any one team that stands out from the rest. Ideally, this means we'll have something of a log jam. If the Tribe can just stay with the pack to mid-season, we're still in it. For one, there's the possibility of a deal, which is something that really could happen given how much young talent we have and how many teams will be looking to deal away experienced pitching when they realize they have no chance at making the post-season (just let me have my little Jake Peavy dream, thank you). Almost as good as a trade is the fact that we'll get Jake Westbrook back. While not flashy, Westbrook has generally defined "solid," which is exactly what the Tribe needs. We need someone reliable, because what we have no is a bunch of guys who are erratic. Westbrook's made great progress in his rehab, so hopefully the Tribe can hold him back longer than they really need to just to make sure he's up to speed.

In the meantime, what are the chances that all four of our youngsters (Lewis, Huff, Laffey, and Sowers) bomb? At least one of them is going to step up. Even Cleveland luck isn't that bad.

Our bullpen IS good. The numbers don't lie. We'll get there.

And let's not forget about the good we've seen tonight -- namely, Travis Hafner. He's now hitting .313 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. Hey, he's on a pace to hit 81 home runs! And drive in 162! Our offense should be fine, assuming we can get the on-base guys going (DeRosa, Cabrera, and the rather painful Francisco).

So I'm not panicking just yet.

But I will say this: tomorrow is a big game for Cliff Lee. Not only does he need to prove that his first start was a fluke, he needs to be a stopper. The Tribe needs a starter to end this downward spiral and if Cliff wants to be our ace, he needs to step up and do it. It actually might be more important for Cliff to pitch well tomorrow than it is for us to win.

Couple that with a good start from the only "clean" starter on Sunday, and we might have something.

Let's hope.

Opening Day Is Here!

2009-04-05T14:42:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's finally that time of year again -- time to get down to business and talk about the season to come. As always, I'll give my completely biased, most likely wrong view on how the Tribe will do this year. I should point out, though, that I'm .500 in my AL Central predictions, having picked the Tribe both times in the last two seasons.

Shockingly enough, I'm sticking with a trend and picking the Indians to win the Central again. Why? One very simple reason: depth (which, it should be noted, was the same reason I gave going into the '07 season). We have more position player and pitching depth than any other team in the division. We're going to need some people to step up, but I think that will make the difference.

Here's our opening day line-up:

1. CF Grady Sizemore
2. 3B Mark DeRosa
3. 1B Victor Martinez
4. DH Travis Hafner
5. SS Jhonny Peralta
6. RF Shin-Soo Choo
7. C Kelly Shoppach
8. LF Ben Francisco
9. 2B Asdrubal Cabrera

We know what we'll get from Grady, more or less. The case that he should move down in the order is a valid one that's more or less defeated by the fact that a) we don't have another viable lead off hitter and b) we have plenty of power further down the order.

Mark DeRosa is going to be huge for us this year, particularly since we haven't gotten consistent production from the #2 spot since the second half of '07 when AC first came up. Victor Martinez has had a good spring and will only get better going forward. Obviously, there are concerns about Pronk, but he's shown a lot of improvement in the last week and a half. I have no problems with throwing him in the fire right off the bat. He's either going to hit or he won't, so why not? Besides, it keeps the order balanced and, as many people have pointed out, he's only the clean-up hitter if everyone ahead of him gets on base in the first inning. After that it really doesn't matter, and it certainly doesn't matter nearly as much as having balance.

Peralta is clearly our ace in the hole on offense and I have a feeling that more and more teams are going to realize that this year. The upside there is that they'll have to pitch to Choo, who has clearly had problems because of the WBC, but we've seen glimmers of what he's capable of. We also know what he can do when he gets consistent time in, so I have confidence in him (and Trevor Crowe, for that matter, if it comes to that).

The Kelly Shoppach/Ryan Garko #7 spot will be interesting to watch, as they're very similar types of hitters. As long as they can both remember that they don't have to hit for the fences every time out (and having six guys ahead of them who can all hit it out helps), they should really produce. Ben Francisco had a nice spring and it would appear that he's developing into the consistent player we all wondered if he could be. Asdrubal Cabrera has also had a nice spring, particularly compared to last year, and I think he lives and dies by his confidence level.

As for our bench, we have:

Garko/Shoppach (see above)
Josh Barfield
Trevor Crowe
Jamey Carroll

As much as I'd rather Crowe get every day ABs in Columbus, you do have to like the speed off the bench we have now. I know the Tribe can't really afford to eat $4 million, but it's nice seeing Crowe get a shot in the majors. And if Jamey Carroll does what he did last year, we should have one of the best benches in baseball.

Let's also not look over the guys we have waiting in the wings, like Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, the aforementiond Trevor Crowe (when Dellucci comes off the DL), Michael Aubrey (who had a great spring), and even Wes Hodges, who made a lot of people take notice in spring training.

As we move to the pitching, let's start with the good and move to the more questionable. Here's our bullpen:

Masa Kobayashi
Rafael Betancourt
Zach Jackson
Joe Smith
Rafael Perez
Jensen Lewis
Kerry Wood

You may know those last four guys on the list as part of the Guys With Really Low Spring ERAs club. All four dominated during the spring, with Wood only giving up runs in his last appearance. As for our middle relief, there are some serious question marks. Jackson won his job because he's a converted starter and can go multiple innings if needed, but he wasn't exactly impressive in spring training. He's also a lefty. But, his fatal flaw in the past has been that one big inning, so perhaps a middle relief role will get him in and out before that inning pops up.

Rafael Betancourt has been about as inconsistent as he was last year, periodically flashing glimpses of the '07 Betancourt, then reverting to the '08 version. I have no idea what we'll get out of him. Masa Kobayashi has been more or less awful all spring, and most Tribe fans are taking guesses at when he'll be sent down, most likely to be replaced by Vinnie Chulk, who had a great spring.

Regardless, the back end of our bullpen looks really, really impressive.

Now for the biggest question mark we have, our starting rotation:

Cliff Lee
Fausto Carmona
Carl Pavano
Scott Lewis
Anthony Reyes

I have no idea what to expect from Lee, given what he did last year as compared to what he did the year before and what he did in spring training. My best guess would be something between '05 (18-5, 3.79 ERA) and '06 (14-11, 4.40 ERA). I would guess 17 wins and an ERA around 3.50, which I'd be perfectly happy with, even it is a step down from last season.

Fausto Carmona, on the other hand, could be in a position to dominate. If the Tribe has a Cy Young candidate in the rotation this year, I think it's Fausto. He had a great spring and really seems to be returning to his '07 form. I think, by the end of the year, he'll be our ace.

Carl Pavano has gotten better in each of his spring starts. I don't expect him to go much past five innings most games, but I think he'll keep us in the game. I'm thinking something similar to the numbers I gave for Lee above, perhaps fewer wins.

Scott Lewis is a real question mark. He's struggle a great deal since winning a spot on the line-up and he's been giving up a lot of long balls. I'd hazard a guess, but I really have no idea. I'm not too concerned about it, though, as we have a number of guys who could step in for him.

Anthony Reyes had all of one bad outing this spring. I would expect him to pick up where he left off last season. I think he could actually be better than Pavano and get serious consideration as comeback player of the year, right behind Fausto. I do think Wedge will limit his innings, though.

And let's not forget that we should get Jake Westbrook back after the break (earlier, in fact, but I'd be shocked if they didn't hold him out for a while just to be safe). Jake could be the mid-season trade this team needs, really, which is huge. Let's not forget how he was throwing the ball last year before got hurt. He was really dominating, but getting no run support. If he can return to form, slotting him in as the #3 guy would be gold.

Of course we can also look at David Huff, Aaron Laffey, and Jeremy Sowers, three guys who could show up at any point in the season. While none of them had the best springs, I think starting the season in Columbus will give them all the time they need to show they can take the next step.

So there you go -- the 2009 Clevelan Indians. I'm picking them to win the Central. Beyond that, I'm not saying, as just thinking about it makes me anxious.

As for the rest of baseball, here are my picks:

AL East: Rays
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Angels
Wildcard: Red Sox
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
Wildcard: Mets

T-minus 3 Weeks and Counting!

2009-03-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we've broken the three week mark until the opening of the new season and while I generally like to avoid making any kind of observations based upon the first few weeks of spring training, I'm going to do just that. There have been ups and downs already with each faction of the team, but the further along we get, the more and more excited I am, and the more confident I become that this team will actually compete, not just in the AL Central, but in the entire American League.

Rotation

I'm not putting a lot of stock into Cliff Lee's troubles (albeit from two starts). Lee earned the #5 spot in last year's rotation by being the lesser of three evils; he had an awful spring, but it was just a bit less awful than Aaron Laffey's and Jeremy Sower's. In fact, I actually feel pretty good about Lee having a bad spring, since it seemed to allow him to peak just in time for the season to start.

Fausto Carmona is a different story. He's had three outings, two good, one bad, but the last one was good, which is why I'm optimistic. It seems like both Carmona and the staff know exactly what he needs to do to be successful, which is a good sign. He also lost the majority of the weight he'd put on in the off season, which is also good.

Anthony Reyes hasn't pitched a whole lot of innings yet, but he hasn't given up a run yet, either. He appears to be both healthy and on his game.

Carl Pavano is healthy. He's also had two games a different as can be. Again, it's really too early to know, but I'm sure he'll get better as we get closer to opening day.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of spring training (well, one of a few) is the battle for the last spot. Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis, and Jeremy Sowers all had great starts in their last outings; Lewis was the only one to even give up a run. Sowers got eight ground ball outs in four innings today, and started two double plays on his own. His ERA is 3.00. But while Laffey's ERA is at 7.00, he pitched four no hit innings in his last start. While Lewis looked good in his first appearance, I would handicap his odds, simply because he has the least MLB experience.

Still, to have three guys throwing that well this early in spring training bodes well for the fifth spot and possibly beyond, depending upon how are two reclamation projects (Reyes and Pavano) do.

Bullpen

I am as giddy as a school girl.

Sure, Kerry Wood has only thrown two innings so far (allowing a single hit and no runs), but he's been dominate in those two innings. Rafael Perez has only been in camp for a few days, but his performance in the World Baseball Classic was equally as dominant (even if the rest of his team decided not to show up). And Jensen freaking Lewis has been an absolute beast in each of his appearances; he's yet to allow a run and, from all accounts, he's going at guys like a closer.

We could have the best back end of the bullpen in baseball. No, really.

The loss of Adam Miller (again) was disappointing, but Vinnie Chulk appears primed for a rebirth. He pitched two more scoreless innings today, bringing his ERA down to 2.31 -- and he's gotten a good amount of work as the coaches try to evaluate him. He seems like the current favorite to get the last spot most of us assumed would go to Miller.

Kobayashi is a definite concern, but someone like Zach Jackson would be nice to have in the 'pen, both for length and because he's left handed.

Line-up

Anthony Castrovince over at www.clevelandindians.com made a good point the other day on why the front office are keeping Peralta at short instead of moving him to third. Sure, there's the matter of Peralta having to learn a new position as opposed to using DeRosa who already has big league experience at the hot corner. The bigger issue, though, is that it's not a given that Asdrubal Cabrera will stay in the line-up. At this point, he's yet to prove that he can produce on a regular basis, so the idea of moving our infield around to accommodate a guy who might not make it past the first month is, well, really, really premature.

If Cabrera does falter, the Tribe has a lot of options, options not named Josh Barfield.

Tony Graffanino, entering his 14th season, has really been hitting the ball so far this spring. Given DeRosa's ability to play the outfield, Carroll's ability to play every position in the infield, and Cabrera's ability to switch over to short stop, I wouldn't be surprised if the last spot on the roster goes to Graffanino instead of Barfield (who they're trying to get some time in the outfield). He's just performing much better than Barfield, who still has options left.

The other option is really encouraging, as well: Wes Hodges is having a really good spring. Were there suddenly an opening at second, it would be interesting to see if the Tribe would consider moving DeRosa over there and bringing up Hodges to play 3rd, perhaps platooning with Carroll until he gets comfortable in the majors. Regardless, it's a great to see him performing well, as he is, more or less, the future of third base for the Tribe.

I'll say this much: the Columbus Clippers should be really good this year!

I'm going to ponder DeRosa

2009-01-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's a pun.

It's hard to argue with the trade for DeRosa. I mean, it's really, really hard to argue with it.

Now, in my pipe dream fantasy, the trade was the first part of a bigger move, a move that sends DeRosa and some young pitching to San Diego for Jake Peavy. After all, DeRosa was a big part of the talks between the Cubs and the Padres. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm much more comfortable having unknown quantities in our infield than I am in our rotation, as I think we can piece together good defense if need be.

I also figured Kelly Shoppach would be a good start for a trade to get Peavy, too. I know people love Kelly Shoppach, but the bottom line is that his trade value is never going to be higher and we have decent depth at catcher in the minors. That said, I'm afraid that Garko's inconsistent offense last season makes keeping Shoppach something of a necessity this year, so he can fill in for Martinez when Victor has to move over to first.

And I was also keen on getting Brian Roberts from Baltimore. Yes, it would have force major changes to the infield, but it also would have allowed Sizemore to move down in the order, something that would have given us more coverage in the middle of the line-up if Travis Hafner is a bust. Granted, that's assuming Wedge and Shapiro ever, ever realize it's time to move Grady down.

But let's live in the now and look at the reality of the situation.

Mark DeRosa's average from last year is better than anyone else on our roster from last year (Peralta led the team with a .276 avg.) He'd be tied for third in home runs (with Shoppach). He'd be fourth in RBI, just two behind Peralta. And he'd be second in runs scored, just 1 behind Peralta. In other words, that's some heavy duty offense we're adding to the team.

Putting DeRosa at third gives us a consistent bat there. Leaving Jhonny at short gives us a consistent bat there. And we now have at least three players battling for the starting job at second (Cabrera, Barfield, and Valbuena). With the flexibility of the Garko/Martinez/Shoppach platoon at first and behind the plate, our offense should be, at the very least, solid.

The question, of course, is whether or not Wes Hodges, after a single season at AAA (where he's never played) could grow enough to win the starting job at third in 2010, as we'll be right back where we started.

My big concern now is the rotation. Here's why:

Cliff Lee -- No one expects him to pitch like he did in '08, but something close to that is going to be needed in an American League filled with teams with multiple aces

Fausto Carmona -- just as we need the '08 Lee, we need the '07 Carmona. Let's hope last season was a result of his injury.

Anthony Reyes -- Can he stay healthy? Can he pitch like he did at the end of last year? Can he be consistent?

Scott Lewis -- Can HE pitch like he did at the end of last year for an entire year?

Aaron Laffey -- Can he turn the corner and pitch well for an entire year?

Jeremy Sowers -- Can he return to his first season form and maintain that for a year?

Zach Jackson -- Can he get past the one bad inning that always seems to bring him down?

David Huff -- Is he ready for the majors?

Jake Westbrook -- Will he come back at full strength by mid-season?

That's a lot of questions for an essential part of a team. I'll admit, it's nice to have 8 (and a half, if you count Westbrook) guys for just five spots, but still.

Spring training is going to be very interesting.

Standing Pat

2008-12-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

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.

Off Season

2008-11-25T00:54:00.000-08:00

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...

What I Think/Hope We'll See

2008-08-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

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!

Not drastic, per se

2008-08-05T15:27:00.001-07:00

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.

That was quick.

2008-07-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Why Baseball Is the Devil

2008-07-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Here We Are Again

2008-07-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Indians @ White Sox, 6/30/08

2008-06-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Dodger Blew

2008-06-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

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.

C.C.

2008-06-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Fun and Games

2008-06-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

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.

That makes sense...?

2008-06-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

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!

Crossroads

2008-06-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Bright Spots?

2008-06-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

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).

Rangers @ Indians, 5.25.08

2008-05-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

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.

It's getting to be that time.

2008-05-20T22:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Mariners @ Indians, 4/28/08

2008-04-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Indians @ Twins, 4/20/08

2008-04-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Tigers @ Indians, 4/16/08

2008-04-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Red Sox @ Indians, 4/15/08

2008-04-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Red Sox @ Indians, 4/14/08

2008-04-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

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.

A's @ Indians, 4/12/08

2008-04-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Indians @ Angels 4/7/08

2008-04-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Indians @ A's, 4/4/08 and 4/5/08

2008-04-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

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.

White Sox @ Indians, 4/2/08 (with a little 4/3/08)

2008-04-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

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!

White Sox @ Indians, 3/31/08

2008-03-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Spring Battles

2008-03-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

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!

Spring Is Here!

2008-02-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

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.

Chemistry

2008-02-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

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.

Projections

2008-02-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

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.

...Aaaaaand there it is.

2008-02-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

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.

The future is now!

2008-02-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

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...

Dis-parity

2008-02-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

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.

Know When to Hold 'Em

2007-12-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a few days ago, a lot has been made of the Detroit deal to get Miguel Cabrera, even though it's not a move that fixes any of the Tigers' problems. It does, however, directly effect the Indians, but not the extent that so many people think.

I was right there with everyone else when I started screaming for the Tribe to make a trade, something to counter what Detroit did. And while Jason Bay seemed interesting, my sights were set on Dan Haren.

I might have been upset that we lost out on Haren, but I'm glad we didn't pay the price that Arizona did. If the recent past has taught us anything, it's that we NEED to have depth in Buffalo. We cannot survive without it. The Indians' biggest strength last year wasn't so much any one area on the field as it was the fact that we had so many different guys that we could call up who were able to perform at a high level.

And that's exactly why NOT making a trade before the season starts might actually work out fine for the Tribe.

Here's the thing: the team we saw at the end of last season was not the team that we saw for the beginning of last season. Imagine a team:

1) That has Asdrubal Cabrera all year (brought up August 8th of last year)
2) That has Franklin Gutierrez in right field every day
3) That has Ryan Garko at first base from the start
4) That has Rafael Perez all year (used regularly starting May 29th last year)
5) That has Jensen Lewis all year (brought up July 16th last year)
6) That has a healthy Jake Westbrook all year
7) That has a fifth starter who earns it by battling 3-4 guys for the spot

Would I like to see a better bat in left field or at third? Sure, but we're I think we're going to start the season much better off than we started last season. For that matter, we HAVE those bats for left field and third in the form of Ben Francisco, Sin-Soo Choo, or Andy Marte. It's just a matter of working them in -- not unlike we did Franklin Gutierrez and Asdrubal Cabrera last year.

And while it should be hard to call a 100 RBI season a slump, I would be shocked if Travis Hafner didn't return to form next year. I can't imagine he's doing anything else in the off season but practicing hitting.

Will our offense match the Tigers or the Red Sox or the Yankees? No, but it NEVER WILL. Only an idiot would try to keep up with those teams in such a way. They are loaded and it would be impossible to put together a line-up that could out bash them.

The Tribe has to be better in other ways, and that means pitching, and we have a boatload of that.

Imagine a rotation with C.C. and Fausto at the front and a healthy Jake Westbrook at #3. Then we have Paul Byrd at #4 who, assuming his performance last season was sans HGH, is exactly the kind of guy you want at the back end of your rotation. And now we'll have a #5 starter who is going to have to battle in the spring training for that spot. It could be a rejuvenated Cliff Lee or Jeremy Sowers. It could be Aaron Laffey, who looked impressive down the stretch. It could be the infamous Adam Miller, who didn't give up an earned run last year in spring training. It could even be rising start Chuck Lofgren. Whoever it is, they're going to have to work for that spot, which means we're going to get someone pretty good. That's huge, considering the rest of the league seem to be throwing warm bodies into that last spot.

Now look at our bullpen. As amazing as it is to say, our bullpen could be unbelievable next year. We're returning the core four of Borowski, Lewis, and the two Rafaels. We've added one of the top relievers from Japan. That gives us five guys who can get the job done. I would imagine Fultz will get a spot since they picked up his option, which is fine because we need a lefty to give Perez some breaks. That means, yet again, we will have a number of pitchers battling for that final spot, which can only be a good thing.

We have incredible depth, but not so much that we can just send people away in trades. We have to hold on to it. It's what got us so far last year and what will do the same next year.

So, no, the Tribe don't have to make a big trade to compete next season. They just need to stick with what worked for them last year.

Well, not exactly...

2007-12-23T23:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, I said I'd have a new blog up today (technically, it's still Sunday). But it's the holidays and I spent the day doing holiday things (including flying). I don't think I'm obligated until later in the afternoon tomorrow, however, so I'll move my "Tribe Trade" blog back a day.

Obviously, I won't be blogging on Christmas Day, so I'll push my "Extremes of Parity" blog back to Wednesday.

In other words, we'll be Monday, Wednesday and then back to Sunday this week and hopefully on schedule from there.

Promise.

Rocket Fuel

2007-12-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the thing about the Mitchell report: It's awful.

The recommendation made at the end of the report is that no one should be punished and that baseball needs to improve testing and move forward. Look at that again. Mitchell recommends that no one be punished.

Which begs the question: why did he NAME people?

Looking past the fact that Mitchell was working with limited resources, yet had the vaguest burden of proof, he called out individual players for no reason other than to point a finger and say "everyone should hate them."

If no punishments are going to be passed down, then why name anyone? You'd have the same effect by simply stating that steriod and HGH use is widespread and testing needs to be improved. There you go. If no conviction and no sentence is going to come down, then why supply the supposed evidence on that scale?

Truly, the Mitchell report makes the initial Kennedy investigation look professional.

But that's not say that it wasn't illuminating.

Every day, another player steps forward and admits to taking HGH, as accused in the Mitchell report. While it's ultimately unnecessary support for the report as a whole, it's convincing support for the report in specifics.

In other words, every person that steps forward drives another nail into Roger Clemens' coffin.

And, hey, I helped build that box a long time ago. The man is a jackass. They replayed that moment from the 2000 World Series the other day on ESPN and you can actually see Clemens yell at Mike Piazza "I thought it was the ball." No, really, that's what he says. He mistook half of the bat for the ball. That makes sense. Because, you know, not only do they look similar, but he would throw the ball at Piazza in that situation.

I find it funny that people were surprised to see his name in the report. Was it his unquestionable integrity that gave people pause? The man has less integrity than Dick Cheney. In many ways, Clemens is the epitome of what's gone wrong with the game -- and he was, even before his name was linked to HGH. Now's he's the perfect symbol of everything that's gone wrong.

I don't care if they ever prove conclusively that Clemens cheated. I don't care if he denies it until he dies. But if this means I won't be subjected to six months of "Clemens Watch" next year, the Mitchell report will, in my book, become the greatest document ever produced.

Now, an addendum to the last blog.

Jayson Stark on ESPN.com mentions a number of things in his last column. This is one of them:

True, the Tigers will run a lineup out there in which seven of the nine everyday players have made at least one All-Star team since 2005. But they also have a roster full of players with injury histories. So after dealing away seven of their best prospects this winter, they need to stay healthy, because they're short of reinforcements they can call up. "They've pretty much decimated their depth," one AL executive said. "So this is their window."

It's like he read my blog! Granted, I was referring specifically to the Detroit rotation, but it applies to their line-up as well. Because, you know, no one ever lands on the DL these days...

Next: Can the Tribe win the Central without making a big trade?

The Detroit Deal

2007-12-18T12:25:00.001-08:00

Once more into the breach, my friends! I have returned, better than ever.

The new and improved, off season RCR with come to you on a regular schedule, too. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday there will be a new blog. And since it's the off season, I'll be expanding my range of subjects to include all of baseball, not just the Indians, at least until Spring Training.

Now let's get things going...

A lot has been made about Detroit's deal for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. It's been referred to as a blockbuster deal. Like many Tribe fans, more than a few expletives slipped out of my mouth when I first read about it. As the days past, I became more and more anxious for the Indians to make a move of their own, something to counter what Detroit had done.

But with time comes perspective. And that Detroit deal is all flash and little substance.

Fun fact: Detroit had the second best offense in the AL last year behind only the Yankees.

Going into the off season, the Tigers had three needs: 1) a shortstop, 2) rebuild their bullpen, and 3) upgrade their rotation.

They traded for Edgar Renteria, sending Jair Jurrgens to Atlanta (more on that in a minute). Point one taken care of.

But as of now, they haven't addressed either one of their other two needs. Their blockbuster trade, in fact, simply improved an area that wasn't a problem and probably made another area worse.

Andrew Miller, who Detroit sent to Florida, has a much higher ceiling that Dontrelle Willis. He's yet to even play a complete season in the minors. Willis' numbers have declined since he became a name in 2003 -- and let's not forget that he was pulled from Florida's rotation in the post-season. Add to that the fact that he will now be in the AL, facing guys named Ortiz, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Guerro, Martinez, Thome, et al, and there's every reason to believe that Detroit's rotation has actually been DOWNGRADED by this trade.

Even worse, they used two guys last year as their 6th and 7th starters: Chad Durbin, who they let go, and Jair Jurrgens, who they traded. They also sent a boatload of additional minor league pitchers to Florida. Let's not forget that Kenny Rogers was on the DL twice last year -- what are they going to do if any one of their starters goes down this year? Or is ineffective, as Bonderman and Robertson were in the second half of last year? We know how important it is to have major league ready guys waiting in the wings.

Their bullpen hasn't improved, either. They picked up the option on closer Todd Jones, who belongs to the Borowski/Wickman school of closing. They also lost Joel Zumaya to injury yet again and have no idea when he'll be back next season. They've yet to add anyone who would could be considered an upgrade from what they had last year.

Yes, the Tigers now have the best offense in baseball. But offense isn't everything. Really, Detroit has become the New York Yankees of the AL Central.

Fortunately, the Indians are the Red Sox.

Upcoming RCR:

Thursday: The Mitchell Report aka Did I need more proof that Clemens is a jackass?
Sunday: The Indians: Why not making a big trade might not be a bad thing
Tuesday: The extreme of parity

Off Day

2007-10-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

I remember Sunday night, the last time we had a day off. I remember how happy I was, as I was completely drained from two straight nights of post-season baseball. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for today. I hate having to wait another 24 hours for our first (hopefully the only one we'll need) chance.

From my perspective, the Tribe is down 0-3. I will have no one tell me any different because I can't allow myself to think any other way.

This has been a post-season of poetry.

The Tribe lost home field advantage and an opening round match up with the Angels by losing five of seven games to the Red Sox. Two of those starts were by Cliff Lee. A third was by Jeremy Sowers. Our three game difference came from two guys no longer in the rotation.

But of course we'd get the Yankees first. And in game in which Johnny Damon led off with a solo home run, we ran away with it. They scored first; we scored a lot.

Then came the bugs. The pretty boys from the Big Apple, clearly covered in the latest scents availble from Madison Avenue, were like mana from heaven for the midges. The perfection of the clean cut pinstripes covered in bugs, unable to concentrate for fear of getting dirty, losing to a working class team from a working class town was better than any book or movie.

Of course these are the Indians we're talking about, so a sweep was out of the question. There must always be doubt in their fans' minds, if not in their hearts.

How much better could it have been to see the Indians win the first round at Yankee stadium behind not just Paul Byrd, but an ideal, one far too rare in modern baseball? How often does LOYALTY actually pay off in this game? How often does a team so readily eclipse a group of individuals?

It had to be the Red Sox.

The Red Sox Nation prides themselves on being lovable losers, victims of a curse that, even after its been lifted, seems to justify their martyr complex. Oh, how they've suffered! They don't want to be a big market team, the Yankees made them that way! They're just blue collar guys with blue collar fans who happen to wear pink hats.

It had to be the Red Sox.

Again, because this is the Indians, Game 1 went exactly as we should have expected, but were fooled into believing otherwise. Our ace, our potential Cy Young winner, was yet again overthrowing, barely able to contain himself after eight day of nothing but daydreaming about his eventual start. And things looked about as bleak as they could.

And then our other ace faltered. But, as I mentioned before, this has been a post-season of poetry. Point to Tom Mastny, long the forgot member of the bullpen. Point to Jhonny Peralta, long the maligned short stop. But most importantly, point to an aging right fielder riding the bench, spending his first season away from the Boston Red Sox, brought in to face a left handed pitcher when he wasn't even hitting right handers that well anymore.

Poetry.

It's amazing how this team learns. Jake Westbrook learned from his start against the Yankees and came out throwing strike after strike after strike and the next thing you know we had the series lead.

And the next night our hitters whiffed at knuckleball after knuckleball and the next time through the line-up said "you know, that's a neat trick, but you've already pulled that one on me before."

Look at it this way: Casey Blake struck out twice in the same, seven run inning in Boston. Last night, he had two hits and two RBIs in the same, even run inning in Cleveland.

So it's only fitting, then, that the man on the mound tomorrow night is C.C. Sabathia. This will be the first time he's pitched a second time in a post-season series. He's only on one extra day of rest than he would normally be. He's watched the rest of the pitching staff, minus Carmona, go right at the heart of the Red Sox order. He's seen Paul Byrd strikeout David Ortiz.

Potentially the largest man to ever win the Cy Young gets to do exactly what he's wanted to do ever since he got to Cleveland. Truly, there is no more appropriate Game 5 starter than C.C. Sabathia.

I'm off tomorrow, so I'll have all day to stew in preparation for what I consider a must win game, given my outlook. I'm guessing I'll be dipping into the Jack Daniels ever earlier than normal.

Big Game

2007-10-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in over a week! Remember when I claimed I was going to blog every day? And remember when I tried to blog in real time during the post-season games? Ah, memories...

Clearly, the intensity of the post-season is too much for me to take. I can barely sit still, let alone blog during a game. As for blogging post-game, I'm far to wired afterwards for that. Evidently, the extra hour before the start tonight is giving me extra time to blog.

My friend Matt (the Red Sox fan) said that Red Sox Nation are overreacting, as they usually do, about being down. He said you'd think they were a game away from losing it all, or in a four game deficit. I told him that Cleveland fans are actually acting the same way, because we know better than to get excited about anything until well after it's happened.

Tonight's a big game. Let's face facts, we have no idea what we're going to get from C.C. Thursday night, but we do know what we'll get from Beckett. I'm sure our hitters will adust after what they saw in Game 1, but there's still no way for us to know what Sabathia will do. Personally, I think he'll be on. Wedge made a comment recently about the fact that C.C. is overthrowing and that part of that is because he's had so much extra time between starts. I think that's a valid point.

Regardless, the last thing we want is to go back to Boston down 3-2. Hell, even going back to Boston UP 3-2 is going to be tough. But at the very least we need to insure three wins in our pocket if/when we go back on the road. That third win needs to come tonight.

The Tribe has a good record against Wakefield, but we haven't seen him this year, which means we've got guys on the roster who have probably never faced a knuckleballer before. I would expect to see Nixon in right again, at least to start (or perhaps Michaels). We'll know early on how it's going to play out, as Wakefield is usually one extreme or the other. Let's hope we see a call to the bullpen by the Red Sox after three innings.

On the flip side, Paul Byrd was fantastic against the Red Sox the one time he faced them this year. Yes, we've seen so far in the post-season that regular season results don't mean much, but the fact that he's already faced this line-up once is a big plus. He also gets Mirabelli instead of Varitek, which is probably a plus.

I wonder if Shoppach will hit Wakefield better than Garko. At the very least, Shoppach would have taken BP with Wakefield when he was in Boston. Again, I don't know if Garko has even ever faced a knuckleballer before.

Big game. I'm trying to keep myself in check.

ALDS Game 4 In Game Blog

2007-10-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try something new tonight -- less talking, more comments on big moment.

TOP 1st

BOOYAH!!! Grady starts off the game with a solo shot!! That's the way to get this crowd to shut up!! Hell yeah!!

AC goes down on a grounder to first.

Pronk with a single towards left! That's HUGE that he's beating the shift!

Let's go, Victor. Let's keep it going.

I might have to watch the bottom half of the first few innings on Gameday. Just because I'm terrified.

Victor hits a weak grounder towards first, two down. At least Pronk is still aboard and in scoring position nonetheless.

Let's go, Jhonny. We need another two out run here. Keep them on the ropes.

Jhonny works a full count. Good AB for JP.

JHONNY DOES IT AGAIN!! Bloop shot into center and Hafner scores!

Kenny up and slices the first pitch foul. Let's go, Kenny! Let's keep it going!

Man, Kenny's getting some pitches to hit, too. But he's down 0-2. Let's go, Kenny!

Grounder to Wang, three down.

BOTTOM 1st

I have faith in Paul Byrd. I really do. I like him. I like what he does and how he handles himself. He seems like a good guy.

But I'm so nervous I can't even look. I've realized that unless we have a dominant pitcher on the mound, I'm going to be terrified the entire time. Westbrook almost gave me a heart attack.

So I'm doing as I said I would and I'm following the bottom of the first on Gameday.

Because I'm a coward.

Byrd strands two, but strikes out A-rod, which is always a plus.

This does nothing to get me to actually watch the bottom half of the next inning.

TOP 2nd

Okay, let's go Gut! Let's get it back and going! We need more runs!

Gut sends one into shallow center for a single!! Time for Casey to pull out of his funk and get this train moving.

Casey!! Through the hole for a single! And we've got two on and no out!

Shoppach up now. His first post-season AB. Let's go, Kelly. We have faith in you! Let's get it down and get them over!

Did Shoppach get hit?? They're saying it hit him in the hand? Man, Shoppach picked a bad stadium to get hit by a pitch. He was definitely trying to get out of the way, though. That much was pretty obvious.

And he gets the base! Bases loaded for Grady!! Let's go, Grady, let's do some damage!

Wang gets the hook and here comes Mussina. God, I would give so much money for Grady to go deep. I would give SO MUCH money.

And here we go. Let's go, Grady! Let's go!

Double play, but we do get a run. That's better than a poke in the eye!

Okay, AC. Let's keep the train rolling! Let's go! A single knocks in Blake -- that's all we need!

Cabrera is fighting. You love to see this from the Tribe. Let's go, AC!

AC with a single into center for a run!! WOO!! Nice AB for Cabrera!

And now we get Pronk to the plate! He's due, I think, for a long ball.

Hafner goes after one, but fouls it off. Man, he was gunning for that one. Let's get another, Pronk! Keep it rolling!

WALK! Another great AB for Pronk and Victor comes to the plate!

C'mon, Victor, you're the team leader. Let's do it, let's keep it going! We need to keep up the attack!

Nice, Victor fouls it off to stay alive. Let's go, Victor! Keep it going!

Victor grounds out to second, three down.

BOTTOM 2nd

Up four rounds or not, I'm still going Gameday for the bottom of the inning. I can't help it. I think maybe six runs might be my courage point.

I have to say this much, at least Byrd is getting ahead. He's going right at them, unlike Westbrook did last night. Still, I'm so nervous I can't look.

Killing me. Two on and no outs. Byrd had Matsui 0-2, too. Killing me.

And this is exactly why I'm not watching. Bases loaded, one out, Damon coming up.

Pop up to Jhonny. Bases loaded, two outs, Jeter coming up.

This is killing me.

We get out of it with only giving up one run, that should have be NONE according to what my friend Matt just called and told me about.

Was the appeal call REALLY that bad? I'm glad I didn't see it, then -- I would have been PISSED.

TOP 3rd

Jhonny starts off the inning. Let's go, Jhonny! Let's get the momentum going again!

WALK! Good at bat, Jhonny!

Let's go, Kenny! You're due tonight! Let's get it going!

Kenny flies out to center, one down. Kenny needs to hit it on the ground. He's not as strong as he used to be.

Gut up and feeling good! Let's go, Franklin!

Gut strikes out, two down.

Casey stepping up. He's got momentum with that single earlier, so let's see if Casey can keep it going.

Damn, Casey saw the pitch he wanted, but fouled it off.

Swing and a miss and three down.

BOTTOM 3rd

Byrd allows a double but gets out of the inning with no damage and only a few pitches!

TOP 4th

I can't believe it's only the top of the 4th.

Shoppach up first and ready to get a real AB. Let's go, Kelly!

We need to get something started again. Let's go, Shoppach! He's got the full count going, so let's get it now!

Yes!! Lead off double for Shoppach!! WOO!!

Grady up, fouls off the first bunt.

I can't believe all the credit we're getting as a team that bunts. That's awesome.

Let's go, Grady! Let's get it going! Big inning!

Another full count for the Tribe! Let's go, Grady! Let's get this!

WALK!! Two on, no outs!

Time for AC to come to the plate and get us going!

SAC BUNT FOR AC!! Great stuff. You love to see that. AC does it again!

And time for Pronk! Let's go, Hafner! You're due for a big one!

Oh, they're going to walk Pronk in hopes of a double play ball. Time for Victor to get that hit he's been waiting for him. Victor is due tonight and he's lead this team all year. He's got the karma to put this game away.

God, I would love a home run here. I know I said that earlier with Grady, but god that would be about the greatest thing ever.

Still, I'll settle for a run or two!

Man, this is a big moment. Let's go, Victor!!

TWO RUN SINGLE!!! YES, VICTOR!!

Let's go, Jhonny! We need more insurance! Let's keep it rolling!

Damn, Jhonny hits into a double play and there are three down.

Now, the question: am I comfortable enough with a five run lead to watch the bottom of the 4th?

Doubtful.

BOTTOM 4th

Gave up a single, but overall a great inning by Byrd! I have a question about Byrdie, but I'll save it for later.

TOP 5th

Lofton pops out on one pitch. That's not what we want to see.

Gut back up and looking to continue his hot streak. Let's go, Gut, let's get it going again!

I think a big inning here could do the trick. In fact, I could probably watch the bottom o fthe next inning if that happens.

But Gut flies out and now there are two down. We need to keep this inning alive.

Casey to the plate, looking to make up for striking out his last time up. But he's behind already, 0-2.

C'mon, Casey, we need to get this inning going!

And he goes down in order. And I'll be following Gameday again.

BOTTOM 5th

Buster Olney gave a stat a while back about Paul Byrd's batting average against after 70 pitches. It wasn't good.

So I've been wondering if that would be his cut off point for tonight. Since we're going into the fifth, I think we'll see him pulled if he gets into any trouble, as opposed to earlier when he was given the chance to pitch out of it.

Another single given up, but Byrd has another great inning!

TOP 6th

Okay, Shoppach, let's do it again! You're making the most of your post-season debut, let's keep it going!

Fly out to right field, but at least he made him throw a few pitches.

We're creeping up on drink time, I think. Man, I would kill for an extra run or two here.

Grady gets to first before Mussina could land on the base and we've got a runner on!!

Oh, replay says he's out. We'll take that as compensation for the call earlier, thanks.

AC drives it deep to center, but not deep enough and there are two down.

Tony Gwynn said that the play at first was the third call that's gone against the Yankees tonight. The third? What were the first two? Does the awful check call count as against the Yankees in some crazy, mixed up logic?

New pitcher coming up for Pronk, who would love to get a big hit with two outs, I would think.

Just go deep, Pronk. Just go deep and let's start putting this away.

Hafner got under it and flies out to left, three down.

Still can't watch the bottom half.

BOTTOM 6th

Well, there you go. Byrd gives up a solo shot to Cano, more proof that my decision not to watch was a good one. That said, Cano has been the highlight of the Yankees line-up during this series.

Still, I'd like to be up by five again, please.

And as expected, Wedge goes to the bullpen, bringing in the first of what I'm sure will be two Raphaels, this time going with Perez.

Perez gets a switch hitter and two lefties to start, which is a plus, even though he's almost as good against righties.

Still, against this line-up I think we need some more runs.

I have to wonder if there's any chance we'll see a double switch after this half of the inning, where Victor goes back behind the plate and Garko comes in at first. They say it's a bad idea to pull a catcher, but we do have a third one (Garko) if need be.

Dammit, now there are runners on the corners with one out and Jeter at the plate. God, we need a double play ball in a bad way here. I can barely even watch Gameday at this rate.

NICE!! Good stuff, Perez!!

TOP 7th

Victor up and down and there's one out.

Okay, Jhonny, let's get this going. Their bullpen isn't that good, so let's take advantage!

Jhonny with a single! That's the way! Now we've got something going!

Time for Kenny to turn it on now. He needs to get going tonight!

Another full count. Good stuff, Kenny. Now let's get a hit out of this.

Kenny hits it far, but not far enough. Two down.

Let's go, Gut! We need to keep this inning alive! We need some insurance!

Gut goes down swinging and that's three down.

BOTTOM 7th

Stupid A-rod hits a solo home run. And now there's a runner on first and two outs and Cano up to bat.

Killing me.

And Perez gets out of it! Thank you god.

TOP 8th

New pitcher with a high ERA from the regular season. I like to see this.

Casey up first and due for a hit, I think. Let's get it going, Casey! Let's start it off right!

Casey goes down looking. He's looked awful at the plate tonight.

So Shoppach gets another shot to do some good. Let's go, Kelly! You've earned this start, so let's keep it going!

WOW. Shoppach INCHES from a home run!! But he's in with a double!

Let's go Grady! Let's get it going! We need runs!!

Intentional walk to Grady! Wow. So two on and one out for AC.

Here comes Rivera. This isn't going to be easy, but hasn't been from the start. Let's go, AC! You deserve to be here and now's the time to show it!

Grady breaks up the double play and we still have a runner in scoring position, now with two outs.

Pronk. It's time.

Man, anyone other than Pronk probably would have beat that out. I don't think he was interfered with.

And I still can't watch the bottom of the inning.

Not for nothing, but unless we score another run and go up by at least four, this could be a save situation...that's terrifying.

BOTTOM 8th

Wow. Betancourt HAS to pitch the 9th. WOW.

TOP 9th

Lead off single by Victor!! YES!! We need runs!!

Let's go, Jhonny! Let's get this going! Let's put it away!

Jhonny singles into rightfield!! Two on, no out!!

Let's go, Kenny! Let's keep it going!

Lofton not bunting, but I wonder if that's because of how Rivera pitches. Regardless, we need more runs!!

Grounder to short moves Victor over and we stay out of the double play. Hit it deep, Gut! All we need is a deep fly ball for the sac!

Gut down swinging, two down.

And it's up to Casey Blake to get us some insurance. You are DUE, Casey! You are OVERdue!

Ahhhh! So close to ending the game!! Gah!

And we go to the bottom of the 9th, and I think I have to watch at least part of it.

I think we'll see Borowski

BOTTOM 9th

I can't...I can't even believe that.

Joe Borowski was Joe Borowski.

AND WE FREAKING WON IT!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

ALDS Game 3 In Game Blog

2007-10-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

Stat of the game to start:

The Indians also made a lineup change, putting Trot Nixon in right field. Nixon's combined numbers in the regular season and playoffs against New York starter Roger Clemens were striking: 15-for-39 (.385) with four homers, five doubles, eight walks and 12 RBIs.

TOP 1st

Grady leads off and he's even at 1-1. Clemens seems to be dealing quickly.

Sizemore with a dribbler to second, one down.

AC up and gets behind 0-1. And Cabrera safe on an error by Jeter!

But AC hurt after hitting Juicer Giambi.

Ruled an infield hit!? That's a crock, but whatever.

I'm so tired of the stats they give on the Yankees in post-season play. They've been to the post-season so many times, that you can find a case when they were 0-1, 0-2, 1-1, whatever and won the series. It doesn't mean anything other than that they've been to the post-season a lot.

Pronk up, takes the first pitch for a ball. And another. I'm kind of surprised at how Clemens is pitching Pronk.

Hafner now ahead 3-0. Taking all the way for the first strike.

Big swinging strike and the count is full. Pronk fouls off the next pitch still full.

Ball four!! Pronk on with a walk, two on!

Victor up to bat. He takes the first pitch high for a ball. Let's go, Victor. Let's make an early statement. We need to get to that bullpen.

Ball two low. Strike one down the center. We're looking relaxed up there, which is good. Hopefully Victor can get ahold of one.

Fouls off the next pitch, 2-2. Pitch away and another full count. Good stuff, guys. You like to see us working the count. You'd also like to see us get a hit here.

Victor flies out to left. Two down.

Let's go, Garko. Takes first pitch for a strike. Man, I'm nervous. I'm probably more nervous than the first two games.

Ball in the dirt, 1-1.

GARKO!! Single up the middle drives in AC!!

Hell yes. HELL YES.

Jhonny up. Let's get this going. Let's keep the presure on.

First pitch ball. Jhonny swinging for a 1-1 count. A big hit from Jhonny would mean a lot here.

Ball low and JP's got a 2-1 count. Let's go. Let's go, Jhonny. Fouls away a good pitch and we're even, 2-2.

Grounder to short and Jeter doesn't have to make a throw to get an out, three down.

BOTTOM 1st

Okay, Jake. Here we go. We all know this could go one of two ways. Good god, I'm nervous.

Damon up, Jake even at 1-1. Jake looks pumped up. Foul ball and he's ahead, 1-2.

Single through the hole. Double play ball in order!

Man, I don't know if I can handle this. I don't know if I can watch. God, I hate the Yankees. I hate their fans, too, for that matter.

Jeter bunts, but it rolls just foul. Not for nothing, but it seems like a sign of desperation when a line-up like the Yankees tries to bunt to get on base.

JHONNY!! Peralta takes the double play ball like he does it in his sleep!

Okay, let's get Abreu now, Jake. Let's get through this inning quick. That would be nice.

Close third pitch and it's a 2-1 count. Fucknuts, now it's 3-1.

Grounder to Garko, over to Jake and we're out of the inning!

TOP 2nd

Kenny Lofton leads off the second as we listen to the ground rules at Yankee Stadium. Kenny tries to lay down a lead off bunt, but it goes foul.

I would love to see us keep up the attack. Clemens has already thrown 30 pitches.

Kenny takes another ball and strike and it's 2-2.

Ball outside and we're full.

Kenny pops out to Jeter, one down.

This is what we paid Trot Nixon for and he's getting the appropriate boo's as he comes to the plate.

Takes ball one. Let's go, Trot. Takes ball two. Good stuff. I'm actually really glad we've got Trot in there. I feel good about this.

OH MY GOD. I should feel good about more things!! NIXON GOES DEEP!

Oh my god. That's just awesome and hilarious.

Casey down 1-2. Let's keep it on, Casey. Let's go.

Grounder to second, two down. Good hustle by Casey down the line, though. I know that's an odd comment to make, but it's something I noticed.

Grady to the plate. Let's go, Grady. Let's keep this alive. The only downside of that homer is that it came on the second pitch. We need to make Clemens work some more.

And Grady singles into right!! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Grady!

AC up to the plate now. Does Grady go? He's got a good lead going.

Grady steals second!! Runner in scoring position! Nice dodge by Grady.

AC down 1-2. Let's go, Cabrera. Let's get another one in this inning. You're due for a big hit, I think.

Takes low, 2-2. I'm trying to manufacture my good feeling again. Good patience by AC. Let's go.

Flies out to the other Cabrera, three down.

BOTTOM 2nd

A-rod up, starts off with a foul, now Jake's behind 2-1. Easy, Jake. Nice and easy.

And he's behind 3-1. Not a good sign. We can't let them back into this game.

Jake goes right at him! Fouls it off and we're even, 2-2.

A-rod singles to the left side. The crowd is back into it.

Double play ball in order.

Big at bat here. Jake gets hosed on the first pitch and he's behind 1-0. It's amazing that my two least favorite Yankees bat next to each other in the order.

DOUBLE PLAY!! God bless you, Jake Westbrook! That is what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Jake's behind on Juicer, 1-0. Let's go, Jake.

Shift played perfectly and we're out of the inning!!

TOP 3rd

Man, we need to keep it going. We need to keep up the attack. Clemens is pushing 50 pitches already!

Pronk up, takes a first pitch strike. He's hitting .300 in the post season. That's a great sign for us. Fouls off the second pitch and he's behind 0-2. Let's go, Travis.

Torre comes to the mound to...check on Clemens? Not sure what that was about, but he's back to throwing.

Ball outside and it's 1-2. Ball away and it's 2-2. Good AB, Pronk. Let's go. Let's get the payoff.

Nice! Pronk gets it back to full! Let's get what you've worked for, Pronk. It's all yours.

WALK!! That was a GREAT AB. That is exactly what we need to keep doing.

Victor is due! I can feel it. Victor is due. And please no double play ball. I had to say it. Let's go, Victor.

Fouled off the first pitch and Victor is down 0-1. For as much composure as the Tribe is showing, I don't think any of them are sitting down. I think they're all on the steps.

Called second strike. Good pitch, actually. Let's work it back, Victor. Let's work it back and make it happen.

Ball in the dirt for ball one. Good stuff. Make him work. Let's get it. You're due, Victor! And outside for 2-2.

Outside for ball three and we're full! Torre sends Posada out to talk to Clemens aka stall for Hughes. The rookie pitched well against us in Game 1, but gave up a homer to Garko, so he could be a mixed bag.

Let's make him work here, Victor.

Dammit. Victor goes down swinging. That was the pitch to hit, too. I think Clemens got lucky on that one.

Torre comes out again.

Well, as my friend Matt just said, you have to wonder if this pitching change will lead to a line-up change for the Indians. Don't get me wrong, Trot, you're forever in my heart for that homer, but we might be better off going with someone else.

Wow, I just realized Hughes' first hitter is Garko! God, Garko, it would be great for you to pick up where you left off against this guy.

Garko down 0-1 to start. Wild pitch sends Pronk to second!! Count 1-1 now.

Garko grounds out to short stop, two down, Pronk still on second.

Let's go, Jhonny. I think you're due for a big hit. You were robbed of being the hero Friday night. I think you've got karma on your side.

Swing and a miss for a 0-1 count.

JHONNY DOUBLES INTO RIGHT!! Pronk comes home to score!!

And another runner in scoring position with two outs! And Lofton up to the plate!

Let's go, Kenny. Let's get to this kid. Nice, starts off 2-0.

Lofton fouls one off and we're 2-1. Let's keep it going, Kenny. Big swing and we're even, 2-2.

Low for a ball and we're full. Let's go. Let's go. Kenny fouls off another.

Man, another good AB for the Tribe. This is great to see.

C'mon, Kenny. Let's go.

Flies out to left, three down.

BOTTOM 3rd

Okay, Jake, let's keep the momentum up. He's got the bottom of the order here. This line-up makes me so nervous.

Jake gets a called strike and it's 2-1. I worry about Jake starting from behind so much. Foul makes it 2-2.

Ball outside and it's full.

Bloop grounder and Matsui singles.

Double play ball in order.

Jake facing Cano now and starts behind 1-0. Jake is scaring me with this. Again, he's 2-0. He's given up three lead off hits and has started 2-0 on the first two batters this inning. That's worrying.

Jake throws it in there for a strike and it's 2-1. Let's go, Jake. I know you have it in you. Ball outside and it's 3-1. Jake's going to give me an ulcer here. I'd love a double play ball, but I'll settle for an out. Let's just get the first one down.

Foul ball and it's full. Let's go, Jake. Let's get him here.

Okay, grounder to Garko and we get an out. They move the runner, but we still get an out. I'll take it. He's going to have to do more work this inning than he has so far, though. That makes me anxious.

This is killing me. Jake starts off behind again, but a foul ball makes it even, 1-1.

Dammit. This is a double edged sword. The double play is there to save us, but now they have two aboard. GAH!!

We can't lose the momentum. We cannot let this crowd or this team back into it. C'mon, Jake, just pitch your game. Don't let them pull you out of it.

We have to keep Cabrera close to first so we can get the double play ball. This is one of those times when it would be nice if Jake were a strikeout pitcher. But he's not, so we need the double play ball. We really need it.

Fouled off and we're 1-1.

Jake behind 3-1 now and if I'm not updating as much it's because I'm terrified.

DAMMIT. Damon singles and the Yankees score.

Jake has to get out of this with only one run given up. He HAS to.

BOOYAH!! Jake gets out of it with ANOTHER double play ball!

We gave up a run, but I'll take it.

TOP 4th

Trot still in there with a 2-1 count, fouls it off for 2-2.

Trot works a full count. Another good AB for the Tribe. Let's go, Trot. Make the most of this chance.

A dribbler foul and Trot's still alive.

Trot goes down swinging.

Casey up and it's 1-1. Casey's due here. He fouls off another and it's 1-2. Let's go, Casey. We need to keep them out of the dug out.

High fly to center and there's two down. But we're back to the top of the order.

Grady with a big swing and he's behind 0-1.

Pitch outside and we're back to even. Let's go, Grady. A hit here would be big.

Big curve and Grady's down 1-2.

This crowd is back into it. I'm not a fan of that.

Grady looks at a ball and we're back to even, 2-2. Let's go, Grady. Keep it going.

Fights off a pitch, sends it foul, stays alive. I wonder how many balls we've fouled off as a team so far today? It's a great thing to see. A hit would be even better.

Grady fouls off another one. Let's go, Grady. Let's go!

Ball down low and it's full! You have to love our line-up doing this today. They are really grinding these pitchers.

And ANOTHER foul! Grady has earned a base or two with this one. He's worked for it.

Called strike three. That was debatable. Three down and we go to the bottom of the 4th.

BOTTOM 4th

Jake trying to get ahead this inning, starts off with a ball, but comes back with two strikes. Good sign.

Weakly hit to Westbrook who makes the play, one down.

A-rod hits the first pitch he sees high into left and Kenny catches it, two down.

Split screen between the game and the Yankees hitting coach as Jake goes 2-0 on Posada. Jake is killing me with this. He's absolutely killing me with this.

Posada fouls off and we're 2-1. And now it's 3-1. Posada fouls another one off and it's full. Let's go, Jake.

Yes! Groundball to second! Three down and we're out of the inning!!

TOP 5th

AC up, takes a strike and a ball.

Damn, Cabrera got a hanging breaking ball, but didn't get enough of it. He flies out to right, one down.

Pronk up. I would love to see Pronk go deep here. He looks ready for it. Takes a first pitch strike.

And we're even at 1-1. Pronk with a blazing shot that almost took Cano's arm off! We've got a guy on base and Victor coming up.

Let's go Victor. He's definitely due and he draws a first pitch ball.

Damn. Victor pops up to center, two down.

Okay, fine, Garko is due! I will say that before every hitter since it seemed to work for Jhonny.

Good lord, Garko is hitting .444 in the post-season. And he takes a strike, which is what he's done pretty much every time up.

Gark fouls off the second pitch and he's down 0-2. Let's go, Garko. Let's make him work. Let's keep it going.

Fouls another off to stay alive. That's what I like to see.

Garko strikes out looking and we go to the bottom of the 5th.

BOTTOM 5th

I think this is a big inning for Jake. It was the bottom of the order that gave him problems before. He needs to stay ahead of these hitters.

Juicer leads off the inning with the Tribe working the shift and Jake throws a first pitch strike! Nice.

Jake throws inside for a ball, but then gets a low strike, which might have been a make up for that last pitch. And Juicer goes down swinging!! Jake gets his first K!

Split screen with Carl Willis, or at least coming up in a minute as he's full screen now.

Willis clearly not the charm that John Adams was and Matsui singles into left. Matsui is a thorn in Jake's side today.

Double play ball in order.

DAMMIT. Cano doubles into left and there are runners on second and third with only one out. I said it before, the bottom of the order is killing Jake. I don't know why.

I can't look again. I don't see how we get out of this without giving up at least one run. Where's my Jack Daniels?

Do you walk Cabrera to set up the double play ball? Can you take that risk for the top of the order? I don't think we can. Fuck.

DAMMIT. Cabrera singles and they score again. What is the deal with the bottom of the order? Why can't he get them out?

He's got to get a double play ball here. He really does.

And that would be the opposite of a double play ball.

FUCK.

And now we're down.

I've said it all damn game, he's been behind on every single batter. You can't do that with the Yankees. You just can't.

TOP 6th

As much as I value the double play ball, it's always driven me nuts that he pitches from behind. Pitch strikes!

Okay, can't dwell. We need Jhonny to get us going, get us back into it. I suppose it's only two runs.

Jhonny starts us off with a single!!

Kenny comes up. Let's keep it going, Lofton. Let's go.

Hey, bug joke! How clever.

Lofton takes a ball low. Let's go, Kenny. Let's get it going.

Kenny down 1-2 now after two foul balls. We need baserunners, Kenny. Let's go.

Lofton down on strikes.

Nixon still in and comes up. Takes a strike, then a ball, 1-1.

Hughes gets the low strike called and it's 2-2. I'd argue that call, but Westbrook has been getting it, too.

Full count on Nixon now. Let's go, Trot. Let's keep it alive. Let's keep it going.

Trot fights it off, stays alive. And another one. At least we're sticking with our game plan. We don't seem to be pressing too much yet. Let's go, Trot.

It's up to Casey now to keep it going. Streaky, streaky Casey has to keep us moving.

And he flies out to right.

BOTTOM 6th

A-rod leads off the inning with a single. Jhonny wasn't going to get him regardless of the throw.

Of course, the first guy Jake has actually been ahead of gets a hit.

Fultz is in and who the hell knows what we're going to get from him.

Oh, he gives up a single and there are now two on and no out.

This doesn't look good. I'm sorry to say it, but it really doesn't look good.

And I was right.

ALDS Game 2 In-Game Blog

2007-10-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here we go!

TOP 1st

One, two, three go the Yankees! Carmona is doing exactly what he wants to do. Unreal. Just...unreal.

BOTTOM 1st

Grady leads off with a single!! Hot damn, Grady! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Interesting that Grady got on board to lead off the game last night, too. Cabrera looking to bunt and move Grady over. I'm getting WAY ahead of myself here, but let's not forget that Toronto stole home on Petite earlier this year...

Wow. Cabrera grounds into a double play just like last night. That's just eerie.

Pronk behind 0-2 just like last night. Petite seems to be more in command than Wang was last night, though.

Fouls off his third pitch. Good pitch inside gets Hafner looking.

TOP 2nd

A-rod pops up on the first pitch. Good stuff from Carmona, although the airborn outs are a little disconcerting, as he's a groundball pitcher. Still, I think those are coming on his change-up and not his sinker, which is a good sign that he's mixing things up at will.

Matsui, whose name I have to assume I'm misspelling every time, comes to the plate and is down 1-2. The crazed Cleveland fans make some noise as Carmona JUST misses.

Fausto nibbles and gets the count to full. We could see that sinker here...but he walks Matsui. Time for the first double play of the night, I think.

Posada gets a first pitch ball, I think the first hitter to get a first pitch ball from Fausto so far today. Carmona gets the count even, 1-1.

Fouled off and now Carmona's ahead. Again, I think we'll see the sinker here, either for the K or for the double play ball. And Posada fights it off for another foul.

Wow, that was a close pitch. I'm kind of surprised Posada took that, but I think he was fooled. And a ball in the dirt gets the count to full. We need something here...

YES!! There it is!! Fausto gets the double play ball!!

BOTTOM 2nd

Victor leads off the inning and takes a ball. And a second. Let's get something started here, Victor...

Victor pops up to Posada in foul territory.

Garko gets a hitters count, but grounds out to Jeter. Great interview with Queen Lateefa (sp?) who mentioned respect with regards to LeBron last night. The national media has not been kind to him today, with good reason.

Peralta 1-1, trying to get something going.

Jhonny works it to 3-1 and Bob Brenley has just decided that the Indians are stealing signs even though we have no one on base. That's nice.

Jhonny with a walk! Lofton up to the plate and the crowd goes crazy. It really is great having this link to the 90's. It's just nice symmetry. It would be even nicer if we won the World Series.

Petite drops a great pitch in on Kenny, 0-1. Big swing makes it 0-2.

I've just learned that there are two t's in Pettitte both times. That looks really wrong. That can't be right, can it?

Lofton breaks his bat and sends it foul.

Jhonny steals! Wow. Runner in scoring position now for Kenny, 2-2 count and he fouls off another one.

GAH!! Kenny rips one to center and Jhonny is cut down by a mile heading home.

TOP 3rd

Cano starts off with two balls, which makes me nervous.

Cabrera with a great play at second! One down.

The other Cabrera starts off with a ball. I preferred it when everyone started down 0-2, not up 2-0.

Wicked pitch to make it 2-1. Another pitch that was probably great but shown from behind the hitter gets the count to even.

Bob Brenley, who earlier accused the Tribe of stealing signs, has now announced to the world what signs the Tribe is using.

1-0 Yankees on a Cabrera home run. The Yankees seem to be celebrating as if they just won the game.

Boy, I wonder if anything strange happened to Doug Minkwhatever yesterday. And flies out to center.

Fausto going right after Damon. He doesn't seem to be too rattled by the homer. A foul ball gets Carmona ahead.

Dribbler to Fausto and we're out of the inning. Time to get the offense going!

BOTTOM 3rd

Michaels up, making his post-season debut. Takes two pitches for balls.

Michaels sends it to right for a stand up double!! And we're in business!

Casey comes up looking to move Michaels over. Gets a first pitch strike. Second pitch, knocks it to the right side and moves Michaels to third!

Grady to the plate, which is probably not our first choice. Grady strikes out a lot. But not so far in the post-season, so let's hope this is the new Grady.

Damn, Grady hits to first and Michaels is stuck at third still, two down.

But now get AC to the plate and I like our chances here. Count's at 2-1 now. Let's go, Cabrera, let's get this run in...

And now we're full. Here we go...

AC goes down looking. Damn.

TOP 4th

Jeter leads off with a single. We need another double play ball...

...but we get a hard out and a great play by Garko at first!

Not liking this situation here, A-rod up with a runner in scoring position. There's a decent chance Fausto will pitch around him, get him to nibble. He's down 2-0, if it goes to 3-0 I think they'll just walk him in hopes of getting a double play ball.

But he fouls off the third pitch, so Carmona can stay on him.

Nice pitch gets the count even. I wonder what Fausto will do here...

How 'bout a strikeout??? Hell yeah!! Great pitch, Carmona!

Now, let's get out of this inning and get back up to bat. I think we can get something started at the bottom of this inning.

Man, he's behind on Matsui, but gets a called strike to go to 2-1. We need this out right here. It would be big to strand a Yankee...

Garko takes it himself and we're out of the inning!! Hot damn!

BOTTOM 4th

Pronk up to lead off the inning. Let's go, Travis, let's get it going...

And he does! Pronk singles to center! Okay, people, let's do this!

Victor up as we're split screened with Shelton. Maybe that's good luck as Victor gets ahead 2-0.

I'm a little worried here. Victor hits into a decent number of double plays. However, he just hit into the stands, 2-1.

It's a good sign that Garko is up this inning. He made a key play last inning, so karma is on his side.

Victor has it at 3-1 now. Let's go...Big rip by Victor and we're full. We need something here, we really do. We need to take advantage of our chances. Pettitte's only at fifty pitches, so we need to make him work.

Crazy ass play and Hafner's at second! Wow. If Pettitte hadn't hit that with his glove, that was two. But instead it's a crazy sac bunt deal without bunting. And now we need Garko to step it up.

Garko takes the first pitch for a strike. We need something here, we really do. I'm worried about the last two to three innings against the Yankees. We need to score before then.

Garko grounds out to Jeter again and Pronk is still stuck at second. This is getting frustrating.

Let's go, Jhonny. Let's go...

Down 1-2. Man, this is so frustrating. Jhonny pops it foul and he's still alive.

Full count now. Here we go...

Down swinging. DAMMIT.

TOP 5th

Fausto ahead 0-1 on Posada.

I'll be honest, this game is killing me. Sure, the top of the fifth last night took a year or two off my life, but this one is peeling away the years. Carmona is doing great, but we need to help him out a bit with our bats.

Full count now and Posada fouls off a sinker. Carmona's pitch count would suggest he can go through six. He walks Posada and it's time for a double play ball -- it's odd that he's only gotten one so far today.

I'm nervous. I don't like being behind at this point, let alone having the lead off guy aboard.

WOW. Fausto Carmona does it again -- double play ball and the bases are clear.

Now Cabrera comes up and I'd expect Fausto to go after him. Let's go, Carmona, let's get him...

And Cabrera gets Cabrera on a grounder and we're clear! *whew*

BOTTOM 5th

Hot damn! Kenny drives the first pitch he sees into right for a single and we have ANOTHER lead off runner!

Even better, Michaels up to bat, and he's got great numbers against Pettitte. He's also a former NL guy, which means he can bunt.

God bless America, this is intense.

NICE BUNT BY MICHAELS!! That's what I like to see!

Okay, Casey, let's go. It's all about momentum, buddy. And he takes a strike because that's what Casey does.

Dammit, Casey down 0-2 just like that. Gwynn actually made a good point -- maybe they should send Kenny?

Meeting at the mound and I might have to pour myself a drink. My liver is not happy about the Indians making the post-season.

Lofton is just messing with Pettitte's head here. Let's hope that works in Casey's favor.

Dammit. Casey flies out to right and it's up to Grady. Fuck me, man. This is so damn frustrating.

Grady has started every at bat from behind. Killing me.

Well, FUCK. Kenny picked off at third. Inning over. DAMMIT!!

TOP 6th

I don't even know what to say anymore. Carmona 1-1 on Doug I-Tripped-Over-A-Camera-Guy.

I've poured myself a drink.

Garko gets more action, one out.

According to the TBS guys, A-rod said to Lofton "I can't believe you fell for that, we got you."

It's hard to believe more people don't like A-rod.

Damon grounds back to Carmona. Two down.

NICE PLAY BY JHONNY!! Three up, three down, and Carmona gets through six with only 75 pitches thrown.

BOTTOM 6th

Grady gets another shot.

Sidenote: They can't change the name of Jacobs Field. I love hearing the national media call it the Jake.

Grady takes a first pitch ball! Nice. Maybe Grady can make something of this second chance.

GRADY GOES THREE!!!

That is what Sizemore means to this team! HOT DAMN!!

Oh, fucknuts. Cabrera taps it back to Pettitte. You know, he was going to show his age at some point.

We still get a few more chances. Let's go, Pronk. Let's make our mark.

Pronk down 0-1 right off the bat. We've got two chances here with Victor on deck.

We are REALLY pressing. Pronk swings at a ball and he's down 0-2. We need to relax (because I clearly cannot).

And Pronk goes down swinging. Man alive, this will be devastating if we don't score.

Victor...he's exactly who I'd want up there right now. He is who I want up there.

Jesus, we're down 0-2. We're going to see Chamberlain soon, too. Man.

Fuck.

Just...fuck.

TOP 7th

Abreu to lead off the inning with a broken bat before he even faces a pitch.

That's pretty freaking hilarious, actually.

And Cabrera makes an error. I think that last AB is in his head. Someone needs to settle him after the inning, assuming we get out of this.

Freaking A-rod. This would kill me. Fausto gets ahead, 0-1.

Carmona ahead 0-2. Let's get this. I'd prefer a double play ball, but I'll take a single out.

STRIKEOUT! Hot damn, good stuff, Fausto.

I can NOT believe how great Fausto has been and the fact that he's in line for a loss right now. It is going to be completely demoralizing to waste a start like this.

Okay, a doubleplay ball would be great here. Fausto behind 2-0.

Garko makes a great play and gets the lead off runner, but no doubleplay. Still, good stuff.

Posada up to bat. Let's get this.

SIZEMORE!!! What a freaking catch!! God bless America, son! That was huge!

BOTTOM 7th

I can't believe it's just the bottom of the 7th. Thank god, though. We need all the chances we can get.

Carmona's only thrown 85 pitches. I imagine he'll be back for the 8th. Who will we see in the 7th from the Yankees?

It's still Pettitte.

Garko up, takes a first pitch strike.

He takes a second pitch strike.

Credit where credit is due. Pettitte has been amazing.

Gimpy McAnkle catches the foul ball, one down.

C'mon, Jhonny, we just need contact, not homers. Okay, we need homers, but let's just focus on contact.

It's 2-1 on Jhonny. He fouls one off to go even.

Wow. Jhonny hits a LONG double! SO close to tying this game!

And, of course, Kenny Lofton is coming to the plate. Dare to dream?

Takes a ball. This is all very familiar...

Walk to Lofton and we see Chamberlain for the first time.

The question is, who will face him first? Michaels? Gut?

It's Gut. He's down 0-1. Let's go, Franklin...

Gut down swinging, Casey flies out to right.

Son of a bitch.

TOP 8th

One pitch, one out for Fausto. I was worried there, that Wedge would pull a Wedge and go to the bullpen.

And now freaking Cabrera is up.

And back to Cabrera again, two down.

Great, the field has been attacked by bugs now. That's lovely.

God, I can't believe we're on the verge of losing perhaps his ONLY start of this series.

1-2 count and the crowd is on its feet! But we go to 2-2.

Man, those bugs look annoying as hell. Now we're at a full count and the announcer just made a horrible pun.

Swing at the bugs! Swing at the bugs!

Another bad pun and a ground out to Cabrera and we're headed to the first three of our last six outs.

BOTTOM 8th

Here we go.

Let's hope those bugs are on our side.

A ball! Is that the first ball he's thrown?

Let's go, Grady. Two balls! Is it...the bugs?

Wow, Grady's at 3-0. This should be interesting...

Walk!

God bless you, bugs.

Wild pitch gets Grady to second! Bunt will move him to third!!

Wow. I can't even believe this.

YES!! AC bunts and Grady is on third!!

Good god, we HAVE to win. We've never bunted this much EVER.

And now...PRONK. It's time. It's time.

Unbelievable. He could not have hit that any better to get out. There is absolutely nowhere else he could have hit that. Jesus.

And Victor with another chance. What freaking luck we've had. We need some karma...

Oh my god. OH MY GOD!!

Grady...TIE GAME. Unreal.

And Garko up with a chance to do some damage.

Garko has a 2-1 count. The bugs are flying. Chamerlain's all over. Give us a meatball...

3-1. C'mon...

Full count. Here we go...here we go...

Walk.

Jhonny up and takes strike one. Of everyone who's been up, he looks the most unfazed by these bugs...

Jhonny fouls it off, 1-2 count. We still haven't had a hit with RISP (aisde from Lofton's).

Jhonny down looking. And we go to the ninth.

TOP 9th

Carmona still in, thankfully. He should be allowed to keep going, as he's only at 95 pitches.

Fausto seemed like he did a good job despite the bugs at the end of the 8th. Hopefully he can keep that up.

Damon grounds to Cabrera and there's one down.

Carmona up 0-2 with pitch number 100.

Jeter fouls off a meatball, it looked like. Carmona's getting anxious, I think. Like I said, this could be his only appearance in this series -- and he gets Jeter swinging!! Two down!!

Dammit, Abreu aboard on an infield hit and freaking A-rod steps up.

I hate moments like this. It seems poetic for A-rod and I don't like that one bit.

I've poured myself another drink.

Let's go Fausto. You've earned this.

Ahead 0-1 on a foul.

"Let's go Fausto! Let's go Fausto!"

Ahead 1-2 now. God, this is killing me. Why must I be such a fan? I'm dropping years on my life left and right.

Dammit, Abreu steals. We need to get A-rod out here. We need to just get him. Count at 2-2 now.

Fouls it off, breaks his bat, still 2-2.

They're showing highlights of A-rod beating us in the ninth early in the season. We need this. It's payback time. We need this. C'mon...

Inside, count is full. I don't know if I can watch.

Where's the remote? Where's the Gameday feed? I can't watch this...it's too much for me and I'm not a strong man!

That four foul balls in this at bat. Good god, this is killing me.

STRIKEOUT!!!!

GOOD GOD.

BOTTOM 9th

And here we go. HERE WE GO.

Lofton to lead off and ready to make amends for getting picked off.

Kenny Lofton is hitting .863 in the post-season. Or at least he was, until he just flied out to center. Time for another one of our rookies to step up...

Gut down 0-1. He's 1 for 1 lifetime against Rivera! Good stuff.

Inside for a ball, 1-1.

Vicious swing, vicious pitch and it's 1-2.

And he goes down and we're down to Casey Blake who...well, he's freaking due is what he is!

I would imagine Perez will pitch the 10th, with a lefty coming up. But let's hope it doesn't get to that point...

Casey takes ball one.

Casey pops out to center and we go to extras.

Time for another drink!

TOP 10th

Pitching isn't the issue tonight, so much as gnat ignoring.

Perez in like I figured, 1-0 on Matsui, who worries me. Then again, I suppose they all worry me at this point.

Perez turns it around, 1-2. Crowd on their feet!

Pop up on the infield, Casey makes the catch. One down.

Posada up and I'm nervous again. On paper, we should be in good shape here, and that always worries me when we look better than the other guys on paper. It's like the kiss of death.

And Perez is up 0-2. A quick inning would be great here and I can't believe I'm even saying such things.

Gut at the warning track, hauls it in, and there's two down.

Cano up now and he pops up to Jhonny and it's three up, three down!!

BOTTOM 10th

Top of the order...here we go...Let's do this!!

Grady behind 0-2 on a strike and a foul. I have a good feeling about this inning. Don't ask me why. It might be the whiskey talking.

Hey, a Major League joke. Go figure.

Grady is fighting. That's a good sign. He's making Rivera work. Even if nothing comes from it, he's setting him up for AC. Good stuff, Grady.

And another foul! That's seven pitches so far.

Nine pitches so far! Grady is doing good work here for AC at least.

Sizemore strikes out but gets on!!

Grady EARNED that base. I don't care if Posada made a bad throw or not, Grady WORKED for that.

AC with a GREAT bunt! Grady at second and Pronk up now!!!

He's due...he's due...he's due...

Pronk down 0-2. He's going to beat the shift. He's going to hit it down the third baseline. I can feel it...

He's worked it back to 2-2. Good god.

Weak grounder to second, but Grady moves 90 feet closer. Now any kind of a single would do it.

And the lead of this team steps up to the plate...

And they walk him which leaves it all up to Garko. It's all up to the rookie. Let's go.

"Let's go Garko! Let's go Garko!"

Please, let's go! PLEASE!

Wow. Garko gets hit, which even I would have to question.

He DID NOT lean in. In fact, Garko pulled back AFTER it hit him. Strange.

And now it's Jhonny, hoping to make up for that single in the top of the inning.

Let's go, JP. It's time to shine.

Jhonny down 1-2 and he strikes out a lot. Dammit. C'mon. I am ready to POP!

And what did I say? He strikes out swining. FUCK!!!!!!

TOP 11th

Perez gets the first out to Gut.

Substitution, Duncan in for Mc-Kay-Vich. Perez up 0-2.

The count goes to 2-2 on a pitch just high.

PERALTA! Makes a NICE throw from the hole to get Duncan, two down!

Damon up, Perez gets ahead 0-1 on a foul. I don't like the look of Damon here.

We're at the four hour mark of this game.

Let's get him, Perez. Let's get him and get into that bullpen.

At 1-2 now and the crowd is up!

STRIKEOUT!!! Hell yeah!

BOTTOM 11th

I keep preaching symmetry. Lofton leads off the inning yet again!

This is what I'm talking about! New pitcher! And Lofton has a 3-0 count. I think he'll take...and he does! WALK!!

Gut up now, probably to bunt. He's gotten five down this year. Fingers crossed.

Gut fouls the first one. One more shot or we send Lofton, I think.

Vizcaino (sp?) is trying to hold Lofton.

Gut is 0-2 and can't bunt, I don't think. He's got to be shitting bricks, honestly. Hell, let him swing away. He's due.

Clearly, they think Lofton's going to go.

Gut 1-2 in a really long AB. Lofton is in his element.

SINGLE!!

Casey with the bunt!! Runners on second and third with one out! GRADY TO THE PLATE!!

And they're going to WALK Grady!!

AC in a position to make up for that dribbler to the mound earlier...

Down 0-2...Oh, god, I can't take much more of this.

DAMMIT

Down to Pronk now.

DAMMIT!!!!!!

Pronk at 3-2. Oh, my god.

GAME WINNER!!!!

I can't...I can't even process what I just watched for four and a half hours...

ALDS Game 1 In Game Blog

2007-10-04T15:45:00.001-07:00

I need to do something with myself. It's only a quarter to four out here in Los Angeles, so I'm all alone watching the game.

TOP 1st

C.C. just got hosed on two pitches to Abreu.

I think C.C.'s a bit wired for sound. He just need to get through this inning and I think he'll be fine, but that's easier said than done.

A guy on the radio this morning pointed out that Derek Jeter, when getting a pitch inside, sticks his ass out as if to dodge it, regardless of whether it's necessary or not. I'd never noticed it before, but he did it in his first at bat tonight and it's pretty funny.

C.C. 1-2 on A-rod.

Sabathia doesn't seem to be afraid to run in on these guys, which is good to see. I'd rather he hit guys than give up hits (is that wrong?).

C.C. now 3-2 on A-rod. I don't know if I'm going to be able to watch this game with the sound on. Between the "0-6 in the regular season" and "A-rod's poor post-season performance" bits, I'm not sure I can handle three plus hours of this. Please, god, someone give them something else to talk about.

Yes, Sabathia walked two guys, but I stand by my claim that only the second one was legitimate.

Oh, yeah, people overlook POSADA. Yeah, he never gets, say, ESPN commercials about him. He never lost to freaking Pudge Rodriguez in All Star voting.

C.C. really is getting clamped down on the zone.

Sabathia threw two identical pitches in a row. One a ball, one a strike. And I LIKE Bruce Froeming.

He's 0-2 on Matsui after striking out Posada. C'mon, C.C....

Grounder to Cabrera and we're out of it. Okay, I have faith in C.C. to settle down now.

BOTTOM 1st

And before I can be excited about Sizemore getting hit, Cabrera hits into a double play.

Pronk at 1-1. Technical difficulties prevent TBS from giving us the fancy baseball card graphics for the Yankees line-up.

Down 1-2 now. We can't go in order, dammit.

Fall tip keeps it at 2-2. We're at a full count now, and Pronk keeps battling. The Jake looks good in HD.

Walk! Starts from behind and pulls out a walk. Good stuff, Pronk.

Oh, joy, TBS got it working and we get the baseball cards.

Victor got a pitch to hit and fouled it off. Plus side here, he can't hit into a double play. Aside from Grady, everyone has started off 0-1. In fact, Victor is 0-2 now.

Shot of Tony "Turncoat" Pena in the dugout. Shot of Wedge eating what has to be either Roloaids or magic mushrooms.

Victor singles! This is a good sign. Both Pronk and Victor showed great composure.

Ryan Garko's very first post-season AB. Contact, Garko, contact.

As Bob Brenley points out, not so much with the speed on the bases. So they try to pick off Pronk to no avail.

Garko SINGLES!!! HELL YEAH!!

Holy shit, that was awesome. I really don't know if I can handle nine innings of this, let alone at least three games...

Let's go, JP! Good god, this is insane. I'd forgotten this feeling.

Shot of Roger Clemens. That's nice.

JP takes a slider to go to 2-1. Then he fouls off a tasty pitch. Oh, Jhonny, come on...

Full count.

Fights off a nice pitch to stay alive. It might have been outside, but it was close.

Another foul. At least we're getting that pitch count up there.

Another foul! Good fight, Jhonny.

Draws a walk!! Oh my god. Oh my god. This is insane.

Okay, Kenny, let's do this, man. Fouls off the first pitch.

HELL YEAH!!! Kenny drives in TWO!

Oh, Jhonny, we could have kept that going. But whatever, I'll be upset about that later!

TOP 2nd

Okay, maybe not the whole game. Maybe not even as everything happens.

But SWEET JESUS, VICTOR! That was HUGE. HUGE!!

Yes, another walk, but I think C.C. is coming around.

We need to go after Wang again.

BOTTOM 2nd

Gut pops up on only two pitches.

Blake behind 1-2 and the "Yankees suck" chat has begun!

Casey goes down swinging. But we did all our damage last inning with two outs, so maybe this is okay.

Grady 1-1. Wang keeps trying to pitch him in, but I don't think it's working. And he goes outside this time for a 2-1 count.

Grady fouls one off, 2-2.

GRADY WITH A SINGLE.

Two outs now, I wonder if he'll get the green light to go. They probably have a read on Wang now, unlike last time.

And they got him. Dammit.

TOP 3rd

So I don't want to jinx it, but someone obviously said something to C.C. Sweet fancy Moses, Sabathia! Clearly, he's not happy with Johnny Damon and he's 0-2 on Jeter.

Jeter does the ass thing again on a pitch no where near him and it's 1-2.

He does it again on a pitch that WAS near him, 2-2.

AND JETER ALMOST FALLS DOWN swinging, two outs!

Abreu at 1-1, now at 1-2.

C.C. sends a message! Watch for in your ear!

Full count and C.C. walks him. And stupid A-rod.

Shot of Wedge looking like he'd rather be somewhere else.

And A-rod pops up! And no one yells "mine" at Jhonny when he catches it!

BOTTOM 3rd

AC up first, down 1-2 so far. Count goes even.

SOLO SHOT FOR CABRERA!!

Wow. Just...wow. And right after they were talking about what a great trade that was to get him.

Good pitch by Wang gets the count to 1-2 on Pronk, who grounds out to second.

Are you kidding me? LeBron is at the game with a Yankees hat on. WTF? I know you're a fan of the Yankees (which is sad in and of itself), but why show up to the game like that?

HA! TBS guy asked him if he's a "frontrunner"! His favorite teams are the Cowboys, Bulls, and Yankees? Total bandwagon. TOTAL.

Victor with a 2-1 count. Flies out to center.

Garko 2 for 2 tonight! Singles on a bloop to right!

Jhonny flies out to right to end the inning.

We're a third of the way through and that bottle of Jack Daniels in my kitchen is beginning to look awfully good.

TOP 4th

Posada gets a called strike one and whines about it. I really can't stand that guy.

Gut with a running grab in right.

Wedge looking grizzly. He must have ulcers as big as my head.

Sabathia ahead 0-2 on Matsui and gets the K!

C.C. has turned it around. He's getting ahead of these guys like we're used to seeing.

Swinging strike gets the count to 2-2.

Shit! Solo shot by Cano. Goofy camera man runs down the third base line with Cano.

C.C. comes right back and gets the first strike on Cabrera. And then he pops up to AC to end the inning.

BOTTOM 4th

Kenny up to start the inning, looks at a bunt, takes a strike. Second pitch in the dirt.

Bunt foul, 1-2. Pitch way outside and we're even.

Kenny pops up to second, one down.

I'd like to see Gutierrez get a good at bat here. Even if he doesn't make something happen, seeing a few pitches would really do him some good, I think.

He's worked a 3-0 count. He'll take, I'm sure. And he does, for a strike.

Gut draws a walk! Good AB for him. Casey needs one, too. He's only seen a few pitches.

They're holding Franklin at first. I don't think he'll go, but I think they'll decoy him.

Shoot, should have sent him. Casey makes contact, but sends it to A-rod who get Gut at second. Casey was a few inches from a double.

Grady up again. Let's go, Grady!

Sizemore down 0-2 on a meaty pitch he let go. Great shot of Grady smiling, though. Clearly, the man is enjoying himself so far.

We need to work more pitches out of Wang. He's around 60 now, but we need to knock him out sooner than the 6th.

Grady works the count even, 2-2. The announcers are spreading the Sizemore love.

Wang keeping Blake in check, what with the -- is four? -- steals this year.

Grady drives in foul. And then takes a pitch for strike three.

TOP 5th

Correction, Wang has throw 76 pitches through 4. We need to knock him out this inning.

C.C. comes out dealing to the new first baseman. He's 1-2. That third strike always seems like the hardest for the Tribe pitchers. Fouls off the next pitch.

Sabathia drops in a beautiful slider, but Duncan doesn't bite. Goes high heat and misses and now we're full.

Pulls it foul down the third base line.

Singles the other way. Shot of Duncan, who doesn't look like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

C.C. is still clearly angry with Johnny Damon. Starts him off with a strike. He just misses the outside corner, 1-1.

Again, just outside, 2-1.

Sabathia gets HOSED on a call on the outside, 3-1. C.C. walks him, again getting hosed on the corners. I know they keep pointing out the walks Sabathia has had, but more than a few have been questionable at best.

Jeter up now. First pitch ball. Sabathia needs to relax. And just as I say it, Carl Willis comes out.

Jeter flies out to right, Gutierrez with a good arm holds the runners at second and third.

Abreu up and we need a double play...

RBI double and we're only up by one.

And I've poured myself a drink.

Intentional walk to Bush League, I mean A-rod. And of course my second least favorite Yankee is up next. I don't know if I can keep watching...

Wow.

Just...I can't believe we're still winning this game.

BOTTOM 5th

We need to score. We need to score and knock Wang out because we've sen the last of C.C. and I honestly don't know who's going to pitch the 6th. We need to get to their bullpen.

Actually, dollars to doughnuts Jensen Lewis makes his first post-season appearance in the 6th.

AC in a 3-1 count. Let's go...

Yes! Leadoff walk!

TBS puts stats up for the starters, but they're strangely off by ONE pitch on Wang's numbers. How odd.

Pronk up and gets a lead off ball. Let's go, let's go, let's get something going here.

Tony Gwynn points out that Froeming isn't giving the pitchers the outside corners. It's taken him four and a half innings to catch on to this fact??

While I would love a blast from Pronk right here, I'd settle for a hit. Or a walk, as the count goes to 2-1.

Pronk pops out to center.

HELL YES!! VICTOR GOES YARD!! 6-3 Indians!!!

Interview John Adams all game!!

Wang has got to be on his last legs. Let's go, Garko, let's knock him out.

Not a good start, Garko down 0-2.

Garko connects, but right to second. Two down.

Jhonny on a bloop into right field but had two all the way!

Kenny with a chance for insurance!

Lofton with a career night!!! JP comes in to score, 7-3 Tribe!

Wang is gone and some guy I've never heard of is in! And Lofton steals! And single will get us another run!

Let's go, Gut, we need to get you some confidence...

Gutierrez goes down to 1-2. Gut is amped. You can tell by the look on his face. Just stay calm, Gut. Rookie on rookie here...

Works it back to a full count! Does the rookie try to make a pitch? Or meatball?

Tries to make a pitch and misses and it's a walk to Gut!

Good AB by Franklin. All of our guys are working the count, really, aside from Casey so far, so now is the time.

And it IS!! Casey doubles into right and drives in TWO!!

Wow, we're 4 for 4 with RISP. Wow. Wowowowowowowowow.

Grady up, takes a strike. Now takes two.

Grady fouls off to stay alive.

Not for nothing, but did I or did I not say we needed to get to their bullpen early?

Grady pops out to center.

Wow. 9-3 Tribe. Wow.

TOP 6th

Wow, it's Perez to start the 6th. So are they going to try to get two out of him? At this point you want to save your bullpen, at least somewhat. Maybe one for Perez, one for Lewis, one for Betancourt, one for Borowski? Just to get them all some post-season work with a big lead?

Perez 2-2 on Cano. Cano fouls off again. He's going towards third over and over.

Cano grounds to a perfectly position Jhonny, one down.

Perez with his first K of the post-season! Cabrera goes down swinging.

Everyone on their feet for a 1-2 count to Duncan. He fouls off the pitch.

Shot of Carmona watching the game, munching on sunflower seeds. He looks calm. He's got to like the looks of his offense.

We're at 2-2 now. Everyone standing again. Perez's pitch is low and we're full.

Strikeout!! World, Perez, Perez, world.

BOTTOM 6th

Time to add insult to injury! The rookie (whose ERA is currently 27.00) is still in there. Let's stick it to them. Statement game!

Cabrera with a 2-2 count at this point. Make that 3-2. But he grounds out to second.

PRONK!! A line drive home run from PRONK!! Damn, that ball got out fast.

Victor with a double! He's 3 for 4! As I said with Perez, hello world, this is Victor Martinez. Get to know him.

The Yankees are leaving the rookie in. They seem determined to make him suffer.

Garko 2-3 tonight. Let's go, Gark. Let's keep it going.

Garko gets hit and we've got two on with one out!

Jhonny grounds to Jeter who goes to third.

Which brings Lofton up for another shot!

NO WAY! Lofton with a double to drive in ANOTHER run!! That is a man who wants a freaking ring.

Gut pops up and we go to the 7th.

TOP 7th

Perez picks up where he left off and strikes out Damon. I doubt he'll get many headlines after a game like this, but Perez is really shining. People keep talking about how the Yankees never saw C.C. this year -- well, they didn't see much of Perez, either.

Gut with a great catch in right field! That's another "who is that guy" moment. It's time for the rest of the world to meet future all stars!

Wedge has got to get Lewis in next inning. It just makes sense to get him some time with a lead and there's no reason to use Betancourt or Borowski.

Crowd on their feet for 0-2! STRIKE THREE!!

Amazing. Just amazing.

BOTTOM 7th

Casey goes down on strikes. Blakes seems to be more and more of a momentum guy these days. If he has it behind him, he does well. If not, he's more likely to strike out.

Grady pops out.

The announcer just said "a coming out party for Cabrera," which is a great point, but you can say that about so many guys on our team. It's insane.

Hughes strikes out Cabrera to end the inning. My friend the Red Sox fan has warned me that we only have so many runs to score in the series, so we need to save some.

Only six outs to go.

TOP 8th

From my mouth to Wedge's ears, Jensen Lewis is in! And he's ahead 0-2 on A-rod!

Throws inside for the first ball. That third strike is the rough spot for Lewis. And he gets A-rod to pop out!

That's what I'm talking about -- Lewis gets his first post-season appearance against A-rod, but he's got some padding behind him. This is exactly what he needed.

Posada flies out to Lofton, two down.

Man, Lewis just picks his spot and hits it. Crazy. He's up 0-2 now and the crowd is up!

Three pitches!! Matsui down on THREE PITCHES!! Jensen Lewis is the man.

BOTTOM 8th

Pronk up again and looking surly.

He hits it hard, but not far enough, flies out to center.

Wow, Victor is a triple shy of the cycle. Granted, he's only ever hit one in his life. But it wouldn't shock me tonight.

And, no, flies out to left.

Garko up, still 2 for 3 tonight, I believe, after getting hit last inning. He's down 0-2 at this point, though.

Hughes trying to win himself a starting job, it would seem.

GARKO GOES YARD!!

A nice even dozen, thank you!

Wow, Garko's first post-season game and he goes 3 for 4!

Jhonny gives it a ride, but ends up just short. And we go to the 9th, three outs left to get!

TOP 9th

Huh. Betancourt is in. Don't know about this one, but I suppose it gets him some work.

And Cano goes down on three pitches.

Oh, god, on the home run recap they played the music from Major League. Should have seen that one coming.

Man, Perez struck out four batters in two innings. Lewis struck out one in a single inning. Betancourt already has one and has Cabrera at 2-2.

Lofton makes a great catch in left! Just in case we needed proof that he could do it all.

And we're one out away from taking game one!

And stupid roid rage Giambi gets a single past the shift.

Okay, let's end it with Damon -- it would only be appropriate, given how the game started.

Betancourt is 0-2 on Damon...here we go...high for ball one.

The pitch...low for ball two. Raffy is doesn't want to give him anything.

The pitch...high for ball three. Full count now. Okay, let's do this, Raffy.

Fly out to Grady!! Game 1 goes to the Tribe!!

ALDS Game 1

2007-10-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to do with myself.

"We should have gotten a real chicken."

I spent most of the 1997 World Series watchng the games at my house (I was a senior in college) with my friends Mike, Jason, and Scott, drinking 40's of malt liquor.

I watched every game of the 1995 World Series from my dorm room. I probably drank a lot of Natural Light.

For the life of me I can't remember what I did during the 2001 ALDS, aside from watching the first game in a bar. Clearly, I must avoid going to a bar in the next seven minutes.

Right around the seventh inning, though, I might start drinking.

They've just started the very short pre-game show for the game. Big shot from the sky of Jacobs Field. I got chills.

Okay. Let's do this.

Indians @ Royals, 9/29/07

2007-09-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

I hate the Red Sox.

I think I've just been waiting for something to send me over the edge. Let's face facts, it's an organization that likes to pretend they're the underdog, that they're the polar opposite of the "evil empire," yet they've basically become Evil Empire, Jr. And Red Sox Nation is even worse. "Oh, we're so tortured" and yet they're really not. They buy what they need when they need it. Try being the Indians, jackasses.

But I've held my bile in check. Part of that is the fact that I actually hate the Yankees more, so the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Part of it is my friend Matt, who was born a Red Sox fan (and who freely admits that he'd prefer to support a different team, but you don't get to choose these things, as Indians fans know only too well). And sure, I probably fell for their charm in 2004.

No longer.

Minutes after the Indians managed to lose to the Royals, the Red Sox made their decision as to which ALDS they would be playing in.

Now, every Red Sox fan I've talked to has said the same thing. Every sports analyst online and on TV has said the same thing. Basically, the Red Sox would benefit the most from the short series, because their opponents, be they the Angels or the Indians, have a pair of aces and the last thing the Red Sox would want to do is allow the other team to pitch both of their aces twice in a single series. On top of that, the Red Sox basically have an ace (Beckett) and some other guys who are sometimes great and sometimes awful.

Like I said, it seemed that everyone who was anyone piece together that the Red Sox would benefit most from the shorter series.

Clearly, none of those people actually WORK for the Red Sox. Because they picked the long series.

I have underestimated the appeal of facing Lackey and Escoabar twice each in a five game series. I have underestimated the cloning abilities of the Boston Red Sox, as they have obviously created a second Josh Beckett.

I would like to hit someone now.

Indians @ Mariners, 9/26/07

2007-09-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well then.

Some of that unbridled confidence I had as we headed towards the post-season dropped away last night. Sure, we've all gone back and forth on the issue at hand, but the last two nights have proven that our weak spot is glaringly obvious, and his name is Joe Borowski.

It's hard to imagine calling the league leader in saves a weak spot, but that's the way it is.

Rivera, K-rod, Papelbon, Borowski -- one of those things doesn't match, does it?

He is our closer, though, and I don't see that changing any time soon. We have an option on him for next season and I can't see any possibility that would cause the Indians to pass on that.

Some people have suggested Betancourt become our closer (in fact, I think the majority of people on the official posting board have done so). But we tried that with him last year and he didn't do so hot.

Honestly, I see the future of the ninth inning being Jensen Lewis. He has 33 strikeouts in 28 and a third innings. His ERA 2.20 and dropping. He's only getting better and I think we'll see him become the heir apparent next season behind Borowski.

Anyway, we only need to win one more game to secure, at least, the second best record in baseball, which means we'll get the wild card winner and, most likely, the longer division series.

So we've got that going for us.

Indians @ Seattle, 9/25/07

2007-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

It's the bottom of the 6th and Jensen Lewis has just come in to relieve Aaron Laffey who just walked the tying run. There are runners at the corners with two outs.

Laffey threw 74 pitches, which is right around his apparent cut off of 75-85. It's clear they don't want to over work the rookie. He did a good job tonight, getting lots of ground ball outs. It will be interesting to see what he ends up doing next spring.

And Lewis gets a pop out to end the inning. Good stuff.

The Red Sox won and the Yankees lost, which is nice. I want that mess decided.

Texas beat the Angels, which is even better. It's not so much that we need to have the best record in baseball, we just need to have a better record than the Angels.

Why? Well, it breaks down like this:

From what I've read, the Red Sox would prefer a quick five game series, as they're going to face one of two teams who arguably have two aces each (the Tribe and the Angels). I would imagine the Yankees would feel the same way. For those two teams (with their pitching), it's not about who they can send out there so much as who they'll face. The Yankees choice, however, is irrelevant if they're the wild card.

So if we have the best record in baseball, it's our choice. If we don't have the best record in baseball, we just need to make sure the Angels don't and that we don't play the Red Sox. In other words, we HAVE to play the Yankees, which will happen if we either a) have the best record in baseball or b) have a better record than the Angels.

Follow all that?

Jensen Lewis gets a strikeout to end the 7th. I told you Lewis could be big. I wonder how long they'll leave him out there -- through eight?

Nope, Perez for the eighth. Borowski for the ninth, I would imagine. Fingers crossed that will be the case.

Playing It Out

2007-09-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

So they've set the rotation for the remainder of the season and our two aces both get one more start.

Tues: Laffey
Wed: Sowers
Wed 2: Carmona
Thurs: Byrd
Fri: Sabathia
Sat: Westbrook
Sun: TBD

ESPN.com actually has Westbrook going Friday and Sabathia Saturday and Sowers pitching on Sunday, but what I wrote above is from the Plain Dealer. For that matter, it makes little sense for Sowers to pitch on Sunday, as it would be short rest.

Basically, Sabathia gets extra time off now, but regular time between his last start and his first post-season start (if it's Oct. 3rd) and Carmona's last start comes on regular rest, but he gets extra time before the post-season (as does Byrd).

It will be interesting to see who backs them up in those doubleheaders.

The mailbag over on the Tribe's official site raised an interesting point about the #3 starter debate. While I figured the debate existed because Jake, when on, can be far more dominate than Byrd, I didn't consider the other aspect: the offense.

Byrd's catcher is Shoppach, so any time Byrd pitches Victor goes to first and Garko sits. Pulling a bat like that out of the line-up is not exactly something you want to do.

For that matter, if the Tribe ends with the best record (or plays the team with the best record), they can opt for the longer series which starts on Oct. 3rd. The series is so long, in fact (day off between first two games, travel days, etc.), that Sabathia and Carmona could start games 1, 2, 4, and 5 on regular rest. If Westbrook starts the third game, then the Tribe has their normal offense going in every game.

At this point, I think it might make more sense to move Jake to the #3 spot. Sorry, Byrdie, you've been great this year, but all things considered (they should call a show that) using Jake at #3 makes more sense.

Honestly, at this point I hope we get that longer series and I hope we get the Yankees because I like our odds with C.C. and Fausto going twice each.

Pre-Season

2007-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

This is what I sent to a few choice people before this season started. I apologize for the funky formatting.

I was right about a few things, wrong about others. I think I was right about our key, though:

That’s right, boys and girls and children of all ages, it’s time

 for another edition of Kyle’s Completely Unbiased and Realistic

 Indians’ Preview.  Because I have nothing better to do with my time.

First, a suggestion: The Cleveland Indians used to be the Cleveland

 Naps, named after their best player, Napolean “Nap” Lajoie.  I think

 naming a team after a player is a great idea, and hereby suggest that

 the Tribe becomes either the Cleveland Pronks or, even better, the

 Cleveland Garkos.  Don’t mess with the Garkos.

Twenty years ago Sports Illustrated picked the Indians to win their

 division.  They did the same this year.  That’s a bad sign.

But ten years ago the Indians headed down a road that brought them one

 Joe Table away from a World Series championship.  So that’s a good

 sign.

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty.

Why will the Tribe do better this year?

The easy answer there is “because they have to,” but we all know that’s not true.

Let’s start with our defense.  It was bad.  It was real bad.  And

 while most people would like to blame Jhonny Peralta, the majority of our

 errors actually came at the corners with the all-star combination of

 Aaron Boone, Ben Broussard, and Eddie Perez, none of whom are still

 around.  Marte is an obvious step up and the

 Blake/Garko/Martinez/Hafner/Harry Doyle platoon at first will make it impossible to commit the same

 mistake twice.  Personally, I look for Doyle to win a Gold Glove.

Evidently I wasn’t the only one learning from Major League, as our

 man Peralta has gone and got himself some new eyeballs.  The word on the

 street is that his range has improved a great deal and that he spends

 all his time with Barfield, our fancy pants new second baseman who looks

 nothing at all like a short, pudgy Manny Ramirez, which I think is a

 plus.  And Barfield can run!  Imagine an Indians team that can steal

 bases  -  boggles the mind.

I think we can gloss over the offense, as that’s not so much a

 problem for us these days (yet another nod to the 90’s).  At the very least

 our outfield should always be hitting right around .300 since there

 are five of them.

So let’s look at the pitching.  One big difference will be the simple

 fact that our rotation at the start of the year won’t consist of a

 3-4-5 of Byrd-Carmona-Johnson.  Sure, not having C.C. hurt us, but did

 it hurt more than having Jason Johnson?  No.  Fausto Carmona seems to

 have recovered from the trial by fire that was last season, so at the

 very least he should give us a chance (again, more so than Jason Johnson).

  And one would have to assume that Paul Byrd feels some pressure these

 days, what with the really freaking impressive Adam Miller chomping at

 the bit in Buffalo.

Yes, it would be nice to have our regular rotation to start the season,

 but regardless we’ll start off better than we did a year ago.  Fun

 fact for those who feel the need to complain about C.C.’s weight:

 Cliff Lee is on the DL with the same injury that C.C. had last year.  Have

 you looked at Cliff Lee?  He’s built like me.

As much as it may have improved, my biggest concern is still our

 bullpen.  Borowski appears to be the second coming of Wickman without the

 option for buffet jokes.  Hernandez is 102.  Fultz did not have the best

 spring.  Miller is hurt again.  And Betancourt is a lot like Charles

 Nagy: you have no idea if good Rafael or bad Rafael will show up.

So why on earth would anyone pick the Tribe to win the best division in

 baseball?  It’s simple: depth.

Everyone needs starting pitching and we have plenty.  We also have a

 whole boatload of outfielders who can hit.  I would not be surprised in

 the slightest if the Indians make some big deal at mid-season.  We’ve

 got pieces to spare, from Byrd and Westbrook (who could bring in some

 great players), to pretty much all of our outfielders aside from

 Sizemore.  We have crazy depth and we can pretty much use that to go out and

 get whatever we need during the course of the season.

Prediction: AL Central Champs.  The Tigers will be the White Sox of

 ‘06.  The Twins are one good starter away from being the best team in

 baseball, but that’s one more starter than they’ll find at any point

 during the season.  The White Sox will lose most of their team in the

 great AJ Riot of ‘07, orchestrated from afar by some kid in Los

 Angeles.  And the Royals are the Royals.

I think Garko will get more and more time at first as the season

 progresses and we’ll see a core infield form the likes of which we

 haven’t seen in a decade.  We’ll see at least one starter dealt, making

 room for Carmona full time and preparing for Adam Miller.  We’ll see

 Hafner and Sizemore jerseys all over the country.  And we’ll see the

 Indians get to the post-season.

Then again, I’ve been wrong before.

Champions!

2007-09-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

A few quick comments on the last two games:

Byrd will have games like that, particularly when a team is on a hot hitting streak like the A's were that night. I have faith in him to right himself. Let's hope he has a good final outing.

Jake Westbrook is so amazing when he's on, it's unreal. Hopefully, today was a sign of things to come.

And it was almost as if Grady was going to close the deal today with sheer force of will.

So let's talk about the lean years.

I remember sitting in a bar in Atlanta, GA watching the Tribe play the Mariners in 2001 and thinking that if Colon could win his first start, we'd be fine, because that meant he could win his second start and we'd just need one more win on top of that (how much faith I had back then). And Colon lost his first start. And we went out in the first round.

In 2002, the Indians started the season 11-1 (the one loss coming to the Angels who, at the time, were not predicted to do much, but would go on to win it all). I remember an interview with Travis Fryman after the fast start where he points out that the team was still good, even after losing so many great players.

And then the wheels came off the wagon.

I followed the team as best I could in 2003, but this was before I discovered MLB.tv and I was living in Los Angeles. I don't know that I was actually able to catch even a single game, but followed the scores online. I remember that game against Detroit with the long delay and the awful start by whoever it was when Jake Westbrook came in and pitched seven scoreless innings and someone said to someone else "hey, maybe that guy should be a starter."

I discovered the wonderful world of watching games online in 2004. I was able to follow the team regularly for the first time since I left Ohio in the spring of 2000. It was agonizing, of course. I can remember cancelling my monthly MLB.tv suscription and the operator offering me a post-season package and explaining to him that my team was no where near being in the post-season.

Fortunately, I had a new assistant at work and he was a lifelong Red Sox fan, so I could at least be happy for him.

I spent all of 2005 telling anyone who'd listen that the wheels would come off the White Sox wagon and we'd catch them. No, really, I was saying this before the All-Star break. At one point, people actually started believing me. And we all know what happened in the last week.

I had high hopes in 2006. We all did. I even sent out my first pre-season Tribe breakdown to anyone unfortunate enough to have given me their e-mail address.

I did the same before THIS season started. And the number reason I gave for why the Tribe would win the divison? Depth. As I've mentioned before, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.

So here we are, AL Central champs, ghost of the 90's floating everywhere.

Someone put up a poll on the official Indians message board the other day asking who their favorite Indians team was. It's hard to argue with the '95 team, as they meant so much symbolically.

But I'm going to go with this team. I'm going to go with the core group that I watched wallow in mediocrity for the last few years, only to finally find the recipe for sucess. I'm going to go with Grady, Pronk, and Victor making their first post-season appearances. I'm going to go with Lofton's next shot at a ring and two Cy Young candidates. I'm going to go with a team that matches the teams of the 90's in home game homeruns and also has one of the best rotations in baseball. I'm going with a team I watch grow together over the course of the last few years.

So here we go.

Scripted

2007-09-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

And now we try to clinch at home. It's funny how in the span of just a few days we've gone from wondering if we'll clinch, to hoping for the ideal situation in which to clinch. No longer do we hold our breath hoping the Tribe can pull this one out. Now we're making demands on how we want to win.

Ideally, of course, the Tigers will lose tonight and the Indians will win tonight and the Tribe will get a chance to clinch at home tomorrow night. That would be the earliest they can do it. Even without help from Kansas City, we can clinch at home with a sweep.

The AP article from Wednesday's game pointed out that the Indians could actually clinch during the first game of the doubleheader in Seattle on Tuesday. That's the last make-up game from the snowouts and the Tribe will actually be the home team in that game -- they'll wear home jerseys and bat second. Which means the Indians could actually clinch the division after winning a home game on the road.

There's a new stat for baseball.

Original and perhaps only remaining RCR reader Mike wondered why there seems to be a debate as to who the #3 starter will be in the post-season. I honestly don't know. Unless the coaching staff is in love with the idea of back to back ground ball pitchers, I don't see why Byrd wouldn't stay where he's at.

What I would find interesting is if there's any possibility that would deny Westbrook a start in a five game series. If the Tribe doesn't have home field advantage, it would be interesting to see if Wedge would go with C.C. on short rest to try and win a Game 4 instead of having to head back to Boston (the only team the Tribe could face and not have home field advantage over, although at this point that wouldn't be the case).

Speaking of Boston, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe wrote an interesting article on the four playoff bound AL teams. This is what he had to say:

"Let's examine the AL contenders.

1. Cleveland. Grady Sizemore can hurt you. Casey Blake can hurt you. Jhonny Peralta can hurt you. Travis Hafner can hurt you. Victor Martinez can absolutely abuse you. They're not the Yankees, but they're all heating up at the same time. That's a lot of guys you don't want to see up, if you know what I mean.
What scares me is what C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona can do to your batters. The 6-foot-7-inch, 290-pound Sabathia is at the peak of his game, and Carmona has games in which he is laughably unhittable. Paul Byrd and his 1937 windup could easily produce six or seven solid innings in a playoff setting. And suddenly the Indians have great setup people, led by former Red Sox farmhand infielder Rafael Betancourt (1.46 with 70 strikeouts and - gulp - 9 walks). How Joe Borowski has managed to close 42 games in 48 opportunities, given that he has a 5.04 ERA and has allowed 70 hits in 60 2/3 innings (Papelbon has allowed 29 hits in 55 innings), may be baseball's greatest supernatural mystery, but that is what he's done.
Recent history teaches us that two great starters, excellent setup people, and a closer who can close are all you need.

2. New York The lineup is sometimes ridiculous, even without Jason Giambi. Did you know that Jorge Posada has an OPS of .972? The reason they have not won since 2000 is that their starting pitchers have failed them in the playoffs. Period. End of story. Are Pettitte, Wang, Clemens, and Mussina good enough? If they are, there is no reason the Yankees can't win.

3. Orange County American League Baseball Representative They're the chic team of the moment. By the way, hate to tell you that Orlando Cabrera has driven in 83 runs. Now here's a team that can manufacture a run. And assuming his right triceps tendinitis doesn't hamper him, Vladimir Guerrero is the flat-out scariest all-around hitter in the AL.
But do John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Jered Weaver really frighten anybody? Give me C.C. and Dr. Faustus.
Mike Scioscia's the best manager in the derby, however. That's a fact.

4. Your Sawx Simply put, I fear that their best baseball is behind them, that what you saw as they were getting out to that 36-16 record and that big spread over the You-Know-Whos was the best baseball they could produce. Sure, if they could have started the playoffs in June when they were getting quality start after quality start and Okey-Dokey was untouchable and Youkilis was on base every five seconds and a few other things, they would have won. Then.
But this is now. Is this a team that inspires confidence?

Yeah, they could get lucky. Didn't the 83-79 Cardinals win last year?

Here's a better bet: Go, Pats."

He seems to think very highly of our Tribe.

Tigers @ Indians, 9/19/07

2007-09-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Who saw THAT coming?

Honestly, I went into Monday night's game hoping for a win, because that would mean at worst we'd get out of the series with a 3.5 game lead. Only in my craziest pipe dreams did I hope for a sweep.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a statement.

Even better, we had our big inning by stringing together a series of hits, as opposed to just using the long ball for all of our runs. That's nice to see, as the power won't always be there.

Joe Borowski continues to lower his ERA by throwing 1-2-3 innings. It's a little insane how many guys (Borowski, Lewis, Hafner, Garko) seem to be choosing NOW to get hot.

C.C. definitely improved his Cy Young chances. His ERA is now 3.19, just below Beckett's 3.20. Unfortunately, C.C. most likely only has one more start left this season. Because of the doubleheader in Seattle, Sowers is getting called to make a start. C.C.'s last regular season game will be the first game of that doubleheader. The upside is that this means our rotation should be on target for the start of the post-season, with everyone getting a few extra days off.

Let's hope for some help from Kansas City this weekend so we won't have to sweep the A's to clinch at home.

I really can't believe we swept them.

Tigers @ Indians, 9/18/07

2007-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

*Ahem*

From the July 31st entry of this very blog:

"On the upside, Jensen Lewis is getting more experience and he's learning to pitch in a variety of situations, including trouble he gets himself into. He could end up being key to our bullpen as the season goes on."

And from another on September 4th:

"Perhaps the unsung hero of the night was definitely Jensen Lewis. I've talked about Lewis in the past, mentioning that he has the talent, it's just his lack of experience that's a concern. As I've said before, when he's on he's a huge part of our bullpen, but when's he's off he can be off the charts bad. Experience will help him iron such things out and tonight was a great example of him getting that experience."

And from the entry the day before that one:

"Really, we just need ONE guy to step up in the bullpen and I'd feel pretty good about that, too. As harrowing as he can be, Borowoski has done his job and the two Raphaels are unbelievable. We just need one other guy to take the reins when we can't go to those guys."

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we've found that fourth reliever.

If Jensen Lewis can pitch like he did tonight on a regular basis, we have a really good shot at winning it all.

While not necessary per se, winning tomorrow would be about the greatest moment of the year.

RETURN!

2007-09-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've been gone for a while, so long, in fact, that I doubt anyone is still reading this thing. As it's wont to do, the real world got in the way of my blogging.

And what a time to stop! It's always the guys we love to complain about that get hot and come through big for us. Yes, Jhonny, everyone wants Cabrera at short and you should have made that play, but those two home runs make it easy to look past those things -- for now. And while those home runs worked out for everyone, you still need to stop trying to hit them every time up.

Hey, I had Gomez starting at third by now! Again, that's not to say we wouldn't be winning these games, but clearly it wouldn't have been as dramatic.

Last night's game was a big one. Aside from the fact that it gives us a little bit of breathing room (the worst that can happen now is that the series ends with us up by 3.5 games with only ten remaining), but we basically STOLE the game from Detroit. The Tribe might as well as had ski masks on. Between the errors and the lack of big hit for most of the game, there was no reason for us to win it -- aside from the fact that we never, ever give up.

Let's not overlook the bullpen last night, either. I was positive Fultz would walk someone. I was beside myself when Borowski came in. But both of them did a great job (Fultz aided by a questionable decision by Leyland). And, of course, Betancourt was exactly was we expect him to be, lights out.

Sure, it's worrying that we seem to live and die by the homerun on certain nights, but with Cabrera in the two spot and Lofton in the line-up, I feel like we can manufacture runs far better than in the first half of the season. And, hey, Shoppach laid down a great sac bunt last night (although ultimately to no avail).

Byrd was actually pretty good last night, minus the unearned run. I worry about him against tough line-ups, though; picture him against the Yankees. Still, you can't say enough about his performance this season and it's probably a safe bet that they Tribe will pick up his option for next season.

Speaking of which, the battle for the #5 spot in spring training should be fantastic, between Lee, Sowers, Laffey, and Miller.

At this point, I'd almost prefer that the Tribe NOT pass the Angels for second best record. With the way the Red Sox have been pitching lately, I'd much rather face them than anyone else. They just seem to have more glaring holes. That, and the Angels have owned the Yankees this year, so let them take on NY in the first round.

Yet another big game tonight. A win tonight should all but clinch the division.

Indians @ Angels, 9/8/07

2007-09-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

Indians win! Sure, it was only a two game losing streak, but that's two more than I like to see, particularly since the Tigers are winning.

And I was at the game tonight! We had seats in the nosebleed section, but it was a good view of the game. Besides, all we needed to see was C.C. who was DEALING. Was that a career record for double play balls? I'm sure it was a career high for balls hit directly at him (BOTH by the same batter).

We have twenty games left. Our magic number is 16. We have seven more games -- one against the Angels, three at Chicago, three at home against Kansas City -- before we face the Tigers at home for the last time. I'm hoping we stay at least five games up for that series so we have a chance to put it away then.

Tomorrow should be interesting. The Angels have the pitching advantage, but I'd really hate to see us lose this series. Hopefully we can get to Weaver early.

Indians @ Twins, 8/5/07

2007-09-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

I tried to post this yesterday, but Blogger was having some problems:

My dad actually called me today during the 9th inning, echoing a sentiment expressed many times: "Who are these guys?"

Because we can't, as Cleveland fans, believe that our team might actually be this good. Clearly, someone has replaced them.

Of course, he also echoed another sentiment that's been making the rounds: "This could be the biggest collapse in baseball."

Because that thought is never far from our minds. I keep looking at the magic number. I keep trying to figure out what a safe number of wins would be (counting a safe number of Detroit losses).

The Boston press are beginning to pick apart C.C., something the Cleveland press won't do to Beckett because that would require them to assume that an Indian is legitimately in the running for some kind of award, and Clevelanders assume nothing aside from the worst.

For the sake of argument, though, it should be pointed out that C.C., while he has one fewer win and has given up the most hits in the league, has a lower ERA, more innings pitched, more complete games, more shut outs, and more strikeouts. If it were a two horse race, I think it would be hard to argue against Sabathia.

IF it were a two horse race. I'm not sold on that. Dan Haren still has an ERA under 3, as does Kelvim Escobar, who also has 15 wins and 3 complete games. In fact, I don't understand why Escobar isn't right up there, as he's given up fewer home runs and overall hits than Sabathia or Beckett. For that matter, John Lackey's numbers are comparable to Beckett's and with his win today, Fausto has to be back in the conversation.

Honestly, the fabled 20 game winner might get the eventual edge.

Indians @ Twins, 9/4/07

2007-09-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable.

I'd resigned myself to a loss going into the ninth. Since the Tigers had already lost, I was okay with it -- amazing what a 6 game lead will do for your nerves, particularly when the team chasing you has already lost their game.

Clearly, Hafner's parents have to go to every game. And even as this team pads their lead, they clearly want more.

Perhaps the unsung hero of the night was definitely Jensen Lewis. I've talked about Lewis in the past, mentioning that he has the talent, it's just his lack of experience that's a concern. As I've said before, when he's on he's a huge part of our bullpen, but when's he's off he can be off the charts bad. Experience will help him iron such things out and tonight was a great example of him getting that experience.

And say what you want about Joe Borowski, but the man is a competitor. And he even had a stirke out tonight!

Jensen Lewis, however, could be key. Adding him to our go to guys in the bullpen -- being able to count on him to perform like he can -- would solidify our relief like crazy. Assuming he's on, I'd match up our four guys against the rest of the post-season contenders (although the fact remains that those guys all have lights out type closers).

Tomorrow should be interesting. I wonder if Wedge will risk using Martinez again even though it's a day game, since Victor won't have to catch on Thursday. Then again, this could be a good chance to give him two days out from behind the plate.

Indians @ Twins, 9/3/07

2007-09-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's 5-0 as we head to the bottom of the 7th. I'm going to avoid talking about the game so as not to jinx us.

Oh, and we're out of the 7th. And C.C.'s thrown 94 pages, which makes me think he'll be out again in the 8th.

But the point of this entry is to say this: I love our bench.

The addition of Chris Gomez and Asdrubal Cabrera gives me so much confidence in our infield. And even though Barfield's bat is in question, at least we can count on his defense.

And look out our outfield: possibly three of the best young outfielders in baseball (Sizemore, Gutierrez, and Francisco), a big time veteran in Lofton, and a guy who seems to always make the best of his chances in Michaels. And, hey, pie-in-the-face guy seems to do well for team unity.

Aside from yesterday, you also have to feel good about our rotation. Even if we haven't seen a lot out of Laffey, our post-season rotation would drop to four guys, and those four guys have been pretty amazing over the last few months.

Really, we just need ONE guy to step up in the bullpen and I'd feel pretty good about that, too. As harrowing as he can be, Borowoski has done his job and the two Raphaels are unbelievable. We just need one other guy to take the reins when we can't go to those guys.

It's kind of amazing, really.

White Sox @ Indians, 8/31/07

2007-08-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official: we're a team of destiny.

I ask you -- I ASK YOU -- to explain Ryan Garko's hit in the 8th tonight in any other way. The Baseball Gods are smiling upon us, people. And they work in mysterious ways.

How else do you explain that Casey "I never come up big" Blake had the game winning hit? How do explain Aaron "I haven't pitched in days because no one has any faith in me" Fultz shutting the door? How else do you explain SIX walks by Carmona?

Let's go Oakland!

Twins @ Indians, 8/28/07

2007-08-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

And suddenly we're winning again -- regularly, at that.

The Tigers lost tonight, which is big, since tomorrow we face Santana. This should be a good test to see if our offense is actually turning it around or not.

All the hype might be on Beckett/Clemens tomorrow night, but Santana/Sabathia is where it's at.

There's lots of speculation on who's going to make the Tribe's expanded roster. One name I haven't heard but that could be interesting is Scott Elarton (yes, Scott Elarton).

He has a 1.29 ERA in seven appearances over 14 innings so far for the Bisons. Considering he used to be a starter and he's had some sucess with the Indians, it will be interesting to see if he could fit in as a middle reliever, where we're sorely lacking.

God bless the Kansas City Royals.

Indians @ Royals, 8/26/07

2007-08-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I still have concerns about our offensive, even if we did manage 5 runs today. But, as Rick Manning pointed out, we went 6-3 on that road trip, winning all three series. That's a good sign.

Now we need to get back to winning at home.

Who would have predicted that Asdrubal Cabrera would have been the big call-up for us? Not I.

I like the new batting order. I think Casey Blake performs better with less pressure on his shoulders.

We got good signs from Hafner today, too. It's not just that he got a big hit, but he drew two walks, which is something he needs to do. Granted, he also struck out twice, but I'll take what I can get at this point.

In come the Twins, having run five straight. Should be a big series.

Post-Series Wrap

2007-08-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, what did we learn this week?

We learned that Jake Westbrook -- when he's right -- is fantastic.

We learned that Joe Borowski owns stock in Rolaids.

We learned that our offense still exists, even if it's extremely shy.

We learned that Franklin Gutierrez is our every day right fielder (or should be).

And what SHOULD we have learned?

That Chris Gomez needs to get some starts at third.

Assuming we keep Cabrera at second, our infield batting AVG would be this:

Gomez: .303 (.333 with the Tribe)
Peralta: .274
Cabrera: .290
Garko: .307

That's pretty freaking good, and a VAST improvent over what we had. Or, if we're looking for defense, play Cabrera at short stop every once in a while and either move Gomez to second and plug in Casey or plug in Barfield.

Gomez has been great for us so far. I don't understand why we're not taking advantage of him more.

Indians @ Tigers, 8/22/07

2007-08-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'm typing this up during the final game of the series. It's 0-0 heading into the sixth and Franklin Gutierrez just made a great catch. The general consensus after yesterday's game was that Gut should be the every day right fielder.

Oh, wait, that's been the general consensus FOR EVER.

While it was sad to see our pitching falter last night, the sheer amazement at seeing the Indians score runs (with two outs, nonetheless!) overshadowed that. Granted, we seem to be unable to string together hits again today, but this seems like a legitimate pitching duel so it's a bit more excusable.

We need to make Robertson throw more pitches, though. He just got out of the top of the sixth only throwing seven pitches.

Man, a win today would be a big, big deal.

Indians @ Tigers, 8/21/07

2007-08-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

I could unleash on the pathetic showing the Tribe made tonight. I could talk about how it's not only painful to watch them lose, it's also incredibly boring. I could mention that the only upside to tonight's game (aside from yet another amazing outing by Carmona) was that it only lasted two hours.

Instead, I will make a suggestion.

Tomorrow, Kelly Shoppach will be in the line-up, catching, as he does, for Paul Byrd. I suggest that instead of playing Victor at 1st in place of Garko, we make Victor the DH in place of Hafner.

I also suggest that Gomez starts at third and that Gutierrez should never miss another start for the rest of the season.

That will change 1/3 of the line-up from tonight.

Something's got to give.

Indians @ Devil Rays, 8/19/07

2007-08-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ah, there's the Tribe we've all grown to know and loathe lately. If I were C.C. Sabathia, I'd really be getting pissed off at this point.

The upside is that the Tigers lost, too. The downside is that the Tigers lost, too. So much for padding our lead.

Cabrera is definitely making a good argument to stay in the Majors. I have to wonder how that's working out for Ryan Garko. He and Barfield are roommates, so I wonder if it's weird for him to play with his replacement.

And how about Guterriez being moved to the two spot just days after I suggested it! I'm psychic. And he managed to move Lofton over in his first at bat. Hope that sticks.

Big series on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.

EDIT:

While I appreciate the desire to add a fifth starter who already has big league experience, I don't know how much that reasoning is going to hold up in the face of Aaron Laffey's performance since he was sent back down. He went six strong today, giving up one earned run and striking out five. Granted, he walked three, but he pitched around those, it would appear.

I know Cliff is making progress down there, but I think Sowers has made just a much progress over a longer period of time -- and Laffey has only gotten better. In the end, I think it might come down to money, as I can't imagine it's sitting too well having to pay Cliff Lee so much money to be a starter in Buffalo.

Indians @ Devil Ray, 8/18/07

2007-08-18T22:33:00.001-07:00

Man, is it nice to have Jake back.

It's a thing of beauty to watch Jake Westbrook pitch when he's throwing like we know he can. He's just a smart pitcher. At one point he threw back at Carl Crawford on first something like three or four times and on the next pitch induced a double play. And the only reason the speedy Crawford wasn't able to break it up is because Jake kept him so close to first.

And, hey, nothing like playing the Devil Rays to get the offense going again.

I don't know how much it's helped the rest of the line-up, but clearly batting third works for Grady.

I stand my ground on Cabrera. I need more proof that he can hit at this level before I'm completely on board. I'd love for him to keep it up, though.

And the Tigers lost. So at the very least we'll still be in first when we head to Detroit next week.

Back On Track

2007-08-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

That title is a reference to this blog, not the Indians. I wouldn't call a 2-1 win with double digits hits back on track so much. Although it does apply to Paul Byrd, who has done what he's done all year long, which is give us a chance to win. A tip of the hat to Byrdie for his 11th win.

Josh Barfield is out of the line-up again tonight. I understand that he's not hitting the ball, but I have to wonder about using Cabrera as his replacement. Everything I've read about Cabrera is that he's an amazing infielder, the best in the Tribe's system, but that no one knows if he'll be able to hit at the major league level. So why is he getting a test at such a crucial time, particularly when we have Chris Gomez on the bench -- a guy who's hitting .309?

I understand that Cabrera is the future, but is now the time to take that chance on him? Buffalo isn't that far away.

For that matter, someone is going to have to go down when the fifth starter is called up. Do we short our bullpen a reliever? It seems pretty clear that we'll hold on to five outfielders. The only other option is to move an infielder, which means Cabrera or Barfield.

And speaking of our fifth starter, everyone seem to be assuming it will be Cliff Lee who returns. But if you look at the numbers, Sowers has been better in Buffalo over the past month. But Aaron Laffey actually has the edge, as he's made one start in Buffalo since his return and went 8 innings giving up 2 earned runs. Going solely on numbers, Laffey deserves to return.

But I doubt that will happen. I have a feeling the front office really wants Lee to return no matter what, which is understandable considering what they're paying him. I'd be shocked if one of the other two didn't get a call up for the post-season, though.

The upside is that no matter who gets the call, they face the Royals.

There's been a lot of question lately as to who will lead off for the Tribe when Kenny Lofton isn't in the line-up (a possibility that will get less and less likely, I think). There is, as always, also some talk about Casey Blake not being the best guy in the #2 spot.

I have an odd answer to both questions: Franklin Gutierrez.

I'll admit that he strikes out WAY more than you want from a lead off guy, but let's remember who we had up there until recently. An argument could be made that he's the lead off guy of the future for the Tribe and the sooner we move him up in the order, the better off we'll be. So why not move him up to the second spot when Lofton is playing and the lead off spot when he's not?

Hey, if we're going to give Cabrera a tryout now, why not Gutierrez? At least we know he can hit.

Advice

2007-08-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have some advice to give out.

1) When attempting to convince your ace to re-sign with the only team he's ever been with (and hopefully at a home town discount), try to actually win the games he starts, particularly when he dominates.

2) When playing in front of a capacity ground on a Tuesday night for the first time in a LONG time, try not to suck.

3) Put in players who can actually get the result that you need (aka know how to bunt).

4) If you have a pitcher who does historically awful in certain situations, don't use that pitcher in said situations.

Honestly, it's always bugged me to hear people bad mouth Wedge. I've defended him for as long as I can remember. But tonight was just ridiculous.

The best was the fact that Rick Manning basically went dead silent during Jhonny's at bat. You could just tell that he was BAFFLED by what was going on. You could practically hear him thinking to himself "this isn't how a major league baseball team plays -- this is unbelievable."

And it was. And we lost. Again.

Picking Up the Pieces

2007-08-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

So what do you say about a series we lost by a collective score of 22-6?

I don't blame our rotation. Fausto and Jake both gave up four runs in their outings, but against an offense like that it's to be expected. Neither got any support from the offense.

And, honestly, did anyone expect us to get what we've got from Byrd so far? I've got no problems excusing the man for a bad outing against the Yankees.

Our bullpen, as always, is a different issue.

It's probably clear to everyone that Fultz is not back to form. Also, remember that we let Jason Stanford go outright instead of sending Mujica back down. How's that working out for us?

At least Mastny pitched well.

And then there's our offense.

Sweet jesus.

I realize that Wedge was given his extension because of the way he moved guys around in the first half of the season, the way he was able to keep the team on track despite injuries and the like. But this is the third year in a row where this team has fallen into a slump for an extended period of time. It's pretty clear that Wedge has no idea how to get them out of these slumps. This is the team we have and we need someone who can work with that.

The truly sad thing is that we're only a half game out. Hell, if Oakland can actually pull out a win tomorrow, we'll be even with the Tigers for a two game series in Cleveland and then we can see which team really does want the pennant the least.

It's not even fun to watch anymore.

Thank god we have a day off tomorrow. I don't know that I can take another day of this junk.

Indians @ Twins, 8/6/07

2007-08-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

And that's how you do that.

What can you say about Paul Byrd? What is there to say?

I've always liked Byrd, even after his rather average year last season. I think veteran pitchers who don't have overpowering stuff are a Godsend in a rotation, particularly when they're fit in with young guys who have raw talent (C.C. and Fausto) or guys who are struggling (Westbrook). His ability and his knowledge can not be understated.

We even managed to score a few runs for him tonight. He said afterwards that he's been waiting to pitch a game like tonight to make up for all the games where he's depended upon the offense to get him the win. He wanted to return the favor. You have to love a guy like that.

As for the offense, we saw a couple of positive things. We saw Hafner hit (he got some good at bats in even before the homer). We saw Peralta hit all over AND deliver timely hitting. We saw Casey deliver timely hitting, even. We even saw a bunt single by the master of the bunt single, Kenny Lofton.

You know, I like Jason Michaels. He's taken advantage of his chances this season. Unfortunately, he's not able to do the little things that a player like Lofton can do to ignite an offense. I have to wonder if we'll start seeing the outfield we had tonight on a regular basis soon (that would be Goot in right as well).

All in all it was a great game for us. Let's not forget that the Twins are a good team. But let's also not forget that we beat Santana and still only came away with a split.

Big things need to come out of the next week.

Indians @ Twins, 8/5/07

2007-08-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Man, we suck.

If they gave out awards for getting players to second, we'd be great.

And yet again we waste a great start by one of our two aces.

I never thought we'd have to be worried about our offense, but this is just getting pathetic. Clearly, those two victories on Thursday and Friday were flukes and we're still in a slump. C'mon, people, Grady can only do so much!

What I think is the most ironic about this is that the only move we made at the trade deadline was to improve our offense. We made no moves to improve our bullpen, but guess what? In this series they've pitched 6 and 2/3 shut out innings, giving up all of TWO hits. Our bullpen's actually looking pretty good these days. And our starting pitching (with Jake stepping up and Laffey giving us a chance) looks better than it has all year.

We are THIS close to having the team we've wanted all year long...and our offense is dropping the ball.

As must be clear to everyone, it's the division or nothing from the Central this year. We are killing each other far too much for anyone to have the kind of record it will take to win the Wild Card.

We desperately need to salvage a split and hope to create some kind of momentum into Chicago because we are ridiculously lucky to be in first place -- and the Twins are playing like a team that smells blood in the water.

The Tigers are injured and reeling. Now is the time.

Stepping Up

2007-08-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

People talk about how the great players step up to help their team out of a slump. Clearly, Grady Sizemore is a great player.

The performance Grady has unloaded the last two games has been amazing. Someone was going to have to take this team on their back to get it going again and he did just that. Just when you think he can't be any more impressive, he proves you wrong.

And, of course, let's not forget back to back pitching performances from Jake and C.C. While C.C. wasn't as sharp as normal, he still controlled the game. And while Jake got only his second win of the year, this was yet another step towards where he needs to be.

It's nice to be in first again.

That said, today should be interesting. Garza OWNED us last week, but we were definitely in a hitting slump then as well. Aaron Laffey is making his first start in the Majors, which should be interesting. Looking at the match-up in the rest of this story, I'd say this is the game we should be most concerned about.

How about that bullpen last night? Three innings of no-hit ball, one walk, three K's, and that's without using Perez.

Speaking of which, Kansas City dealt Dotel for Kyle Davies from Atlanta. Davies made his first start today, not just giving up A-Rod's 500 homer, but only lasting three innings and giving up five earned runs.

Yeah, that was a better deal than getting Ben Francisco.

West Coast Conundrum

2007-08-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

I had today off. My conundrum? Whether or not to get up to watch the 9 AM Indians game or to sleep in. Given the events of the last week, my desire to watch the Tribe this morning was not exactly overwhelming.

But get up I did (albeit after the start) and I actually go to see a team that resembles the Tribe.

Not only did we get another good outing by Westbrook, but we got a team who actually had productive at bats. They didn't (all) try to swing for the fences every time up. We hit sacs. We hit singles. And we made things happen.

With both Detroit and Seattle off today (and the Yankees losing), we even made some headway.

Not perfect, but it was nice to see the turnaround. Hopefully this means Victor is out of his slump. Hopefully Garko can keep hitting. Hopefully Jhonny realizes that he can't step up there trying to hit a homerun every time. And hopefully a day off will get Pronk back on track (although that song is starting to get old).

Still -- good outing for Westbrook. We have nine guys in a line-up, but only one starting pitcher. I'll take a renewed Westbrook over lots of hits.

Although it would be nice to have both.

Rangers @ Indians, 07/31/07

2007-07-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

So we leave July pretty much the way we came in -- limping. Tonight was an ugly, sad loss. It was disheartening, really. Our offense cannot be this streaky.

There should be a rule that if your offense doesn't supply at least as many runs as your ERA, you should get a no decision, because Fausto clearly didn't deserve a loss.

On the upside, Jensen Lewis is getting more experience and he's learning to pitch in a variety of situations, including trouble he gets himself into. He could end up being key to our bullpen as the season goes on.

I'm currently watching the Giants/Dodgers game because a) there's nothing else on and b) baseball in HD is unbelievable. And while I'm sure the rivalry between these two teams and the fact that Bonds is one home run away from tying Hammerin' Hank probably have a little bit to do with it, the turn out at Dodgers' stadium tonight -- and every night -- is so great that it makes me sad.

In fact, Los Angeles is the greatest baseball city in the country. Seriously. The Angels and Dodgers combined out drew the Yankees and Mets combined last year.

And while it would be nice to have the money to buy big ticket players, the real downside of supporting a small/mid market team is having to watch so many home games that are poorly attended. It's simple math, though; there are half a million people in Cleveland and just shy of four million people in Los Angeles.

Look at it this way: it would take 10% of Cleveland's population to fill the Jake.
It would take 1.5% of L.A.'s population to fill Dodger Stadium.

It's too bad. It's nice to see a full baseball stadium.

Weekend Recap

2007-07-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I've given it some thought, and I'm actually going to say that this weekend had more positives than negatives, although that's probably due to the fact that the Tigers are losing to the Angels by a score of 12-1 right now.

Okay, so those two losses were perhaps the worst type of losses we could have had. I have to wonder if Wedge would have pitched someone like Dotel in the 9th on Saturday instead of going with his closer. And, of course, the loss today was really painful, but there will be days like that.

And not to nitpick, but the hit that drove in the Twins' first run? Gutierrez would have made that play. I know that Trot's been hitting well lately, but Gutierrez would have gotten back to that ball in time to catch it. Harsh, but true.

Let's look at the positives. Clearly, this was Westbrook's best outing in a long time. It really looks like a start he can build on. He's got Texas next, so fingers crossed.

Obviously, Kenny Lofton made a considerable impact his first game back. He does give our line-up a nicer look. We're stronger 1-9.

Paul Byrd got another win, which is nice. I'd love to see him get to double digits this week.

And, of course, the Tigers are on the verge of being swept. The saving grace to the fact that the Tribe has been so average since the break is the fact that so have the Tigers. The Yankees worry me, though. It would be just my luck to have a team I hate so completely compete for a wild card spot with the Indians.

Still, we look to end the week a half game back and still in the lead for the wild card. I'll take it, and hope we'll see some improvements after a much needed day off.

Putting the Pieces Together

2007-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Lots of things going on with the Tribe with lots of different implicatons.

First and foremost, we traded for Kenny Lofton. We gave up Max Ramirez, the Class A catcher we got for Bob Wickman. I'm happy that we didn't give up much (Yamid Haad in Buffalo looks great as a catcher).

Lofton will clearly help on the field, although there's some question as to how he'll be in the clubhouse (anyone who agrees with Gary Sheffield on ANYTHING has to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic). But he'll definitely strengthen the offense. There's even talk of moving him to lead-off to give Grady a shot at taking advantage of his power.

I have to wonder if this deal clears the path for the Dotel deal. I would imagine that to make room for Lofton they'll have move one of the rookie outfielders -- but perhaps they'll move that person to Kansas City and not Buffalo? Honestly, I think Ben Francisco would be a much better trade for the Royals than that AAA short stop from Los Angeles, but I'm clearly biased.

As I pointed out before, Aaron Laffey's schedule was adjusted to match up with Cliff Lee and given last night's performance there can be no doubt that Laffey will get the call. He pitched well yesterday for Buffalo, going six innings and giving up two earned runs -- and that was on short rest.

Aaron Fultz is supposed to start throwing today, with rehab appearances coming as soon as Sunday. It can't come soon enough, really, as my faith in Mastny and even Stanford has begun to waver. I think Fultz's return and Dotel's addition would make a huge difference.

Big changes coming in the next week. I can feel it. And, honestly, if it goes down like it could or should, I think we have a good shot at the post-season and even the division.

What We Learned

2007-07-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's my 100th post! And no one's reading this anymore, judging by the comments section.

*sigh*

I would imagine that Mark Shapiro is currently on the phone with Kansas City telling them they can have Ben Francisco for Octavio Dotel, assuming that's a better deal than the AAA short stop the Dodgers are offering. Because I don't think the Tom Mastny experiment is working out.

And, of course, let's just get this out of the way now:

Welcome to the Majors, Aaron Laffey!

Clearly, there's no way the Indians can keep Cliff Lee on their roster. Really, the argument with Victor and the sarcastic tipping of his hat wouldn't matter if he didn't out and out suck this year. It's kind of mind boggling.

Here's hoping a guy who started the year in Akron can do better.

I would also have to guess that a choice on whether to keep Gutierrez or Francisco became less of a big decision after the last two nights.

Hopefully, the Tribe can get that deal done (throw in Cabrera for good measure!) and we can get some kind of a hold on that bullpen. Then we can bring Choo up, who everyone likes.

Now all we have to do is hope Jake turns it around.

That said, according ESPN, the STO guys were wrong; Santana pitches on Sunday against Sabathia. Jake will face off against Garza on Saturday and with the way the Twins have been hitting lately, this could be a chance for him to start building himself back up.

Sixty games left. We're going to need to win close to forty of those.

Last Chance for Cliff?

2007-07-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

The last two days HAVE been incredible. I don't know that I'd be making that statement had we not won last night, though.

Aside from a much needed win, last night also underscored another point: we have two aces. This is huge. We would be a very, very dangerous team in the post-season. Now we just have to make it there.

There's some interesting info here:

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1185439373128710.xml&coll=2

No word on the Dotel deal, although last night on Baseball Tonight Gammons said he was most likely to go to the Dodgers now.

What I found most interesting was this bit:

"Laffey (7-3, 3.24 at Buffalo) has been involved in some interesting gyrations of late. Over the weekend it looked like he was coming to Cleveland after being pulled out of a start in the third inning. The Indians denied that report, but the Buffalo News reported that Laffey's locker was cleaned out after that shortened start. He'll be pitching on short rest Thursday."

Basically, they're pitching him on short rest so that he'll be on the same rotation as Cliff Lee. Someone somewhere decided to give Cliff one last shot, against the Red Sox, no less.

What I find even more interesting about that is that this means they have no intention of moving Jason Stanford back to the rotation. I understand that completely, as we really don't have a reliable long man in the bullpen other than Stanford.

Tonight should be interesting.

Trade Rumors

2007-07-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

The most prominent rumor involving the Tribe (mentioned in Buster Olney's blog today at ESPN.com) is a deal with Kansas City for Octavio Dotel who, if you haven't been paying attention to the Royals lately (and you should, as they're a fun team to watch), has been lights out as their closer. However, they have a young guy on the team they feel can be just as good, so they can move Dotel (who's a free agent after this year).

From what I've read, the Royals have asked for either Ben Francisco or Franklin Gutierrez.

It's becoming more and more clear that we're going to have to stick with Jake and possibly Lee as well, so improving our bullpen would mean a lot if we can only count on four or five innings from our #5 starter.

Is it worth it to trade a young guy like Francisco or Gutierrez? Maybe.

We still have Shin-Soo Choo in Buffalo, who has not only been great every time he's come up to the Majors, but was also supposed to get the call when Delucci was hurt, but happened to be on the 15 day DL at the time.

We also have a guy named Jonathan Van Every in Buffalo who currently leads the team in nearly every offensive category even though he spent half the year in Akron.

For that matter, we still have Brad Snyder down in AAA.

So who do we deal, Ben or Franklin? Ben's numbers are roughly half of what Franklin's are which makes sense, as he's played in a little less than half as many games. But does that give Franklin the edge because he has more experience? Or do you give Ben the edge because he has more potential power?

It's a tough call, but either way I think I'd make that deal. I think we're in too close of a race to hold on to all of our chips for the future.

Besides, picture this: Borowski, Dotel, Betancourt, Perez, Lewis, Fultz, and Mastny or Stanford. I'd be pretty happy with that bullpen going forward.

I guess we'll see in the next few days.

Red Sox @ Indians, 7/24/07

2007-07-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

My friend Matt is a Red Sox fan. Today I explained to him how we had to win all of C.C., Fausto, and Byrd's starts to make the post-season. He asked me if our season would be over if we lost tonight. I told him yes.

Season over!

Okay, okay, I kid. But it's getting to that point. When was the last time you looked at a start by any of the three GOOD pitchers we have and didn't think to yourself "man, we really need to win that game because we'll lose when Westbrook and Lee pitch?"

That said, you couldn't have asked for more from C.C. tonight.

I feel like the team has the same view that the fans do, and that's troubling. Yes, we left the bases loaded. Yes, Grady was tagged at third when he shouldn't have been. And that just proves my point.

I feel like the team KNOWS they need to win every time C.C. is out there. And it makes me think they're forcing it to the point of not performing.

Hey, maybe it's just me. But I you know that the guys on that team are seeing the same things that we are. You know they feel the same way.

Red Sox @ Indians, 7/23/07

2007-07-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Show of hands, who didn't know we'd lose tonight? Let's count the many reasons why we were bound to lose:

1) Nationally televised game (kiss of death for the Tribe)
2) The return of Jon Lester after battling cancer (akin to playing the Saints in New Orleans)
3) Jake Westbrook

I haven't seen the story on the game yet, but I can only assume that Wedge will go with the party line he used after Cliff's last game, something along the lines of "he turned it around after that first inning and we saw the pitcher we know he can be" or some load like that. Yet the fact will remain that yet again the back end of our rotation dug our team into a hole they could not get out of, right from the start.

Evidently, Adam Miller (who has been awful since coming off the DL) has been shut down for the year because of a sore elbow. The upside here is that this means there's a reason why he's been awful. The downside, obviously, is that he's yet another pitcher lost to us.

Jason Stanford might have given up a run tonight, but it was unearned, which means after his first inning it was 1-0...after Westbrook's it was 4-0.

The big question, of course, is whose spot to you put Stanford in? At this point I say Lee, although I don't know why. Wait, he has options left, that's why.

From what I've been told (by one of the fine folks on the Indians livejournal), Aaron Laffey is the next to get a call up. Matt Miller has actually started returning to form, which is a good sign, as we clearly need to bolster the bullpen, particularly if we move Stanford to the rotation.

And, as usual, we have to hope that C.C. and Fausto win their next two starts...their next twenty starts, for that matter.

Indians @ Rangers Saturday AND Sunday

2007-07-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

So last night I had the Chelsea/LA Galaxy match on the TV, the MLB.tv feed for the Indians/Rangers game on my laptop, and the new Harry Potter book. After only a few minutes of juggling these things, I realized that something was going to have to give.

Cliff Lee made that decision pretty easy for me.

I'm actually considering not watching any games he starts anymore. It would certainly free up some time in my life.

And today we get Paul Byrd, who does what he always does when he starts: gives the Tribe a chance to win.

Considering we're up 8-3 heading into the ninth, it would appear he did his job well.

My kingdom for a #4 starter!

RCR Extra: Beckham

2007-07-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

My two favorite sports are baseball and soccer. As you might have noticed, soccer in this country has been getting a lot of air time lately and I feel very strongly about exactly what is being said during that air time.

Some thoughts:

1) The next person to say that Beckham won't "save soccer" in America gets my foot up their ass.

Here's a question: what happens if Beckham sucks? Will the millions and millions of kids who play soccer every weekend suddenly stop? Will the phrase "soccer mom" be replaced by "basketball mom"? Will sales on mini-vans plummet? Beckham won't save soccer in this country because soccer doesn't need saving. If it did then it wouldn't be so ingrained in our growing suburban society.

2) The next person to compare Beckham coming to the MLS to Pele coming to the NASL also gets my foot up their ass.

Where to even begin with this idea? The most obvious is the simple fact that Pele was the greatest soccer player who has ever lived and Beckham, while good, isn't. But that's probably not even the biggest distinction to make in this horrible comparison.

The NASL INTRODUCED a sport to America. There was no such thing as youth soccer when the NASL came along. Part of the reason they imported so many player in from other countries is because there simply weren't that many native Americans who even knew what the game was, let alone were able to play it. The MLS has a feeder system in place, basically because the NASL led to the establishment of the largest youth oriented sports movement this country has ever seen. If even a tenth of a percent of the kids playing soccer today go on to play pro, that's a thousand people at least. The NASL didn't have that. It's also why the U.S. National team actually makes it to the World Cup tournament.

3) The next person to say Beckham wasn't worth it gets my foot up their ass.

It's frightening when a man who used to run around the field looking like the lead singer for the Spin Doctors makes more sense than any reporter or writer around. As Alexi Lalas pointed out, they signed Beckham because he will give the L.A. Galaxy a chance to win. As he's also pointed out, they've already earned back what they will pay him in sponsors, endorsements, and ticket sales.

People seem to forget that Los Angeles isn't Portland (aka, a city that had an NASL team and failed). The market for soccer here is so large that we actually have TWO teams (Chivas USA being the other). Unlike most cities, our teams even have their own soccer-specific stadium. David Beckham is not going to make or break either the L.A. Galaxy or the MLS.

4) The next person to say Beckham has to play Saturday night gets my foot up their ass.

While it would be nice if Beckham's highly touted premiere actually happened on Saturday night, there's no need for it if he's hurt. It's an exhibition game, so if his goal is to help the L.A. Galaxy win, this game is meaningless. Yes, it would be nice to see him face off against Chelsea, but unlike most sports you RUN for 90 minutes in soccer, and a sore ankle isn't going allow for that.

Besides, people should be watching that match regardless. It's freaking Chelsea, for god's sake. They came in second in the Premiereship. Their owner is a Russion tycoon. It's the cold war all over again. L.A. should get shelled -- even with Beckham -- but it will be great to watch.

RCR Extra!!

2007-07-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's interesting how, a week after the All Star game, you can start to see the cracks in all of the best teams in the AL.

Boston's bullpen might actually be worse than ours, with the exception of Okajima and Papelbon. Their offense just got out scored by the Royals. And the back end of their rotation is nearly as questionable as ours (I say nearly because they have options).

The Angels just sent down Ervin Santana and Bartolo Colon has been less than stellar. And while they produce runs as well as anyone, they clearly lack power aside from Vlad, something that can be a problem if you're not always in a position to manufacture runs.

The Twins, as they usually do, came out of the break firing on all cylinders. But they just got swept by the Tigers. They scored all of 5 runs in those three games. They've always had a great bullpen, but does anyone even know who their rotation is these days?

Speaking of rotations, can anyone name all five guys in Seattle's rotation? If there's a more illogical team than the Tribe to be in the race, it's the Mariners. They have a great closer, of course. They've got some big guns in the line-up. But they don't really match-up against the rest of the league the way a contender would.

The scariest team in all of baseball right now has to be the Tigers. They have Kenny Rogers back, giving them perhaps the best rotation in baseball 1-5. Their bullpen has been the main issue this season, but even if they don't make a deal by the break, they're supposed to get Zumaya and Rodney back in August. And, of course, they have the best offense in the AL.

I still think the Tribe can make the post-season, and in some ways it's almost a bonus that the Tigers are in the Central, because if we both make the post-season than we won't face them until the ALCS.

Tribe Prediction: If Cliff Lee doesn't turn it around by the time Aaron Fultz comes off the DL, they'll send him down and move Stanford to the rotation, giving that bullpen spot to Fultz.

White Sox @ Indians, 7/18/07

2007-07-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

Mark Shapiro isn't stupid.

He was up in the call box at one point during the game today. He was asked about the trade deadline and bullpen help and he basically said -- without actually saying it -- that we have what we have; there's simply nothing out there, and what is out there is too costly.

And then he pointed out what everyone is thinking, yet I don't see a whole lot of people actually saying: our biggest problem is Cliff and Jake.

I know, I know, I sound like a broken record. But we can't count on C.C., Carmona, and Byrd to win every one of their starts.

Buster Olney mentioned in a column the other day that the Tribe had someone at Contreras' last start for the White Sox. But will 5-11 with a 5.32 ERA really help us, even if the White Sox would deal with us? And at what cost? That doesn't seem like a positive move.

It's just insane that we don't really have any options from within right now. I mean, think about it, of our projected starting three of them have, well, bombed pretty badly! It really is a miracle we're anywhere close to in it at this point.

I stand by my suggestion to give Stanford some more time, at least to give us a chance.

So what about our bullpen? Well, even though he gave up a run today, I really like Jensen Lewis. I think he's got potential. I also think he makes a nice addition to Perez, Betancourt, and Borowski.

Mastny is inconsistent and worrying. I think we miss Fultz.

Like I said, I think our bullpen is going to come from within.

I have more faith in that than in the back end of our rotation working itself out.

White Sox @ Indians, 7/17/07

2007-07-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

All praise Ryan Garko! Fantastic stuff --and more reason to love this team. It's nights like tonight when you're also reminded of just how young the Tribe is, which I consider good thing. They just have so much enthusiasm. I can't even imagine how Gutierrez and Francisco must be feeling.

And let's not ignore the old guys! It's nice to see Trot Nixon come through when it counted tonight.

But what's the big news tonight? Well, the AP write-up of the game included this little tidbit:

The Indians have had a season-long obsession with "RBI Baseball," the old-school Nintendo video game popular in the 1980s. Since Sunday, players and clubhouse staffers have been competing in a 16-team tournament, complete with seedings.

As a man who lives in an apartment with not one but TWO original Nintendo systems, this is awesome.

How could anyone NOT love this team?

White Sox @ Indians, 7/16/07

2007-07-16T16:12:00.001-07:00

Okay, it's time to send Cliff Lee down. We're not going to win the Central with the back of our rotation like this.

Geez.

UPDATE: My friend Brett and I are debating as to when Lee should/could be sent down. Any thoughts?

While Lee's ice might have gotten thinner tonight, it's got to be completely gone for Cabrera. I'll be honest, I usually give Wedge the benefit of the doubt, but I can't believe he put Cabrera in there tonight. I suppose you have to use him at some point, but following up our least effective starter with our least effective reliever didn't seem too smart, particularly given that we were still in the game.

If there was a bright spot tonight (besides our offense), it had to be the new guys coming out the bullpen. Sure, Jensen Lewis walked two guys, but I think that would be easy to chalk up to nerves in his first big league appearance. Rafael Perez struck out the side and looked dominant as he usually does and Jason Stanford looked good.

So what DO we do with Cliff Lee, who's 5-6 with a 5.67 ERA? Well, Lee has options left, so I think we need to do the same thing with him as we're doing with Sowers. Then we move Jason Stanford back to that spot, because while we're not exactly stocked with great relievers in Buffalo, we're even thinner on starters.

We let Stanford pitch in the fifth spot while Lee regroups, or Sowers regroups, or Miller gets back on track. Because right now I don't feel like Cliff ever gives us a chance to win.