tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66664313878845214962024-03-05T13:39:14.720-05:00Tribe Fan in YankeelandRon Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.comBlogger293125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-35621973774956393042009-08-23T23:49:00.002-04:002009-08-23T23:53:18.462-04:00Found: Tall right-hander, Answers to the name 'Fausto'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090823/capt.cd87820cc89e4e26baa9d0376ca3206c.mariners_indians_baseball_ohdr107.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=85&yc=1&wc=241&hc=268&q=70&sig=xOaBQ65prdnYKNE9.luJew--"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 199px;" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090823/capt.cd87820cc89e4e26baa9d0376ca3206c.mariners_indians_baseball_ohdr107.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=85&yc=1&wc=241&hc=268&q=70&sig=xOaBQ65prdnYKNE9.luJew--" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fausto Carmona - missing in action for nearly two years now - has been found.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And he was right where the Tribe left him - on the mound at Progressive Field (though it was Jacobs Field when he was last seen prior to Sunday).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">For the past two seasons - we have learned - an impostor has been wearing Fausto's No. 55 and taking the hill for the Tribe.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It is rumored that Tribe manager Eric Wedge, being tied up with his self-challenge to come up with 162 different lineups in one season, didn't realize the impostor had slipped into Fausto's uni beginning in spring training 2008.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It is unclear where the real Fausto has been over the past 23 months.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One thing is clear - the "real" Fausto - or at least what the Tribe hopes is the real Fausto - made the start Sunday at Progressive Field.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This Fausto had a ball that moved, but just far enough out of the zone to entice Seattle hitters to put the ball into play, or in the case of eight Mariners - miss it altogether. He had poise and "stayed within himself," as the players like to say.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It made all the difference in the world.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In all Carmona went seven innings, allowing five hits, one walk and one run. He threw 116 pitches - 76 of them for strikes. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It was - no doubt - Fausto's best outing of the season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tony Sipp and Chris Perez finished things off quite easily over the final two innings, lending more credence to the rumor that some semblance of a bullpen has also been found - also after a two-year absence.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The guys who are likely to make up the core of next year's team - Travis Hafner, Jhonny Peralta, Grady Sizemore, Luis Valbuena and Matt LaPorta continued the team's hot hitting, making for a pleasant "family fun" day at the ballpark.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All of which is well and good, but the best piece of news to come down the pike in a while is that the real Fausto apparently has been found.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That, more than any other individual development in recent weeks, is key to the Tribe returning to respectability next season.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-87790496614059910182009-08-20T22:43:00.003-04:002009-08-21T00:00:57.897-04:00Why we still watch<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090821/capt.b8928e3828cf49d09b6d0f2cd099b280.angels_indians_baseball_ohtd101.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=299&hc=332&q=70&sig=6dLBjsDF7DZ56dWTppC0Vg--"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 200px;" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090821/capt.b8928e3828cf49d09b6d0f2cd099b280.angels_indians_baseball_ohtd101.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=299&hc=332&q=70&sig=6dLBjsDF7DZ56dWTppC0Vg--" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wow. Wasn't that fun?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Just finished watching the Tribe take it to the Angels tonight.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you're anything like me you ask yourself nightly, Why am I still watching these guys?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The games mean nothing for this season.<br /><br />And, as we've learned the hard way time and again in the Wedgie years, what's happening now probably won't mean a heck of a lot for next year either.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> But, we keep watching because nights like tonight keep the flicker of hope alive within us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's easy to picture Justin Masterson slicing up one of the game's best offenses next year, with a huge assist in a tight spot from Tony Sipp.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sounds like a formula for a lot of wins in 2010, doesn't it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And then there was that sixth inning, with everyone contributing - top to bottom.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The vets on the club contributed - with Travis Hafner doubling with two guys on, driving in one of the runs and later scoring on a sacrifice fly. He added an RBI single a couple of innings later.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You can just see Hafner, his shoulder in much better shape, knocking in runs in bunches next year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jhonny Peralta had three hits, with Sizemore, Cabrera and Choo each contributing two. Even Andy Marte had two hits, though one was a checked swing roller.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Matt LaPorta 2.0, making his first appearance since being recalled, had a key hit in the heart of the seven-run sixth, knocking in two and adding another ribbie later. And can't you just see LaPorta at the heart of many a rally next year?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's hardly an every-night occurrence, this team hitting on all cylinders. But it has been happening more lately.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On the surface, Tribe fans - me especially - are curmudgeons and pessimists. But the truth is, with me - and I'm betting with you - way down deep inside we still believe that some day, some way, we will make it to the promised land and it's nights like this that contribute to what some might consider a delusion.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why else would we be watching and then writing or reading about it when it's over?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Full disclosure: I did spend an awful lot of time in the hot sun today.)</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-59144377997377046352009-08-18T23:47:00.006-04:002009-08-19T11:50:30.658-04:00How's Wedgie doin'?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/backpage/photos/wedge.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 266px;" src="http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/backpage/photos/wedge.jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">It was the 4th of July weekend when Tribe GM Mark Shapiro went public with his promise that Eric Wedge and his coaches would be around at least until the end of the season, when all would be evaluated.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Since that time the Tribe has played 35 games and put up an 18-17 record. Better than they had been to that point, but hardly an exciting number.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But at the time Shapiro said the post-season evaluation would have less to do with wins and losses than with player development.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Specifically, Shapiro was looking for Wedge to polish off a few prospects to the point where they could be counted on to be a positive presence next season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So, to borrow of a phrase from former NYC mayor Ed Koch, "How's Wedgie doin'."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maybe the easiest way to do this is to take each of the youngsters one-by-one and see what type of progress they've made, or in the case of some how much regression there has been this season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The dismal first half was a collective effort, with all facets of the team underperforming - except possibly for the ground crew and field operations folks who found a quick solution to the seagull problem that cropped up in the late spring.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But it was the pitching - especially the bullpen - that was most responsible for the disaster that the 2009 season quickly became.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So let's start up on the hill.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There are so many failures here a case can be made for many a player, but for argument sake let's just say Fausto Carmona was the biggest disappointment and the biggest drag on the team's success.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As you know, Fausto was sent to Arizona to have his hard-drive cleared and to start the season all over with a clean slate.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carmona's made four starts since returning from his reprogramming. At first glance, it looks as if some progress has been made in remaking Carmona.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Going into his start Tuesday, Carmona had made 3 starts since his recall, pitching 17 innings and allowing just 5 earned runs - for an ERA of 2.65. But in those 3 starts, Fausto gave up 15 hits and 10 walks in 17 innings. That's a WHIP of 1.47. He'd averaged only 5 2/3 innings in those 3 starts, mostly because he was at or near 100 pitches by that time. He threw three 299 pitches in those three starts, with 172, or 55%, of them being strikes. Not good at all.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Granted tonight's start versus the Angels was against an offense that has averaged about 8 runs per game over the last 6 weeks or so, but it was perhaps Fausto's worst outing since his return. While he gave up just 3 earned runs in 5 innings, the outing was a lot uglier than those numbers indicate. Carmona gave up 10 hits and two walks over those 5 innings, which took him 110 pitches (66 of them, or 54%, strikes) to complete.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So far, Carmona has not shown he's anywhere close to the pitcher who won 19 games just two seasons ago. Better than he was in May, but with still a long way to go.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aaron Laffey is another story.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Since returning from a mid-season injury, Laffey has made 7 starts and has put up an ERA of 2.93 in 47 innings. In three of those 7 starts Laffey was unscored upon. His 1.38 WHIP has been a little high, but for a groundball pitcher base runners can be easily erased two at a time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Laffey is looking as polished as any one of the youngsters on the club and should be someone to be counted on next year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy Sowers? A string of 3 starts in late July and early August in which Sowers actually survived into the 7th twice and had 3 so-called quality starts seemed to indicate he might be coming around. But in his last outing Sowers folded after 5 again, much as he has done throughout most of the season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Has Sowers progressed this year under Wedge? I vote no.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Over 17 starts this year, David Huff has put up 6.55 ERA, a 1.65 WHIP and a .319 BA against. Having seen many of his starts on the dish, it seems like those numbers are a bit worse than Huff's actual performance. He has shown flashes at times. But has he developed as he should have this season? Nada.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You could argue that the utter failure of Raffie Perez and Jensen Lewis to perform up to expectations was an even bigger factor in the first half than Carmona's disappearance. I wouldn't give you much of an argument.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Perez has been up and down a few times and Lewis was sent back to Columbus for retooling. Has either been straightened out?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Four of Perez's 5 outings since his latest recall have been scoreless, which is encouraging. But I would hardly say he's been lights out, having allowed 9 base runners in the 5 innings he's pitched over those 5 outings. Still, there's hope Perez can show he's back on track over the next 6 weeks.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jensen Lewis, like Perez, has had 5 outings since his recall, 4 of which have been scoreless over 7 innings. He too looks to be heading back in the right direction, but lets not forget he put up 13 saves during garbage time with the heat off last August and September as well. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tony Sipp was most recently recalled in late June. He was horrid in June/July, giving up 7 runs in 7 2/3 innings over 12 outings and allowing 14 base runners in that time frame. August has been another story, as Sipp has allowed only 1 run and 4 base runners in 7 1/3 innings over 8 outings. Another guy who seems to be showing improvement of late.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chris Perez has been as-advertised since coming over from St. Louis (excepting 2 bad outings in his first 3 appearances with the Tribe). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jess Todd, the other pitcher obtained from the Cardinals for Mark DeRosa, is still getting his feet wet, but he hasn't looked good doing it - allowing 4 runs in 5 innings over 5 outings. Not much to go on with him yet though.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As far as position players go, there are fewer to be looked at, at least to this point.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Andy Marte continues to be hopelessly lost at the plate and at times (like tonight when he made a costly error and failed to cut off a throw to the plate that cost the Tribe an out) in the field. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is Marte just lacking the intangibles that separate AAAA players from big-leaguers?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is he unable to get anything going because Wedge stubbornly refuses to play him every day and he can't get his timing down?<br /><br />Is he pressing because he knows Wedge won't play him regularly unless he starts to rip it up at the plate?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who knows. But one thing is clear. When it comes time to look at players Wedge and his staff were charged with developing, this is their biggest failure.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chris Gimenez? What is Wedge's infatuation here? And is Wedge retarding the development of others by giving Gimenez so much playing time?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Much like with Gimenez, Wedge apparently sees a lot he likes in Luis Valbuena. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In this case I agree with him.<br /><br />Something about Valbuena's body language on the field, and the attitude he brings makes you feel as though he expects to succeed. And, despite a less-than-stellar .233 BA, he has a nice stroke and rips the ball into the gaps, allowing him to put up an .840 OPS in July and .768 so far this month. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The middle infield appears to be an area of little concern for next season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We haven't seen enough of Wyatt Toregas to make an assessment yet, and just when it seemed like Trevor Crowe was getting a feel for things he came out of the lineup with an injury.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In September, there are likely to be some new youngsters for Wedge & Co. to work with. Hector Rondon seems like a sure call-up, as does Carlos Carrasco, who is 4-0 with a 3.45 ERA in 4 starts since coming to Columbus in the Cliff Lee deal. Just as important, he's walked only 5 and has struck out 27 in 28 innings at Columbus.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking forward to seeing what this duo will do at the big-league level, even if it will be just a September call-up for them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Which brings us to the other likely call-up next month - Matt LaPorta. I say "likely" because there were three other times this season that I thought he would get recalled, and he remains - mysteriously - in Columbus.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why LaPorta is not here now - especially since the Tribe has been forced to start Jamey Carroll in the outfield the past few games - is beyond me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The only thing that makes any sense is that Shapiro was so unhappy with Wedge's indifference to playing LaPorta when he was up briefly earlier this year that he doesn't want to give Wedge another chance to sew seeds of doubt in the youngster's head.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And if that's the case, none of the rest of what I've written will matter. Wedge will be a goner.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And not a moment too soon.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-10573294845882297612009-08-08T23:27:00.006-04:002009-08-10T10:23:22.632-04:00The Cleveland Indians - forever riding in coach<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rlv.zcache.com/second_class_citizen_tshirt-p23519000548595634148t9_400.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 265px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 265px" alt="" src="http://rlv.zcache.com/second_class_citizen_tshirt-p23519000548595634148t9_400.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">So how 'bout that Tomo Ohka?</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">OK. That's not really what I want to talk about.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's been a few days since the Dolan family told us all that the hard reality of MLB in the 2000's is that Cleveland, and other towns like it, has to accept second-class status. At least as long as the sport's current economic system is in place, and it isn't likely to change any time soon.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">So far, from what I can tell by reading reaction on a variety of online sites, Paul Dolan's comments are not being well received by most.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The comment by Dolan that pretty much said it all to Tribe fans, and brought home to many the distasteful position we are in as fans of a small market team, is the following:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">"Every four or five years, if we can have a shot at the World Series like we did in '07 and compete for the playoffs like we did in '05, that's as good as it gets."</span><br /></blockquote><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">So those are the goal posts - one run for a playoff spot, one shot in the playoffs and three seasons of underachievement every five years.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's a statement that is frank, and a reality that hits Tribe fans right between the eyes.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Dolan is right.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The truth is that under baseball's current system there really is no long-term run to be made by small-market teams. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Instead, they have to get rid of anybody that's worth anything to the big boys (or some other also-ran who happens to be having a hot year), load up with youngsters that will all mature at roughly the same time, and make a one- to three-year run sometime four or five years from now.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">As hard as that is to accept. It is reality. And to make matters worse, the small market teams have to hit paydirt on virtually every one of their trades made in the dismantling period, or they will find themselves several players short for a serious run down the road and forced to rip things up yet again.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">(See KC Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland A's - despite their reputation a few years back as a team that learned to beat the system - and now the Tribe).</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The disparities between baseball's haves and have-nots are blatantly obvious at the big league level, but they go all the way down the minor league chain and right to the feeding of the system - the draft.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">While most of the headlines from Dolan's presentation were about the projected financial losses for this season and next, and Dolan's assertion that playoff runs will - by design - have to be periodic, one of his points received less attention than I thought it deserved.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's a point I try to argue with my Yankee-fan friends, neighbors and colleagues when they think they've trumped my argument that the team buys its success. They rattle off the names Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera and point out that this long-time core of the team was home grown. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">But what few people know, or at least recognize, is something that Dolan pointed out this week. The system is skewed toward the big boys when it comes to acquiring young talent too. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">While there is no pay cap at the MLB level, there is also no restriction on the amount of money a team can spend on draftee signing bonuses and foreign talent. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Dolan says that plays to the advantage of big-market teams.</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(204,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic">"The larger market teams have managed to take their money and, in fact, manipulate the amateur draft situation so that not only are they bringing in the elite talent at the Major League level, but they're bringing in at a disproportionate basis the elite talent at the entry level of Major League Baseball."</blockquote><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">While the have-nots typically go first in the draft by virtue of their awful win-loss records at the MLB level, it is not uncommon for teams to take not the best player, but the best player they think they can afford when it's their turn at the draft table.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Or, they can take a chance on the bigger talent and then watch the youngster say "no thanks" and go back to college and hope for a higher payday from a richer team a year later.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Did you know that the Tribe once drafted Tim Lincecum? </span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Lincecum">It was back in 2005, but they couldn't get him to sign</a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"> and he ended up with the Giants a year later.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's happened close to home and it happens around the league every year. There's no way to prove that a team has passed on a better talent in favor of an affordable talent on draft day, but that could explain the dismal early-round performance of the Tribe in the past decade.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">And then there's the role money plays in bringing in talent from Japan, Korea and Latin America.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Dolan suggested a world-wide draft with a slotting system as a way of helping to balance the disparity of teams at the MLB level by making things a bit more fair at the player-entry level.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The suggestion makes a lot of sense.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">In the next round of collective bargaining the players are no more likely to accept a salary cap then they have been for the past 20 or 30 years. But the rank and file of the players union might be willing to throw the young, unknown and as yet undrafted players under the bus as long as they get to keep their unrestrained salaries at the MLB level.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">That may be especially true if it starts to look like some of the small-market teams just can't make it work anymore - meaning fewer jobs at the MLB level.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">But until something changes in the way MLB does business, as the Dolans have reminded us, we will have to be content to take a once-every-five-or-six-year run at things.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's been the Florida Marlin way for years, and they've been reasonably successful at it. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The Tribe's first stab at it has been a bust and we now find ourselves in rebuild number two.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The life-insurance actuarial tables say I've only got four or five more rebuilds to go, And given the fact that I don't exercise or eat the way I should, it could be even fewer than that.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">So let's hope the Tribe gets it right sooner rather than later.</span><br /><br /><strong>(To check </strong><a href="http://www.mediainfocenter.org/compare/top50/"><strong>Top 50 TV markets based on figures provided by Nielsen Media </strong></a><strong>click here and scroll down a bit. The numbers are from 2004 so there may - undoubtedly has been - some reordering of the markets.)<br /></strong><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">---</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On the field, the Tribe has been looking a lot better lately. They're 11-6 in their last 17 games and over .500 (12-9) since the All-Star break.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">We've gotten two decent looks at Justin Masterson - one of the major acquisitions by the Tribe in their recent fire sale - and he's looked quite solid both times out. It'll be fun to see what he does when he is stretched out enough to really take hold in the rotation.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Jhonny Peralta and Kelly Shoppach have started their "keep-me-on-the-team-next-year" hitting binges. Too little too late, but at least it makes the games a bit more fun to watch lately.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Trevor Crowe appears to be a different person in his third go-round with the Tribe.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Chris Perez has, for several appearances now, looked like what he was advertised to be when he was brought over from St. Louis as partial payment for Mark DeRosa. Jess Todd was a little later getting here, but it will be interesting to see what he adds to the pen as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Overall - save last night once Masterson left - the team has looked crisper and a lot less disinterested than they did a few weeks back.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">All of this, one would think, would be a positive for Tribe fans.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">But many fans seem to be worried that a second-half surge (or at least a surge-ette) will bolster the argument for Eric Wedge's return next year - something I feel comfortable in saying the vast majority of fans do not want.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">In his chat with the media during the week, Paul Dolan addressed that as well. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It's difficult to say where he stands on the prospect of Wedge returning on 2010.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On the one hand:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(204,0,0)"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">"Eric and his staff have achieved a lot in their time here. I think fans tend to forget that. When he took over in '03, he took over what was, in essence, an expansion franchise. In a relatively short period of time, he turned it into a competitive team. He and others deserve a lot of credit for that.</span>"<br /></blockquote><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">But on the other hand:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(204,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic">"Despite that, we have not been successful the last few years with a team that should have been successful. We have to understand why that is. We also have to understand that sometimes fans want or need to hear a different voice."<br /></blockquote><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">My gut tells me that with a fan base as disgusted as Tribe fans are with the recent trades and the team's overall lot in life in MLB, that last point Dolan makes will weigh heavily in the Dolans' decision on Wedge. (It's theoretically Mark Shapiro's call but the Dolans will obviously have a big say in the matter.) </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">After telling the customers they'll have to eat lots of hamburger before they get even a whiff of steak, it just seems to me that Wedge will be the sacrificial lamb in the offseason. Something to satiate those thirsting for blood.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">And that ain't necessarily a bad thing.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">One last thought before I go.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Haven't we seen enough of Chris Giminez? The guy is not bad as a catcher, is a stiff at 1B and doesn't appear to be much of a hitter. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Can we PLEASE get Matt LaPorta up here, put him at 1B, and see what he can do? Why is the Tribe so reluctant to bring him topside?</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">At the very least let's get Andy Marte in there every day. I still think he's a bust, but let's give him an every-day job so he can - once and for all - show what, if anything, he has to contribute.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-10429892995449238282009-08-03T19:01:00.005-04:002009-08-03T19:55:28.671-04:00Is it Rocky Colavito all over again?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/AP_Photo/2009/08/02/1249248602_9530/300h.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 300px;" src="http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/AP_Photo/2009/08/02/1249248602_9530/300h.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">The past week or so has been depressing and difficult for Tribe fans. This fan included.<br /><br />That is especially true coming, as it does, on the heels of last year's forced dumping of CC, and his eventual donning of pinstripes.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Cleveland fans are justifiably angry by the team's performance, and even more so by it's dismantling.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Fans, for whatever reason, become emotionally attached to the guys wearing their city's colors - much more so than the other way around.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />But with Victor Martinez, that was clearly not the case. His emo</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">tional goodbye and just the pride on his face each day as he wore the Tribe colors seem to prove that the fondness the fans had for Victor was felt equally strongly by our now-departed hero.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />With the trading of Victor and Cliff Lee, and to a much lesser degree of Ryan Garko, Raffie Betancourt, Ben Francisco and Mark DeRosa, the hue and cry from the fans has been loud and long.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Again, justifiably and understandably so.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/sports2000/players/147570.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 159px; height: 198px;" src="http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/sports2000/players/147570.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I was 3 1/2 years old when Rocky Colavito was traded to the Tigers on the eve of the 1960 season, so I'm not going to pretend to know the level of fan outrage at the time. </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19600417&id=cskUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1OIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5566,3362197">But as we have all read (and some experienced), it was considerable. </a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />(The PD's online archives go back only to 1991 at this point but the above link is a clip from a paper called the Eugene Register-Guard. I can only assume the paper is from Eugene, Ore. If you double-click on the link to open it, then left-click and hold on the clip itself, you can move the page around and find that even in Eugene, the trade was big news and that one of the articles was about the fan reaction to the deal in Cleveland).</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />It wasn't until at least the following season, and maybe the one after that, that I was old enough to have any tangible memories of the Tribe or any real understanding of what was going on on the field. But I do remember the bitterness of the fans that pervaded the city for most of my formative years.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />In my own family it was tangible.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">My grandpa would wear his wishbone-C Tribe cap, but would almost always have a funny, yet sarcastic, comment about the team and those who ran it.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">My uncle and older cousin would go to several games a year and bring me along with them - but we expected the worst and were rarely disappointed.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Anger at the Indians for the Colavito trade lasted a long time in Cleveland and shaped the attitude of an entire generation of Tribe fans.<br /><br />We were serious fans, with hope every April, but with the deep-down knowledge that no matter how many <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Gomer_Hodge">game-winning hits Gomer Hodge had</a> in the first two weeks of a season, the bottom half of the standings is where we were heading before the year was out.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Just as with the trades of Lee and Victor, Tribe fans have threatened many times to boycott the team - or at the very least just follow them on the radio, or TV. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">But in the early 1960's, these anger-induced declarations turned out to be more than idle threats. And they may or may not play out again in the 2010's.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />In 1959, the year Colavito won the HR crown wearing a Tribe uniform, the </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cleiatte.shtml">Indians drew 1.5 million fans to Municpal Stadium</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">, compared to an American League average of 1.1 million.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />In 1960, the year the Colavito deal was made just before opening day, 951,000 fans came to the stadium, compared with a league average of 1.2</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> million. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />By 1961, Tribe attendance was down to 9,000 a game, or 726,000 for the season. The league averaged 1 million fans that year.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Attendance cratered in 1963 at 563,000, or just under 7,000 a game.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Attendance numbers are rounded for easier reading.)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />So, in the year of the trade, attendance at Tribe games dropped 36.5% from 1959. The following year it dropped 52% from Colavito's last year on the team (the first time around). And at it's low ebb - in the fourth Colavito-less season of 1963 - attendance was off 62% from 1959.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">During roughly the same period as the Colavito trade, the Indians traded off other eventual stars in the big leagues - among them </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cashno01.shtml?redir">Stormin' Norm Cash</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (also to the Tigers for </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=demetst01">Steve Demeter</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">) and </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=perryji01">Jim Perry</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (for </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kralija01.shtml">Jack Kralick</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">) and </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grantmu01.shtml?redir">Mudcat Grant</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (for </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/banksge01.shtml">George Banks</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and</span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stangle01.shtml"> Lee Stange</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">) to the Twins in separate deals.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">During the years mentioned above, the team's record dropped with the attendance. The team ended 1959 with an 89-65 record, but finished a few games short of .500 every year after that until 1965.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Fans, of course, blamed the trade(s) for the big drop-off and stayed away in droves.<br /><br />There were rumors of the team being moved because attendance was so low and the fan base so turned off.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The team, run then by Gabe Paul, was so desperate to turn things around with the fans (and resurrect the attendance and revenue levels) that they reacquired Colavito by trading two youngsters - Tommy John and Tommie Agee.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />While Colavito (league-leading 108 RBI) and the team (87-75) had a solid season in 1965, it was a hefty price to pay to say the least. John won 288 games and played another 20 seasons (minus the years recouping from the surgery named after him) and Agee was rookie of the year in 1966 and a chief cog on the Mets' 1969 World Series championship team.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Still attendance did increase dramatically that season (43% from the prior season) as the fans came back to see The Rock. The team - for the first time since 1959 - outdrew the league average.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />So, while the threats of angry fans who say they aren't coming back, - that "they're done with these bums" or will never again put money in an owners pocket - have often been idle threats, history shows that it has happened here in the past - at least for a long-enough period to be quite damaging.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The question is whether the anger pouring from Indians fans now is deep enough to allow history to repeat itself.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />It is certainly understandable that it would be, and I hold at least some fear that this current generation of Tribe fans, like their grandparents, may have been pushed too far too often.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-90372631968207633812009-07-31T22:56:00.004-04:002009-08-01T00:36:05.889-04:00Coping with life after Victor<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.cleveland.com/tribe_impact/2009/07/medium_01cMARTINEZ.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 164px;" src="http://blog.cleveland.com/tribe_impact/2009/07/medium_01cMARTINEZ.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's taken me a bit of time to get something up on this site tonight because I've been struggling to put into words just how I feel about the latest punch in the stomach - the Victor Martinez trade.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I was wild-eyed angry the other night with the trade of Cliff Lee.<br /><br />I was angry that Lee was gone, but what really lit my fire was the realization that the deal meant another gutting and rebuild - with the next move sure to involve Victor.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So with Victor gone, I'm feeling an odd mixture of emotions, and anger is at the low end of list.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sadness is probably the most prevalent feeling for me tonight.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can you watch Victor's post-trade chat with reporters and not feel it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can you think of the 2007 season and not feel it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can you look at the unrealized expectations of the 2009 season and not feel it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can you see the latest core of players you thought might take us where we want to go, then see it broken up over the past 12 months - starting with CC -and not feel sad?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's not an emotion really, but I'm also feeling a little sick to my stomach having just listened to Mark Shapiro during the Tribe game move up his contention-expectation clock to 2010. It was an obvious, and shameless, attempt to neutralize some of the venom being spewed by Tribe fans who are clearly not up for another rebuilding period that they just didn't see coming.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(I'm also feeling some nausea listening to Matt Underwood during the interview with Shapiro planting a big one right between the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">GM's</span> two butt cheeks, but that's really beside the point I'm trying to make here.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I would be lying if I denied the tiniest spark of curiosity about the new direction the team was forced into over the past few weeks. I would say the feeling stops well short of excitement, but I have already found myself mentally moving people in and out of the rotation, pen and starting lineup and trying to convince myself that there might just be enough new blood around to fill lots of holes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We'll talk about that in detail at another time though.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Let's get back to the Victor deal.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As I said I have had two days to process all the anger that came with the Lee trade, and the realization that the plug has been pulled and some bleak days are ahead.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Unlike the night of the Lee trade, there was no surprise tonight.<br /><br />I mostly just feel an emptiness that comes with knowing the heart and soul of the team - a real Cleveland Indian, the way <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Thome</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Vizquel</span> were real Cleveland Indians - has been sent packing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's not a feeling I haven't felt before and it's a feeling I'm sure to feel again, being a fan of a small-market team in a flawed system that stacks all the cards against teams like the Tribe.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So what is there to do but suck it up and see what we got for Victor?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My initial reaction to the deal was much like my initial reaction to the Lee deal - we didn't get the guys everyone else was looking for. In this case it was starter, and top prospect, Clay <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Buckholz</span> and reliever Daniel Bard, both currently with the Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sox</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">While that is true, the Tribe did get </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/?pl_id=66895">Justin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Masterson</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - a pitcher already up in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">bigs</span> and ready to step into the rotation once he gets stretched out after pitching in the bullpen with the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sox</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">LHP</span> </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/?pl_id=62123">Nick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Hagadone</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> is also a key piece for the Tribe, and the guy with the highest upside in this deal for Cleveland. He's a flame thrower who Shapiro said was clocked recently at 99 by Tribe scouts. More routinely, he's at 94-95 with what is said to be an exceptional slider. There is the little matter of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">TJ</span> surgery less than a year ago, but based on what he's doing this year, it appears the operation was a success.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In his TV appearance tonight, Shapiro said <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Hagadone</span> will either be put on an accelerated track to the back of the Tribe's bullpen, or a much slower track to the front end of the rotation. If he is put on the starter track, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Hagadone's</span> development will be slower because he will be on an innings limit due to to the surgery.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bryan Price, like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Hagadone</span>, is pitching at Class A after being the 45<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">th</span> player picked overall in the 2008 draft. </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/?pl_id=37737">He's not looking so good so far,</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> but he too has mid-90's capabilities.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maybe it's the 48-hour cooling-off period since the Lee trade, or the encouraging outing tonight by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Fausto</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Carmona</span>, or maybe even the three <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Yeunglings</span> I had with my burger tonight, but I'm starting to come to terms with the reality that the Tribe - again - is rebuilding.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Most of the Tribe's players have played poorly this season. Eric Wedge has been even worse as a manager. And the front office has failed for years to produce homegrown players to add to those they've <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">acquired</span> in trade.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There's a lot wrong with the organization from top to bottom.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There will be time to deal with front-office and management issues when the season ends. But the time to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">start</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">fixing</span> the talent shortage was now.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time will tell if the pieces picked up by Shapiro were the right ones. But - after thinking things over the past few days - I began to see some merit to the argument that there was not enough talent at the top end of the organization to make a serious go of things. And since the Tribe can't <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">just</span> go out and buy the two top pitchers on the market and the top bat or two - like another team we know - this is how it has to be done.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My original sentiment was to just chuck it all and get a hobby like gardening for the summer. Many of you are threatening yourself with the same thing - giving up on the Tribe and baseball.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But I know myself too well, and I know that I can't do that. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I don't have to be happy about it. And I will continue to bitch about just how broken baseball's system is. But I will go through yet <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">another</span> rebuild with the Tribe and enjoy whatever good moments come along as this new group of Tribesman evolves into our next great hope.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In the meantime, can I have another <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Yeungling</span> please?</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-49494899968818863312009-07-29T19:25:00.022-04:002009-07-29T22:59:06.285-04:00Tribe trades Lee, Francisco; Pulls plug on this year and next<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://umpbump.com/press/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 198px;" src="http://umpbump.com/press/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lee.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">(Updated at 10:39 PM EDT with Shapiro comments)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"We had some lack of conviction with the team's ability to be a definitive contender next year. If felt we could contend with zero additions, we definitively would not have made this deal." </span></span><br /></blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">And so we hear from the man himself.<br /><br />Tribe GM Mark Shapiro - at a news conference officially announcing the trade of Cliff Lee to Philadelphia - essentially said the front office has no illusions that the team it created will contend in 2010, so key pieces of "now" are being shipped for possible pieces of "future."<br /><br />Even more depressing for the fan base, Shapiro said at the press conference that he's been told by the Dolans that they will not pony up for additions to the roster over the winter. So, having determined that without experienced reinforcements the team will go nowhere again next season, the fire sale's biggest piece of merchandise was moved, with an equally big piece about to be shipped.<br /><br />Now it's wait until 2011 - at least.<br /><br />But if you've followed this team long enough, you know that tomorrow (in this case 2011 or 2012) never comes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">It is awful as a fan to always be on the butt end of these kinds of trades - where you get the prospects and watch one of your team's guys go off and help fulfill some other fan's dreams.<br /><br />But it's even harder in cases like this one, where the deal fails to bring in return even the promise of something better down the road.<br /><br />Shapiro, as you might guess, thinks he got a pretty good haul in this deal.<br /><br /></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"The value was compelling. It had to be compelling. We received three players who can contribute [soon] in a meaningful way, as well as one player with high upside."</span><br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I suppose he couldn't say, "Look, the Dolans are pulling the plug on this thing and I had to get <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> for Lee."<br /><br />But how else can you explain what Shapiro settled for?<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">At face value, the Tribe got four of the Phillies top 10 prospects.<br /><br />They got an 18-year-old pitcher who throws in the high 90's in Jason Knapp.<br /><br />The other pitcher coming to the Tribe in the deal, 22-year-old Carlos Carrasco, was seen by many as the soon-to-be-No. 2 man in the Phillies rotation.<br /><br />So Shapiro got what he was looking for, right? Pitching, pitching and more pitching.<br /><br />Well, maybe not so much.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Knapp, the 18-year-old supposed center piece of the deal from the Tribe's standpoint, has been on the DL since July 11 with a "tired" shoulder. Arm troubles already - at age 18</span><a href="http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/"><br /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As for Carrasco, he was considered the No. 1 or No. 2 pitching prospect in the Phils' organization </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">before</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> this year began. But this season Carrasco is 6-9 with a 5.18 ERA at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He's struck out 112 and walked 38 in 114 2/3 innings. Quickly doing the math that's pretty much exactly one walk every three innings. Carrasco was a guy the Tribe was offered last year when they were peddling CC Sabathia, and they didn't bite. And given his numbers, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carrasco's s</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">tock has dropped around the MLB this season, except maybe in one front office where a salarly dump is the main objective.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The two position players in the deal - catcher Lou Marson and SS Jason Donald - leave me equally underwhelmed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The SS, Donald, is hitting .236 at Triple-A this year, and just got back from a stint of several weeks on the DL after knee surgery. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And Donald appears to be a utility infielder in the making.<br /><br />Keep in mind these words about Donald - quoted by MLB.com - are coming from Phillies assistant GM Chuck LaMar, the guy doing the selling:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">"He can be an everyday player. Like anyone with his skill set, he's got to prove it at every level."</span><br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Talk about your feint praise.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Like anyone with his skill set, he's got to prove it at every level." Translation: He doesn't have terrific tools but he's a grinder who may find his way to a big-league bench through hustle and determination. Can anyone say Jamey Carroll?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And what does the Tribe need with another SS prospect anyway? They seem to have a young middle-infield combo they are happy with right now in Luis Valbuena and Asdrubal Cabrera. I'm not sold on Valbuena - at least at the plate - but Wedgie seems to love him to death (which, of course, may not mean anything come October).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Then there's the catcher coming the Tribe's way - Lou Marson. His numbers for the season at Triple-A: .294 BA, .370 SLG, a pedestrian .751 OPS and 1 dinger. Exciting. Especially in an organization that already has about six viable catchers (soon to be one less).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You have to assume Marson's arrival will be followed by someone's departure. With the Dolans edict on offseason spending and Shapiro's conclusion that next year is already a super long-shot, that somebody will be Victor Martinez.<br /><br />Shapiro's take on Marson? Well he doesn't suck, or words to that effect:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">"We're really impressed with his receiving, game-calling and leadership skills. Combined with his bat, he could be at least an average everyday Major League catcher." </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(While he may or may not think it, I sure am glad my boss never called me "average.")<br /><br />What's not to get excited about there? We get an "average" catcher in this deal.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Blue Jays pulled out of talks with the Phillies because they couldn't get minor leaguer Kyle Drabek - the No. 1 MiLB pitching prospect in the Philadelphia system - or AJ Happ, already doing well for himself in the bigs. In fact, the Tribe didn't get any of four players the Jays were targeting.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Jays walked away.<br /><br />Maybe the Tribe should have done the same, unless of course the chief objective was to gut the payroll and at least get something for Lee.<br /><br />Earlier this week I did a post that picked up a quote from an annonymous MLB executive who said he expected the Tribe to cut its payroll down into the 50s next season - a mammoth jump from this season.<br /><br />A couple of you questioned whether the Dolans would ever think of cutting that much, and I have to admit I had my doubts too.<br /><br />But the quickness with which this trade was made, and the seemingly poor return, does make it appear that the chief objective was to get Lee's salary off of the books for next season. And that the same priority will prevail in the now-very-likely Victor Martinez deal.<br /><br />If the Dolans think Regressive Field is too empty now, let me use a phrase that we Cleveland fans have heard a lot from the guys who have run our sports teams over the years.<br /><br />Wait 'til next year.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oh, and just one other thing before I go.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Wasn't Andy Marte brought up to play every day in a do-or-die final audition with the Tribe? I know I must have just glossed over it, but I didn't see his name in today's lineup - only the second game played since his recall.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-57041307054812037802009-07-27T23:47:00.002-04:002009-07-28T00:03:21.191-04:00Bodies on the move, as the Tribe's future hangs in the balance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevarguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/canonicals-mark-shuttleworth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 173px;" src="http://www.thevarguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/canonicals-mark-shuttleworth.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wow.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Went away for a few days - down to Virginia to help my brother-in-law celebrate a milestone birthday.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And while I was away sampling pulled pork in like seven different varieties of barbecue sauce - and darting from car air conditioner, to home air conditioner, to hotel air conditioner - the Tribe was plenty busy on the field and off.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As I was packing my bags to go, so was Raffie Betancourt. And just about the time I was pulling into the driveway this evening - souvenir ham and peanuts in tow - Ryan Garko was being given an all-expense-paid trip Frisco.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To add to all that, the Tribe also announced the PTBNL in the Mark DeRosa trade of a few weeks ago.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As the dust settled, the Tribe found itself with two high-ceiling, class-A starting pitchers and two candidates for the back end of the bullpen for this year and beyond (including Chris Perez who is already with the club).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Meanwhile, while I was away from my satellite dish, the Tribe had its best weekend of the season on the field, winning three times in Seattle and putting up 31 runs in the process - and getting good pitching to boot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Perhaps the biggest news of all was the fact that Jeremy Sowers got past the fifth inning with his head still intact on Saturday night.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Sunday the Tribe announced they picked up reliever Jess Todd - 24 saves and 2.20 ERA at Memphis - from St. Louis to complete the DeRosa deal. Todd should come up (I would hope sooner than later) and get his feet wet on the big club some time this year. With Chris Perez getting his act together in his last five outings or so, it looks like the Tribe got a decent haul for DeRosa and has taken a first couple of steps to repair the bullpen for next year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">From the Rockies, in return for Betancourt, the Tribe got Class A right-handed starter Connor Graham. He's at Class A, so who who knows. But he's got 87 Ks in 80 innings this year. At 6'-7" though, he has control trouble - having walked one batter every two innings. He'll remain a starter this year, but with only a two-pitch arsenal he could be considered for a bullpen role as well. But not if the walks keep up at their current pace.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Which brings us to tonight's deal - Garko for Class A lefty starter Scott Barnes. Again, he's Class A so we've only got numbers to go on and a lot can go wrong as he moves up the ladder. But Barnes this season is 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As distasteful as it is to keep sending major leaguers away for guys who may never see Progressive Field, to this point I'm on board.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That is, I </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">was</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> on board as I made the obvious assumption that last-year's big name acquisition in the CC Sabathia deal - Matt LaPorta - would be heading to the coast to join the Tribe in Disneyland.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What's that you say? Andy Marte is going to be making that trip instead of LaPorta? Good one! Oh, you're not kidding.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">While I, in recent weeks, have advocated giving Marte one last shot with the Tribe in this lost season, 1B is not what I had in mind. I realize Jhonny Peralta has been smashing the ball during my four-day hiatus, but what is the point of playing Marte at first?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Makes you wonder if Shapiro and crew have seen something that makes them a lot less excited about LaPorta than they were a year ago at this time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This would seem to be the perfect time to bring him up, and it does beg the question - just what is the front office's hesitation with LaPorta?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Apparently while I was away, there were also rumors of a blockbuster deal that would send Victor Martinez </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">and</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Cliff Lee to the Dodgers, with names like Clayton Kershaw and James Loney tossed around as being among those players who would be coming this way.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Dodgers have flat out denied the rumors - started by FOX sports - and </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090726&content_id=6076776&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle">MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> reported Sunday that the fantasy-baseball-like deal appears to be just that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Still the </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2009/07/latest_on_halla.html">New York Post's Joel Sherman reports</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2009/07/latest_on_halla.html"> </a>the vultures continue to circle above the carcass that is the 2009 Cleveland Indians hoping to come away with Victor, or Lee - or both.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sherman quotes one MLB exec (unidentified) who says deals for Victor and Lee are likely - and will be forced by the Tribe's need to cut payroll nearly in half next season because of all the empty seats at the home ballpark.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">One club executive said he would bet "1,000 percent" that Cleveland moves Lee and Martinez because of financial reasons. This executive said that the economy has hurt the Indians as bad as any club and noted that the three players who make the most for the Indians next year are Travis Hafner ($11 million), Jake Westbrook ($11 million) and Kerry Wood ($10.5 million).</span> <p style="font-style: italic;"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> "That is $33 million for three players they can't trade and know are going to be part of their team next year when they will probably have to lower their payroll into the $50 million range," the executive said. "How do they get to that number with Lee ($8 million in 2010) and Martinez ($7 million) on the team, also?"</p></blockquote><p style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">If it is true that a payroll cut of that magnitude is in the offing for the Tribe next year, and with the fan base as bitter as it is already, questions about the viability of the franchise would be the next thing to swirl above the heads of the Tribe.</p>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-5629803918809207102009-07-19T15:50:00.005-04:002009-07-20T08:43:20.534-04:00Tribe spinning their wheels in a pointless second half<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Not sure what the exact quote was, but as the All-Star break was coming to an end Eric Wedge made the comment that he was looking for stability in his lineup in the second half.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">And then there's the one about the bishop, the priest and the rabbi...</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">In the four games since the break the Tribe has used the same lineup exactly - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">nunce</span>. Not at all. Four games, four different lineups.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Not that I expect that - at this point - a stable lineup would make any difference on a team that is playing their games with one eye on the calendar - waiting for it to flip to October. But the disconnect between Wedge's talk and his action is just another example of him no longer having a clue about what to do with this team. It's also the reason no one - fans or players - put any stock in anything he has to say anymore. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Of course there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for the decisions by the front office as to who is one the big league team anymore either.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The team has a youngster like Luis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Valbuena</span> up, but not playing everyday. What is the point there? </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">At the same time, the roster is full of retreads on the pitching staff, like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Tomo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ohka</span> and Winston <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Abreu</span>. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">I tuned in to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">pregame</span> show today just in time to hear the conclusion of an interview with with assistant GM Chris <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Antonetti</span>, who said the goal of the organization at this point is to win as many games as possible while developing the young talent on the roster.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Huh? </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">How do these two things go together. Either you put the young guys in and let them play in the hope that they get comfortable and get better - W's and L's be damned - or you put your best lineup out there day in and day out to rack up as many wins as you can.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">This team is so confused right now they can't even decide what is in their best interest for the rest of the season.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">GM Mark Shapiro indicated the team is in no hurry to bring up youngsters like Matt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">LaPorta</span> and Michael Brantley because: </span><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold" href="http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2009/07/terry_plutos_talkin_about_brow_9.html">"we are doing some very good development work with a lot of these guys" </a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">right where they are.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From where I sit though, why lose with Ryan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Garko</span>, Ben Francisco and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Tomo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Ohka</span>, when you could be spending the remainder of the season at least getting some sort of idea of what guys like Brantley, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">LaPorta</span> and even Hector <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Rondon</span> can contribute next year? (Unless you don't want the major league staff - which has proven itself inept at developing talent - anywhere near these guys.)</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Perhaps things will change at the end of the month, when we find out who, if anybody, the Tribe has sent along to greener pastures, and which youngsters they get in return. </span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">No one wants to watch the same old thing for the next two months. No one gives a damn anymore. The only way to make anything out of this wasted year is to see if there's any help down below that can be counted on for next year.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The current team is simply unwatchable and it serves no purpose for the Tribe to keep spinning its wheels.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Give us something to care about.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-37023333417524401962009-07-11T21:41:00.010-04:002009-07-12T18:14:01.294-04:00Battered and frustrated, Tribe heads into break with lots to do<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguickQFclGEGskgZS1HL-RjDFzXC9LxSN_RbgEo5LChMTgsWtnrm6ERjOZM0YzH5RQ1idffxKGTJmqdpnrerEpIgARFV2gxDLjo9bkSQ5k0tqYU7GIRqMuD5mxpR_v7_bbyc2a3Frmksk/s320/inured-wahoo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguickQFclGEGskgZS1HL-RjDFzXC9LxSN_RbgEo5LChMTgsWtnrm6ERjOZM0YzH5RQ1idffxKGTJmqdpnrerEpIgARFV2gxDLjo9bkSQ5k0tqYU7GIRqMuD5mxpR_v7_bbyc2a3Frmksk/s320/inured-wahoo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ahhh</span>, the All-Star break.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Where does the time go?</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Seems like only about six years ago the Tribe began the season (with a loss) in Texas, and now, here we are, already at the break.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />And if a team ever needed the break, this one does.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br />If a fan base ever needed a break, this one clearly does.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Many of the more casual fans have moved on to other pursuits, but if you are still reading a blog about the Tribe (or, say, writing one) you definitely need some time off.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Eric Wedge has gone off on his club - <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">uncharacteristically</span> so - about a half dozen times in public. Who knows how many times he's done so without reporters around.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The tension seems to be getting very much thicker among the players as well.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Take Friday night for instance.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cliff Lee, who, to his credit, has sucked up agonizing defeat after agonizing defeat this season, could barely hold back the anger he must be feeling about a team that seems to go to sleep on him nearly every time he pitches.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday, Lee pitched 7 innings, allowing 3 runs. The Tribe managed 1 run for him. After the game he didn't seem too happy, at least in this quote of him in a PD story.</span> <p style="font-weight: bold;"> </p><blockquote style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">"Print the same thing I said the last time. It's the same story."</blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee also was apparently irked by Ryan </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Garko's</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> failure to catch a line drive down the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">right field</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">line - good for two runs. Again according to the PD, Lee was asked if he thought the ball should have been caught:</span><p style="font-weight: bold;"></p><p style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></p><blockquote style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">"Do you? I don't pass judgment on that. I throw the pitches. Where it goes it goes. It's not up to me to move the outfielders or infielders. All I do is pitch. It did seem like it was in the air a long time. I don't know if they had him shaded the other way or what. You'd have to ask him or Wedgie." </blockquote><p></p><p style="font-weight: bold;"> Which is exactly what the press corps did.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Garko</span>, also showing he may be reaching a boiling point, took offense to the questioning:</p><p style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></p><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">"Sometimes I think because it's me, I don't make a play, and it becomes a big deal. If [Shin-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Soo</span>] <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Choo's</span> out there, it's a double and it doesn't become an issue. I got a good jump on the ball, went all out. I just didn't make the play."</blockquote><p></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">If I may interject here. It is true that a big deal is made out of it because it is you Ryan. And rightly so. Even the most casual fan can see you are not an outfielder and people criticize not you and your willingness to take on this new challenge but your manager who should also be able to see that a guy with your plodding foot speed should not be playing in the outfield at all, let alone one the size of the outfield in Detroit.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">After coming out of the game, Lee could be seen on the bench chatting (mutually muttering, apparently in agreement) with Victor Martinez, a teammate with whom Lee has had at least one public run in.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Friday the two seemed to be sharing their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">frustrations</span> about the way the team goes about its business.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Victor, in fact, seems to have been in a funk now for about a month - about the same amount of time his BA has been dropping like a rock.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">It's a chicken-egg thing going on.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Is Victor frustrated because of his deep and lengthy slump, or is his BA melting away because of his frustration with teammates who don't seem to be really into what they're doing?</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Purely a guess on my part, but from what I hear and read about Martinez, I'd say his offense has fallen victim to his frustration boiling over, and not the other way around.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Perhaps the best thing for the guys on the team is that they get away and not see each other's faces for three days.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER THE BREAK</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">After everyone has had a few days to simmer down, it will be time to get back to work.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">The first thing Wedge has to do is get the following notion out of his head:<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></p><blockquote style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">“We’re a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">long shot</span>. I understand that. But this is a crazy game. Stranger things have happened. Just look at some of the comebacks in September, let alone with more than two months to play.”</blockquote><p></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">He said that? He really did! Or at least the Beacon Journal's Indians blog <a href="http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/tribe_matters/2009/07/10/now-is-no-time-to-quit/">Tribe Matters</a> said that he said it.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">In another - more <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">coherent</span> - moment, Wedge talked about being vigilant about keeping on top of guys who just might find themselves, shall we say, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">motivationally</span> challenged in a meaningless second half.</p><p style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></p><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">“I think you have to have a heightened awareness of that in the situation we’re in."</blockquote><p></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Okay, so maybe he isn't delusional after all.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">The Tribe Matters post goes on to talk about how Wedge and the brain trust must continue to evaluate what they have in the remaining months, but then focuses on Ben Francisco and the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">aforementioned</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Garko</span>, saying Tribe officials don't seem to have made a final decision on them and their abilities.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Let me save you some time.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">You get offered anything more valuable than a bag of balls for Francisco prior to July 31, you take it. He's a backup outfielder. No more. No less.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Garko</span> has proven (despite his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">protestations</span> of being judged too harshly) over the past several years that he is a decent DH. Period. At least on a team that has several options at 1B. And as everyone who watches the team seems to agree (except for Wedgie), he is not an outfielder. There's no way for me to know this, but I get the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">feeling</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Garko</span> is fed up with being something less than one of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Wedgie's</span> favorites and, unless there's a change in managers at the end of the season (a likely scenario), he would just as soon be playing somewhere else. He should be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">accommodated</span>.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Shapiro should also be looking to dump a few others in the weeks ahead - starting with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Jhonny</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Peralta</span>.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Peralta</span> has turned out to be a decent 3B. He's much better there than at SS, even though he refuses to see it. As for his attitude, which has shown itself to be less than stellar in the past, he seems to be in an even worse place this season - the switch to 3B the likely culprit. The move was good enough for A-Rod and for Cal <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Ripken</span>, but not <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Jhonny</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Peralta</span>! </p><p style="font-weight: bold;">A perhaps more valuable piece for a contender would be Jamey Carroll, since he has a good attitude and some versatility. He's also used to performing off the bench. The Tribe might be able to get a decent prospect for him.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Contenders can always use another arm.</p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">You have to assume Carl Pavano will pull a Kevin Millwood. That is, take advantage of the Tribe's need for bargain-basement pitching options to re-establish his career, then take off for the biggest bucks after the season. So you might as well get something for him now.</span><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Raffie</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Betancourt</span> - and his option of nearly $5 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">mil</span> for next year - should be shopped if he proves himself healthy over the next few weeks.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Smith? Not sure if the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Mets</span> shipped us the right Joe Smith, but the one wearing the Tribe uniform currently would not be missed.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Which brings us to Kerry Wood. I am still of the notion that his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">ineffectiveness</span> this season is due to rust. The Tribe has no need for a closer this year, but we can hope and pray they will need one next season. Why go through the whole closer hunt again this off-season? I would keep him, but I think there's a decent chance he will be traded. The Yankees need a bridge to the 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">th</span>. They could care less about the $10 mil they'd have to pay him next year. And who knows when Mariano Rivera's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">wizardry</span> might give out. Wood could be an insurance policy if age catches up to Rivera next season.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">In the 'good luck with that one' department, Kelly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Shoppach</span> should be on the "get-rid-of" list. I doff my cap to those who clamored for the Tribe to sell high on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Shoppach</span> last winter. I thought he might be capable of being an everyday player, which would allow Victor to save his body at 1B. I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">thought</span> wrong. Unless <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">someone's</span> starting catcher goes down, I can't see anyone giving up much for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Shoppach</span>.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">There are three other names on the deadwood list - Winston <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Abreu</span>, Jose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Veres</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Tomo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Ohka</span>. Since they would bring nothing in return, they might as well be kept around until all the trading dust settles and the Tribe checks out its hand. If they have enough <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">MLB</span>-ready players to go around, they should dump the trio. If not, they're warm bodies to play out the string.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Two things the Tribe should NOT do before July 31 - trade Lee and Martinez. There has to be something to start with when putting together next year's team. Neither guy breaks the bank in their option year. They both seem to give a damn about winning and losing and trading them would mean the turnstiles getting even more rusty next season.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Which brings us to the guys who need to play in the second half.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">It does little good to have Luis <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">Valbuena</span> play every other day. If he's the choice at 2B, let him play. I still think Josh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Barfield</span> has talent, but his mind has been fried by the way he was used here, and I don't think he'll make any progress until he goes elsewhere.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Matt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">LaPorta</span> should be up and playing 1B everyday. Michael Brantley should be up, and playing <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">left field</span> - center when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">Sizemore</span> needs to rest is elbow.<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;">If <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">Peralta</span> is traded, what harm can come of trying Andy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">Marte</span> one more time? My guess is he is the classic 4-A player who lacks the confidence to make it over the hump, but there's no harm in giving him one last shot during this lost season.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">David Huff must pitch every five days. They need him anyway since the numbers at SP are very thin, but he has shown some flashes of ability as he as pitched more innings (his last outing <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">notwithstanding</span>).</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">In September, I'd give Hector <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">Rondon</span> about 5 or 6 starts to get his feet wet.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">And the Tribe must find a way to get Aaron <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">Laffey</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">Fausto</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">Carmona</span>, Jensen Lewis, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">Raffie</span> Perez and now (apparently) Chris Perez pitching back at their ability levels. I'm not all that optimistic about many of them, but the field staff has to try. And if they can't resurrect these guys, all the more reason to dump the whole staff come October.</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">Which brings me to the final two things Shapiro must do in the second half - scour the baseball world and come up with a short list to replace Wedge, and polish up his own resume just in case the ownership has the guts to start the management overhaul where it should start, at the top.</p><p> </p>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-29237316452894678742009-07-08T11:32:00.001-04:002009-07-08T12:40:27.007-04:00Tribe "Quotes of the Day"<strong>There's nothing really new to say about the Tribe after last night's disaster - which featured the usual middle-inning disappearance by Jeremy Sowers and a huge blowup by the Tribe's two newest relievers, Chris Perez and Winston Abreu.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>So I though I'd just have a little fun instead dissecting (alright, taking out of context) some of the quotes from various members of the team after the game and adding the thoughts that were going through my head as I read each one. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>From various articles in the Plain Dealer and on Cleveland.com:</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Tribe pitching coach Carl Willis on starting three straight, and very similar, lefties against the White Sox:</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">"We've got four lefties in the rotation. It's hard to break them up."</span></em> Can't argue with the math.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">"At the break, we'll put the rotation back together."</span></em> All the king's horses and all the king's men...</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">"I think a lot of teams would like to have four good left-handed starters."</span></em> I'm sure the Tribe would like four<em> good</em> ones as well.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Eric Wedge on his choice of poison in the sixth inning as Jeremy Sowers was melting down again.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><em>"Normally, in that situation, you give a guy a chance to get through it. But time and time again he's struggled to get through that so you go to the bullpen and that doesn't work either." </em></span><span style="color:#000000;">No comment necessary.</span></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">"We're going to have to see what our options are with Jeremy."</span></em> Firing squad anyone?</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Winston Abreu:</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">"I threw sliders to Ramirez and Konerko. I tried to throw them down, but they were up. That's baseball. Sometime you do good, sometimes you do bad."</span></em> Geeze, don't take it so hard Winston.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>From MLB.com</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>(Wedge)<span style="color:#cc0000;"> <em>"There's never been more opportunity than there is in that bullpen right now, and there's never been more opportunity in our starting rotation than there is right now."</em></span> Really?</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Aaron Laffey on being activated by the Tribe:</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">"I'm ready for a regular start - something that means something."</span></em> Join the club Aaron, and 'wait 'til next year.'</strong>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-10750996204214864312009-07-05T19:39:00.006-04:002009-07-05T20:41:05.876-04:00Wedged in for the foreseeable future<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/05/large_dugoutcc.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 159px;" src="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/05/large_dugoutcc.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Finished up my trip to the home front on the 4th with a visit to the MetroParks Zoo. The last time I was there, my cousin and I were pulling around our now-20-something kids in a red wagon.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I ran into a big flock of seagulls while I was there (non-residents). Apparently they too got bored with the Tribe and are seeking entertainment elsewhere.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I was pretty much incommunicado the whole way home today. Not much in the way of radio in the hinterlands of northern PA. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But when I got home I read the news that Tribe GM Mark Shapiro gave manager Eric Wedge and his coaching staff a public assurance that they will be around 'til the end of the season - at least.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As unwelcome as that might be for many of us, the news was hardly a surprise.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Repeating his oft-stated mantra of the past month or so, Shapiro said that basically everyone in the front office and on the field is responsible for the disaster that is the 2009 Cleveland Indians.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">No argument here. And as I've said many times before, we're well past the point where a change of managers might have sparked a rally by the club and a return to the race.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The only good that would come of releasing Wedge and his cronies at this point would be the knowledge that they won't be back next year. With today's announcement, that remains a possibility as Shapiro said the team is still in evaluation mode.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090705&content_id=5706272&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle">MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince </a><span style="font-weight: bold;">speculates that Wedge's future may be decided less by wins and losses the rest of the way than by his staff's ability to develop the Tribe's many youngsters so they are ready to contribute next year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If that is the case, I might be calling the realty company right about now if I were Wedge.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The list of current and former Tribesmen who either failed to progress or regressed under the tutelage of Wedge & Co. is long.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Here are just a few names;<br /><br />Fausto Carmona, Raffie Perez, Kelly Shoppach, Josh Barfield, Andy Marte, Jeremy Sowers, Jhonny Peralta, Ben Francisco, Franklin Gutierrez, Brandon Phillips, Jeremy Guthrie, yada yada....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On the plus side we can put Grady Sizemore, Shin-soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Can Wedge and the boys get Fausto straightened by the end of September? Will their new favorite, Luis Valbuena, be hitting with any consistency by the end of the year? Will Raffie Perez snap out of it? Will they EVER bring up Matt LaPorta, and if so will he produce under the watchful eye of Derek Shelton?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If that's the bar that has been set, I wish Wedgie and friends good luck.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On one other topic, the PD's Terry Pluto wrote today that he believes LaPorta's return to the majors is being delayed by the injury to Sizemore, saying the Tribe brass needs to keep Ben Francisco around to play CF when Sizemore's balky elbow won't allow him to play.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto further reports the Tribe wants to keep Chris Giminez around because they consider him a utility player of some value. Last time I looked, Gimenez and LaPorta play the same positions. Wouldn't LaPorta's presence make Giminez expendable? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But wouldn't LaPorta need a place to play everyday, you ask? Sure. He can play LF and Francisco can sit, except when needed to cover for Sizemore.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto was clear to point out that he was just reporting the Tribe's thinking, not necessarily his own. </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2009/07/matt_laporta_is_still_in_the_m.html">From reading his piece, you get the idea that Pluto might make a different decision.</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />I certainly would.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-87284747994470343292009-07-02T23:41:00.005-04:002009-07-03T00:37:05.311-04:00Another Tribe head scratcher<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://msn.foxsports.com/fe/img/MLB/Headshots/140x170/6812.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 170px;" src="http://msn.foxsports.com/fe/img/MLB/Headshots/140x170/6812.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">I want to write something positive. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I desperately do. You have to take my word for it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But again tonight I find myself with nothing good to say about the latest Tribe development - minimal though it may be.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Tribe added another warm body to its bullpen today. A 32-year-old righty who doesn't even qualify at the level of journeyman, unless the journey through the minor leagues counts.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=275700">Winston Abreu,</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> the guy picked up from Tampa Bay for 25-year-old reliever John Meloan, has pitched all of 42 innings at the big-league level, for three teams. He spent last season in Japan before getting a shot in spring training with the Rays. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Abreu has spent most of the season in AAA Durham, posting a 3-0 record with 10 saves and a 1.41 earned-run average, in 23 games. Triple-A batters hit .128 against him and he struck out 49 in 32 innings.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That performance prompted a call up by the Rays nearly three weeks ago, and in that time he managed 2 outings before being DFA'd. His lifetime ERA is 6.43 in just 42 MLB innings, with three different teams - and again he's 32 years old.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sounds like he'll fit right in here in Cleveland.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In return, the Tribe sent to Tampa Meloan - a guy who created at least a mild stir around the Tribe corner of the blogosphere when he was acquired in the Casey Blake trade last year.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Granted, Meloan's numbers at AAA Columbus this season have been shockingly bad - a 5.52 ERA in 42 innings - but he is 7 years younger than Abreu, who - at his advanced age - has yet to establish himself in the bigs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I'm not saying this trade will bring down the already-teetering organization. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The deal, like the team itself, prompts little more than a yawn.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But it's clear Abreu has shown he is not a major leaguer; his 6.43 lifetime ERA, and minimal big-league service time is all you need to know.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maybe Meloan will never amount to anything either. But he is 25 and at least has a little while longer to figure things out before he can be declared a bust.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I know I've been advocating change. But trading a 25-year-old, ineffective reliever for a 32-year-old ineffective reliever is not exactly the change I was looking for.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Smells like a move for the sake of making a move to me.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-75970004131515444792009-07-02T13:32:00.001-04:002009-07-02T23:23:00.186-04:00Traumatized? Or just bored to death?<span style="font-weight: bold;">This year's summer trip back to Cleveland has been a nostalgic one for me to say the least.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It started with a wake for a boyhood friend of mine, which reunited me with </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">neighborhood</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> "kids" I hadn't seen in 30 years or more.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Then there was last night's trip to Progressive Field, which transported me back to the days of Municipal Stadium.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The crowd was minuscule, mostly </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">disinterested</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and definitely disgusted with a home team that seemed equally </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">disinterested</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and mostly inept. I felt I was back in the late '70s.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">announcement</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> of the starting lineup for the Tribe was greeted by a response that could only generously be called a smattering of cheers. The place was dead from start to finish of another get-it-over-with performance from the home team.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Even John Adams could barely gather enough enthusiasm to whack his big bass drum more than three or four times during the game.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Tribe went down to a methodical defeat before the sun had even set completely</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4293864">In an ESPN.com article by Jerry Crasnick, </a><span style="font-weight: bold;">posted two days ago, Tribe GM Mark Shapiro says Tribe fans are "traumatized," which, from the context of the article, I took to mean shell-shocked from all of </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">the disappointment</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> we've taken in the past from all of our home teams.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But the current mood of Tribe fans, I think, has little to do with the town's checkered sports past.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tribe fans are not "traumatized." Some are angry that a team that was one win from the World Series two years ago has devolved into an unwatchable mess. Others are saddened by the same phenomenon.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A number of other fans are turned off by seven years of the same old same old, with the same faces in charge and very little to be happy about during that time period and a </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">questionable future staring them in the face.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Others - and I think this applies to a large chunk of the fan base - are just plain bored.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The result is the same night after night. An offense that has recently taken to going through the motions, knowing full well that at some point - be it in the early innings by a starter or the latter innings at the hands of the bullpen - the pitching will collapse and the team will notch another "L"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">CYA</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> fashion, the front office members quoted in the ESPN article attempted to dial down markedly fan </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">expectations</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Shapiro: "I truly believe in my heart that we're going to be back in the playoffs again in the next three years."</blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Three years? Aren't we in year seven of a five-year rebuilding program already?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And from </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">assistant</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> GM Chris </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Antonetti</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, these thoughts about the success of 2007 and where the team stands today:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">"Any time you have the opportunity to advance in the postseason and get that close, there's some level of disappointment when you don't reach your ultimate goal of winning the World Series. We valued that at the time. We understood that for teams in our market size, with our resources, it's exceptionally challenging to repeat and sustain that level of success."</blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Which means what? Don't expect much any time too soon? He makes it sound as though smoke and mirrors are a necessary set of tools for a team like the Tribe to do anything more than make an accidental appearance, every so often, in the playoffs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">No wonder the team is drawing so poorly smack dab in the middle of the summer. There seems to be a general lack of hope, which has led to a general lack of interest.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There are some things the team can do to spike interest enough to at least keep the die-</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">hards</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> from defecting. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A new manager would be a start, but it has become abundantly clear that that won't happen - at least until the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">offseason</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Right now a new appointee would likely be an interim choice to finish the season anyway.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But there are some other things the team can do in the area of player personnel. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As much as I like the way Jamey Carroll plays ball, the Tribe needs to get Luis </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Valbuena</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> in the lineup every day to see what he has and to allow him to get needed experience.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Then there's Matt </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">LaPorta</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Why is he not up with the big club and in the lineup every day? Put him either at 1B or </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">LF</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. With the trade of Mark De Rosa the Tribe has a more glaring need in </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">LF than at 1B right now, but I think LaPorta</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> is more likely to be a 1B long-term so I would play him there.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Which brings us to Michael Brantley - he of the 30 </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">SBs</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> in 33 tries at Columbus. Why not let the fans have a glimpse of him rather than more than they ever want to see of Ben Francisco?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There are other moves that could be made, and perhaps will be made, if some of the dead wood can be cleaned out before the trading deadline. Presumably some young talent will be headed in our direction if trades are made.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But from what I saw tonight - the deadest I've ever seen Jacobs/Progressive Field - some kind of shakeup is in order or the fan base will tune out the Tribe altogether before too long.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-70784582363733698762009-07-01T00:55:00.003-04:002009-07-01T00:57:44.335-04:00The Tribe - dead on my arrival<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090630/capt.591521dbeb804edcae8a2629c8a72755.white_sox_indians_baseball_ohmd105.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=316&hc=351&q=70&sig=bdQ5t2189Aa4w2kddamFpA--"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 200px;" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090630/capt.591521dbeb804edcae8a2629c8a72755.white_sox_indians_baseball_ohmd105.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=316&hc=351&q=70&sig=bdQ5t2189Aa4w2kddamFpA--" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Made the long trek Tuesday from suburban New York to Cleveland for the annual summer visit with the family.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As often seems to be the case, the Tribe is pretty much at its worst as I come to town to make my once-a-year trip to the local ballpark.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That's scheduled for tonight, and with any luck the rain will be a bit more definitive tonight than it was Tuesday and I can be spared an in-person glimpse of this lifeless, directionless bunch.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other than the final score, there is no statistical proof to back this up, and three games - I will admit - is a small sample. But is it a coincidence that the Tribe has played three of its worst games of the year since Saturday night, when the team either a) threw up the white flag, or b) (to paraphrase Kelly Shoppach) made a trade to better the team right now, unlike last year when the trades were made with the future in mind?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Three games. Three lopsided losses.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday 8-1 to Cincinnati; Monday 6-3 to the White Sox (6-zip headed into the bottom of the ninth); Tuesday 11 -4 in a game mercifully ended early by the second round of thunderstorms to move through downtown Cleveland during the game.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As I said, beyond the final score, there is no statistical evidence to show that the team is playing this way because the DeRosa trade has taken what little starch they had out of them. It could just be a case of bad pitching making things too ugly too early.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But you can tell by watching the games that the Tribe showed a noticeable degree of listlessness in the past three games. Except for Monday's too-little-too-late ninth-inning rally, the team has shown no life whatsoever over the last three games.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To this point, the defense of Eric Wedge has been that the team is still playing for him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Again, it's just three games. But it bears watching over the next week or so whether the lifeless, go-through-the-motions approach continues.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If it does, what then is the excuse for keeping the manager around?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(If the game gets played tonight, look for me in the bleachers. Myself, my brother, two of his sons and my cousin will be the five people sitting out there. Make it six with John Adams - seven if you count the drum.</span>)Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-35522045223486992192009-06-28T20:39:00.006-04:002009-06-28T20:57:23.476-04:00The Tribe on a treadmill<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2DBeoH6JRT_4fPzuyBvTuIW2Fcqa27QqC8Qmw89s0sFaCVyMzKMgWWgJGlkGNax1FAcumHW9L_b21BQi9kzGGmgN1AJAaO-7O5T7_fBldbEJUNBJKiVPct0HGz4-3LmG0VCYol9ny7Y/s320/derosa.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2DBeoH6JRT_4fPzuyBvTuIW2Fcqa27QqC8Qmw89s0sFaCVyMzKMgWWgJGlkGNax1FAcumHW9L_b21BQi9kzGGmgN1AJAaO-7O5T7_fBldbEJUNBJKiVPct0HGz4-3LmG0VCYol9ny7Y/s320/derosa.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><b style="">Well, ‘that time of year again’ has come a few weeks early this year.<o:p></o:p></b> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">It’s the time of year when we as Tribe fans are supposed to get all excited because we ‘stole' one of somebody’s best prospects.<br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">And we’ll probably be doing it again sometime over the next five weeks.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">And isn’t it wonderful that we now have this great big bundle of potential under our control for X number of years minus 1, the ‘minus 1’ being this soon-to-be superstar’s ‘walk’ year.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Or since he’s with the Tribe, his ‘trade’ year, since the team knows if they don’t deal him when that time comes he is sure to walk a few months later.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">At the right time, we can always deal him for a couple of more big bundles of potential that will be under the team’s control for x -1 years, until they too get peddled in yet another use-it-or-lose-it trade.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Anybody think this is like watching your nutcase dog chasing his tail?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Mark DeRosa was around long enough to impress as a hitter, a hustler and a good teammate, though his “super utility” tag seems to me to be a bit misleading since he was underwhelming at four different positions in the field for the Tribe.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">His bat and his presence will be missed, though his trade to St. Louis doesn’t have any emotional sting, unlike many similar trades in the past, because DeRosa wasn’t around here long enough for the fans to get attached to him. <o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The only emotion it stirs with me is anger, and not because I think it was a bad move.<span style=""> </span>I am just sick and tired of being on the “prospect” end of these deals year after year after year.<span style=""> </span>Just once I’d like to be sending a few of these ‘can’t miss’ guys to some other team<span style=""> </span>for a sure-thing veteran to help the team in its quest for the post season.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The last trade we made that even resembled that was the Kenny Lofton deal two years ago. And he was a difference-maker, right up until one member of the current brain trust held him up at 3B.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Prior to that I can’t remember when the Tribe was on the seasoned-veteran end of one of those deals, but it goes all the way back to when Charlie Manual – that old fart baseball guy who just couldn’t get into the sabermetrics thing (but did manage to win a World Series last year) - was still managing the team.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Looking at the DeRosa deal at face value it’s hard to argue with.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">DeRosa is free to sign anywhere this winter, and even if the Tribe were to be inclined to spend some money this offseason I doubt it will be on a bat. It certainly won’t be on a super utility guy with some pretty good pop and a clanky glove. DeRosa would be nice to have around, but any money the Dolan’s pony up this year will be sorely needed to fix the mess on that bump in the middle of the infield.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Chris Perez is the first “off-season” move made to fix that ugly situation.<span style=""> </span>He has struck out 30 hitters in 23.2 innings this year, but he’s also walked 15, which is somewhere between 4 and 5 per 9 innings. <span style=""> </span>His numbers from last season pretty much follow the same pattern.<span style=""> </span>He throws in the mid-90s, but his strikeouts are said to come on his wicked slider.<span style=""> </span>But, like so many Tribe players, there’s not much of a track record and since even those pitchers on this team who had decent resumes have all regressed alarmingly, I’ll wait more than a little while before I get excited.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">As I look over the Tribe’s roster, it’s hard to say who may be the next Tribesman to head out of town for a piece of promise.<span style=""> </span>Only Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez fit the classic mould of a difference-maker being sent packing for prospects.<span style=""> </span>But they are not in their walk years until next year and to trade either one of them would send the message that the situation is too hopeless right now to even consider next season to be a possible success. It would kill off what little flicker of fan interest that remains.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">There’s talk that the Tribe would trade Lee if they are overwhelmed, and the package includes a young, major-league-ready, potentially top-of-the-rotation starter. But why would anybody trade a guy like that for Lee? And even if somebody does, that word “potential” is still part of the above description.<span style=""> </span>Once again the Tribe would be chasing two birds in the bush for the one they have in hand.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">As far as Victor goes, I think the Indians brain trust would be killing off baseball interest altogether in Cleveland if they trade Martinez, even next year. Every team has to have at least one guy that the city can rally around – to call their own.<span style=""> </span>Victor may be the guy the Dolan’s will have to pony up for if they want to keep the flicker of interest in the Tribe burning.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">The rest of the veterans, I would presume, are not guys that there is a clamor for.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Somebody might bite on Ryan Garko. But please don’t offer him around as a part-time left fielder. It’s stretching it a little bit to say he’s a first baseman.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Peralta seems to have some value as a 3B, and no doubt Eric Wedge would like to see him gone. But how much would you get for him based on his performance this season and his slacker reputation?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Travis Hafner is damaged goods with a big contract. He is untradeable.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Jamey Carroll would seem to be about the most appealing bit of trade bait on the club right now.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Except for Lee, there’s almost no one who is of any interest on the pitching staff.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Any trade of Kerry Wood would fit into the same giving-up-on-next-year category that Lee and Martinez are in. I continue to believe that Woods’ problems would disappear if he were pitching on a team that presented him with a save situation more than once every 10 days or so.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">So we will spend the next five weeks combing the Internet for trade rumors, hoping for the Tribe to find several diamonds in the rough.<span style=""> </span>But I really wonder how effective we can expect that strategy to be.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">In the ‘90s, the Tribe grew enough of its own players (Thome, Nagy, Ramirez, Belle to name a few) that the addition of prospects from other teams (Mesa, S. Alomar, Omar, Lofton) were enough to provide a team full of talent for several years. So the misses on people like Reggie Jefferson and Glenallen Hill were less consequential.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">With the farm system producing next to nothing on its own over the past several years, every trade for prospects has to hit pay dirt for the team to have enough talent to win.<span style=""> </span>While Grady Sizemore, Lee, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-soo Choo can be considered successes, there’s not enough talent coming from within to overcome the trade market misses (Jesse Barfield, Andy Marte, and Anthony Reyes to name a recent few).<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">With such a failure to develop home grown talent, or to properly develop that talent, pretty much every player acquired in these veteran-for-prospects deals has to pan out for there to be enough talent in the organization to field a playoff-potential team.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Without a highly extraordinary success rate on these deals, they amount to little more than the aforementioned tail chasing.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">So excuse me if I fail to get to overly excited about another selloff of veterans in the next few weeks.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">It’s just that time of year in what has become just another part of the schedule for the Tribe.<o:p></o:p></b></p> <b style="">Wake me when enough of these prospects come together at the same time, with something important on the line and live up to their acquisition-day billing.</b>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-62421502975264543322009-06-23T22:25:00.001-04:002009-06-24T08:17:09.728-04:00The questions continue to mount for the Tribe and the Dolans<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Let's start with the positives - things it was good to see tonight.</span><br /><br /><ul style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><li>It was simply good to see the Tribe win a game again.</li><li>It was great to see Grady Sizemore back in the lineup again, chasing balls down in CF and coming out of the box hitting the ball. (Added bonus - no Ben Francisco)<br /></li><li>It was a huge relief to see someone other than Cliff Lee throw a good ballgame. David Huff was outstanding - finally pitching the way you had an inkling he could based on his work in the minors last season. He has, in fact, shown steady improvement in recent weeks, and that's a good thing for sure.<br /></li><li>It was good to see Jhonny Peralta hit the ball - including an opposite field dinger. Too bad he has to be benched for two or three games every few weeks to remind him to put max effort into what he's doing and to play smart.</li><li>It was good to see Josh Barfield is still alive, since we never see him on the field.</li><li>And it was nice to see Pirates LF Nyjer Morgan wear his socks the way they are supposed to be worn - stirrups showing and white sanitaries underneath.<br /></li></ul><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Now on to the unpleasantness.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Despite looking like a real ball team tonight (at least for 8 innings), the Indians remain too many games under .500 and too many games out of first for the rest of this season to provide much excitement.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">That has Tribe ownership concerned, especially since the Tribe has drawn just three-quarters of a million fans so far this year with little reason for throngs of fans to show up in the second half of the season.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">And so the Dolans will meet with Mark Shapiro in the near future to discuss changes that will give Tribe fans a reason to tune in and turn out in July, August and September.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">At the top of the list is the status of manager Eric Wedge. It's quite possible the Dolans have seen enough of Wedge, or - possibly - that they feel the fans have seen enough. And so Wedge may become the sacrificial lamb any time now. If it's going to happen, I'd look for it during the All-Star break.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">We've been through this before at this site. Wedge has had seven years to show he can lead this team to consistent success. He's fallen short of that mark. I wouldn't shed any tears if Wedge is shown the door, but as I said in my previous post, from a baseball standpoint it would be a pointless move at this juncture. It would have made more sense a month ago - before this team was dead and buried.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">If he were to be fired, Wedge would likely be replaced with an interim, and probably somebody from the organization - an organization sorely in need of new blood and new ideas. If it were me, at this point I'd keep Wedge around and go in a completely different direction over the winter. No Money Ball wunderkinds need apply.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">If Wedge gets the ax, the only purpose it will serve at this point is to placate the fans in the hope that they'll show up in the second half.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">I'm certain that Shapiro and the Dolans will also talk about trades that can be made. It's obvious at this point that the Tribe will be sellers as the trading deadline approaches.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">First on my list would be Peralta. Although he looks decent over at 3B, in general his act has worn thin here. A guy who has been around as long as he has needs to be more consistent, and, frankly, he needs to care about what he does a bit more. Let's face it. He dogs it, or is at least mentally absent, way too often.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">While I really like the guy, I see the sense in trading Mark DeRosa. It would be nice to have him around for next year, but he's not signed and they might as well get something for him. (It would be best if he were to be traded to an AL team so my AL-only fantasy team won't take a hit.)</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">If Carl Pavano proves to be healthy and effective after skipping a start, he will likely be gone too and I guess I feel the same way about him as DeRosa. He'd be nice to have but without any guarantees for next season, you might as well trade him.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Kelly Shoppach? If anyone wants the K machine I'd send him packing for sure.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Ryan Garko? If you're not going to use him (even though he tends to drive in runs) you might as well deal him as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">As far as Lee and Victor Martinez go - trading either would signal a complete capitulation not only for this year, but next season as well. They should not be going anywhere.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">One thing the Dolans and Shapiro will likely not talk about is Shapiro's future as the top baseball man in this organization. But it is Shapiro who built this wreck of a club, through poor drafts questionable free-agent signings and - to give credit - an ability to pick off some of the prospects that other teams have found and developed without giving up a lot in return.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">No, the Dolans won't be discussing that topic with Shapiro when they meet in the next few days. But it should be something the Dolans discuss around the Thanksgiving table (if not sooner) when this disaster of a season has long been in the books.</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">(By the way, I started writing this piece with the Tribe up 5-zip and Wedge adroitly going to his bullpen to start the top of the ninth. As I typed the paragraph preceding this one, the bases were loaded, the score was 5-4, Kerry Wood was looking like Rick Vaughn, and just by chance a lazy fly ball ended up in the glove of Mark DeRosa to end the ballgame.)</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-39758483951899536562009-06-21T18:44:00.006-04:002009-06-21T20:20:01.553-04:00As another Tribe season crashes and burns, change at the top should be on the agenda<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2008/04/17/JRZ95gsp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 235px;" src="http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2008/04/17/JRZ95gsp.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten-</span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">seat-belt</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> signs as Cleveland Indians Flight 2009 is in its final descent into oblivion. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Another season dead well before its time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In one of the most depressing weeks in the history of the franchise, the Tribe just completed an 0-6 week that has sealed their fate for this season and quite possibly the fate of their manager as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anyone who has been paying any attention at all knows the bullpen found every conceivable way to lose a ballgame this week, even relying on their leader, closer Kerry Wood, when the rest of the bullpen just couldn't muster up a loss on their own on Friday and Saturday.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The week also saw the defense come apart in key spots, the manager and his new 3B (or is he a SS? - depends on who you ask) sniping at each other, stand-up players like Victor Martinez and Kerry Wood blowing off the media (perhaps so stunned at the magnitude of the awfulness of this week that they just couldn't bring themselves to talk about it) and mind-boggling decisions by the manager that smack of desperation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The week ended with one of the most lifeless performances this team has turned in this year, and that's saying something.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">At this point it appears the manager has lost his patience, his ability to think clearly and make sound decisions and his ability to rally the troops one more time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And it sounds as if he may be about to lose his job.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here's an excerpt from </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2009/06/decision_time_as_cleveland_ind.html">a story posted Sunday afternoon on Cleveland.com</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">, written by the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">PD's</span> Paul <span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Hoynes</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">When asked if he was considering a change, (Tribe owner) Larry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Dolan</span> said, "I'll talk to you later." When asked if that meant a change was being considered, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Dolan</span> said, "I just don't want to lie to you."<br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The argument can be made that Wedge's players - at least those who don't throw the baseball for a living - are still playing for their manager. They held a number of leads this week, only to see the pitching staff - primarily the bullpen - flush their work down the toilet.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There is some truth to that. The "grinders" among the position players still seem to be giving it their all most days. But for a lot of the other guys, the effort seems rote, the concentration lacking and the fundamentals out the window.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That falls to the manager.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oddball lineups seemingly picked from a hat don't help much. Not one player on this team comes to the ballpark on any given day knowing what position he will be playing, or if he'll be playing and where he'll bat in the batting order. That type of uncertainty weighs on a player's mind and makes consistent, day-after-day performance much more difficult.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That also falls to the manager.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The starting pitchers never seem to make it out of the fifth inning and the bullpen is lethal in the eighth. That you can't lay at the manager's feet because every button he pushes blows up in his face. That falls to the general manager and his staff, and their seeming inability to judge pitching talent and find people who can get outs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blind loyalty to the manager falls at the feet of the GM as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It seems as though Eric Wedge is about to walk the plank. The ownership has to do something to make it look like they're trying with a half-season's worth of tickets still to sell.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A few weeks ago, when there was still a chance to save this season I was all for giving Wedge the boot. The stats say it doesn't usually work, but managerial changes do sometime spark a change of fortunes. There was nothing to lose in trying.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Now it won't make any difference either way, and I could care less whether it's Wedge or one of the other organization </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">kool</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">-aid drinkers who runs the team the rest of the year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But once this season finally draws to a close, the ownership of this team must deal not only with the question of who will manage things on the field long-term, but also - and more importantly - who should be the steward of this organization.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I for one vote for a new voice at the top. One with a real baseball pedigree, doesn't wear khakis and loafers and is not so married to the Money Ball principles that have led this team nowhere for nearly a decade now. </span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-70363927012962896712009-06-15T23:17:00.002-04:002009-06-16T08:33:12.588-04:00A Tale of Two Ballgames<strong>It was the best of games and then the worst of games.<br /><br />With apologies to Charles Dickens, that pretty much sums up the Tribe's two-night stand on ESPN.<br /><br />Sunday night, of course, Cliff Lee and Chris Carpenter were slinging.<br /><br />Lee, as we all know, was throwing a no-hitter into the 8th inning. Carpenter, after a slow start in the first inning, pretty much kept pace with Lee pitch by pitch. The fielding was crisp. The time of the game was 1:58. I could have sworn I was watching Drysdale Vs. Gibson in the mid-60s.<br /><br />Then, of course, there was tonight's "slugfest."<br /><br />It was much more a walk-and-hit-by-pitch-fest, as the two teams scored 26 runs on 26 hits. That's either some pretty efficient hitting or the pitchers were letting a lot of guys on base gratis. Perhaps it was a bit of both<br /><br />There were 12 walks, one HBP and four wild pitches.<br /><br />One Brewer batter - I can't recall who off the top of my head - was so desperate to see a pitch he could hit that he swung and missed on a pitch that was so wide it eluded the catcher and went all the way to the backstop.<br /><br />There were times during the 3-hour 56-minute crapathon, particularly when Greg Aquino and Luis Vizcaino were on the mound, when watching this game felt like undergoing root canal and a colonoscopy simultaneously - with no anesthesia administered at either end.<br /><br />Raffie Perez, shell-shocked by his first-pitch, game-losing grand slam to Prince Fielder, was so bad for the rest of the inning he looked like he had never stepped on an ant hill, let alone a pitcher's mound, before.<br /><br />Perez has quickly regressed to his pre-demotion self. And Indians fans, that aint good.<br /><br />The bullpen was so horrible - 4 innings, 8 runs, 6 walks - it almost makes you forget that our No. 2 starter Carl Pavano was awful for the second straight time.<br /><br />The Indians, have won 12 of their last 21, and for this team that qualifies as a making a run.<br /><br />But these last two games were a microcosm of the Tribe's season to date (except for the 5 game losing streak to open the season). One step forward, two steps back.<br /><br />Luckily, that seems to be enough to keep them in the Central Division race.</strong>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-27403960720209534422009-06-10T22:08:00.000-04:002009-06-10T22:09:46.235-04:00Back in the basement<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090611/capt.fde4fd4bbf48417baa50fb64efbd3d0b.royals_indians_baseball_ohtd102.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=92&yc=1&wc=228&hc=253&q=70&sig=FyivMEl9nyIYiL45jv.Vhg--"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 199px;" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090611/capt.fde4fd4bbf48417baa50fb64efbd3d0b.royals_indians_baseball_ohtd102.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=92&yc=1&wc=228&hc=253&q=70&sig=FyivMEl9nyIYiL45jv.Vhg--" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Well the flirtation with fourth place didn't last too long.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Tribe has fallen back into the Central Division basement - with a huge THUD!</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The somewhat re-energized team we've seen over the past few weeks was not in evidence at Progressive Field this evening.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />In fact all the facets of the horrible first several weeks of the season were on display tonight.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Horrible starting pitching - though Carl Pavano seemed to just have one of those nights. Cliff Lee was off a bit last night too, so let's just hope this is not the start of a new and disturbing trend and just a bad trip through the rotation instead.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />There was some bad defense (though Shin-Soo Choo redeemed himself for butchering a line drive to right by eventually throwing out the hitter of that line drive (Tony Pena) at the plate a couple of batters later.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />And the strikeouts - Oh the strikeouts!</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eight of them through the first four innings by Gil Meche. And 12 by game's end.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Really, not much to be happy about tonight. In fact, I can't think of a single thing.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">A few other thoughts...</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />It has been well-noted that Jhonny Peralta was benched for a couple of games.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">But has anyone noticed that Ryan Garko seems to have disappeared. He hasn't been in the lineup for the past four games. Meantime Kelly Shoppach has been seeing more time behind the plate. With a .207 BA, and 43 Ks in 111 at-bats heading into tonight, you have to ask why.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Call me suspicious, but with the Tribe's recent history of hiding injuries, one wonders if Shoppach hasn't been playing more because Victor Martinez is still suffering from his meeting a while back with a nasty foul ball off the knee.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The other explanation is Shoppach is playing on merit. Can that really be it?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anybody like what they see of Luis Valbuena at SS?<br /><br />Boy I sure do.<br /><br />If the hitting comes along for Valbuena it looks that - along with Asdrubal Cabrera - the Tribe will have the middle of the infield plugged pretty well for the next few years.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Well, lets just hope tonight's return of the April Indians is short-lived and the Tribe takes the series finale - and moves back out of the basement tomorrow.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-70385028396892323092009-06-06T14:10:00.009-04:002009-06-06T15:41:20.953-04:00Is it time to start thinking about punting on this season?<span style="font-weight: bold;">I won't be able to watch the Tribe on TV today. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">FOX monopolizes Saturday afternoon TV rights and, even though I do believe the Tribe-Sox game might be on where you live, I am forced to watch the Yanks, Mets or Red Sox most Saturday afternoons. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When it's not one of those three, it's the Phillies - as is the case today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I guess I won't complain too much though about the FOX baseball package, since the people who run FOX are the very same people - as of a year-and-a-half ago - who pay my salary.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So I thought I'd take a few minutes just to jot down some things going through my head about the Tribe, and the viability of the team for the rest of this season.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We've heard the trade rumors involving Mark DeRosa, and even some hopefully far-fetched ones about Victor Martinez.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The DeRosa rumors began shortly after he was moved from 3B but well before Asdrubal Cabrera was put on the DL, possibly for up to six weeks. Jamey Carroll could fill in at 3B while Cabrera is out and Jhonny Peralta is forced back to SS, but Carroll now has a finger issue that he may or may not be able to play through.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DeRosa has proven not to be the 3B the Tribe would like him to be, although he has been a presence - especially recently - in the lineup.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But he is expendable and I can see him being traded. The question is whether he'd be traded for someone that would help right now or down the road.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There is some question about which would be wiser, as the team stands 9 games under .500 but also only 6 games out of first.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To this point, the team seems to be making moves for the benefit of the current season, trying every imaginable warm body to repair the bullpen - even to the point of changing starters to relievers in the minors with the thought they might be needed later by the big club.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The most notable of those changing roles was Hector Rondon, down at AA Akron. But he was quickly moved back into rotation and left his most-recent start with a sore bicep.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Still, the moves made a couple of weeks ago imply the Tribe is looking to do something this year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That could be changing though with the injuries to Asdrubal Cabrera, Grady Sizemore and Rafael Betancourt, who had become the most reliable guy in the pen in the past month or so.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/if_you_want_to_you_can_feed_on.html">on his blog CastroTurf</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/if_you_want_to_you_can_feed_on.html">,</a> reported last night there are some hints the Tribe may be thinking about throwing in the towel for this year:</span><br /><br /><br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">The Indians are, as you might imagine, bracing themselves for the possibility that this season simply isn't going anywhere. As much as the Indians have been through this season, they entered tonight a reasonable seven games back in the AL Central. But when you factor in the injuries, the inconsistencies and the general snake-bitten nature of this club, it's hard to imagine a comeback.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">In talking with general manager Mark Shapiro today, I got the sense that he's coming around to that concept, too. He didn't repeat the mantra that the Indians are "one good week away" from being back in contention. Rather, with regard to the still-developing trade market, he said the Tribe is "on the sideline" right now, "keeping a pulse" of what's going on.</span><br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Don't know about you, but I'm having trouble deciding which way to go on this one.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The team was playing well below expectations before the epidemic of injuries hit, and the list of the injured is sooooo long. So you have to wonder if there's any reason to entertain hopes for this year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But then there's that number - 6. As in 6 games out. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And there's the fact that Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis and Jake Westbrook will be back before too long to fill the many holes in the rotation. Again, I don't know about Westbrook, or even Lewis, but I expect Laffey to provide much-needed help. And an arm could be added in a deal for DeRosa (and probably others if the arm is attached to a pitcher of decent value).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Then again, I'm writing this on a day after a win, and I'm always more optimistic on such days.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I suppose if I were in charge, I'd make my moves as if the team were still alive this year, especially after being forced to abort last season. When the time comes to punt, it will - or should - be more obvious than it is right now.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And if/when the time comes for a sell-off, Victor Martinez is </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">not </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">someone who should be added to the Buyer's Guide to Available Cleveland Indians.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Unlike CC last season, Victor is not in his walk year until next season. Selling him off now would be admitting to the paying public that the team management has little hope not only for the rest of this season, but also the next.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That kind of damage to the gate is not a risk the team should or would take - one would think.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-3535909351290476242009-06-04T21:30:00.002-04:002009-06-04T22:22:23.124-04:00Time to farm out Fausto<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.ohio.com/images/ed_01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 348px;" src="http://media.ohio.com/images/ed_01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">He started the season as the No. 2 starter.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">He was supposed to be the Tribe's next ace.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But so far this season Fausto Carmona has proven that 2007, not 2008, was the fluke.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And today it has become more than evident that Fausto needs to go back to Columbus to figure out just what the heck has gone wrong for him since his storybook season in 2007.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carmona got blasted again today, allowing 7 runs in just two innings - including two three-run jacks to Jason Kubel - in the Tribe's 11-3 loss to the Twins.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The home run ball is not his only problem.<br /><br />Carmona walked three batters in just two innings, while striking out only one. For the season he's walked 41 and struck out just 36.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In his last three starts he's pitched a total of 7 1/3 innings, allowing 19 runs in the process.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">His ERA for the season sits at 7.42 and he has allowed 69 hits in 60 2/3 innings. Add in the 41 walks and that works out to 110 base runners allowed in those 60 2/3, for a WHIP of nearly 2.00.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All the numbers aside, Fausto is just plain lost.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">He hasn't a clue.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And it is time to send him to Columbus to figure out just what has gone wrong and to fix things away from the spotlight of the majors.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The only argument that can be made against sending Carmona down is the fact that there is no one you really want to see in a rotation that already includes David Huff and Jeremy Sowers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But what sense is there in sending Carmona out every five days to get pounded?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tomo Ohka has replaced Fausto after Carmona's early exit in his last two starts. He's pitched five innings and given up three runs in each of those outings. Not exactly sterling work, but enough to keep the team in the game.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And it's not like Ohka would be in the rotation for too long.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">By the end of the month, if not sooner, Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis and Jake Westbrook will come off the DL and could serve as replacements for Ohka, Sowers and/or Huff.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I don't expect much out of Westbrook because he'll need the rest of the season just to rebuild strength, velocity and control. But certainly Laffey should make the rotation better and Lewis offers some hope as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One thing is clear though, Carmona needs a break from the big time and needs to get his head together - something that he won't be able to do if he keeps getting it bashed in every five days.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My guess is the Tribe, which currently has eight pitchers in the pen, will activate Travis Hafner sometime Friday, move Ohka to the rotation for now and send Carmona down.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I know that is what I would do.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-18677413415308272212009-06-02T11:49:00.005-04:002009-06-02T13:22:10.318-04:00Good riddance to the Yankees<a href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/06/02/gal_backpage_0602.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 234px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 331px" alt="" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/06/02/gal_backpage_0602.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>This most recent Tribe-Yankee series didn't have the same feel as many others in the past.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Sure Yankee TV play-by-play guy Michael Kay (nearly two years after they first appeared in the playoffs) went on and on about the midges - as did the rest of the media, as you can see from the photo to the left. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Kay in fact claimed to have done research on the midges and discovered that they are eaten by seagulls, the presence of which at Progressive Field was an equal fascination for Kay.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>And, as many past series have gone, the Tribe played it close for most of the games, but you just had that feeling that things would tip the wrong way in the end - as they did three out of four times over the extended weekend.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>But the atmosphere where I live - in the middle of Yankee country - was different this time. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>I didn't get harassed at all.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>I went to my grandnephew's Little League game Saturday. His grandpa - my brother-in-law Roger -was there. Roger is typically pretty good with the needle, and the Yanks of course had won Friday night. But not a peep out of him during a two-hour conversation.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>The Tribe had dropped to 0-2 in the series by the time my around-the-corner neighbor Glenn came driving by while I was watering the lawn. When he pulled his car over to the curb, I was sure the usual ribbing was coming. Instead we talked about our sons' work plans for the upcoming summer, and a bit about the swim club our families both belong to.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>The weather was too cold here over the weekend to visit said swim club - which for me is usually a venue for baseball-related putdowns, especially when there is a Tribe-Yanks series in full swing. Since I didn't go there, I guess the weekend wasn't a true test of local sentiment. But for some reason I feel I probably would have gone unscathed had I paid my swim-club buddies a visit.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>I looked high and low in the media for the usual condescension or Cleveland put-downs. None were to be found.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>Even Kay, and his sidekick John Flaherty on the YES Network broadcasts of the game, had little negative to say - save the constant harping on the midges.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>I'm not sure if it is a case of everyone here in Yankeeland suddenly putting aside their usual baseball arrogance, or something much worse.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>I'm beginning to think that the Yankee faithful just don't see the Tribe as any kind of threat this year and simply not worth their effort.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>Any other readers from this area notice the same thing this weekend?</strong><br /><strong>---<br /></strong><br /><strong>The Yankee series marked the end of the Tribe's battles with A.L. East opponents until late August. This fact was pointed out by the best of the Cleveland sports bloggers - </strong><a href="http://clevelandtribeblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/tomahawks-with-relief-from-unlikely.html"><strong>The DiaTribe's Paul Cousineau - in a post late last week</strong></a><strong>. </strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>In making his point that the first one-third of the Tribe's season has been loaded with games against the East - thought by most to be baseball's strongest division - Cousineau was attempting to sound a hopeful note for the rest of the schedule.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>After all, there are only 10 games left against the East - six against Baltimore and the rest against the Red Sox. So it is natural to think that the schedule may get easier as the season wears on. I read that, and was heartened, I admit.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>But then I did some checking. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>In their games against the East so far this season, the Tribe is 12-14, for a .462 percentage. </strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>That means against the rest of the league they are 10-17, or .370. And they are playing .415 ball overall.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><strong>So you really can't blame the preponderance of games against the East for the position the Tribe finds itself in at the moment, nor can it be used as a way to assure ourselves that things will get better. </strong>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-92008531456931072152009-05-31T16:24:00.004-04:002009-05-31T16:48:50.314-04:00A win for the Tribe, a Wedgie for Pavano<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/eric-wedge.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 284px;" src="http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/eric-wedge.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Jhonny</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Peralta</span> drove a ball past 3B with one out in the 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> today, giving the Tribe an exciting first victory of the weekend against the dreaded Yanks.<br /><br />It was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Perlta's</span> third <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ribbie</span> of the day, putting him and starting pitcher Carl <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Pavano</span> in the spotlight. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Pavano</span> didn't win the game, but he should have (more on that in just a second).<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Peralta's</span> base hit picked up the ball club today for sure. But more than anyone, the hit picked up Tribe manager Eric Wedge.<br /><br />Wedgie, working his usual magic, nearly turned this afternoon into another disaster.<br /><br />Back a couple of weeks ago, before the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Tri</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">be's</span> recent hot streak and when they were about as low as they could go, there was a spike in the talk about firing the manager.<br /><br />Those who pooh poohed all the the talk argued that the manager can't do the hitting or the pitching and it's up to the players to get it done on the field.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Except, sometimes the manager <span style="font-style: italic;">is </span>the problem and today the players saved the manager's backside.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is it the player's fault when he's sailing through the hefty Yankee lineup - 2 runs, 89 pitches in 7 1/3 innings - and the manager comes out (after a weak infield single) and takes the ball out of his hands?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">I don't care what the post-game blather coming from Wedgie will be, there is no explanation for taking Carl <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Pavano</span> out of the game when he did today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derek <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Jeter's</span> infield hit was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">apparently</span> enough to send Wedgie thumbing through </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">page 1 of his "How to Manage the Bullpen" book.<br /><br />It was at that point (again just 89 pitches thrown by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Pavano</span> and the Tribe up 4-2 in the 8<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">th</span>) when Wedge decided he simply must bring in lefty <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Raffie</span> Perez (the same Perez who has blown up so many games already this season) to pitch to lefty Johnny Damon.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Damon, of course, lashed a double to right field and the demise of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Pavano's</span> victory was underway.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To be fair, no one anticipated that the next guy in, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Raffie</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Betancourt</span>, would leave after a couple of pitches with what looked like a leg injury. But the more often you roll the dice, the bigger the chance that you get a bad result. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">It was obvious that Wedge was going to go with both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Raffies</span> in the 8<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">th</span> once he took <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Pavano</span> out. Why roll the dice twice more, especially when one of the gambles involves <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Raffie</span> Perez - who so far this year has had a great season at Columbus?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In addition to taking a win away from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Pavano</span> and making a very questionable strategic move, Wedge put himself in a position to burn through four relievers in less than two innings, leaving himself vulnerable for any extra innings that might have been ahead today and for tomorrow's game as well - a game that will be started by the unreliable Jeremy Sowers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Please don't tell me that it's the players who play and the manager doesn't matter.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Win or lose today (and thank God it was a win!), Wedgie had a major negative effect on the proceedings.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6666431387884521496.post-773958492860185432009-05-30T13:49:00.011-04:002009-05-30T15:04:26.739-04:00To boo or not to boo, as CC returns to Progressive Field mound<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/05/15/alg_sabathia-pitches.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 214px;" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/05/15/alg_sabathia-pitches.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">CC Sabathia will take his first trip to the hill at Progressive Field since being traded last summer to Milwaukee.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">He'll be doing it in a Yankee uniform and if you will excuse me for a moment while I lose my lunch, I'll pick up from here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That's better.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Now back to CC.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When it became apparent two off-seasons ago that Sabathia was not going to resign with the Tribe because of the lopsided, unfair economics of today's MLB, I reluctantly accepted that fact.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I thought, "Well, he'll take us to one more shot in the post-season and then do what he has to do."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Once it became obvious the Tribe was going nowhere last season, I girded myself for the inevitable mid-season deal that would send him away - the best home-grown Tribe pitcher since God knows when.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The trade came down, the Tribe got a nice haul in return (still to be proven, but seemingly so), and I was happy to see that CC went to Milwaukee - another small-market team that was taking its one big shot at the brass ring.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I watched nearly every one of CC's starts with Milwaukee on the dish and rooted him on along the way. Then, when the Brew Crew's run ended and the bargaining began, I was OK with all that - unless CC landed in one place in particular.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Of course, as we all know, CC ended up in that very place, and as a Tribe fan living here in Yankeeland I had to watch it all first-hand. And listen to Yankee fans and the NY media talk about "CC", as if they were old buds on a first-name basis for years.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That is when it all began to turn for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seeing CC on the local TV news in his first spring workout as a Yankee, I got a sick feeling in my stomach.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When he pulled on the pinstripes for the first time for real back in April it stung even more. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seeing him playfully chatting with Victor Martinez during batting practice at the new Yankee Stadium - the former battery mates each wearing a different uniform - was almost too much to watch.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And tonight, CC will be wearing the garb of the Evil Empire when he steps on the mound of the Tribe's home field.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So the question has become, will CC be booed (a la Manny, and Jim Thome) when he takes the hill, or cheered for his past contributions to the Tribe (see Omar Vizquel).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If I were going to the game tonight, it's hard to say what I would do when CC takes the mound. But if I had to say right now what my reaction would be, I'd say I would boo - long and hard.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And for those of you with tickets tonight, I suggest you do the same.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">For me though, the boo would not really be directed at CC himself. He would simply be the vehicle for the message I would be trying to send to all the powers that be in MLB - the union, the league, the owners and broadcasters, all of whom stand to gain under a system where most of the best players eventually make their way to the teams that can generate the most dough for everyone simply because they are in cities where there are more paying customers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">People argue that small-market teams make their marks in the playoffs year in and year out, and that success can come anywhere when there is smart management.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But there are at least two things wrong with that argument.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">For one, while it is true that every small-market dog (except maybe Pittsburgh) has it's day, it is also true that that is about how long it lasts - a day. Or one season, two or three if you are really lucky, and smart.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Then it becomes time to kiss all the fan favorites and the team's stars goodbye, wish them well (or not) in their big-media market and try to start again from scratch.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Some point to the Tribe's long string of success in the '90's (success even though no championships were won by the way) and say it can be done in the small markets if done correctly.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The problem with that argument is that the former owners of the team, the Jacobs family, ran that team as if they were in a big market. That is, they ran it that way until they saw the revenue boost from the excitement of the new stadium would be wearing out soon. Then they were smart enough to sell out to the Dolans.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Dolans have been running the Tribe like a small-time operation pretty much since taking it over.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cleveland is not the only place where the odds are stacked high against prolonged success.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Detroit took its shot at the big-time last season, but injuries and a decline in its pitching staff ruined those plans. The effort seems to be revived this year, but how far beyond this season will their current crop of talent take them? Especially as the Detroit economy worsens and the payroll has to shrink.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When was the last time they had a good team in Pittsburgh? Or a sustainably good team in Oakland, or San Diego or just about any place that is not New York, Boston or Los Angeles.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Because they play in divisions full of small-market teams, the two Chicago teams (especially the Sox) can low-ball it and still not stand out as ragamuffins in their respective divisions.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">KC and Milwaukee currently are having a little run. But this is their "window." In a few short years the young, talented players they are developing will move on to greener pastures and the success of these small-market teams will fade again</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The big-market teams can spend to their hearts content on the best talent. That is obvious. What is less obvious is they can also take chances that the smaller teams can't. "Well, let's sign three of these big-name pitchers and if even one works out big-time, we'll be all set." And, in the case of the Yankees, "let's sign the best hitter available out their as well."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">At the same time, the best the little guys can do most off-seasons is put their money down on a Mark DeRosa and hope that it makes some sort of difference.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Baseball's system is broken, and has been for a while. At least for those who truly appreciate real, fair competition.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">With the economy in sad shape right now, the unfairness of the system is beginning to manifest itself as people with very little discretionary income are beginning to realize that spending it to watch a sub-par baseball team may not be the best use of their money.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That will only exacerbate the gap between baseball haves and have-nots.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So, if you decide to let out a lusty boo for CC tonight, I hope you'll do it in the right spirit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CC just played the system the way any smart, talented person would play it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's the system that deserves a great big Bronx cheer.</span>Ron Vallohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01515792183023966479noreply@blogger.com5