Coping with life after Victor

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.

I was wild-eyed angry the other night with the trade of Cliff Lee.

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.

So with Victor gone, I'm feeling an odd mixture of emotions, and anger is at the low end of list.

Sadness is probably the most prevalent feeling for me tonight.

How can you watch Victor's post-trade chat with reporters and not feel it?

How can you think of the 2007 season and not feel it?

How can you look at the unrealized expectations of the 2009 season and not feel it?

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?

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.

(I'm also feeling some nausea listening to Matt Underwood during the interview with Shapiro planting a big one right between the GM's two butt cheeks, but that's really beside the point I'm trying to make here.)

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.

We'll talk about that in detail at another time though.

Let's get back to the Victor deal.

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.

Unlike the night of the Lee trade, there was no surprise tonight.

I mostly just feel an emptiness that comes with knowing the heart and soul of the team - a real Cleveland Indian, the way Thome and Vizquel were real Cleveland Indians - has been sent packing.

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.

So what is there to do but suck it up and see what we got for Victor?

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 Buckholz and reliever Daniel Bard, both currently with the Red Sox.

While that is true, the Tribe did get Justin Masterson - a pitcher already up in the bigs and ready to step into the rotation once he gets stretched out after pitching in the bullpen with the Sox.

LHP Nick Hagadone 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 TJ surgery less than a year ago, but based on what he's doing this year, it appears the operation was a success.

In his TV appearance tonight, Shapiro said Hagadone 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, Hagadone's development will be slower because he will be on an innings limit due to to the surgery.

Bryan Price, like Hagadone, is pitching at Class A after being the 45th player picked overall in the 2008 draft. He's not looking so good so far, but he too has mid-90's capabilities.

Maybe it's the 48-hour cooling-off period since the Lee trade, or the encouraging outing tonight by Fausto Carmona, or maybe even the three Yeunglings I had with my burger tonight, but I'm starting to come to terms with the reality that the Tribe - again - is rebuilding.

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 acquired in trade.

There's a lot wrong with the organization from top to bottom.

There will be time to deal with front-office and management issues when the season ends. But the time to start fixing the talent shortage was now.

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 just 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.

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.

But I know myself too well, and I know that I can't do that.

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 another rebuild with the Tribe and enjoy whatever good moments come along as this new group of Tribesman evolves into our next great hope.

In the meantime, can I have another Yeungling please?

Tribe trades Lee, Francisco; Pulls plug on this year and next

(Updated at 10:39 PM EDT with Shapiro comments)

"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."

And so we hear from the man himself.

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."

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.

Now it's wait until 2011 - at least.

But if you've followed this team long enough, you know that tomorrow (in this case 2011 or 2012) never comes.

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.

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.

Shapiro, as you might guess, thinks he got a pretty good haul in this deal.

"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."

I suppose he couldn't say, "Look, the Dolans are pulling the plug on this thing and I had to get something for Lee."

But how else can you explain what Shapiro settled for?

At face value, the Tribe got four of the Phillies top 10 prospects.

They got an 18-year-old pitcher who throws in the high 90's in Jason Knapp.

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.

So Shapiro got what he was looking for, right? Pitching, pitching and more pitching.

Well, maybe not so much.

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

As for Carrasco, he was considered the No. 1 or No. 2 pitching prospect in the Phils' organization before 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, Carrasco's stock has dropped around the MLB this season, except maybe in one front office where a salarly dump is the main objective.

The two position players in the deal - catcher Lou Marson and SS Jason Donald - leave me equally underwhelmed.

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.

And Donald appears to be a utility infielder in the making.

Keep in mind these words about Donald - quoted by MLB.com - are coming from Phillies assistant GM Chuck LaMar, the guy doing the selling:

"He can be an everyday player. Like anyone with his skill set, he's got to prove it at every level."

Talk about your feint praise.

"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?

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).

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).

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.

Shapiro's take on Marson? Well he doesn't suck, or words to that effect:

"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."

(While he may or may not think it, I sure am glad my boss never called me "average.")

What's not to get excited about there? We get an "average" catcher in this deal.

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.

The Jays walked away.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wait 'til next year.

Oh, and just one other thing before I go.

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.

Bodies on the move, as the Tribe's future hangs in the balance

Wow.

Went away for a few days - down to Virginia to help my brother-in-law celebrate a milestone birthday.

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.

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.

To add to all that, the Tribe also announced the PTBNL in the Mark DeRosa trade of a few weeks ago.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

That is, I was 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.

What's that you say? Andy Marte is going to be making that trip instead of LaPorta? Good one! Oh, you're not kidding.

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?

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.

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?

Apparently while I was away, there were also rumors of a blockbuster deal that would send Victor Martinez and 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.

The Dodgers have flat out denied the rumors - started by FOX sports - and MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger reported Sunday that the fantasy-baseball-like deal appears to be just that.

Still the New York Post's Joel Sherman reports the vultures continue to circle above the carcass that is the 2009 Cleveland Indians hoping to come away with Victor, or Lee - or both.

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.

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).

"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?"

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.