DeRosa Traded to Cardinals

Mark DeRosa was traded today to the St. Louis Cardinals today for Chris Perez and a player to be named later. DeRosa was batting .270 with 13 homers and 50 RBI for the Tribe this season, playing all over the diamond (3B, 1B, RF, LF). It is ironic that he was traded for pitching because they gave up originally 3 pitchers to get him. Mark was a solid clubhouse guy and will probably be missed in the lineup as well. Look for Asdrubal Cabrera to take his roster spot tomorrow, with Perez possibly snagging Tomo Ohka's.

Chris Perez (pictured above)is a soon to be 24 year old who has went 1-1 with 4.18 ERA with one save in 29 games. The Right hander has stuck out 30 and walked 15 in 23 plus innings of work. He looks to be a pretty solid reliever the Indians are surely missing. The PTBNL is supposedly supposed to be a top prospect that the club will be tracking for the second half of the season (a la Michael Brantley). Look for that acquisition to happen after the season). By looking at his photo, he seems like a dude who likes to have a good time, which is always a welcomed addition.

I don't imagine that there will be many more trades by the Indians in trading off veterans. They don't really have that many assets available to be moved. Carl Pavano was a possibility, but he stinks right now and is probably hurt. This move should also stabilize the lineup a bit more, as Wedge won't have DeRosa anymore to move around the field and lineup each day.

Also, Jensen Lewis was sent to Columbus as Jose Veras was added to the bullpen from Hell. Lewis never could keep the ball down in the zone, resulting in 8 homeruns allowed. He will probably be back in a month. As for the team, they look to win their first series in 4 chances tomorrow with David Huff taking on Micah Owings.

Tribe drops 2 of 3 to the Pirates

Interleague play can't end soon enough for the Indians, as they have lost 8 of their last 9 games to their National League foes. The Pittsburgh series was a microcosm for the season, lose 2 games (one by the bullpen) and the only win you get, they almost blow it as well. Nothing real positive to say about this team right now, they are just floating along mired in the basement of an average division. With the Tigers rattling off 7 wins in a row, it is time for the Tribe to start building towards next season (a common occurrence in this town). With the Cavs getting Shaq and probably more, the Cleveland baseball team will struggle to get any attention in this town. T

here isn't a single move they can make to the moderate fans of the club interested, because if they trade Lee or Martinez, immediately they are considered cheap and worthless to watch. Trading Pavano (no one wants him) or DeRosa (should be able to garner some pitching) would let out a collective yawn from the fanbase. So what do the Indians do? Try and trade Francisco or Garko or both, they are not in the long term plans of this team, nor should they be. Go with a youth movement. Call up LaPorta and Brantley, move Laffey into the rotation, and let's see what they got (read this piece by The DiaTribe for more in depth moves, all of which I totally agree with).

Get guys like Matt Herges (pictured above) out of here and let whatever young relievers the system has (Rundles, Meloan, Herrmann) pitch up in Cleveland. We know that old man Herges will not be here in 2010, so get him out of here. I imagine the attendance is going to real tail off towards the end of August and in to September, so at least let what fans you have left see some young talent that may have a shot at the future, whatever that may bring.

I will be in attendence tonight as the Reds come to town. I sure am pumped to see 5 and Fly Jeremy Sowers throw. Only 108 games left in the season!

Trading Time: Aubrey to Orioles, Veras to Indians

Two minor trades were made today by the Tribe, as they shipped 27 year old first baseman Michael Aubrey to the Baltimore Orioles and received reliever Jose Veras from the New York Yankees for cash. Aubrey was a former 1st round pick by the Indians, but just never could stay healthy. He also was caught up in a numbers game as there are a plethora of 1st Baseman/Outfielders currently in the Indians' upper minors. Michael was hitting .292 with 16 doubles, a triple, five homers and 29 RBIs in 57 games for the Clippers. This transaction removes one more hurdle for Columbus Clipper Jordan Brown to finally make it to the big leagues in Cleveland, a promotion he has earned and deserves. Aubrey will best be known in Indians lore as the first baseman who just let Gary Sheffield charge the mound from first base without tackling him or intervening. Fausto still smoke Sheff in the face, but you gotta do something Mike, not just stand there like you usually do (see below).

Veras (pictured right) pitched pretty poorly for the Yankees in 2009. In 25 appearances out of the New York 'pen this season, the 28-year-old Veras was 3-1 with a 5.96 ERA. He walked 14 and struck out 18 in 25 2/3 innings of work. He pitched a lot better in 2008, going 5-3 posting a 3.59 ERA in 57 + innings while striking out 63 and only walking 29 in 60 appearances. The Yankess designated him for assignment, so he would have had to clear waivers to stay in New York's organization. It will be interesting to see who is jettisoned off of the 25 man roster because Veras is expected to join the big league club sometime this week. He can't be any worse than what is currently out there. Can he?

Sizemore activated, Sipp recalled, Crowe sent down, Vizcaino sent packing

The Indians finally received some good news today, as All-Star Centerfielder Grady Sizemore was activated off of the 15-day DL. Hopefully Grady is fully healthy because his stats so far in 2009 have been less than stellar (.223 (46-for-206) with nine homers and 31 RBI, 25 BB and 52 K's).

To make room, Trevor Crowe was sent down to Columbus to work on pretty much every aspect of his game. Crowe hit a dismal .169 and did not display much confidence out in center field. He needs to work on a bunch of things in Triple A to even have a shot at a bench spot for the future. Look for Mark DeRosa to take over in Left, while Ben Francisco takes a seat on the bench for the foreseeable future.

Tony Sipp returns for a third time to Cleveland, where he has had some success (3.12 ERA). His main problem was walks, which he had 10 while striking out 10. Walking batters is a team wide issue, so he will fit in nicely. The Luis Vizcaino (or what I refer to him, as "The Rally Starter")experiment is now over, he sure showed us why the Cubs dumped him after only a few weeks. His 5.40 ERA in 11 games was a lot worse than the stats tell, because he walked 12 guys and always was teetering on the brink of disaster when he didn't blow the game entirely.

Hopefully these are some of the first moves in going with more young players, because this season is about over. Hopefully Sizemore and Sipp can help bring an end to the worst stretch of losing the Indians have experienced all year.

Down on the Farm Report: Hector Rondon

With the 2009 Cleveland Indians season quickly trickling down the drain, it is time once again to look to the future, because the future is all Tribe fans' got. The current starting rotation at the big league level is pretty weak, so don't be surprised to see Top Prospect Hector Rondon sometime later this summer donning an Indians uniform. Rondon was selected last season to the Futures All Star game at the tender age of 20 and hurled three shutout innings in big league camp this past spring training. The young Venezualan is just 21 years old and has had success at each level in the minors. Rondo sports a plus fastball that hovers in the 92-94 MPH range that can top out at 97. He primarily likes to throw the hard stuff, but also mixes in an improving slider with a curveball and changeup that he is trying to improve upon. Hector recently had some arm issues, but they have seemed to be nothing major.

Right-handed Hector Rondon has successfully returned from right bicep tendinitis, returning to action this past Sunday to go four shutout innings. When Rondon left his start early about two weeks ago there was a lot of concern up and down the Indians' organization for their prized right-hander, but thankfully the injury was not serious and he essentially missed one start and did not even have to go on the disabled list. As a precautionary measure, his pitch count was limited on Sunday, which is why he only went four innings. Indiansprospectinsider.com

That must have been a big sigh of relief to the organization as there really is a lack of top quality arms anywhere close to making the majors by 2010. Rondon is a lanky 6'3, 160 lbs, so he has plenty of room to fill out his slim frame. He is currently 6-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 60 1/3 innings. Those stats may be a bit inflated due to his brief stint in the bullpen. With the Big League Tribe's bullpen in shambles back in May (and even worse now), the Indians brass looked to Rondon as a potential impact arm to help this season. The experiment did not work out well. Here is more from indiansprospectinsider.com from Ross Atkins about why Hector was returned to starting duty...

On Hector Rondon: "When we considered him as a bullpen option and talked about who the best arms are in the system who could help the major league team now, he was the clear choice. I think what we did was exhaust the process in thinking about is this best for the organization, and while we were considering that he was a viable candidate and a more immediate candidate having thrown out of a bullpen in a professional setting. It was two outings, and he pitched well and threw well and was better than his lined indicated. As we took time to further consider that while moving him and pitching him in the bullpen we also considered what it meant long term for him and what it meant long term for our organization and ultimately decided that Hector can help us in either role, be it starting or in relief as he continues to [work out of the starting rotation]. I think we are looking at it now from a more global perspective. By no means is he not a bullpen option. I think what he is now is just an option as a major league pitcher. Hector will continue his development, and we could see him at some point this year or next year, it is difficult to say. He has handled it exceptionally well, which was one of the reasons that we decided to try it because we knew he would be able to handle it and it wouldn't affect him negatively."

Or they realized that this guy may need to be in the rotation by season's end. Rondon apparently did not do too well warming up so quickly out in the pen, due to his regimen having to change from transforming into a reliever from his regular starting duties. His velocity was not as good and his control was erratic. One of the outings he came in with runners on, forcing the Aero to pitch immediately from the stretch. The Tribe went ahead and fast-tracked last years 6th round pick Zach Putnam to the bullpen (which has had mixed results) and promptly returned Rondon to beginning games from the mound.

His 61 strikeouts over 60 1/3 innings stands out, as well as him only walking 13 batters. Currently on a strict pitch count, Rondon threw 4 plus shutout innings Sunday to lead Akron to another win. With clearly being the ace of the staff, I imagine that this 21 year old phenom will be promoted to Columbus as soon as the Indians management feels he is ready to be extended to his maximum throwing potential. If he mows'em down in Clipperville, look for Hector Rondon to be added to the rotation to see if he is a viable option for 2010.

Wedge Watch

After watching the Tribe lose its sixth straight game and blunder away any hope to a surge this season, the Eric Wedge watch is officially on. Is he canned tomorrow? Does he last the season? Who will be his interim replacement? What about 2010? All of these questions are on the minds of Tribe fans today and is only the middle of June. As for the Windy City debacle, well the series was downright pathetic. I was originally planning on going this weekend, but I am sure glad I didn't because eventhough Wrigleyville is a great time, it would have taken a blacked-out bender to recover from these games. Random thoughts as always...

Luis Valbuena is looking more and more like the second baseman of the future.

There is really no way the Indians can trade Cliff Lee. He is literally the only starting pitcher the team has in the organization that could legitimately be in another MLB teams rotation. If he walks after 2010, then shake his hand and wish him luck. At least he gives you a shot to win every fifth day.

The Ben Francisco and Ryan Garko eras in Cleveland are quickly coming to an end.

Tomo Ohka is the 2nd best starter on the staff right now. That is really, really sad.

You can make the excuse that Kerry Wood is underused, but he still has to get it done. He is making 12 million dollars to pitch one inning and win your team a game. Just a joke.

What can be said about the bullpen that hasn't already been said. Nothing. Mike Gosling should not have picked the #20, it may be cursed by this guy.

Victor is in a bit of slump, which does not bode well for the club at all.

You will not see Jeremy Sowers in an Indian uniform in 2010.

If Wedge is canned, I would promote Clippers Manager Torey Lovullo into the interim role (along with his pitching coach Scott Radinsky). No coach on the current staff should even be considered, the team needs a new voice. Give the guy a shot this season with the promise that if he succeeds, he will be strongly considered for 2010 and beyond.

My 2010 Manager.... John Farrell. He is the pitching coach for a great staff in Boston and has plenty of knowledge of the Indians system.

Don't be surprised if Mark Shapiro steps aside either this season or before 2010 and becomes the teams President, allowing Chris Antonetti to take over. They may sound like clones, but I think Antonetti has his own ideas on some ways he would do things differently.

Trevor Crowe needs to be sent down immediately. I really liked what he did in spring training, but I have seen enough of him to know that he is a 4A guy and the Indians have way too many of those kind of players.

Kelly Shoppach may be on his way back to Triple A pretty soon. Being the personal catcher for Cliff Lee can only save your job for so long.

With the club currently 29-43 (most games under .500 all season), and reports that the Manager is possibly out the door, the question out there is who to blame? Let me know in the comments section below. The Wahoos are off to Pittsburgh to hopefully right this sinking ship.