The Day the Indians Died

The Monday of June 15th, 2009 was an optimistic one for Tribe fans. Their team had just won 6 of 9 games and just witnessed their reigning Cy Young award winner no hit the first place St. Louis Cardinals for 7 innings, pulling to a record of 29-36, the closest to .500 they had been for a long time. The Indians carried a 12-7 leading heading into the 7th inning over a solid Brewer ball club. Then, as after the bullpen had been somewhat solid for a few weeks, the group of all former 2009 Columbus Clippers gave up a collective 8 earned runs over their collective relief duty and retrospectively finished the teams' chances for a comeback season (fittingly it was Major League the movie Monday, were all fans got Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn bobbleheads). Wedge went to his bullpen five times that night, and these are the folks (in order) who came out and what they did.

Greg Aquino 1 IP 2 H 2 ER 1 BB

Luis Vizcaino 1 1/3 IP 0 H 2 ER 3 BB

Matt Herges 0 IP 1 H 2 ER 1 BB

Rafael Perez 0 IP 3 H 2 ER 1 BB

Joe Smith 1 2/3 IP 0 H 0 ER 0 BB

Smith did a good job, but that was after Prince Fielder hit a line shot Grand Slam and took the air out of the Indians sails. Perez caught the WBC disease in early April and has been a trainwreck ever since. Looking at the first three names, would you really think any team that hoped to contend for a division would be trotting out these losers? I thought so. Why do I bring this game up? Because it started a string of 15 winnable games for the Tribe, and ended today with a loud thud. The Indians are 2-13 over those contests and look like a pathetic, hapless ball club. Their pitching staff is just terrible, and their hitters seem to be going through the motions over their latest 5 game losing streak. For all the Eric Wedge bashers who believe he should be canned, I can't disagree with you totally, but just look at this roster. If you look to the glorious (and looking like last in a long while) AL Central Division Championship season, their rotation was as follows...

2007

Sabathia/Carmona/Westbrook/Byrd/Laffey (with Lee down in Triple A trying to re-find himself)

2009 current

Lee/Pavano/Huff/Sowers/Ohka (with Lewis and Reyes done for the year and Carmona figuring things out in the minors)

Can anyone expect a team to win with that rotation, coupled with the abomination going out in right-center field? The team does struggle early every season and that could be attributed to the coaching staff. The knock of Wedge moving guys around in the field and the lineup is a 50/50 problem. If the team had guys capable of playing everyday and performing consistantly, the manager would not be forced to do that (I will go over the Pros and Cons of Wedge later this month, probably more cons). Injuries cannot be made as an excuse in 2009 because they stunk when they were healthy. Would I fire the Manager? No, because it really doesn't matter right now, they are going nowhere. If he is brought back in 2010, most fans will be up in arms, so I imagine the Indians will be forced to move in a different direction.

Most of the blame should be put on GM Mark Shapiro for feeling like his staff would be able to compete at previous levels. Besides Lee, there were no sure things in the rotation since Fausto struggled in 2008 and the Pavano/Reyes/Lewis/Huff/Sowers/Laffey poo poo platter contained way too many hopes and iffs. The real key to baseball is Starting Pitching, and no rotation guy(besides Lee) on the Indians has an ERA under 5. If the Indians ever want to contend again, Starting Pitching has to be the focus. Bringing in has-beens like Pavano or bright flashes of success like Reyes and Lewis only mask the real inadequacies in your ballclub (no wonder why Hector Rondon was moved so quickly BACK to starting duty). They need as a front office to come up with a plan today to infuse more upper echelon pitching into Double A and above that can be effective in the next 2 seasons.

After reading Paul's article over at the DiaTribe about Cliff Lee, I am now in the camp of moving him this season. Go get some stud pitchers that may develop into something in a few years, because contending next season seems like a pipe dream, even in a winable division. If they do play better, well then that is a bonus because Lee and Martinez will likely walk the following year, so changes would have to be made. Trade Cliff now when he has his highest value. It's not like attendance is going to drop, this City gave up on the Indians back in May.

As for the White Sox series, well it was awful. The Tribe was only really in the first game, but they didn't even score a run until the ninth when they were already trailing 6-0. Sizemore still looks hurt, Martinez is in a slump, the rest of the guys looked disinterested, and the pitching continues to be piss poor. They should use the Rick Vaughn bobblehead as a "JoeBoo" to exercise the demons that are this season. It is going to be a long 3 months out at Progressive field, so let's hope to see some more of the young guys and see if they are worth a look for the future. 2011 isn't that far away, is it?

Can the Indians Really Depend on the Pen?

This piece originally was posted March 23rd, 2009. This team currently has played 19 games since their last save. After today's bullpen debacle (blown 7 run lead), I just can't write anymore about this crappy relief corps. They suck.

Recent reports out of Goodyear have not been kind to Japanese import Masa Kobayashi. He currently is sporting a 14.40 ERA in 5 innings of work. Coupled with Easy Ed Mujica's 12.71 ERA, the duo is putting up stats reminiscent of the horrid bullpen of 2008 where a total of 6 pitchers who appeared in at least 14 games had earned run averages above 5.60! Thankfully young options (Sipp, Meloan, Jackson) to go with non roster guys (Chulk, Herges, Saarloos) are available to help sort out the final spots on the bench out in centerfield. The thought of those two toeing the rubber this season makes many Tribe fans quiver and for good reason. It seems as the Cleveland Indians bullpen goes, so does the teams' final record. Mark Shapiro has preached many times over the years that a teams relief corps is many times a crap shoot, and by looking at the corresponding ERA's with the Indians win totals, his analysis seems correct. Here is a breakdown of the past 5 years of Indians bullpens and how the club ended up.

2004 80-82 Third Place

Bullpen ERA 4.90 (Ranked 12th in AL) opposing batting average .271

Omar Vizquels' Indian career was ending, Grady Sizemores' was just beginning, and the Tribe Bullpen was just plain sucking. Bob Wickman started the season on the 60 day DL, so the team decided to begin the season with a closer-by-committee format. Boy was that a bad idea. In an attempt to bolster the clubs' holes in the area, they traded a quartet of future big league regulars (Ryan Church and Maicer Izturis to the Angels, Willy Tavares and Luke Scott to the Astros) for Scott Stewart and Jeriome Robertson. These ill fated moves, along with the signing of Jose Jimenez doomed the club from the outset. Here are their scary stats...

Scott Stewart 23 games, 13 2/3 innings pitched, 7.24 ERA
Jeriome Robertson 8 games, 14 innings pitched, 12.21 ERA
Jose Jimenez 31 games, 36 1/3 innings pitched, 8.42 ERA

Another star of the bullpen was Chad Durbin, who may have set a record (later matched by Fausto Carmona in 2006) in giving up 3 walk off homeruns in the first 28 games of the season. If there ever were a bullpen from hell, this was it as 20 pitchers threw in relief for the Indians, headlined by such names as Lou Pote, Jack Cressend, David Lee, Jake Robbins, Rick White, Matt Miller, and catcher Tim Laker. Let's just say the Indians knew things had to improve for the team to compete in 2005.

2005 93-69 Second Place

Bullpen ERA 2.80 (Ranked 1st in AL) opposing batting average .224

What a difference a year makes! After starting the season slow, the Indians charged hard over the last two months and missed the playoffs by a mere one game. The team resigned Bob Wickman to close (45 saves, 2.47 ERA), acquired veteran lefties Arthur Rhodes (2.08 ERA) and Scott Sauerbeck (4.04 ERA), and got an amazing year out of reclamation projects Bob Howry (2.47 ERA in 79 games) and Rafael Betancourt (2.79 ERA in 54 games). The worst regular reliever was probably Jason Davis, and he wasn't that bad (4.69 ERA). This was a bullpen built for the playoffs, but unfortunately the young supporting cast fizzled at the end of the season. Shapiro and Co. may have taken the success for granted.

2006 78-84 Fourth Place

Bullpen ERA 4.73 (Ranked 11th in the AL) opposing batting average .274

As Joni Mitchell once wrote, "Don't it always seem to go. That you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone," could very well have been the mantra of the 2006 bully. In a desire to strengthen the position player depth in the organization, the Tribe included David Riske (3.01 ERA in 2006) in the Coco Crisp trade (Josh Bard too) that netted the team top prospect Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach, Randy Newsom and Guillermo Mota. In a seperate move to augment the loss of Crisp, the Indians also shipped Arthur Rhodes to the Phillies for the immortal Jason Michaels. These two moves, along with the loss of Bobby Howry to free agency really put the bullpen in a state of confusion. Now granted, Rhodes and Riske were no where near as effective in 2006 then they were a year earlier, but maybe keeping the guys together out there who led the league in ERA in their same respective roles may have been a good idea. Wickman got hurt, Mota was horrible (6.21 ERA), Fernando Cabrera (5.19 ERA) and Rafael Betancourt (3.81 ERA) were tired from their appearances in the WBC, Scott Sauerbeck got drunk and hid in some bushes with a woman not his wife (6.23 ERA), and a guy named Brian Sikorski (4.58 ERA) had to be purchased late in the season FROM Japan. This Bullpen of Horrors almost claimed Fausto Carmona as well. After Bob Wickman was traded the Braves, the Tribe stuck the young Dominican into the closers role In the span of seven days (from July 30 through August 5), Carmona recorded four losses and three blown saves for the Indians, including wall off home runs surrendered to Boston Red Sox David Ortiz and the Tigers' Ivan Rodriguez. Thankfully he was returned to his original role as a starter soon thereafter. The lone bright spot was eventual call up of Rafael Perez, a future bullpen star.

2007 96-66 First Place

Bullpen ERA 3.75 (Ranked 4th in the AL) opposing batting average .254

Mark Shapiro made it a priority to rebuild the 2007 pen by signing a quartet of pitchers (Keith Foulke, Joe Borowski, Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz) to compete for the many open spots in the bullpen. Foulke never made it out of Spring Training, so Joe Borowski assumed the role as closer. As much as JoBo made Tribe fans' hold their collective breaths all season, he pitched with guts, saving an AL leading 45 games (as well as game 4 of the ALDS). His 5.04 ERA was a cause for concern, but that will be discussed later. Rafael Betancourt had a downright magical 2007 season posting a 1.47 ERA in 68 games, while Aaron Fultz (2.92 ERA) pitched well in the first half of the season. Aging veteran Roberto Hernandez was a bust (6.23 ERA) but a pair of young pitchers really helped the Tribe make a run to the playoffs. Lefty Rafael Perez (1.78 ERA in 44 appearances) and righty Jensen Lewis (2.15 ERA in 26 games) provided stability and excitement after the All-Star break. Ultimately, it was the starting pitching that did in the Tribe in the ALCS, but the bullpen was a huge strength and looked to be one in 2008.

2008 81-81 Third Place

Bullpen ERA 5.13 (13th in the AL) opposing batting average .280

With the success of the relievers experienced in 2007, Shapiro felt only minor tweaking needed to be done. He brought in Japanese closer Masa Kobayashi and veteran Jorge Julio to compliment his strong corps of arms. Kobayashi would serve as a type of insurance in the case of injury or major meltdowns like years' past. It may have been an omen of things to come when Aaron Fultz was released in Spring Training, making the Indians eat his $1.5 Million Dollar contract. The GM should have and probably internally did project the eventual decline of Joe Borowski (18 games, 16 2/3 innings, 7.56 ERA while showing at best 85 MPH fastball), but no one would have thought that the guys who had so much success in 2007 would fall completely on their face. Julio was a flop (5.60 ERA in 15 games). Betancourt looked terrible from the beginning (6.00 ERA in 42 games befor the All-Star Break) and never looked comfortable in closing games after Borowski was removed. Jensen Lewis's velocity was way down early and was eventually sent back to Buffalo (he rebounded late in the season, assuming the closers' role and saving 13 games). Kobayashi showed glimpses of being average, but eventually tired and posted a 10.32 ERA over his final 15 games. Here is the list of the over 5.60 ERA for the season club...

Edward Mujica 33 games, 38 2/3 innings pitched, 6.75 ERA
Juan Rincon 23 games, 27 1/3 innings pitched, 5.60 ERA
Joe Borowski 18 games, 16 23 innings pitched, 7.56 ERA
Jorge Julio 15 games, 17 2/3 innings pitched, 5.60 ERA
Brendan Donnelly 15 games, 13 2/3 innings pitched, 8.56 ERA
Tom Mastny 14 games, 20 innings pitched, 10.80 ERA

Those have got to be some of the worst stats a bullpen has put up in the history of baseball. I wouldn't want any of those guys autographs, let alone them pitching for my favorite team. The team did play quite well over, going 34-21 after July 31st. That success can be attributed in part to the stability of the closers' role (Lewis) and the lack of appearances of the jobbers listed above.

2009?

What will the 2009 bullpen look like and perform? The signing of closer Kerry Wood in the off season should solidify the Closer Role (assuming no lingering injuries), allowing the younger pitchers to settle into their respective spots in the Pen. The acquisition of sidewinder Joe Smith should help as well in providing depth and a different look. If the Cleveland Indians can compete with a better than average bullpen day in and day out, the statistics above support a better record and a most probable return to post season. Unfortunately as Shapiro has learned, Relievers are probably the most unpredictable positions on the diamond. The 2005 and 2007 seasons showed that having a guy finish games (Wickman and Borowski) effectively most of the time correlates into wins. Wood is saved 34 games in 40 chances and reportedly topped 98 MPH on the radar gun in the National League playoffs. Lewis and Perez have been lights out this spring, and Betancourt seems to be getting things together.

If these five guys can find consistency in their respective roles, 2009 should see a return to greatness for the Indians. It is also an odd year, which for some reason has proved to be good thing for these guys. From Jim Poole to Jose Mesa, Tribe fans have suffered through some excruciating performance from the last line of defense. Hopefully this season, Tribe fans can smile and not hold their breaths when the gate swings open out in centerfield at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

*Note... As of June 19th, the Indians bullpen had 15 guys throw at least 1 inning through only 79 games and is the worst in all of Professional Baseball. Guess which place they are in?

PATHETIC!!

That is the only way I can describe last nights 14-12 lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, oh and if I could make the letters any bigger I would have. The five pictures you are looking at are 5 guys that had absolutely no clue there was a baseball game last night at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. OK, maybe Joe Smith should not be on here but I put him on anyway because he is part of this rat pack of a bullpen the Cleveland Indians have. I went to bed right after the game last night and I was hoping to god that CKTRIBE would have wrote an article last night because I knew I did not want to have anything to do with it. Well, I woke up and there was nothing posted. To be honest, I don't even blame him because there is no words to describe last night. Soooo, that being said, I am going to try and put my words to what I witnessed last night. I am merely going off my head as I don't remember everything exactly...I actually don't want to remember anything to tell the truth.

Carl Pavano started the night out with another so so.. not so great start. Yes they were winning when he came out, however he barely was able to finish the 5th inning without getting yanked and besides...he gave up 6 runs in 5 innings so he was crap last night. After the 5th inning the score was 8-6 Tribe and that is when it just falls apart. Greg Aquino came in and gave up one run in the 6th however the Tribe bats put up a 4 spot to make the score 12-7. Things were still looking pretty good for the Tribe...not really. Aquino came back out to pitch in the 7th and walked Ryan Braun who moved to second on a wild pitch then easily stole third. Braun finally scored on a Corey Hart sac fly and the Indians still got out of the 7th with only giving up one run making it 12-8 Tribe.

For this next paragraph I wish I could use the words (Parental Discretion Advised) however I can't so I will make it as nice a possible. The 8th inning was the worst inning of baseball I have ever watched....in my life and your life too for that matter. It took the Tribe 4 pitchers (FOUR) to get out of this inning. Oh yea, and when they finally got out of it, they were loosing 14-12. Vizcaino walked two batters then the Tribe brought in 57 year old Matt Herges and he walked one. With the bases loaded Ryan Braun hit a grounder in the hole that Luis Valbuena made a nice play on but could not make the throw to second base for the force out and the Brewers scored making it 12-9. Then Wedge brought in the worst pitcher in the major leagues. I was sitting there saying to myself please don't bring in Perez, he is terrible against left handers and he should still be down in Columbus, or even Mexico for that matter. So obviously Wedge could not here me yelling at my TV. With this in mind, I can't do anything but watch Rafael Perez give up a first pitch GRAND SLAM to Prince Fielder. How can these guys call themselves Major League Pitchers? All I could could do was laugh. What a great night to pay tribute to the 20th anniversary of the 1980's movie Major League and have Bob Ueker honored at the game. This was truly a "Major League" moment. On a side note the Tribe's bats were really hoping last night and it was fun to see them put some numbers on the score board. Our offense really came to play yesterday....our Bullpen...well, I don't even think they know the season has started!

Smith returns to the "Pen"

Today, Tribe Pitcher Joe Smith was activated from the 15 day DL after rehabing down in Columbus. Making room for him the Indians optioned lefty Tony Sipp back down to Triple A. The poor guy has already had two short stints up in the Majors only to be sent back down several weeks later. In 10 games Sipp has gone 0-0 with a 3.12 ERA.

Smith went on the DL back on April 29th with a strained right rotator cuff. Hopeing to be a key role in the Indians bullpen this year he has yet to get on track. The first year Indian suffered a viral infection in early spring training which did not help, then once the season began it was as if he never showed up. The righty pitched in 8 games throwing 6 1/3 innings giving up 7 hits and 6 runs (7.11 ERA). I've seen him pitch a couple times down in Columbus and he looked good both times. In his most resent outing he pitched in 5 scoreless innings giving up 4 hits with 6 strikeouts. Hopefully time is all he needed and will be a much needed boost to the "Pen"

Clippers Clips: "Hypnotized"

There are two things that Columbus Clippers starting shortstop can claim that no other person on the team can....a batting average below .200 and the fact that he is the only white guy on the team, scratch that, in the world that comes up to the plate with rap music. That's right, Andy Cannizaro, the 5'10 170lb number 9 hitter who looks like a mix breed between the bitter beer guy and an umpa lumpa comes to the plate each time when he is up to none other than NOTORIOUS B.I.G's "Hypnotize" That being said, the Clippers took a little bit of what seems like will be A-Can's only clam to fame will ever be, and used it to whoop up on Norfolk on Monday night beating them 16-3. I was truly HYPNOTIZED after this one folks. After getting crushed the last three nights by the Tides, the Clippers took one out on starting pitcher Radhames Liz. Although the right hander threw some gas topping out in the high 90's. As they say.... "the faster it comes in the faster it goes out!" Just ask Matt Laporta who went 3 for 4 hitting a blast off Liz in the 2nd inning. Also looking good tonight were Andy Marte going 3 for 5 and Jordan Brown going 2 for 3. As a matter of fact the Clips did so well tonight that Cannizaro even went 2 for 5, but don't worry his average is still under .200, finishing the evening at .197. Maybe he will drink a few Keystone Lights tonight and erase that face

Notables in this game were Travis Hafner and pitcher Joe Smith. Hafner who went 1 for 4 had two things going for him. Number one he looked really good in his uniform tonight, and number two he swung the bat with some authority. I was really impressed with his warm up swings in the on deck circle. In one of his warm up swings he took it deep, it look to me like it would have been a Home Run (more importantly he seemed not to strain or pull anything). Anyhow, I am sure he will be back up to Cleveland any day now. Joe Smith also made his first appearance in his rehab assignment. Although he did not look as good as Hafner in his uniform (not as muscley), he looked pretty good having only faced 4 batters and giving up one hit. The MPH sign on the scoreboard said he maxed out at 93mph however from my vantage point it looked closer to 94.

Jack Cassel started for the Clippers throwing 5 shutout innings before giving up 2 runs in the 6th and 1 more in the 7th. As mentioned earlier, Joe Smith threw to four batters in the 8th and then Blaine Neal came in for the save in the ninth, shutting the door the only way he knows how. All in all, the Clips were running on all cylinders tonight. The win brings Columbus back to .500 with a 26-26 record which oddly enough keeps them in first place of the God awful International West Division. Let's tip our cap and chug another Stone for ole' Cannizaro, every AAA club needs a guy like him!

Transaction Update: Tony Sipp gets recalled from Columbus

Tony Sipp was recalled today, as Rafael Betancourt was placed on the 15 Day DL. Raffy's groin injury will probably shelve him for 2-4 weeks, adding him to the list never-ending long list of disabled Indians. Their 8 man infirmary (Sizemore, Scott Lewis, Laffey, Reyes, Joe Smith, Hafner, Westbrook and Betancourt) is the second most behind Tampa Bay's league leading 9.

Since being in Columbus, the T-Train was 1-0 was a 4.15 ERA in 9 games. He has already pitched 6 1/3 innngs for the Tribe this year with a 4.26 ERA. It will be interesting to see who will be pitching the 8th inning for the Tribe, as Betancourt (although shaky sometimes) was the most reliable pitcher out of the pen. IT will be probably based on match ups with Sipp and Rafael Perez being the lefties, and Matt Herges and Luis Vizcaino being the righties. As long as Sipp doesn't totally implode, he should be on the roster for the remainder of the season.

LaPorta, Valbuena, Barfield called up, Crowe, Graffanino sent down, Smith to DL. Holy Crap!

I am thoroughly shocked by this news. For an organization that usually waits too long to shake up a club and call up rookies, they did the complete opposite. Recent acquisitions Matt LaPorta (.333 avg, .414 obp, 1.054 OPS in Columbus), and Luis Valbuena (.321 avg, .436 obp, .975 ops) are two potential keys to the Tribe's future and will probably see a bit of playing time over the next 2 weeks. LaPorta, the key player acquired in the CC Sabathia trade, will platoon at DH and in left. Valbuena, the young infielder brought here from Seattle in the Franklin Gutierrez deal, will take the role as a super utility guy able to play second, shortstop and third. With all of the Super 2 talk with LaPorta, I am very surprised, but not shocked. This may just be a few week audition for him as if he struggles, he can go back down and still stay under the service time threshold. Barfield will fill in as a pinch runner, late inning defensive replacement who will be eventually be sent down again when Jamey Carroll gets healthy.

Trevor Crowe struggled a bit in his first taste of the big leagues, hitting .182 in 33 at bats but displayed solid glove work and speed. He still looks outmatched at the plate, so playing everyday in Columbus will be a positive. Graffanino on the other hand was terrible, batting .130 in 23 at bats. Friday may have been the last day of major league ball for Tony, and he should be proud of his solid career. Joe Smith was a bit of a surprised, but his 7.11 era may have been a strong indicator. He didn't throw a whole lot in Spring Training so the Indians will ease him back to the pen. As for the relief corps, it now stands at Kobayashi, Perez, Chulk, Sipp, Lewis, Betancourt and Wood. Besides, Wood and Sipp (3 IP) the rest looks pretty scary. There is not much more down in Triple A to help so look for a possible trade or a guy from Double A shooting on up to the show (Pestano, maybe even Hector Rondon?). Hmmm.

Not to say I called the players who should be called up yesterday and they were, but someone has to pat themselves on the back. It might as well be me.

Wraping up Arizona: Spring Training Reflections

As the Tribe officially moves out of their home away from home in Goodyear and on to two meaningless paid exhibition games with the Houston Astros, it is time to take a look back of the long adventure that was Cleveland Indians Spring Training. With the second installment of the WBC this season, the Cactus League was extended by two weeks and many, many games. The pitchers "got their work in". The position players "took it a day at a time". And manager Eric Wedge used countless other analogies to describe baseball games in March that don't count. Here were some of the highlights and low lights of the Spring that was...

Lowlights:

Cliff Lee's 12.46 ERA.

I never know how to judge a pitcher in exhibition baseball. Are they working on certain pitches? Is the Arizona air misrepresenting the flight of the hit baseballs? Do the pitchers really try? Besides one solid outing against the Rockies (6IP, 2ER), Clifton was shelled, but he wasn't the only one. Wedge opinioned about the pitching in general here. A few of his starts he was apparently just working on spotting his fastball, while others he said he just didn't have it. Lee seems to be the kind of guy who really gets focused on each and every start through scouting and mental preparation, so obviously his normal in season routine is fairly different. I am not too worried about Cliff, just a bit concerned especially when he has his first start in the band box that is The Ballpark at Arlington.

Shin Soo Choo .118 batting average.

Choo was gone for three weeks of camp due to the glorified exhibition that was the WBC. Even though his actual at bats were of more significance than a normal Cactus League game, they were far to infrequent. When Choo experienced some tightness in his left arm (where he had Tommy John surgery), the Indians asked the Korean team to use him strictly at DH. That seems to have made the right fielder a bit rusty, making mental mistakes out in the field and over swinging on high fastballs. Choo should be fine, but don't be surprised to see him sitting a few days a week against left handers in favor of rookie Trevor Crowe.

Masa Kobayashi 12.27 ERA in 11 innings.

When a soft tossing reliever can't keep his 85 MPH down in the zone, it may be time for his team to move on from said pitcher. Masa has been a disaster this spring, basically supplying batting practice for the various teams out in Arizona. If he wasn't on the hook for more than $3 million this season, he would have been jettisoned just like Tomo Ohka earlier in March. The way Wedge has been describing Kobayashi in the media ("Masa's pitches were flat and up," ) I wouldn't think it would take too many more clunkers to have him jettisoned off the club. The pen seems pretty solid with Wood, Perez, Lewis, Smith, and Betancourt. The other two roles may be a revolving door most of the season.

Highlights:

Mark DeRosa .367 batting average, 3 HR, 9 RBI.

Another WBC casualty, DeRosa was able to make an impact in limited time (30 AB) spent in Goodyear. He also led Team USA in RBI's, where he played like 5 positions. The former Cub has assimilated himself to the club very nicely and has immediately become a big threat in the 2 hole this season. This will provide much needed protection to Grady Sizemore in the order. In only a few weeks with his new mates, DeRosa has become a team leader and eventual fan favorite. Cubs fans sure were.

Kerry Wood/Rafael Perez/Jensen Lewis/Joe Smith Combined ERA 1.87 in 33 2/3 IP, 37 K's

If these guys pitch like this in the regular season, the Indians will be in contention all year. Newcomers Wood (0 ER in 6 IP) and Smith (12 K's in 7 2/3 IP) look like excellent acquisitions, while Perez (3.00 ERA, 9 K's in 9 IP) and Lewis (1.64 ERA, 10 K's in 11IP) picked up where they left off last season. Normally relief pitchers feed off of one anothers' success so hopefully their performances will spill into the regular season. Guys like Jackson and Kobayashi won't be relied upon as much and the fans can start putting last seasons' bullpen from hell out of their memories forever.

Trevor Crowe .304 batting average, 7 stolen bases, eventual David Dellucci Replacement.

With David Dellucci and his 3 year $11 million dollar contract hovering over the Indians like a buzzard, it was nice to see a guy go out and really compete for an outfield spot who has more than one discernible skill. The former first rounder and top prospect amassed 56 at bats this spring and played all three outfield positions very well. Double D will start the season on the 15 DL with probable time spent in Columbus, opening up a roster spot for some new blood. Nothing against The Looch, but with the current make up of the corner outfield having question marks, a guy like him with his skill set (left handed pinch hitter) does not fit well on this current club. If Crowe hits, runs, and hustles like he did in Arizona, he will find himself on the roster as a guy who can play center field, switch hit, and run. Look for Trevor to play a few times a week also.

Many other positives (Young guys in Columbus, steady Grady, Victor, Fausto) came out of camp as well as other questions (Scott Lewis' last 2 starts, Shoppach's K's, fielding issues) popped up as well. The team as a whole hit extremely well and pitched pretty poorly. The only real answers will come as the season plays out an Opening Day begins a new year of baseball. Cliff Lee takes on Kevin Millwood Monday, finally putting to rest all of the reflections, prognostications, and hyperbole. Let's PLAY BALL already

Franky G, Frankly Gone

Ken Rosenthal and Anthony Castrovince are reporting that the Mets, Mariners, and Indians have consummated a 12 player deal...

The Mets are working to acquire a setup man for new closer Francisco Rodriguez — and that setup man would be another closer from the American League West.
J.J. Putz could be headed to the Mets in a three-team trade with the Mariners and Indians, according to major-league sources.
Under terms of the deal, the Mets would get Putz, outfielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green from Seattle. The Mariners would receive reliever Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez and first baseman Mike Carp from the Mets. They'd also get Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians and minor leaguers. The Indians would get reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and infielder Luis Valbuena from Seattle.
From the Mets' perspective, the deal would be Heilman and Smith for Putz. Chavez and Reed would be an exchange of backup outfielders, Smith and Green an exchange of right-handed groundball specialists.

Joe Smith player profile here

Luis Valbuena player profile here

Although I believe Franklin Gutierrez is probably one of the best defensive outfielders I have ever seen play for the Tribe, this trade seems to be pretty solid. Gutierrez was a man without a role on this team, but don't count out Franky G from possibly making an impact someday soon. Most fans may easily forget how great he played in the second half of 2007, eventually showing his struggles in the ALCS (sans a homerun at Fenway in Game 2). Tribe Times will miss Frank and wish him all the best!

Joe Smith pitched in an astounding 82 games last year and posted a solid 3.55 era. Seems odd that the Mets would deal such a solid reliever, but now adding Putz as a setup man for K-Rod seems like quite an eighth and ninth inning tandem. Even better news is that now two dominate AL closers have jumped ship to the National League, while the Indians are close to nabbing a stud of their own in Kerry Wood. Pairing Smith with Wood, along with Lewis, Perez, Betancourt, Kobayashi, and possibly Adam Miller immediately makes the 2009 bullpen extremely deep and miles ahead of last years gas can of a relief corps.

I honestly had never heard of Luis Valbuena before this past hour, but he seems pretty similar to a certain Venezuelan middle infielder Cleveland acquired from the Mariners a few years back (Asdrubal Cabrera). Some talk out of Seattle suggested that he would be in the mix as the Mariners starting second baseman in 2009, so I imagine he will me in the mix here as well. To net a solid bullpen arm and a marginal prospect for essentially a fourth outfielder seems to be another solid move by Shapiro, Antonetti and the gang. More moves to come I imagine as the Rule 5 draft kicks of Thursday. Hooray for Activity!

Castrovince Update:

UPDATE No. 2 (11:50 p.m. ET): Holy Lord, this thing just keeps growing. It's actually a 12-player swap, and it does involve other Minor Leaguers. Nobody from the Indians, though.
In addition to the players previously mentioned, the M's are getting right-hander Maikel Cleto, left-hander Jason Vargas and outfielder Ezekiel Carrera from the Mets.
Wow.