Eyes wide shut

Not much but more losing has been happening for the Tribe lately, so sorry about the lack of posts. I just started a new job last week and will need to budget my time better to post for the site. The Indians have also made it difficult due to the fact that they stink and are muddling through the season with very few changes. Losing 3 out of 4 to the Mariners is more of the same for the team, as the offense looks as lifeless as the pitching. Most of the Indians's potential moves (Trade of Lee, Martinez, Garko, Peralta) has been discussed at nausea here and various other sites. Until a deal is made or some younger prospects (we all know the names) are called up, the season has become a giant yawn. Cliff Lee's starts are about all that is worth watching anymore, and he will probably be dealt within a year. Personally, I try and catch a few innings when I can, but as a diehard fan, I even have trouble watching this debacle of a season.

I went to the game Saturday and it was just really boring to watch. Between Martinez and Choo struggling and Hafner being a shell of his former self, it is just frustrating to watch. Even though old Tomo pitched well, he is not an option for 2010 and should not be on this roster any longer. Let's see what talent the Indians can build on for the next 70 this season to see if contenting in 2010 is a reality. So from now on, look for posts revolving more around prospects, transactions, and overall synopsises rather than series recaps. I look forward to Shapiro and company moving forward with some minor league talent rather than watching guys like Garko, Francisco, and Shoppach being "showcased."

Odds and Ends

The Tribe is 2-2 over the past 4 games, which is actually a slight improvement. They took the three game series against the Oakland A's, which was a nice change of pace. Yesterday's game was more of the same, as new Indians Chris Perez and Winston Abreu helped to give up 9 runs in 2 innings. Random thoughts from a horrible season.

• Eric Wedge and his staff got the dreaded vote of confidence from GM Mark Shapiro Sunday. The team promptly lost the next two games. I don't think Eric will be back in 2010.


• Shin Soo Choo has been on fire the past few days, and has played like an All-Star. Seems to be one of the position players the team can build around.


• Victor Martinez is in a huge slump. Hopefully he it is just one of those baseball things and not him being frustrated with the results of the club this season.


• Trading a 24 year old struggling reliever (John Meloan) for another bullpen retread (Winston Abreu) looks like a horrible trade and makes absolutely no sense at all.


• Putting Chris Perez in a bases loaded situation in only his third game when he plunked two White Sox batters in his first game as an Indian was just a bad idea. Put him in spots where he can gain confidence instead of throwing him into the fire.


• Fausto Carmona and Rafael Betancourt are close to returning to the Indians, probably after the All-Star break. Carmona needs to find his control and help stabilize the rotation. Betancourt will help the pen, but also may be trade bait.


• Jeremy Sowers 5 and fly starting pitching dance is nearing an end. He has proved himself unable to be a consistent major league starter. It is time to try him as a long reliever in the bullpen.

The beat goes on for the beaten Tribe. A few roster moves not posted have happened, as Matt Herges was designated for assignment over the weekend to make room for the amazing Winston Abreu. Also, Rafael Perez and his gas can were sent to Columbus to make room for the return of Aaron Laffey.

"This one's for the Birds"

So far the entire 2009 season has been for the birds. Last night the Indians defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3 in the bottom of the 10th making this game definitely "For the Birds" If you follow the Tribe you have probably realized that Progressive Field seems to be the Noah's Ark of of Baseball Stadiums. Whether it's bugs, bees, or birds, it always seems like the players are competing for space out there with creatures of nature. Last night was a special case in which the Indians won with the assist of....non other than a Lake Erie Gull. With Mark DeRosa on second and Victor Martinez on first, Shin-Soo Choo came up to the plate after going 0 for a million in this series and lined a single into center field. Just as Coco Crisp was about to make a play on the ball one of the famous gulls that was getting an up front and personal seat to the game decided to make the play instead. You could see the ball just ricochet right off the little guy giving the ball just enough movement to make Crisp miss the ball. That being said DeRose scores easily from second and...THE INDIANS WIN, THE INDIANS WIN! (actually it really was not that dramatic as DeRosa would have scored even if Crisp would have fielded the ball cleanly)


Although the Tribe won last night which was good as they won their second series in a row there were a couple things that I kind of scratched my head on last night...I know you all care about my comments so I will share them with you. The first being that on Wednesday, when Cleveland Indians beat writer Anthony Castrovince wrote an article about the managers' lineup card. Castro reported that Eric Wedge was really coming around to liking Jhonny Peralta playing third and thought that Luis Valbuena was a good fit at shortstop, at least while Asdrubal Cabrera was out.

After watching the starting lineup take the field, where does Jhonny go, but to shortstop. I understand that Carroll had the night off but come on, put Jhonny over at third, let Valbuena play short and put DeRosa at second. Wedge just got done saying that Peralta seemed to be coming around at third and needs more time there to get comfortable. Besides it is not like DeRosa doesn't know how to play second as he played there all last year. OK, enough venting....I am sure others out there will disagree with me. I guess I just got upset when DeRosa made his 132 error last night on a play that my grandma could have made.

I can't stand Ben Francisco. In the bottom of the 3rd the score was 0-0 with one out and Luis Valbuena was on third base. B-Franc had an 3-0 count and he swings at the next pitch fouling off to the catcher. WHY!! I listed to Manning on STO and he agreed with it but I thought it was stupid. First of all, it is 3-0 and second of all you got DeRosa, Martinez and Choo coming up....and just for craps and giggles, third of all you have Zack Greinke pitching and you are probably not going to get a hit anyway. I agree if you are a good hitter and it is 3-0 count then by all means you have the green light but Francisco is not a good hitter. He either hits a home run or does nothing. Case in point ol' Benny boy swung and popped up to the catcher...NICE. If he would have walked, then it would have been first and third, and then he would have moved to second when DeRosa walked. Now when Martinez singles we score two runs instead of one. I realize that anything can happen and if he did get a hit or sacrifice Valbuena in then it would have been a great call. Furthermore, I am not much of a stat guy, but my stats in my head were saying statistically, Ben is terrible and that was a dumb decision. They won the game, but he needs to show more patience, especially hitting in the leadoff position.


This game was for the birds, literally. More flying creatures are scheduled to invade Progressive Field this weekend, with the St. Louis Cardinals headed into town for a three game series. Let's try and make it 3 series wins in a row.

Pronk Returns, Carmona sent WAY Down!

As speculated yesterday, Fausto Carmona has been sent down to the minors, but to Rookie ball down in Arizona. This is pretty telling, demonstrating how far Fausto has fallen. I imagine they will be able to keep better track of him down there with all of the new technology and the club will probably send special instructors (Tim Belcher, Jason Bere) to monitor his progress. Look for Carmona to be "working on things" for a minimum month time period. It looks like Tomo Ohka will be the new addition to the rotation, just hopefully on a 1-2 start basis until Aaron Laffey and Jake Westbrook return. Travis Hafner returns, which will help out the beleaguered lineup even if he only able to play 4-5 times a week. It will also take some pressure off of Shin Soo Choo, as he is more of an 5-7 hitter anyways. The DiaTribe has some good lineup solutions today for our Wahoos, so make sure to check it out.The Indians take on the White Sox this weekend in Chi-Town for a 3-game series.

Tribe Sweeps the Rays; The Evil Empire comes to Town

Well maybe that 10 run comeback may have done something to kick start this team into gear. The Indians are playing there best ball of the season, bailing out 2 bad starts and a rain shortened start with excellent bullpen work and timely hitting. Now only 6.5 games back in the Central, the Tribe will be looking to carry their momentum into their tough upcoming 4 game series against the New York Yankees. But first. let's take a look back..

3 Down

• Grady Sizemore must still be playing with a sore elbow, as he DH'd all four games. He went 4-16 with 3 walks, 2 RBI and 3 doubles. The pop still seems to be in his bat, but his swing seems long at times. I imagine they will leave him at DH until Hafner comes back. Some have speculated that it may be a disabled list situation, but I would be surprised if that happened since he still is playing every day.


• Fausto Carmona looks to be quite lost out on the mound. It seems as if the opposing hitters are just letting his slider go by since it is usually below the knees anyways. If he can't spot his fastball, his walks rise and the innings get longer. There must be something wrong with his delivery too as he seems to be unable to repeat it effectively as the opposing team seems to know what he is about to throw each time. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowed 5 earned runs on 3 hits while walking 5 and striking out three. Fausto needs to straighten things out pretty quickly as the rotation is in need of a third starter to depend on.


• Shin Soo Choo's swing is looking longer and more of an uppercut. He did slug one home run, but went 2-16 in the series and may be in need of a day off against a lefty soon. Choo looked this way for a stretch in early April, but I am sure he will straighten things out as his walks are down too. His pitch selection is off right now and that is a major key in his success at the plate.
  

3 Up

• Jeremy Sowers had a huge hand in allowing the Tribe to claw back into the game Monday. He threw 5 shutout innings while allowing only 3 hits and a walk. Sowers earned the right to get another shot at the rotation Monday, so let's hope he can take advantage of it.


• Ryan Garko started all 4 games of the series and really found a groove, going 6-15, with 3 HR's and 7 RBI. Garko is a player who needs regular AB's to develop his groove at the plate and he seems to be doing just that. You may not see him in the lineup tonight (only if Grady goes back to center), but expect Ryan to get at least 5 starts a week if he is hitting like this.


• Ben Francisco had an outstanding series, playing center field and left while absolutely owning Rays pitcher Andy Sonnanstine. B-Franc went 6-13 with a HR and 5 RBI while single-handidly bringing the club back Wednesday. His career stats against Sonnanstine are video game like, going 8-9 with 5 HR and 12 RBI. The former high school team mates (Francisco/Garko) have found a nice little groove over the past week and that is why I imagine Matt LaPorta was sent down in favor of Trevor Crowe playing the role of 4th outfielder.

The pitching matchups for the weekend are as follows:

Friday Lee vs Pettitte Saturday Carmona vs Sabathia Sunday Pavano vs Hughes Monday Sowers vs Chamberlin.

It will be interesting to see the reaction ole' Carston Charles gets in his homecoming return to the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. If I was going, I would cheer him initially, then boo him mercilessly then after.

Striving for Mediocrity

The Tribe took two out of three from K.C., and salvaged one win over the weekend against the Twins. What does this mean? The Indians are a team in a state of flux. It seems that they can't put any sort of solid baseball together over the stretch of a few games. The starting pitching has been much better over the 6 games, but the hitting has been basically non existent. It will be interesting to see what will happen against Boston and see if the team can turn their game up a notch as the Red Sox are riding a ten game win streak. The weather can't be an excuse this April as it has been gorgeous the past 4 days. More Random Thoughts:

• Tony Sipp was definitely the player of the game yesterday and hit 94 MPH on the gun. I liked his energy coming off the mound after striking out both Morneau and Kubel with the bases loaded. Could be a big add to the pen.


• Another Tony (Graffanino) needs to be sent packing. He is old, slow, and can't hit. If Wedge starts him again I may vomit.


• The last Tony (Anthony Reyes) reminds me of Paul Byrd in that he is an soft tossing escape artist on the mound. If he limits his walks and pitches 6 innings a start, I will be satisfied.


• Masa? More like "No Mas!"


• Asdrubal is just raking right now and it is a good sign that Wedge put him in the number 2 hole. Guys with and OBP above .400 should not be hitting last on a team that struggles to score runs.


• I would play Garko more in Right Field if Choo wasn't so terrible in left.


• Peralta looks more awful than he usually does in April. His vision is still quite good , though.


• Jensen Lewis' season is best described by this picture.


• Matt LaPorta is hitting over .400 in Columbus while Ben Francisco and Trevor Crowe make up a below average platoon out in left. The Indians need to forget all of the Super 2 shenanigans and not worry about his 6th year of arbitration. The guy has 5 dingers and is ripping up AAA. Call him up now, it immediately makes your lineup that much stronger, especially with the Manager resting Hafner so often.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield takes on Cliff Lee tonight as the Indians, 19 games in, have still yet to string 2 consecutive wins together.

No Signs of Relief

The big opening extravaganza that was this weekend in the Bronx has now come and gone and not made me feel any more confident in our Tribe. They did some unbelievable this offensively (one 9 run inning, another 14 run inning), and some unbelievably awful things in relief (3 earned runs allowed Friday, 6 Sunday). The Indians now stand at 4-9, which just looks as bad as it is. They are only 3 1/2 games out of first, with the rest of the division hovering in mediocrity with seven wins apiece. As all Tribe followers are unfortunately aware of, a bad bullpen makes a team excruciatingly tough to watch. The thought of one of the 8 guys trotting out today is going to blow the lead is constantly in your head. Monday brings a much needed day off for the Sons of Geronimo to get out of the circus that is New York and head back to more comfortable 40 degree weather back in Cleveland. Random thoughts from the weekend.

• I think Shin Soo Choo's bat is for real, but his fielding and throwing accuracy is not consistent at all. Wedge needs to leave Choo in Right or at DH as his horrible reaction time and angle to that ball hit by Cody Ransom in the 8th was not good at all.


• Rafael Perez is struggling way too much to be brought in with the Tribe holding only a 2 run lead. I understand it's early and Wedge is trying to get him some confidence, but he has been all over the plate. He needs to be in mop up duty for now.


• His bullpen mate Jensen Lewis has been giving up way too many gopher balls (3). He should figure things out eventually, hopefully soon.


• As it stands now, the manager has exactly two bullpen arms he can rely on. Jackson is a long guy, Chulk and Kobayashi are mop up guys. Perez is lost. Lewis and Betancourt have been up and down. Smith has been good but they are afraid to use him against lefties. Wood has been lights out but has only one save and needs someone to step up and bridge the gap to the ninth. If they don't trust Chulk and Kobayashi, get rid of them and get somebody from Columbus (Meloan, Sipp) that may catch fire.


• Hot Carl pitched a great game. Got to give him credit. I think his pitching will remain a rollercoaster, but we shall see.


• Lee and Carmona pitched better, but need to have one of those 7 inning 1-2 run gems to help save the pen.


• Hafner stills seems awkward at the plate, but is producing.


• Graffanino should never recieve more than one start a week.


• That second inning Saturday was one of the most enjoyable innings of baseball I have ever seen.


• That BS Trevor Crowe fan interference call stunk, but DeRosa and Martinez not getting a run home the previous half inning with the bases loaded hurt more.


• The Yankees are overrated and will not make the playoffs in 2009.

The Royals come to town Tuesday to start a 9 game homestand for the Indians. Sidney Ponson vs Aaron Laffey in a 40 degree drizzle will make buying a seat at the Jake pretty easy. How about a 6-3 clip to get the team to a respectable 10-12. I think it can happen. Can it?

Bad Tribe Vibe

There really isn't much worse than watching bad baseball. To sum up the 2009 Cleveland Indians, it is like watching the Oxygen network for 8 straight days. The starting pitching has been terrible, the teams' hitting with runners in scoring position is dreadful, the bullpen has been bad, and the hitters strike out almost every other time at bat. 1-7 looks bad, and the team has probably played worse. A few random thoughts before I fire the remote through my TV.

• The lineup does not look imposing at all


• I don't care if he only gave up 6 runs today, Carl Pavano still sucks


• Rafael Perez caught the WBC disease


• Grady is pressing way too much


• Hafner should not be batting 4th


• Choo should not be batting 4th


• The constant lineup changes may have had a negative effect on this team

The good news is Sidney Ponson is pitching for the Royals tomorrow. It will be Aaron Laffey's first shot in 2009 to stick with the club. I imagine we will see more lineup juggling as well. I keep reminding myself to take a deep breath and remember that only 5% of the season has been played.

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

Trevor Crowe makes the Ballclub! Dellucci to DL

As speculated yesterday, Cleveland Indians rookie outfielder Trevor Crowe will break camp with the big league club. David Dellucci's nagging injuries (thumb, calf) and his one dimensional game (hitting left handed) made the move an easy one for the Tribe. Crowe had a great spring, batting .289 with six stolen bases. His all out hustle and speed will be an added component to the team. Don't expect him to waste away on the bench, because I have a feeling that the skipper will definitely find at bats for him a few times a week to keep Francisco and Choo (maybe even Hafner) fresh. We may fortunately have seen the last of ole' Double D, since he will be out a minimum of two weeks with a Triple A rehabilitation surely to follow. If Crowe rips it up at the major league level and Dellucci is wallowing in mediocrity it Columbus, the Tribe will probably cut bait a la Aaron Fultz last season and eat his robust $4 million dollar contract. 35 year old outfielders who can't field, run, or throw and can barely hit are not much of a hot commodity within baseball in these economic times. David seemed to be a good clubhouse guy, but an albatross out in the field. This move reminds me a bit of when Grady Sizemore was going to be sent down in 2005 in favor of Juan Gonzalez. While Crowe will probably never be Grady, more youth and position flexibility is never a bad thing to have off of your bench. Here is what Wedge had to say about Sizemore back then...

After coming close to not making the team in Spring Training, he stepped into the starting lineup after Juan Gonzalez's injury and made it impossible for manager Eric Wedge to pull him out of the lineup.
"He plays the game hard," Wedge said of Sizemore. "He's plays the game the right way." indians.com

The skipper had high praise for Trevor also...

Crowe played well enough to make the ballclub,'' Wedge said. ''He has every tool that you want to see in a young player

ohio.com

We will have to wait and see how it plays out. Crowe is in the in the lineup for tonights' game against San Diego (televised locally on STO), so it will be interesting to see how he responds to his good fortunes. These roster issues usually seem to work themselves out overtime (Michaels, Borowski, Julio circa 2008) so this move seems to be a positive one. All I know is that I am not upset at the idea of seeing Trevor Crowe get some major league at bats instead of a broken down aging veteran.

Sizemore Conspiracy? Something to Choo on.

Tribe centerfielder Grady Sizeomore was a late scratch from Team USA competing in the World Baseball Classic. A mysterious groin injury occurred last Thursday, and Sizemore and the Indians came to the conclusion that he needed to be shut down for a week and evaluate his health. Now Grady is expected to be back in the lineup Friday to DH. Now I imagine initially Sizemore was pumped to play for his country in this made up exhibition amongst countries. It does seem odd to me that after going 2-3, stealing a base, and then going out to his position in center, he somehow aggravated this nagging groin problem.
I was able to capture video of both hits and his stolen base so make the call with your own eyes.










Guy looked fine to me! Sizemore staying in Goodyear is definitely a good thing for the Indians, so don't confuse these clips with the JFK tapes. With the news of Shin Soo Choo have arm issues out in Korea somewhere, all Tribe fans should be greatful so few of their own players are competing (DeRosa, Perez, Weglarz, Espino are about it for now). This contrived World Cupesque baseball charade needs to either be played in October or not be held at all. The starting pitchers will only really be able to throw 3-5 innings at a maximum, and they will not be at their peak of performance at all. It takes these guys usually all of spring training to get up to the 80-100 pitch level and that long to be at a top velocity as well. I can only imagine the agony tribe fans would be in watching Cliff Lee throw for Team USA or Fausto Carmona pitch for the Dominican Rebublic. A collective sigh would be heard all the way from Ohio every time they left the mound without injury. Hopefully DeRosa will play often enough to stay fresh and not be glued to the bench as a utility guy. Also, say a little prayer that Rafael Perez is conversely not overused as a setup guy for the Dominican team (he pitched 2 innings in an exhibition game already yesterday). The WBC is a joke and another fleeting attempt by Bud Selig to over expose an event (see All-Star game home field advantage fiasco) as a way to prop up baseball for all the wrong reasons.

Wahoo Roundup

Random thoughts from a less than active blogger...

Not much interesting going on with the Tribe, they are battling for last place, their most interesting youngsters are still years away from the bigs, and football season is almost here. It is hard for me to get too involved with this team on a daily basis with updates as it is just not that compelling. When Hafner and Martinez come back, that should infuse my fandom a bit again.

The Paul Byrd trade saved the Indians 2 million dollars, let's see them spend it next year.

Jensen Lewis' velocity is up and is closing now. He looks good, but can he pitch this way in April and May?

The 2009 Tribe thirdbasemen will not be Andy Marte.

Adam Miller will be in the bullpen in the Majors in 2009.

Francisco and Choo are a lock next season, unless one is traded.

Sal Fasano is still awesome.

Two pitchers between Laffey, Sowers, Reyes, and Huff will be in the starting rotation at the start of next year.

Asdrubal is hitting in August, can he hit in April?

Ryan Garko will be on this team next season.

The Kansas City Royals come to town in the battle for the basement tonight.

Indians take 2 out of 3 from Padres, off to Colorado

Winning a series will always bring hope to a struggling team. Winning consecutive series's may unfortunately bring false hope. If the Indians would have went 2-4 or 1-5 over the past homestand, I believe the "trade CC" talk may have been elevated to sooner rather than later. Now that the Tribe is only 5 1/2 games back, I imagine Sabathia will be around until the end of July. This is in no way inferring that I want the Indians to lose. I just think the front office really has no idea what path to take with the remainder of the 2008 season.

If they trade CC, they are telling the fans that they are raising the white flag and giving up. If they keep CC, they risk not getting anything for him besides two first round picks next year which won't help the big club for 4-5 years. Is this team good enough to contend with four of their top six players on the disabled list? My answer is I have no idea. The team has hit better, and I attribute it to Hafner and Martinez being OUT of the lineup. They were obviously hurt and not the best option at their respective positions everyday. Once they were removed, a healthy nine seemed to take pressure off of each other instead of relying on Victor and Travis.

These injuries should ultimately make the rest of the lineup stronger as guys like Francisco, Choo, Shoppach, and Carroll are racking up major innings played and confidence. The way this team is currently constructed, I don't think they can win the AL Central mainly due to the inconsistent bullpen and Jeremy Sowers pitching every fifth day. If I were a betting man, I would wager the CC is an Indian for the rest of the season, due to the fact 2 1st rounders may be more valuable than medium grade prospects and Mark Shapiro relationship with Sabathia. They are very close and I believe Mark may still feel he has a chance to resign him (a pipe dream at best.)

Here were some of the Highlights:

Grady Sizemore: 3-12 3 HR's 4 RBI's. Grady is second in the A.L. with 17 homeruns. He is just mashing right now, but I would keep him in the leadoff spot because, well he likes hitting there. Why mess with a good thing?

Jamey Carroll: 5-12. Scrappy Doo is a solid utility guy, I will have to admit. Now I wouldn't keep him as out starting 2nd Baseman for more than a month, but he is playing extremely well.

Shin Soo Choo: 3-10, 3 RBI's. I like Choo as a platoon option in right and DH. He drives the ball pretty wll and has a good approach. I don't think he will ever be an everyday guy, but a very useful 4th outfielder on a contending club.

CC Sabathia: 8 IP, 3 earned runs, 10 K's. The hefty lefty pitched another gem. Every time out he has been outstanding, increasing his trade and free agent value along the way.

Areas of Concern:

Jeremy Sowers: 4 1/3 IP, 9 Hits, 4 earned runs. Now I know he had to sit for like 3 hours during Friday's rain delay, but don't you just have the feeling he is nothing better than an average 5th starter? He is a guy who relies on hitting spots, so when he doesn't, he immediately becomes batting practice. Looking forward to Fausto coming back sooner rather than later.

Edward Mujica: 1 IP, 3 hits, 2 Walks, 5 earned runs. He just plain sucks, always has, always will.

Ben Francisco's Defense: He looked like he was getting better in spring training but he has seemed to regress. He is adequate at best in left, and a total nightmare in right. He sure can mash, though.

Jhonny Peralta's eye commercials: No one will go and get Laser eye suregery at the Cole eye institute of the Cleveland Clinic off of Mr. Peralta's recommendation. He claims he see better than 20/20 now. I would prefer him batting better than .220.

More interleague play for the Tribe as we get to watch Paul Byrd bat tonight! Woo Hoo! He takes on Colorado Rockies' ace Scott Reynolds. At least Scott believes he is an ace.

Tribe Splits with Tigers

You win one, you lose one. That has been the theme of the Tribe for about one month. The Indians latest series split with the Tigers was nothing spectacular, just the same old story that has been told all season long. Spotty hitting and a shotty bullpen has been popping up all year long. The total self-destruction of Dontrelle Willis also aided in the series split, as he was downright horrible Monday. The Tribe again attempts to win its second game in a row since May 15th.

Here were some of the Highlights:

Ryan Garko: 3-12, 2 HR, 7 RBI. At least someone in the order is driving in some runs finally.

Shin Soo Choo: 3-7. I like his bat, his defense is not too great. His best fit is as a platoon player.

Paul Byrd: 7 IP 4 Hits, 2 earned runs, 0 Walks, 2 K's. Paulie is a gamer.

Cliff Lee: 5 IP, 6 Hits, 2 earned runs, 2 Walks, 5 K's. Cliff is now 10-1 and one of the few bright spots on this team.

Franklin Gutierrez: Made an unbelievable catch on Sunday to save Betancourt from serving up yet another homerun. His defense is outstanding, but his bat seems to be just average.

Areas of Concern:

Rafael Betancourt: (Saturday) 1 IP, 4 earned runs, 1 Grand Slam. Killed the potential winning streak Saturday, I sure miss the 2007 version of Raffey. CONQUEST!!!

Ben Francisco: 1-14 4 K's. Benny cooled off considerably over the weekend, as did the rest of the offense. Has real trouble with the outside fastball. If he can start seeing and taking that pitch the other way, he could be even more dangerous.

Jeremy Sowers: 4 IP, 7 Hits, 5 earned runs, 2 Walks, 2 K's. Never had any flow to the game, his long 7 day layoff from his previous start in Buffalo may have got to him.

2008 Season: Slowly slipping away as the Indians are 8 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox.

The Minnesota Twins invade Progressive Field Tuesday as Scott Baker takes on CC Sabathia.

Pronk to DL, Choo to the Rescue

Friday the Indians placed Designated Hitter Travis Hafner on the 15 day DL with a shoulder injury. Hafner should be out for at least a month due to interleague play coming up in the middle of the month. This is the best case scenario for Hafner, as he has struggled all year. Hopefully he can heal and straighten out these massive batting struggles. Shin Soo Choo is back, and will be added to the various platoons going on throughout the lineup. We will get to see what type of hitter he is as he will be used 3 or 4 times a week. With Victor Martinez continuing his own personal power outage, the middle of the lineup looks bleak. Still the team is only 5 games out, so who knows.

Not So Indian Summer

I will not be doing a recap of the Rangers series because who really wants to discuss anything about this lifeless team anyways. The Indians are a bad baseball team right now in need of some help. Minor league moves like promoting Shin Soo Choo or Josh Barfield will not do the trick. Some sort of impact bat is needed for the immediate future to help ignite the smoldering offense. With Travis Hafner sucking and now apparently having some sort of shoulder injury, the middle of the order has no power threat whatsoever. You may say, "Jhonny Peralta has 10 homers!" He also has driven in only 7 runners besides himself. The stat line of 10 HR, 17 RBI looks video game-esque.

The Tribe still has a pretty deep minor league system, especially when it comes to pitching. I would hope GM Mark Shapiro would stop sitting on his hands and make the impact trade for major league talent that he has yet to make in his seven years as general manager. They can ill afford to be afraid of dealing a potential top prospect anymore, this team is on the cusp of disaster.

I really do feel for Eric Wedge. People can blame him for lineup issues or relief pitching matchups, but really what can he do at this point? With the extreme lack of clutch hitting, it taxes the bullpen and starters. The pitchers can't give up any runs or the game is over. He could pull a Jim Leyland and swear up a storm, but that would go against everything Wedge's character as manager.

Mark Shapiro and company must let the fans know what their focus is for the rest of 2008 and beyond. GM speak is getting old quickly, so if he feels that this year may be a bust, then it his duty to cut bait (trade CC, Byrd, Blake) and focus on the future.

If I were GM for a day...

Just when you think things can't get any worse, they are. The Indians 7-2 loss to the first place White Sox was there fifth in a row, slipping two games under .500. Since the majority of the Indians offense was produced by Ben Francisco and Michael Aubrey, both minor league call ups, these are some of the moves I think Shapiro should make over the next few days.

Send down Asdubal Cabrera and call up Josh Barfield. Now I know J-Barf hasn't exactly been tearing up Buffalo, but Cabrera looks totally lost at the plate, almost hoping for a walk. Barfield cannot possibly due worse, since his .177 batting average places him 90th out of the 90 eligible batters in the AL, 23 points behind 89th place Robinson Cano (.200).

Cut Craig Breslow and activate JoeBo. Although I cringe every time Borowski toes the mound, Breslow has no role on this team and has shown nothing. Need to keep as many hitters on the roster as possible.

Cut Jorge Julio and bring up Adam Miller. With Jorge arguing and shouting at Victor Martinez tonight, get him out of here, he is a stiff. Miller has been lights out in Buffalo and would bring some excitement to a dull team when he pitches.

Trade Paul Byrd to the Braves for infield hitting prospect. Byrd is a gamer and a great clubhouse guy, but he has some value to teams in contention. Paul is a free agent next year, so we may have to pick up some of his salary. Thanks for being a gamer Paulie, it is time for a youth movement.

Cut Andy Marte, activate Jake Westbrook. Marte is a corpse on the bench of the Indians. He is only 24 but his best days will not happen in a Tribe uniform.

Cut David Dellucci and bring up Shin Soo Choo. Choo is raking in Buffalo, Dellucci is who he is. Eat his contract and cut bait.

These moves won't make the lineup menacing, but it may give this team a spark it so desperately needs. The roster changes also may send a message to the team that complacency is not tolerated.

*Note: I know this moves can't all happen in a day, but a fan can dream.

Tribe adds pitcher to 40 Man Roster, Oneli Perez

The Cleveland Indians claimed relief pitcher Oneli Perez off of waivers from the Chicago White Sox. In 14 appearances at Triple A Charlotte, the 25 year old Perez went o-1 with a 9.53. (eesshh). Shapiro and the gang must like something about him to give the guy a trial run for a week or two until Shin Soo Choo comes back from his rehab assignment. Not player was needed to be dropped since the team DFA'd Jason Tyner Friday. I know absoulutely nothing about old Oneli, except by the picture to the left he seems to like children, mascots, and blondes.

Left (out) field

Today, Paul Hoynes reported that teams have been asking about certain Indians outfielders. With the way Ben Francisco has hit pretty much throughout spring training and his minor league career, one would assume he would be on the 25 man roster. Indians Manager Eric Wedge has had encouraging things to say about Francisco, but the conversations usually end with Wedge saying he needs to work on his defense. What Wedge really means is Ben has an option and the Indians have two veterans and a 3rd base project blocking his way to the majors. The intrigue will be if Shapiro pulls the trigger on trading Jason Michaels to create room for a David Dellucci/Ben Francisco platoon. Wedge loves his veterans, so there may be some confrontation on this issue. Dellucci is virtually untradeable having 2 years and $7 + million left on his deal. Also entering the crowded ring in May will be Shin-Soo Choo coming off of Tommy John surgery. He is out of options so a decision will have to be made rather quickly, similar to the Marte situation now.

Exiting Michaels may be the best alternative instead of waiting around for an injury or experiencing substandard corner outfield production. These sort of issues have conveniently sorted them selves out for the tribe, though, over the past year. The bullpen last year started off with hillbilly Jason Davis and El guapo Roberto Hernandez. Davis was out of options and successfully pitched himself off the team. Hernandez was flat out terrible, so in came Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis. Dellucci got hurt and Nixon was garbage, so the Tribe inserted Franklin Guitierrez and traded for the ageless Kenny Lofton. The play on the field sorted out the lineup for Wedge, eventually placing Michaels on the bench in the playoffs next to him. Michaels is a useful player, but so much as to block potential offense firepower the Indians may need in a beefed up AL Central.