Tribe Fan in Yankeeland

Battered and frustrated, Tribe heads into break with lots to do

2009-07-11T21:41:00.010-04:00

Ahhh, the All-Star break.

Where does the time go?

Seems like only about six years ago the Tribe began the season (with a loss) in Texas, and now, here we are, already at the break.

And if a team ever needed the break, this one does.

If a fan base ever needed a break, this one clearly does.

Many of the more casual fans have moved on to other pursuits, but if you are still reading a blog about the Tribe (or, say, writing one) you definitely need some time off.

Eric Wedge has gone off on his club - uncharacteristically so - about a half dozen times in public. Who knows how many times he's done so without reporters around.

The tension seems to be getting very much thicker among the players as well.

Take Friday night for instance. Cliff Lee, who, to his credit, has sucked up agonizing defeat after agonizing defeat this season, could barely hold back the anger he must be feeling about a team that seems to go to sleep on him nearly every time he pitches. Friday, Lee pitched 7 innings, allowing 3 runs. The Tribe managed 1 run for him. After the game he didn't seem too happy, at least in this quote of him in a PD story.

"Print the same thing I said the last time. It's the same story."

Lee also was apparently irked by Ryan Garko's failure to catch a line drive down the right field line - good for two runs. Again according to the PD, Lee was asked if he thought the ball should have been caught:

"Do you? I don't pass judgment on that. I throw the pitches. Where it goes it goes. It's not up to me to move the outfielders or infielders. All I do is pitch. It did seem like it was in the air a long time. I don't know if they had him shaded the other way or what. You'd have to ask him or Wedgie."

Which is exactly what the press corps did.

Garko, also showing he may be reaching a boiling point, took offense to the questioning:

"Sometimes I think because it's me, I don't make a play, and it becomes a big deal. If [Shin-Soo] Choo's out there, it's a double and it doesn't become an issue. I got a good jump on the ball, went all out. I just didn't make the play."

If I may interject here. It is true that a big deal is made out of it because it is you Ryan. And rightly so. Even the most casual fan can see you are not an outfielder and people criticize not you and your willingness to take on this new challenge but your manager who should also be able to see that a guy with your plodding foot speed should not be playing in the outfield at all, let alone one the size of the outfield in Detroit.

After coming out of the game, Lee could be seen on the bench chatting (mutually muttering, apparently in agreement) with Victor Martinez, a teammate with whom Lee has had at least one public run in.

Friday the two seemed to be sharing their frustrations about the way the team goes about its business.

Victor, in fact, seems to have been in a funk now for about a month - about the same amount of time his BA has been dropping like a rock.

It's a chicken-egg thing going on.

Is Victor frustrated because of his deep and lengthy slump, or is his BA melting away because of his frustration with teammates who don't seem to be really into what they're doing?

Purely a guess on my part, but from what I hear and read about Martinez, I'd say his offense has fallen victim to his frustration boiling over, and not the other way around.

Perhaps the best thing for the guys on the team is that they get away and not see each other's faces for three days.

AFTER THE BREAK

After everyone has had a few days to simmer down, it will be time to get back to work.

The first thing Wedge has to do is get the following notion out of his head:

“We’re a long shot. I understand that. But this is a crazy game. Stranger things have happened. Just look at some of the comebacks in September, let alone with more than two months to play.”

He said that? He really did! Or at least the Beacon Journal's Indians blog Tribe Matters said that he said it.

In another - more coherent - moment, Wedge talked about being vigilant about keeping on top of guys who just might find themselves, shall we say, motivationally challenged in a meaningless second half.

“I think you have to have a heightened awareness of that in the situation we’re in."

Okay, so maybe he isn't delusional after all.

The Tribe Matters post goes on to talk about how Wedge and the brain trust must continue to evaluate what they have in the remaining months, but then focuses on Ben Francisco and the aforementioned Garko, saying Tribe officials don't seem to have made a final decision on them and their abilities.

Let me save you some time.

You get offered anything more valuable than a bag of balls for Francisco prior to July 31, you take it. He's a backup outfielder. No more. No less.

Garko has proven (despite his protestations of being judged too harshly) over the past several years that he is a decent DH. Period. At least on a team that has several options at 1B. And as everyone who watches the team seems to agree (except for Wedgie), he is not an outfielder. There's no way for me to know this, but I get the feeling Garko is fed up with being something less than one of Wedgie's favorites and, unless there's a change in managers at the end of the season (a likely scenario), he would just as soon be playing somewhere else. He should be accommodated.

Shapiro should also be looking to dump a few others in the weeks ahead - starting with Jhonny Peralta.

Peralta has turned out to be a decent 3B. He's much better there than at SS, even though he refuses to see it. As for his attitude, which has shown itself to be less than stellar in the past, he seems to be in an even worse place this season - the switch to 3B the likely culprit. The move was good enough for A-Rod and for Cal Ripken, but not Jhonny Peralta!

A perhaps more valuable piece for a contender would be Jamey Carroll, since he has a good attitude and some versatility. He's also used to performing off the bench. The Tribe might be able to get a decent prospect for him.

Contenders can always use another arm.

You have to assume Carl Pavano will pull a Kevin Millwood. That is, take advantage of the Tribe's need for bargain-basement pitching options to re-establish his career, then take off for the biggest bucks after the season. So you might as well get something for him now.

Raffie Betancourt - and his option of nearly $5 mil for next year - should be shopped if he proves himself healthy over the next few weeks.

Joe Smith? Not sure if the Mets shipped us the right Joe Smith, but the one wearing the Tribe uniform currently would not be missed.

Which brings us to Kerry Wood. I am still of the notion that his ineffectiveness this season is due to rust. The Tribe has no need for a closer this year, but we can hope and pray they will need one next season. Why go through the whole closer hunt again this off-season? I would keep him, but I think there's a decent chance he will be traded. The Yankees need a bridge to the 9th. They could care less about the $10 mil they'd have to pay him next year. And who knows when Mariano Rivera's wizardry might give out. Wood could be an insurance policy if age catches up to Rivera next season.

In the 'good luck with that one' department, Kelly Shoppach should be on the "get-rid-of" list. I doff my cap to those who clamored for the Tribe to sell high on Shoppach last winter. I thought he might be capable of being an everyday player, which would allow Victor to save his body at 1B. I thought wrong. Unless someone's starting catcher goes down, I can't see anyone giving up much for Shoppach.

There are three other names on the deadwood list - Winston Abreu, Jose Veres and Tomo Ohka. Since they would bring nothing in return, they might as well be kept around until all the trading dust settles and the Tribe checks out its hand. If they have enough MLB-ready players to go around, they should dump the trio. If not, they're warm bodies to play out the string.

Two things the Tribe should NOT do before July 31 - trade Lee and Martinez. There has to be something to start with when putting together next year's team. Neither guy breaks the bank in their option year. They both seem to give a damn about winning and losing and trading them would mean the turnstiles getting even more rusty next season.

Which brings us to the guys who need to play in the second half.

It does little good to have Luis Valbuena play every other day. If he's the choice at 2B, let him play. I still think Josh Barfield has talent, but his mind has been fried by the way he was used here, and I don't think he'll make any progress until he goes elsewhere.

Matt LaPorta should be up and playing 1B everyday. Michael Brantley should be up, and playing left field - center when Sizemore needs to rest is elbow.

If Peralta is traded, what harm can come of trying Andy Marte one more time? My guess is he is the classic 4-A player who lacks the confidence to make it over the hump, but there's no harm in giving him one last shot during this lost season.

David Huff must pitch every five days. They need him anyway since the numbers at SP are very thin, but he has shown some flashes of ability as he as pitched more innings (his last outing notwithstanding).

In September, I'd give Hector Rondon about 5 or 6 starts to get his feet wet.

And the Tribe must find a way to get Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona, Jensen Lewis, Raffie Perez and now (apparently) Chris Perez pitching back at their ability levels. I'm not all that optimistic about many of them, but the field staff has to try. And if they can't resurrect these guys, all the more reason to dump the whole staff come October.

Which brings me to the final two things Shapiro must do in the second half - scour the baseball world and come up with a short list to replace Wedge, and polish up his own resume just in case the ownership has the guts to start the management overhaul where it should start, at the top.

Tribe "Quotes of the Day"

2009-07-08T11:32:00.001-04:00

There's nothing really new to say about the Tribe after last night's disaster - which featured the usual middle-inning disappearance by Jeremy Sowers and a huge blowup by the Tribe's two newest relievers, Chris Perez and Winston Abreu.

So I though I'd just have a little fun instead dissecting (alright, taking out of context) some of the quotes from various members of the team after the game and adding the thoughts that were going through my head as I read each one.

From various articles in the Plain Dealer and on Cleveland.com:

Tribe pitching coach Carl Willis on starting three straight, and very similar, lefties against the White Sox:

"We've got four lefties in the rotation. It's hard to break them up." Can't argue with the math.

"At the break, we'll put the rotation back together." All the king's horses and all the king's men...

"I think a lot of teams would like to have four good left-handed starters." I'm sure the Tribe would like four good ones as well.

Eric Wedge on his choice of poison in the sixth inning as Jeremy Sowers was melting down again.

"Normally, in that situation, you give a guy a chance to get through it. But time and time again he's struggled to get through that so you go to the bullpen and that doesn't work either." No comment necessary.

"We're going to have to see what our options are with Jeremy." Firing squad anyone?

Winston Abreu:

"I threw sliders to Ramirez and Konerko. I tried to throw them down, but they were up. That's baseball. Sometime you do good, sometimes you do bad." Geeze, don't take it so hard Winston.

From MLB.com

(Wedge) "There's never been more opportunity than there is in that bullpen right now, and there's never been more opportunity in our starting rotation than there is right now." Really?

Aaron Laffey on being activated by the Tribe:

"I'm ready for a regular start - something that means something." Join the club Aaron, and 'wait 'til next year.'

Wedged in for the foreseeable future

2009-07-05T19:39:00.006-04:00

Finished up my trip to the home front on the 4th with a visit to the MetroParks Zoo. The last time I was there, my cousin and I were pulling around our now-20-something kids in a red wagon.

I ran into a big flock of seagulls while I was there (non-residents). Apparently they too got bored with the Tribe and are seeking entertainment elsewhere.

I was pretty much incommunicado the whole way home today. Not much in the way of radio in the hinterlands of northern PA.

But when I got home I read the news that Tribe GM Mark Shapiro gave manager Eric Wedge and his coaching staff a public assurance that they will be around 'til the end of the season - at least.

As unwelcome as that might be for many of us, the news was hardly a surprise.

Repeating his oft-stated mantra of the past month or so, Shapiro said that basically everyone in the front office and on the field is responsible for the disaster that is the 2009 Cleveland Indians.

No argument here. And as I've said many times before, we're well past the point where a change of managers might have sparked a rally by the club and a return to the race.

The only good that would come of releasing Wedge and his cronies at this point would be the knowledge that they won't be back next year. With today's announcement, that remains a possibility as Shapiro said the team is still in evaluation mode.

MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince speculates that Wedge's future may be decided less by wins and losses the rest of the way than by his staff's ability to develop the Tribe's many youngsters so they are ready to contribute next year.

If that is the case, I might be calling the realty company right about now if I were Wedge.

The list of current and former Tribesmen who either failed to progress or regressed under the tutelage of Wedge & Co. is long. Here are just a few names;

Fausto Carmona, Raffie Perez, Kelly Shoppach, Josh Barfield, Andy Marte, Jeremy Sowers, Jhonny Peralta, Ben Francisco, Franklin Gutierrez, Brandon Phillips, Jeremy Guthrie, yada yada....

On the plus side we can put Grady Sizemore, Shin-soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez.

Can Wedge and the boys get Fausto straightened by the end of September? Will their new favorite, Luis Valbuena, be hitting with any consistency by the end of the year? Will Raffie Perez snap out of it? Will they EVER bring up Matt LaPorta, and if so will he produce under the watchful eye of Derek Shelton?

If that's the bar that has been set, I wish Wedgie and friends good luck.

On one other topic, the PD's Terry Pluto wrote today that he believes LaPorta's return to the majors is being delayed by the injury to Sizemore, saying the Tribe brass needs to keep Ben Francisco around to play CF when Sizemore's balky elbow won't allow him to play.

Pluto further reports the Tribe wants to keep Chris Giminez around because they consider him a utility player of some value. Last time I looked, Gimenez and LaPorta play the same positions. Wouldn't LaPorta's presence make Giminez expendable?

But wouldn't LaPorta need a place to play everyday, you ask? Sure. He can play LF and Francisco can sit, except when needed to cover for Sizemore.

Pluto was clear to point out that he was just reporting the Tribe's thinking, not necessarily his own. From reading his piece, you get the idea that Pluto might make a different decision.

I certainly would.

Another Tribe head scratcher

2009-07-02T23:41:00.005-04:00

I want to write something positive.

I desperately do. You have to take my word for it.

But again tonight I find myself with nothing good to say about the latest Tribe development - minimal though it may be.

The Tribe added another warm body to its bullpen today. A 32-year-old righty who doesn't even qualify at the level of journeyman, unless the journey through the minor leagues counts.

Winston Abreu, the guy picked up from Tampa Bay for 25-year-old reliever John Meloan, has pitched all of 42 innings at the big-league level, for three teams. He spent last season in Japan before getting a shot in spring training with the Rays.

Abreu has spent most of the season in AAA Durham, posting a 3-0 record with 10 saves and a 1.41 earned-run average, in 23 games. Triple-A batters hit .128 against him and he struck out 49 in 32 innings.

That performance prompted a call up by the Rays nearly three weeks ago, and in that time he managed 2 outings before being DFA'd. His lifetime ERA is 6.43 in just 42 MLB innings, with three different teams - and again he's 32 years old.

Sounds like he'll fit right in here in Cleveland.

In return, the Tribe sent to Tampa Meloan - a guy who created at least a mild stir around the Tribe corner of the blogosphere when he was acquired in the Casey Blake trade last year.

Granted, Meloan's numbers at AAA Columbus this season have been shockingly bad - a 5.52 ERA in 42 innings - but he is 7 years younger than Abreu, who - at his advanced age - has yet to establish himself in the bigs.

I'm not saying this trade will bring down the already-teetering organization.

The deal, like the team itself, prompts little more than a yawn.

But it's clear Abreu has shown he is not a major leaguer; his 6.43 lifetime ERA, and minimal big-league service time is all you need to know.

Maybe Meloan will never amount to anything either. But he is 25 and at least has a little while longer to figure things out before he can be declared a bust.

I know I've been advocating change. But trading a 25-year-old, ineffective reliever for a 32-year-old ineffective reliever is not exactly the change I was looking for.

Smells like a move for the sake of making a move to me.

Traumatized? Or just bored to death?

2009-07-02T13:32:00.001-04:00

This year's summer trip back to Cleveland has been a nostalgic one for me to say the least.

It started with a wake for a boyhood friend of mine, which reunited me with neighborhood "kids" I hadn't seen in 30 years or more.

Then there was last night's trip to Progressive Field, which transported me back to the days of Municipal Stadium.

The crowd was minuscule, mostly disinterested and definitely disgusted with a home team that seemed equally disinterested and mostly inept. I felt I was back in the late '70s.

The announcement of the starting lineup for the Tribe was greeted by a response that could only generously be called a smattering of cheers. The place was dead from start to finish of another get-it-over-with performance from the home team.

Even John Adams could barely gather enough enthusiasm to whack his big bass drum more than three or four times during the game.

The Tribe went down to a methodical defeat before the sun had even set completely

In an ESPN.com article by Jerry Crasnick, posted two days ago, Tribe GM Mark Shapiro says Tribe fans are "traumatized," which, from the context of the article, I took to mean shell-shocked from all of the disappointment we've taken in the past from all of our home teams.

But the current mood of Tribe fans, I think, has little to do with the town's checkered sports past.

Tribe fans are not "traumatized." Some are angry that a team that was one win from the World Series two years ago has devolved into an unwatchable mess. Others are saddened by the same phenomenon.

A number of other fans are turned off by seven years of the same old same old, with the same faces in charge and very little to be happy about during that time period and a questionable future staring them in the face.

Others - and I think this applies to a large chunk of the fan base - are just plain bored.

The result is the same night after night. An offense that has recently taken to going through the motions, knowing full well that at some point - be it in the early innings by a starter or the latter innings at the hands of the bullpen - the pitching will collapse and the team will notch another "L"

In CYA fashion, the front office members quoted in the ESPN article attempted to dial down markedly fan expectations.

Shapiro: "I truly believe in my heart that we're going to be back in the playoffs again in the next three years."

Three years? Aren't we in year seven of a five-year rebuilding program already?

And from assistant GM Chris Antonetti, these thoughts about the success of 2007 and where the team stands today:

"Any time you have the opportunity to advance in the postseason and get that close, there's some level of disappointment when you don't reach your ultimate goal of winning the World Series. We valued that at the time. We understood that for teams in our market size, with our resources, it's exceptionally challenging to repeat and sustain that level of success."

Which means what? Don't expect much any time too soon? He makes it sound as though smoke and mirrors are a necessary set of tools for a team like the Tribe to do anything more than make an accidental appearance, every so often, in the playoffs.

No wonder the team is drawing so poorly smack dab in the middle of the summer. There seems to be a general lack of hope, which has led to a general lack of interest.

There are some things the team can do to spike interest enough to at least keep the die-hards from defecting.

A new manager would be a start, but it has become abundantly clear that that won't happen - at least until the offseason. Right now a new appointee would likely be an interim choice to finish the season anyway.

But there are some other things the team can do in the area of player personnel.

As much as I like the way Jamey Carroll plays ball, the Tribe needs to get Luis Valbuena in the lineup every day to see what he has and to allow him to get needed experience.

Then there's Matt LaPorta. Why is he not up with the big club and in the lineup every day? Put him either at 1B or LF. With the trade of Mark De Rosa the Tribe has a more glaring need in LF than at 1B right now, but I think LaPorta is more likely to be a 1B long-term so I would play him there.

Which brings us to Michael Brantley - he of the 30 SBs in 33 tries at Columbus. Why not let the fans have a glimpse of him rather than more than they ever want to see of Ben Francisco?

There are other moves that could be made, and perhaps will be made, if some of the dead wood can be cleaned out before the trading deadline. Presumably some young talent will be headed in our direction if trades are made.

But from what I saw tonight - the deadest I've ever seen Jacobs/Progressive Field - some kind of shakeup is in order or the fan base will tune out the Tribe altogether before too long.

The Tribe - dead on my arrival

2009-07-01T00:55:00.003-04:00

Made the long trek Tuesday from suburban New York to Cleveland for the annual summer visit with the family.

As often seems to be the case, the Tribe is pretty much at its worst as I come to town to make my once-a-year trip to the local ballpark.

That's scheduled for tonight, and with any luck the rain will be a bit more definitive tonight than it was Tuesday and I can be spared an in-person glimpse of this lifeless, directionless bunch.

Other than the final score, there is no statistical proof to back this up, and three games - I will admit - is a small sample. But is it a coincidence that the Tribe has played three of its worst games of the year since Saturday night, when the team either a) threw up the white flag, or b) (to paraphrase Kelly Shoppach) made a trade to better the team right now, unlike last year when the trades were made with the future in mind?

Three games. Three lopsided losses.

Sunday 8-1 to Cincinnati; Monday 6-3 to the White Sox (6-zip headed into the bottom of the ninth); Tuesday 11 -4 in a game mercifully ended early by the second round of thunderstorms to move through downtown Cleveland during the game.

As I said, beyond the final score, there is no statistical evidence to show that the team is playing this way because the DeRosa trade has taken what little starch they had out of them. It could just be a case of bad pitching making things too ugly too early.

But you can tell by watching the games that the Tribe showed a noticeable degree of listlessness in the past three games. Except for Monday's too-little-too-late ninth-inning rally, the team has shown no life whatsoever over the last three games.

To this point, the defense of Eric Wedge has been that the team is still playing for him.

Again, it's just three games. But it bears watching over the next week or so whether the lifeless, go-through-the-motions approach continues.

If it does, what then is the excuse for keeping the manager around?

(If the game gets played tonight, look for me in the bleachers. Myself, my brother, two of his sons and my cousin will be the five people sitting out there. Make it six with John Adams - seven if you count the drum.)

The Tribe on a treadmill

2009-06-28T20:39:00.006-04:00

Well, ‘that time of year again’ has come a few weeks early this year.

It’s the time of year when we as Tribe fans are supposed to get all excited because we ‘stole' one of somebody’s best prospects.

And we’ll probably be doing it again sometime over the next five weeks.

And isn’t it wonderful that we now have this great big bundle of potential under our control for X number of years minus 1, the ‘minus 1’ being this soon-to-be superstar’s ‘walk’ year.

Or since he’s with the Tribe, his ‘trade’ year, since the team knows if they don’t deal him when that time comes he is sure to walk a few months later.

At the right time, we can always deal him for a couple of more big bundles of potential that will be under the team’s control for x -1 years, until they too get peddled in yet another use-it-or-lose-it trade.

Anybody think this is like watching your nutcase dog chasing his tail?

Mark DeRosa was around long enough to impress as a hitter, a hustler and a good teammate, though his “super utility” tag seems to me to be a bit misleading since he was underwhelming at four different positions in the field for the Tribe.

His bat and his presence will be missed, though his trade to St. Louis doesn’t have any emotional sting, unlike many similar trades in the past, because DeRosa wasn’t around here long enough for the fans to get attached to him.

The only emotion it stirs with me is anger, and not because I think it was a bad move. I am just sick and tired of being on the “prospect” end of these deals year after year after year. Just once I’d like to be sending a few of these ‘can’t miss’ guys to some other team for a sure-thing veteran to help the team in its quest for the post season.

The last trade we made that even resembled that was the Kenny Lofton deal two years ago. And he was a difference-maker, right up until one member of the current brain trust held him up at 3B.

Prior to that I can’t remember when the Tribe was on the seasoned-veteran end of one of those deals, but it goes all the way back to when Charlie Manual – that old fart baseball guy who just couldn’t get into the sabermetrics thing (but did manage to win a World Series last year) - was still managing the team.

Looking at the DeRosa deal at face value it’s hard to argue with.

DeRosa is free to sign anywhere this winter, and even if the Tribe were to be inclined to spend some money this offseason I doubt it will be on a bat. It certainly won’t be on a super utility guy with some pretty good pop and a clanky glove. DeRosa would be nice to have around, but any money the Dolan’s pony up this year will be sorely needed to fix the mess on that bump in the middle of the infield.

Chris Perez is the first “off-season” move made to fix that ugly situation. He has struck out 30 hitters in 23.2 innings this year, but he’s also walked 15, which is somewhere between 4 and 5 per 9 innings. His numbers from last season pretty much follow the same pattern. He throws in the mid-90s, but his strikeouts are said to come on his wicked slider. But, like so many Tribe players, there’s not much of a track record and since even those pitchers on this team who had decent resumes have all regressed alarmingly, I’ll wait more than a little while before I get excited.

As I look over the Tribe’s roster, it’s hard to say who may be the next Tribesman to head out of town for a piece of promise. Only Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez fit the classic mould of a difference-maker being sent packing for prospects. But they are not in their walk years until next year and to trade either one of them would send the message that the situation is too hopeless right now to even consider next season to be a possible success. It would kill off what little flicker of fan interest that remains.

There’s talk that the Tribe would trade Lee if they are overwhelmed, and the package includes a young, major-league-ready, potentially top-of-the-rotation starter. But why would anybody trade a guy like that for Lee? And even if somebody does, that word “potential” is still part of the above description. Once again the Tribe would be chasing two birds in the bush for the one they have in hand.

As far as Victor goes, I think the Indians brain trust would be killing off baseball interest altogether in Cleveland if they trade Martinez, even next year. Every team has to have at least one guy that the city can rally around – to call their own. Victor may be the guy the Dolan’s will have to pony up for if they want to keep the flicker of interest in the Tribe burning.

The rest of the veterans, I would presume, are not guys that there is a clamor for.

Somebody might bite on Ryan Garko. But please don’t offer him around as a part-time left fielder. It’s stretching it a little bit to say he’s a first baseman.

Peralta seems to have some value as a 3B, and no doubt Eric Wedge would like to see him gone. But how much would you get for him based on his performance this season and his slacker reputation?

Travis Hafner is damaged goods with a big contract. He is untradeable.

Jamey Carroll would seem to be about the most appealing bit of trade bait on the club right now.

Except for Lee, there’s almost no one who is of any interest on the pitching staff.

Any trade of Kerry Wood would fit into the same giving-up-on-next-year category that Lee and Martinez are in. I continue to believe that Woods’ problems would disappear if he were pitching on a team that presented him with a save situation more than once every 10 days or so.

So we will spend the next five weeks combing the Internet for trade rumors, hoping for the Tribe to find several diamonds in the rough. But I really wonder how effective we can expect that strategy to be.

In the ‘90s, the Tribe grew enough of its own players (Thome, Nagy, Ramirez, Belle to name a few) that the addition of prospects from other teams (Mesa, S. Alomar, Omar, Lofton) were enough to provide a team full of talent for several years. So the misses on people like Reggie Jefferson and Glenallen Hill were less consequential.

With the farm system producing next to nothing on its own over the past several years, every trade for prospects has to hit pay dirt for the team to have enough talent to win. While Grady Sizemore, Lee, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-soo Choo can be considered successes, there’s not enough talent coming from within to overcome the trade market misses (Jesse Barfield, Andy Marte, and Anthony Reyes to name a recent few).

With such a failure to develop home grown talent, or to properly develop that talent, pretty much every player acquired in these veteran-for-prospects deals has to pan out for there to be enough talent in the organization to field a playoff-potential team.

Without a highly extraordinary success rate on these deals, they amount to little more than the aforementioned tail chasing.

So excuse me if I fail to get to overly excited about another selloff of veterans in the next few weeks.

It’s just that time of year in what has become just another part of the schedule for the Tribe.

Wake me when enough of these prospects come together at the same time, with something important on the line and live up to their acquisition-day billing.

The questions continue to mount for the Tribe and the Dolans

2009-06-23T22:25:00.001-04:00

Let's start with the positives - things it was good to see tonight.

It was simply good to see the Tribe win a game again.
It was great to see Grady Sizemore back in the lineup again, chasing balls down in CF and coming out of the box hitting the ball. (Added bonus - no Ben Francisco)
It was a huge relief to see someone other than Cliff Lee throw a good ballgame. David Huff was outstanding - finally pitching the way you had an inkling he could based on his work in the minors last season. He has, in fact, shown steady improvement in recent weeks, and that's a good thing for sure.
It was good to see Jhonny Peralta hit the ball - including an opposite field dinger. Too bad he has to be benched for two or three games every few weeks to remind him to put max effort into what he's doing and to play smart.
It was good to see Josh Barfield is still alive, since we never see him on the field.
And it was nice to see Pirates LF Nyjer Morgan wear his socks the way they are supposed to be worn - stirrups showing and white sanitaries underneath.

Now on to the unpleasantness.

Despite looking like a real ball team tonight (at least for 8 innings), the Indians remain too many games under .500 and too many games out of first for the rest of this season to provide much excitement.

That has Tribe ownership concerned, especially since the Tribe has drawn just three-quarters of a million fans so far this year with little reason for throngs of fans to show up in the second half of the season.

And so the Dolans will meet with Mark Shapiro in the near future to discuss changes that will give Tribe fans a reason to tune in and turn out in July, August and September.

At the top of the list is the status of manager Eric Wedge. It's quite possible the Dolans have seen enough of Wedge, or - possibly - that they feel the fans have seen enough. And so Wedge may become the sacrificial lamb any time now. If it's going to happen, I'd look for it during the All-Star break.

We've been through this before at this site. Wedge has had seven years to show he can lead this team to consistent success. He's fallen short of that mark. I wouldn't shed any tears if Wedge is shown the door, but as I said in my previous post, from a baseball standpoint it would be a pointless move at this juncture. It would have made more sense a month ago - before this team was dead and buried.

If he were to be fired, Wedge would likely be replaced with an interim, and probably somebody from the organization - an organization sorely in need of new blood and new ideas. If it were me, at this point I'd keep Wedge around and go in a completely different direction over the winter. No Money Ball wunderkinds need apply.

If Wedge gets the ax, the only purpose it will serve at this point is to placate the fans in the hope that they'll show up in the second half.

I'm certain that Shapiro and the Dolans will also talk about trades that can be made. It's obvious at this point that the Tribe will be sellers as the trading deadline approaches.

First on my list would be Peralta. Although he looks decent over at 3B, in general his act has worn thin here. A guy who has been around as long as he has needs to be more consistent, and, frankly, he needs to care about what he does a bit more. Let's face it. He dogs it, or is at least mentally absent, way too often.

While I really like the guy, I see the sense in trading Mark DeRosa. It would be nice to have him around for next year, but he's not signed and they might as well get something for him. (It would be best if he were to be traded to an AL team so my AL-only fantasy team won't take a hit.)

If Carl Pavano proves to be healthy and effective after skipping a start, he will likely be gone too and I guess I feel the same way about him as DeRosa. He'd be nice to have but without any guarantees for next season, you might as well trade him.

Kelly Shoppach? If anyone wants the K machine I'd send him packing for sure.

Ryan Garko? If you're not going to use him (even though he tends to drive in runs) you might as well deal him as well.

As far as Lee and Victor Martinez go - trading either would signal a complete capitulation not only for this year, but next season as well. They should not be going anywhere.

One thing the Dolans and Shapiro will likely not talk about is Shapiro's future as the top baseball man in this organization. But it is Shapiro who built this wreck of a club, through poor drafts questionable free-agent signings and - to give credit - an ability to pick off some of the prospects that other teams have found and developed without giving up a lot in return.

No, the Dolans won't be discussing that topic with Shapiro when they meet in the next few days. But it should be something the Dolans discuss around the Thanksgiving table (if not sooner) when this disaster of a season has long been in the books.

(By the way, I started writing this piece with the Tribe up 5-zip and Wedge adroitly going to his bullpen to start the top of the ninth. As I typed the paragraph preceding this one, the bases were loaded, the score was 5-4, Kerry Wood was looking like Rick Vaughn, and just by chance a lazy fly ball ended up in the glove of Mark DeRosa to end the ballgame.)

As another Tribe season crashes and burns, change at the top should be on the agenda

2009-06-21T18:44:00.006-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten-seat-belt signs as Cleveland Indians Flight 2009 is in its final descent into oblivion.

Another season dead well before its time.

In one of the most depressing weeks in the history of the franchise, the Tribe just completed an 0-6 week that has sealed their fate for this season and quite possibly the fate of their manager as well.

Anyone who has been paying any attention at all knows the bullpen found every conceivable way to lose a ballgame this week, even relying on their leader, closer Kerry Wood, when the rest of the bullpen just couldn't muster up a loss on their own on Friday and Saturday.

The week also saw the defense come apart in key spots, the manager and his new 3B (or is he a SS? - depends on who you ask) sniping at each other, stand-up players like Victor Martinez and Kerry Wood blowing off the media (perhaps so stunned at the magnitude of the awfulness of this week that they just couldn't bring themselves to talk about it) and mind-boggling decisions by the manager that smack of desperation.

The week ended with one of the most lifeless performances this team has turned in this year, and that's saying something.

At this point it appears the manager has lost his patience, his ability to think clearly and make sound decisions and his ability to rally the troops one more time.

And it sounds as if he may be about to lose his job.

Here's an excerpt from a story posted Sunday afternoon on Cleveland.com, written by the PD's Paul Hoynes:

When asked if he was considering a change, (Tribe owner) Larry Dolan said, "I'll talk to you later." When asked if that meant a change was being considered, Dolan said, "I just don't want to lie to you."

The argument can be made that Wedge's players - at least those who don't throw the baseball for a living - are still playing for their manager. They held a number of leads this week, only to see the pitching staff - primarily the bullpen - flush their work down the toilet.

There is some truth to that. The "grinders" among the position players still seem to be giving it their all most days. But for a lot of the other guys, the effort seems rote, the concentration lacking and the fundamentals out the window.

That falls to the manager.

Oddball lineups seemingly picked from a hat don't help much. Not one player on this team comes to the ballpark on any given day knowing what position he will be playing, or if he'll be playing and where he'll bat in the batting order. That type of uncertainty weighs on a player's mind and makes consistent, day-after-day performance much more difficult.

That also falls to the manager.

The starting pitchers never seem to make it out of the fifth inning and the bullpen is lethal in the eighth. That you can't lay at the manager's feet because every button he pushes blows up in his face. That falls to the general manager and his staff, and their seeming inability to judge pitching talent and find people who can get outs.

Blind loyalty to the manager falls at the feet of the GM as well.

It seems as though Eric Wedge is about to walk the plank. The ownership has to do something to make it look like they're trying with a half-season's worth of tickets still to sell.

A few weeks ago, when there was still a chance to save this season I was all for giving Wedge the boot. The stats say it doesn't usually work, but managerial changes do sometime spark a change of fortunes. There was nothing to lose in trying.

Now it won't make any difference either way, and I could care less whether it's Wedge or one of the other organization kool-aid drinkers who runs the team the rest of the year.

But once this season finally draws to a close, the ownership of this team must deal not only with the question of who will manage things on the field long-term, but also - and more importantly - who should be the steward of this organization.

I for one vote for a new voice at the top. One with a real baseball pedigree, doesn't wear khakis and loafers and is not so married to the Money Ball principles that have led this team nowhere for nearly a decade now.

A Tale of Two Ballgames

2009-06-15T23:17:00.002-04:00

It was the best of games and then the worst of games.

With apologies to Charles Dickens, that pretty much sums up the Tribe's two-night stand on ESPN.

Sunday night, of course, Cliff Lee and Chris Carpenter were slinging.

Lee, as we all know, was throwing a no-hitter into the 8th inning. Carpenter, after a slow start in the first inning, pretty much kept pace with Lee pitch by pitch. The fielding was crisp. The time of the game was 1:58. I could have sworn I was watching Drysdale Vs. Gibson in the mid-60s.

Then, of course, there was tonight's "slugfest."

It was much more a walk-and-hit-by-pitch-fest, as the two teams scored 26 runs on 26 hits. That's either some pretty efficient hitting or the pitchers were letting a lot of guys on base gratis. Perhaps it was a bit of both

There were 12 walks, one HBP and four wild pitches.

One Brewer batter - I can't recall who off the top of my head - was so desperate to see a pitch he could hit that he swung and missed on a pitch that was so wide it eluded the catcher and went all the way to the backstop.

There were times during the 3-hour 56-minute crapathon, particularly when Greg Aquino and Luis Vizcaino were on the mound, when watching this game felt like undergoing root canal and a colonoscopy simultaneously - with no anesthesia administered at either end.

Raffie Perez, shell-shocked by his first-pitch, game-losing grand slam to Prince Fielder, was so bad for the rest of the inning he looked like he had never stepped on an ant hill, let alone a pitcher's mound, before.

Perez has quickly regressed to his pre-demotion self. And Indians fans, that aint good.

The bullpen was so horrible - 4 innings, 8 runs, 6 walks - it almost makes you forget that our No. 2 starter Carl Pavano was awful for the second straight time.

The Indians, have won 12 of their last 21, and for this team that qualifies as a making a run.

But these last two games were a microcosm of the Tribe's season to date (except for the 5 game losing streak to open the season). One step forward, two steps back.

Luckily, that seems to be enough to keep them in the Central Division race.

Back in the basement

2009-06-10T22:08:00.000-04:00

Well the flirtation with fourth place didn't last too long.

The Tribe has fallen back into the Central Division basement - with a huge THUD!

The somewhat re-energized team we've seen over the past few weeks was not in evidence at Progressive Field this evening.

In fact all the facets of the horrible first several weeks of the season were on display tonight.

Horrible starting pitching - though Carl Pavano seemed to just have one of those nights. Cliff Lee was off a bit last night too, so let's just hope this is not the start of a new and disturbing trend and just a bad trip through the rotation instead.

There was some bad defense (though Shin-Soo Choo redeemed himself for butchering a line drive to right by eventually throwing out the hitter of that line drive (Tony Pena) at the plate a couple of batters later.

And the strikeouts - Oh the strikeouts! Eight of them through the first four innings by Gil Meche. And 12 by game's end.

Really, not much to be happy about tonight. In fact, I can't think of a single thing.

A few other thoughts...

It has been well-noted that Jhonny Peralta was benched for a couple of games. But has anyone noticed that Ryan Garko seems to have disappeared. He hasn't been in the lineup for the past four games. Meantime Kelly Shoppach has been seeing more time behind the plate. With a .207 BA, and 43 Ks in 111 at-bats heading into tonight, you have to ask why.

Call me suspicious, but with the Tribe's recent history of hiding injuries, one wonders if Shoppach hasn't been playing more because Victor Martinez is still suffering from his meeting a while back with a nasty foul ball off the knee.

The other explanation is Shoppach is playing on merit. Can that really be it?

Anybody like what they see of Luis Valbuena at SS?

Boy I sure do.

If the hitting comes along for Valbuena it looks that - along with Asdrubal Cabrera - the Tribe will have the middle of the infield plugged pretty well for the next few years.

Well, lets just hope tonight's return of the April Indians is short-lived and the Tribe takes the series finale - and moves back out of the basement tomorrow.

Is it time to start thinking about punting on this season?

2009-06-06T14:10:00.009-04:00

I won't be able to watch the Tribe on TV today.

FOX monopolizes Saturday afternoon TV rights and, even though I do believe the Tribe-Sox game might be on where you live, I am forced to watch the Yanks, Mets or Red Sox most Saturday afternoons.

When it's not one of those three, it's the Phillies - as is the case today.

I guess I won't complain too much though about the FOX baseball package, since the people who run FOX are the very same people - as of a year-and-a-half ago - who pay my salary.

So I thought I'd take a few minutes just to jot down some things going through my head about the Tribe, and the viability of the team for the rest of this season.

We've heard the trade rumors involving Mark DeRosa, and even some hopefully far-fetched ones about Victor Martinez.

The DeRosa rumors began shortly after he was moved from 3B but well before Asdrubal Cabrera was put on the DL, possibly for up to six weeks. Jamey Carroll could fill in at 3B while Cabrera is out and Jhonny Peralta is forced back to SS, but Carroll now has a finger issue that he may or may not be able to play through.

DeRosa has proven not to be the 3B the Tribe would like him to be, although he has been a presence - especially recently - in the lineup.

But he is expendable and I can see him being traded. The question is whether he'd be traded for someone that would help right now or down the road.

There is some question about which would be wiser, as the team stands 9 games under .500 but also only 6 games out of first.

To this point, the team seems to be making moves for the benefit of the current season, trying every imaginable warm body to repair the bullpen - even to the point of changing starters to relievers in the minors with the thought they might be needed later by the big club.

The most notable of those changing roles was Hector Rondon, down at AA Akron. But he was quickly moved back into rotation and left his most-recent start with a sore bicep.

Still, the moves made a couple of weeks ago imply the Tribe is looking to do something this year.

That could be changing though with the injuries to Asdrubal Cabrera, Grady Sizemore and Rafael Betancourt, who had become the most reliable guy in the pen in the past month or so.

MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, on his blog CastroTurf, reported last night there are some hints the Tribe may be thinking about throwing in the towel for this year:

The Indians are, as you might imagine, bracing themselves for the possibility that this season simply isn't going anywhere. As much as the Indians have been through this season, they entered tonight a reasonable seven games back in the AL Central. But when you factor in the injuries, the inconsistencies and the general snake-bitten nature of this club, it's hard to imagine a comeback.

In talking with general manager Mark Shapiro today, I got the sense that he's coming around to that concept, too. He didn't repeat the mantra that the Indians are "one good week away" from being back in contention. Rather, with regard to the still-developing trade market, he said the Tribe is "on the sideline" right now, "keeping a pulse" of what's going on.

Don't know about you, but I'm having trouble deciding which way to go on this one.

The team was playing well below expectations before the epidemic of injuries hit, and the list of the injured is sooooo long. So you have to wonder if there's any reason to entertain hopes for this year.

But then there's that number - 6. As in 6 games out.

And there's the fact that Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis and Jake Westbrook will be back before too long to fill the many holes in the rotation. Again, I don't know about Westbrook, or even Lewis, but I expect Laffey to provide much-needed help. And an arm could be added in a deal for DeRosa (and probably others if the arm is attached to a pitcher of decent value).

Then again, I'm writing this on a day after a win, and I'm always more optimistic on such days.

I suppose if I were in charge, I'd make my moves as if the team were still alive this year, especially after being forced to abort last season. When the time comes to punt, it will - or should - be more obvious than it is right now.

And if/when the time comes for a sell-off, Victor Martinez is not someone who should be added to the Buyer's Guide to Available Cleveland Indians.

Unlike CC last season, Victor is not in his walk year until next season. Selling him off now would be admitting to the paying public that the team management has little hope not only for the rest of this season, but also the next.

That kind of damage to the gate is not a risk the team should or would take - one would think.

Time to farm out Fausto

2009-06-04T21:30:00.002-04:00

He started the season as the No. 2 starter.

He was supposed to be the Tribe's next ace.

But so far this season Fausto Carmona has proven that 2007, not 2008, was the fluke.

And today it has become more than evident that Fausto needs to go back to Columbus to figure out just what the heck has gone wrong for him since his storybook season in 2007.

Carmona got blasted again today, allowing 7 runs in just two innings - including two three-run jacks to Jason Kubel - in the Tribe's 11-3 loss to the Twins.

The home run ball is not his only problem.

Carmona walked three batters in just two innings, while striking out only one. For the season he's walked 41 and struck out just 36.

In his last three starts he's pitched a total of 7 1/3 innings, allowing 19 runs in the process.

His ERA for the season sits at 7.42 and he has allowed 69 hits in 60 2/3 innings. Add in the 41 walks and that works out to 110 base runners allowed in those 60 2/3, for a WHIP of nearly 2.00.

All the numbers aside, Fausto is just plain lost.

He hasn't a clue.

And it is time to send him to Columbus to figure out just what has gone wrong and to fix things away from the spotlight of the majors.

The only argument that can be made against sending Carmona down is the fact that there is no one you really want to see in a rotation that already includes David Huff and Jeremy Sowers.

But what sense is there in sending Carmona out every five days to get pounded?

Tomo Ohka has replaced Fausto after Carmona's early exit in his last two starts. He's pitched five innings and given up three runs in each of those outings. Not exactly sterling work, but enough to keep the team in the game.

And it's not like Ohka would be in the rotation for too long.

By the end of the month, if not sooner, Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis and Jake Westbrook will come off the DL and could serve as replacements for Ohka, Sowers and/or Huff.

I don't expect much out of Westbrook because he'll need the rest of the season just to rebuild strength, velocity and control. But certainly Laffey should make the rotation better and Lewis offers some hope as well.

One thing is clear though, Carmona needs a break from the big time and needs to get his head together - something that he won't be able to do if he keeps getting it bashed in every five days.

My guess is the Tribe, which currently has eight pitchers in the pen, will activate Travis Hafner sometime Friday, move Ohka to the rotation for now and send Carmona down.

I know that is what I would do.

Good riddance to the Yankees

2009-06-02T11:49:00.005-04:00

This most recent Tribe-Yankee series didn't have the same feel as many others in the past.

Sure Yankee TV play-by-play guy Michael Kay (nearly two years after they first appeared in the playoffs) went on and on about the midges - as did the rest of the media, as you can see from the photo to the left.

Kay in fact claimed to have done research on the midges and discovered that they are eaten by seagulls, the presence of which at Progressive Field was an equal fascination for Kay.

And, as many past series have gone, the Tribe played it close for most of the games, but you just had that feeling that things would tip the wrong way in the end - as they did three out of four times over the extended weekend.

But the atmosphere where I live - in the middle of Yankee country - was different this time.

I didn't get harassed at all.

I went to my grandnephew's Little League game Saturday. His grandpa - my brother-in-law Roger -was there. Roger is typically pretty good with the needle, and the Yanks of course had won Friday night. But not a peep out of him during a two-hour conversation.

The Tribe had dropped to 0-2 in the series by the time my around-the-corner neighbor Glenn came driving by while I was watering the lawn. When he pulled his car over to the curb, I was sure the usual ribbing was coming. Instead we talked about our sons' work plans for the upcoming summer, and a bit about the swim club our families both belong to.

The weather was too cold here over the weekend to visit said swim club - which for me is usually a venue for baseball-related putdowns, especially when there is a Tribe-Yanks series in full swing. Since I didn't go there, I guess the weekend wasn't a true test of local sentiment. But for some reason I feel I probably would have gone unscathed had I paid my swim-club buddies a visit.

I looked high and low in the media for the usual condescension or Cleveland put-downs. None were to be found.

Even Kay, and his sidekick John Flaherty on the YES Network broadcasts of the game, had little negative to say - save the constant harping on the midges.

I'm not sure if it is a case of everyone here in Yankeeland suddenly putting aside their usual baseball arrogance, or something much worse.

I'm beginning to think that the Yankee faithful just don't see the Tribe as any kind of threat this year and simply not worth their effort.

Any other readers from this area notice the same thing this weekend?
---

The Yankee series marked the end of the Tribe's battles with A.L. East opponents until late August. This fact was pointed out by the best of the Cleveland sports bloggers - The DiaTribe's Paul Cousineau - in a post late last week.

In making his point that the first one-third of the Tribe's season has been loaded with games against the East - thought by most to be baseball's strongest division - Cousineau was attempting to sound a hopeful note for the rest of the schedule.

After all, there are only 10 games left against the East - six against Baltimore and the rest against the Red Sox. So it is natural to think that the schedule may get easier as the season wears on. I read that, and was heartened, I admit.

But then I did some checking.

In their games against the East so far this season, the Tribe is 12-14, for a .462 percentage.

That means against the rest of the league they are 10-17, or .370. And they are playing .415 ball overall.

So you really can't blame the preponderance of games against the East for the position the Tribe finds itself in at the moment, nor can it be used as a way to assure ourselves that things will get better.

A win for the Tribe, a Wedgie for Pavano

2009-05-31T16:24:00.004-04:00

Jhonny Peralta drove a ball past 3B with one out in the 9th today, giving the Tribe an exciting first victory of the weekend against the dreaded Yanks.

It was Perlta's third ribbie of the day, putting him and starting pitcher Carl Pavano in the spotlight. Pavano didn't win the game, but he should have (more on that in just a second).

Peralta's base hit picked up the ball club today for sure. But more than anyone, the hit picked up Tribe manager Eric Wedge.

Wedgie, working his usual magic, nearly turned this afternoon into another disaster.

Back a couple of weeks ago, before the Tribe's recent hot streak and when they were about as low as they could go, there was a spike in the talk about firing the manager.

Those who pooh poohed all the the talk argued that the manager can't do the hitting or the pitching and it's up to the players to get it done on the field.

Except, sometimes the manager is the problem and today the players saved the manager's backside.

Is it the player's fault when he's sailing through the hefty Yankee lineup - 2 runs, 89 pitches in 7 1/3 innings - and the manager comes out (after a weak infield single) and takes the ball out of his hands?

I don't care what the post-game blather coming from Wedgie will be, there is no explanation for taking Carl Pavano out of the game when he did today.

Derek Jeter's infield hit was apparently enough to send Wedgie thumbing through page 1 of his "How to Manage the Bullpen" book.

It was at that point (again just 89 pitches thrown by Pavano and the Tribe up 4-2 in the 8th) when Wedge decided he simply must bring in lefty Raffie Perez (the same Perez who has blown up so many games already this season) to pitch to lefty Johnny Damon.

Damon, of course, lashed a double to right field and the demise of Pavano's victory was underway.

To be fair, no one anticipated that the next guy in, Raffie Betancourt, would leave after a couple of pitches with what looked like a leg injury. But the more often you roll the dice, the bigger the chance that you get a bad result.

It was obvious that Wedge was going to go with both Raffies in the 8th once he took Pavano out. Why roll the dice twice more, especially when one of the gambles involves Raffie Perez - who so far this year has had a great season at Columbus?

In addition to taking a win away from Pavano and making a very questionable strategic move, Wedge put himself in a position to burn through four relievers in less than two innings, leaving himself vulnerable for any extra innings that might have been ahead today and for tomorrow's game as well - a game that will be started by the unreliable Jeremy Sowers.

Please don't tell me that it's the players who play and the manager doesn't matter.

Win or lose today (and thank God it was a win!), Wedgie had a major negative effect on the proceedings.

To boo or not to boo, as CC returns to Progressive Field mound

2009-05-30T13:49:00.011-04:00

CC Sabathia will take his first trip to the hill at Progressive Field since being traded last summer to Milwaukee.

He'll be doing it in a Yankee uniform and if you will excuse me for a moment while I lose my lunch, I'll pick up from here.

That's better.

Now back to CC.

When it became apparent two off-seasons ago that Sabathia was not going to resign with the Tribe because of the lopsided, unfair economics of today's MLB, I reluctantly accepted that fact.

I thought, "Well, he'll take us to one more shot in the post-season and then do what he has to do."

Once it became obvious the Tribe was going nowhere last season, I girded myself for the inevitable mid-season deal that would send him away - the best home-grown Tribe pitcher since God knows when.

The trade came down, the Tribe got a nice haul in return (still to be proven, but seemingly so), and I was happy to see that CC went to Milwaukee - another small-market team that was taking its one big shot at the brass ring.

I watched nearly every one of CC's starts with Milwaukee on the dish and rooted him on along the way. Then, when the Brew Crew's run ended and the bargaining began, I was OK with all that - unless CC landed in one place in particular.

Of course, as we all know, CC ended up in that very place, and as a Tribe fan living here in Yankeeland I had to watch it all first-hand. And listen to Yankee fans and the NY media talk about "CC", as if they were old buds on a first-name basis for years.

That is when it all began to turn for me.

Seeing CC on the local TV news in his first spring workout as a Yankee, I got a sick feeling in my stomach.

When he pulled on the pinstripes for the first time for real back in April it stung even more.

Seeing him playfully chatting with Victor Martinez during batting practice at the new Yankee Stadium - the former battery mates each wearing a different uniform - was almost too much to watch.

And tonight, CC will be wearing the garb of the Evil Empire when he steps on the mound of the Tribe's home field.

So the question has become, will CC be booed (a la Manny, and Jim Thome) when he takes the hill, or cheered for his past contributions to the Tribe (see Omar Vizquel).

If I were going to the game tonight, it's hard to say what I would do when CC takes the mound. But if I had to say right now what my reaction would be, I'd say I would boo - long and hard.

And for those of you with tickets tonight, I suggest you do the same.

For me though, the boo would not really be directed at CC himself. He would simply be the vehicle for the message I would be trying to send to all the powers that be in MLB - the union, the league, the owners and broadcasters, all of whom stand to gain under a system where most of the best players eventually make their way to the teams that can generate the most dough for everyone simply because they are in cities where there are more paying customers.

People argue that small-market teams make their marks in the playoffs year in and year out, and that success can come anywhere when there is smart management.

But there are at least two things wrong with that argument.

For one, while it is true that every small-market dog (except maybe Pittsburgh) has it's day, it is also true that that is about how long it lasts - a day. Or one season, two or three if you are really lucky, and smart.

Then it becomes time to kiss all the fan favorites and the team's stars goodbye, wish them well (or not) in their big-media market and try to start again from scratch.

Some point to the Tribe's long string of success in the '90's (success even though no championships were won by the way) and say it can be done in the small markets if done correctly.

The problem with that argument is that the former owners of the team, the Jacobs family, ran that team as if they were in a big market. That is, they ran it that way until they saw the revenue boost from the excitement of the new stadium would be wearing out soon. Then they were smart enough to sell out to the Dolans.

The Dolans have been running the Tribe like a small-time operation pretty much since taking it over.

Cleveland is not the only place where the odds are stacked high against prolonged success.

Detroit took its shot at the big-time last season, but injuries and a decline in its pitching staff ruined those plans. The effort seems to be revived this year, but how far beyond this season will their current crop of talent take them? Especially as the Detroit economy worsens and the payroll has to shrink.

When was the last time they had a good team in Pittsburgh? Or a sustainably good team in Oakland, or San Diego or just about any place that is not New York, Boston or Los Angeles.

Because they play in divisions full of small-market teams, the two Chicago teams (especially the Sox) can low-ball it and still not stand out as ragamuffins in their respective divisions.

KC and Milwaukee currently are having a little run. But this is their "window." In a few short years the young, talented players they are developing will move on to greener pastures and the success of these small-market teams will fade again

The big-market teams can spend to their hearts content on the best talent. That is obvious. What is less obvious is they can also take chances that the smaller teams can't. "Well, let's sign three of these big-name pitchers and if even one works out big-time, we'll be all set." And, in the case of the Yankees, "let's sign the best hitter available out their as well."

At the same time, the best the little guys can do most off-seasons is put their money down on a Mark DeRosa and hope that it makes some sort of difference.

Baseball's system is broken, and has been for a while. At least for those who truly appreciate real, fair competition.

With the economy in sad shape right now, the unfairness of the system is beginning to manifest itself as people with very little discretionary income are beginning to realize that spending it to watch a sub-par baseball team may not be the best use of their money.

That will only exacerbate the gap between baseball haves and have-nots.

So, if you decide to let out a lusty boo for CC tonight, I hope you'll do it in the right spirit.

CC just played the system the way any smart, talented person would play it.

It's the system that deserves a great big Bronx cheer.

Tribe win streak at four as retreaded bullpen puts brakes on Rays

2009-05-28T19:53:00.008-04:00

When the Tribe announced the signings this winter of journeymen pitchers Matt Herges, Greg Aquino and Tomo Ohka, I paid about as much attention to those signings as I did to the wispy snow flurries that were probably falling outside my window at the time.

Which is to say, I paid them very little mind.

After all, with the bullpen that had already been assembled I doubted any of those guys would be seen in a Tribe uniform once the team left Arizona.

As we sit here today, all three are on the Tribe's active roster - Ohka being the latest to join the club today.

The other two - Herges and Aquino - have been important additions to a revamped bullpen which has been at the center of the Tribe's recent mini renaissance.

The team has won four straight - all against the Rays this week at Progressive Field - and 7 of their last 10 going back to the series they took in KC - 2 games to 1.

Just as the bullpen was instrumental in the success the Tribe had on the latter half of its road trip last week, so too did the Retread Relief Corps play a big role in the Tribe's only series sweep of the season so far.

Of course the offense did more than its share during the Rays series, overcoming a 10-zip hole on Monday and a 5-0 deficit and 7-run outing by starter and once-again-minor-leaguer Zack Jackson last night.

But in both of those games, as well as in today's 2-1 win - which saw starter David Huff toss 4 shutout innings only to be shut down by a long rain delay- the pen had to come in and hold the fort so the offense could do its work.

Virtually everyone in the pen - except for Jensen Lewis, who allowed 5 runs Monday and 1 today - has been up to the task.

Herges, Aquino and recent free-agent signee Luis Vizcaino have led the way with Herges getting the "W" today and Aquino getting last night's win with a 3-inning save by Vizcaino.

Excluding Lewis, the Tribe bullpen went 16 2/3 innings in the 4-game series without allowing a run and picked up 3 of the 4 wins and 2 saves.

Two guys expected to be key parts of the pen - Kerry Wood and Raffie Betancourt - also contributed 2 scoreless innings apiece during the 4-game series. Both pitchers, getting regular work of late, in roles they expected to be in, have shown the effectiveness the Tribe had been expecting out of them.

Wood's last 4 outings, going back to KC, have been scoreless, as have 5 of his last 6 going back to mid-month. He looked particularly nasty in the 9th inning today, protecting the 2-1 lead.

Betancourt hasn't allowed a run in his last 6 outings and 8 of his last 9, allowing just 1 run in 11 1/3 innings in his last 9 trips to the mound.

In winning 7 of its last 10, the Tribe has improved its record to 7 games under and 7 games out (with the Tigers playing as I write this) - still rather woeful, but definitely heading in the right direction.

Raffie Perez, who hasn't allowed a run since being sent to Columbus to find himself, may be back soon and Joe Smith will be on a rehab assignment soon and may also be back with the team in the near term.

If you ask me, when Perez comes back the Tribe would be wise to give Lewis the same opportunity to get his act together in Columbus.

Judging from comments made after today's game it appears Ohka is headed for long relief, with Jeremy Sowers heading back to the rotation and Huff staying there - at least for the next trip around the rotation.

So the Indians appear to be getting hot at just the time I most like to see them on a roll - with the hated Yankees heading to Cleveland for 4 this weekend.

Tribefan In Yankeeland - of course - will be keeping a close eye on that one.

Now that was fun !!!

2009-05-25T22:02:00.005-04:00

Seems I picked just the right game to end my week-long break from the Tribe.

Most of you saw it so I won't go into too much detail, but MAN I haven't had this much fun all year.

Down 10-zip early the Tribe battled back - including 7 runs in the ninth - to hand the Rays their worst blown lead ever.

The Tribe wins it 11-10.
The alarm clock is going to go off in a little over 6 hours so there's no point in rehashing the whole thing. But there are a few guys who need to be mentioned.

Victor Martinez - of course - ending an 0 for 18 slump with a bases loaded single in the 9th, knocking in runs 10 and 11 for the Tribe win.

Ryan Garko had the first huge hit of the inning, with a 3-run blast - his second homer of the night - to make it 10-8. (Wonder if Wedgie will have him back on the bench tomorrow to keep him fresh?)

And then there was Jeremy Sowers who pitched 5 scoreless innings of relief (the last 5) to get the win. Of course that means the Tribe needs a starter for two games now in the middle of the week, but we'll worry about that another time. (Looks like they'll have no choice now but to give David Huff another shot.)

All of that though is food for thought on another day.

Tonight it is simply time to savor the most exciting victory of the year and perhaps the most impressive (except maybe for the Yankee blow out.)

It's a heck of a way to start off the homestand and it should be the type of win that kick-starts a 7 of 9 stretch, or something along those lines.

I guess we'll find out about any carryover tomorrow.

But, for once, let's just keep watching the post-game replays and savoring the kinds of wins that used to be commonplace when the ballpark was known as Jacobs Field.

(By the way, there's also a fresh post below this one with my thoughts on the Tribe's past week while I was away - the best of which I think are on the possibility of trading Mark DeRosa, and on a big gamble being taken by Mark Shapiro out of loyalty to Eric Wedge. So scroll on down to the post below.)

Damn that was fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Same old, same old - more or less

2009-05-25T16:02:00.006-04:00

Well, it's been a week of wetness for me. Soaked is the better word as Orlando had between 10 and 11 inches of rain in the five days the family and I darted from one covered area to another at the Magic Kingdom. Still we managed to get on every coaster-type ride in the main four parks at least once.

Seems the Tribe remains on their roller coaster ride into oblivion as well. Win one, lose one, give one away.

The Tribe lost three of the six games they played while I was gone.

I guess it could also be said they won three of six.

When I left they were 11 under and 7.5 back. As I write this, they are 11 under and 8.5 back, with the first-place Tigers well ahead in their Memorial Day game against KC .

At face value it seems little has changed.

The rotation, the bullpen, the defense and the up-and-down offense each had a hand in the losses that turned what could have been a good week into more of the same.

The lineup shuffling continues - producing little, except for more and more questions in the minds of several players who don't have a clue where they stand or what glove to bring to the park on any given day.

If you look a little beyond the surface, you can find a little bit to hang your hat on though - at least where the bullpen is concerned.

The pen was 2 and 3 with 3 saves over the six games from Tuesday through Sunday. So they were responsible for all three losses. That looks, at first glance, like more of the same.

But they also were responsible for 2 of the 3 wins last week and saved all 3 victories.

That is change for the better.

Excluding Kerry Wood's Tuesday night meltdown, the pen pitched 21 1/3 innings last week and allowed 4 earned runs - an ERA of 1.69.

Even better, most of the good work was spread around among four pitchers - Raffie Betancourt, Greg Aquino, Matt Herges and Luis Vizcaino. Yes, Vizcaino lost Sunday's game, but he was pitching for the third straight day and was gassed.

So things may be looking up at least a little in the pen.

Several other major developments occurred while I was busy riding Test Track and The Rockin' Roller Coaster, and drying my sneakers off with the hotel hair dryer.

Aaron Laffey - who helped stabilize both the starting rotation, and then the bullpen - pulled the old oblique. Based on past history with CC Sabathia (two or three times) and Jake Westbrook, that usually turns into a 4 to 6-weeker.

The same night - Friday I believe - Anthony Reyes came out of the game early and headed straight for the DL with a sore elbow. Apparently his pitching had become less effective as the elbow got more sore over the past several games. Finally, on Friday, he had to call it quits. It's not clear yet just what the extent of that injury is.

(UPDATE: Shortly after this posting the word came down that Reyes is likely to require major surgery on the elbow and is likely out for the season.)

What is clear is that the Tribe is very short on starters.

David Huff has shown nothing in two starts so far and Jeremy Sowers is back with the club by default.

Which brings us to the last major development during my week in the rain forests of Orlando.

Mark DeRosa trade rumors.

With DeRosa playing 1B like a man who has played there only a dozen or so times in his career, three other more capable first basemen on the roster and a crying need for pitching, it appears DeRosa may be on his way out.

I like DeRosa's bat, but he doesn't have much of a glove and he clearly can't play 1B. So unless the Tribe decides to put him at 2B - his position with the Cubs - and send Luis Valbuena down to Columbus, I think it is a matter of time before he is traded.

If it were me, I wouldn't even bother with DeRosa at 2B. Defensively it can be covered better by Valbuena, Jamey Carroll or Josh Barfield.

I think DeRosa is our best chip to land some pitching and he has no obvious place to play in the field.

The team will miss his bat, but pitching is a much more urgent need at the moment.

Finally, before I go off to watch my first Tribe game in seven days, I'd like to address the Eric Wedge situation one last time.

It has become painfully obvious that Mark Shapiro has decided that Wedge doesn't deserve the bulk of the blame for yet another disastrous stumble from the gate.

Certainly Shapiro must know a fair amount of the blame goes in his direction and he appears unwilling to throw Wedge under the bus. It is an admirable stance by Shapiro. But it is a chancy one too.

If the team continues to stumble and bumble its way through the remainder of the year - as I believe it will - than both men at the top may find themselves under ownership's gaze at year end.

I don't think Wedge has shown the type of leadership this team needs to pull itself up, and more importantly, I think he makes matters worse with his constant shuffling and reshuffling of the deck chairs.

But when it comes time at the end of the year to start throwing things overboard, Shapiro may find himself right ahead of his buddy Wedgie.

Frankly, I've never bought into the moneyball, supercomputer, Wall Street-speak way that many modern baseball teams are being run. I think a player has to be judged on more than obscure stats run through forty different spread sheets. His smarts, his ability to motivate himself, his level of self-confidence and his natural abilities all have to be added into the mix.

I just don't think you can create a baseball team by crunching numbers and spouting biz speak.

Maybe it would be best for Wedge to stick around for the rest of the year. That way maybe he can take Shapiro with him when he heads for the door and a fresh look from a new management team might lead to better days.

(I've removed the "should Wedge be fired" Tribe poll that has been up the last 10 days or so. Just FYI 77% of those who responded said that Wedge should indeed be let go, while 23% said he should not.)

Taking a vacation from the Tribe

2009-05-17T18:43:00.004-04:00

Going to be gone for a week - a well-deserved vacation if I must say so.

No Tribe for a week would seem like vacation enough, but we'll be doing Disney - my daughter's pick for her senior-year family getaway.

So it should be a good time.

But before I go, there are number of things to go over.

A week that started out with a bit of promise - the team scoring runs and winning three of four - ended with the Tribe at the low point of a dismal season, at 11 games under .500 and 7-1/2 games out.

The roster moves continue (David Huff and Greg Aquino arriving, Masa Kobayashi and Tony Sipp departing), but the results are the same. No one can pitch. No one can field. No one (except Victor) can hit consistently.

David Huff's MLB debut was one to forget. Seven hits, four walks and seven runs in 3 2/3 innings. One performance does not a career make, but he appears to lack an out pitch - even after getting ahead of hitters. A lot like Jeremy Sowers. You have to give him a few shots, but so far it seems the search for a No. 5 starter - and a No. 4 for that matter - continues.

Two long-time MLB retreads - Aquino and Matt Herges - kept the Rays at bay the rest of the way (with a one-out assist from Kerry Wood). I'll take it, but I wouldn't count on it going forward.

Today's outfield was a joke; Ryan Garko in LF, Ben Francisco in CF and Shin-soo Choo in RF. Is it any wonder the Rays had a bushel full of extra-base hits?

Did Grady Sizemore need the day off? I guess probably so as he's been below the Mendoza line (.167 to be exact) over the past 11 games. But do we have to see Garko out in LF on a day when Grady is not in CF?

I've got a better question. Do we ever need to see Garko in the outfield again. He was awful out there today on balls hit over his head. That's a tough play for many outfielders but Garko wasn't close to making those plays - one of them hit for a double by Rays pitcher Andy Sonnanstine. He did manage to catch one in the 7th after an awkward chase back to the wall - but that one might be filed in the "blind squirrel finding a nut once in awhile" category.

Another thing that is becoming quickly obvious is Mark DeRosa is about as good at 1B as he was at 3B - perhaps worse. The question of where to stick him in the field is becoming a bigger one each day. The Cubs felt his best position was 2B (or at least that's where he played most of the time for them). But I can't help but think that putting him there would just reopen as many holes as were closed by putting Asrubal Cabrera at SS and moving Jhonny Peralta out of the middle of the infield. They need DeRosa's bat, which should become more consistently good at some point. But the question remains, where does he play?

The Rays did all they could to help the Tribe today by sending out a lineup card that had two 3B on it, meaning that Evan Longoria - who actually was supposed to DH and bat third - had to come out of the lineup and Sonnanstine had to hit in No. 3. So the league leader in RBIs comes out and is replaced by the pitcher in the three hole.

Of course that didn't turn out to be as rosy as you might think for the Tribe, as Garko played a can of corn to left into an RBI double for Sonnanstine. Yes Garko was playing well in, but a decent leftfielder has enough time to get under that ball.

And the game was full of controversy. A horrible call on a ball that hit the top of the wall in left took a double away from the Tribe in the top of the eighth. (Click link to see video)

And then there was the bench-clearing shout-and-shove, precipitated by two Kerry Wood pitches- one behind B.J. Upton and one just off his letters. It was supposedly retaliation for a base running indiscretion earlier in the series.

If you are thinking with your head, that's not such a good idea when your down only two and there's a runner already on first . But if you're thinking with the part of the body that puts testosterone into the blood stream, it probably wasn't such a bad move. Something to rally the team a little. Not that it did.

It is becoming very obvious that this organization does not have enough pitching to get the Tribe through this season. You can switch guys from the rotation to the pen or vice-versa at all levels of the organization. But the bottom line is there are just not enough effective big-league arms to go around.

It is time to face facts. This pitching staff, even if it at some point starts to perform at a level closer to what should be expected, is not the kind of staff that allows a team to rip off 9 of 11 or 19 of 25. And with the team already 11 games under .500 that's what it will take to put the team back into serious contention.

I just don't see that happening.

Have a good week otherwise. I should be back online next Sunday or Memorial Day at the latest.

Are we having fun yet?

2009-05-15T23:25:00.002-04:00

Long about the top of the fourth inning of Friday night's game, just about the time Shin-soo Choo blasted his two-run homer giving the Tribe a 7-0 lead, I began to think - "I'm finally having fun."

The baseball season is just about six weeks old now, and not one of those weeks has brought any enjoyment to Tribe fans.

That started to change this week.

Going into Friday's game, the Tribe had won 3 of their last 4 games, put together their first winning streak (2 games) since mid-April (also 2 games) and had whittled their deficit in the A.L. Central to 4 1/2 games.

And for the first 3 1/2 innings Friday, they were blowing out Scott Kazmir and the Rays.

And then all the ugliness of the first five weeks returned.

The offense shut down completely, putting up just two hits in the final 5 2/3 innings.

Starting pitcher Anthony Reyes was unable to get out of the sixth.

The bullpen - which seemed to be getting itself together at least a bit recently - took a sharp turn back toward hideous.

Tony Sipp, brought in to get out one lefty, walked that lefty.

Jensen Lewis followed, getting smacked for 3 hits and a run over 1 inning and leaving a mess for Raffie Betancourt in the seventh.

Betancourt came in with one out and runners on second and third and the Tribe still clinging to a 7-6 lead. A strikeout, an intentional walk and a popout later and it looked like maybe things might be OK.

Until the eighth inning, when Betancourt gave up a dinger to the first batter of the inning - Ben Zobrist.

And then the ninth inning when Luis Vizcaino - making his Tribe debut - gave up a blast to B.J. Upton - the first batter Vizcaino faced as an Indian - and we were right back where we've been for the past five weeks.

There was a time when this game was fun. I swear it. Sometimes it feels like it will never be that way again.

Gathering my thoughts on the Tribe

2009-05-14T11:58:00.001-04:00

Missed a day of posting yesterday as my oldest arrived for a visit for the first time since setting off to make his way in the world in January.

A lot of things have happened since my last post just two days ago. Not surprisingly, I have a few thoughts on many of them.

Most importantly, Mark Shapiro gave Eric Wedge and his coaching staff a vote of confidence. A lot of blogs have been using the term the "dreaded vote of confidence," meaning that's the last step before a firing. But I really think Shapiro - right now - is committed to sticking it out with Wedge.

I say "right now" because that phrase preceded Shapiro's comments on the matter. Still, at this moment, I really do believe Shapiro intends to stay with his manager. Let's see how this road trip goes, at the very least, to see if the sentiments remain the same.

Shapiro has lots of time to pull the trigger if it comes to that, because no matter how badly the team has played, the rest of the division seems to want to keep the Tribe on the party invitation list. They are only 5 1/2 games out, so that buys Wedge and Shapiro some time.

One thing that can be said about the two of them, unlike last year, they are not taking the disappointing performance lying down. They are pulling out every stop I can think of to try to turn things around while everyone else in the division is treading water.

In his recent comments on the state of the club, Shapiro - correctly - said the biggest issue is to straighten out the bullpen. His most significant move to date has been to move Aaron Laffey from the rotation to the pen. Many have criticized this as robbing Peter (the rotation) to pay Paul (the pen). While that is true, I thought at the time - and still think now - that it was a move that had to be done. The bullpen was hemorrhaging runs at the time. At least the blood flow has slowed a bit since the Laffey tourniquet was applied.

The second bullpen move at the major league level has been to bring up Matt Herges and send Vinnie Chulk on his way. To me it seemed like six of one, half-dozen of the other. So far Herges has been okay, though in limited duty.

A third move came today, when Luis Vizcaino was added to the roster, with Jeremy Sowers being sent to the minors.

Vizcaino was effective with the Cubs (four scoreless appearances) and was kind of shocked to have been cut there. I remember him from 2007 when he joined the struggling Yankees mid-season and helped to settle their pen down. He is up and down and has been throughout his career. But when he is hot, he's nice to have around. He's a gamble worth taking for sure.

Although Sowers was the one sent packing today, the Tribe will need another starter soon. That figures to be David Huff. When that need arises, someone from the bullpen will be gone. The general feeling is that Masa Kobayashi will be the one sent packing.

Soyonara!

Kobayasha - if he hadn't already done so by his pitching and his early retirement at the end of last season - likely punched his ticket out of town when he pretty much said earlier this week that MLB hitters are better than what he was used to seeing in Japan and that he - essentially - is over matched here.

There's more going on with the bullpen below ground - or at least at levels below the major leagues. The Tribe has transferred three minor league pitchers from the starting rotations of various clubs to the bullpen. The most notable among these is Hector Rondon, who was moved from Akron's starting rotation to its bullpen. The first returns were not encouraging as Rondon gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits over two innings and took the loss in his first relief outing Tuesday night.

This move is not unlike the move of Laffey in that it weakens the depth of the stable of starters throughout the organization. Normally, that is not something I would be happy about. But it seems the organization is truly taking a win-now approach to things (finally), and that is welcomed in a year in which the division winner in the Central may not see 90 wins.

Like Laffey, Rondon can always be put back on the starter track - either later this year if some members of the original pen regain their form, or next season when the Tribe undoubtedly gives the pen another face lift in the off-season.

Some have argued that it would have made sense to put Sowers in the pen (since he's effective one or two time through the lineup) and keep Laffey in the rotation. On the face of it that sounds logical, but the Tribe was so desperate to restore at least some order to the pen that they had to go with someone who seemed to be a reasonably sure bet.

Which brings us to some of the changes going on in the lineup.

We can only hope that we've seen the last of David Dellucci as a regular and that we'll be seeing a lot more of Matt LaPorta. Both Shapiro and Wedge have led us to believe as much in the past couple of days. But we'll see.

There are also strong indications that Jhonny Peralta will be playing at least some 3B (hopefully a lot of 3B) in the days ahead. That leaves 2B open for Luis Valbeuna and Jamey Carroll. An infield with either guy at 2B, Asdrubal Cabrera at SS and Peralta at 3B would seem to be a significant step up from the current lineup.

I would hope Wedge would give Valbuena fist crack and keep the versatile Carroll on the bench for late-inning duty, but Carroll may see a lot of playing time if Wedge decides to move lead-off hitter Grady Sizemore down in the lineup. (More on than in a minute.)

Mark DeRosa will, and should, still see regular duty under the new alignment, either at 1B, the outfield or giving Peralta a rest at 3B. I still see him playing every day because he has a good stick - even if he hasn't shown it yet.

LaPorta may end up being given regular time at 1B. I'm fine with that, as long as he gets regular time somewhere for long enough to prove he belongs or that he needs to go back down to see a little more Triple-A pitching. There is no justification for the in-between status that has been his until two days ago.

One final thought, on Sizemore being moved down in the order. Until this year I was against the suggestion every time it came up. But his strikeout ratio, batting average and OBP have been so bad this season it's hard to keep him in the No. 1 hole. His propensity to drive in runs (though he's left a lot on lately) would also seem to call for a spot in the middle of the order.

My only problem with all of this is who will lead off? Cabrera has been a perfect fit in the No. 2 hole. Will he put added pressure on himself if he is moved to the leadoff spot? Does Carroll bring enough to the table to be an everyday player?

No one else comes close to fitting the bill that I can think of. Do any of you have any thoughts?

Getting regular, or why La Porta is still on the bench

2009-05-12T11:31:00.004-04:00

Eric Wedge has taken heat from pretty much everywhere for allowing rookie Matt LaPorta to rot on the bench while David Dellucci continues to play - and not hit.

Last night, the fourth night in a row La Porta sat in favor of Dellucci, Wedge explained his continued reliance on Dellucci - saying that after the players-only meeting over the weekend he wanted to give his "regulars" a chance to back themselves up.

Here are his comments as quoted by MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince:

"These guys got together and looked each other in the eye the other night, and I want to give them a chance to stand behind it and do something about it."

I suppose it is admirable that Wedge is trying just about everything as a motivational tool - this being the latest.

But I have a few questions.

Can this team, which has probably used two-dozen or more lineups in 33 games so far this season, be considered to have "regulars"?

Even if they do, why is Dellucci - who went oh-for-3 again last night leaving 5 runners on base - considered one of them? He missed the entire first month of the season.

In addition, Dellucci is playing not only at LaPorta's expense, but also at Ryan Garko's. Shouldn't Garko, last year's RBI leader, be considered a regular?

I don't want every post on this blog from here on out to be about Wedge's decisions or his future.

But in this case, I just had to ask.

By the way, we've added a Tribe Fan Poll seeking your vote on whether Wedge should stay or go. You'll find it in the right-hand column of your computer screen..

Show Wedge LaPorta

2009-05-10T16:10:00.001-04:00

I have already written that I think it is time to show Eric Wedge the door, but while he's still here would someone please introduce him to la porta - as in Matt LaPorta.

The Tribe has played 9 games now since LaPorta and fellow rookie Luis Valbuena arrived from Columbus. The Tribe is 2-7 in that time. They've fallen to 10 games under .500 and 7 1/2 out of first, with division leading KC still to finish up for today as I write this.

In those 9 games we've seen Matt LaPorta in the starting lineup exactly 4 times.

As the Tribe was busy scoring 3 runs over the 3 games this weekend against the Tigers, we saw LaPorta exactly - not at all.

Since the roster shuffle we have seen Valbuena in the starting lineup all of three times.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Meanwhile, in the 9-game period we're talking about, David Dellucci has been in the starting lineup 7 times. He's 4 for 25 during the period. with no ribbies and no extra base hits.

Ben Francisco, since May 1 - the day of the big "shakeup" - is hitting .257. He's 9 for 35 -all singles. He's driven in 1 run so far this month, and scored four.

Again, can someone please explain to me why LaPorta was called up if he's not going to play?

Was the "shakeup" just a sham? Just a move to make it look like the front office was taking action?

Although I don't necessarily feel this way, Valbuena's absence from the lineup could be slightly more defensible, since his primary position is 2B - one of the few spots where the Tribe has someone getting the job done already. In addition, it could be argued that the team needs Jhonny Peralta to get back to being the 20-HR guy he has been and that he needs to play (his 2-game benching aside) to get it going.

But from where I'm standing, no one is in LaPorta's way.

What is the point of playing Dellucci, or even Francisco, over LaPorta? Whatever success Dellucci has had in the majors, it is well behind him now. Francisco appears to be nothing more than a fourth outfielder.

More importantly, how is it helping LaPorta by having him sitting on the bench?

If LaPorta truly is going to be used as Dellucci's caddy against lefties, why is he still here?

More importantly, why is Wedge still here?

Time for Wedge to go

2009-05-09T15:14:00.005-04:00

Every dog has his day.

Some even have six years and a month or so.

For Eric Wedge, his day has come and should now be gone.

It is time to fire the manager.

Back on April 20 I wrote that it was time to seriously consider firing Wedge, who is in his seventh season as Tribe manager.

I suggested Mother's Day as a good time to take another look and to pull the plug on Wedge by then if there was not a vast improvement in the Tribe's play.

Obviously there has been no improvement. In fact, some of the most galling defeats of the season have taken place during the period from April 20 to now, and the Tribe has put up a 7-10 record during that time period.

Obviously, the position-player roster shake-up has only been in place for a little over a week now. And the revamp of the bullpen has only begun (we hope). But do you really see much of a difference in the days and weeks ahead with the same manager and coaching staff running the show?

Wedge has had more than six years to show he is the guy to get this team into the World Series. So far, all we've gotten is a couple of exciting regular seasons and two huge choke jobs - in 2005 in the final week of the season , and 2007, when a 3-games-to-1 lead over the Red Sox in the ALCS was coughed up.

In addition, 2006, 2008 and 2009 were seasons of high expectations - not only from the local partisans, but also the national media.

2006 and 2008 turned out to be disasters of major proportions. 2009 seems is heading that way too.

On top of that, the awful breaks from the gate have been duly chronicled time and again. No reason to go into details here.

A manger's job is to prepare his team to play, and get the most out of the players he has. Often, especially in the early years, Wedge didn't have much. The bullpen he was provided in 2006 did him in that year and last year you could lay the blame on the injury bug. So it seemed fair to give Wedge one more shot. But it's clear he's let things get away from him again this year.

I've heard it argued that Wedge isn't the one striking out with runners in scoring position, or pouring gas on the fire from out of the bullpen.

That is true.

But the players on this club have mostly all shown they have the ability to play much better than they are playing. It is the manger's job to pull it out of them.

The loudest of Wedge's critics get on him for his apparent laid back attitude.

They get on him, essentially, for not getting on his players - for tolerating hitters who strike out once every three or four at-bats or who fail to hit in the clutch.

They don't like his uninspiring presence on the bench. His half-assed arguments with umpires when some good old-fashioned Earl Weaverishness would seem to be in order.

But and argument can be made that baseball players are most effective when they are playing relaxed. To me the Tribe seems to be just the opposite. They seem to play tight all the time (at least until the front office officially pulls the plug midway through the season and then they play relaxed and well).

I don't know if it just the personality of the current nucleus of this team that they can't play when the heat is on, or if Wedge has his own way of applying excess pressure - a way that is clearly not visible to the fans but may happen in the clubhouse.

Either way, the bottom line is the team does not produce.

Fair or not, the manager ultimately has to take the fall.

Wedge is in the middle of his seventh year of not getting the job done. Managers have been fired for much, much less.

It's time to clear the stale air around this team.

It's time for new ideas and a new approach.

That won't happen with Wedge, or anyone else currently on his staff or in the organization in charge.

We need someone from the outside to take over.

And we need them now.