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Indians Tidbits (2006 season)..

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bucknuts44820 said:
I like Crisp, but your right, he is not a cornerstone, he is more of a "sparkplug" type of player...
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Doesn't any good team need players like that?

tsteele316 said:
michaels from philly has a higher OBP than Crisp. He would be better suited to hit leadoff than crisp.
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He's also never been an every-day player.

tsteele316 said:
crisp is a tweener. he isnt going to give you the pop at the plate you want from a traditional LF. He isnt a good fit at the leadoff spot. He's a good ballplayer, but he isnt the cornerstone of any franchise. plus, he throws like lamar from revenge of the nerds.
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His arm is probably his only weakness, and I don't think it's as glaring a liability as you make it out to be. No, he doesn't have ideal power for a left fielder, but Grady more than makes up for it at center. If we were to just pretend that Coco and Grady switched spots, would everything be hunky-dory?
 
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Nevermind, the affair is over. I caught him getting dirty with Orlando Hudson (pictured below)...


All joking aside, has it been mentioned that Coco is probably the club's best bunter?

EDIT: ...is definitely the club's best bunter?

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Not sure why the Reds would turn that down, but I'm glad they did.

Anyway, that's an interesting point. With as stacked as the Tribe's pitching staff is, why not move one of them to get more power at the corners if they're so hard up for it?
 
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Well, specifics of Westbrook/Kearns aside... which I think would be terrible... and I assume the Reds turned it down because Shapiro was asking for prospects as well...

The only thing I can think, and I'm not comparing him with Coco, is when in '94 all of the sudden Wayne Kirby got benched-- and quicly traded/released-- whatever for some kid named Manny Ramirez, and some people were like, hey, Wayne Kirby is a solid player.... so, I guess my hope here is that Shapiro et al know that one of Franklin Gutierrez/Brad Snyder/Ryan Garko (or other) is going to be a stud... and this year.
 
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Interesting side bar is the Reds might get back involved and be in a 3-way trade with Boston. The principals rumored is Coco to Boston, Clement to the Reds and Kearns to Cleveland.

In my mind me thinks Wily Mo is who the Indians wanted where the Reds were only willing to give up Kearns instead. Cuz I do know the Indians LOVE Wily Mo.

And to go with what AKAK mentioned. Alot of people are thinking Brad Snyder is not that far away from getting to the majors. Dang I love hot stove chatter :biggrin:
 
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1/26/06

Sowers already finds major success

With college diploma earned, pitcher set to continue Tribe climb

By Sheldon Ocker

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->In one respect, Jeremy Sowers already has reached the big leagues.
His mother relayed the message over the phone. ``You got your diploma,'' she told her son recently.
Earning a degree in political science from Vanderbilt University rates as a major-league achievement in the realm of academia.
And if Sowers can make it to the show in one area of expertise, why not another?
Sowers was the Indians' top pick in the 2004 draft. Tribe officials predicted that the left-handed starting pitcher would rise through the farm system quickly, even though he lacks a power fastball.
So far, the team's player development staff has been right on target. Sowers began last season at ``high'' Class A and compiled an 8-3 record and 2.78 ERA in 13 starts. With nothing else to learn at Kinston, Sowers, still 22, was promoted to Akron, where he continued his climb with the Aeros, for whom he posted a 5-1 record and 2.08 ERA in 13 starts.
He finished the year with one start -- a win -- at Triple-A, giving up one run in 5 2/3 innings for Buffalo, which fixed his combined record at 14-4.
General Manager Mark Shapiro predicts that Sowers will pitch for the Indians sometime this season. Maybe it will be June or July, maybe September.
Regardless of the timing, Sowers will get there with guile and a mature outlook about his craft. Not that he doesn't have a live arm. Left-handers seem to be blessed with the ability to make baseballs move in funny ways.
``Fortunately, I'm part of that one in nine group, the 11 percent of the population that's left-handed,'' Sowers said.
For lefties, 89 mile-per-hour fastballs dive and dip and somehow appear to batters as if they're galloping along at 96. Curveballs bend in odd ways, and change-ups fall away in what seem to be unnatural directions.
``A pitcher's job is to get outs; pitching isn't about throwing hard, it's about ruining a hitter's timing,'' said Sowers, who joined the Indians on their press tour stop Wednesday night at the Shaw Jewish Community Center.
Maybe so, but it takes some pitchers -- particularly pitchers who throw hard -- years to learn that simple lesson. And that's one reason Tribe operatives thought that Sowers would reach the majors quickly.
``When I was a freshman in high school and was throwing 80, I realized that you can't get by just throwing fastballs,'' Sowers said.
Sowers isn't buying into anyone else's vision of his future, no matter how well intended. He understands that part of the process is remaining grounded and taking his career one start at a time.
``But if I get to start the season at Buffalo, I know I'm only a phone call away from Cleveland,'' he said.
Vanderbilt might seem like a strange choice of schools for a boy who dreamed of playing in the big leagues. Then again, maybe not.
Sowers' identical twin, Josh, recently graduated from Yale and pitched last year in the New York-Penn League after being drafted in the 10th round by Toronto.
Moreover, Vandy has been something of a surprise powerhouse, thanks in part to Sowers.
``It's always been there,'' said Sowers of his chosen sport. ``When you're in little league, you always idolize guys in the big leagues. And the closer you get to it (the majors), the more you realize you can do it, or that at least it's a possibility.''
On the other hand, Sowers wanted it both ways. In his mind, he could attend a highly ranked academic university and still play baseball at a challenging level.
``I let it be known that I wanted to kind of stay in the (Kentucky) area,'' he said. ``And that I wanted to go to an academic school. So I got offers from places like Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
``There's no reason why you can't succeed (in baseball) going there. There are lots of smart guys in baseball. And making it isn't about being a genius, anyway. It's about effort.''
Sowers will attend his first major-league spring training camp next month. And even though the games won't count, he will be expected to retire big-league hitters. Nothing could make him happier.
``I couldn't imagine a better life than playing baseball,'' he said.
He didn't have to graduate from Vanderbilt to know that.
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1/26/06

Indians ink OF, avoid arbiter

Thursday, January 26, 2006

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer [/FONT]



CLEVELAND - First baseman Ben Broussard avoided salary arbitration on Wednesday by agreeing to terms on a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Cleveland Indians, who still have outfielder Coco Crisp.

Broussard is expected to platoon this season with recently signed free agent Eduardo Perez. Last year, Broussard made $365,000 while batting .255 with a career-high 19 homers and 68 RBIs in 142 games.

He had initially asked for $2.6 million in arbitration and had been offered $2.2 million.

The Indians were somewhat disappointed in the 29-year-old’s production in 2005, one season after Broussard drove in 82 runs — the most RBIs by any AL player with less than 425 at-bats.

Broussard’s base salary will be $2,487,500 this season and he can earn an additional $25,000 each for 525 and 550 plate appearances, although it’s unlikely he’ll get anywhere near that number if he’s not playing every day.
Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro said Perez, 36, is likely to play some in the outfield and get about 350 at-bats.

Meanwhile, Shapiro remained quiet about the proposed three-team trade that would have sent Crisp to the Boston Red Sox for reliever Guillermo Mota and third-base prospect Andy Marte.

The deal appeared to dissolve Tuesday when the Indians had concerns about Mota’s right shoulder. Mota, who could replace Bob Howry in Cleveland’s bullpen, made just one appearance after Sept. 9 because of a sore shoulder. Howry signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox this winter.

As part of the trade, the Indians would also ship left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes to Philadelphia for outfielder Jason Michaels.

On Tuesday, a Phillies official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no deal was ever announced, told the Associated Press that the Phillies and Indians still could end up making a trade.

Mota and Marte have not played for the Red Sox, having been acquired this winter in separate deals.

Marte, one of the top prospects in Atlanta’s system, went to Boston for shortstop Edgar Renteria. But Boston needs a center fielder to replace Johnny Damon, who signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
Crisp, a fan favorite in Cleveland, batted .300 with 16 homers, 69 RBIs and stole 15 bases for the Indians. The Red Sox were also expected to include catching prospect Kelly Shoppach in the Cleveland deal. The Indians had reportedly agreed to send reliever David Riske and backup catcher Josh Bard to Boston.

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