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Indians Tidbits (2006 season)..

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How about if Marte reaches his potential and Shoppach pushes Victor to 1B so VMart can play 150+ games.

Grady
Michaels
Jhonny
Pronk
Victor
Marte
Shoppach
Ronnie
Blake/Snyder/Gutierrez
 
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OK, now that the dust has settled on this trade...

I'm OK with it. The Indians have several guys down on the farm that are ready or almost ready. Perhaps they have a good feeling about Aubrey or Snyder? Maybe BP is going to come around? Cabrera and Brown are surely possibilities for the pitching staff down the road.

For once, things are bright for the Tribe.....
 
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The warriors of the erie will rise again!!!! I went to the season ending series against the eventual world series champion White sox and by the end of the last game i got kicked out for fighting stupid chicago fans. I cant wait for this season and some redemption.
GO TRIBE
 
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From today's Dispatch....

One potential side effect of Coco Crisp’s trade to the Boston Red Sox is that it could save significant wear-and-tear on Cleveland Indians catcher Victor Martinez. General manager Mark Shapiro said he and manager Eric Wedge have talked about using Martinez at first base more to keep his bat in the lineup but save his legs.

If 25-year-old Kelly Shoppach, one of the players the Indians got in the trade, is as good as they believe he can be, Wedge should be more willing to use him and rest Martinez. Team officials think Shoppach, who hit .253 with 26 home runs and 75 RBI in 371 at-bats at the triple-A level last season, is a solid catch-and-throw guy who has some power and will draw some walks. He threw out 44 percent of runners attempting to steal.

It was obvious last season that Wedge did not like putting Josh Bard’s bat in the lineup, no matter how good he was behind the plate. Consequently, Wedge nearly ran Martinez into the ground.

It’s possible that you could see Martinez catch 80 to 100 games and play first base 40 to 50 games, with Shoppach and Ryan Garko getting the rest of the playing time. That way, Martinez would get his 500 at-bats with less wear-and-tear, and Shoppach and Garko could get regular playing time without the pressure of playing every day.
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Spring training schedule.....can't believe its almost that time again....

Saturday, February 04, 2006
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As much as I hate losing Coco, I am beginning to think the trade seriously strengthened the Tribe. Sop is a genuine catcher prospect and will give Victor more much needed days off; Marte will (hopefully) fullfill his potential and plug a big hole at 3rd (and in the lineup). If Michaels can 2/3 replace Coco's stats, the Tribe will be golden.

What do you think by now VR?
 
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I wouldn't expect Marte to play much if at all with the Tribe this year. He still needs a few 100 more at bats in AAA. I'm thinking Marte takes over at 3b full time in 07.

If Shoppach can become a legit backup at catcher, that could allow Martinez to play some 1B. Give his knees a rest and still keep his bat in the lineup. That would be huge considering the usual suspects at 1B.
 
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What do you think by now VR?
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I agree with the above sentiments wholeheartedly. I think this trade has the potential to be great...for the team. But here's my situation: 3-4 years ago, I didn't even like baseball. In fact, I really kinda hated it. I loved the end of October because it meant ESPN had to shut up about baseball for at least a few months and report on football and basketball. Then a buddy of mine invited me to join a high stakes fantasy baseball league. Been around for a few decades, $250 buy-in, etc. I'd been playing other fantasy sports since '97, so I did it. Didn't know much about baseball, so I just did as much research as I could, and I picked players that I thought were (a) talented and (b) cool. Johnny Damon, Tim Hudson, etc. At any rate, the point of this story is that with just a few exceptions, I rarely follow a franchise because of the franchise. I mostly just go with the athletes. I've been following the Packers since Reggie White signed there, because I loved Reggie White at the time. After that, Brett Favre, Sterling Sharpe, LeRoy Butler, Edgar Bennett, Mark Chmura et al became some my favorite players, and thusly I liked the Packers. Never really liked hockey, but when the Blackhawks had Roenick, Chelios, Belfour, Amonte, and those guys, I liked the Blackhawks 'cause I thought they were cool. Now, having lived in Ohio, the Indians are a little different because I've been exposed to them a lot more. Watch them on television all the time, been to half a dozen games or so. However, I like them mainly because of the players they have. Hafner, Wickman, Belliard, Sizemore, C.C. ... but mostly Coco. This was a really long-winded way of saying that while the trade may make sense for the franchise, it doesn't help me as a fan. Coco had soul. He was funky, in a good way. Anyone remember when he got called out on strikes early in the '05 season, when he still had that fucked-up afro, and he just about tore the ump's throat out? One of the smallest guys on the roster, stomping around, seething, with his sloppy ass 'fro flying everywhere. I think I just about pissed myself laughing, clapping, screaming at the TV. It was great. Let's say hypothetically (that's the key word, since it would obviously never happen) that they traded all those guys above away (Hafner, Wick, Ronnie, etc.) for the absolute best talent in the game. A-Rod, Manny, Gagne, Rolen. Would the team be better? Of course. Would I really care to watch them play? Shit no. The Yankees are a prime example. They're a fantastic ballclub, but when I watch them, they're numbing. They're too good. There are no 'feel good stories' on that roster. You pull for guys like Coco and Riske and Jhonny and Cliff Lee because they're trying to get somewhere. You can tell they just want to win. That isn't to say that Shoppach and Marte aren't those kinds of dudes, but who really knows? I'll still watch the Indians. They still have a lot of cool players. But I've said it before, and it bears repeating: I will definitely be watching more Boston games this year, whenever possible.

Oh, and for the record, I've finished in the money in both of my first two years in that league. :biggrin:
 
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PlainDealer

2/5/06

BROWN'S TOWN
Tribe optimism not always rewarded


Sunday, February 05, 2006

Roger Brown
Plain Dealer Columnist

Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro says fans unhappy that the team sent popular outfielder Coco Crisp to Boston in a multiplayer trade - largely to acquire Red Sox prospect Andy Marte) - should give management the benefit of doubt, because of its past success landing Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Travis Hafner in similar deals.

But while Shapiro has rightly earned that right on the Crisp trade, the Indians GM certainly doesn't deserve blind faith that Marte will match his hype. Here are quotes Shapiro made about other recent, celebrated prospects - not long after acquiring them in major trades:

1. "He's a talented player with a lot of tools."
2. "He has the potential to be a dominant offensive player. We think he could be a core player for years to come."
3. "When he pitches, you put aside the radar gun and just watch the hitter's reaction. He's a winner."
4. "He's competitive, isn't afraid to work inside and he's intelligent."

In order, Shapiro was talking about outfielder Alex Escobar, infielder Brandon Phillips and pitchers Billy Traber and Ricardo Rodriguez.

But today, Escobar, Traber and Rodriguez aren't in the organization. And Phillips may not be much longer: He's been buried in the minors for two straight seasons, and could be gone by April.

Don't expect the Indians to have a team-related name for their new regional TV sports network, like "Tribe TV." It wouldn't fit with the Indians' desire to eventually add non-baseball programming to the network.
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PlainDealer

2/5/06

Hafner's bell stops ringing

Tribe's DH uses hard work and humor during recovery from concussion
Sunday, February 05, 2006 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Travis Hafner has run and run and run this winter. He's waited for the dizziness and headaches to return. Waited for the dullness to overtake his body.
So far, there's been nothing.
Hafner takes that to mean he's over the concussion he suffered last season on July 16 when Chicago's Mark Buehrle hit him in the face with a fastball. The injury put him on the disabled list for 17 games and lingered for the rest of the season.
While Hafner's equilibrium has returned, his sense of humor never left.
"The dizziness is gone," he said recently.
The punchline followed with the timing of a good stand-up comic.
"Of course, I still have a tendency to forget people's birthdays and anniversaries," Hafner said.
When Hafner came off the DL on Aug. 4, he made no mention of the post-concussive symptoms that clung to him. No one else talked much about them either.
Hafner doubled in his first at-bat against the Yankees after being activated. He singled home a run in his last at-bat of that game. All seemed right with the man called Pronk.
The statistics said so as well. After getting hit by Buehrle's pitch in the first inning on July 16, Hafner was hitting .310 (89-for-287) with 23 doubles, 18 homers and 63 RBI. When he came off the DL, he hit .296 (59-for-199) with 19 doubles, 15 homers and 45 RBI in 54 games.
But Hafner says he went through stretches where he played through dizziness and headaches. If he elevated his heart rate too much by running or other physical activity, the symptoms could return.
Along with the symptoms came a dullness of spirit.
"In some games you'd lost your competitiveness," Hafner said. "It's tough to explain. You didn't feel like going out there. You just didn't feel like getting up for the game.
"I've talked to other baseball players who have had concussions. They said the same thing. You just didn't have that drive."
Hafner said there were times when he went to the plate and found it hard to concentrate. Humor helped him get through it.
The left-handed hitting DH thought about hitting right-handed.
"I figured if I got hit on the right side of my head, I'd be back to normal," Hafner said.
Hafner, 28, ended the season hitting .305 (148-for-486) with 42 doubles, 33 homers and 108 RBI. He ranked second in the American League in OPS (on- base percentage plus slugging percentage) to AL MVP Alex Rodriguez, 1.031-1.003. He finished second in RBI among DHs to Boston's David Ortiz, 141-106.
Like his teammates, Hafner still has a hard time dealing with the final week of last season. The Indians had a chance to win the AL Central or the wild card, but lost six of their last seven games.
"I don't know if you ever get over it," Hafner said. "You use it to motivate you during the off-season. I think we can learn a lesson from it to help us this year."
The Indians, starting with a Sunday afternoon loss to Kansas City on Sept. 25, lost two out of three to Tampa Bay and were swept by Chicago in the final three games of the season.
"It's pretty simple what happened," Hafner said. "We didn't score enough runs. We left a lot of runners on base."
Five of the Indians' six losses were by one run. The other was by two. They averaged just over two runs per game in those defeats.
"There's no way to describe it but frustrating," Hafner said. "We should have a really good team for a long time here. You just hate to have that kind of opportunity and not take advantage of it."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-5754
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