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Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

CPD

Cleveland Indians second baseman Jamey Carroll keeps things low-key



Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Joe Maxse

Plain Dealer Reporter
Jamey Carroll is a pest.
Just ask the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres, who just left town after playing the Indians. Hitting second in the lineup, the Tribe's backup second baseman went 13-for-21 during the six-game homestand, with three runs scored and three RBI.
Those are attention-grabbing numbers at the top of the order, but don't expect anything more than a grateful smile from the down-to-earth Carroll. The slightly built utility infielder keeps things low-key, to say the least, but there is a lot to appreciate about the way he plays the game.

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CPD

Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia named American League Player of Week


Tuesday, June 17, 2008Joe Maxse
Plain Dealer Reporter
C.C. Sabathia was rewarded for one very good week.
The Tribe left-hander was named the American League Player of the Week after going 2-0, with a 1.59 ERA.
He threw a five-hit shutout in a 1-0 win against Minnesota on Tuesday and came back with a six-hit, 10-strikeout effort during Sunday's 7-3 victory against the San Diego Padres. Sabathia went eight innings in that one.

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Canton

Indians analysis: Tribe must keep working if Sabathia is going to stay
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
BY JOSH WEIR
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

CLEVELAND There is "Save the Whales." There is "Save the Rain Forest."

The Indians could have their own preservation movement going on.

"Save C.C. Sabathia."

Well, at least save him from going somewhere else until after this season. Sabathia is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2008 season. As the Indians have teetered on falling out of contention, Sabathia is the first name mentioned as a possible trade deadline move for another team to bolster its playoff chances.

Sabathia, who was named the American League's Player of the Week on Monday, was asked if he ever thinks that one of his upcoming starts could be his last as an Indian.

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Canton

Indians notebook
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
BY JOSH WEIR
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

C.C. HONORED A complete-game shutout and beating Greg Maddux garners some attention. Enough so that C.C. Sabathia was named American League Player of the Week on Monday. He went the distance in a 1-0 win against the Twins on Wednesday, then came back Sunday to best Maddux and the Padres. Sabathia struck out 15 and walked one in 17 innings last week. Since April 22, he is 5-5 with an AL-best 2.22 ERA. Overall, he leads the league in strikeouts (97) and is third in innings pitched (99 1/3).

CHECKING JOSH INF Josh Barfield's injured left middle finger was looked at Monday by Dr. Tom Graham. The Indians will update Barfield's condition today.

HOMECOMING 2B Jamey Carroll is taking a low-key approach to returning to Colorado, where he played the last two seasons. "It's just baseball," he said. "Obviously I have a lot of friends over there, a lot relationships that developed over the last couple of years. That's going to be the exciting part, but then we have a ballgame to try to go win." Carroll was asked if the ball really flies much farther in Coors Field. "It used to, but I really think the humidor plays a factor in it," he said. "It's still a big field. There's lots of ground to cover out there. It's a hitter's ballpark."
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That Canton Rep article about C.C. is a good read. I agree with what Josh is saying. Garko needs to step up and be consistent especially with Pronk out and not sure what his future with him. Gut is too goo of an outfield to keep him on the bench. Stick Dellucci on the bench and keep him there.


EDIT: I was just watching Sportscenter and diamond cutters segment on baseball said that the Yankees are looking at C.C. to replace Wang. However it is unlikely that the Yankees will meet what the Tribe wants for C.C. But rather they want a "B list" Starter such as Paul Byrd who supposedly could be ready in 10-12 days for the Yankees.

I wouldn't mind this. I am not really a fan of Byrd simply because he throws the ball over the plate way too much. And I know it's his style of pitching, I just don't see it working too well. I mean look at his ERA and record this year.

ERA: 4.89
Record: 3-6
HR's Given Up: 17

Now the only question is, who can we get for him?
 
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mstevmac;1185977; said:
That Canton Rep article about C.C. is a good read. I agree with what Josh is saying. Garko needs to step up and be consistent especially with Pronk out and not sure what his future with him. Gut is too goo of an outfield to keep him on the bench. Stick Dellucci on the bench and keep him there.


EDIT: I was just watching Sportscenter and diamond cutters segment on baseball said that the Yankees are looking at C.C. to replace Wang. However it is unlikely that the Yankees will meet what the Tribe wants for C.C. But rather they want a "B list" Starter such as Paul Byrd who supposedly could be ready in 10-12 days for the Yankees.

I wouldn't mind this. I am not really a fan of Byrd simply because he throws the ball over the plate way too much. And I know it's his style of pitching, I just don't see it working too well. I mean look at his ERA and record this year.

ERA: 4.89
Record: 3-6
HR's Given Up: 17

Now the only question is, who can we get for him?


Wang is going to be on crutches for 6 weeks with his foot injury. He'll be lucky to be back by August. So, it depends on how desperate the Yankees are. Cleveland could probably get a decent high level prospect for Byrd.
 
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tsteele316;1185989; said:
Wang is going to be on crutches for 6 weeks with his foot injury. He'll be lucky to be back by August. So, it depends on how desperate the Yankees are. Cleveland could probably get a decent high level prospect for Byrd.

I've seen Phil Hughes' name thrown around......what a joke. If Phil Hughes is the big prospect/name we get back for C.C. Shapiro would need to be committed.

Pleaae no.
 
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billmac91;1186010; said:
I've seen Phil Hughes' name thrown around......what a joke. If Phil Hughes is the big prospect/name we get back for C.C. Shapiro would need to be committed.

Pleaae no.


hughes would only be one of several players involved in the deal. cleveland wouldn't trade CC for Hughes straight up. The Yanks would have to throw in at least 2 high level AA prospects, or Joba the Hut.
 
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tsteele316;1186015; said:
hughes would only be one of several players involved in the deal. cleveland wouldn't trade CC for Hughes straight up. The Yanks would have to throw in at least 2 high level AA prospects, or Joba the Hut.

Why would we even take on Phil Hughes...the guy has proven he can't stay healthy and he's ridiculously inconsistent. I guess my point is, he has very little value so him being considered a value at all is scary.
 
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Cleveland.com
Terry Pluto

Indians plan to keep Asdrubal Cabrera at Class AAA Buffalo for at least a few weeks, although everything is subject to change this season. The team wants him to work on hitting the inside pitch, and making sure to take pitches that are off the corner. With the Tribe, he was batting only .184 with a .529 OPS. The Indians have also stressed some diet issues with him, and they'd like him to lose a few pounds -- they believe he has to be careful because his stocky frame can add weight quickly. So it's Jamey Carroll at second base for now, where he has consistently been rated above average defensively during his career. As Kelly Shoppach takes over behind the plate for the injured Victor Martinez, the Indians want him to work at blocking balls in the dirt -- making sure not to have those lapses of attention where he occasionally has a pitch bounce off his glove. He had four passed balls coming into the weekend, a lot for his sporadic playing time. By comparison, Martinez has two. They like Shoppach's throwing, his attitude and his game-calling.

It makes sense to drop Grady Sizemore into the middle of the order because he is one of the few power bats still healthy. They gave some thought about Shin-Soo Choo as a leadoff hitter, but Eric Wedge said Sizemore likes leading off and the manager doesn't want to take him out of his comfort zone. Sizemore entered the weekend with 14 HR, more than any other AL leadoff hitter. In a month or so, I'd drop Sizemore in the lineup.

The Indians already consider Choo an above average defender. "His arm is still recovering [from Tommy John surgery] and it's still better than 80 percent of the guys in the league," said Wedge. They believe he'll get even better. Coming into this weekend, Choo is a career .299 hitter in the minors. In parts of three seasons with the Indians, it's also .299 (58-of-194). Odds are, he will hit if he gets a chance. In the past, he has struggled vs. lefties, but is effective vs. righties.

It's a small sample, but in the last two years with the Tribe, Andy Marte is 10-of-76 (.131) vs. right-handers. He's 8-of-27 (.296) against lefties. How about giving Marte some time against lefties? You can play Marte at third, move Casey Blake to first and DH Ryan Garko. With so many injured players, it makes sense to look at Marte -- at least part time.
 
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That would be weird seeing Grady in the middle part of the lineup. I don't know how I feel about that. It's not like he's hitting A TON of HR's. I think you have to keep him at the leadoff spot for now while we're still in the hunt. If we continue to fall further behind in the Central, then that's when you start trying new things.
 
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I think they're talking about dropping him down to the #3 hole because he is the only guy on the team who really has any "consistent" power. While his leadoff home runs are very nice and they give the Tribe the initial lead, you have to remember that those home runs only come for 1 run. If you were down in the #3 hole, there might be someone on base when he hits a home run. The only problem with that is finding a leadoff hitter who can get on base and I don't know if the Indians have that type of guy on their roster.

The still don't understand why they are not playing Marte a little especially with Hafner on the DL. They could move Blake to first and let Garko DH. I can see possibly why they were not playing him that much when Hafner was healthy but now it is an entirely different story. Just baffles me.
 
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mstevmac;1186075; said:
That would be weird seeing Grady in the middle part of the lineup. I don't know how I feel about that. It's not like he's hitting A TON of HR's. I think you have to keep him at the leadoff spot for now while we're still in the hunt. If we continue to fall further behind in the Central, then that's when you start trying new things.

I have always had a different opinion with Grady batting leadoff. I was always against it. He has #3 hitter written all over him and that was his potential as he moved up the minor leagues. The problem was when he came up we didn't have a leadoff hitter and since Grady does have speed they put him there.

I have always wanted to see the Indians get a true leadoff hitter. One reason I was pissed last year after they got Lofton, they should have batted Kenny 1st and dropped Grady to 3rd to let Hafner bat 5th to get out of his slump. That would have been a better overall lineup. (And I argued this last year)

Now that we don't have anyone that can hit in the middle of the lineup we really need Grady there. It will let him blossom into the player he can be (.300 100/30/100). But our problem remains... can anyone bat leadoff on this team?
 
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Cleveland.com

Cleveland Indians sign Ensberg to minor league contract
Posted by Plain Dealer staff reports June 17, 2008 14:26PM
Categories: Indians

Looking for infield insurance and maybe some pop from a corner infielder, the Indians today signed third baseman Morgan Ensberg to a minor league contract and assigned him to Class AAA Buffalo.

Ensberg, 32, was released by the New York Yankees on June 2 after hitting .203 in 28 games, with one home run and four RBI.

Ensberg started his career with the Houston Astros and appeared in 731 games over eight Major League seasons. He has a .263 career average with 110 home runs and 347 RBI. His best season was 2005 with the Astros when he hit .283 with 36 homers and 101 RBI in 150 games and was selected to play in the All-Star Game.

Now this should get us somewhere:(
 
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