Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians get behind big early, fall to Chicago White Sox

Sox's 8-1 lead after 3 holds up
Tuesday, July 01, 2008Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Chicago -- Manager Eric Wedge, a conservative man in a conservative sport, tried something new with his reeling ballclub.
He wanted to give the Indians a taste of pressure. If they didn't respond in the present, perhaps it would help them in the future.
So Wedge hung the whole season on this eight-game trip through the AL Central. To Wedge's way of thinking, it was a win-win situation.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians not to be taken lightly, says Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen


Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Chicago- If Ozzie Guillen was running the Indians, he wouldn't break them up. General Manager Mark Shapiro is running the Tribe, and if this eight-game trip against American League Central Division opponents Chicago, Minnesota and Detroit goes the way the rest of the season has, a breakup could be coming.
It wouldn't be a complete housecleaning, but everyone working on a one-year contract could be changing addresses. That includes pitchers C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd and Joe Borowski, third baseman Casey Blake and a few others.
Guillen's White Sox were in a similar position last year. When it came to decision time, they re-signed free-agent pitcher Mark Buehrle and outfielder Jermaine Dye, and in the off-season made some daring trades and questionable free-agent signings. They lead the Central by 2? games.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Loss leaves a Sowers taste in Tribe clubhouse
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Homers lift White Sox to win[/FONT]
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
BY JOSH WEIR
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

CHICAGO Calling this a road trip might be inaccurate.

Death march seems more appropriate at the moment.

The Indians kicked off their eight-game Central Divison swing Monday night. They were thoroughly outclassed in a 9-7 loss to the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

The contrast was startling.

The Indians, who talked about this trip possibly making or breaking their season, promptly fell on their faces. The first-place White Sox, still on the high of sweeping the cross-town rival Cubs, spent the evening giving their sellout crowd of 38,466 numerous reasons to cheer.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch: Swisher's HRs sink Tribe in loss to White Sox

Swisher's HRs sink Tribe in loss to White Sox

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 12:08 AM



Associated Press
CHICAGO?Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate, hitting his second grand slam in four games and adding a solo shot last night to lead the surging Chicago White Sox past the Cleveland Indians 9-7.

Jim Thome got the White Sox started with a three-run homer in the first inning as the American League Central leaders won their fifth straight game and knocked the Indians 10 1/2 games back.​

Cleveland's Jhonny Peralta went 5 for 5 with three doubles, his 12th homer and three RBI. The Indians made it interesting by scoring three in the top of the ninth before Matt Thornton got Casey Blake to line out with a runner on to get his first save in three chances.
Cont..​

 

[tsteele316]

It's pretty hard to be optimistic about a quick turnaround. The farm system is pretty weak, and with Shapiro's track record in FA, it's hard to believe he'll make enough of a splash this winter to get them back into contention. On top of that, Pronk's future is up in the air and Victor isn't a guarantee he'll be back to his old self when he comes back.

Grady, Fausto and Laffey are a good young nucleus to build around. Hopefully Victor and Pronk are back to their old selves when they return. Francisco looks like a good, if not great, corner OF. Hopefully Asdrubal can bounce back and be a solid 2B/SS. The rest needs to be rebuilt. The bullpen needs a total overhaul...hopefully Adam Miller's future is at closer and he succeeds. Dealing guys like C.C., Byrd and (possibly) Lee could help restock the bare farm system somewhat, but I think we're staring a total rebuilding job like back in 2002 in the face.

Two to three years is a minimum timeframe to field a competitive team again IMO.

It's not quite that bad. dealing CC, byrd, Blake, garko, peralta, delucci and even borowski would immediately replenish the farm system. if you even get 2007 hafner back next year, the team is really only two or 3 guys away from being competitive, but they will have to get them via FA.

 

[Mac]

It's not quite that bad. dealing CC, byrd, Blake, garko, peralta, delucci and even borowski would immediately replenish the farm system. if you even get 2007 hafner back next year, the team is really only two or 3 guys away from being competitive, but they will have to get them via FA.

I agree with dealing those guys. IF and only IF we can get Victor and Pronk back to the way they were, then we'll be on our way to being in contention but if Pronk can't bounce back from this injury, we have no power.

 

[LitlBuck]

It's not quite that bad. dealing CC, byrd, Blake, garko, peralta, delucci and even borowski would immediately replenish the farm system. if you even get 2007 hafner back next year, the team is really only two or 3 guys away from being competitive, but they will have to get them via FA.

I guess I don't understand this statement. You want to do trade 6+ guys for some very good minor-league prospects to replenish the farm system and then sign 2-3 FA and that is supposed to bring us back into contention. Where are we going to get the 3-4 guys to replenish the Indians roster

 

[buckeyemania11]

It's not quite that bad. dealing CC, byrd, Blake, garko, peralta, delucci and even borowski would immediately replenish the farm system. if you even get 2007 hafner back next year, the team is really only two or 3 guys away from being competitive, but they will have to get them via FA.

Byrd Delucci and Borowski have little to no trade value..........

 

[tsteele316]

Byrd Delucci and Borowski have little to no trade value..........

look at what cleveland got for stiffs like bob wickman and eduardo perez.

all 3 of the above players can net at worst a 2nd tier prospect.

 

[NFBuck]

It's not quite that bad. dealing CC, byrd, Blake, garko, peralta, delucci and even borowski would immediately replenish the farm system. if you even get 2007 hafner back next year, the team is really only two or 3 guys away from being competitive, but they will have to get them via FA.

Trading those guys would certainly help restock a weak farm system, but then you need to wait for those prospects to hopefully develop. Who replaces those who were traded in the lineup? Shipiro has shown he's unwilling or unable to make a splash in FA, so more than likely you're looking at more middle-of-the-road stiffs like Dellucci replacing the departed. We have no real ML ready prospects to step in. Then there's the absolute disaster that is our bullpen which needs a complete overhaul.

I'm not saying the organization is sunk, they're actually in a decent situation with some tradeable pieces to build for the future...I just think we're looking at a couple pretty lean years in the meantime, like 2002-2004 were.

 

[buckeyemania11]

Trading those guys would certainly help restock a weak farm system, but then you need to wait for those prospects to hopefully develop. Who replaces those who were traded in the lineup? Shipiro has shown he's unwilling or unable to make a splash in FA, so more than likely you're looking at more middle-of-the-road stiffs like Dellucci replacing the departed. We have no real ML ready prospects to step in. Then there's the absolute disaster that is our bullpen which needs a complete overhaul.

I'm not saying the organization is sunk, they're actually in a decent situation with some tradeable pieces to build for the future...I just think we're looking at a couple pretty lean years in the meantime, like 2002-2004 were.

I dont know if I would call the farm system "weak"

its just that all of the prospects are in the lower levels and still need 2-3 more years (maybe longer) before they are MLB ready , there is jack shit in AAA except a collection of worthless vetrans who have no business gracing the MLB roster.

I think they put WAY too much stock into Adam Miller......... he has still never thrown a inning in the MLB and at the rate he is going he may never throw a single pitch in Cleveland

get rid of some of these schlubs in AAA and call some AA players up and see how they do there

Trevor Crowe .313 4 HR 26 RBI 9 SBs in AA
Wes Hodges .309 9 HR 62 RBI in AA
Stephen Head .309 5 HR 24 RBI in AA

Randy Newsome 5-0 1.75 ERA in 36.0 IP Relief
JD Martin 7-3 3.26 ERA

give some of these guys who are performing well in AA a shot in AAA and see how they do, instead of hoarding terrible vetrans there.

 

[NFBuck]

I dont know if I would call the farm system "weak"

its just that all of the prospects are in the lower levels and still need 2-3 more years (maybe longer) before they are MLB ready , there is jack shit in AAA except a collection of worthless vetrans who have no business gracing the MLB roster.

I think they put WAY too much stock into Adam Miller......... he has still never thrown a inning in the MLB and at the rate he is going he may never throw a single pitch in Cleveland

get rid of some of these schlubs in AAA and call some AA players up and see how they do there

Trevor Crowe .313 4 HR 26 RBI 9 SBs in AA
Wes Hodges .309 9 HR 62 RBI in AA
Stephen Head .309 5 HR 24 RBI in AA

Randy Newsome 5-0 1.75 ERA in 36.0 IP Relief
JD Martin 7-3 3.26 ERA

give some of these guys who are performing well in AA a shot in AAA and see how they do, instead of hoarding terrible vetrans there.

Maybe I should have worded it better, I meant "weak" in terms of ML ready talent, but it is pretty weak froma top-to bottom standpoint. Crowe is a good looking prospect, but he may not be ML ready until sometime in '09 or '10. Hodges still strikes out too much and definately needs more seasoning in AAA. Hopefully once the firesale happens, these kids have had some time in AAA and can get a cup of coffee with the big club in September to see how far along they are.

 

[tsteele316]

I dont know if I would call the farm system "weak"

its just that all of the prospects are in the lower levels and still need 2-3 more years (maybe longer) before they are MLB ready , there is jack shit in AAA except a collection of worthless vetrans who have no business gracing the MLB roster.

I think they put WAY too much stock into Adam Miller......... he has still never thrown a inning in the MLB and at the rate he is going he may never throw a single pitch in Cleveland

get rid of some of these schlubs in AAA and call some AA players up and see how they do there

Trevor Crowe .313 4 HR 26 RBI 9 SBs in AA
Wes Hodges .309 9 HR 62 RBI in AA
Stephen Head .309 5 HR 24 RBI in AA

Randy Newsome 5-0 1.75 ERA in 36.0 IP Relief
JD Martin 7-3 3.26 ERA

give some of these guys who are performing well in AA a shot in AAA and see how they do, instead of hoarding terrible vetrans there.

most of ths schlubs in AAA will be midseason/september call-ups when the trades are made and rosters expanded. some of these guys will be in AAA soon enough. most of them need to show they can stay healthy for an extended period of time before being fast tracked to the big show.

and yes, overall, the farm system is weak.

 

[buckeyemania11]

the AAA club is comedy

Asdrubal Cabrera (2B) .363
Jordan Brown (1B) .286
Michael Aubrey (1B) .284

Todd Linden (OF) .252 33 strikeouts 30 hits
Ryan Mulhern (DH) .250 63 strikeouts 50 hits
Andy Gonzalez (LF) .244 55 strikeouts 51 hits
Jason Cooper (RF) .243 44 strikeouts 46 hits
Brad Snyder (CF) .237 70 strikeouts 54 hits
Jason Tyner (OF) .229
Chris Giminez (C) .167 13 strikeouts 6 hits
Chris De La Cruz (2B) .156 6 strikeouts 5 hits
Yamid Haad (C) .152 17 strikeouts 10 hits
Morgan Ensberg (3B) .152 11 strikeouts 5 hits
Armando Camacaro (C) .077 4 strikeouts 1 hit

the pitching doesnt get any better, 4.13 is the lowest ERA any starter (who as 60+ IP) has

 

[OSUsushichic]

ouch