Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[Zippercat]

C.C.'s replacement? Indians sign Jeff Weaver to minor league deal

nice to see that they are bottom feeding

This is really probably not related to the current ML situation. For the several years the Tribe has signed a bunch guys off the scrap heap, like Weaver, who are trying to reclaim past glory. It seems like trying to catch lightening in the bottle, but they've been able to rehab a couple useful players this way. Scott Elarton's the current roster example. It's a low cost way of finding some more talent for the system. Low cost being THE word in most anything this team does, of course!

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Twins 9Indians 6
Twins send Indians to 7th straight loss

Sunday, July 6, 2008 3:18 AM



ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer homered, walked three times and scored three runs to help Kevin Slowey and the streaking Minnesota Twins rally past the Cleveland Indians 9-6 last night.
Craig Monroe and Alexi Casilla hit two-run doubles, and the Twins rebounded from the Indians' five-run second inning by scoring five times in the sixth.
Slowey (6-6) settled down after a rocky start, striking out six and allowing five hits in six innings.
Grady Sizemore's three-run homer, his league-leading 22nd, was the lone highlight for Cleveland, which lost its seventh straight.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Twins hand Indians their seventh straight loss

Posted by [URL="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/about.html"][EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL][/URL] July 05, 2008 23:25PM

Categories: Indians

Minneapolis -- Hey, Andy Marte drove in a run. So that's something.
As for Marte's ballclub, the Indians, the question isn't how many games they'll manage to win in a season that has been turned into scrap metal a week before the All-Star break. The question is how many they'll lose.
The surging Twins scored five runs in the sixth inning Saturday night to beat the Indians, 9-6, at the Metrodome. The loss was the Indians seventh straight, tying their longest losing streak of the season.
The Twins have won four straight and 14 of their past 16. They trail the first-place White Sox by one game in the AL Central.

Continued.....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Tribe needs a little of this, a little of that . . . well, a lot


Sunday, July 06, 2008 Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist

Mark Shapiro be lieves a tweaking as opposed to an overhaul is the prescription for next season.
OK.
"The most important thing is to get back our injured players," the Indians GM said. "Having those players return is bigger than anything we can do externally."
Uh-oh.
I think we've tripped down this yellow-brick road before.
No doubt the Indians will benefit from the return of Victor Martinez and Fausto Carmona.
It wouldn't be a shocker, though, if Jake Westbrook isn't himself until 2009 and if Travis Hafner never returns to being the hitter that prompted the Indians to give him such a lucrative long-term contract.
The Indians could use a corner outfielder with legitimate power, especially since they don't project it in other traditionally power-laden spots in the lineup.

Continued......

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Cleveland Indians Insider: Trade talk for Sabathia heating up

Posted by [URL="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/about.html"][EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL][/URL] July 05, 2008 21:29PM

Categories: Indians
Minneapolis -- C.C. Sabathia threw a bullpen session before Saturday night's game. So he hasn't gone anywhere yet. The question is what uniform will he be wearing when he makes his scheduled start Tuesday.
General Manager Mark Shapiro, meanwhile, continued to talk to multiple teams Saturday about last year's Cy Young winner. Milwaukee and the Dodgers are still believed to be the front-runners. The Phillies, managed by Charlie Manuel, who brought Sabathia to the big leagues in 2001 are interested, but might not have enough to get Sabathia.
According to sources, the proceedings are moving quickly, but nothing seemed imminent as of Saturday night.

Continued....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

ABOUT THE INDIANS

It was wise to cut Joe Borowski, his arm is obviously not right -- based on that 85 mph fastball. But the Indians have no closer, and GM Mark Shapiro admitted that finding one from his current group of relievers is "not impossible, but not probable. We probably will have to address that in the off-season." By letting Borowski go, the Indians can at least look at relievers such as Masa Kobayashi, Raffy Perez and possibly newly promoted Jensen Lewis in the role. But they really don't have a clue if any can do it. It's wise not to go back to Raffy Betancourt, who has lost most of his confidence.
Of the current group, Perez has the best arm. He entered the weekend with a 3.44 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 36 innings, compared to 14 walks. He's 26, has an above-average fastball and slider. Lefty batters are hitting .246 against him, righties are at .286. He has allowed five HRs in 36 innings, and that's a lot. He'd be my first pick to close, not that I'm especially confident that it would work.

Continued.......

 

[LitlBuck]

I think what Shapiro gets for C. C. will be his legacy as a GM for the Indians. Any of the other trades or moves that he has made in the past will not compare to this deal. He must get something to turn this team around or we will be in for many long seasons to come.

If Milwaukee wants to make a run this year, they need to give up 2 quality prospects or they can sit and wait like the Indians. The same with the Dodgers and Phillies and whomever else jumps into the fray for C. C.

 

[Bernini]

What kind of mental toughness would Chocolate Chunk Sofatia bring to a team like my Milwaukee Brewers? The Brew Crew could use a bad ass Curt Schilling type who isn't phased by a losing history and the immense expectations/pressure which are accompanied with the team finally being relevant. The front running young Brewers folded under the pressure last season.

Buster Olney is now speculating the Brewers might send LaPorta and Hardy to Cleveland for CC. That's way too steep, and illogical as well. Trading for CC would be a win-now move for the Crew, but Hardy is helping us win now also. He's en fuego at the plate which has in turn sparked the team's current run. It's too steep because LaPorta projects to be a 7-8 year impact player for the team to which he's traded. CC will only help the Brewers for less than a half year. I'm willing to mortgage one major part of the Brewers future for a rental, but not two. I understand that the market is driving up the price, but I don't think anybody else could give more than a stud like LaPorta + a prospect who receives that status primarily for upside at this point.

 

[aurorabuckeye13]

I like LaPorta alot from the Brewers... he fits exactly what the Tribe's minor league system needs. Hardy would certainly make things interesting. You could move peralta to 3rd and hardy would play SS, but with the season lost I want to give Marte one last shot to play on a regular basis with no pressure to maybe let him get some confidence back.

 

[LitlBuck]

If I am Shapiro, I say to the Brewers GM if you want to make a run this year you give us two very good prospects or you can wait and see if Laporte turns into a very good major league player and put you in the playoffs in 3-4 years. CC is a proven player and when you get prospects, even if they are good, they are still prospects and have not proved one thing at the major-league level.

 

[Bernini]

If I am Shapiro, I say to the Brewers GM if you want to make a run this year you give us two very good prospects or you can wait and see if Laporte turns into a very good major league player and put you in the playoffs in 3-4 years. CC is a proven player and when you get prospects, even if they are good, they are still prospects and have not proved one thing at the major-league level.

If I'm Brewer's general manager Doug Melvin I say if you don't want to lose Sabathia at the end of the season for no compensation, you accept the best prospect currently dangled, Matt LaPorta, and a mid-level prospect maybe, or we're going in another direction.

Prospects in the Brewer's system have more projectibility than ones from the average organization. 10 of our 13 positional/pitching starters on opening day were generated by our very own system, which without a doubt is superior to all teams currently at or above .500.

 

[LitlBuck]

If I'm Brewer's general manager Doug Melvin I say if you don't want to lose Sabathia at the end of the season for no compensation, you accept the best prospect currently dangled, Matt LaPorta, and a mid-level prospect maybe, or we're going in another direction.

Prospects in the Brewer's system have more projectibility than ones from the average organization. 10 of our 13 positional/pitching starters on opening day were generated by our very own system, which without a doubt is superior to all teams currently at or above .500.

Prospects are prospects. They are not proven major league talent. The Indians over the years have brought up some very good prospects and look at them now. They had one of the best farm systems supposedly a couple years ago.

As I said, this will be Shapiro's defining moment for Cleveland and if the Brewers want to wait on prospects I would say wait. Either team gets 2 #1 draft choices next year but you really don't know what you're getting from draft choices because they are prospects and that's one of the reasons I think Cleveland wants to unload C. C. now is because they don't want to wait on draft choices they want something that will help them in the very near future. There are other teams besides Milwaukee who could very well use C. C.

 

[Bernini]

Prospects are prospects. They are not proven major league talent. The Indians over the years have brought up some very good prospects and look at them now. They had one of the best farm systems supposedly a couple years ago.

As I said, this will be Shapiro's defining moment for Cleveland and if the Brewers want to wait on prospects I would say wait. Either team gets 2 #1 draft choices next year but you really don't know what you're getting from draft choices because they are prospects and that's one of the reasons I think Cleveland wants to unload C. C. now is because they don't want to wait on draft choices they want something that will help them in the very near future. There are other teams besides Milwaukee who could very well use C. C.

That's true, you do get 2 draft picks. Although Laporta is easily more valuable than those picks combined. There are obviously different degrees of being proven. I think to not take heed to Brewer prospects translating to success in the majors, under their current scouting staff, would be unrealistic. Scouting probability is not random, otherwise they'd save money and hire a monkey to push buttons.

If the Brewers had the attitude that "proven" major league talent was inherently more valuable than unproven talent, they'd be like the Yankees without the payroll, or in other words bottom feeders instead of relevant.

 

[LitlBuck]

Well, I think we have beaten this topic almost to death when I'd just like back at a guy who is currently on your team, Russell Branyan, who was probably the biggest can't miss prospect for the Indians 13 years ago. Going back a little further Joe Charboneau, and more recently Adam Miller. I'm just saying you just never know until they have proven themselves in the majors.

 

[NFBuck]

If I'm Brewer's general manager Doug Melvin I say if you don't want to lose Sabathia at the end of the season for no compensation, you accept the best prospect currently dangled, Matt LaPorta, and a mid-level prospect maybe, or we're going in another direction.

Prospects in the Brewer's system have more projectibility than ones from the average organization. 10 of our 13 positional/pitching starters on opening day were generated by our very own system, which without a doubt is superior to all teams currently at or above .500.

The Brewers are in a position to win right now, something they haven't had in a long, long time. Next season, Sheets is gone. They're a small market team and when seasons come along where you have a legit chance at making a run, you jump on it, because eventually the vultures are gonna pick your roster apart. Putting Sabathia and Sheets at the top of that rotation makes them a very scary team in October. But there is a steep price for that and it should be two top prospects. Milwaukee's system is loaded, so it's not like you're absolutely draining them of their future. LaPorta and Escobar would be my asking price. Fuck J.J. Hardy...he's a FA in two years. My question would be, how bad do you want it now? Sure you can go another direction, but there's nobody like C.C. out there.