Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians pitcher Brian Slocum welcomes a fresh start in training camp


Wednesday, February 20, 2008
CHUCK CROWTHE PLAIN DEALER


Accompanied by the long shadows from the early morning sun, Jhonny Peralta begins his batting practice during Tuesday's Indians workout at Winter Haven, Fla.


CHUCK CROWTHE PLAIN DEALER


Victor Martinez, front, leads the Tribe's catchers as they work with a variety of pitchers Tuesday.




Cont....

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

C.C. is done talking about his Tribe contract
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. The cold, hard reality is that C.C. Sabathia's days with the Cleveland Indians could be dwindling.

At this time next year, Sabathia could be somewhere else, pitching for somebody other than the only team he has ever known.

"I can't think like that," Sabathia said after a brisk workout Tuesday morning. "I don't want to go through the season thinking this will be my last year. I want to help my guys here win."

Last week, the AL's reigning Cy Young winner shelved talks on a contract extension with the Indians, who were hoping to sign their ace left-hander this spring and avoid possibly losing him as a free agent.

Sabathia, who is eligible for free agency after the 2008 World Series, announced his decision to put off the talks until after the season on his Web site ? one that until recently he didn't know even existed.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Indians report
Expectations coming true for Gutierrez Labeled phenom at 15, reaching major leagues did not come quickly
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Thursday, Feb 21, 2008
WINTER HAVEN, FLA.: The only thing Franklin Gutierrez wanted to do was play baseball.
Lord knows, major-league clubs were all too willing to give Gutierrez a contract, and never mind that he was only 15 or 16 and still a schoolboy in Caracas, Venezuela.
''They wanted me to sign when I was 15,'' he said Wednesday. ''I think it was the Yankees and then Oakland, but my father said no. He said I had to graduate, then I could do what I wanted.''
Gutierrez listened to his father, Franklin, but since has discovered it's not always easy to do what you want. He went from phenom as a minor-leaguer with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early part of the decade to failed prospect, floundering in the Indians' farm system at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo.
Last year, the light went on. After brief trials with the Tribe in 2005 and 2006, when his at-bats were characterized mostly by a tentative swing, Gutierrez began hitting the ball with authority in 2007. He compiled a .266 batting average with 13 doubles, 13 home runs, 36 RBI and eight steals in 271 at-bats.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Indians notebook
Wedge says five are battling for utility spot Marte leads candidates but minor-leaguers Herr, Gonzalez, Sandoval, Barfield all to get chances
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Thursday, Feb 21, 2008
WINTER HAVEN, FLA.: Jamey Carroll will hold down one of the Indians' utility infield spots. Who will win the other?
Andy Marte is a legitimate candidate, even though until last fall he played only third base. Minor-league free agents Andy Gonzalez, Aaron Herr and Danny Sandoval also could play themselves into position to contend for the roster.



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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians pitcher Lee hopes to avoid another bad season


Thursday, February 21, 2008Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Winter Haven, Fla. -- To Cliff Lee, the matter of last season and what it will take to find his way back to the Indians' starting rotation this season, isn't that complicated.
"I got hurt in spring training and that was the start of a bad season," Lee said. "I've got to prevent that from happening again this year. It's pretty simple."
The Indians start full-squad workouts today at Chain of Lakes Park and no player is in a more tenuous position than Lee. Tom Mastny, trying to keep the seventh spot in the bullpen, is a close second, but Mastny was with the Indians all last season and pitched well in the postseason.

Lee spent all of August at Class AAA Buffalo and didn't make the postseason roster for the ALDS or ALCS despite winning 46 games from 2004 through 2006. Fausto Carmona won one game, Paul Byrd 30, C.C. Sabathia 38 and Jake Westbrook 44 in that same span, yet they own the first four spots in the rotation, while Lee is competing with lefties Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers for the fifth spot.
"That's fine," Lee said. "I know if I'm healthy and out there pitching, I'm going to be better than I was last year."




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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians' Wedge, Shapiro sit down with players


Thursday, February 21, 2008


INDIANS INSIDER
Wedge, Shapiro sit down with players
Winter Haven, Fla.- Manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Mark Shapiro spent Wednesday meeting individually with every position player before today's first full-squad workout.

They did the same thing last week with pitchers and catchers to let players know where they stand as far as making the big-league club goes and what is expected of them this year.
It's not known what transpired in those meetings, but part of Wedge's message could be deciphered when he talked about four individual players:
Franklin Gutierrez: "He's earned everyday at-bats. It doesn't mean he's going to play seven games a week. He might not play six days a week, but he's going to have consistent at-bats. It's just a matter of what he does with them."




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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Cleveland Indians sign outfielder Tyner

Posted by [URL="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/about.html"]Paul Hoynes[/URL] February 21, 2008 10:25AM


WINTER HAVEN, FLA. -- The Indians have signed outfielder Jason Tyner to a minor league contract. He will report to Chain of Lakes Park and work out with a group of minor league prospects who reported to camp earlier this week.
Tyner, 30, played last season with the Twins. He hit .286 (87-for-304) with 14 doubles, two triples, one homer and 22 RBI in 114 games. He hit his only homer off the Indians' Jake Westbrook on July 28 in Cleveland.

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[osugrad21]

Dispatch

C.C. Sabathia is on a five-day rotation from the start of spring training, a bow to the heavy workload the Cleveland Indians' ace endured last season. Sabathia pitched an American League-leading 241 innings during the regular season and 15 1/3 innings in the postseason. He has shown no signs of arm trouble, but the Tribe brass wants to ensure he doesn't develop issues now.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Indians fall back to platoon of veterans in left field


Friday, February 22, 2008Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Winter Haven, Fla.- The left-field platoon that no one took to heart last season is back for another year. Manager Eric Wedge says it should be better.
The most ardent Indians fan would have to admit that it would not take much to make that prediction come true.
Jason Michaels, the right-handed hitting part of the platoon, earned only 267 at-bats last season. David Dellucci, his left-handed hitting partner, had even fewer because of a torn left hamstring that all but ended his season on June 19.

Michaels and Dellucci hit a combined .254 (113-for-445) with 11 homers and 59 RBI last year. The situation was such a concern that the Indians traded for Kenny Lofton on July 27 and soon handed him the full-time job.

Cont..

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Indians look back at playoffs before focusing on 2008 season
Friday, February 22, 2008


WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) ? Before they took the field to begin a new season, the Cleveland Indians couldn't help but look back at the last one.

One win away from the pennant, the Indians watched Boston take the final three games in the ALCS and advance to the World Series. The Indians were outscored 30-5 in the collapse.

The hurt still lingered as the Indians held their first full-squad workout of spring training Thursday morning.

"It was heartbreaking," said pitcher Paul Byrd, who admitted two hours before Game 7 against Boston to past use of human growth hormone for a medical condition. "You're one game away from the World Series and you feel like it's a done deal. It was hard to take the whole offseason."

It even stuck with manager Eric Wedge, who has preached a day to day approach to his players since he took over in 2003.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Notes: Kobayashi popular early
Japanese journalism contingent descends on Tribe camp

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Mere days into life in the United States, and Japanese reliever Masahide Kobayashi already has the whole thing figured out. "I like to go to Wal-Mart," Kobayashi said through interpreter Toshi Nagahara, no doubt echoing the sentiments of millions of Americans. "I'm surprised by the size of the store. They sell a lot of things in one store, and you have a big cart. That's something we don't see in Japan."

"The ball jumps out of his hand," Victor Martinez said after catching Japanese reliever Masahide Kobayashi's first bullpen session. (David J. Phillip/AP)​

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Tribe must consider life without C.C.
Rest of Cleveland's rotation locked up for near future

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Given the deadened state of contract negotiations with C.C. Sabathia, the Indians have ample reason to begin thinking about the construction of their club.

Next year's club, that is -- the one that will take the field in 2009.
By forgoing further negotiations about an extension until after the '08 season, Sabathia, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, has placed his first foot into the free-agent waters. And if he fully immerses himself in that seductive stream, he likely will float away from the organization he's called home since he was 17 years old. Life with Carsten Charles, barring a collapse in the standings and a blockbuster trade, continues for the Tribe for the next eight months. But the Indians of 2008 also must brace themselves for the possibility of life without him.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Notes: Marte almost out of time, options
Infielder hopes to earn a backup role during Spring Training

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Andy Marte knows he has a lot to prove, and he knows he's running out of time to prove it.
"I'm out of [Minor League] options," Marte said. "I'm trying to work hard here in Spring Training and stay here. I don't want to go somewhere else. If it happens, I've got to go wherever they send me and be a professional. But I like the Indians. I like how they treat their players." The Indians, keeping in mind the hard lesson they learned when they sent Brandon Phillips to the Reds two years ago, don't appear inclined to deal Marte before the end of camp. The plan is for him to grab a spot on the big league bench, backing up Casey Blake at third and perhaps even getting into the mix at first base.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Indians don't mess with success
AL Central champions return with roster nearly intact from 2007

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Cleveland Indians of 2008 are going to look a lot like the Cleveland Indians of 2007. Good for them. There is no reason to tamper with success.

The Indians roster will remain almost entirely unchanged, but given the way the Indians performed down the stretch last season, this news is all good. The 2007 Indians won 96 games, tying Boston for baseball's best record. They won what was supposed to be an intensely competitive American League Central by eight games. Subsequently, they defeated the Yankees in an AL Division Series, and then, took a 3-1 lead over the Red Sox in the AL Championship Series. There was no happy ending to be found over the last three games of that event, but the season, taken as a whole, placed the Indians solidly among baseball's elite teams and justified the carefully constructed game plan of the Cleveland organization.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Notes: Tribe rotation a hot topic
Lee, Laffey and Sowers all in the hunt for fifth starting job

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Between past performance, future potential and simple dollars, cents and sense, the Indians will have plenty to consider, when it comes to the battle of three left-handers for the fifth spot in the rotation.

The decision between veteran Cliff Lee and youngsters Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers will be the hot topic of camp, and it was a topic pitching coach Carl Willis addressed Monday. "All three of them have come in prepared to compete for the spot," Willis said. "That is all they could have done, to this point. Not really wanting to go out and handicap the situation this early in camp, I can say each of them bring positives and accomplishments in their own right and within their own experience levels. It is a wide-open competition, and we're going to leave it that way until one of them steps to the forefront."

Continued....