Let’s face it: Off-seasons are only exciting if your team of rooting interest makes moves. The Browns? We loved it when the team managed to acquire players like Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers. The Cavaliers? Mo Williams, come on down. But all of the moving and shaking seems to stall out when it comes to the Indians and their off-seasons.
Sure, Mark Shapiro and company made several key moves for the future this year when the ship began to sink. But what about the months of November through March? Last winter was pretty uneventful. And while Craig did his best to tell us that we shouldn’t expect much to happen, some of us (hello!) still hold out hope for the big splash. And then I see things like this.
The Indians have had some discussions with Baltimore about second baseman Brian Roberts and keep running into the same roadblock — the Orioles want Asdrubal Cabrera as a starting point of any package.
I’m going to be honest when I say that I really wanted Brian Roberts to be wearing an Indians jersey next season. Perhaps it is because the guy has been my second baseman for years in fantasy baseball, or just because I constantly see his talent being wasted away in Baltimore. Regardless, I think he’s the perfect addition to a team in dire need of a second baseman that can make an impact in the field as well as at the plate.
But as much as I’m willing to do (almost) whatever it takes to acquire the guy, even I’m willing to admit that trading Asdrubal Cabrera would totally defeat the purpose. This is one of those crazy situations where the other team also wants a player of quality in return if they’re going to trade away one of their key players. Silly, I know. And until Baltimore considers guys like Trevor Crowe or Ben Francisco a “player of quality,” it’s looking less and less like a trade to Cleveland will happen any time soon.
In fact, unless names like Mark Teahen are considered to be a “splash,” you may just want to tune out all Tribe news until March rolls around. Previous thoughts of eying up closer Brian Fuentes are fleeting. Francisco Rodriguez wants Dr. Evil money, and Jake Peavy apparently listed his possible suitors: Chicago and Los Angeles. Not to burst bubbles, but Cleveland is neither of those two. And after looking at this list, it appears that we’re also not New York either.
So, with Brian Roberts requiring too much in the trade market, and Orlando Hudson requiring too much in the paycheck market, Terry guesses that the majority of the Indians’ off-season money will go towards a starting pitcher. And with Peavy out of the loop (as well as CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and every other dual-letter first name pitcher out there), we could be looking at someone like John Garland as our “big” move of the off-season.
I know, I know. This is all more of the same that we’ve been discussing over the last month or so. But with winter meetings about to roll, Indians fans should brace themselves for plenty of headlines regarding who’s going to New York, Los Angles and Chicago while we attempt to spin deals for middle-range guys that hopefully overachieve a la Kevin Millwood.
Now excuse me while I now begin to hold out hope for Dan Uggla…
