May 24, 2013

Martinez the Next To Go

July 30, 2009 by 38 Comments

hafner-martinez
There is a white flag climbing the flagpole at Regressive Field. Mark Shapiro is willing to trade anything not nailed down. It is only a matter of days (or hours) before Victor Martinez becomes the latest to go. There is  a chorus of boos coming from the Tribe faithful, but perhaps most frightening is the apathy that is washing over the city.

Can you blame them? The writing is on the wall. DeRosa. Betancourt. Garko. Lee. Millions and millions of dollars cut from next year’s payroll. Despite his reported desire to stay with the team past next season, Victor and his 7 million dollar 2010 contract won’t make it to September in a Tribe uniform. It is a fact we will have to embrace, and so I have a proposal.

Mark Shapiro, as you field calls for Martinez let me give you a mantra to utter- “you have to take Hafner too.” That’s right. Make then take Travis Hafner’s damaged shoulder and albatross contract. Take a page from the NBA. Let’s ditch a bad contract. Think about it- the Red Sox don’t care how many millions of dollars they flush down the toilet. They gave some Japanese team $50 million dollars for the right to talk to Matsuzaka. If they don’t want to give Hafner a spot on the major league team, just put him on the DL. Nobody would question that. Sit him for the season. Or cut him. Buy out his contract. Whatever. Just get us out of that deal.

The highest paid Indians are Hafner, Westbrook and Kerry Wood. None of them will live up to the deals they signed with the Indians. The Indians are also in a much different financial situation now. Perhaps the only way to get out of the mess they are in is to get rid of these contracts. Let’s start with Hafner.

While we’re at it, since it is only a matter of time before we have to trade Grady Sizemore, let’s put together a serious package. Martinez and Sizemore are on the block together- but you have to take Hafner, Westbrook and Wood as well. We’ll take 6 AA players for them. What do you say?

 

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  • http://gooddoctorzeus.blogspot.com DocZeus

    So the 2009 Red Sox would basically become the 2007 Cleveland Indians? I like it. Make the deal.

  • JK

    I hope that last paragraph is a joke. Sure lets trade every player on our roster with marginal talent. Don’t you think you guys are overracting a little bit? Lee was gone anyway!! Atleast we got something for him, it’s like CC last year. Sheesh, being a Cleveland fan is depressing but you guys make it 1,000x worse.

  • Omega King

    6 AA players FTW.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ JK – your name looks like “just kidding”. I would assume you understand sarcasm and jokes to a certain extent.

    Why so serious?

  • Dave

    @JK i agree…and hell at least we arent the nationals…things could be worse

    i do think victor is gone though…only a matter of who he is going to

  • Windy City Wahoo

    Ugh. Not looking forward to losing Vic the Stick.

    Great idea about making a team take Hafner in any deal for Martinez.

  • DK

    @2 agreed

  • Eli

    Again, another victim of the lack of a sarcasim button.

  • Isis

    Larry and Paulie are laughing all the way to the bank. Cashout city.

    They care not whether you like it or show up next year, in fact they don’t expect you to. Cashout city.

    Viva la Shapetti.

  • JK

    It’s just a tad hard to detect sarcasm over the internet. I said I hope its a joke and it is, so that’s good.

    PS- JK are my initials.

  • Chris M

    Agree wholeheartedly. The only way we will be able to even think about spending any money is by getting out from underneath Pronk’s contract.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ Dave – I go to five or six Nats games per year. I used to be sure that I was seeing an inferior product and at the very least more inept management. Now I’m not sure : /

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ JK – yea, I really need to make a sarcasm font.

  • http://boozehoundsinc.blogspot.com/ Viper

    Yeah, get rid of everybody. If we’re going to trim the fat, then we might as well trim ALL the fat.

    Ah, fan misery, how we secretly love you.

    Cheers!

  • MC

    not really sure what people are getting all upset about. its like 2003 all over again. the vic/hafner/peralta era didn’t work out…it almost did, but now it’s time to regroup and build again. it’s the state of baseball. you can complain about it, work to change it, go buy yourself a red sox/skanks/mets jersey or learn to work inside of it.

    what gets me is how people to Dolan to Gilbert. it makes no sense. it’s comparing apples to oranges. Gilbert has the luxury of operating in the NBA which is the most amazingly structured salary schedule in pro sport. Dolan operates in a free for all. do you really think lebron would still be here if the NBA had the same rules as MLB? you don’t think the knicks/lakers would have offered him 200 million dollars for 7 years or something ridiculous like that? come on.

  • http://gooddoctorzeus.blogspot.com DocZeus

    If we have to trade Vic for cap relief than we should absolutely force them to take Hafner.

  • Pat in CA

    Its time to move LaPorta.

    He’s had his chance.

  • Mustard

    At the diner this morning, saw Dolans and the entire front office entering. Diner was called “Cashout City Diner”. They were laughing. Literally. I am being literal.
    /not literal

    I am glad we went through the 90′s. I enjoyed ’07. But I know we’ll have to stock up young for a 2-year window at a title in this market. This team was not going to win it, so get ready for the next possible shot in ’11-’12. The sad reality. I have discovered you can buy jerseys and de-stitch the names though. I never did like that Jody Gerut.

  • JK

    LMAO @ 17

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com DP Diesel

    So which is it, Randy—errrr, Isis?

    You rip on the Dolans the entire comment, and then blame Shapiro and Antonetti (viva la unfunny nicknames!).

  • kevin

    Isis,

    You win. I will ignore you from now on. I guess at least you did rephrase your tired, boring, hackneyed postion though.

  • danny

    can someone turn this blog into a Cavs, Browns and Buckeyes blog? The Indians don’t deserve discussion. You don’t see people in Pittsburgh wasting time discussing the Pirates

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com DP Diesel

    [noun] [verb] viva la [nickname]!

    /Viva la Randisis’d

  • ClemJax

    [noun] [verb] viva la [nickname] NK

    /fix’d

  • Boomhauer

    Unfortunately, no team will take Hafner. I doubt he would pass a physical.

  • hoffan1939

    no matter how bad things get in Cleveland with the Indians, be thankful that we aren’t stuck with the pirates…this is consecutive losing season #1 for the tribe (81-81 last season–not a losing one), not consecutive losing season #17 like in [Pitts]burgh (a professional sports record for ineptitude, i might add)…

    WFNY edit: Appreciate the sentiment there at the end, but please for the love of all things holy read “Before you comment” before dropping swear-bombs in the comments.

  • CL

    I don’t have a problem in the world with the idea of throwing Hafner in a trade. Truth is, they should have made Philly take him.

  • chompchomp

    I’ll be sorry to see Victor go, let alone explain to my 5-year-old why his favorite baseball player will be playing for another team. I for one am excited to watch a bunch of young prospects get better within the system, almost make it to the playoffs, get traded for a bunch of young prospects who I will be excited to watch get much better, almost make it to the playoffs, then get traded for a bunch of young prospects…

  • Mark P

    Do you have any idea how long I’ve been reading posts on WFNY trying to figure out who the hell Shapetti was or what type of combo name that was? I mean, I get Mangina, KokiMan, and Brangelina. But Shapetti?

  • Matt

    @26 Yes, the Pirates organization is awful … but thankful we’re not Pittsburgh fans? I have no sympathy. They have success in their other 2 major sports. I could put up with the Tribe sucking if the Cavs and Browns were winning championships.

  • Andrew S

    @29 I believe Shapetti is a combination of the front office gurus Mark Shapiro (Shap) and Chris Antonetti (etti).

  • Harv 21

    @1 DocZeus: Let’s take it a step further. ’07 Indians become the ’09 Red Sox. We get their prospects so the ’09 Indians are the ’11 Sox, etc., etc. Betcha bud Selig won’t mind some exclusive sub-contracting on the major league level. New name: the Tribe Sox. We’ll have a slogan: “We raise ‘em, you pay ‘em!” They could use their tv network cash to throw the Dolans a little something annually and keep ‘em afloat. Let’s do this thing.

  • B-bo

    DP, “Randisis” sounded like a disease of some sort, so I looked it up:

    “Randisis is an intense inflammation of the rectum, most often caused by the presence of a object (such as a stick or a bug) lodged in the region. The origin of said object is unknown, which makes finding a cure for the problem all but impossible. Symptoms of randisis include increased mental ability (including–but not limited to–telepathy, omniscience, and infallibility), repetition of phrases/arguments–including the need to combine names and/or words, short-sightedness, and diarrhea of the mouth and/or keyboard. Recommended treatment for randisis includes quarantine of the infected individual(s) until such time as the inflammation subsides or the patient disappears. Randisis may be linked to trollism, and therefore reduces in frequency over time.”

    Interesting stuff.

  • Harv 21

    Wait, there’s more. If one of the big-name Sox players flames out at the end of a big contract, they send him here so we can see “greatness” right here at cute little Progressive Field, but the Sox keep paying him. On the other hand, if one of our/their prospects develops before the end of his first contract …too bad, sayonara Cleveland, it’s Beantown for you, baby. NOW, let’s do this thing.

  • randisis

    Viva la Me!

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    B-bo wins. Get him a gold star.

  • JK

    Mark P- Im right there with you.. hahah

    B-bo- Sounds painful…

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  • bobby

    Indians Moratorium!!

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