Baseball America: Indians Have Five of The Top 65 Prospects
February 24, 2010While We’re Waiting… LeBron’s Assists, Haden’s Skills and Jamison’s Relief
February 25, 2010With Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez being traded away last season, the overriding thought was that the next year or two would be used to develop the current younger talent that comprises the current Cleveland Indians roster. As of today, it appears that the developing will happen – just not where fans may have originally assumed.
Today, the Indians officially announced the signing of veteran slugger Russell Branyan. The $2 million deal is for one year with a mutual player/club option for 2011. In his second stint with the Indians, Branyan is considered to be “the guy that can make the most impact right now” by manager Manny Acta.
“He’s going to get the majority of the playing time,” said Acta. “We didn’t sign him to be a back-up guy. He’s going to play every day somewhere.”
Coming off of a campaign that saw Branyan club over 30 home runs despite missing time with a back injury, having this type of talent in the middle of an order would typically be a good thing. But with it comes the fact that Branyan’s presence will take at-bats away from at least one of the younger players on the team.
“At the end of the day, if everybody is healthy it obviously will impact one of the young guys,” said Acta. “I guarantee that both of those guys will play every single day this year.”
But what Acta did not say is where said players would be playing. Acta repeatedly used the phrase “running into the ground” in terms of what his plans are with his power hitters Travis Hafner, Matt LaPorta as well as Branyan. All three players could see time at the DH slot as well in the event that Hafner were to receive a day off or succumb to any setback with his shoulder. What Acta has with LaPorta is the ability to play in the outfield as well. Assuming Branyan is the opening day starter at first base, LaPorta would start in left field meaning that fellow up-and-comer Michael Brantley could be spending the beginning of the 2010 season in Columbus with the Clippers.
In 112 at-bats with the big league team last season, Brantley hit .313 with 10 runs, 11 RBI and four stolen bases. He will be 23-years old for the 2010 season, and the team could use the early portion of the season to help Brantley develop a little more power before becoming a full time outfielder at the big league level. Alas, this is a move that may not sit well with the majority of fans that would like to see the players that will comprise the core of the Indians going forward.
And all of this does not even consider the fact that first baseman Jordan Brown who will be 26-years old this season and will likely be playing in Columbus once again despite hitting .336/.381/.532 (OPS of .932) in 415 at-bats last season. Also impacted is catcher/first baseman Chris Giminez who was taken off of the roster to make room for Branyan.
When asked about Branyan’s penchant for striking out, Acta w.as not all too concerned.
“They only bother me just like everyone else, when there’s a guy on third with less than two outs,” Acta said. “There are times you wish a guy strikes out instead of hitting into a double play and with the power that he provides come the strikeouts. He has had a very productive season despite being bothered by his back so we welcome the 30 home runs that he can provide us.”
Acta says that the team has not decided on who will win the utility infielder job. The two players looking for that spot are veteran infielder Mark Grudzielanek and the recently acquired infielder Brian Bixler.
There will also be two intrasquad games prior to the first spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds on March 5th.
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Source: Getty Images
31 Comments
no surprises….this is why I didn’t like the Branyan signing.
I just dont get it. Maybe they are trying to send LaPorta and Brantley a message. But isnt this just Jason Michaels/David Dellucci playing over Franky G all over again?
I can’t wait to watch him hit .220 and take away playing time from the young guys (you know, the ones who would be fun to watch develop).
“He’s going to get the majority of the playing time”
Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I thought I couldn’t get more depressed about the upcoming season. At least with the young guys getting most of the pt, I’d have something to look forward to and give me some slight hope for the future.
I just can’t believe anybody still cares about this team or organization. It’s not so much about being a fairweather fan as it is about the futility of the MLB structure. It just doesn’t work.
Thanks for mentioning Jordan Brown. What’s a guy gotta do to get a look at the major league level?
Dear Matt C,
The MLB structure works just fine.
Sincerely,
George Steinbrenner (goes back to polishing rings)
What a joke. If they want to cut salary, why pay Branyan? Does not make sense at all.
We still have a baseball team?
@ #9 – Yeah, they have uniforms and everything. It’s great.
I was actually excited about the upcoming season. We weren’t going to win a lot of games but there is something to be said about watching a bunch of high-profile prospects come into their own.
I would even rather watch Hafner be a shell of his former self than go sign a guy who’s best year is similar to Hafner’s current state.
But how can I get excited about yet ANOTHER season of debating when we will finally sit the overpaid, over the hill veteran in favor of the young prospect we desperately need to develop?
The original signing was absurd. The fact that he’s going to get most of the playing team is beyond comprehension. It’s tough to care about the Indians because their ownership doesn’t want to pay to have a real commitment to winning, but it’s even tougher when the front office and coaches make decisions like this.
this is so beyond the realm of comprehension it makes my head hurt. If you want to bring back old Tribe members, why not Omar and Grover instead? At least I’d got to cheer for them when they poke their heads out of the dugout. We had to hear about these young guys when they traded OUR CY YOUNG WINNERS for them, and now instead of at least letting us enjoy their development we give 2 mil (or approximately 10 percent of our payroll) to a left handed strikeout hitter with back issues (ostensibly caused by whiffing 200 times a season). I mean, Russ seems like a nice guy, and he makes BP more entertaining, but its been a year and a half, I want to see what LaPorta and Brantley can do.
And did anyone else hear they’re already talking about trading kerry wood/ shutting him down so he wont hit performance incentives? I caught something baout it on the radio but did not get the whole story…would love more info if anyone has any. Can we get anything for him? Might as well, right?
Brantley’s a 4th OF. Unless you want a guy who slugged .348 last year (and .369 in around 1900 career minor league at bats) as your corner outfielder. But then you’d be stupid (or the SF Giants, which is the same thing).
Has one good first half of a season in 10 years and we sign him to a two year contract to take away bats from the younger guys we are trying to develop.
This is a pure money move. The faster we let guys like brantley, brown and laporta play everyday in the big leagues, the faster they leave in FA or get traded because the Indian’s wont sign them. Usually, at this time of year I am excited about baseball. This year I wish we could just skip to July for football.
I propose the Indians change the name at Progressive Field to Regressive Field which is far more fitting. Only in Cleveland can the resigning of a guy with a bad back who strikes out more then he does anything else be considered positive. There are alot of other ex-Indian failures out there I’m sure they can resign cheap!
Great idea Boogey – https://waitingfornextyear.com/?p=14917
Sowers hurt again, Indians signing a guy they had a decade ago who stunk then and still stinks, replacing Shpairo with Antonetti who is Shapiro in disguise, no rotation, young players not playing. Yep those are the Cleveland Indians.
Look I like the signing. It does a couple of things that is in my opinion a good thing.
1st. it provides LaPorta, Marte, Brown, Brantley some competition. If these youngsters going into this spring training thinking that they got this position or that position all sewed up… well now it’s not so anymore. They will have to work at getting a starting position. I think that is good for thier mental make-up.
2nd This also provides some veteran leadership in a less then veteran clubhouse this year. With Branyan in the clubhouse now there is a little bit more leadership.
Besides this contract is really just for one year to help mentor these young guys. Branyan will not be here next year.
Everybody should stop looking at the extrme short term. Brantley will get his Major leauge at bats, so will LaPorta. If they don’t get 400 or more at bats this year, then so be it. It is not a bad thing to continue to develop them.
I completely disagree with everything Desert says.
It’s a dumb move by a dumb team that is spending money on dumb players.
We need to find out what we have in the following players this year:
Brown, Marte, LaPorta, Brantley, Valbuena. Brown is destined to be a AAAA player for no apparent reason. Marte is being blocked by Peralta. LaPorta now blocks Brantley…
oh and Grady will be leading off.
Hopefully Peralta gets traded.
What kind of veteran leadership does Branyan provide? Hey kids, look at me, you can strike out 10000 times, have one decent halfyear well after being a decent prospect and steal a multimillion dollar contract from a team! A contract that will ensure I block your chances of success because your owner is so cheap you know the guys making money will play first.
It’s a pointless move from a pointless franchise. And I used to be the eternal Indians optimist. Just ask DP.
Desert is an Indians employee in disguise. What this really means is Brantley is probably going back to AAA even though he clearly belongs in the big leagues. Branyan will continue to strike out. Peralta will commit errors, and give half an effort. For some strange reason Peralta is still at third and an everyday player.
I’m telling ya this is not a bad pick-up. Am I not correct when I say there is a lack of veteran leadership on the team? Is Branyan not a 12 year veteran that has really seen it all? I think he is. Are LaPorte, Brantley, and others young? Yes. Jordan Brown is getting the shaft and I agree to that point. Is it not a good thing to make these young guys earn their spots? Let’s just remember how Brandon Phillips handled that situation when he was annointed as our next 2nd baseman.(poor fielding and hitting and poor attitude. traded.)Heck Branyan himself can talk about how it was with the pressure of being the “next big hitting” player. It didn’t work out for him to well either.
It’s really not a bad thing to let our young guys just be able to grow without having to have a ton of pressure of producing at the same time.
The Indians need “veteran leadership?”
Are Sizemore, Hafner, Woods and Peralta not veterans? Are they not leaders? (Don’t answer that).
Dellucci was a veteran leader wasn’t he? Anyone want him back?
Aren’t the managers and coaches paid to provide leadership?
This all reminds me of Jim Leyland’s comment about the value of “chemistry” on a ball club… a four letter word that can’t be repeated here.
D. Wahoo- Just because a guy has been in the show a long time doesn’t make him Crash Davis. Do we have any evidence that the guy is a positive influence on a clubhouse? Do we really want LaPorta to emulate his hacks at the plate?
I would almost maybe buy the idea that competition for spots would be a good thing for these young guys- except Acta didn’t say there would be a competition did he? He said Branyan is the starter at 1B. Nothing about a competition. Wouldn’t you want your young bucks to think they had a shot at taking a job? Has Acta seen enough of LaPorta to think that he would make a better LF than 1B?
Branyan for one year at $2 million, versus Thome for one year at $1.5 million? You’ve gotta be kidding me. Branyan played out of his mind last year (by his standards). I do not expect him to hit above .240. I do expect him to strike-out once every 3 at-bats.
This is a ludicrous move. I just don’t get it.
If he was stealing Travis’ at-bats then I really wouldn’t give a care. But to purposefuly hold back the young guys so they only start producing around the time their initial contractors are up so we have to trade them?
That’s Indians baseball.
Eli, you bring up a good point. I’m all against this signing, but when Hafner inevitably gets hurt, then hopefully they can just give his ABs to Branyan, which solves the problem.
But that’s just me being optimistic.
This is the plot for Major League, in real life…where are they going to move the team?
@17 Scott I never claimed to be original but in my defense I didn’t see that topic as there are many topics and I don’t have the time to go back and reread them all.
[…] how Manny Acta has begun to think about setting up a lineup for the 2010 season given the recent roster […]
[…] reached a peak when Acta came out and said “He’s going to get the majority of the playing time. We didn’t sign him to be a back-up guy. H… Defenders of the move will say that there is no way of knowing if LaPorta’s hip and toe […]