While We’re Waiting…Browns QBs, Delonte to Lakers, Jhonny’s Big Debut
July 31, 2010Football is here – Instant Notes from the Browns First Training Camp Practice (Update – Hardesty out a couple weeks)
July 31, 2010Justin Masterson was rocked in Toronto on Friday night as the Tribe dropped their third in a row in blowout fashion against the AL East. After some steady starts in June, Masterson’s ERA jumped to 6.32 in the month of July. His ERA is well north of 7.00 over his last five starts and Manny Acta alluded to the old “couldn’t keep the ball down” problem. With the Tribe bullpen running on fumes after beatings from the Yankees, Masterson pitched into the 6th and finished his night giving up 8 earned runs on 13 hits. The nail in the coffin was a fourth inning grand slam from Jose Bautista.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Shawn Marcum was lights out for Toronto. He struck out 10 in 7 innings, giving up only 1 run on a Matt LaPorta sac fly. He had 5ks through the first 3 innings. The most newsworthy item on the Tribe side, however, occurred when Austin Kearns was lifted in the 7th for pinch runner Chris Gimenez. With trade deadline weekend upon us, the instant inference was that Kearns had been dealt.
Kearns was unaware of any trade until after the game, stating, “I didn’t know anything. I came out of the game. I figured something might be up, figured maybe I was getting a blow late in the game but I didn’t know.” Jon Heyman of SI and Ken Rosenthal quickly chimed in via twitter that Kearns was headed to the Yankees. In exchange for what? That was unclear. And it still is. The Indians traded Kearns to New York for the infamous PTBNL, or Player to Be Named Later. Technically, they have the option of just accepting cash but that scenario is most unlikely.
Mark Shapiro, in a postgame conference call, stated that there is a select group of players the Indians will choose from and that they will be receiving someone with “major league value – a prospect.” I’ll let you try and determine the spectrum of “major league value.” The Indians will have until August 20th to scout the list of players they are currently considering and make a final decision. This was not a move by the Dolans to dump salary. Kearns was cheap but the team was headed nowhere and they tried to get something in return for the modicum of interest in his outfield bat – let’s hope that Shapiro gets some sort of impact prospect in return.
In 84 games with the Indians, Kearns hit .272 with 42 RBIs and 8 homers. With initial plans to use him as a 4th outfielder, he stepped up and lead the team through the rough first half of the season. Manny Acta expressed his appreciation in his postgame comments: “I can’t say enough about what he has done for us… Being familiar with him, I’ve got a soft spot for this guy, spending 2.5 years with him. He came over here in spring training with no spot guaranteed for the first time in his career and pretty much carried this club for over a month when Sizemore went down. He was a good leader for the younger kids here and took a few of them under his wing – a very positive influence.”
Shapiro was unsurprisingly noncommittal towards other rumored deals before this weekend’s deadline passes. As for roster moves, he did say that Michael Brantley will be back up here in the near future and that we will be getting a strong look at him for the rest of the season. Brantley was just sent back down Tuesday so the Tribe must wait 10 days before he can be recalled to Cleveland.
Shapiro said that a corresponding move will be made today and insinuated that the immediate spot vacated with the Kearns trade will be occupied by a pitcher, specifically bullpen help. It is looking likely that Kerry Wood will be activated in Toronto at some point this weekend and that could be the immediate corresponding move today. With the departure of Kearns and the unavailability of Brantley, Tony Lastoria hopes that this could mean we will finally see Jordan Brown make the move up from Columbus to fill an outfield spot in the interim.
Jhonny Peralta, traded on Wednesday, has already come through for the Tigers with two monumental home runs in a crucial win over Boston last night. In addition to the Kearns trade, the Indians also put Mitch Talbot on the DL and optioned Jess Todd. Jensen Lewis was recalled and the Tribe purchased the contract of Justin Germano to take the place of Talbot and Todd. Germano was shaky last night and could be replaced with the activation Wood this weekend. It’s likely, however, that both Wood and Germano will stay on for the weekend with the potential departure of Jake Westbrook – leaving Kearns’s outfield spot to be filled next week.
With only one day remaining before the deadline passes, there are rumors that Westbrook could be on his way to St. Louis or San Diego. Interest has supposedly heated up over the past 48 hours. Kerry Wood could be dealt today or be shipped off as an August waiver trade. The deadline is 4 PM EST this afternoon. On the field, the Indians will look to avoid their fourth straight blowout this afternoon in Toronto with Jake Westbrook scheduled to pitch against Brett Cecil.
(Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
6 Comments
PTBNL- Robinson Cano
The price for Kearns was virtually bill if they trade Westbrook I hope they ask for a little more. Btw looks like Berkman is going to NY next. That is just sick. I don’t think you’ll ever see trading in Cleveland like this when it comes to baseball.
Bill = nill
FYI Wood was indeed activated this morning and will take the spot opened by the Kearns trade
Looks like Westbrook to the Cardinals.
We suck AGAIN!!!! O wait…