May 19, 2013

Antonetti: “No one guy externally, no matter who we bring in, will solve our issues”

June 26, 2012 by 18 Comments

In a recent piece about the Indians having a winning record despite a negative run differential, General Manager Chris Antonetti had this to say about the Indians-

“Over all, we’re pleased that we’re still in the race despite clearly not playing our best baseball. We still feel like the roster we have has a lot of upside to it and hasn’t played to our potential.”

When asked about ‘missing out’ on Kevin Youkilis, Antonetti said-

“No one guy externally, no matter who we bring in, will solve our issues. The guys that are here need to play to their potential.”

Hard to argue that players like Santana and Jimenez need to be more consistent if the Indians are going to be players for a championship. It seems though that the black holes on the team (left field, right handed hitters) are areas that Antonetti has to be responsible for at some point.

[Related: Memo to Chris Antonetti, go get Carlos Lee]

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  • BenRM

    I agree with him to the extent that no aging so-and-so who we bring in now is going to be a magic pill of awesome who turns half our line-up into right-handed bats, makes our starting rotation pitch consistently, and gives us some semblance of effective middle relief.

  • AlexMathews

    Sounds like the GM is trying to damper expectations, which is disappointing. It’s true that one guy externally won’t completely “solve” the team’s issues, but it could certainly make the team a heck of a lot better and deeper. MAKE YOUR TEAM BETTER, ANTONETTI.

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    The headline says it all for a multitude of reasons including the fact this team has as many holes as a piece of swiss cheese AND more importantly don’t expect them to do much of anything.

  • boomhauertjs

    I know a guy externally that could solve the team’s “issues” – a new GM that doesn’t live by the Shaponetti group-think, corporate mottos.

  • http://twitter.com/GHClevelandSprt Mike Stein

    Uh, they are a half-game out of first. Unless they think either the White Sox or Tigers are going to take off like happened last year, one guy will very well make the difference in a close race like that. The guy doesn’t need to solve all their problems.

  • Steve

    They might be able to bring in a guy who makes a one or two win difference, but there is a lot more ground to be made up or lost depending on if Santana returns to form, Jimenez pitches well, Masterson continues looking like an ace, Damon’s .765 OPS in June is his real baseline (and not his May performance), they scrap together a couple more arms in the pen, etc. Carlos Lee’s performance will mean nothing if the majority of those things go well (or poorly).

  • typo

    Shaponetti, shapetti… Hmmmmm

  • Natedawg86

    I think we could get a 5th starter which would make a difference they way Gomez and Tomlin are pitching. Need to have a threat from the right side too. I am going to stop watching when they play agains LH pitching.

  • AlexMathews

    Yes we are all in agreeance that those guys need to do better, but it’s also no excuse to sit back and not improve the club through external means as well. Because even this team at its best, is not good enough to CONSISTENTLY beat the other top teams in the league’s best. Especially our offense.

  • Matt Underwood

    So the blame is on the players not playing to their potential? How much “potential” does Jose Lopez have? or Shelly Duncan? or a 57 year old Johnny Damon? How about all that potential you threw $5m at that will never play again? That Cunningham guy sure looks like he has loads of potential! All those waiver wire bullpen guys you pick up for a week then dump them because their potential sucks balls.

    I understand some players have to step up – Santana I’m looking in your direction. But seriously, this is not championship team. If the FO is sitting there blaming the players for not performing, they too in the FO are not performing either. Same crap every year.

    It’d be cool if he decided to do something in the off season as opposed to spending too much time at Snow Days and coming to the realization that the team team you put together sucks.

  • saggy

    so is he saying that Miguel Cabrera wouldn’t make a difference? gosh, i hate it when GM’s talk like this. One guy can make ALL the difference. Otherwise, why ever make a trade?

  • The_Matt_Of_Akron

    Antonetti is stating the obvious. There are issues with hitting, fielding, and pitching. Ergo, no ONE player can solve them all. However, Mr. Antonetti, we’re not asking you to solve EVERY issue with ONE guy in a single fell swoop. We’re saying do SOMETHING to stop the bleeding.

  • Steve

    He didn’t say they weren’t doing anything. And I have no idea why everyone here seems to think he did. He was asked about Youkilis, and being that Youkilis isn’t on the roster, Antonetti isn’t actually allowed to talk about him, Antonetti gave an answer about the only guys he is allowed to talk about – the guys currently on the roster.

    Everyone is making a mountain out of a molehill.

  • Steve

    He did something in the offseason. I’m sorry if you don’t like the fact that Cleveland, at any time and in any sport, has never been a draw for free agents. But hey, let’s beat up the Snow Days strawman another time, that will make everything a-ok!

  • AlexMathews

    He could have given SEVERAL other answers. Like “We are going to do what’s best for our team, and we are working hard to explore every opportunity to make our team better in both the short and long-term.” Instead he gave the impression that we’re content just waiting on the guys we have to be better, or that we will only make moves once the guys we currently have start performing better.

  • Steve

    So you’re going to put words in his mouth so that you have a better reason to complain. Got it. He said nothing about not adding another piece, he just spoke the truth about how the majority of the roster is going to be more important than a new piece that will be here for 2 months.

  • Steve

    So we’re going to put words in his mouth so we have a better excuse to complain. Got it. He never said he wasn’t going to add a piece, he just spoke the truth about how contending is going to take the majority of the roster playing well, not just adding a guy for 2 months

  • Carl Laule

    Daddy won’t give me any money. Tell it like it is, Antonetti.