Well, Cleveland fans, welcome to yet another morning after. This time it isn’t the sun setting on a basketball playoff run, or a college football game. This time it is another baseball trade. On the heels of trading C.C. Sabathia the Indians were back at the auction again yesterday trading another Cy Young winning pitcher for prospects. We all knew it was coming. I thought I was prepared for it, and yet here I sit today feeling mildly depressed and numb over the realization of what the Cleveland Indians have become.
It was different last year. We were high off of our unexpected run to the ALCS. We were disappointed, but ready to come back this year and get back to our true potential. Unfortunately, our true potential is probably what we ended up seeing on the field this year. Either way, when we traded CC Sabathia, we had Cliff Lee dominating the league for the rest of the year to keep us occupied. When CC Sabathia was traded a year ago to Milwaukee, the Indians were 37-51, but Cliff Lee was 11-2. Fausto Carmona was disappointing, but he was also injured. We thought Jake Westbrook would be coming back too. There was hope for the pitching staff in the immediate future.
The landscape throughout the Indians’ system is vastly different this year after the Cliff Lee trade. There hasn’t been a single young pitcher that has stepped up at all this season on a consistent basis. Not Anthony Reyes, David Huff, Aaron Laffey, and certainly not Jeremy Sowers. It has been another painful year of regression for Fausto Carmona. Jake Westbrook didn’t make it back by the all-star break. My point being that last year when CC Sabathia was traded, we knew Cliff Lee was going to be our opening day starter this season. At this point, Mark Shapiro would need a DeLorean and a flux capacitor to figure out who the number one starter will be next year. Given the names we know right now wouldn’t you have to give serious consideration to Carl Pavano? I just gave myself chills.
And that is my point in writing this. Shapiro might have made a good deal yesterday for Cliff Lee. All those players might turn out to be great starters on our major league team. Still, even if the sun, moon and planets align just right and that happens, it means nothing for us Tribe fans next season. The trade of Cliff Lee was certainly a realization for this season, but it seems to be foretelling a similarly horrible year next year. I defy anyone to tell me that they can honestly predict this Indians team will be good next season. It isn’t impossible, but it is impossible for anyone to predict with a straight face.
Of course, this is all speaking before a presumed trade of Victor Martinez as well. I don’t have the heart to even discuss that one right now, though.
Author: CraigLyndall
Craig Lyndall has been writing about all the Cleveland sports teams at WaitingForNextYear since September 2008. When he isn't, you can find him selling insurance or playing music. Follow WFNYCraig on Twitter.Craig Lyndall has written 338 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
I’m with you on not wanting to discuss Victor. Him and Omar Vizquel #2 are my favorites followed closely by Choooooooo. After them I don’t care too much who they get rid of.
I totally agree. For us Tribe fanatics this is getting hard to deal with 2 out of every 3 seasons.
However, if anyone watched the Tigers last year, there was no way you would have thought they would be leading the division this year. You never know, especially in the AL Central.
I understand that being a mid-market team requires your GM to be extremely precise with his moves, but what Shapiro has been doing over the past few years simply isn’t working. Not counting the Colon trade, every other button he has pressed did not work out. Now we deal one of the league’s best pitchers for some prospects that the Blue Jays weren’t even asking for; The Phillies could turn around and still get Halladay because Shapiro didn’t require them to give up any big prospects. He and Wedge need to go and we need to clean out the front office like the Browns did last season. This regime missed their window to win and the franchise is going to need to rebuild for another 3 years.
I feel a little better seeing the Red Sox getting dinged for being juicers. Gotta take those glimmers of sunshine where you find them.
We have become the Pittsburgh Pirates of the American League!!! Weather you want to admitt it or not that is what it is…Sorry!!
big ploppi and man-ram testing positive for PED’s – priceless.
If we had kept Lincecum after drafting him, we could have traded THREE Cy Young winners.
@ #3
Shapiro’s record in trades is actually pretty decent. I think if you actually sit down and go through the history of the deals he’s made, they generally favor the Indians…though admittedly, the jury will be out for a few years on the Lee & Sabathia deal.
Now…his record of skimming the bottom of the Free Agent barrel for talent is mixed (there have been far more Delluccis than Milwoods) and his draft/development record is worse. Those two areas are where this Front Office has really shot itself in the foot and a big reason why the team finds itself with few internal solutions to plug the gaps on the big league roster.
Hey, since Shapiro seems to have watched “Major League” far too many times because he’s building a team the same way as in the movie, maybe he can bring back Charlie Sheen to close games. And Wesley Snipes could still probably play left field better than Sam Francisco
woah woah woah CleFan13 let’s not get too crazy here…there is no such thing as seeing Major League too many times! haha
My bad – that’s true. At least they had a real manager and a pitcher, not a glass of water.
Bambino:
The Tigers didn’t have a firesale. Nothing remotely similar.
It’s over until the Dolan ship sets.
Viva la Setting Ships!
Everyone keeps saying what a great deal the colon trade was. And technically their right judging on the talent we got back. Except that where did it get us? 2 years of contention and no trips to the world series. So shapiro failed miserably and now he gets to try again. Yaaaaaay!!
I’m very depressed. Just the thought of Lee in a Phillies cap makes me sick to my stomach and i certiantly do not want to see Victor go. How did we go from one game away from the big one to saying good bye to all of our players. No more awards for our players… when they KNOW they’re good they’re gone for good!!!
“At this point, Mark Shapiro would need a DeLorean and a flux capacitor to figure out who the number one starter will be next year.”
Forget the number one starter for next year. The problems on this pitching staff go way deeper than that. Even if Cliff Lee hadn’t been traded, who would be the number two starter? The number three starter? The number four starter? The number five starter? That’s four unanswerable question marks, and the bullpen looks even worse than the rotation. Anyone who thinks that keeping or dumping Cliff Lee would have been the difference between contending and not contending in 2010 is being very unrealistic. You can argue whether or not this is a good deal or not. If feels like Roberto Alomar for Alex Escobar to me. But don’t think for a second that keeping Cliff Lee would have made this team a contender for 2010. Was not gonna happen.
Just get rid of Wedge.