While We’re Waiting… Victor Abides, Dan Gilbert Represents, and D.A. Makes Things Interesting
August 3, 2009OSU Lands Four-Star Floridian WR James Louis
August 3, 2009How things change in a week. A short seven days ago, Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, and Ben Francisco were all still members of the underachieving Tribe, who suddenly were playing their best ball of the year, carrying a four game winning streak into Anaheim. On Monday, the Wahoos took their fifth straight in a stunning, come from behind ninth inning against Angels closer Brian Fuentes. They took the lead on a Martinez three-run homer, in what would turn out to be his last big hit for the Red, White, and Blue.
Earlier that evening, Garko was dealt to San Francisco for A pitcher Scott Barnes.
On Thursday, the fan backlash over the Lee trade was so brutal within the Cleveland fan base, that the Martinez trade talk seemed to die down. Conventional wisdom was that the Dolan’s wouldn’t see fan one the rest of the way and into next season if another key veteran, the heart and soul of the team, and arguably its best hitter, was traded before Friday’s 4 PM trade deadline.
On Friday, reality set in. The team is running way short on its attendance projections and is bleeding money. Now was the time they had to dump whatever large salary they could for the best prospects they could pull. So the Martinez deal with Boston, that was supposedly off earlier in the week, was back on again. Just before the deadline, Vic The Stik left the only organization he had ever known and headed to Boston, for P Justin Masterson, A-pitcher Nick Hagadone, and A-pitcher Bryan Price.
The Stik, a class act every single day he donned the Red, White, and Blue, was visibly crushed. His dark sunglasses hid the tears in his eyes as he told the media “this is my house. Now, I am leaving my house.” The team had to be shaken as well. Their leader, the man who genuinely wanted to play his entire career for the Indians, was packing his things right in front of them.
Meanwhile, they still had a game to play. So with Wyatt Toregas taking Vic’s roster spot, Masterson and Jensen Lewis up, and Mike “John” Gosling and Winston Abreu sent packing, the Tribe welcomed in the first place Detroit Tigers to the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
They also had to welcome scores of Tiger fans, who took over The Jake this weekend. With all of the emotion, the team short-handed, and a not-so-home field advantage, the Tribe battled and grinded hard for 13 long innings before pulling out a 6-5 victory.
This win came with quite a few ups and downs. The return of Fausto Carmona to the rotation was deemed a mild success. Though he started poorly yet again – two runs on three hits and a walk in the first inning – Fausto settled in and didn’t allow another run during his five innings of work. True, he walked four guys and threw 101 pitched in those five innings, but he left with the lead. “I liked Fausto’s pace. I liked the way he stayed in control,” Eric Wedge said. “It was a very good first day back.”
On the other side, the offense came through with 17 hits with a bottom four of Chris Gimenez, Andy Marte, Luis Valbuena, and Trevor Crowe. Asdrubal Cabrera’s hot bat (three RBI) had the Tribe headed for a win as the bullpen (Jose Veras, Chris Perez, Tony Sipp and Joe Smith) got the ball to closer Kerry Wood with a 5-3 lead. Two batters into the ninth, Carlos Guillen took Wood deep, tying the game at five.
I still cannot fathom what happened during that next three innings. Here is a sentence I never thought I would write: Tomo Ohka was sensational. The journeymen long man saved the day, K’ing four and only allowing two hits. Finally, in the 13th, Jamey Carroll singled home Jhonny Peralta to give the Tribe the 6-5 win. This was a gritty win for this bunch who had been through so much during the day. “Victor’s been the heart and soul of who we are,” said Carroll. “It’s a tough situation to see. We loved Victor and it was tough to see him go. We’ve kind of done it to ourselves.”
Oh, did I mention how Saturday night was Victor Martinez bobblehead night? Classic timing. Jeremy Sowers took the hill in game two looking to build on his last start where he actually pitched into the eighth inning. In true Sowers form, he got to the fifth inning without giving up a run. In the fifth, he loaded the bases with one out, but managed to get out allowing just one run on a sac fly. Despite flirting with disaster in the fifth,the Grinder sent Sowers out for the sixth. The first three hitters all singled, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead. That was actually the extent of the damage, but Sowers’ night was done.
That is when Masterson took over.
The gem of the Martinez trade made the complete antithesis of Chris Perez’s debut a month ago. The right-hander pitched three scoreless innings, striking out four, and showing his full arsenal. “Very impressive,” Wedge said. “Great composure, great stuff, great mound presence.” He kept the Indians in the game, while the offense couldn’t touch Tigers rookie Rick Porcello.
The good news was that Jim Leyland yanked the kid for closer Fernando Rodney, who hadn’t blown a save in 21 chances all season. AC tripled to lead off the ninth. Peralta hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game and send us to extra innings for the second night in a row. This time, the results were different. Veras, who pitched a scoreless inning the night before, walked the first two men he faced in the 12th and with two out, gave up an RBI single to Ryan Raburn and then compounded that mistake by balking home an insurance run – one that would come back to haunt the Tribe in the bottom of the 12th. After a Toregas RBI groundout brought the Tribe to within one run and moved the tying run to third, Grady Sizemore flied out to end the game.
Veras, to me, is the next guy who needs to be shipped out. He is Greg Aquino/Luis Vizcaino/Matt Herges/Winston Abreu.
Sunday afternoon’s rubber match was a complete domination by your newly scaled down version of the Wahoos. Carl Pavano pitched eight innings of one run ball in a tidy 100 pitches. “My season is far from over,” Pavano said. “I’ve got a lot left to prove and have to finish what I’ve started.” The offense, led by the Columbus Crew – Marte, Valbuena, and Crowe led a 13 hit attack during the 11-1 thrashing. A five run fourth inning featured a two run double by Marte, an RBI double from Crowe, and a Sizemore two-run jack which broke the game open.
“It has been tough, losing guys you are closest too, but you still go out and play hard every day,” Sizemore said. “We want to finish strong. More importantly we need to be consistent and stop having ups and downs.”
Say what you want about the Indians organization and where they are headed the rest of the season. But you must give them credit for a weekend of hard fought baseball where they took two of three from the first place team in their division. That is what is the most frustrating thing. This division is so bad and was so winnable this year, the underachieving just eats at me. The Tigers are a first place team, yet they are just five games over .500 and have lost NINE STRAIGHT road series. Nine. Still, could this pre-trade core have competed next year for a division title? One will never know.
One thing is for sure that came out of this sad week for Indians fans, the pre-emptive moves will make you much happier in 2011 than they do now.
Stay the course and keep grinding people!
27 Comments
TD, two questions I’d like your thoughts on:
1.) Why would the Indians want/include a 6′ 190″ projected backup catcher
with no power in the Lee trade?
2.) Why would the Indians want/include a projected backup SS/2B with
no power in the Lee trade?
Regardless of how I may view the trade, I cannot for the life of me understand the above, particularly if the rumor is true that they could have had Michael Taylor instead of Marson.
I liked the energy that this team has…they’ve upgraded their athleticism just by offloading Garko and Benny…the sequence that was great was I think in the Sowers game where three successive batters hit the ball well, but our D stepped up and robbed all three…was a great sign of things to come…
While there are nay-sayers like Isis who love to hate everything about anything…I really dont think this team is that far off…if the guys who are here just do what theyre capable of doing, and not trying too do too much…I think in this division, they should be right there the rest of the year and going in to next year…
we had to make a change…we are/were trending downward…its not a popular move, but I will take what we got for what we gave up and could no longer afford…
DK……speak for yourself ok? You’ve got no idea or what I stand for.
Be a homer for the Dolan’s if you want…..it’s your nickle and your view. Don’t criticize me for having a different view……that’s weak.
One day when you grow up you’ll see the world of business far different.
“I think in this division, they should be right there the rest of this year and going in to next year”.
DK
@Isis – what makes you think Marson is a projected back up catcher? Dude can hit at a .300 clip. You don’t have to hit HRs all the time to be effective
MacNip……
NUMEROUS scouts projections, read em. That’s why I asked the question.
And MacNip…….if Santana is all that, I still ask why Marson at the expense of Taylor.
and on another note, victor martinez has 5 hits and 4 RBIs for the red sox in a win over the hapless orioles.
let’s finish these season strong!
I’ve got a very good idea of what you stand for, its written all over your posts…its nothing I cant respect…its your point of view…just the same as you call me a “homer” for actually seeing what they are trying to do…I’m not necessarily criticizing you for your view, rather just pointing out that no matter where I see you post, you tend to be a doomsdayer…again nothing necessarily against you…its just your perception…just seems like you are always negative…
and you put it completely into context with your last line..this is a BUSINESS decision…this is not a feel-good type of story where the guy gets to spend all 16 yrs with one organization…this is the reality…Welcome To Baseball In Cleveland…
@Isis – What do you mean by this?
‘One day when you grow up you’ll see the world of business far different.’
Isis, from mlb.com top 50 prospects, on Marson
Statistically speaking: Marson’s .433 on-base percentage not only led the Phillies organization, it also led the Eastern League and all Double-A circuits in 2008. His OBP also ranked sixth among full-season hitters.
Scouting report: An athletic backstop who can hit for average and knows how to get on base. He has some extra-base power, but it’s not a strength. His quick release and accurate arm enable him to throw runners out. Also has off-the-charts makeup and handles a staff well.
Upside potential: Everyday catcher in the big leagues.
I’m sure the Indians thought process was they knew they were trading Vic, Shoppach is a human windmill and won’t be the everyday catcher next year, and Santana won’t be ready. Marson will probably be the starting catcher next year and then be solid trade bait once santana is ready.
With all due respect, Isis, we’ve ALL known what you stand for for quite some time now.
And, there’s a whole “those who live in glass houses” thing you should keep in mind: “Don’t criticize me for having a different view……that’s weak.” Considering you’ve ripped Jacob up and down in each of his trade review posts…
regardless of anything a scout says…scouts are wrong half the time…its why guys like Cliff Lee get “thrown in” from time to time in trades…
if you want to put everything you know and say into what a scout says without seeing it yourself…be my guest…
I actually think Ill go see more games now that they have a definite direction of where theyre going…
@12 – agreed…again, its not that I dont respect his opinion, I just respectfully disagree with it…
I can see where people are upset, and I’m not thrilled with losing Vic and Lee…they were my two favorite players…but I also really like the young guys they got in these deals and I think its a positive thing going forward…
I will keep grinding TD. I think we all have to in this town. By the way I love that you are the “beat writer” for the Indians. I also love the nicknames for Wedge. I think Cabrera is my new favorite player seeing as we don’t have many left. Also is there something wrong with me when I asked if we won over the weekend in the late games i missed? I was ripping the team all day but I still check the box scores. God help me.
@ Isis – The Indians require something called ‘depth’ in their organaization with young players. See, they need guys to develop into major league players over a couple of years in the minors. Then the Indians can call them up, let them play for a while and trade them when they get expensive. Once traded, the Indians will look to their depth in the minors to bring in someone new. The Indians are not the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, etc. They can not fill gaps in their lineups with expensive players. See expensive free agents require excessive amounts of money which is something the Indians do not have now, and will never have in the future. That’s what happens to mid market teams in a non-salary cap environment.
You see this as being ‘cheap’ which just makes me laugh out loud. I would love to see how you would handle a situation where you were set to lose millions of dollars this year and then next year. You would probably spend more money right? Because that is the obvious thing to do.
And to clarify, I think there are a few people that can agree with me on this: no one (fans) WANTED the team to trade Victor. We’re not happy with it. But, if it HAD to be done (i.e., Dolan is forcing Shapiro to cut payroll), at least Shapiro TRIED to build some pitching depth that is sorely lacking. The Tribe’s organization has decent hitting depth, but had very little solid pitching depth.
Again, it may NOT work out in 2011/2012, but if Shapiro’s hand was forced by ownership, I think he did about as well as he could considering he was bargaining from a position of weakness.
That doesn’t make me a “kool aid drinker” or Shapiro apologist. I don’t think that in a vacuum he got all he could for these players. I think the issue, however, is with Dolan.
@16 – agreed…i love that when people try to argue the Gilbert ownership card too…like we have someone like LBJ on this team…even with Vic and Lee, we still didnt have a LBJ…its apples to oranges…
its great seeing more people jumping on board with the reality of what is going on…whether you like it or not, this is where they are going…I encourage everyone to hop on to the bandwagon and get behind the young, athletic, and talented kids we have coming up now…its actually pretty exciting…
I still have a problem with this. This Indians team hasn’t had a solid first round pick pan out since C.C. Sabathia.
Tell me why it’s Dolan’s fault that Shapiro is completely unable to scout or draft amateur talent? If he knew how to draft, we would have plenty of pitching right now, attendance would be fine, and we wouldn’t have to go through this fire sale a year and a half before their contracts are up.
Dolan and Shapiro are both equally culpable in this abortion of a baseball team we have in this town.
I dont see how this is any different than trying to draft anyone with the #1 pick in the NFL draft…or the NBA draft…you can think you’re getting someone really good, pay them a bunch, and have them fizzle out…while I am not defending Shapiro’s picks, (theyre very underwhelming), he has done a pretty good job of getting a decent return on what we have given up…no one likes to get rid of guys we like, but its a business, and Dolan is not going to overpay for a winner…(our loss)…
but, as it stands, theyre still our team, its still Cleveland, and we still ahve eternal hope…otherwise, why would we be Waiting For Next Year?
I think Dolan maybe has his hand in some of the pick problems too as he has stated that he doesnt want to give big bonuses out to draft picks…while i dont feel one way or the other towards Shapiro (could take him or leave him), he has done a decent job with the normal operations (from a casual onlooker mind you…I dont really get THAT into the Tribe)…but it would appear that Dolan is running a very fiscally shrewd ship…
Went to see the Clippers play yesterday. Both Marson and Donald played fairly impressive defense. Marson threw two out at second. Just sayin’…
@brwnsgrl – the kids we got are going to be exciting to watch and follow! Marson has a pretty good arm from what I understand…itll be a nice change to see catchers throwing runners out!
Guys, who is this “Isis” you keep referring to.
I installed an ignore Isis button on my browser and my life is much more satisfying as a result.
Anyway, if I want to know what Isis thinks, I’ll just type “Dolan is cashing out” and read it over and over and over and over again.
@23 bwahahaha
It would be interesting to see what Shapiro could do with a less stingy owner running the ship.
Why is there always one guy who trolls every post looking for something controversial and negative to say… Eventually they go away and someone takes their place.
I don’t comment that often, I personally enjoy just reading perspectives. But whatever happend to Randy OSU or whatever his name was?
@26
Simple Equation … RandyOSU = Isis