Mailing it in seems to be taking on a whole new meaning in Wahooland these days. I’m not going to sit here and waste your time recapping an 11-3 blowout loss to Detroit. The bottom line here is the Indians are a bad, bad team right now. A week and a half ago, losing 100 games seemed out of the question, but now, don’t you think it’s actually possible?
Last night’s 10th straight loss was another non-competitive effort by the Red, White, and Blue, and also was another case of the summer sell-offs of Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee looking bad. The more we hear about Jason Knapp’s shoulder surgery, the more we see Carlos Carrasco flounder at the major league level, the more we hear that Jason Donald is nothing more than Jamey Carroll’s eventual replacement, and the more we see that Lou Marson has little power and a below average arm behind that dish; the more Mark Shapiro looks like he was fleeced for Cliff Lee. We have heard quite a bit about that deal, but what about the Martinez trade?
Last night’s starter Justin Masterson was the centerpiece of that three for one swap. After one relief appearance, the Tribe brass moved him into the rotation. Save for one start, the results have been mixed, at best. Last night, the righty struggled again with his control and was worked over again. In his 10 appearances as a member of the Tribe, Masterson is 1-6 with a 5.21 ERA. This is from a kid who has been in the majors for parts of the past three years. Like his manager, he refuses to give into the fight, despite knowing something is clearly not right.
“It’s disappointing,” said Masterson. “The good Lord gave us such a beautiful day out there. … I would have liked to have a beautiful game to correspond with the day. Unfortunately, that did not take place.”
He lasted just four innings, giving up eight runs (six earned), seven hits, and three walks. My point here is that the Indians two biggest chips have produced little to no immediate results. Wasn’t the goal to not only just build for the future, but to add major-league ready pieces as well? Sure, A/AA pitcher Nick Hagadone has top of the rotation stuff, but the third piece, Bryan Price, is nothing but a throw in, as Rob Bryson was in the CC trade last summer. While Masterson’s stuff can be electric at times, he looks more like a reliever to me than a starter.
But what do I know? I just watch this team every night and have for a good 25 years.
In all seriousness, the jury is still out on these two trades, but we may look back in three years and wonder why the Indians didn’t sit on both Vic the Stik and Cliff for the rest of their contracts until the 2010 deadline and then hold a bidding war for contenders. The Jays completely overplayed their hand for Roy Halladay only because Lee was a lower-priced fall back plan. Shapiro knew it too, but he could have held out for more either this summer or at next year’s deadline. It not only would have helped sell tickets for next season, but in the AL Comedy Central, when you are only a decent winning streak from being in contention, wouldn’t the team had been better off holding their two stars and giving it one last shot?
The answer is yes. The issue is money. Always the money. That is what is the most frustrating aspect of it all. This is all an old bit and I’m all over the place here, but I am just so frustrated with this season. But I will keep grinding for another week and a half. I have to. My manager says so.
“Every day is an opportunity to get better. Every day is an opportunity to win a ballgame. We want the younger kids to gain confidence. When they’re not having the success you’d like to see them have, it’s tougher to do. . .but you still have dig deep and find it from within to see what you’re all about.”
Author: TD
TD is a born and bred Clevelander who agrees with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt when he says ""Ranch Dressing makes everything better except for cereal and ice cream."TD has written 253 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
These trades are the reason Wedge and Shapiro must go. It’s time for a new voice and a new direction in Tribe land.
The lack of any positive returns from the Lee trade will eventually be the main factor in the end of the Shapiro era with the Indians.
Lou Marson striking out on a full count and still trying to take first base essentially represented all that this current team stands for…
You left out the last line of the post:
“And cue Isis…”
Sad part is if you flashback to 2007, and we decied to spend all our chips to retain CC with a LT contract instead of Hafner and Westbrook, the Indians fortunes probably take a totally different route. We probably compete this year in the Central, fans fill seats, money issues are less problematic and we of course retain a cy young pitcher Lee and compete in 2010 also… Oh how happy we were that we got 2 out 3 of our big fre agents…
This is like Ground Hog Day.
@ Scott – did he at least strike out swinging and then try to take the base -
Needs more “Dead Man Grinding” references.
@5/Anon Imus: None of us would have been thrilled had they put all their resources into CC back then. Also, no reason to think CC would sign another extension after already giving up his first shot at free agency. He clearly wanted big market bucks, whatever those bucks were just before he won the CY. Doubt the Dolans were ready to pay those dollars to one player.
TD-it won’t get better until you start calling for what it is, and demanding more. Otherwise, you’ll continue to get the same cold steak with poor service. Your choice which restaurant you visit on a continual basis.
Masterson is NOT a top tier prospect, that’s known by every major league scout (can you say Buchholz or Bard???). Masterson is at best a set-up man or middle inning reliever-exactly as the Red Sox had him positioned. Instead of beating around the bush with your emotional tug at wanting the deals to be deals, I’m hoping you’ll realize who fleeced who.
You need to do a re-assessment of Mark Shapiro-study ALL of his drafts, trades, signings…….ALL of them. Then post your grade.
@ Denny – yeah. it was a “check” swing though so he thought it was okay.
I study all the time–sports should be an escape.
Masterson should ask his buddy “the Lord” to grant him a coaching staff that doesn’t try to put him in a role he’s not cut out for, square peg-round hole-style.
@Isis – What grade would you empirically give Shapiro throughout his tenure as a Cleveland Indians General Manager? What are your thoughts on all of the drafts, trades, and signings?
I didn’t know Isis was an emperor.
Something just became clear to me while reading this post….
It’s really not that I think that Shapiro is “all that.” He has certainly been competent at times. He built a small- to mid-market team that won 93 games in 2005 and went to the ALCS in 2007. He’s made good moves and bad moves. He’s largely responsible for the mess the team is in right now, though both the Dolans and Grinder Wedge also bear part of the blame. He was also responsible for much of the team’s previous (and brief) success.
No, my reluctance to call for Shapiro’s head is based on the belief that, yes, things could be worse. Cleveland looks awful right now, but I look at some of the awful management groups of recent years and wonder what the odds are that we end up with one. I’m talking about clueless Dayton Moore in Kansas City, JP Ricciardi in Toronto, Bill Bavasi in Seattle, David Littlefield in Pittsburgh, Jim Bowden in Washington. Say what you will about Shapiro, but I’d take him over any of those bums.
I’m not here to defend Shapiro, or even my own ambivalence over the job he’s done. Heck, maybe it turns out that change is necessary — but everyone needs to remember that not all change is good. By any objective measure, Shapiro’s tenure has been at least moderately successful.
The team that I’m watching right now is awful. I can watch for about two innings at a time before becoming disgusted. That said, I accept that Shapiro has some kind of plan going forward. It may be a bad plan, but it is a plan. That is more than Dayton Moore has ever had.
So to summarize, it’s not so much faith in Shapiro but fear of the alternative that keeps me from calling for his head. This is at least worth considering.
Isis, it’s not your fault…
Isis is an egyptian god(dess)
@#15 – I’ll never accept the idea that Shapiro has a plan. He seems to go from putting out one fire to the next (many of which he set himself with bad signings / drafts).
To me, he’s drained his talent pool, and there isn’t much else to work with unless any of these trades actually develop superstars. If not, it’s going to be a long decade to be a Tribe fan.
The haste with which Lee and Martinez were dumped this summer for middling prospects has always made me wonder if the club’s financial problems were worse than imagined. Like not being able to meet payroll in 2009, never mind 2010.
I don’t really think Shapiro needs to go….yet
He needs someone to grab him by both shoulders and shake him until he dutifully repeats the message being shouted at him.
DONT TRADE OUR BEST PLAYERS AWAY IN THEIR PRIME AND GET NOTHING BUT PROSPECTS IN RETURN.
I’ll give him one more shot but if he trades away Grady for 5 ballboys and a Gatorade cooler I might go insane.
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