WaitingForNextYear

I intentionally held off on this news until today as we had quite a bit of Indians news go down yesterday.  And heaven forbid we talk about all of our teams year round…

If you would have asked me a week ago about the Indians bullpen coach, I would have told you that it was a matter of time before Scott Radinsky got the nod.  You do not release a coach with the tenure of Luis Isaac without a plan in place.  At least that’s what I thought – which goes to show – given the way that the team promoted Eric Wedge up though the farm system.  Why not Radinsky?  I mean, the guy went Anne Sullivan on a slew of this team’s arms. 

When Cliff Lee was hurting last year, Radinsky worked with him in Triple-A.  When Jensen Lewis’ stuff wasn’t working early on, the team sent him down to Buffalo to get the kinks out.  Scotty Rad to the rescue.  He even rocked a killer mullet back in the day.  But apparently the team would rather Radinsky work with our slew of arms that are coming up through the ranks, which I guess isn’t terrible.  I just hope that it somehow impacts the big league team that will now have its bullpen in the hands of Chuck Hernandez.

Wedge sites Hernandez’s “dynamic,” which I still don’t really understand.  He’s continuously changing?  He’s forceful?  But with our bullpen having more ups and downs than teen wood, Chuck is at least entering this situation at the right time.  Which is good if you look at the collective ERAs of his past staffs.  To save you the time, his best ERA was 3.84 – which happened twice (1992 Angels, 2006 Tigers).  In fact, he’s coming off of back-to-back seasons with the Tigers that had ERAs just south of five.  Can you tell I’m excited? 

Either way, it looks more and more like Hernandez will go to battle with Jensen Lewis as his closer; not something I’m terribly opposed to given his efficiency last year.  The team still insists that they’re looking for a “veteran closer” to close out the ninths for 2009.  But if you look at the list of other teams that are looking to do the same, tell me how we’re going to get the pick of the litter.  If K-Rod leaves Los Angeles, they’ll want another arm.  The Mets pretty much have no choice but to bolster their bullpen after two years of failure.  And with injuries and an aging Todd Jones, Detroit will be right in the hunt.  All three teams will be wiling to spend a lot more money than us, that’s for sure.

I mean seriously

For the record, I’m still all about Trevor Hoffman.  No, I’m not expecting Cy Young numbers, but I think he’s a solid three-pitch guy that has the ever coveted “mentality.”  I’m not willing to go more than two or three years with him, and each year should not be more than five million.  Perhaps with a team option at the end?  I really think Hells Bells needs to be heard in the ninth inning, and could you imagine Jensen Lewis coming out to Hells Bells?  I didn’t think so.  Another name to consider is Pittsburgh’s Matt Capps.  Young and surprisingly effective in his save chances.  It’s just too bad that the sample size is small given the Pirates’ inability to, you know, gain leads on the opposition.

And how about an Adam Miller update for the kids? 

After winning back-to-back games on November 7th and 12th that saw 10 strikeouts and one earned run, Miller had a rough outing on the 16th giving up three hits and a run in a relief appearance.  His year-to-date winter league numbers are still relatively solid: 26 innings, 4.85 ERA, 22 strikeouts, six walks and a WHIP just over 1.30.  As a 24-year old that has been our top prospect for the majority of this decade, if this kid can stay healthy and keep dabbling in the high 90s, he could be worth the wait.  I know that he has drummed up a lot of disappointment and a few of the fans have given up on the kid, but I’m still looking at this glass as half full.

One hundred and one days until the first pre-season game…