May 25, 2013

Examining The Tribe Free Agent & Trade Offseason Misses

July 31, 2012 by 74 Comments

As the MLB trade deadline approaches today at 4 PM, the Cleveland Indians sit in a strange place. They won’t be buying, could be selling, but most likely will be standing pat. They have been put in this position by their failures to add an impact guy or two this past offseason, on top of some underwhelming seasons from a few of their key guys.

During the winter, the Indians searched high and low for bats. They shot for the moon and the looked at the bottom of the barrel. In the end, the names bandied about never came to fruition and the Tribe ended up with Casey Kotchman for $3 million to play first base while counting on a healthy Grady Sizemore to come back strong for one more year in the sun.

Ah, the best laid plans of Chris Antonetti.

We all know what happened. Kotchman has been as advertised as an absolute wizard with the glove, but his bat has left something to be desired. He was coming off of his best year with the bat (.306/.378/.800) and the Indians hoped for a repeat. The thing of it is, if left field and third base weren’t such a mess and Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana had played up to their potential this season, nobody would care about Kotchman’s lack of offense. [Read more...]

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MLB Trade Deadline: The Cost of the “Wait and See” Approach

July 19, 2012 by 48 Comments

Late last week, while delivering his State of the Fan-Friendly Union, Cleveland Indians team president Mark Shapiro could not help but field questions about the upcoming MLB trade deadline. Sure, lowering the price of concessions and making Progressive Field more accessible are all well and good, but what about the product said (hopeful) increase in paying fans would ultimately view upon arrival? Shapiro was quick to shoot down any notion that a lack of activity in terms of consummated deals by no means signals that the team has unplugged their telephones and will head into the autumn months with their eyes closed and fingers crossed.

The desire to improve, and the knowledge that said improvement is necessary in order to achieve the ultimate goal, is there. The means to do so, however, remains the largest hurdle of them all.

Four weeks earlier, leading the AL Central at the time, the Chicago White Sox took a gamble on a much-maligned, aging veteran who was known of more recently for his role in a fried chicken and beer scandal. Since rolling the dice — paying the price of two prospects and $2 million of a $7.8 million contract — on a player who had been hampered by a plethora of injuries the past two-plus seasons, the rich have merely gotten richer as the 33-year-old Kevin Youkilis has seemingly put his back injuries behind him, turning his .233 average into one more Youk-like; the All-Star has hit .319 with an OPS of .965, adding four home runs, 18 runs batted in 1 , and a slew of web gems at the hot corner since swapping Red for White.

[Read more...]

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  1. Several of the game-tying or game-winning variety [back]

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MLB News: Carlos Lee Traded to Miami

July 4, 2012 by 6 Comments

Fans of the Cleveland Indians can cross another name off of their wish list of right-handed left fielders as the Miami Marlins have acquired Carlos Lee, along with cash considerations, from the Houston Astros for a pair of minor leaguers.

Marlins prospects Matt Dominguez, a third baseman, and Rob Rasmussen, left-handed pitcher, were ranked fourth and seventh, respectively, by Baseball America.

The Astros are expected to also pay the majority of the $9 million remaining on Lee’s contract. The 36-year-old is hitting .287 with five home runs, 29 RBI and an OPS of .747.

Lee, holder of a partial no-trade clause, had no say in this deal as the Marlins were not on the list. He recently turned down a trade that would have sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but this had been rumored to be due to the desire to not play in a major television market. He will join the likes of Giancarlo Stanton and Hanley Ramirez in the Miami lineup, providing an upgrade over outfielder Gaby Sanchez.

The Indians, meanwhile, continue to search for at least one right-handed bat to help produce runs over the second half of the 2012 MLB season. Current left fielders Johnny Damon and Shelley Duncan are hitting .201 and .221, respectively.

[Related: Memo to Chris Antonetti: Go Get Carlos Lee]

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Indians’ Struggles By The Numbers

June 28, 2012 by 4 Comments

Taking a page from Rick’s book today, I’m here with some illustrious stats about the Cleveland Indians. These aren’t the prettiest, so you might want to spare your kids from seeing these.

-51 – Indians’ run differential this season, sixth-worst in MLB. The team with the sixth-worst record is Houston at 32-43 (.427).

12-3 (.800) – CLE’s record in one-run games, the best percentage-wise in MLB. Baltimore is second-best at 13-6 (.684). This might explain how the team is shockingly still at .500 on the season. For comparison’s sake, no team has finished with a win percentage better than .636 in one-run games over the past three seasons.

10-9 (.526) – Indians’ record in two-run games, tied for 12th-best percentage-wise in MLB. San Francisco is best at 11-5 (.688). While this isn’t sensational, it’s still above average. [Read more...]

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Memo to Chris Antonetti: Go Get Carlos Lee

June 25, 2012 by 22 Comments

I called for Carlos Lee all winter long. The answer to the left field problem just spent the last two days raking Tribe pitching.  This was a guy in the last year of a bad contract, with a proven track record, who hits right-handed with power, and can play outfield or first base. The Astros reportedly wanted to all but give him away, but decided on keeping him to play first base. His $18 million salary for a team that was completely rebuilding just didn’t fit. It was thought that the Indians had kicked the tires on him during the winter, but nothing ever came of it. So they moved on.

Yes, Lee has been playing first base and isn’t exactly a gold glover in the outfield, but nobody could be that much worse than Johnny Damon defensively. I know, I know – El Caballo isn’t hitting lefties well this season (.146), but for his career, Lee is at .290/.347/.834. In 2012 as a whole, the 36-year old is hitting .303/.356/.769 with 28 RBIs hitting cleanup for one of the worst offenses in the game. You’d have to say that is a mild improvement over the Damon/Shelley Duncan experiment.

[Read more...]

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Indians Weekend Wrapup: The Left-Handed Starter Problems Continue

June 25, 2012 by 7 Comments

Things you can set your watch by: Death, taxes, Stuart Scott annoying people on ESPN, and the Indians failing to handle left-handed starters. It seems to be a rite of passage for anyone new that has joined the Wahoos in the last two years. You show up, and you struggle against lefties. After a weekend where the Houston Astros took two of three from the first place Cleveland Indians, the same questions linger – what will the Indians do to quell this problem? Why is it that they struggle so mightily against left-handers? Will this be the thing that does them in as they chase a divisional crown? [Read more...]

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Pena to the Rays: So Now What, Tribe Fans?

January 20, 2012 by 14 Comments

Oh how I love writing pieces on the Tribe and their seemingly never-ending search for that middle of the order bat. Wait, I should rephrase it, because it has changed so many times.

When the season ended, it was “the search for the right-handed, middle of the order, run-producing, power bat.” Then as a month or two went by and the options of right-handed bats on the free agent and trade market were either too expensive (Michael Cuddyer), or not to the Indians liking (Josh Willingham). So the search moved to the “middle of the order, run-producing, power bat.” That’s when we entered the Carlos Beltran portion of our program. The switch-hitting Beltran took $26 million over two years in St. Louis on December 22nd, and the Tribe moved on yet again.

The turn of the calendar to 2012 brought the “search for a middle of the order, power bat.”  With the interest in Beltran brought the “the bat doesn’t necessarily have to be right-handed” thought process. Sure, the Tribe is left-handed heavy, but their bench will be rife with right-handed options like Shelley Duncan, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, Aaron Cunningham (and now Ryan Spilborghs). The names that moved to the front burner in that discussion included a trio of first baseman - Carlos Pena, Casey Kotchman, and Derrek Lee. [Read more...]

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Tribe News: Kotchman, Pena, D Lee, or El Caballo? First Base Options Galore

January 11, 2012 by 17 Comments

Do you all get the feeling that I write one of the pieces every single week? Its probably because I do!

When we last spoke about the Indians on-going search for a middle of the order bat, things seemed to be veteran first baseman Carlos Pena. With the turn of each calendar day inching us closer and closer to Spring Training, some sort of decision has to be made. There are three first base options in free agency that appear to be targets for the Indians: Pena, Derrek Lee (whom we also discussed last week), and the latest to be linked to the Tribe – Casey Kotchman.

According to Jon Heyman on CBS Sports, “Pena and Kotchman are the most likely offensive options for the Indians.” Include Lee, and you could truly make a case for all three to be the Indians best move. All three are plus-defenders, with Pena and Lee both former Gold Glove winners. Pena, 33, has the most pure power, averaging 34 homers over the past five seasons. Kotchman, 28, is the youngest of the three and is the best contact hitter (just 66 K’s in 563 plate appearances in 2011). Lee, 36, is the one right-handed bat of the trio and still has pop.

All three have their shortcomings as well. [Read more...]

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What’s Antonetti’s Next Move? Carlos Pena?

January 5, 2012 by 15 Comments

All is quiet on the Tribe front. The calendar has turned to January 2012. Pitchers and catchers report to Arizona in less than two months and we still are searching for that middle of the order, power stick, preferably from the right side. It hasn’t been for a lack of trying.

Lets recap the search: We heard rumors about Jason Kubel, a rental of Carlos Lee, giving multi-years to Josh Willigham, then jumping into the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes, only to be a bridesmade to the St. Louis Cardinals. Some have thought the Tribe’s interest in Beltran was a publicity stunt to show fans they are engaged in free agency, but I don’t buy that at all. As I’ve said in the past, GM Chris Antonetti knows he is in the middle of a two year window that screams “go for it now.” Hence the Ubaldo Jimenez trade and the interest in Beltran.

But here we are, still sitting without that right-handed stick for the middle of the order.

[Read more...]

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Jimenez Leads Tribe into Chicago; Will Team Make Another Trade?

August 16, 2011 by 20 Comments

Stop me if you’ve heard this before- tonight is a big start for new Cleveland pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.

Jimenez will make just the third start of his career for the Indians, after going 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in his first 2 games. That ERA was lowered dramatically after officials changed the ruling on a misplayed ball by Carlos Santana in his last start that had charged him with 3 runs.

Now that Jimenez has pitched on the road and at home, the ‘newness’ nerves should be gone, but the importance of the games will not shrink. Every game will be a big game from this point on.

Take this series with Chicago. The Indians are just 2 games out of first place, and the White Sox are just a game and a half behind that. A series sweep for Chicago, and they would leapfrog the Indians into second place at least. Conversely, an Indians sweep would put some distance between the White Sox and the top of the division.

The Indians will throw Jimenez, Carmona and Masterson against Chicago. The White Sox will start Gavin Floyd and Mark Buehrle, but are yet undecided about the last starter. [Read more...]

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