There were exactly 10 major league players who met those criteria this year.

 

I miss the 90s.

Chris Perez was released from his contract today.  He is a free as agent. Giambi was resigned.

"re-signed"..... sorry, pet-peeve

Ha! :) Perez was resigned (ie: against his will). Giambi was re-signed.

 

So now the Indians have freed up $20 million for 2014 with Perez, Myers and Reynolds off the payroll. Need a big bat for the middle of the lineup, a starter and a reliever (hopefull a decent new closer).

Terry Francona won A.L. Manager of the Year

 

http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=9967966

 

Terry Francona won A.L. Manager of the Year

 

http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=9967966

 

 

I. Am. Shocked.

 

I. Am. Over-joyed!

John Axford, Indians near deal

Updated: December 15, 2013, 10:12 PM ET

By Buster Olney | ESPN The Magazine

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10144453/cleveland-indians-sign-right-handed-reliever-john-axford

 

 

Scott Atchison signs with Indians

 

January 6th, 2014 5:10 pm

 

Scott Atchison has signed a minor-league deal with the Indians, with an invite to spring training, Cleveland announced.

 

Atchison, 37, appeared in 50 games for the Mets in 2013, posting a 4.37 ERA and 1.257 WHIP.

 

As pitchers and catchers assemble this week in the desert, I think this is great news. I love Brantley's approach to the game and his abilities.....

 

Cleveland Indians, outfielder Michael Brantley agree on 4-year contract extension worth $25 million

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2014/02/cleveland_indians_closing_in_o.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians agree on 1-year deal worth $9.8 million

Ubaldo $50 mill for 5 years to Balitmore.

 

That's actually a bit lower than I would've thought.

I had hot dogs for lunch today in honor of the first game of Spring Training. :-D

^ I may have to make the drive over to AZ!!

 

GO TRIBE.

Yes, snow in spring sucks. But I'll take it over a dust storm any day....

 

"@RuiterWrongFAN: Wow! Great pic RT @LindseyBaseball: Well this can't be good... Dust storm brewing in Goodyear... http://t.co/KzxcVTd4sr"

So Nick Swisher and Mike Polk appeared in a funny video together.......

 

Hilarious! For as funny as Mike Polk is in his other gigs, i didnt think he was funny here and  i thought Swisher made the video but it was still a good laugh! Cant wait for next week!

Hilarious! For as funny as Mike Polk is in his other gigs, i didnt think he was funny here and  i thought Swisher made the video but it was still a good laugh! Cant wait for next week!

 

Mike Polk is never funny.

^Actually, good point.  I hate his cleveland tourism video.  FOr him being a clevelander, that was brutal perception wise.  I mean, we laugh at ourselves, but that was a whole different level of bad perception, nationally.  I did think his one video was funny where he was writing a letter to Holmgren, but thats about it.

Nick Swisher made that video. Good for him to have a sense of humor about his "bro-ness". Mike Polk kind of sat  there. I hope the "drinking red bull so I have energy in my dreams" was a swisher idea. He needs to come up to the plate this year to Panama too.

^Actually, good point.  I hate his cleveland tourism video.  FOr him being a clevelander, that was brutal perception wise.  I mean, we laugh at ourselves, but that was a whole different level of bad perception, nationally.  I did think his one video was funny where he was writing a letter to Holmgren, but thats about it.

 

Mike Polk is the equivalent of the Cleveland area expatriates who wrote all the Cleveland jokes during the 60s, only more self promoting.

Doesn't feel like opening day. Maybe the six inches of snow we got Saturday evening, some of which still remains on the ground, has something to do with it.

^Plus, the 10pm EST game time.  Still, it's my favorite day of the year! 

wow what an opener. masterful masterson as usual. a bit of a nail biter at the end. its on, here we go, hope springs eternal and all that - looking forward to the season!

Holy crap!!!! Masterson just signed a 5 year, 85 million contract! Guess management was pretty pleased with last night.

April Fools or provide a source!! 

^I think you provided the source, unfortunately.

Think of it as an April Fools/clairvoyance hybrid :-)

Man, Tbideon...for the 4 seconds that i believed it, my Tuesday was going great.  Thanks for ruining that moment.

Good win, but I didn't get to see the end, I made it to the eighth inning. That 10 o'clock start time was a killer. Thanks MLB.

 

A Cab is still swinging at everything, sigh. He really should hang out with Sanatana more and learn to work a count (Although I remember when Santana used to swing at everything). Random Thoughts. Good pitching but too many players stranded. I think I really like Santana at 3rd. Kipnis  looks like he is trying to hard at the plate.

Man, Tbideon...for the 4 seconds that i believed it, my Tuesday was going great.  Thanks for ruining that moment.

 

I fell for it too for a few seconds, but as I was bringing up Major League Trade Rumors I noticed the date.  And was really bummed!

bummer - day two was rained out.

 

Holy crap!!!! Masterson just signed a 5 year, 85 million contract! Guess management was pretty pleased with last night.

 

 

Swisher!!!

 

Swisher ignites Tribe's home-opening victory party

 

http://m.mlb.com/cle/news/article/2014040470918504

Thankfully one of our sports teams decided it was important to win a game today! Great opening day win -- the first since 2008.

 

Funny story -- I was texting major actions in today's game to a friend visiting family in Atlanta. He couldn't get his MLB app to work or they weren't providing good updates. So I was providing him with updates like this....

 

Gomes hits line-drive homer into Indians bullpen. Score: 2-1

 

Chisenhall walks. Morgan sac bunts him to 2nd. No one out in 6th.

 

Swisher hits bomb into right-field stands. Indians up 3-2!

 

And so on.....

 

BTW, there's something about this kid Blake Wood I like. And it isn't just because he struck out the side in the 9th. Bet he becomes a long-reliever or even a starter when he builds his arm strength.

 

One last thing, I have an impeccable source who noted that the Indians doubled their projected revenues from merchandise sales from this game. There were two reasons. One was because of the 2-hour rain delay where fans had nothing to do but shop. And the other was because the temperatures dropped from 65 to 45 while the wind picked up -- many fans weren't prepared for the very cold conditions. So they bought jackets, hats, blankets etc. Lots of 'em!

We look like we're picking up where we left off late last season. I just think Francona has a tremendously calming effect on his players so that they can focus on getting the most from themselves.  He's the best coach or manager this town has seen in many a year and I still have to pinch myself that a Cleveland team had the rare good fortune of having a field general of such accomplishment practically fall right in its  lap ... It's obviously very early and it remains to be seen whether we can withstand losing 2 rotational pitchers (including Ubaldo who'd morphed into our late-season ace) along with our setup man. Wood did look good... So for now, I too am exalting in our lone, successful team that is actually giving us hope... Warm weather will soon be upon us; let the good times roll!

Yep Salazar made me hella nervous in the first, but he settled down a bit and kept pitching out of horrible situations after that. The first time through the line up offensively everyone seemed super stoked for the home opener and were swinging at a bunch of dumb pitches. In 3 innings nine batters up, nine down all right in order.

 

That's where I see Francona making a difference by telling the guys (more or less) just to settle down and keep their heads about them. He almost has a Phil Jackson quality about him.

So in off-the-field news, what does everyone think of this renewed Chief Wahoo controversy?  There is a picture floating around the interwebs of a guy in full "red face" yelling at a Native American protestor outside of Jacobs Field yesterday and it's kind of embarrassing.

 

My personal opinion is that while there is some tradition behind Chief Wahoo, he is an extraordinarily racist caricature that, at the very least is due for a serious redesign.  That said, I much prefer the "Block C" because the club wore it on their first uniforms back in 1901, wore a version of it in 1920 when they won their first World Series in 1920, and because it directly represents our city's name (like New York's interlocking "NY" or Detroit's Old English "D").  Just my take.

^ Nobody was yelling at the Native American. The photo that has been circulating shows the idiot in red face trying to shake his hand.

 

http://deadspin.com/cleveland-indians-fan-in-redface-meets-a-native-america-1558499738

 

The whole issue reeks of white guilt. I don't associate Chief Wahoo with native Americans. I see a baseball team. The caricature is no more an insult to Indians than a leprechaun is an insult to the Irish. Maybe we should change their team name too? I thought somebody decided "Indian" was derogatory.

^ Nobody was yelling at the Native American. The photo that has been circulating shows the idiot in red face trying to shake his hand.

 

http://deadspin.com/cleveland-indians-fan-in-redface-meets-a-native-america-1558499738

 

The whole issue reeks of white guilt. I don't associate Chief Wahoo with native Americans. I see a baseball team. The caricature is no more an insult to Indians than a leprechaun is an insult to the Irish. Maybe we should change their team name too? I thought somebody decided "Indian" was derogatory.

 

First off, you're right, he wasn't "yelling" as far as I've heard.  However, the guy who took the picture (who runs the "Cleveland Frowns" website) was on 92.3 The Fan yesterday and said that the conversation wasn't conciliatory even if a handshake was attempted.

 

Second, the logo is much more inflammatory than the team name and bringing up the latter is distracting from the larger problem that is the former.  (And yes, those that are asking for the removal of Chief Wahoo and a name change are guilty of overreaching IMO.)

 

Finally, although I see superficial similarities between a leprechaun and Chief Wahoo, I think it's a questionable analogy considering the history behind each and the respective cultures that they represent.  Oh and "white guilt"?  Yes, we do have something we were guilty of...so why are we holding on to a relic created during a time period in which we were unable to accept that.  If the character "Sambo" and painting ourselves in black face are considered insensitive, I'm not sure how Chief Wahoo and red face are much different.

Remember this?

 

Can I point out for whatever that Jackhole was doing yesterday. He had his face painted as a cartoon character, complete with triangle eyes. He was not doing a Johnny Depp in the Lone Ranger. He was a grow man with his face painted as a cartoon.

 

Debate the merits of the Wahoo logo as needed. Personally I say keep the name and develop a classy logo along the lines of the Indian Motorcycle logo with the blessing/involvement of major tribes.

^ Kind of interesting how Chief Wahoo evolved. The early versions were actually very subdued and realistic.

 

http://webpages.charter.net/joekuras/wahoo2.htm

 

That 1947 version only lasted 5 years before they changed to the current one we know - arguably the most cartoonish and least realistic. Does it being more of a caricature and less resembling of Native Americans make it more or less insulting?

Folks, just so everyone knows, swearing and racial epithets cannot be used on UO.  There are several reasons for this, from creating an environment everyone is comfortable with, to simply keeping this website SFW.  Please respect these rules.  Thank you.

I think it's time to phase out the Chief Wahoo logo. I am content with the dignity and history of the block C.

 

I am intrigued by CBC's idea on tribe consultation for an update that's more in line with honoring them...that could be really cool.

If the first time through the rotation was a microcosm of how the season will go, you can kiss playoff hopes goodbye. One good start out of 5. Salazar battled and kept tribe in there but otherwise didn't have anything

Masty already knocked around a bit today...but Yan Gomes really is a beast and just as I was typing this ties it up with a 2-run blast.

First series loss of the season -- to the lowly Twins at home.

Can someone tell me if I'm reading this correctly??

 

http://law.marquette.edu/assets/sports-law/pdf/ls-mlb-cleveland.pdf

 

Article 6.1 – Rent

Based on tiered scale of a fee paid per paid attendance tickets, annual rent is an aggregate of the following:

(1) $.75 for each Paid Attendance Ticket sold during the applicable season after 1.85 M tickets sold, up to 2.25 M sold

(2) $1.00 for each Paid Attendance Ticket sold during such season after 2.25 M tickets sold, up to 2.5 M sol

(3) $1.25 for each Paid Attendance Ticket sold during applicable season after 2.5 M tickets are sold

 

So the Indians ownership is financially incentivized to not break 1.85 million in total tickets sales?

 

And no money is due to Gateway if under 1.85 million are tickets sold annually??

 

Is this common?

 

EDIT: OK, so it was updated then it sounds: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/08/deal_keeps_cleveland_indians_a.html

Three whole weeks without a single post on this thread, and then a post about stadium rental payments. Kinda says something about the on-the-field performance, huh?

Three whole weeks without a single post on this thread, and then a post about stadium rental payments. Kinda says something about the on-the-field performance, huh?

 

Even I could produce as much offense as the Indians are right now.

Hey guys, back to my original post on the lease.  Is it true the Dolan's don't have to pay rent if a certain attendence isn't acheived?