and to think at the beginning of the season I bet 20 bucks that the Indians would get 1000 runs this year. At this point i'm going double or nothing for 1000 hits.

wow, that was going to be tough even the great Indians teams of the 90's only managed 1,000 runs once, 1999.  In fact, that is the only time it happened in club history.

Can we just win 3 in a row?  thank goodness everyone in the central is playing bad ball! 

the last time the team hit this poorly was 1971...a .234 team batting average!!

good to see the bats come out last night.  hopefully it has more to do with tribe hitters than texas pitching, we'll see...huge game from Francisco...this guy has cemented a spot in the lineup for sure...sooner or later Tribe is going to have to make a move with one of their OFers:  Choo/Dellucci/Francisco/Gutierrez; only enough room for 3 with Sizemore holding down CF for the foreseeable future.  I don't see how the tribe can justify holding onto 5 OFers.  I'd liek to see them move Dellucci, but that contract will be a problem, based on ABs over the last few games, it would appear Gutierrez is the odd man out.

 

Lineup I'd like to see:

 

Sizemore CF

Choo LF

Francisco RF

Martinez CA

Garko 1B

Peralta 3B

Dellucci DH

AsCab SS

Carroll / Barfield 2B

 

 

Can either Barfield or Carroll play short?  If Asdrubal keeps hitting this miserably, then we may want to rotate Carroll or Barfield in at SS for AsCab sometimes.

yeah Carroll can for sure...i like Asdrubal...he will hit, keep in mind that most players his age are in single A ball!!  I'll take his .200 average now based on the d he brings...i'm convinced our team ERA is at least half a run lower b/c of him...

Dear god, this season is getting worse by the second.  I don't even know who these players are, and i can give you half of our minor league rosters off the top of my head.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                    June 12, 2008

 

 

 

INDIANS PLACE CA VICTOR MARTINEZ & INF

 

JOSH BARFIELD ON THE 15-DAY DISABLED LIST

 

 

 

INF Jorge Velandia & CA Yamid Haad Promoted from AAA Buffalo

 

 

 

CLEVELAND, OH --- The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has placed CA VICTOR MARTINEZ (right elbow inflammation) & INF JOSH BARFIELD (left long finger sprain) on the 15-day disabled list. 

 

 

 

To assume their place on the Major League roster the Indians purchased the contract of CA YAMID HAAD & INF JORGE VELANDIA from AAA Buffalo.  The Indians will announce two moves relative to the 40-man roster this afternoon.

 

 

 

Haad has spent the entire season at AAA Buffalo after attending Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.  He has hit .159 (10-63) with 3 doubles and 3 RBI in 25 games for the Bisons this year.  He joined the Indians organization last May and hit .301 (34-113) in 35 games for the Bisons in 2007.  Over his 14-year professional career, he has appeared in 18 Major League games for San Francisco (2005) and Pittsburgh (1999), the last appearance coming on October 1, 2005.  He will wear #59.

 

 

 

Velandia, 33, was signed by the Indians as a minor league free agent on May 26 and has appeared in 16 games for the Bisons (.235, 16-68, 2B, 2RBI).  He spent the first part of 2008 at AAA Syracuse (Toronto) where he hit .287 (27-94) with 3HR and 12RBI in 28 games and later appeared in 2 games with the Jays in May (0 for 7, both games vs. Cleveland on 5/10, 5/12).  In his Major League career, Velandia has hit .182 (43-236) with 2HR and 23RBI in 166 Major League games with San Diego, Oakland, New York-NL, Tampa Bay and Toronto. He will wear #11.

 

wow.  unreal how fast this team's fortunes have turned.  from nearly winning it all to possibly having to look at rebuilding in less than 3 months.

 

p.s. yes i use the word rebuilding, b/c with the Hafner situation and Sabathia likely to be traded for prospects, we're going to be taking a step back...

the good news is, EVERYONE in the central is playing bad, we could still win this.

p.s. yes i use the word rebuilding, b/c with the Hafner situation and Sabathia likely to be traded for prospects, we're going to be taking a step back...

 

Ummm who is going to want to take Hafner?  He hasn't had a good season since 2006 and he has a HUGE contract for someone who doesn't play defense.

oh I don't see the Tribe being able to trade him...he has very little value if he is not stroking it...if they assume some of the cost of his contract they may find some interested parties, but don't expect much in return. 

I agree -- he's untradeable, especially since he's injured.  Prior to an injury being disclosed, you might have been able to fool a team into thinking they could "fix" him -- IF he was packaged appropriately in a trade, i.e. you gave him away.

plus don't forget you are only able to work with have the league since he is a DH-only player.  take away the central and teams that already have DH's in place and that group grows even smaller.

 

i hope this injury was the problem, but i don't have much hope...i guess that is the pessimistic Cleveland sports fan in me talking

I can almost smell a Sabathia trade coming.

oh it's on like donkey kong

EDIT- I didn't click to the last page to see all the more recent posts...

 

So, I see that Yamid Haad was busted for 'roids in 2006.  Let's hope he's back on.

Cure to all our woes..

 

Cleveland Indians sign Ensberg to minor league contract

Posted by Plain Dealer staff reports June 17, 2008 14:26PM

Categories: Indians

 

Looking for infield insurance and maybe some pop from a corner infielder, the Indians today signed third baseman Morgan Ensberg to a minor league contract and assigned him to Class AAA Buffalo.  Ensberg, 32, was released by the New York Yankees on June 2 after hitting .203 in 28 games, with one home run and four RBI.

 

Ensberg started his career with the Houston Astros and appeared in 731 games over eight Major League seasons. He has a .263 career average with 110 home runs and 347 RBI. His best season was 2005 with the Astros when he hit .283 with 36 homers and 101 RBI in 150 games and was selected to play in the All-Star Game.  Ensberg will be in uniform tonight when Buffalo plays at Durham.

 

Read more at http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/06/cleveland_indians_sign_ensberg.html

Meanwhile, down at Buffalo, Asdrubal hit .458 his first week down there.

Meanwhile, down at Buffalo, Asdrubal hit .458 his first week down there.

 

Good, he can hit AAA pitching, hopefully he'll do that for a couple of weeks, get called up, and continue verse MLB pitchers.

Bases loaded with nobody out and we don't score a run.

 

I know it was a great play to double up Carroll and bad luck Choo didn't get 2 RBI out of that liner, but that's just the story of the Indians offense this year.

it is too bad we don't have a healthier core of starting pitching options right now.  if we did, odds are good shapiro would deal CC real soon, achieving maximum value for him.  trading him now makes him a 4 month potential "rental" versus a 2 month "rental" come July 31st or thereabouts...each day that passes could mean less return on a CC trade.

 

if Carmona was healthy, i'm willing to bet shapiro would have pulled the trigger on a trade.  a rotation of Carmona, Lee, Laffey, Byrd, Sowers, would be more than serviceable.  unfortunately with Carmona's recent set back, along with the season-ending injuries to Miller/Westbrook, Shapiro has to wait...

it is too bad we don't have a healthier core of starting pitching options right now.  if we did, odds are good shapiro would deal CC real soon, achieving maximum value for him.  trading him now makes him a 4 month potential "rental" versus a 2 month "rental" come July 31st or thereabouts...each day that passes could mean less return on a CC trade.

 

I disagree, the closer you get to the deadline, the more teams give up historically.  Because now, teams are still unsure, but add 2 months of potential injuries (ie - NY with Wang), or staying in the race and feeling you need that one player to put you over the top.

^ and ^^: I don't know if there is any clear correlation between when in the season a trade is made and how much value you can get- there are plenty of examples on either side.

 

Some more news from the farm system: at Akron, the Indians have two bats lighting it up: Wes Hodges (3b) is now batting .325 with 54 RBI and, maybe more impressively, a young catcher named Chris Gimenez is batting .345, with an OBP of almost .500 in 54 games.  I don't remember reading much about this guy before, but that OBP is pretty eye-catching- the guy has 20 more walks than strikeouts.

 

^Gimenez was promoted to Buffalo.  He should be brought in as the backup to ShopVac until VMart is healthy.  (C'mon Sal Fasano?)

 

Stayed up to watch the game last night...so I'm really tired this morning...don't know why I did, maybe i am a glutton for punishment, but I guess I am still holding out some hope that this season will take a turn for the better.  Hard to have that "glass have full" mentality after being swept by one of the worse teams in the bigs...

 

CC being traded should now be a foregone conclusion and with the rash of starting pitching injuries among the major contenders (Wang/Zambrano/Penny/DiceK/etc) I sure hope Shapiro can land us some ready-to-contribute players.

I hope CC comes to NY simply because I like him and can't blame him for taking a huge contract (plus the players union would nearly force him to take the biggest one, but that's another story for another day), however, with him choking in the playoffs for Cleveland last year, I'd hate to see how he reacts to the NY media when he stinks it up his first two starts in pinstripes in August.. let alone October..

good point about the players union...

 

...i really think he'll end up as a Cubbie/Dodger though and not as a Yankee...last major mid-season acquisition by Yankees was Abreu...recently they've shown an aversion to dealing young prospects...but CC could be a special exception...

Yeah but after blowing the Santana deal, I think they'll be more ready to make a big move.

^I wouldn't mind him becoming a Met, but I really don't want him going to the Yanks or the Red Sox because I now spitefully and jealously loath both teams.

 

Sowers has been a bit disappointing after again putting up great AAA numbers earlier this year, but I really don't think losing CC, either via trade or free agency, will kill the team for the next couple years.  Fausto, Laffey (assuming both are really as good as the last couple years have shown them to be) and Westbrook are still a good enough core of starters to contend if we can juice the offense some more.

 

Stayed up to watch the game last night...so I'm really tired this morning...don't know why I did, maybe i am a glutton for punishment, but I guess I am still holding out some hope that this season will take a turn for the better.  Hard to have that "glass have full" mentality after being swept by one of the worse teams in the bigs...

 

That describes me exactly too.  Including the staying up last night to listen to the bitter end.

and Westbrook are still a good enough core of starters to contend if we can juice the offense some more.

 

Uhhh.. Westbrook is having Tommy John surgery.. I wouldn't count him as part of the core..

 

As far as Sabathia, I hope he comes to the Yankees so I can see him regularly.  The Mets need an outfielder, they have nobody to trade worthwhile in the minors, so the chances of him coming to the Mets are near 0.

I for one, hope he stays.

 

Hell nobody in MLB is playing exceptionally well.

 

The tribe will turn this around!  :whip: :whip: :whip:

i also think the tribe should look at dealing Frankie G and Blake...they have more value than most realize...

Blake and Byrd will be available, not "Frankie G" tho.

^ I could actually see Blake getting a TON of interest.. he can play 4 positions.

 

Uhhh.. Westbrook is having Tommy John surgery.. I wouldn't count him as part of the core..

 

well yeah, but I thought the Tommy John recovery stats were pretty good these days- especially for non-power arm guys. 

 

Ugh, I could never route for CC again if he became a Yankee.

i saw that the cubs went after cc on espn sportscenter this morning, or at least it was a rumor that they talked, but that they didn't have anything the tribe wanted.

 

it seems like they are mentioning cc as top trade bait almost daily on sportscenter.

 

since i have limited online time lately and i'm too lazy to look -- does anyone know if any tribester is hitting over .300? i would doubt it.

 

 

Blake and Byrd will be available, not "Frankie G" tho.

 

does shapiro consult you on these matters or something?  how on earth would you know this as fact?  since Choo was brought up 5/31, Choo/Frisco have been the team's everyday outfielders...

 

Right now, Gut isn't anything more than a defensive replacement/4th OFer on this team, whereas others envision him as more...the only way he'll see more time is if he learns to take a pitch.  Currently, out of 257 batters with at least 150 plate appearances in the majors, Frankie G is 240th in BB/K ratio.

..

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting?sort=walkToStrikeoutRatio&split=0&league=mlb&season=2008&seasonType=2&type=sab&ageMin=17&ageMax=51&minpa=150&hand=a&pos=all&startDate=null&endDate=null&qual=false&count=218

 

 

 

since i have limited online time lately and i'm too lazy to look -- does anyone know if any tribester is hitting over .300? i would doubt it.

 

 

Choo and Francisco have been hitting fine (at or above .300) but have only been up for 1-2 months.

That thud an hour ago was the Indians hitting last place in the AL Central.  Below KC. :(.

2006 all over again..

The whole team needs a makeover.  Oh, and did anyone see Blake playing short last night in the 8th and 9th.  Talk about trying anything they can.  The entire season ios begining to look like spring training to me and just trying out new things.

 

Sowers in my book needs to go also.  I believe he led off two innings last night with walks. 

 

As far as dealing Blake, I think the Tribe needs to hold on to him.  He offers vetran experience.  Watching him at third last night reminded me a bit of Thome.  You can tell he is the leader on the field (even though it should be Shoppach) and he is a halfway decent clutch hitter. 

 

Sabathia in my books can go.  After the Barry Zito signing and the Tribe's Westbrook signing, I do not think it is worth it to pay big money for a guy that pitches once a week, and may only win a game twice a month.  We need some middle infield support.  Hopefully, this sabattical in Buffalo will turn Cabrerra around.

I hope Sabathia goes to the Yankees, at least I'd be able to see him regularly haha.

^Yeah, sounds likely.  I am still a little reluctant to say that a pitcher is going to be offered big money this year. 

A 27 year old leftie Cy-young winner is PROBABLY gonna get a huge contract..

 

MLB already overpays for pitching because it's so scare, CC will get Johan Santana money, no doubt.

I hope Sabathia goes to the Yankees, at least I'd be able to see him regularly haha.

 

How bout you get the MLB package on cable so you can watch Sabathia regularly win for an NL team.

 

I still can't figure out Cliff Lee.  I was so convinced he was going to return to 2007 form once he got shaky a few weeks ago, but now...he's back to early 2008 form.  He's literally half way to a Cy Yonung now.  Then again, tonight was against the Giants.  Which I guess is like the Indians making Zito look so good the other day.

11-1 with 3 more starts before the All Star break..plus the bully ruined 2 other games he should have won

 

he is now our stopper

 

without Lee this year, the Indians would be 25-42...crazy

Blake and Byrd will be available, not "Frankie G" tho.

 

From ESPN's Jayson Stark this morning

 

• Indians rumors of the week: Seems as if the only Indians anyone ever talks about hitting the market next month are Sabathia and Paul Byrd. But one NL executive says the Indians have also let teams know they would talk about several of their bullpen arms -- starting with Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez -- and enigmatic 25-year-old outfielder Franklin Gutierrez.

Minor league observation:  Trevor Crowe finally seems to have figure out AA pitching- he's been burning hot- average up to .314 now after an unbelievably lousy start (which didn't go unnoticed on this board).  Even showing some pop this month.

So does Borowski get "injured" again here soon?

^Sadly it doesn't seem to matter anymore.  Tough to imagine him coming back next year though.

 

I think I'm going to start following the Aeros instead of the Indians for the rest of the year.  Trevor Crowe was just named Eastern League player of the week for the second week in a row.