Beanpot Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 The magic carpet ride is just beginning! Tuned into the game late and only heard about Hodges and Valbuena. Very nice. Looks like Laffey and Lewis did their part. Not so Masterson. But enough about them. Bryce Harper was in the news today as his future team trotted out this kid named Strasburg to the bump. The reports were glowing (Strasburg Has Strong Spring Training Debut - NYTimes; Strasburg dazzles in spring debut - MLB.com) and there was video to match: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb Beyond that, a caller to XM mentioned that he'd charted pitches and compiled a report on his website. Pretty impressive site: http://www.mlbprospectwatch.com/mlb_prospe...urgs-debut.html Back to the good guys, yahoo makes fun of us with all sorts of cleverness: Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:30 pm EST Spring Snapshot: Indians starting over for 62nd straight year By David Brown Every day in spring training until we're finished with the entire league, Big League Stew takes a brief capsule look at each team we visit in Florida and Arizona. It's been 62 years since Satchel Paige and the Cleveland Indians won the World Series. The good news? The Cubs have been waiting 40 more years. The bad news? Cleveland is going to have to wait at least one more. CLEVELAND INDIANS '09 RECORD 65-97/4th in AL Central BIG ACQUISITIONS: Manny Acta, who had it rough managing the Washington Nationals, brings enthusiasm and intelligence to the skipper's post. How fast he learns from his own mistakes in Washington will be key to his transition. ... The signing of Russell Branyan(notes) to play first base also changes the dynamic in the outfield. BIG DEPARTURE: Kelly Shoppach(notes), who became the No. 1 catcher after Victor Martinez(notes) was traded, also was dealt away. FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE INDIANS: 1. What happens to Matt LaPorta(notes), or Michael Bradley — the haul from the CC Sabathia(notes) trade — when only one is playing left field? He, whoever it is, will be playing at Class AAA. LaPorta has big power and is the better prospect but, with Branyan at first and Travis Hafner(notes) at DH, must go to left field. Brantley is younger, faster and a solid leadoff prospect. But LaPorta is the face of the Indians rebuilding project. 2. How much will they get for Kerry Wood(notes) in a trade? Non-contenders don't need pricey closers, so it makes sense to move Wood, whose value fluctuates with his effectiveness and, of course, health. Strike while the iron is hot, or at least plugged in. A replacement for Joe Nathan(notes) in Minnesota, perhaps? 3. What happens if Shin-Soo Choo(notes) has to go fight Kim Jong-Il? If the Indians can't get him out of compulsory military service in his native Korea via diplomatic channels, there's always subterfuge. Heck, if it takes a series of international incidents to keep the guy in right field past this season, Tribe owner Larry Dolan and Bud Selig better know what to do. Bill Veeck (above, next to Paige in '48), would have figured something out. 4. Is Jake Westbook good to go after Tommy John surgery nearly two years ago? Probably, though his first spring outing was a little rough. Acta has high expectations, to the point of hyperbole, when he said: "Why do we have to be so cautious and negative about Jake? Tommy John surgery is about as common as your everyday dentist visit nowadays in baseball. I'm anticipating Jake to be good." 5. Is Asdrubal Cabrera(notes) poised to be an All-Star? Already one of the better young players in the American League, Cabrera is coming off a .308 batting average and a .799 OPS as a shortstop — which certainly gets people's attention. He is expected to bat leadoff full-time with Grady Sizemore(notes) dropping to second. Considering that he's hitting first, it would be nice if Cabrera drew more walks. Work on that, OK, Druby? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...?urn=mlb,226918 ------------------------------- Acta talks about Hodges: "A lot of people said he could swing the bat and he's shown that to me," said new manager Manny Acta. "He's got a good swing. He's able to use the whole field. Twice today he had a man on second base and took the right approach. We're going to take an extended look at him." http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2...prove_to_4.html ------------------------------- A team considered to be a contender is in need of a closer. Our team has a closer we're looking to deal with another guy waiting in the wings. The stars align! Maybe not, at least according to the guys at rototimes: It probably wouldn't take a lot for any team not in the AL Central to land Kerry Wood, who is due $10 million and has Chris Perez behind him, from the Cleveland Indians, but it is highly unlikely the Tribe would be willing to deal their closer to a division rival any time before July. http://www.rototimes.com/article/2010/3/Re...-So-Average-Joe ------------------------------- Finally, bleacher report writes about Brantley and the reasons why he won't make the opening day roster: Not only was Brantley out of a starting job, but now it also appears likely he will begin the year in the minor leagues. By sending Brantley down at the beginning of the year, the Indians could gain another year of service time out of Branyan, but the fact is that shouldn’t be the case. Brantley earned his stripes last year. As I mentioned before, Brantley, along with LaPorta, came over to the Indians from the Milwaukee Brewers in the CC Sabathia trade in 2008. He was called up in September and hit .313 in 121 ABs. What was most impressive about his average is that he hit .462 against left-handed pitching (Brantley is a left-handed hitter). While I believe Brantley will start the year in the minors, it will be only a matter of time before LaPorta moves back to first base and Brantley gets called up and mans his position in left field—a position he should have for quite some time. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/359651-...for-the-indians Beanpot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Nice to hear about Wes. I don't buy the whole division deal concerning Wood. Minn is a legit contender and lets be honest here...we aren't. Seeing as Minn is, they would be willing to pay, and it isn't like Wood is going to be around all that long that we would be facing him once we spring back in to contention. I don't know what they would be willing to give, but it would be pretty good. My attitude is when you are looking ahead, look all the way. Everybody you get isn't going to pan out, so if you need 5 good players out of deals, you need to bring in 12 fresh faces. And...this allows us to find out if Perez is our guy. He won't blow that many more saves then will Wood. Hell, if they put me on the mound in the 9th ten times, I bet I could get one save on merit and one by luck......I am almost serious on the merit part and pretty serious on the luck part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIMO. Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 I haven't been able to see as much baseball as I'd like so far, but just as I turned on today's game Lonnie Chisenhall belted a double to right field. Our infield could be really good for a good while, with LaPorta, Asdrubal, Chisenhall and whoever plays 2nd. I'm hoping Donald starts showing us what he did for his whole career in the Phillies organization. He only hit .238 over the '09 season, but before that he was a top prospect. Has a career .285 avg and a .804 OPS. And he came up as a shortstop, could be the white Asdrubal. I hope Hodges gets a look, better him than someone like Marte at this point, but it's hard to see a real future for him with the Tribe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 How has Wood looked this year so far? I haven't been able to watch the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanpot Posted March 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 How has Wood looked this year so far? I haven't been able to watch the games. He's only pitched a couple innings (walk, HBP, one hit *I think*) with a couple ks. He's looked just fine. I don't think he pitched today - called due to lack of pitchers - but it'll be on MLB Network tonight. Pretty sure he's scheduled to pitch tomorrow, along with Masterson. Carmona *sounded* great today, look forward to actually watching it. Not sure how Westbrook gave up his runs, but the 4 k's are damn encouraging. Beanpot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 Sooo now we are 5-0-2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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