Tribe Made Right Decision on Vizquel

 

The emergence of shortstop Jhonny Peralta shows that GM Mark Shapiro made the right move in letting longtime Tribesman Omar Vizquel leave as a free agent, and give the starting job to Peralta.  Whether or not the move was made for financial reasons or based on talent evaluation, it was the correct move and now the Indians have a core of four young players to build around.

 

With last night’s two home run performance, Peralta now is hitting over .300 with 18 HR and 58 RBI.  He likely will end the season with more dingers than any shortstop in Tribe history.  Baseball Prospectus ranks the 23 year old Peralta as the fourth best at his position in the American League, behind only Miguel Tejada, Michael Young, and Derek Jeter. 

 

His defense has been fine as well.  After a tough first week of the campaign, Peralta has done a solid job with the glove.  No, he is not Vizquel’s equal defensively, but he is not a tin glove either.  There is no evidence that the youngster cannot do the job at short, so people who complain that he could be moved to third and Vizquel could have stayed are just delaying the inevitable. 

 

As stated previously, Cleveland now has four everyday players 27 or under, who are among the best at their position in the league:  catcher Victor Martinez, DH Travis Hafner, CF Grady Sizemore, and Peralta.  Three of those guys fill difficult positions to find–Martinez, Sizemore, and Peralta.  This bodes well for not only this season, but the next four or five season for the Indians.

 

Finding a middle of the order hitter, a professional hitter, a guy who bats right handed, hits for average and power, and doesn’t strike out a million times should be the priority for the front office.  The Indians have pitching depth in their minor league system, so perhaps a trade could be made over the winter. 

 

Not only does the present look better, but the future is bright as well.  Maybe if people stopped pining for the days of Ramirez, Belle, Baerga, and Thome, and focused on this team, they would see a contender developing at Jacobs Field.

 

MW