The Cleveland Indians dealt 2B Ronnie Belliard to the Cardinals for utility player Hector Luna, a player who was formerly in the organization, having played in Akron in 2003 before being picked by St. Louis in the Rule 5 draft.  The trade took many by surprise since Belliard played hard and was fairly productive, but he was a free agent at the end of this season, so it was no lock he would return next year.

 

Luna is no stiff, with a .276 career batting average in limited opportunities (533 career at bats).  He has some speed, stealing 10 bases in 12 tries last year, and can play multiple positions, including SS and the outfield.  The plans are to platoon him with Joe Inglett at 2B, so he will be in the line up tonight against the Red Sox and David Wells.

 

GM Mark Shapiro said the team is done trading, but he is probably still trying to find new homes for OF Todd Hollandsworth, P Guillermo Mota, and 3B Aaron Boone.  It is somewhat amazing that Boone is still on the roster, but apparently the Tribe cannot find any takers.  The Indians don’t want to release Boone so as not to embarass him, but there he was starting at third yesterday against Seattle.  Of course, Boone failed to deliver with runners on second and third with one out and the infield in yesterday.  He grounded the first pitch to short, where Shin-Soo Choo made a base running error (nothing like trying to fit in!) and got caught off second.

 

Jim Donovan blamed Choo for short circuiting the rally, but Kelly Shoppach made an out right after that, so Choo’s mistake did not cost the team a run, Boone’s failure to hit a fly ball did.  Also, there was another media cover up in the ninth inning.

 

Inglett, playing SS, looked to third after making a tough stop, and missed retiring the batter, Greg Dobbs, by a step.  Rick Manning correctly pointed out that the Tribe gave the Mariners an extra out, with came back to haunt them when Jose Lopez got the go ahead hit with TWO outs.  However, The Plain Dealer did not mention the play in its game story.

 

Inglett made a nice play on the ball, and wasn’t playing his normal position.  But, imagine the uproar if Jhonny Peralta made the exact same play.  It would have been portrayed as another bad defensive play by Peralta.  Since it was Inglett, the play was swept under the rug.  The point is this, if Inglett had thrown to first right away, Dobbs would have been out, and it would have been man on third with two out.  Carmona would have had a much better chance to get out of the inning with a tie score. 

 

It’s on to Boston and Detroit for Kid Tribe to see where they stack up against two of the AL’s best.  Here’s looking forward to seeing Jeremy Sowers battling the Sox on Wednesday evening.

 

MW 

 

The Cleveland Browns lost All-Pro center LeCharles Bentley to a season ending knee injury yesterday, and the fans of the team regressed into the "Woe is Me" attitude that GM Phil Savage has condemned.  Savage and Head Coach Romeo Crennel had the correct attitude when the word came out the Bentley was indeed ruled out for the season, they related to the media that the show must go on.

 

Crennel doesn’t want any excuses for the team not doing well in ’06.  Bob Hallen is a veteran free agent signed to back up at guard and center, and he will be thrust into a starting role.  He is not a raw rookie being asked to replace Bentley.  But, hearing fans talk about Bentley’s injury, they now expect the team to finish with the same 6-10 record as last season, or maybe even worse.

 

I don’t buy it.  Bill Livingston from The Plain Dealer always talks about the free pass given the Browns from the fans.  The orange and brown never receive the vitriol from the public that the Indians get when they are mediocre.  Ever since the Dolan’s owned the Tribe, they made the playoffs once, and missed the post-season twice by one game.  Since the Browns returned in 1999, they made the playoffs as a wild card once, and have been terrible every other season.  But, it’s the Dolans who get all the criticism.

 

I like Phil Savage, and I like Crennel too.  I think they have the Browns headed in the right direction.  However, I expect this team to improve from last year’s 6-10 mark and I’m sure Savage and Crennel expect the same, even though Bentley is out.  They set the tone that the season has to go on, with or without the team’s biggest free agent aquisition.  The Browns’ fans should follow suit.

 

MW

 

 

 

The Cleveland Indians took the next step in their retooling process, by dealing 1B Ben Broussard to Seattle for outfield prospect Shin-Soo Choo.  Choo will be in the line up tomorrow night against his former teammates and presumably will play RF.  This was an excellent deal by Mark Shapiro in getting a major league ready prospect for a guy having a career year.

 

My guess is the cash included by the Indians (I thought they were a cheap organization) pays the remainder of Broussard’s contract for this year.  Doing this allows Shapiro to get a better prospect, and that they did.  Choo is hitting .323 with 13 HR and 48 RBI with Class AAA Tacoma this season.  He also has speed, stealing 26 bases in 30 tries.  Frankly, he is what the Tribe hoped Franklin Gutierrez would be by this point. 

 

There is no question that Broussard was having an outstanding season, a year out of character with the rest of his career.  He came into the season with a lifetime average of around .260, and he is currently batting well over .300.  The Indians would not have paid him the $5-6 million he probably would have received if he went to arbitration during the off-season. 

 

It’s interesting that the Mariners will use the Tribe’s old 1B platoon at DH.  That should tell you both Broussard and Eduardo Perez were not contenders for the Gold Glove. 

 

I agree with the folks at Diatribe, that this is not a fire sale.  They call it a rummage sale and I totally agree.  Shapiro is simply just getting rid of players who would not have been here next year.  With a little tweaking here and there, this team can contend for the Central Division title next year. 

 

Also, to those grilling the Tribe GM for the Wickman trade, it appears that Wicky told the Tribe he would only accept a deal to the Brewers or the Braves.  With those limitations, getting a good prospect, albeit one at the Class A level, was remarkable. 

 

There will be a few more trades by Monday.  I still think the Tribe is shopping Guillermo Mota, Ronnie Belliard, and Todd Hollandsworth.  Whether or not they can get anything for Aaron Boone is up for debate.  They may have to just bite the bullet and release them.  I heard Tom Hamilton on the Wills & Coleman show on WTAM yesterday, and he admitted that the difficulty in releasing Boone was due to Boonie being a class act.  I understand that Shapiro is trying to do the right thing, but it is obvious that the former Red can no longer play. 

 

I’m looking forward to seeing Choo in RF this weekend, and maybe, just maybe seeing Andy Marte at 3B before the home stand ends.

 

KM

 

It is a well known fact that the 2006 edition of the Cleveland Indians is not a very good defensive team.  The unearned runs being yielded by the pitching staff is adding up, and the miscues continue mostly from the infield.  Thankfully, the fans and the talk show hosts have found a scapegoat, SS Jhonny Peralta.

 

As is typical of our fair city, we have identified the non-white athlete.  This is not to say that Peralta has had an excellent year defensively, far from it.  He has made 13 errors, some in the worst situations imaginable.  But, he is not the only player making key miscues.  Peralta’s neighbor at third base, Aaron Boone, has booted the ball 15 times, many on very easy chances.

 

Ben Broussard, who plays with a daily brain cramp, is arguably the worst 1B in the league.  His failure to come up with Curtis Granderson’s ground ball on the first hitter of the game led to five unearned runs last night.  I can count at least five errors or bone headed plays made by Broussard in the last six weeks. 

 

However, Peralta has become the poster boy for the problems.  Granted, he does play the most important and difficult position on the diamond.

 

Again, this is not to say that 24 year old is the perfect shortstop.  He has to do better on routine plays, but he has a strong arm and can make the play in the hole.  He does have problems going to his left, but so does last year’s Gold Glove winner at SS, Derek Jeter.  According to Baseball Prospectus, Peralta’s ranks in the middle of the pack defensively among all major league shortstops.  His range factor is very acceptable for the position. 

 

Peralta is NOT the problem, he is PART of the problem.  He has become the target because he doesn’t say a lot to the media.  I keep hearing about how great it is that Aaron Boone didn’t hide after kicking yet another ball Friday night in a 14-6 loss to the Twins.  That’s outstanding.  His best quality as a player is answering questions after he contributes to a defeat.  I’d rather have a guy who doesn’t blow the game, and leaves the locker room immediately after the game.

 

JK

 

I watch Channel 19 News, I guess it’s one of those guilty secrets that you don’t want to admit since it’s the same as reading the tabloids in the checkout line at the grocery store.  They are sensationalistic and trashy, not exactly the type of news show we are used to seeing in Cleveland. 

 

In this vein, the station recently aired a 911 call by Browns’ owner Randy Lerner’s sister, Nancy Fisher, after discovering her 6 year old daughter drowned in a creek.  The tape obviously fit in with the station’s tabloid mentality, using stories like this to raise ratings, and appeal to the lowest common denominator of viewers. 

 

What they didn’t think about was how it would affect the Lerner family, or any family for that matter.  The difference is the station promotes itself as the TV "Home of the Browns", and has based many shows on fall weekends on the team.  It also televises the team exhibition games, which I would assume is a huge advertising boon for the station.

 

Lerner and his family were naturally very upset at the invasion of privacy, and pulled the exhibition games from WOIO effective immediately.  The station is taking legal action against the Browns for violating the contract. 

 

I would guess the station can’t win in the court of public opinion.  Airing the call was tasteless, and most reasonable people agree that stance.  If you want to market your news program in this matter, the station’s management has to accept the consequences of their actions.  Losing the Browns’ programming is the result, and no one blames the Browns, nor the Lerner family for doing it. 

 

JD

 

The Cleveland Indians continued "retooling" for the 2007 season by dealing closer Bob Wickman to the Atlanta Braves for minor league catcher Max Ramirez.  Many, including myself, were surprised by the small return for a proven closer, but what we do not know is how many teams Wickman told GM Mark Shapiro he would accept a trade to.  As a 10/5 man (10 years in the majors, the last five with the same team), he has that right. 

 

Perhaps that was the best trade Shapiro could get, because he might have had only three or four teams to talk to.  I’m not defending Shapiro, but I wanted to remind everyone of that possible constraint.

 

The deal gives Fausto Carmona an opportunity to close games immediately.  If we can do the job, that’s one less thing the GM needs to find in the off season.  Carmona throws hard, and also has a hard sinker.  Based on the job he has done in the seventh and eighth inning, it looks like he can hande the job.  Having a young closer isn’t a bad thing, check out the Red Sox (Jonathon Papelbon) and the White Sox (Bobby Jenks), both guys made the All Star team.

 

I’m guessing a lefty gets called up prior to tonight’s game against the Twins, perhaps Tony Sipp from AA Akron?  There are more moves to come, as I cannot believe Aaron Boone will be wearing the Chief Wahoo logo much longer.  By the way, Andy Marte belted his 15th homer last night.  One of the things I’m looking forward to is seeing how long it will take Marte to exceed Boone’s HR total after he joins the Tribe.

 

With rumors swirling about Jake Westbrook and Arizona, I found it interesting that the Diamondbacks called up OF prospect Carlos Quentin yesterday, and he slugged a homer in his debut.  Quentin has a good power and walks as much as he strikes out, as well as leading the PCL in being hit by pitches.  If the Tribe can get a guy like him for Westbrook, they have to do it. 

 

I go back and forth on dealing Ben Broussard.  He has been a productive hitter against right handers, but this year he is off the charts.  He’s batting .359 vs. RHP this year, compared to the .260 range the past two years.  He’s going to be 30 years old in September and his market value will never be higher, so look for the Tribe to try and move him before the deadline.  That would also get Ryan Garko an opportunity to play as well. 

 

The coming week should bring plenty of changes to the Indians’ roster, and it should.  Being 21 games out of first allows the brass to check out some young players and accumulate more prospects.

 

KM

 

 

  

 

The Cleveland Indians second half hasn’t started any better than the first half ended.  Mainly because the cast of characters remains the same.  No one expected a slew of deals immediately after the All Star Game, but it looked like some personnel changes would be made.  So far, nothing.

 

Instead, Eric Wedge seems to be using a musical chairs approach.  In the five games played in the second half, the team has used four third basemen, two second basemen, and used a revolving door in the corner outfield spots using Jason Michaels, Casey Blake, and Todd Hollandsworth.  Doing this does not help the defense, and for an already bad defensive squad, this is especially troublesome. 

 

Meanwhile at Buffalo,  Andy Marte has raised his batting average to .278.  The Tribe is trying to make a deal for Aaron Boone so they can bring Marte up, but it’s obvious there is no market for Boone.  The right thing to do is designate the former Yankee playoff hero for assignment.  And do it right away.   GM Mark Shapiro is trying to avoid this move because Boone is a class act, but he’s not helping the team and he knows the move is coming.  Marte was the centerpiece of the trade sending Coco Crisp to Boston.  It’s time to see him on the big club and playing everyday.

 

As far as rumors about a possible trade involving Jake Westbrook goes, it’s clear here that Westbrook is not an "untouchable".  He is a dependable starter, giving the team 200 innings per year, but really he is a third or fourth starter.  He is not as good as C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, and you can make an argument that Paul Byrd has been more consistent for most of the season.  What did Westbrook in last night was his annoying habit of allowing runs after the Indians plate a few themselves in the previous half inning.  So, depending on what you can get, I wouldn’t be totally against it.

 

This ship is sinking fast and it appears some of the veterans are going through the motions.  Those guys need to be weeded out now.  The fans and management need to see some young players wanting to make a good impression in the bigs.  Marte, Franklin Gutierrez, and Ryan Garko should be wearing Tribe uniforms if they want to salvage the season.  The retooling should start today with Boone’s release and putting Marte in the lineup at third.

 

MW

 

Hopefully, the Cleveland Indians will start the second half of the season with a little different cast of characters.  I still believe this team is not as bad as their 40-47 record, and Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan agrees with me, but obviously the team is not perfect and changes need to be made.

 

First, let’s start by easing Victor Martinez into the first base position.  This will involve dealing Ben Broussard, who should bring a good prospect or two in return since he is batting over .300 this season.  Even with this type of year, Broussard is still too streaky to be a dependable first baseman.  At third base, it’s time to see Andy Marte and end the Aaron Boone expirement.  Boone has not hit in his 1-1/2 years with the Tribe and his glove has declined as well. 

 

Up the middle, Ronnie Belliard is earning another one year deal for 2007, as the front office waits for Asdrubal Cabrera to be ready in 2008.  Jhonny Peralta can and will be a solid player.  He is not the first player to struggle in his second full year in the bigs.  Even with his problems, he is still on pace for 17 HR and 70 RBI’s, not bad for a middle infielder.  I’m not a trainer, but perhaps Peralta’s range would improve by losing 10 to 15 pounds. 

 

In the outfield, Grady Sizemore is a keeper in CF, but the other two spots are open.  Franklin Gutierrez has started to hit a little bit and should be given a long look.  I think Jason Michaels could play LF every day as well, although Casey Blake coming back could help as well if he continues hitting.  Last year’s #1 pick, Trevor Crowe is now at Class AA Akron and could be with the Tribe sometime in 2007 as the leadoff hitter.  He walks a lot and steals bases.

 

On the mound, it’s time to see if Fausto Carmona can close.  Bob Wickman is a free agent again and with many teams searching for bullpen help, Wickman should bring a good prospect in return.  If Jeremy Sowers struggles in the rotation, then give Jeremy Guthrie a shot as a starter.  It’s also time to see if Fernando Cabrera and Edward Mujica can pitch more meaningful innings, although Cabrera’s lack of control in frightening.  Mujica has struggled coming into games with men on, but has pitched well after that. 

 

As we have said before, it’s not too early to look at next season.  Players who will not be here should be phased out, and those who could be here should get a trial now.  Don’t waste the time spent out of the race.  This season can still have meaning, and the results will be seen in Winter Haven next spring.

 

KM

 

The gnashing of teeth had already started, when would LeBron sign his extension?  He’s going to leave us just like Ramirez, Thome, and all the other great athletes who have called Cleveland home in the last thirty years.  The NBA wants him in a larger market.  Nike wants him in a larger market.  Well, stop the presses!  James agreed to the five year deal on Saturday, which means he is contractually obligated to wear the wine and gold through 2011. 

 

Now, it’s up to the Dan’s, Ferry and Gilbert, to put the type of team around LBJ that can win an NBA title.  They got some help when Ben Wallace bolted the Pistons for the Bulls last week, leaving Detroit with a huge hole in the middle.  The Bulls have improved, but they remind me of the Cavs of the early 90’s, the potential of have many very good players, but no game changing superstar.  Chicago had Michael Jordan in those years, and today the Cavaliers have LeBron. 

 

The Heat won this year, but they have a lot of miles on everyone besides Dwayne Wade.  They might make another run next season, but they have a short shelf life as far as title contention goes.  The Cavaliers with the correct off season moves could win the Central Division title next year, and could get to the conference finals, or maybe The Finals. 

 

A lot of cash has been thrown around to free agents this summer, but I think Ferry is looking at the trade market to bolster the Cavs.  The team has several wing players who could draw interest from other teams:  Sasha Pavlovic, Luke Jackson, and Ira Newble to name a few.  My guess is the Cavs’ GM moves one of them to get front court and point guard help.

 

As for what we can worry about, WKNR’s Kenny Roda is already fretting about James’ next contract extension.  I guess that’s what Phil Savage is talking about with the "Woe is Me" mentality.

 

JK 

 

It’s not often that the best hitter in the league doesn’t make the All Star team but it happened this year.  Indians’ DH Travis Hafner is putting up huge numbers this season, but Ozzie Guillen, the fans, and the players left Pronk off the AL squad.  Not only that, but they left arguably the best pitcher in the league on the outside looking in as well, the Twins’ Francisco Liriano.

 

Hafner leads the AL in OPS (on base % plus slugging %) by 45 points over Manny Ramirez.  This is the stat many experts are now using to measure a players’ offensive production.  In fact, Hafner leads the league in both of the categories that make up OPS.  By most people’s calculations, that would make Pronk the best hitter in the AL over the first half of the season.  What would you think if the NL roster didn’t include Albert Pujols?  That’s exactly what occurred in the AL in 2006.

 

The Indians’ DH also got hosed in the internet poll to determine the last spot on the team.  Somehow, the White Sox’ A.J. Pierzynski with his 6 HR and 29 RBI’s was voted in.  Besides the statistics listed above, Hafner is tied for 2nd in runs scored, tied for 4th in HR, 4th in RBI’s, and ranks 11th in batting average. 

 

Critics will note that Hafner is strictly a DH, as if that nullifies his numbers.  But, David Ortiz and Jim Thome will be in Pittsburgh next Tuesday, and the last time I checked, they don’t play the field that often.  And Pronk’s overall numbers are better than both of those players. 

 

There is no doubt that Grady Sizemore deserves to be an All Star.  He has had a tremendous season.  Travis Hafner will have to settle for the title of best player in the majors to never have gone to the Mid Summer Classic.  It’s an unfair title for him to have.

 

JK