I would have given anything to be a fly on the wall during today’s conference call involving the coaching staff and the front office of the Cleveland Indians. The first news to come out of the meeting was the demotion of Joe Borowski from the closer’s role, and apparently the rest of the bullpen’s problems are the fault of Rick Bauer, who will be designated for assignment after pitching three times since being promoted, each time with at least a week’s rest.
There is no truth to the rumor that David Dellucci was spotted near the meeting room with an ear to a glass on the wall, trying to listen in.
The guess here is GM Mark Shapiro is seeing if there is any interest in the struggling Borowski so he doesn’t have to designate him for assignment. Shapiro likes to handle these types of things in the most humane way, so as not to embarass a veteran who has shown nothing but class in his time in an Indians uniform. The GM is probably willing to deal him somewhere for a player to be named later. If Borowski isn’t capable of closing, it’s hard to see where he fits in the Cleveland bullpen.
Bauer removal from the roster (I’m sure he thanks his skipper for the opportunity) should result in the recall of either Jeff Stevens, Jensen Lewis or Brian Slocum from Buffalo. Hopefully, either pitcher will be used better and more frequently than Bauer. If it’s Lewis, he will because Wedge likes him. Stevens or Slocum will have to earn Wedge’s trust, which is difficult to do if you don’t pitch for seven days.
Here’s hoping that someone asked the staff about some of the horrible at-bats seen in the Chicago series. Last night, Ben Francisco came up with a man on third and no one out, had a 3-0 count, swung at the 3-0 pitch and grounded to third, therefore not advancing the runner. You cannot swing at a 3-0 pitch unless you are going to drive it. Tuesday night, Franklin Gutierrez struck out swinging without coming near the ball.
Tom Hamilton pointed out on Sunday that pitchers who throw curve balls and change ups give the Indians a lot of trouble. Why isn’t Derek Shelton addressing this with the hitters. I understand he is working with young hitters, but there doesn’t seem to be any progress made with these guys. As for the Francisco situation mentioned earlier, why isn’t there a take sign given. You can trust guys like Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez in that spot, but not a guy who has around 300 big league at-bats.
Another situation that should be addressed is moving the AL home run leader out of the leadoff spot. Sure, Grady Sizemore is comfortable leading off, but don’t you want someone with a slugging percentage over .500 batting with men on base? And for those who say the Indians don’t get guys on, need I remind you that last night Dellucci made two outs with the bases loaded, and Saturday night, Ryan Garko left a small village on base. Against right-handers, put Shin Soo Choo in the #1 slot, and against southpaws, Jamey Carroll could hit there. The time to bat Sizemore in the #3 spot is now.
More details of the meeting will be revealed soon, but this meeting should have held a couple of weeks ago. This team has needed a breath of fresh air since the Kansas City series in early June.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 