There is no truth to the rumor that Eric Wedge is leaving the Indians to become Joe Torre’s bench coach with the Dodgers to join Casey Blake in Los Angeles. It was a busy weekend for the Indians’ front office, as they made a pair of deals to improve the future of the ballclub. On the field, the Tribe lost two out of three to Minnesota as they continue to struggle in divisional play. They are now 4-8 on the season against the Twins. By the way, their next seven games are against AL Central Divisional foes.
Blake was dealt on Saturday to the Dodgers with the Indians getting minor leaguers Jonathan Meloan and Carlos Santana in return. Meloan is a right-handed pitcher, who has been starting at Class AAA Las Vegas, but had a brief call up in 2007 as a reliever. He will be moved back to the bullpen at Buffalo, and with the state of the Cleveland relief corps, could be here soon. He is just 24 years old, and came into the year averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings. His strikeout pitch is a slider that he throws in the mid-80’s. He was ranked as the #8 prospect in the Dodgers farm system by Baseball America.
Santana is a converted catcher who is currently tearing up the hitter friendly California League, batting .323/.431/.563 with 14 home runs in 350 at-bats for Inland Empire. He has also walked more than he has struck out (69/59). He will go to Kinston, and may be up to Akron before the season is over. He also leads the minor leagues in RBI with 96. He’s just 22 and a switch hitter to boot. Mark Shapiro was able to extract two good prospects for Blake because he agreed to pay the balance of the third baseman’s contract in the deal.
Shapiro then took a gamble on 26-year-old right-hander Anthony Reyes, picking him up from the Cardinals for AA reliever Luis Perdomo. Reyes started Game 1 of the 2006 World Series for the Cardinals, but has battled inconsistency and some arm troubles since. He was regarded as St. Louis’ best prospect three or four years ago. He throws in the mid-90’s, but is working on a sinker that he throws in the low 90’s. He is 2-3 with a 3.25 ERA in 11 starts at Class AAA Memphis, and went 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA in 10 relief appearances with the big club.
For all of the criticism Shapiro takes, this is a situation he has done very well with. He maximizes the value of guys who will be leaving for free agency at the end of a season, if the Tribe is out of it. That may make total sense, but there are plenty of teams that don’t share that philosophy. The GM picked up two hard throwers and a switch-hitting catcher for a player who would have brought back two amateur draft picks in return and a AA reliever. If just one of these players becomes a key player for the Indians, then Shapiro made a great move.
As for the games on the field, I know the Tribe had a left on left match up in the ninth inning yesterday in a 2-2 game, but you cannot leave Justin Morneau beat you if you are playing the Twins. Especially if you are behind in the count 3-1, as Rafael Perez was in the count, you can’t let him get the key hit with first base open. On Friday, why not bring in Perez to start the ninth with Joe Mauer and Morneau being the first two hitters. Instead Wedge brings in Masa Kobayashi, because he’s the closer, and after a hit and a dinger, it’s 5-4. If you don’t have an established closer, then you play the percentages.
The manager and front office are taking a look at players for the rest of the season. However, if you have a chance to win, then try to win. Also, since the season has been scrapped, why not try some different things like letting Perez start the ninth to get two of the tougher left handed batters in the game? One more thing…let’s not have Franklin Gutierrez hitting second anymore. Oh, and another thing, if you have a tie game, you probably shouldn’t have David Dellucci in LF with Ben Francisco in CF. Lose the DH and put Grady Sizemore in CF. Francisco may have caught Casilla’s bloop to left to start the inning.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 