The Cleveland Indians bolstered their bullpen at baseball’s Winter Meetings by signing free agent closer Kerry Wood, and picking up situational right-hander Joe Smith from the Mets in a three team deal that sent OF Franklin Gutierrez to Seattle. It appears the bullpen could be set for the regular season barring injuries or another trade. Here’s how we see the make up—
Closer: Wood
Righties: Rafael Betancourt, Jensen Lewis, Smith, Masa Kobayashi
Lefties: Rafael Perez, Rich Rundles
Notice there was no mention of guys like Adam Miller, Jeff Stevens, Tony Sipp, or Jon Meloan, which means there is some depth here which could lead to the inclusion of one of the right-handers in a deal. You get the feeling that if Miller is healthy, he will head north with the big club out of Arizona.
What about the other holes that GM Mark Shapiro needs to fill? To me, the most pressing need is finding a starting pitcher. If the season started today, the #3-#5 spots in the starting rotation would be filled by Anthony Reyes, and a combination of Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, Zach Jackson, and rookie David Huff. I don’t know about you, but that scares the heck out of me.
The Tribe doesn’t need a top of the rotation starter, but they do need a solid #3 starter. Jake Westbrook will hopefully be back around the All-Star Game, but what does Eric Wedge do until then? Reyes has a lock on one spot if his elbow is sound, and I get the feeling Huff will get a good look in spring training for the #5 spot. That leaves a trio of hurlers who have showed some effectiveness for short periods of time, but largely have not got the job done.
The Tribe front office keep talking about the importance of getting an infielder, but if they had to start the season with a combination of Josh Barfield and Jamey Carroll at 2B, no one would lose any sleep. The biggest change in the infield, and the most important, is moving Jhonny Peralta to 3B and shifting Asdrubal Cabrera to short.
As the free agent market continues to sag, unless you are a top-flight free agent, there are opportunities to sign a guy like Mark Grudzielanek or Ray Durham to a one-year deal. The reason for a short deal is that everyone is high on the other player obtained in the Gutierrez transaction, Luis Valbuena. He will start the year at Columbus, but could be wearing a Tribe jersey by the end of the season.
I still think the Indians need a bat for the outfield. It seems to me the ballclub is putting all of their eggs in the Travis Hafner basket. If Hafner doesn’t comeback to be close to the player who terrorized American League pitchers from 2004-06, the offense will have a gaping hole.
Right now, leftfield is going to be manned by Ben Francisco and David Dellucci. Yikes! That’s why I would be looking at a professional hitter who can play LF. Depending on the market, you could see players like Bobby Abreu or Adam Dunn looking for one-year deals. Here’s a wild card for you: Rocco Baldelli.
Baldelli missed most of last season fighting what was diagnosed as a mitochondrial disorder, which left him fatigued. Recently, it was found the outfielder has channelopathy, which is very treatable. Where was the correct diagnosis made? The Cleveland Clinic. Perhaps, Baldelli would like to be closer to the doctors who found out what was really wrong with him
If not, again the depth in the bullpen and one of the four lefty candidates for the starting rotation (I also included Scott Lewis), could be moved to get a bat. The organization doesn’t want to block Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, or Trevor Crowe, so a player on a one-year deal would be perfect.
Mark Shapiro still has a lot of work to do, and indications are he knows it. There will be more changes to the Tribe roster in the two months before the team relocates to Arizona for 2009 Spring Training. With the White Sox looking to shed some age, and the Tigers in rebuilding mode, the Indians and Twins shape up as the chief contenders in the AL Central. That’s providing Shapiro makes the right moves.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 