On Sunday night, June 14th, Cliff Lee took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Since that 3-0 victory, the Cleveland Indians have lost 13 out of 15 games. Obviously, the season has gone south since then, and right now nothing is going right for this team. Here are some comments about this ballclub—
· One of the things that is said to support manager Eric Wedge is that his team never quits. Watching this team since the Mark DeRosa deal on Saturday night, that can no longer be used as an argument. The Indians have gone through the motions since the deal was made.
· Did anyone else find the note left by DeRosa to Ryan Garko interesting? He told Garko to “keep grinding”. Was this a jab at Wedge and his mantra? And if so, does it mean that the veterans on this team finding the managers’ clichés tired and played out?
· GM Mark Shapiro apparently doesn’t like comparisons to the Tribe teams of the 90’s. Too bad! Do you think the Yankees’ Brian Cashman likes hearing about not winning a World Series since 2000? Shapiro has it easy here from both the fans and the media. He needs to quit making excuses and take action to put together a contending team.
· That said, it is ludicrous to say the GM is living off the Bartolo Colon trade. Doesn’t anyone remember he traded for Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo? I also think Luis Valbuena will be a good player down the road.
· Is Wedge incapable of changing an opinion about a player? Let’s use Josh Barfield as an example. Barfield was given the 2B job in 2007, and couldn’t hold it, forcing the call up of Asdrubal Cabrera. It seems Barfield will never be given an opportunity again from the current manager. It’s the same with Rafael Perez. He was the lights out southpaw out of the bullpen for the past two years, and he continues to be put into tight situations despite his struggles this year.
· It’s crazy that the reliever with the second most appearances on the team (R. Perez) has an ERA of over 9.00 for the season.
· Do we really need to see more of Ben Francisco and Kelly Shoppach? I understand Shoppach catches Cliff Lee, but why doesn’t Victor Martinez catch the rest of the time? As for Francisco, if you’re not Andy Sonnanstine, he can’t hit you.
· Chris Gimenez had two hits on Monday playing LF, and didn’t play on Tuesday against a southpaw. Why?
· Don’t look now, but this team is on pace to lose 100 games! Even the biggest critic of the Indians’ management would not have figured that.
· The Tribe’s handling of their prospects should also be questioned. With Columbus pitching Kirk Saarloos, Jack Cassel, and Ken Ray on a regular basis, can anyone explain why Hector Rondon is still at Akron? Or why Lonnie Chisenhall is still at Akron? Or why Nick Weglarz is still at Akron. Rondon pitched well in spring training, and he should be at Class AAA by now with all the pitching problems this organization has had.
All in all, this has developed into a huge mess. Sure, it’s not all Eric Wedge’s fault, but I believe his handling of the bullpen contributes to the poor performance. Still, how can the Dolans expect the fans of this team to watch another 80 games or so with the team playing like it has over the past three weeks.
Tribe fans deserve better. Whether or not they get it is up to management.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 