It’s time for the Midsummer Classic in baseball, and it’s also time to take stock of our hometown Cleveland Indians. Fausto Carmona owes Shin-Soo Choo a thank you for his injury right before the all star teams were announced, because the Tribe right fielder should have been going to Anaheim for his first appearance as an all star.
Instead, Carmona gets his first nod, and he is a good story too. After being banished all the way to the Arizona Rookie League last season because he couldn’t throw a strike, Carmona has rebounded with a winning record at 8-7, and an ERA of 3.64.
With the trade deadline coming up at the end of July, which Indians will be dealt before the end of the month?
The most marketable commodity is always pitching, so it figures that most conversation will center around Jake Westbrook and Kerry Wood, neither of whom is pitching so well that the Tribe will get a boatload of prospects.
Wood has closer experience, but really hasn’t been effective in the role since joining the Indians, so contenders will be viewing him as help as a set up man. His salary is also prohibitive, so the return from Wood will be minimal.
The biggest reason to trade the former Cub is to open up the closer spot for Chris Perez, who has just one less save this season than Wood.
Westbrook has been inconsistent as well, in his return from Tommy John surgery, and also has a high salary. However, he does eat up innings and would be a reliable fourth or fifth starter for a contender.
However, it has been said that GM Mark Shapiro doesn’t want to deal him because he can serve as a mentor to the team’s young starters. Let’s hope that’s just posturing.
Westbrook was overpaid when he signed, and if he wants to come back next season for a lot less cash (around $3-4 million would be acceptable), then re-sign him then.
The sinkerballer still has the annoying habit of giving up “response” runs consistently. That is to say, if you get him an early lead, chances are he will cough it up. Plus, dealing him would give the team a chance to give Carlos Carrasco or Josh Tomlin a long look in the rotation.
The other Indians who are candidates to be moved are 3B Jhonny Peralta and OF Austin Kearns, but neither has a lot of market value. There aren’t many contenders looking for someone to play the hot corner, and Peralta is not exactly an attractive candidate, with an OPS of just over 700 (709), and he’s not exactly Brooks Robinson defensively.
Dumping Peralta would allow the Tribe to play Jayson Nix at third when Asdrubal Cabrera comes off the disabled list, there by opening up 2B for Jason Donald. And don’t forget, Jared Goedert at Columbus, who has banged 15 HR’s in AAA, and 22 overall in the minors.
The problem with Kearns is since May 1st, he’s hitting just .239 with an OPS of under 700. Those aren’t numbers that will have contenders chomping at the bit to get the veteran outfielder. Plus, there really isn’t a ready replacement for Kearns until Choo is back from his injury.
Unless Shapiro is interested in just dumping players, there may not be as much activity in the trade market as you might think. However, getting rid of these players would be beneficial to the team for next year and beyond.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 