Although we have been critical of the Indians’ management since last year’s trading deadline, we still have to tip our cap, at least for now, to GM Mark Shapiro. After saying there wasn’t much of a market for veterans Jhonny Peralta and Austin Kearns, Shapiro found takers for both of them, with a little help to the Tigers’ injury woes.
Peralta was sent off for young left-hander Gionvanni Soto, who is 19, and has a 6-6 record with an ERA under 3.00 at the low Class A level, while Kearns was sent to the Yankees for another prospect, one that Shapiro said could play in the majors.
Really though, the reason for the deals was to give some young players an opportunity. Jayson Nix will get the first shot at third base in place of Peralta, and although we question not giving the shot to Jared Goedert, who has 24 HR and 69 RBI in 92 minor league games this season, at least the process is in place to look at others who can play the hot corner.
Eventually, Michael Brantley will be brought back to replace Kearns on the roster, playing CF while Trevor Crowe and others play LF. Hopefully, this time Brantley will not bring the loop in his swing, which causes him to hit everything in the air, a deadly thing for someone which his speed. He needs to hit the ball on a line or on the ground consistently.
And reportedly, the Indians are involved in conversations with St. Louis for Jake Westbrook. That deal would open up a starting spot for Carlos Carrasco or possibly Jeanmar Gomez, if Carrasco’s forearm injury lingers.
That’s what this team needs to do, and their model should be the San Diego Padres. The Padres have been the National League’s best team since the All Star break in 2009, and have done it largely with youth.
The Cleveland front office needs to make a commitment to going with young players. Already, they are starting to put together some building blocks, such as Shin-Soo Choo in RF, Asdrubal Cabrera at SS, Carlos Santana behind the plate, Matt La Porta at 1B, and Jason Donald at 2B. Is it a coincidence that the team started playing better after these guys started playing every day?
In the off season, new GM Chris Antonetti needs to resist the temptation to bring in marginal veterans to compete with the young guys. They need to bring in a veteran for leadership, but it has to be one that can play everyday. Signing the Jamey Wrights and Mark Grudzielaneks of the world doesn’t give the team anything, it just retards the development of the young guys.
Some of the surprise contributions on this year’s team are players like Frank Herrmann, Santana, and Donald, all of whom weren’t given a realistic chance to make the ballclub in Arizona. The Indians can give you any amount of baloney about Santana not being ready defensively and handling pitchers, but it is clear he should have been the starter on Opening Day in Chicago.
The Indians wonder why they continue to get off to slow starts every year, but we have said this before, it’s because they don’t pick the right players to make the big league team, favoring experience over youth, even though the experience is usually poor results.
Let’s find out as much about these guys as we can while this season is lost That should be the plan for the rest of 2010.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 