This Ain't New York…

Since the Indians traded Jake Westbrook last weekend, several sports talk hosts have complained about the Tribe dealing their opening day starter for the third year in a row. Although the front office should be open for criticism based on the team’s record the last three seasons, this one is unfair.

First, Westbrook started the first game in the absence of any better option. Remember, he missed most of the last two seasons with elbow surgery. And as the season went on, it’s become evident that Fausto Carmona is the current staff ace.

The critics point out that if the Indians could have kept both C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, and Westbrook, they would be contenders this season, and for years to come. That’s pretty unrealistic thinking.

Westbrook inked a deal paying him over $10 million per year in 2007. While the merits of that decision has been talked about here (we felt he was overpaid at the time-look it up in the archives), it is doubtful the Tribe could have kept all three hurlers because of the market.

This is not to cry small market as the Dolan family likes to do, however, there is a limit to the payroll any owner can sustain in this market, and I would guess it would be tough for the Tribe to carry $120 million in salaries. That’s probably what would have to happen to keep the two Cy Young Award winners and still have a competitive teams.

The Indians could have done things differently back in the day, but once again, the lack of ability to evaluate talent got in the way. Following the 2006 season, the Indians knew they had three players eligible for free agency following the ’08 season: Sabathia, Westbrook, and Travis Hafner. It should have been easy to say the best player and #1 target of those three was Sabathia.

Westbrook is a solid starter and Hafner, although he had a monster year in 2006, is a DH, which eliminates interest from 16 major league teams.

That means the Tribe should have targeted the big lefthander for a long term deal. Remember, this is before he started his tremendous 2007 campaign. In fact, he was 12-11 with a 3.22 ERA in 28 starts in ’06. Certainly, he would have commanded a big deal, but no where near the $20 million per year he is getting now.

Once, Sabathia won 19 games and the Cy Young in 2007, he was out of the team’s price range.

For all of the credit the Minnesota Twins get for running their franchise in a smaller market, they have bit the bullet on some players and let them go. They dealt Johan Santana because they didn’t feel his price range was in their ballpark, and they let Torii Hunter walk away as well.

However, they kept the two best players in Justin Morneau and hometown boy Joe Mauer.

Would the Tribe future look different if Sabathia was still here for a couple more years and Lee and Victor Martinez were still here, while Westbrook and Hafner were gone? Of course, it would. However, that’s what happens when you make the correct personnel decisions.

Instead, the ownership wanted show they could spend money so they signed the two guys they could sign, not the one they should have signed.

Still, in this market, there is a limit to what the franchise can spend. To be able to win, they need the skill and talent judgment to keep the players that are stars, and not to overpay the ones who aren’t.

A CSP Potpourri

Every once in a while there are a bunch of things on my mind, and they’ll be addressed in today’s blog. Once again, it’s a Cleveland Sports Perspective potpourri.

· David Huff lost his tenth game Tuesday night in Boston, joining Justin Masterson in that category this season. In games when those two pitchers get the decision, the Indians are 5-20. In all other games, the Tribe is 40-42, a pretty respectable record.

Obviously, it’s not only the starter’s fault when a team loses, but the Indians have a 50-50 shot of winning when someone else is involved in the decision.

· Speaking of Masterson, isn’t it time the Tribe tries him as a set up man out of the bullpen? He throws hard and is very tough on right-handed hitters. Besides, it would open up another spot in the starting rotation.

· Why do people get so fired up about a player’s performance in practice? Already, there is some hand wringing over how Browns’ QB Jake Delhomme in training camp. Who cares? The guy has shown he’s a competent NFL signal caller.

Derek Anderson was an all-training camp performer. Look how well that worked out.

· Why did WKNR ruin their afternoon drive time show? Michael Reghi is a pro and knows his stuff, regardless of the sport. Now he’s teamed up with a wanna be impressionist who only wants to talk about Ohio State football and basketball.

· Stop all the talk of demonstrations when the Miami Heat makes their first appearance in Cleveland this season on December 2^nd. There is no way fans can agree about any action, so it’s a complete waste of time. Miami is going to bring their “A” game that night in order to make sure they win in LeBron James’ return.

· Who is going to play center for the Cavaliers this season? They could start Anderson Varajao, but he would have a problem guarding the Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynums of the league. Plus, it is thought that Byron Scott would like to bring him off the bench.

· The Indians’ Shin-Soo Choo is one of baseball’s most underrated players. He’s a lifetime .295 hitter with a career 874 OPS. He has cut down on his strikeouts from a year ago, and has one of the game’s best throwing arms in RF.

He also has a higher slugging percentage this season than Alex Rodriguez. Also, add in his good base running instincts and you have one of baseball’s best players. Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Carlos Santana should be the cornerstones of the Indians for the next few years.

· Could it be that the Browns downgrading of first round pick Joe Haden was a negotiating ploy? All of the negativity about his speed before he even took the field could have been a way of getting him signed and into camp.

· Keep reading that the Cavs have some interest in Shannon Brown, and if he returns, it would rectify a mistake made by former coach Mike Brown, who didn’t seem interested in developing him as a rookie. There could have been work ethic reasons involved, but Brown certainly has the athleticism that would work in Scott’s running game.

· Who would win in a strikeout contest: Russell Branyan or Chris Gimenez?

· Has anyone heard from Dan Gilbert lately?

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No More Dealing at the Deadline After This

It turns out that the Cleveland Indians unloaded all of their veteran players at the trading deadline, outside of Travis Hafner, whose contract, bad shoulder, and lack of a defensive spot make his large contract untradable.

The team is taking heat for some people in the local media, but in this case, that criticism is unfounded. The Tribe front office did the correct thing, because they need to look at young players.

Outside of Jake Westbrook, who is still an average starting pitcher, what did the Indians give up in the past week? No one wanted Jhonny Peralta and his .250 batting average and seemingly indifferent attitude in Cleveland any more.

Austin Kearns did a good job while he was here, but after an excellent April, he has put together very pedestrian numbers over the last three months. Kerry Wood was injured a lot of the time he was here, and couldn’t find the plate consistently when he was available.

Westbrook was overpaid when he signed his latest deal before blowing out his elbow in early 2008, and although he took his turn every time this season, you know exactly what he is, a #3 or #4 starter on a contender, which is what he will be in St. Louis.

Please, don’t equate his departure with those of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee. Westbrook is a class act, but as a pitcher, he’s not anywhere near those two guys.

Still, there are more moves to be made by the front office to get ready for 2011.

They have to find a third baseman to bridge the gap until Lonnie Chisenhall is ready. That’s why Jared Goedert should be called up right away, because if he can do the job, that’s another spot for next year that is filled. The early returns on Jayson Nix playing there do not look good, as Nix is another all of nothing hitter, and has struggled defensively at the hot corner.

Another guy on the current roster we’ve seen enough of is Chris Gimenez, although he has done a good job with Josh Tomlin in his two starts. Gimenez simply can’t hit at the big league level, having fanned 10 times in 17 at bats this year, after batting just .144 in over 100 at bats last season.

Yes, he’s versatile, and we know the team doesn’t want to call up Lou Marson to sit behind Carlos Santana, but why not bring back Wyatt Toregas to take another look at him.

On the pitching side, the Indians need to get another look at both David Huff and Carlos Carrasco. Huff won 10 games a year ago, but struggled early this year. Carrasco got hammered in a September call up a year ago, but has pitched over 300 innings at the AAA level. He needs to show what he can do in the majors, but he has been sidelined recently with some soreness in his right forearm.

They need to know what people should be in their plans heading into 2011, because the young talent is coming soon. Notice that Columbus is 20 games over .500 in the International League, and there are really no minor league veterans contributing on a nightly basis.

There may be some players around 25, who would be with the big club in other organizations, but there is no former big leaguers looking for another shot.

While we can argue about bringing those guys up sooner, you should be optimistic about the Tribe being competitive in their division, a weak one, as early as next season. They didn’t give up anything of consequence at the trading deadline, but another year of making these types of moves will not be tolerated.