The Cleveland Browns lost their first exhibition game of the year last night, and the reaction here is the same as their win last week against Green Bay.  Ho-hum.

The Browns took on the Lions with conservatively eight starters out of the lineup, including Peyton Hillis, Ben Watson, Eric Steinbach, T.J. Ward, and Scott Fujita and still they outplayed Detroit in the first half, leading 21-13 at the intermission.

To be fair, Detroit was missing WR Calvin Johnson and OT Jeff Backus.

Without a real running game, as both Hillis and Montario Hardesty did not play, Colt McCoy didn’t look as impressive as he did in the lidlifter vs. the Packers.  However, he still wound up throwing three TD passes, two to TE Evan Moore, in hitting 10 of 18 throws for 96 yards in the win.

And when the orange and brown got in the red zone, they scored touchdowns, another by-product of the west coast offense. 

It is refreshing to watch a legitimate professional offensive scheme after looking at two years of ultra-conservative stone age football.  Remember last year’s loss to Jacksonville when the Jags turned it over six times, and the Browns ran the ball after each one?  That won’t happen with Pat Shurmur handling the attack.

Besides the TD catches by Moore, another player under utilized last season, rookie WR Greg Little scored on a 13 yard pass from McCoy, and made another nice catch along the sideline.

Unfortunately, after the scoring reception, Little punted the ball in the seats, which drew a rebuke from the head coach, telling the rookie not to do that again.

McCoy was under a lot of pressure from the Lions’ front seven, but stood in and moved the football.  He never seemed to force the ball, and set up the second TD drive with a long pass to Josh Cribbs that was an obvious pass interference call.  Without the penalty, it would have been a 30-yard TD throw.

The defense played better as well.  Rookie DT Phil Taylor and Ahtyba Rubin clogged up the middle, giving the Lions no running room there.  Another rookie Jabaal Sheard forced a fumble, and then recovered it, setting up the first Cleveland score.

And MLB D’Qwell Jackson looked good as well, making a couple of stops in the backfield, which as analyst Bernie Kosar pointed out, is a criticism of the veteran, that he makes a lot of tackles, but they are all four or five yards past the line of scrimmage.

Dick Jauron’s unit also put some pressure on Matthew Stafford, forcing him out of the pocket three straight plays on one drive, making him throw the ball out-of-bounds. 

CB Joe Haden struggled a little bit, allowing two long passes, but after his very good rookie year in 2010, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Remember, the defense was missing three starters too, including two linebackers in Fujita and Chris Gocong.  And they still did a good job.

You have to be a little impressed that there is progress with this football team.  It appears three rookies will start this season, just like a year ago, as Taylor, Sheard, and FB Owen Marecic will be in there on the first snaps of the regular season.

That’s after three rookies (Haden, Ward, and McCoy) started last year.  And don’t forget G Shaun Lauvao, who will start in his second year.

That’s seven starters from GM Tom Heckert’s first two drafts.  That’s exciting after years of young players coming in and not being able to contribute.

The next step for the front office will be to build depth.  That’s why the current front office makes it a point to accumulate draft picks. 

Detroit writers commented after the game that the Cleveland Browns are building. 

Maybe that’s the best thing to be taken away from last night’s game.

JD

There are 44 games remaining in the regular season for the Cleveland Indians, and they are still just 3 games out of first place, and just one game out in the loss column.

There are several reasons they are in this position, most notably an MVP type season from Asdrubal Cabrera, who is hitting .289 with 20 HR and 72 RBI’s and is playing a gold glove shortstop. 

Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin are other huge reasons for the Tribe’s success as they keep the team in a position to win virtually every time they take the mound as a starter. 

Don’t forget the bullpen.  Guys like Vinnie Pestano, Rafael Perez, and Joe Smith have been outstanding most of the season, teaming with Chris Perez and Tony Sipp to insure a victory most nights that the Indians go into the 7th inning with a lead.

And you can’t ignore the division the Indians are in as well.  Toronto is two games over .500, the same as Cleveland, and they are buried in the AL East. 

However, if the Tribe is to stay in the race and perhaps overtake Detroit and hold off Chicago in the AL Central, they will need contributions from some other players on the club.

First, Manny Acta needs his DH, Travis Hafner to pick it up at the plate.  No one can expect Pronk to hit .340 for the season, as he was when he hit his game-winning grand slam against Toronto on July 7th. 

However, Hafner is hitting just .240 with 3 homers and a 695 OPS since the all-star break.  If the Tribe is going to start scoring runs, particular against teams like Oakland and Chicago that have good pitching, they need a productive Pronk.

Shin-Soo Choo is just coming off a broken thumb, but it would be nice if he started hitting like the guy who hit .300 with 20 HR in both 2009 and 2010.  Right now, the left-handed hitter is batting .240 with 5 dingers.

Also, both of the players picked up in deadline trades need to perform better than they have to this point.

Kosuke Fukudome came to the Indians with an ability to get on base (.374 with the Cubs this year), but so far it hasn’t translated to the American League. 

In 16 games with the Tribe, he has a .268 on base percentage and an OPS of 581.  Granted, it’s a small sample, but the Cleveland attack needs the former Cub to start producing offensively.

Ubaldo Jimenez provided an outstanding start in his debut at Progressive Field, throwing eight strong innings against the Tigers after a 14 inning game the night before had extended the bullpen.

In his other two outings against Texas and Chicago, he has struggled with his command, and pitched just 5 and 4-2/3 innings respectively.

The Indians need him to team with Masterson to provide a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation going forward.  He’s kept the team in the game in both of those outings, but more is expected from a hurler who finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting last year, winning 19 games.

Not to mention costing Cleveland their top two pitching prospects.

It’s ridiculous to hope that a youngster like Jason Kipnis or Lonnie Chisenhall can step up and be a big factor in winning a division title. 

The guys mentioned here are proven big leaguers, and currently aren’t producing like they have in the past. 

If they can get it going, it may just be enough to put the Cleveland Indians back in the post-season for the first time since 2007.

MW

When the Indians activated David Huff to start in Sunday’s rained out game against Minnesota, they sent Shelley Duncan back to Columbus.

This move raised some eyebrows because at this point in the season, Duncan and Matt LaPorta are the only right-handed hitters with any pop on the 25 man roster.

With a series in Chicago coming up, it’s a little odd to remove a hitter who bats from the right side with Mark Buehrle starting one of the games, and two hard throwing lefties in the bullpen in Matt Thornton and Chris Sale.

There is no question Manny Acta will face a situation in at least one of those games in the Windy City where he needs a right-handed pinch hitter.  Does he go to Lou Marson?

The Indians said they are going to make a decision on whether or not to put Michael Brantley and his sore wrist on the disabled list prior to the series against the White Sox.  If they do, they can bring Duncan back up right away due to the injury.

Normally, a player has to spend ten days in the minors after being optioned out. 

Maybe that’s the game plan all along. 

However, if Brantley is ready to play against Chicago, the bench will consist of Marson, Jack Hannahan, Ezequiel Carrera, and Jason Donald.  Marson and Donald hit right-handed, but neither is the type of player you want to have up there with the game on the line.

So, you have to think that some kind of roster move is coming.

Keep in mind, designating Austin Kearns for assignment also leaves an opening on the 40 man roster, possibly for Jerad Head, currently at Columbus, or perhaps for a waiver wire trade to pick up a right-handed bat.

If a move isn’t coming, or Duncan isn’t brought back up because of Brantley’s injury, the Indians are leaving themselves very vulnerable to southpaws in a critical point of the season.

Now, some of the Indians left-handed hitters wouldn’t be pinch hit for no matter who is on the mound.  We’re talking about guys like Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Kosuke Fukudome, or Brantley. 

However, what happens when Lonnie Chisenhall comes up in a tight spot against Thornton?  You have to give Acta an option in that situation.

So don’t be surprised if there are a couple of roster moves made prior to the six game trip to Chicago and Detroit.

Also, with Sunday’s rainout, Tuesday’s game will start a stretch of 45 games in 44 days for the Indians, taking them through the end of the season.

It means pitching depth will be needed, and thankfully, Cleveland has some.

The Tribe will have to start guys like Huff, Carlos Carrasco (when healthy), and perhaps even Jeanmar Gomez or Zack McAllister in key games going down the stretch. 

Thankfully, all of those guys have shown the ability to at least keep their team in a game this season. 

The Indians also have some bullpen depth for all of those September games too, as they will probably add Josh Judy, Nick Hagadone, and maybe even Zach Putnam or C.C. Lee to the roster after the September 1st date when rosters can expand.

That’s why organizations stress getting arms.  You never know when you will need them in key spots.

MW

Every year, people who are not Cleveland Brown zealots have to go through the same thing during the NFL’s exhibition games (sorry, Roger Goodell, we’re not calling them pre-season games).  The games do not mean anything, so it’s crazy to get excited by a victory, and equally silly to get depressed by a loss.

One reason for this is you never know how the opposition is going to treat the games.  For example, last night, Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers didn’t show any blitzes or exotic looks.  He played it vanilla, and the Browns’ first team offense looked good against the Pack.

Still, there were some good signs for Pat Shurmur’s crew.

First, they won the games, which is always better than losing.  Second, they weren’t dominated by the Packers as they were two years ago in exhibition play.  You don’t want to watch your team getting out played from a physical standpoint in the first practice game.  That’s disheartening.

Many so-called experts have spent the summer criticizing QB Colt McCoy, but the one things you can say about him is he is extremely accurate, and last night was no exception. 

McCoy hit on 9 of 10 passes in the first quarter (yes, he also played the first two minutes of the 2nd quarter) for 135 yards and a touchdown throw of 27 yards to Joshua Cribbs.  No, McCoy doesn’t have a big arm.  But, it says here that accuracy, toughness, and ability to read defenses are more important attributes for a pro quarterback than a big arm.

We can all name guys who could throw the ball 60 yards in the air, and didn’t become great QB’s.  In fact, one of them was a starter here just four years ago in Derek Anderson.  Once teams took away the deep ball, he ceased being an effective NFL player.

Another good early sign is that maybe, just maybe Shurmur’s version of the west coast offense knows what to do with Josh Cribbs playing wide receiver.  Other regimes have struggled to use Cribbs as a receiver, but last night, McCoy hit the elite return man on a crossing route (yes, this might be a part of the offense!) for a first down. 

Getting Cribbs the ball in space always seemed like a good idea, but other offensive schemes just lined him up in the wildcat formation and ran sweeps.  It will be interesting to see if Shurmur uses him in sort of  a Wes Welker type of role, getting him the ball in space on third down situations.

That might be the former Kent State star’s only impact with the ball this year, because the NFL’s new kickoff rule had every ball kicked seven to ten yards deep in the end zone.  Please rule makers, change that one back please.

It was difficult to see any impact from first round pick Phil Taylor because Green Bay didn’t really run the ball in the first quarter.  And although it was against the second teamers, LB Marcus Benard continued to show he can put pressure on the passer with a sack of Packers’ QB Matt Flynn.

Friday night is the next dress rehearsal for the Browns, with the starters probably staying on the field for the entire first half.  Then, you can look at the halftime score and get a sort of realistic measurement of the team.  However, watch the games more on individual assessments than the score.  That will tell you who is progressing, and who will be looking for employment come early September.

JD

The Cleveland Indians came into a three game series against the division leading Detroit Tigers playing better, but still on a bit of a down note because of what could have been.

The seven game trip to Boston and Texas resulted in a 3-4 record, which isn’t bad, but it was a tad disappointing because you could make a good case that the Tribe could have won all seven games.  They were tied or lead going into the ninth inning of every game except one, and they actually won that game on Saturday against the Rangers.

However, despite the close losses, the Indians looks like they may have found their mojo on the road. 

They took two out of three against the Tigers, cutting the division lead to just three games.  Remember, the two teams do battle nine more times this season, but only three of those games are in the friendly confines of Progressive Field. 

They won the series and looked crisp doing it.  Yes, they made some errors (Carlos Santana’s difficulty catching throw at first is a little troubling), but they put together some good at bats and played some solid defense.  And the bullpen rebounded from a tough trip to throw 12 scoreless innings in the rain-soaked first game of the series, which was key.

When the Indians were playing well early in the season, they were successful quite often in winning the first game of a lot of three game sets.  That puts the opposition in the position of winning both of the remaining games to win the series.  Getting game one takes a lot of pressure off of the ballclub.

The bullpen was the main factor in doing that Tuesday night with the much maligned (at least here) Chad Durbin throwing three scoreless innings when play resumed.

Cleveland also got their first look at Ubaldo Jimenez, who needed to go deep into the game to save the relief corps in the middle game of the series, and did just that, allowing no earned runs (due to a scoring change) in eight solid innings. 

And when the Indians increased their 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth, Jimenez did what an ace should do, he completely shut the door on the Tigers.

Even in the loss to the AL’s best pitcher tonight in Justin Verlander, the Tribe went down 4-0, but fought back and got back into the game and made Verlander earn his 17th win.  Any thoughts of a possible no hitter went out the window when Carlos Santana deposited a Verlander heater into the right centerfield seats.

Now, the Indians must have that same intensity against a Minnesota team that is all but out of the race this weekend.  They have the guy who’s been their best pitcher all season long tomorrow night in Justin Masterson, so hopefully they can get the series off to a good start. 

They also may have some good news when they go back on the road as Shin-Soo Choo may be able to rejoin the team.  If he can come even close to being the player who wore #17 in 2008-10, the lineup will get a much-needed boost.

He also lends some experience to the team.  Remember, Manny Acta is playing three rookies (Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Ezequiel Carrera) on an everyday basis, and Carlos Santana is in his first full year in the big leagues as well. 

The guess here is that when Choo is back, Acta will play Michael Brantley in CF, with Kosuke Fukudome moving to LF. 

It was a good beginning, but there can be no let ups now.  With 47 games left in the season, the Cleveland Indians are still very much in the race.

KM

It begins tonight!

The Detroit Tigers, leaders of the AL Central Division, are in Cleveland to open a three game series.  This is the first of twelve games between the two teams from now until the end of the campaign, which totals 50 games.

In fact, 39 of those games will be played against teams from the division, so the Indians’ fate is definitely in their hands.

And as we have written before, it will be interesting to see Manny Acta at the helm of a team in contention for the first time.

The Tribe made some roster moves going into last weekend, when Jack Hannahan went on paternity leave for the weekend, and Shelly Duncan was brought back to play in the three game set against Texas. 

Duncan immediately contributed, hitting a home run Friday, and knocking in the team’s first run in Saturday’s game.  He will stay for the Tiger series, as Cleveland put RHP Carlos Carrasco on the disabled list with a sore elbow.

However, another move will need to be made on Saturday before the game against Minnesota, when the Indians need a fifth starter.  More than likely, David Huff will be called up to make that start, so someone else will have to go.

By that time, OF Shin-Soo Choo may also be ready to be activated as well.

The point here is that right now, with the season on the line, Acta needs a 25 man roster that he has confidence in.  And that means every player.

For instance, in the bullpen, it is clear that the skipper has no desire to see Chad Durbin and Frank Herrmann pitching with a lead.  Durbin actually got in Friday’s game after Ubaldo Jimenez left, but that was because the relief corps was worn out in Boston and he had no choice. 

In fact, Jimenez probably should have been lifted after five innings, but Acta tried to squeeze an extra frame out of him because he didn’t want to have to use Durbin.

Herrmann got the win on Saturday, but only because he entered with the Indians losing, and they rallied in the ninth.

So, perhaps it is time to bring back RH Josh Judy and maybe even southpaw Nick Hagadone to replace them.  Yes, both pitchers have little big league experience, but it’s not as though the team is using the guys they would replace.  Besides, an extra lefty out of the ‘pen would allow Acta more matchup opportunities.

As for the position players, Hannahan might be the guy to go when Huff is brought up this weekend.  The choice would be between Duncan, Austin Kearns, and the veteran infielder.  With Jason Donald having the utility role and being a right-handed bat, it’s hard to see where Hannahan can get at bats. 

It would seem that Duncan’s power and his ability to be a good pinch-hitter would be useful coming down the stretch, particularly with the predominantly left-handed hitting lineup Cleveland regularly starts. 

Kearns would provide a good defensive option in the outfield, unless the Tribe decides to bring up OF Jerad Head, who is hitting .290 with 21 HR and 63 RBI (882 OPS).  Head is not considered a prospect, but he has been red-hot at Columbus, and the Indians may be looking to catch lightning in a bottle.

With 50 games remaining, if the Tribe is to catch and pass Detroit, and stay ahead of the White Sox (just a game behind Cleveland), they need the strongest roster possible.  It’s no time to be sentimental.

MW

The 2011 baseball season which started with all sorts of good feelings for the Cleveland Indians, is reaching a critical point. 

Going into tonight’s game against Texas, the Tribe has fallen back to four games behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division, which they once led by seven games way back in the month of May.

After the two games against the Rangers, the Indians come home for a six game homestand which starts against the Tigers, the first of twelve times the two teams will play against each other through the end of the season. 

It would be a good time for Cleveland to start playing well, if indeed they can recapture some of the magic that fueled the 30-15 start. 

In actuality, they have played pretty well on this current trip, beating Boston twice, and losing the other three games on the sojourn on their opponents last at bat.  They could just as easily be 5-0 on the road.

However, the bullpen, which has been considered the strength of the team is showing signs of cracking, perhaps from overuse. 

In Boston, only Carlos Carrasco could get through seven innings as a starter, with the other three pitchers going no more than six (Tomlin, Huff, and Masterson).  That puts a toll on the relievers, particularly with Manny Acta being hesitant to use two hurlers out of the bullpen, Chad Durbin and Frank Herrmann.

Add to that, the current struggles of closer Chris Perez, who has blown his last two save opportunities, including last night after getting the first two outs with a 7-5 lead (Note:  Michael Young’s homer would only have gone out in the Texas wind tunnel).  On the other hand, Perez has only had three save opportunities since the All Star break.

The offense has perked up on the road trip after struggling mightily on last week’s home stand. 

The story of this ballclub is if one of the team’s three constant hitters (Asdrubal Cabrera, Travis Hafner, and Michael Brantley) is slumping, the entire offense struggles.  No one else has emerged on a consistent basis.

As of late, Carlos Santana is starting to pick it up, and is now second on the team in homers and RBI’s, although his batting average continues to hover around the .230 mark. 

And as Boston showed, the Tribe’s left-handed dominant lineup is susceptible to southpaw relievers.  There is no right-handed hitting option to counter the situational lefties, as Austin Kearns and his .204 batting average is still on the roster.

After tomorrow night’s series finale against the Rangers, the Indians only have three games remaining against the AL’s three best teams (New York, Boston, Texas).  Most of the schedule consists of AL Central foes, with five games against Seattle and four more against Oakland, all at home, mixed in.

Unfortunately, the Tigers are also done with those teams as well, although they do have one more west coast trip remaining, a four game trip to Oakland in September.

It comes down to this.  There are 52 games left on the schedule for the Cleveland Indians.  If they want to make the American League playoffs by winning the Central Division, they do not need help.  They have plenty of games remaining against their main competitors. 

If they play well, they can win.  But it will take a total team effort:  hitting, pitching, and defense.  There can be no breakdowns.

MW

Over the past few years, there has been one constant on the Cleveland Indians offense, the strikeout. 

The players come and go, but the problem remains.  The Tribe hitters are prone to swinging and missing.

This year, the Indians currently lead the American League in fanning.  Last year, they finished second, and the year prior (2009), they ranked third in the league.

It would be one thing if Cleveland was a big power hitting team, belting 180-200 home runs per year, but they aren’t. 

They rank in the middle of the pack to the bottom in the AL in the power stats. 

This year, they rank 10th in home runs and 8th in slugging percentage.  In 2010, they were 11th in round trippers and 12th in slugging, and in 2009, the Tribe was 11th in circuit clouts, and 9th in slugging.

Strikeouts usually represent an all or nothing approach, but with the Indians, they are missing the “all” part. 

Therefore, what you have is a team that needs to do little things like moving runners, hitting behind runners, and having the ability to score runs with outs (ground balls, sacrifice flies, etc.), but they can’t because they don’t make consistent contact.

There are many baseball people who don’t mind strikeouts, and obviously the Indians have some of them in their organization. 

The thought process behind that is that it’s just another out, the same as a fly ball or pop up.  That’s true, except in situations when there are runners on base.

That’s when you need hitters to make contact and put the ball in play.  Like after a leadoff double, you need to hit a grounder to the right side to move him to third.

Understand, hitting a baseball is a difficult thing to do, so it’s not as easy as it looks.  Also, pitchers are trying to prevent hitters from doing what they want to do.

Teams can also overlook players who accompany the strikeouts with an equal, or close to equal amount of walks (Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner).  You can afford to whiff 100 times a season if you walk 80 times. 

And of course, if you hit the long ball, your strikeouts are excused, such as Asdrubal Cabrera, who has fanned 81 times, but has 19 dingers.

With that in mind, here are the guys who should be cutting down on the whiffs based on the other parts of their offensive game:

Matt La Porta  (.415 slugging percentage):  62 K’s in 292 at bats, Jack Hannahan (.333):  60 K’s in 277 at bats, Shin-Soo Choo (.353):  65 K’s in 266 at bats, Austin Kearns (.307):  43 K’s in 140 at bats, and Lou Marson (.331):  34 K’s in 133 at bats.

Also disturbing are the strikeout rates by the two hot prospects currently on the roster.  Jason Kipnis has struck out 12 times in 31 at bats, and Lonnie Chisenhall has fanned 23 times in 76 times at the plate.

The strikeout frequency is the main reason the Cleveland offense struggles so much.  Manny Acta cannot send runners as often as he would like because of the lack of contact from his hitters.

When Jon Nunnally was removed by the Indians as hitting coach, Acta said one of the reasons was the strikeouts were starting to pile up. 

The situation hasn’t improved under Bruce Fields.

Also, when the Tribe was 30-15, and the offense was much more efficient, Cleveland ranked in the middle of the pack in striking out. 

Certainly, if GM Chris Antonetti wants to improve the hitting for 2012, an eye should be kept on players who make contact. 

Doing that alone might allow next season’s team to score more runs.

KM

Many fans of the Cleveland Browns are upset because the team wasn’t involved in the feeding frenzy that the free agent market became after the lockout was lifted.

These people want president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert to start throwing obscene amounts of money to fill the holes that exist on the roster. 

Most of this money would be given to people whose old teams no longer wanted them.

It’s instant gratification for supporters of the team, and it looks to everyone like the Browns are trying to win football games right now, but it’s not the right way to go.

For an example, look at Cleveland’s bitter rivals to the east, the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

The Steelers don’t use the free agent market very often, and if they do, it’s for a piece to fill in for a year or two.  They don’t use the system to buy cornerstones.  That’s what the draft is for.

That opinion is shared by many other teams around the NFL, including the Browns. 

That is not to say another 5-11 record is acceptable here.  In fact, Pat Shurmur’s squad better come up with a 7-9 or 8-8 record this season, barring some catastrophic injuries. 

No one wants to hear any more talk about rebuilding processes or starting over.  It’s time to start winning.

But the path to winning is through the draft, not free agency.

Last year, Heckert drafted three players who started last season (Haden, Ward, McCoy) and three others who will play significant roles on the 2011 squad (RB Montario Hardesty, G Shawn Lauvao, and WR Carlton Mitchell).

An excellent draft without a doubt, at least for right now.

This year, you can project first round pick DT Phil Taylor as a starter, and it would not be a surprise to see second rounder DE Jabaal Sheard getting considerable time as well. 

Also, FB Owen Marecic will probably be starting fullback somewhere down the road, and it looks as though WR Greg Little will get on the field quite a bit as well.

The point is this, the draft lays the foundation for a good organization, and at this point in the Browns’ development, using the free agent market to get role players is the right move.

The signings of probable free safety Usama Young (26 years old) and RB Brandon Jackson (27) are good moves.  Both players will help the team, and Heckert isn’t breaking the bank to get them here.

When the Browns are at the point where they are on the verge of the playoffs, that’s the time to go out and get a high-profile, impact type of free agent.

Besides, paying bloated salaries to players who don’t deserve them cuts down on the amount of depth teams have. 

Instead, Heckert has used the stockpile of draft choices he has accumulated during his tenure to get some depth for the roster.  Trades like the one for OL John Greco do exactly that, and both are in areas where Cleveland needs it.

So calm down, Browns fans.  The guys in charge are building the football team the correct way, through the draft. 

Look at Washington Redskins, they are always signing one of the big time free agents, and look at the state of their franchise.

You build the foundation first and then add on the bells and whistles.  That’s what the Browns are doing.

Relax people.

JD

Whether or not you like the Indians trade of four prospects to the Colorado Rockies for right-handed starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, you have to admit this was a bold move by Tribe GM Chris Antonetti.

However, giving up four prospects, including the top two pitching prospects in the organization, is the type of deal that could come back to burn this organization in the next few years, but it does fit in with the new Dolan philosophy.

Last year, the ownership told the fans that the best we could hope for in Cleveland was to contend every few years.  With several of the Indians better players’ contracts coming up in 2013 (Hafner, Cabrera, Choo), the management decided the window of opportunity would be closing in the next two and a half seasons.

So, they are putting all the eggs in their basket right now.

The opposite view is that with Drew Pomerantz and Alex White, along with Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis, the Indians would have a very good opportunity to be in the mix for a division title for the next five years or so.

Which is why it seems Antonetti gave up too much to get the 27-year-old righty, who won 19 games for Colorado last season.

We know Jimenez is a better pitcher outside of Coors Field, at least this year.  His ERA at home was 5.55 vs. 3.38 on the road.  Opponents are hitting just .183 away from the Rocky Mountains, but .310 at Coors. 

For his career though, his ERA is roughly the same (3.67 at home, 3.65 on the road).  To be fair, he has held opposition hitters to a .216 average on the road vs. .245 at home.

The other unanswered question is why Jimenez has lost some velocity off his fastball this season.  He is undergoing a physical today, and if it comes up clean, then perhaps it’s a mechanical issue, and Tim Belcher can restore his overpowering fastball.

Dealing one of the top pitchers, either White or Pomerantz, would have seemed sufficient here.  Of course, the Rockies wanted more, but the Indians wanted, and probably should have got more for the two Cy Young Award winners they traded. 

In addition, the Tribe is throwing in Joe Gardner, a sinkerball specialist, who is also a top ten prospect for Cleveland.  That means three top ten prospects for Jimenez.  That’s quite a price to pay for someone who is 6-9 on the season, even though he did win 19 a year ago.

Yes, if he can regain his form of the past couple of years, Jimenez will help form a very good starting rotation which will include Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco, and hopefully a stable Fausto Carmona.  That would be one of the better starting fives in the AL, especially with Masterson showing his dominance this season.

There is depth in Jeanmar Gomez, Zack McAllister, and David Huff as well, but those guys are all more back of the rotation guys.

Antonetti did make a great move in dealing Orlando Cabrera to the Giants for OF prospect Thomas Neal.  Neal is one of San Francisco’s top prospects, and prior to this season has shown some pop in his bat.  He could be in the outfield mix next season.

Here’s hoping Jimenez can regain the velocity of his heater, and dealing potential for real production at the big league level works out. 

Still with the way the pitching staff has performed this year, if you are going to deal top prospects, it should have been for a bat.  That’s what the 2011 Cleveland Indians need. 

They may get one today, yet, but it’s unlikely to be an impact move.

MW