Tag: alfonso soriano

Front Office Letting Tribe, Fans Down

The Cleveland Indians have many naysayers among fans and media, but the fact remains they have a solid chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

There are several teams in the mix for a post-season berth, and many of them have made moves to bolster their rosters for the stretch drive.

For example, the Yankees traded for Alfonso Soriano, who has belted 11 home runs for the Bronx Bombers since coming over in July.

The Rangers traded for Matt Garza, the Red Sox for Jake Peavy, and the Oakland A’s acquired INF Alberto Callaspo.

Even the Royals, who have since fallen to the wayside of the race, picked up Emilio Bonifacio from Toronto to help them.

Yesterday, the Pirates, gunning for their first post-season spot since Barry Bonds was on the team, went out and traded for Marlon Byrd and John Buck.

Those players mentioned aren’t going to the Hall of Fame, but they are upgrades over what their new teams had, so they are upgrades.

To this point, the Indians’ addition is lefthanded reliever Mark Rzepczynski, who has helped Terry Francona’s bullpen, but doesn’t add up to the other names listed so far.

With the Indians’ offense reaching the feeble stage in August, they rank last in the American League in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage for the month, it is frustrating and puzzling that the Tribe front office hasn’t made a move.

Francona says all the right things, he is happy with his roster as constituted and they will get through this period where the offense is struggling. 

However, he privately has to be telling GM Chris Antonetti that he needs someone who can hit or his club will fall short of advancing to the playoffs.

Other teams are doing something, why can’t Antonetti?

Getting a bat would send a message to the clubhouse that the front office is all in for this season as well.  Former GM John Hart made it a point to make a deal at the deadline every year the Indians were in contention.

While you don’t want to mortgage the future to get someone who will likely be with the team for one month, but usually you can get these types of players for a middling prospect.

And the Indians have plenty of those.

For those who will say the Tribe is a year early in contending, just take a look at the Washington Nationals.  Most experts felt it was a forgone conclusion they would make the playoffs in 2013, but it doesn’t appear they will.

So, you have to go out and improve this team right now, before it’s too late.

When the ownership wonders why people haven’t taken to this team, this is one of the reasons.  It appears the front office doesn’t take the necessary steps to improve when everyone around them does.

And we don’t believe for one minute that when teams make deals with other teams they ask for low-end prospects, but they ask the Indians for guys like Francisco Lindor and Danny Salazar. 

The pressure is on Antonetti to make this team better for the last 31 games.  And the sooner the move is made, the better.

The bats don’t seem to be getting any more productive.

KM

Looking for Right Handed Bats?

As the baseball season approaches the middle of June, it looks more and more that the American League Central Division is very much up for grabs, meaning the Cleveland Indians have as good a shot as any team.

Right now, the pitching has been the biggest problem, ranking 12th in the league in ERA, but if recent outings by Ubaldo Jimenez and Justin Masterson are any indication of the future, that area may take care of itself.

Jimenez has begun to throw strikes, throwing 13-2/3 innings in his last two starts, walking just one batter.  Keep in mind, prior to those two outings, he led all AL pitchers in allowing bases on balls. Clearly, whatever Scott Radinsky worked on in delaying the big righty before these starts worked.

Masterson hasn’t received any run support, but has pitched well in his last two efforts, allowing just 4 earned runs in 13 innings.

If these two have turned the corner, it means the biggest need for the Tribe is a right-handed stick.

It doesn’t figure that the Indians are going to get Albert Pujols, or someone of that ilk.  In order to figure out who may be available, the first thing to look at is who has fallen out of contention.

A quick look at the standings show three teams currently more than 10 games out of first place, and all three are in the National League:  Chicago, Colorado, and San Diego.

The next thing to look at is the players contract situation.  It’s unlikely a team will deal someone with a reasonable deal for a short-term.  That’s why the Josh Willingham trade rumors don’t make sense, unless the Twins can get a boatload of high level prospects.

Looking at the Cubs’ roster, the name that stands out is Alfonso Soriano, now 36-years-old, but with two more full seasons on a bloated contract.  The more a team assumes dollar wise, the less they will have to give up in terms of prospects.

Soriano isn’t a high batting average or on base percentage guy (lifetime .274, but hasn’t hit that high since 2008), but he does hit for power, with ten straight 20 home run campaigns.  And he looks like he’s on his way to an 11th with 12 HR’s this season.

It’s unlikely the Indians would want to add those kind of dollars for 2013 and 2014, but remember Travis Hafner’s deal comes off the books at the end of this season.  Oh, and Soriano happens to play LF, a gaping, sucking hole for Cleveland.

A lower cost option from Chicago could be OF Reed Johnson, who can play all three OF spots.  He’s a lifetime .283 hitter, whose average against lefties is .310 for his career with an 823 OPS.  He would fit in nicely as a platoon player.

The Rockies don’t look like a good fit for the Indians, because the guys they might be looking to deal are left-handed hitters (Todd Helton, Jason Giambi) or in Michael Cuddyer’s case, just recently signed.

The Padres have two intriguing possibilities in OF Carlos Quentin (formerly of the White Sox) and utility OF Chris Denorfia.

Quentin, 29, is signed to a one year deal, and has had the Tribe’s interest before.  Then GM Mark Shapiro tried to get him from Arizona after the 2007 season when he was eventually dealt to the White Sox.

In 2008, Quentin was a legitimate MVP candidate until he broke his hand late in the year against the Indians.

He has belted 2o home runs every year since that 2008 campaign, and although he doesn’t hit for a great average (.255 lifetime), he gets on base good enough via walks and getting hit by pitches (he’s been hit at least 15 times in each of the last four years).

Denorfia can play all three OF spots and is a lifetime .274 hitter (743 OPS).  However, against left-handers, he’s a .306 hitter with a 798 OPS.  He’s another guy who could fit in a platoon situation.

What can the Tribe give up?  They do have good organizational depth in the bullpen and the middle infield.  They won’t consider dealing last year’s first round pick and top prospect SS Francisco Lindor, but they do have two players at Class A Carolina in Tony Wolters and Ronny Rodriguez who have good futures.

And don’t forget 2B Cord Phelps, who continues to put up solid AAA numbers, but is blocked by Jason Kipnis.

More teams will drop out of contention by the end of July as the trading deadline nears.  But if GM Chris Antonetti wants help right away, he can find some nice possibilities on the three teams mentioned here.

MW