A Few Suggestions for the Tribe.

It appears the last gasp of the 2012 baseball season for the Cleveland Indians was the four runs outburst in the seventh inning to beat Justin Verlander last Thursday night at Progressive Field.

It’s been downhill ever since both on the field and in the front office.

Fans of the Tribe are understandably both frustrated and infuriated as the organization sits back and does nothing while there are still a chance to compete for the division title.

Now, it appears very likely that the franchise will endure another season below the .500 mark, the ninth in the last 11 years under the Dolan/Shapiro/Antonetti stewardship.

The baseball season is over for the most part, and we can thank the inactivity of the front office, both in the off-season and during this season for that.

The funniest comment made yesterday by GM Chris Antonetti was that the organization learned in discussing trades was how other teams judged the Indians’ players.

The hidden message was opponents don’t think much of what the Tribe has on the big league roster and the upper levels of the minors.

So, what can the Indians do going forward to help repair their relationship going forward? Here are a few suggestions…

First, end the “what if” advertising campaign. With the lack of moves and winning, the commercials have become a source of ridicule for the organization.

Yes, the period from 1994-2001 may have been the best span in club history. It’s over! Showing us clips of Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, and Sandy Alomar Jr. just makes fans angry that the Indians refuse to compete now.

Focus on the present. Tell fans why they should come to Progressive Field now. And if you can’t come up with a good reason, that’s another problem altogether. Get better as an organization.

Second, it’s time to get better at player development. When support is written or said for the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, the main argument is that Drew Pomerantz and Alex White aren’t doing anything with the Rockies.

That’s an indictment of the scouting system since they were both first round draft picks.

This organization has just one drafted player (Jason Kipnis) among its starters, and another Lonnie Chisenhall, who would start if he wasn’t injured and the manager didn’t have a man crush on Jack Hannahan.

For a small to mid market team, that’s a recipe for disaster. And that’s why the Indians is consistently under .500.

If you look at the best prospects in the game, only one player from the Cleveland organization is on the list, 2011 first round pick SS Francisco Lindor.

The talent in the organization has to be improved, or the failure rate is going to continue.

The last thing Antonetti should do is start building for 2013 right now. We are echoing what several people have said already.

It is time for departure to players who aren’t going to be part of group that meets in Goodyear, AZ next spring.

That means good-bye to Johnny Damon, Casey Kotchman, Shelley Duncan, Derek Lowe, and Jack Hannahan.

Let’s take a look at some of the players from Columbus, who by the way leads the International League in batting average and runs scored.

We have said this many, many times. Russ Canzler, Matt LaPorta, Ezequiel Carrera, Tim Fedroff, Corey Kluber, and Chris Seddon can’t be any worse than the players whose place they would be taking.

They should be called to the big leagues immediately.

It would also allow for some players from Akron to be moved up. The Aeros have a lot of players repeating the AA level for the second time, and it’s time to see if those guys are prospects or not.

At least it would make the games somewhat worth watching for hardcore fans.

The Dolan family, Shapiro, and Antonetti have some fence mending to do. It may already be too late.

The Tribe Shouldn’t Sell Right Now

After losing the first three games of a four game set against the Baltimore Orioles, the rats are jumped off the S.S. Tribe very, very quickly.

There are people even saying that perhaps the Indians should now be sellers at the July 31st trading deadline instead of trying to improve the team.

As horrible as the Indians have looked since the All-Star break, and they have been bad, especially on offense scoring just 31 runs in 10 games with 19 of those occurring in two contests, they remain just 4-1/2 games out of first in the AL Central Division, and a mere 3-1/2 games off the pace for the second wild card spot.

A few people have mentioned how many teams the Indians would have to climb over to get the latter spot, but that would only hold water if there were a couple of weeks remaining in the season. However, there are more than 60 games remaining, more than enough time to pass a number of teams.

That’s why GM Chris Antonetti cannot start trading his most marketable people in the next eight days. In fact, he still should be looking to help the current roster, because it is obvious the Indians cannot make gains in the standings with its current personnel.

While everyone wants the team to make a huge splash, dealing for an all-star type player, that may not be necessary. Improving the roster could involve cutting bait on players who haven’t been productive for the Tribe from day one.

That would mean finding replacements for the deadwood currently on the team, guys like Casey Kotchman, Aaron Cunningham, Jack Hannahan, and yes, even Travis Hafner. Replacing two of them could have an impact.

The same would be true getting another starting pitcher, even replacing one with someone from Columbus. Who knows? You might just catch lightning in a bottle.

The other night saw a rumor saying the Indians were close to getting Phillies OF Shane Victorino, a free agent at the end of the season. That’s not a sexy pick up, but Victorino is a switch-hitting outfielder, who has been productive in the past.

Let’s say the Indians get him. They would no longer have a need for Cunningham because Victorino is a CF by trade. Victorino could play LF for the Indians, upgrading the OF defense.

It strengthens the bench because Johnny Damon or Hafner would no longer be in the lineup everyday, and it adds another right-handed bat (and a productive one, he’s hitting .318 with a 981 OPS vs. lefties) when facing a southpaw.

And it would also allow Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo to get an occasional day off, keeping them fresh.

It would also lengthen Manny Acta’s batting order, where production ends after the cleanup hitter usually bats (although with Carlos Santana starting to hit a little, it would be after the 5th spot).

It’s one smaller type move, but it should make a decent impact on the team.

Plus, it would also show the players that the front office believes in them, and is concerned with winning baseball games.

Two or three more moves like that could make an even bigger impact, and we’ve been advocating making these subtle moves for over a month.

Yes, the White Sox have lost five straight, but look at the immediate impact Kevin Youkilis made upon his arrival. By the way, does anyone else think it’s odd that the Red Sox wanted either Josh Tomlin or Zack McAllister from Cleveland, but accepted Brett Lillibridge (since released) and Zach Stewart (in the minors) from Chicago?

We’ve always thought you are in the race if you hit Labor Day five games or less out of first. There’s still five weeks or so before that holiday and the Indians have a smaller deficit.

It’s not the time to sell right now. Antonetti needs to help his team, not take it apart.

Tribe Front Office Needs to Look in Mirror

The news broke yesterday that the local television ratings for the Cleveland Indians are down significantly from last year. This shows the interest in the team is definitely waning, and they are starting to lose even the hard-core fans.

This can’t be good news on the corner of Ontario and Carnegie.

The powers to be in the front office will probably issue the usual spin they put on things, and try to bamboozle the fan base with corporate babble and say the numbers are incorrect based on their research.

Much like they did when Forbes Magazine said they made a tremendous profit last season.

What Mark Shapiro, GM Chris Antonetti, and the Dolan family aren’t hearing is their fans are fed up with the way things are with this franchise.

It’s time they looked in the mirror and realized their “process” isn’t getting it done.

First, if the Indians finish under .500 in 2012, that will be 9 out of the last 11 seasons that has been the case. Sounds a lot like the 1960’s and 70’s, doesn’t it?

The front office will freely admit they have drafted poorly over these years, with just one first round draft pick, Lonnie Chisenhall, that was drafted prior to 2011 still being in the organization.

Moreso, only one home-grown player, Jason Kipnis, can be considered a regular right now, and Josh Tomlin is the only starting pitcher originally drafted by Cleveland.

For a small market team that doesn’t attract free agents, that’s completely unacceptable.

The people who pay tickets realize it’s just a matter of time before Shin-Soo Choo will be dealt away or leave as a free agent, and the same is true for Asdrubal Cabrera.

That’s based on history.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds, at least a similar size market (most likely smaller) decided to pay their best player, Joey Votto, so he will spend the majority of his career with the team.

How can they do it?

That’s the question Tribe fans keeping asking and they are dissatisfied with the answers they are getting. They feel betrayed by an ownership and front office that does nothing more than offer excuses and reminds everyone that they are losing money at very opportunity.

At some point, doesn’t someone stand up at a staff meeting and say this isn’t working? Right now, that won’t happen because the organization is loath to hire someone from another team.

Yes, the organization has made some good moves, but name one from recent vintage? Is signing Jose Lopez, a limited bench player really a success?

The front office blew it in the off-season by not getting the right-handed bat it sorely needed, and they made a huge mistake in handing $5 million to the oft-injured Grady Sizemore.

They complain about attendance, but tickets are sold in the off-season, and the team did NOTHING in the winter to spur interest in the team. That’s not something that can be blamed on the fans, that’s on the guys who run the Indians.

They need to do something that excites the fans. If that takes spending money, then so be it.

Fans are tired on the same old, same old.

After last year’s great start, a season in which the team was in contention for most of the year, they didn’t capitalize, and the people buying tickets found something else to spend money on.

Perception is reality, and the reality is the fans don’t trust the Dolans, Shapiro, or Antonetti. That’s why fans seem to cater to the Cavaliers, they trust Dan Gilbert.

They believe he wants to win. They don’t have that same feeling about the Indians.

Change for change sake usually isn’t a good idea. After 11 years of mostly mediocre baseball, it’s time for an internal audit.

That last comment is something the corporate front office of the Indians might understand.

Tribe Paying for Off-Season Sins

After last weekend, when the Pittsburgh Pirates took the last two games of a three game set at home, Cleveland Indians’ fans were irate about the lack of relief pitching and lack of production at the plate.

The Tribe won the next four, and all was right with the world.

Then, the Indians lost the last two games of a road series against the lowly Houston Astros and fans once again are concerned about the lack of relief pitching and lack of production at the plate.

See a trend here?

The Indians problems are not going away, and the team is paying for not addressing the huge need for a quality right-handed bat in the off-season. They reportedly did not want to give free agent OF Josh Willingham a third year on his deal, and that is proving to be a huge mistake for GM Chris Antonetti.

Wouldn’t Willingham look nice with a “C” on his hat, especially with his .274 batting average, 14 home runs, and 47 RBIs. By the way, those last two statistics would lead Cleveland in those categories.

Manny Acta’s squad is struggling, particularly against southpaws, because the players on the roster for that purpose in particular aren’t doing the job, and the front office is being extremely, perhaps overly patient.

The only role player on the team to hit lefties that can be considered doing his job is INF Jose Lopez, hitting .262 with 2 HRs against left-handed pitching. Check out these numbers:

Shelley Duncan             .211, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Aaron Cunningham    .167, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Jason Donald                .095, 0 HR, 1 RBI

In addition, Carlos Santana, one of the two switch-hitters among the everyday players in batting just .209, without a dinger and 10 RBI.

It makes you think that Lou Marson, with a .240 average (6 for 25) should be in there when a lefty takes the mound for the opposition.

Among the regulars, just Asdrubal Cabrera (.316, 3 HR, 12 RBI) and Michael Brantley (.281, o HR, 10 RBI) have respectable numbers.

So why doesn’t the front office make any changes? Isn’t the definition of insanity the act of doing something over and over again and expecting a different result?

Cunningham is quickly becoming this year’s version of Austin Kearns, as a player who no one can explain is still doing on the major league roster.

Apparently, Cleveland tried to deal for Kevin Youkilis, but with Chicago giving up two players from their major league roster, it was more than the Tribe (and we) would go.

The former Red Sox player wouldn’t have solved the Indians’ issue, but he would have been a start. Although he has struggled since last year’s All Star game, he is a proven hitter, with a lifetime .286 batting average.

Besides, if he would produce more than Lopez, Duncan, and Cunningham, isn’t that an improvement?

The Tribe front office spin is they would need more than one bat, which they do, but is that a reason not to take any action?

Sometimes it appears the Indians’ management is in some kind of fantasy world, spouting out stats like Casey Kotchman is 7 for 21 in his last six games.

So what! He’s hitting .230 over the last month and .225 overall. He’s just not producing enough for a contending team, especially at a position where hitting is needed.

By the way, over the last 30 days, check out these batting averages for the role players on the Indians:

Duncan .189
Lopez .186
Cunningham .150

Besides getting no production out of the right-handed hitters on the squad, the bench isn’t doing anything either. That makes it concerning for the starters going into the heat of the summer. Acta can’t give them a day off, because whoever he puts in, isn’t able to hit.

The Cleveland Indians have made their proverbial bed, and now are forced to lay in it. Unfortunately, the front office is comfortable, because they don’t seem anxious to get a new mattress.

Passive Tribe Need to Make Moves

The Cleveland Indians are a conservative organization when it comes to making roster moves during the regular season. It is difficult to tell whether that is the philosophy of GM Chris Antonetti or manager Manny Acta.

Some clubs, like the Red Sox, are always tinkering with the last four or five spots on the roster, trying to squeeze out wins anyway they can. However, the Tribe prefers the patient approach.

The season has reached the middle of June and there are now less than 100 games remaining in the season. And we go with this theory when it comes to players: The “Can’t be Any Worse Theory”.

That being said, here are several moves the Tribe could make right now that do not involve trades (because you need a partner to do something like that).

1. DFA Aaron Cunningham, purchase the contract of OF Trevor Crowe.
Cunningham is hitting .185 with a 479 OPS. Acta has to find it difficult to give the outfielder any playing time outside of a defensive replacement for either Johnny Damon or Shelley Duncan. Crowe hasn’t shown anything but being a marginal major leaguer in his time in Cleveland, but he has a .245 lifetime average in 653 at bats. He’s been hurt, but is hitting .307 (849 OPS) in Columbus this year.

He can take Cunningham’s place as defensive replacement and back up CF easily, and provide at least some offense.

2. Option Josh Tomlin to AAA, recall Zack McAllister.
We’ve always liked Tomlin and advocated for his call up in 2010, but that season and most of 2011, he was a solid starting pitcher, going at least six innings in most of his starts, and allowing less than a hit per inning.

This year is a different matter. He’s given up 68 hits in 56-2/3 frames, and his consistency is no longer there. He’s had four solid starts in which is ERA is an excellent 2.54. In the rest of his appearances, he has an 8.58 ERA.

Tomlin has marginal stuff and has to be pinpoint in accuracy to get out big league hitters. Let him rediscover his control at Columbus.

Meanwhile, McAllister did a solid job in four starts in Cleveland and has a 2.98 ERA at AAA with 47 strikeouts vs. 18 walks. If he can keep the Tribe in the game most nights, then he should be up here.

DFA Shelley Duncan, call up Jason Donald or Russ Canzler
Again, this is another tough decision. The front office likes what Duncan brings to the clubhouse and we have always supported Dunc because he’s had a track record of hitting lefties.

However, he’s lost the plate discipline he had early in the year (13 walks in 19 April games, 5 walks the rest of the season), and he’s hitting just .222 vs. southpaws.

Donald’s defensive issues aside, he’s hitting .283 at Columbus (.383 OBP) and hit .318 in 39 games with the Tribe last season.

Canzler deserves an extended shot in the bigs after a 931 OPS last year in AAA. He’s hitting just .263 this season with the Clippers, but sometimes guys just get too comfortable (read: bored) at AAA after success there.

There are other moves the Tribe could make as well. Tony Sipp should be sent out, but the Indians just sent LHP Scott Barnes back to the minors, and they don’t have another lefty ready at Columbus.

And anytime the Johnny Damon experiment is ready to be ended would be alright too. It’s tough for Acta to have to put out lineups on a nightly basis where his LF and 1B are out makers.

As we wrote, the Indians are very judicious in making roster moves, so don’t look for anything soon.

The AL Central race looks to be one that goes to the wire, so you can’t give away any games. If you can make your roster stronger with even small moves, the Indians need to do just that.

Acta Shorthanded With His Bench

With the Cleveland Indians struggling since their sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the weaknesses fans have been concerned about all year have started to raise their ugly heads.

The starting pitching has been the main culprit, as in those nine games (the Tribe has gone 2-7 in those contests) only Derek Lowe’s performance against Minnesota in which he pitched 6-2/3 innings and allowed one run, can be considered very good.

The struggles of the starters has forced the Indians to play from behind quite a bit, and with their lack of power, that is not a good situation.

The Tribe is 8-18 in games they haven’t hit a home run. More to the point, they are 20-7 when they do hit one over the wall.

The Twins’ series was a perfect example. Friday night, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis went deep in a Cleveland win. There were no round trippers the rest of the weekend, and the Indians dropped the final two games of the weekend.

And of course, the last problem area to show up again is the problem the Tribe has against southpaws. Scott Diamond started for the Twins Sunday afternoon, and the Cleveland bats took a nap, losing 6-3.

However, the roster construction doesn’t do Manny Acta any favors. Right now, there are two players on the pines who are there because they play a certain position. That is their only qualification for being on the team.

Aaron Cunningham is here because he can play CF if something happened to Michael Brantley, and Juan Diaz is on the roster because he can play shortstop.

GM Chris Antonetti hasn’t been able to develop or acquire a legitimate fourth outfielder or a utility infielder.

That is troublesome because it doesn’t give the skipper a lot of flexibility.

Neither player has shown he can hit, particularly with the limited at bats they receive, and on a team that has difficulties hitting left-handed pitching, that’s tough to digest.

Cunningham can play all three outfield spots, but there has to be someone within the organization that can provide better hitting and has the ability to play centerfield.

The same is true for Diaz at SS, although he is here because the guy whose job he has, Jason Donald, didn’t hit, and is having trouble defensively at short in Columbus.

The problem is Acta cannot have any confidence putting either of these guys in a lineup when needed. And if that’s the case, a change needs to be made.

The same problem is occurring in the bullpen with lefty Tony Sipp. The reliever has done a good job the past few years, but this year is struggling.

He came in Saturday with the team trailing 5-4 to face two left-handed hitters, Ben Revere and Joe Mauer. A single and a home run later, the score was 7-4.

This isn’t to bury Sipp, but he needs to go back to the minors to work on getting back to where he was in 2010 and 2011.

Right now, it is doubtful that Acta can find any situation in which to use him except in a blowout situation.

That’s not fair to the manager.

Most major league managers need a 25 man roster to work with, especially those who pilot small to mid-market teams.

Right now, Manny Acta has a 22 man team because his roster is littered with players like the three mentioned.

Maybe Acta’s the one who wants these guys, but that’s doubtful.

The front office needs to upgrade this roster, and the sooner they do it, the better the Indians can hang in the race to win the AL Central.

Can Tribe Count on Ubaldo?

Going into the 2012 season, most experts agreed that the Cleveland Indians best chance to contend for the post-season was for Ubaldo Jimenez to have a big season.

The big right-hander, acquired from Colorado at the trade deadline last season, could form a formidable one-two punch with Justin Masterson, giving the Tribe two solid starting pitchers.

Right now, having Jimenez put together two consecutive quality starts would be a victory.

Hopefully, the mechanical adjustment discussed in today’s The Plain Dealer will fix the former Rockie. But if this doesn’t work, it is looking more and more like GM Chris Antonetti didn’t get the ace he thought he was getting.

There is no question Jimenez’ velocity has dipped in recent years. That could be a mechanical issue, an injury to his shoulder, or just age.

According to Baseball Prospectus.com, Jimenez’ average fastball was close to 98 MPH in 2007, his rookie year. It has steadily dropped to 96 MPH in 2010, to 94 MPH in ’11, to 93 MPH this season.

Still, there are plenty of pitchers who don’t throw 95 MPH that win consistently in the big leagues.

The bigger problem is throwing strikes with regularity.

Ubaldo has never had pinpoint control. In recent years, he’s walked 3.7 batters per nine innings. Not exactly a Greg Maddux like figure.

However, it’s not really a problem because he’s averaged around 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. And if you can strikeout twice as many as you walk, it’s one of the signs you are a good pitcher.

He also has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, another sign of being effective on the mound.

Even last year, in his 11 starts with the Indians, which no one is labeling as a success, Jimenez allowed 68 hits in 65-1/3 innings, and struck out 62 while walking only 27 hitters.

So far, this year he has not put up those kinds of numbers.

The hits per innings pitched isn’t too bad, he’s allowed 30 hits in 28-2/3 innings, although that figure is helped by throwing seven, one hit frames in his first start.

The biggest negative factor is the walks. He’s allowed 20 bases on balls against just 14 strikeouts. It was pointed out that it took him 92 pitches on Tuesday before a Chicago hitter swung and missed. That’s disturbing.

If you walk hitters without the ability to strike anybody out, you have big troubles ahead. That’s where Jimenez is.

The inability to find the strike zone also means the righty can’t get deep into games.

This year, he hasn’t been able to get through six innings in a start since his first start in the second game of the season. Josh Tomlin is a guy who pretty much is a six inning pitcher.

There’s nothing wrong with Tomlin, he’s a good solid starter. But to be sure, the Tribe front office certainly expected more when they traded for Jimenez last July.

So far, he hasn’t delivered it. He’s more of a back of the rotation starter, right now he’s kind of a Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona) clone. Manny Acta can’t be sure what kind of outing he’s going to get when Jimenez toes the rubber.

It’s tough to win and count on a player when his level of performance goes up and down.

It’s still early and there is plenty of time for Jimenez to get straightened out and have a solid season for the Indians. His next start will be Sunday and here’s hoping the adjustment works out.

Because he’s facing one of the AL’s best hitting teams in the Texas Rangers. A tough test for a pitchers who is trying to get himself on the right track.