Tag: shane victorino

No Moves Mean No Tickets Sold

The Cleveland Indians’ front office has been so inert in recent years; they are starting to get credit for doing anything.

So, the fact they are talking about trades and/or signing free agents at the winter meeting is making some fans happy.

That’s setting the bar very, very low.

First of all, they should be making moves to help the team win, that is their job.  However, that’s not good enough either.  They should be making good moves to improve the ballclub.  Making the wrong move is worse than no move at all.

You hear this from some fans and even some in the media about the Ubaldo Jimenez trade.  They say you have to give the front office credit for taking a risk.

We didn’t like the trade at the time because GM Chris Antonetti gave up his top two pitching prospects (and three in the top ten organizationally) and didn’t get a true ace in return.  You have to get a #1 starter if you are doing that, and to this point, Jimenez has been a bust.

Here’s hoping new pitching coach Mickey Calloway can straighten him out because he doesn’t have sound mechanics.

We read similar comments about the Indians’ offer to free agent OF Shane Victorino, which was reportedly four years totaling $44 million.

This would have been a bad contract, so why give the front office credit?  Victorino is 32 years old coming off a poor season, and over the past two years has been a poor hitter against right-handed pitchers.

Unless of course, the front office was saving face because they knew there was no way the outfielder was going to take their offer.

Since the Indians claim they can’t spend a lot on payroll, a contract like the one they offered to Victorino would come back to bite them.

There was excitement regarding a possible megadeal involved Cleveland, Arizona, Texas and one other team in which the Indians would be dealing SS Asdrubal Cabrera and received three or four (depending on the report) major league ready prospects.

That deal or a form of it may occur down the line, but at this point Cabrera is still an Indians.

Cleveland is also believed to be in on free agent OF Nick Swisher, but so are other teams.

So basically, the Indians haven’t done anything thus far to improve their team.  And then they wonder why they have a problem selling tickets and generating interest.

Any buzz created around a professional franchise has to be created in the off-season, and right now, less than three weeks before Christmas; the Indians have done nothing except hiring Terry Francona as manager to make anyone think anything has changed.

And managers do not sell tickets.

Again, this is not to say that Antonetti should make a move just to say he did something.  That’s not enough.  But he hasn’t done a darn thing to show fans, which buy the tickets, that this is a team to come down and watch.

Is it too much to ask the Indians’ management to make moves that will help the franchise in 2013 and not hamstring it for the future?

No.  That’s their job.  They are supposed to be experts in evaluating talent and deciding what fair market value is.

Now there is still time to make some moves to improve the 2013 edition of the Cleveland Indians.  It’s just a little disappointing that nothing has happened as of yet.  If the team wants some ticket buying momentum in the gift giving season, they need to do something sooner rather than later.

KM

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.

KM