Shapiro grade?
Posted July 31st, 2007 by Ron
GM Mark Shapiro still hasn't made a trade when the Indians are in contention that puts them over the top.
And don't give me Kenny Lofton.
Shapiro is still of the mind-set that he won't trade a prospect for an expensive veteran. The Indians couldn't trade someone better than Kyle Davies to get Octavio Dotel?
Shapiro's resume is spiffy but it is missing the moves that make a GM great.
Now, I still think they can make the playoffs but they are one more bad arm in the bullpen from possibility not being able to hold off the Yankees or Mariners.
I am of the belief that doing something in the playoffs this year with C.C. Sabathia a year away from free agency is going to easier than next year when Sabathia's pending departure is going to be the story.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:47 pm
It's hard to complain about Shapiro and Wedge but their unwavering fidelity to such a measured approach is a little bit of a drawback.
It seems like prospects sometimes die on the vine because the team would rather play it safe with mediocre veterans. At the same time, they won't trade the prospects, either. The Lofton trade might help in the short term, but I'll bet the Tribe could have landed Carl Crawford this spring if it was willing to send a couple young arms to Tampa.
Sabathia's case is another example of the risk-free approach. The Indians would rather spread out the money on several middling veterans than sign one big impact guy. They'll always be pretty good with Shapiro, but I have trouble seeing them go far in the playoffs on a regular basis without two top level starters.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:42 pm
The Tribe is loaded with pitching and pitching prospects. The fact that Mark & Eric insist on keeping a useless Cabrera, an inconsistent Mastny and unreliable Mujica aside, there are arms at Buffalo who could help now. However, with Lee mercifully gone, the true problem is magnified: This offense is horrible. The 1-thru-9 philosophy relies on too many "X" factors…like hitters' ability to string several hits together. Most of the "hitters" in this weak, soft mishmash lineup struggle for one hit a night, so they're all spaced out or non-existent. No impact hitters whatsoever. Cleveland is done, and management either has rose-colored glasses or is too stupid to realize it.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:22 am
The tribe isnt spending money on middling veterans instead of signing CC. CC isnt going to sign early because he will get a deal larger than Zito's 7 year 130+ million. Tribe just doesnt have that money. I'm not sure dotel would have been a savior for this team, the Bullpen has been solid as of late, the lineup has been bad. And its not because the "1-thru-9 philosophy relies on too many X factors….. like hitters ability to string several hits together." That is how almost every team plays baseball. To score runs you inevitably have to get some hits, Hit and Runs and Stolen bases and sac flies will only result in a run at a time. The problem is we have a nice core of players (Pronk, Grady, Victor, Jhonny) who have not been living up to expectations (minus V-mart), combine that with aging, mediocre veterans, and a team cant afford a slump.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:55 am
To say the team just doesn't have the money is not accurate. It's more a case of how they want to distribute the money.
C.C. probably already makes $8 or $10 million a year. If you added that to the salaries of just Nixon and Michaels, you're probably already close to $15 million. Trade Byrd or Westbrook for prospects and you're probably well over $20 million.
It's debatable whether that would be the better way to go, but it could be done without too much imagination. My point was that the Tribe always seems to spread out the wealth, paying pretty decent salaries to middling veterans who aren't all that much better than the prospects they've already got.
It's less risky that way: On the one hand, Sabathia could blow out his arm tomorrow and it would look terrible for the organization. On the other hand, the team could sign three longshot relievers. While two out of three fail, the team still looks good because the third pans out.