Is this it?
Posted August 15th, 2007 by Ron
Has the work GM Mark Shapiro put into the Indians turned out to not be the right combination of players?
The question is worth asking because the GM has sort of put himself into a corner with the contracts that have been signed.
He doesn't have a lot of angles to take other than dealing some folks whom he just signed.
It should make for an interesting offseason if the Indians don't make the playoffs.
August 15th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I think the team's mix of personnel is fine or close to fine. But the Tribe lacks some kind of fire that I believe is a problem in the organizational culture.
Shapiro and Wedge would always rather play the odds, when sometimes a gutsy move on the field or a gamble personnel wise might give the team some momentum, which seems particularly important because they have so many young players.
Last season, the Detroit manager lit a fire under his team in the spring, with a tirade that was at first ridiculed in the media. This season, Lou Piniella has done the same thing with the Cubs. I can't see Wedge making that kind of move, and I can't see Shapiro hiring anyone who would.
August 15th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
This question needs to be asked: Would the Tribe have this poor of a record since June 1st if Leyland or Pinella were managing the team? If the answer is no, there's one source of problems.
However, isn't it just POSSIBLE that Shapiro has severely OVERESTIMATED THE TALENT of the players on this roster? Just as he did with Matt Lawton and Ricky Gutierrez and Andy Marte and Jason Johnson and G. Mota, et al? There is no win-win in signing stiffs to multi-year contracts, and yet he continues to do it, player after player. Time to re-evaluate, bub.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:42 am
That's part of the organizational culture–sign mediocre players who've "done it before" rather than give young players like F. Guiterrez a chance to shine. You wind up with less athletic fielding and a bunch of steady .265 hitters. Then, when it's time to sign someone like Sabathia, there's no money because it's tied up in 5 million a year contracts.