Solutions for Indians
Posted April 30th, 2008 by Ron
It is easy to see the problems with the Indians' offense.
1. Too many strikeouts.
2. Not enough speed.
Those are the type of problems that coaching can't completely fix. Sure, you can preach patience and teach smarter base running, but in the end, these are woes that manager Eric Wedge can't fix with a wave of a wand.
No, these are problems sitting on GM Mark Shapiro's desk.
So what do we know:
1. Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko are not going anywhere. But they are really the only hitters who can net a quick fix in return.
2. Travis Hafner is nearly untradeable, unless you take prospects back. His contract and ridiculous batting average are an anchor on this franchise.
3. Casey Blake, David Dellucci, Jason Michaels can be traded, but they will not bring back the tools to fix the team.
4. Asdrubal Cabrera might have just had a hot September and is what he is. A decent hitting middle infielder.
5. No one seems to be waiting in the wings in the high minors to fix the offense, unlike last season.
What about the pitching:
1. C.C. Sabathia could net a return to fix the offense, but would his loss put too much pressure on a young pitching staff? I think this only happens if the Indians are out of it by the end of July, and the Tribe won't be out of it by then because the division looks to be weaker than most thought entering the season.
2. The young guys, Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers and Adam Miller, are very tradeable and could net a good return. But Shapiro does trade these type of players.
Where does this leave Shapiro?
Can he make a trade that helps the Indians in the short term? So far in his career, he has avoided these type of trades.
Trading Sabathia in May or June, seems to me to be the only trade that can work in the short term and long term. Anything else is a long-term deal, unless you add a chunk of cash to the payroll. Again something Shapiro has not done.
Standing pat nearly worked last season, can it work again? I doubt it.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Dangle Jhonny Peralta and a prospect or two (Marte?), and see if you can get a guy like Carl Crawford. Tampa wont be in the running by mid June and they know Crawford will be gone eventually. We may miss Peralta's occaisional monster games, but I cant even imagine what a lineup with Crawford at leadoff and Sizemore in the 3 hole could do to the American League. That would be something to see.
With Peralta gone, Asdrubal moves over to his natural SS, Barfield comes back up to take 2nd, keep Carroll in the utility role and let the outfield play itself out. The guys in this lineup WILL hit, especially in the summer months. Just keep the staff healthy and hope the bullpen holds up.
Either make it an impact trade like the one above, or stand pat. The worst thing they can do is gamble and roll the dice on a guy with injury history or mediocre numbers and hope for the best just because the guys we have are underachieving early.
I refuse to give up on Hafner, Ron. I wont do it. He's been too valuable to this club for the fans and the front office to just write him off. The guy hit 46 homers just a few years ago and drives in 100 every year. That wasnt a fluke. We have to ride him through this massive slump and hope he comes out on the other side.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:56 am
There's no choice but to ride it through with Hafner.
Josh is also right about Crawford and the Indians could have nabbed him for a pitching prospect or two in the offseason or last year, but that ship may have sailed. The Rays are trying to change their image and trading their best player in the middle of the season would kill a lot of the work they've done in that regard.
I'd move Peralta to third and put Asdrubel at short. Putting your best infielder at shortstop seems like a no-brainer for me.
But the Indians one fault as an organization is they don't seem to value athleticism much. They draft a bunch of first basemen types and hope they can find a spot for them on the field. That might be why they may not be as interested in Crawford as they should be.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Josh, you refuse to give up on Hafner. While you're at it, I simply refuse to give up on Luis Gonzalez and Brady Anderson. At least until they run out of syringes. Which ol' Travis apparently did. Or, more likely, his wife hid them.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Even though no MLB GM can bat 1000, I'm sure there are two deals that would easily make Mark Shapiro's "I Wish I Hadn't Done That" list. One was trading Brandon Phillips to the Reds for a player to be named later (it turned out to be pitcher Jeff Stevens). The other was trading Ryan Church (whom we had in our farm system), along with utility infielder Macier Iszturis, to the Mets for veteran set-up man Scott Stewart. Stevens hasn't done anything for the Indians, and Stewart turned out to be washed up. On the other hand, Phillips, and more recently Church, have put up big numbers offensively for the Reds and Mets, respectively. Their two big bats would be just what the Indians need right now.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Crisp for Marte didn't turn out too well, either. Grady, Crisp and Phillips at the top of the order would be pretty decent.
June 5th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Can someone please point out one…JUST ONE…free agent signing or player-trade (other than the long-ago and subsequently-botched Colon trade) in which Shapiro has significantly bettered this club?
(crickets)
Talk about overrated. Both the GM and his roster.