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Beside the Point: The Blog by Patrick McManamon

From the category archives:

Indians

Goodbye Victor Martinez

July 31, 2009

As bad as the Cliff Lee trade looked and felt, this one looks and feels worse. Victor Martinez spent too many years with the Indians and was too good a player and valuable a teammate for it not to be bad.
Boston acquired one heck of a good hitter, and the Indians have traded away two [...]

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Key to Indians moves with Lee and (possibly) Martinez? Follow the money

July 31, 2009

Peter Gammons wrote about the possible Victor Martinez trade in his Insider column for ESPN, and he wrote as if it was a fait accompli. Gammons also examined the Cliff Lee trade, and when Gammons examines a trade it's worth listening because he is the premier baseball writer of our generation. I'll link to it [...]

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Do we say goodbye to Victor Martinez today?

July 31, 2009

Sounds like Victor Martinez is the next Indian who could be traded. Jayson Stark has him going to Boston in a three-way deal that would bring pitcher Clay Buchholz to the Indians along with … hold your breath … take a deep breath … cringe … close your eyes … more … PROSPECTS.

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How did the Cliff Lee trade play in Peoria

July 30, 2009

Here's some national takes on the Indians trade of Cliff Lee.
General consensus is that though the Indians got some talent, they didn't get enough for the reigning Cy Young winner, whom they traded for the second year in a row.  Ahem.
SI was positive about the trade. "Those four players should quickly help the depleted Indians [...]

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Will they or won't they?

July 29, 2009

Will they make a trade or won't they? Various reports have the Indians all over the board in possibly dealing Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez. ESPN said the Indians have been very "aggressive" in trade talks about the two. SI says the chances for trading Lee and Victor Martinez have risen. Others have the Indians [...]

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More on the Ryan Garko trade

July 28, 2009

Ah, perception.
The Giants, naturally, said they were happy to acquire Ryan Garko from the Indians. "This guy can drive in a run, he can hit the three-run home run," Giants GM Brian Sabean said. Added manager Bruch Bochy: "You don't acquire a guy like this to sit him." 
Nor do you get him to play left [...]

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Ryan Garko the latest Indian to be traded

July 28, 2009

The Indians clearly did not think as highly of Ryan Garko as many of the media did. The general consensus with Garko from whatever estate we've become now was that he was a pretty good run producer when given the chance to play regularly. He did a good job two years ago, then last season [...]

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Indians trade Betancourt for Class A staring pitcher who could play the '3'

July 23, 2009

The Indians just traded for a nut.
A Modesto Nut.
That’s Colorado’s Class A team. The Nut is now on the Indians.
Ba-dum-bum. Couldn’t resist. Sincere apologies, because even I know that was waaaaaaaay bad.
Rafael Betancourt was traded Wednesday for Connor Graham. Betancourt is not a great loss. He peaked two years ago in the Indians playoff season, [...]

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Lot of smoke regarding possible trades of Lee and Martinez

July 23, 2009

Has anyone noticed that Pittsburgh has become a farm team for the Boston Red Sox? Jason Bay went there last year, this season it’s Adam LaRoche. Next season who will it be?
Meanwhile, there's a lot of smoke out there about the Indians, which means there might be a fire somewhere. FOX points out the Indians [...]

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Three make the top 100

July 23, 2009

Grady Sizemore ranks 38, Victor Martinez 51, and Cliff Lee 61 on Joe Posnanski’s list of the top 100 players in baseball. I'd have Sizemore lower and Lee higher. Perhaps they should have swapped spots.

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Is Cliff Lee's short-term future with the Indians?

July 22, 2009

I touched on Cliff Lee in today’s Beacon-Journal, and his name continues to surface in trade rumors. The Indians are in a challenging spot. Trade Lee and they make history by trading reigning Cy Young winners two years in a row. Keep him and he leaves as a free agent after 2010. Trade him and the [...]

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Interesting Eric Wedge fact

July 21, 2009

Cleveland Scene's sports blogger came up with this tidbit on Eric Wedge. When I read it I think: Why didn't I think of this?

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Of matters Indians

July 21, 2009

If you read this blog (and I’m not sure if you do why you do) you know that I have a lot of respect for Anthony Castrovince, who writes about the Indians for Indians.com. His stories have sound news angles, he’s a good writer, and he’s insightful. Castrovince recently took some letters, and in them [...]

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Just click your heels three times …

July 20, 2009

The Dodgers have targeted Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee to bolster their pitching staff. Chances of Lee being traded remain remote — it would take one heck of a deal to compel the Indians to trade their only reliable starting pitcher. I wrote about the Indians situation on Sunday.
The Indians, by the way, privately are [...]

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The Indians enter the season's second half

July 16, 2009

The Indians begin what should be one of the more blasé second halfs in recent memory. Last season they could point out that they finished strong and be optimistic. I’m not thinking fans will buy that view this season. I’m going to write about the Indians and Eric Wedge for Sunday’s paper, but suffice it to [...]

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It's been that kind of season

July 16, 2009

Mark Shapiro ranks sixth on SI’s list of baseball’s GM’s who are under the microscope. Though it would be hard to fit there, wouldn’t it?

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Why I hate the All-Star Game

July 14, 2009
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On the Indians

July 13, 2009

For Tuesday's Beacon Journal, I wrote about the Indians.

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More Indians on the block?

July 7, 2009

The latest Indians on the trading block? Carl Pavano, Kerry Wood and Jhonny Peralta, according to SI.com.

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Eric Wedge will stay the season

July 6, 2009

Between an orthodontist appointment for my daughter and driving to the office to meet with the boss, there won't be much time for blogging. But I'll try. And I did notice that Mark Shapiro put to rest any question about Eric Wedge's status with the team this season.
Wedge will remain the manager – and his [...]

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Another in-depth look at the Indians, with the same conclusions

June 30, 2009

A pretty in-depth study of the Indians blames the team's woes this season on poor pitching and high draft picks that missed. Then it states: "The (Mark) Shapiro-(Chris) Antonetti tandem gets more love from national media outlets than, say, White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who is perceived as arrogant and overly blunt. Is it because [...]

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Why the Indians won't trade Cliff Lee

June 30, 2009

From SI's Jon Heyman: "Even if the Indians are to concede this season, they don't want to concede next year, too."

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The price of hot dogs in New York could go up

June 24, 2009

CC Sabathia  is a great, great pitcher. If only he were still on the Indians.
But … he has not pitched less than 180 innings in his eight full seasons. The last two seasons – 2007 and 2008 – the Indians and Brewers had him throw 241 and 253 innings. In three of his starts this [...]

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One of those studies that sounds great but wasn't that involved

June 23, 2009

Forbes studied attendance in major league baseball to gauge the economy's effect on teams. Well, studied is one way to put it. It merely compared attendance to a year ago, and determined the percentage gain or loss. The results? Philadelphia had a 3.4 percent gain from 2008. Boston and Milwaukee were essentially unchanged. Every other [...]

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Some baseball stuff

June 23, 2009

Ken Rosenthal is right. Don Fehr's legacy for his players as head of the baseball players union would have been sterling were it not for one issue. And Tracy Ringolsby is also right. The fact that Manny Ramirez can play 10 games in the minors to get himself ready to return from a 50-game suspension [...]

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