Tag: Cleveland Indians (Page 5 of 10)

      Tribe to lose $16 million this season according to owner Paul Dolan

      August 7, 2009 /

      In an interview with AP sports writer Tom Withers, Indians owner Paul Dolan revealed that the club will lose $16 million this season. Dolan also admitted that the recent trades of Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and popular catcher Victor Martinez were necessary long-term moves in order to move the franchise in a new direction.

      “Every four or five years, if we can have a shot at the World Series and compete for the playoffs like we did in ’05, that’s as good as it gets,” Dolan said.

      In a candid interview Thursday, Dolan projected that the Indians, currently in fourth place in the AL Central, will lose $16 million this season despite revenue-sharing from major league baseball. The Indians will need to borrow money over the next few years, Dolan said, but the club has no plans to ask the league for the loans.

      “After we traded Cliff, we had made a commitment toward a new direction for the franchise,” he said. “At that point, you don’t go halfway. We needed to make moves that put us in the best position to compete as soon as possible. The sense was in our organization that Vic (Martinez) was at his highest value and what we got back in return put us in a better position than we would have been had we kept them.”

      I’m sure Tribe fans will be excited to know that their favorite team is essentially trying to compete for the World Series and playoffs “every four or five years” when the Red Sox are competing for a World Series every year. Then again, not everybody can spend like the Red Sox and of course to a more extreme extent, the Yankees.

      It’s easy to see what the Indians are trying to do in re-stocking their farm in hopes that they can compete down the road, but it must be a deflating feeling to be a Tribe fan right now, knowing that your team just gave up on immediate success. After all, this team was on the brink of a World Series appearance just two seasons ago (2007).

      MLB

      Indians wanted Matt Cain for Victor Martinez

      August 1, 2009 /

      According to a report by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Indians wanted quite the haul from the Giants if they were to have acquired catcher Victor Martinez, who eventually wound up being traded to the Red Sox.

      Sources said the Indians wanted a package led by either Matt Cain or Madison Bumgarner for Martinez, and the Giants are happy with a righty-lefty first base combo of Ryan Garko and Travis Ishikawa.

      This report might not be true (after all, Schulman didn’t site his sources), but if it is, Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro had to have been hammered when he took the call from San Francisco GM Brian Sabean about V-Mart:

      “Uh yeah, Mark? This is Brian Sabean from the Giants.”

      “What can Brain I do for you Giants?”

      “What? Is this Mark Shapiro from the Indians?”

      “Yes siiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Word up, man?”

      “Uh yeah…hey listen Mark, I was wondering what kind of package you’d be looking for in a deal for Victor Martinez.”

      “Matt Cain.”

      “Matt Cain?”

      “Matt Cain.”

      “Are you drunk? Martinez is a good hitter, but he’s struggled this past month and he’s 30. Cain is only 24 and is a legit Cy Young candidate.”

      “Fiiiiiiine…whatever, douche. Give me Madison Bumgarner then.”

      “He’s our top pitching prospect! Seriously Mark, are you freaking sauced right now? And did you just call me a douche?”

      “Tim Lincecum, Pablo Sandoval and Jonathan Sanchez….Sanchez can be the throw in.”

      “Sober up, Mark.”

      MLB

      Indians trade Victor Martinez to Red Sox

      July 31, 2009 /

      The Red Sox had their sites set on possibly acquiring Padres’ slugger Adrian Gonzalez at the start of the day on Friday, but wound up trading for Indians’ catcher Victor Martinez instead.

      In a completely separate deal, Boston also swapped first baseman with the Braves, acquiring Casey Kotchman for Adam LaRoche.

      In this trade, the Tribe will receive right-hander Justin Masterson and minor league pitchers Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price. Masterson was Boston’s second-round pick in 2006, going 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 31 appearances including six starts this season. He also went 6-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 36 games last year after being called up from the minors.

      Hagadone was drafted No. 55 overall by the Sox in ’07 and missed most of the ’08 season after having Tommy John surgery. Price was the No. 45 overall pick in ’08 and has struggled thus far in the minors.

      For Boston not to have to give up Clay Buchholz in trade for V-Mart was huge. Martinez is a nice upgrade and adds pop to a Red Sox lineup that desperately needs it, but Boston would have overpaid in a deal involving Buchholz. Now with Martinez and Kotchman, they have options to play with regarding both their lineup and defense, where V-Mart will likely split time at both catcher and first base.

      As for Cleveland, it’s hard to determine if they got good value in this deal or not – and we may not know that answer for a couple of years, just like we won’t know if they got good value in the Cliff Lee trade.

      Pundits seem to like Masterson, but he seems to struggling against left-handers and really only has two pitches. Hagadone is a hard throwing reliever who could blow through the minors but he’s also coming off of Tommy John surgery and will likely start off in Double-A next year. Price is only 22, but he has struggled so far in the minors.

      So if you’re an Indians fan, you’ve got to be in flux right now. Your team traded away its best pitcher and its most popular position player outside of Grady Sizemore, but got a slew of prospects that may or may not develop. You’re club is building hope for the future, but the future may be three or four more years away and who’s to say that once all of this pitching develops that you might not have any hitting at that time? Then you’re just the San Francisco Giants of the American League.

      Every Tribe fan across the nation must be sighing right now and saying to themselves, “We’ll see.”

      By the way, it’s Victor Martinez bobble head night in Cleveland tomorrow. Whoops…

      MLB

      Phillies on the verge of acquiring Cliff Lee?

      July 29, 2009 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, a deal between the Phillies and Indians involving ace Cliff Lee is “heating up.”

      According to sources who have spoken with officials of both clubs, they’ve discussed a variety of packages for Lee. One potential package is believed to include Carrasco, a top position-player prospect yet to be determined and two hard-throwing Class A pitchers, Jason Knapp and Trevor May.

      Asked if he believed the Phillies could make a trade for Lee without including Kyle Drabek, whom Toronto has insisted upon in any deal for Halladay, one source replied: “If they were going to [trade] Drabek, they might as well do the deal for Halladay.”

      Phillies officials have continued to tell other clubs they believe they can make a deal for Lee without giving up either their top pitching prospect, Drabek, or their top position-player prospect, outfielder Dominic Brown.

      I couldn’t see the Tribe giving up Lee (whose contract is manageable through 2010) without getting back Drabek in return. But if Philadelphia could swing a deal for Lee that didn’t include Drabek (or Brown for that matter), that would be an impressive feat.

      Lee isn’t Halladay, but there’s no doubt that he would dramatically improve the Phillies’ starting rotation and give them the arms needed to make another run at a World Series. A rotation of Lee, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and either Joe Blanton or Jamie Moyer would be tough to contend with in the NL come playoff time.

      What’s interesting to me is that Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro seemed dead set against trading Lee only a couple weeks ago and now it almost seems certain that the ace will be dealt by Friday. Granted, Shapiro (along with every other MLB GM) was probably just throwing out smokescreens, but the reports seemed genuine that Lee wasn’t going to be moved this year.

      Update: The Phillies have made an official offer for Lee according to FOXSports.com. Apparently the deal on the table is for single-A right-hander Jason Knapp, Triple-A right-hander Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson. Your move, Tribe…

      MLB

      Ten Predictions for the MLB second half

      July 20, 2009 /


      The second half of the 2009 MLB season has kicked off and with that, I’m going to make some predictions that are sure to be proved wrong in a couple months.

      Feel free to whip out your crystal ball in the comments section but before you do, please do everyone a favor and take off your favorite team prescribed glasses and be objective for once in your life, will ya?

      1. The Blue Jays will trade Halladay…to the Phillies.
      Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is reminding everyone who will listen that he doesn’t absolutely need to trade Roy Halladay – which he doesn’t. But the bottom line is that he’ll probably get more in return for the “Doc” this season than he would next when Halladay is set to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And despite Ricciardi stating that he’s open to trading Halladay within the division, he’s not stupid. He’s not going to trade Halladay to the Red Sox or Yankees and risk becoming public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Jays fans for not only getting rid of their best and most popular player, but also trading him to a division rival in the process. In the end, I think Ricciardi will trade Halladay to an NL team and my guess is that it will be Philadelphia that will eventually puts a package together to acquire him. Although they might balk at the $7 million that’s remaining on Halladay’s contract, the Phillies are built to win now and need more starting pitching to make another run at a World Series. They also have enough appealing prospects to entice Ricciardi to make a deal.

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