Musings on 11-11-11

Christmas Carroll…that is a turkey of an idea

37 year old Jamey Carroll is on the verge of signing a multiyear deal with some team.  The teams who he might be signing with continue to say "It's not me!".  The Indians have been mentioned.  Three phrases that should never appear in the same sentence are Jamey Carroll, multiyear deal and Cleveland Indians…except, of course, if they accompanied by DON’T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Besides having our own internal options (Jason Donald, who we paid a pretty penny for, if you remember), Carroll is coming off a career year and is only an average defender.   Thus, we will pay more than he is worth and be saddled with an bloated contract that will not make trading him easier at the deadline.

Yes, filling second base and moving Kipnis back to LF which I proposed a couple of weeks ago helps with our infield defense, something I had already said should be a priority this winter, given that we just added ground ball machine Derek Lowe to a groundball-heavy rotation. 

But Jamey Carroll.  No way.

Now, Jose Reyes to SS and Asdrubal Cabrera to 2B?  That helps us out even though I am not sure Reyes is a better SS than Cabrera.  However, certainly Reyes/Cabrera is better than Cabrera/Kipnis for this pitching staff.  So, shell out the money to Reyes and Aramis Ramrez, put Kipnis (LF, starter) and Chisenhall (LF/RF, reserve this year or to AAA for outfield training if you want to conserve his service time) in the OF.  Remember, when Chisenhall was drafted I suggested putting him in RF.  That becomes more relevant as Choo hits free agency.

Minor league free agents to sign

Wow, we signed 33 year old catcher Michael Hernandez.  That is the icing on the cake of minor league signings!  JK.

Here’s a quick look at the pitchers (we obviously wouldn’t sign all of them, just 1-3 per group) I think we should consider signing.  The guys in bold are my personal favorites

LHP – Doug Arguello, Brian Burres, Ryan Feierabend (a Cleveland native), Chuck James, Wil Ledezma, Wil Startup, Jake Stevens, Taylor Tankersley, Clay Zavada,

RHP – James Avery, Jimmy Barthmeier, Billy Buckner, David Bush, Matt Daley, Sam DeDuno, Todd Doolittle, Brandon Erbe, Sean Gallagher, Wil Inman, Garret Mock, Luis Perdomo, Mitch Talbot,  PJ Walters,

More about the position players later.