There is a way to make sure your free agents stay with you through retirement.
(A) Sign them to outrageous, long-term deals that no other club would be willing to eat
(B) Demand a lot in trade for those players without eating much, if any, of the outrageous salaries
Yep, you wanted the guy, you got him.
Now to the topic of this post:
First, what I am about to propose is unlikely to happen as has been indicated to me by someone who is much more knowledgeable about the Indians' situation than I will ever be. But still, let's dream on this.
I have been saying for some time that the Indians need another outfield bat. I know they are hoping that this bat belongs to Bradley Zimmer, and I hope so, too.
But wouldn't it be nice to have a proven run producer? The window is open for the Tribe to compete. Do we bet that Zimmer will aid that effort or do we look to use Zimmer to get someone who will aid this effort? It's a tough question.
Just for grins, let's explore what a possible trade with Miami for Giancarlo Stanton would look like.
In preface of this proposal, Miami is in the middle of bad season. Stanton is about to get an $11 million raise next year (to $25 million) and his salary doesn't get any smaller through the end of it in about 8 years. There are also some bidders to by the Marlins and it will not make the team any more attractive if they have Stanton's albatross of a contract to deal with. Not that Stanton is bad. However, paying one player $25 million plus a year on a team that needs to continuing rebuilding doesn't make any sense.
In order to trade Stanton the Marlins may need the following:
a. A replacement for Stanton
b. A ML-ready starting pitcher
c. 1 or 2 stud prospects, depending on which OFer they would receive.
Plus, it doesn't appear that they are going to be eating much, if any, of that contract. Remember, potential buyers don't like sunk assets that won't bring back a return.
Looking at it from the Marlins' perspective, here are the players I think they would want:
Zimmer, Clevinger and Francisco Mejia.
The first two are for need and the third one is just the icing on the cake to placate their fan base that they got value for Stanton, when it is mainly a salary dump.
To be honest, this trade would likely stick in most Indians' fans craws. Not every fan but a lot of them. Plus, we are a small market team who blew their budget to sign Encarnacion. That's a lot to give up to get one player back AND have to eat this salary. Two of these three would be bad enough, but all 3? The Indians would need something else back. But what?
Our bullpen looks good with Goody slotting in so there isn't much need there (unless you think Cody Allen is going to break down soon). The OF is overcrowded and we have more than enough depth at infield. I wouldn't want AJ Ellis instead of Perez as the backup catcher and they aren't trading their starting catcher, Realmuto. Basically, they have nothing on the ML roster that we need right now.
So, let's think out of the box. If the Marlins want these three guys and don't want to throw in like $30 million ($10 million a year starting in 2018 when Stanton's contract balloons) they are clearly planning for the NEAR future and would need that money for flexibility in signing free agents. So let's get some of their FAR future.
Pulling out the trusty Baseball America prospect handbook the Marlins don't have a lot in the lower minors that the Indians would want, at least not on paper. The only guy I could find is pitcher Edward Cabrera, their pre-season #7 prospect. Not really enough to make up, in my opinion, for eating a bunch of Stanton's salary.
OK, let's try something else. How about if we substitute Yandy Diaz for Mejia and throw in Joe Colon?
So we would get Stanton and Edward Cabrera and give up Zimmer, Clevinger, Diaz and Colon. The Marlins would throw in a paltry $5 million to help pay Stanton's salary this year.
We have now blown our budget out of the water for the next several years making it extremely difficult and, likely, impossible to re-sign Carlos Santana. I am willing to lose Santana to free agency or trade him if Stanton remains healthy. DHs are relatively easy to find and cheap to sign. Maybe not as good as Santana but much cheaper.
As a prospect person I would stick with Zimmer. However, as a guy who has witnessed the Indians give up Frazier, Sheffeld, et al for Andrew Miller, I am on board with this trade. You can't play it halfway. You can't try to break in prospects and expect to have the horses to make it back to the WS. Zimmer is still too much of a question mark for THIS year and our other options, like Almonte, are just not going to cut it. Besides, if we want a CFer for the future we have Greg Allen.
Having Stanton also means less of a need for Abe Almonte as Stanton is righthanded. Basically we have Brantley in left, a platoon of Jackson and Chisenhall in CF with Brantley and Chisenhall being able to play multiple OF positions. I am not convinced Chisenhall can play CF for a contender but, what the heck.
So, I think we should seriously explore this trade and NOW. If we are going to have Stanton and pay a high price for him, we should get as much of him as we can...starting now.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
What is it...
...about the Indians and expensive free agents?
It seems like the last 'name' free agent signing we had was Orel Hersheiser.
Really!
Edwin Encarnacion is just not looking like his previous self. Yesterday was the perfect example. When we needed a hit he hit into a crushing double play...after taking a hanging slider on the inner half on the first pitch. Hey, I knew the slider was coming. Then, instead of trying to avoid the shift and shorten his stroke to drive in a run, he hits right into the shift for that back-breaker.
The Indians should be sailing now. Adding Encarnacion should have been the missing piece. Rev that up a little at the trade deadline or in August with an all-star quality OFer and we would be looking pretty much invincible.
But we are left with the current version of Encarnacion and the ghosts of free agent signings like Bourn, Swisher, Kerry Wood, Chuck Finley, Rick Dempsey (this one still hurts) and Wayne Garland.
Of course, to be fair, Juan Gonzalez, Ellis Burks and even Robbie Alomar turned out pretty well.
Still, the recent history of Swisher and Bourn skews the perspective. We needed a 'win' with Encarnacion for a number of reasons as what Napoli brought was greater than the sum of his stats. Encarnacion's stats and merely an average veteran presence in the locker room would have likely banged the scale off the table in his favor.
Let's hope Encarnacion does the reverse of Wayne Garland (starting strong and then fading out) and makes us forget his 2017 April and May. Hey, we are 24-23 with him stinking it up most nights. Imagine what we could be with him actually producing at his average pace!
It seems like the last 'name' free agent signing we had was Orel Hersheiser.
Really!
Edwin Encarnacion is just not looking like his previous self. Yesterday was the perfect example. When we needed a hit he hit into a crushing double play...after taking a hanging slider on the inner half on the first pitch. Hey, I knew the slider was coming. Then, instead of trying to avoid the shift and shorten his stroke to drive in a run, he hits right into the shift for that back-breaker.
The Indians should be sailing now. Adding Encarnacion should have been the missing piece. Rev that up a little at the trade deadline or in August with an all-star quality OFer and we would be looking pretty much invincible.
But we are left with the current version of Encarnacion and the ghosts of free agent signings like Bourn, Swisher, Kerry Wood, Chuck Finley, Rick Dempsey (this one still hurts) and Wayne Garland.
Of course, to be fair, Juan Gonzalez, Ellis Burks and even Robbie Alomar turned out pretty well.
Still, the recent history of Swisher and Bourn skews the perspective. We needed a 'win' with Encarnacion for a number of reasons as what Napoli brought was greater than the sum of his stats. Encarnacion's stats and merely an average veteran presence in the locker room would have likely banged the scale off the table in his favor.
Let's hope Encarnacion does the reverse of Wayne Garland (starting strong and then fading out) and makes us forget his 2017 April and May. Hey, we are 24-23 with him stinking it up most nights. Imagine what we could be with him actually producing at his average pace!
Monday, May 22, 2017
Can we talk?
I have to say I have never been so frustrated with Cleveland sports as I am tonight...and that is a GREAT thing.
To grow up in Cleveland and have expectations of winning at such a high level that you are frustrated when the team(s) don't win means good things are happening in Cleveland sports.
That being said, it is just as hard to watch Edwin Encarnacion fail to hit as it is to watch the Cavs blow a 21-point lead.
Just like with the Cavs, when you watch Encarnacion scuffle you know that if he would just put it all together the sum of the team's success would be greater than just his normal, star-level contribution. Like LeBron hitting on all cylinders, Encarnacion being Encarnacion would make everyone around him that much better and make the whole much, much greater than the sum of its parts.
If Encarnacion doesn't start to hit soon, we will have what we have right now: Indians' fans fretting about why their 4th and 5th starter gives up 4 ER in 6+ innings. I mean, really? If Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin have to throw shutouts or give up 2 or fewer runs every time they go out for us to be successful then we have a problem. Teams expect their 4th and 5th starters to give them a chance to compete and, for the most part, Bauer and Tomlin have done just that. In 6 of 9 starts Tomlin has given up 4 or fewer runs. Yes, when he is bad he is REALLY bad, leading to a pretty high ERA. However, if the team was hitting his record could easily be 5-3 instead o 2-6. Ditto for Bauer. He has given up 4 or fewer runs in 6 of 8 starts. He could easily be 5-3 instead of 4-4 right now, the latter, with how bad we are hitting, showing how he has been good most of the time to even be 4-4 with his ERA. Again, the clunkers are clunkers but the other ones are not terrible, especially with our bullpen, if Encarnacion hits. Hey, don't get me wrong, Tomlin and Bauer are WAY below their career WARs right now. Still, if we are clicking on all cylinders offensively, we are not worried about our 4-5 starters not pitching like Cy Young.
Hey, we are 23-20 even with the key to our offense struggling, Kluber being out, Kipnis just rounding into shape and with all of our outfield injuries. So, fingers crossed that Encarnacion hits. If he does, this could start looking like the Cavs first 10 playoff games. If not, we could keep struggling like the Cavs first game against Indiana and the most recent game against the Celtics. Hard to watch but not out of the running by any means.
To grow up in Cleveland and have expectations of winning at such a high level that you are frustrated when the team(s) don't win means good things are happening in Cleveland sports.
That being said, it is just as hard to watch Edwin Encarnacion fail to hit as it is to watch the Cavs blow a 21-point lead.
Just like with the Cavs, when you watch Encarnacion scuffle you know that if he would just put it all together the sum of the team's success would be greater than just his normal, star-level contribution. Like LeBron hitting on all cylinders, Encarnacion being Encarnacion would make everyone around him that much better and make the whole much, much greater than the sum of its parts.
If Encarnacion doesn't start to hit soon, we will have what we have right now: Indians' fans fretting about why their 4th and 5th starter gives up 4 ER in 6+ innings. I mean, really? If Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin have to throw shutouts or give up 2 or fewer runs every time they go out for us to be successful then we have a problem. Teams expect their 4th and 5th starters to give them a chance to compete and, for the most part, Bauer and Tomlin have done just that. In 6 of 9 starts Tomlin has given up 4 or fewer runs. Yes, when he is bad he is REALLY bad, leading to a pretty high ERA. However, if the team was hitting his record could easily be 5-3 instead o 2-6. Ditto for Bauer. He has given up 4 or fewer runs in 6 of 8 starts. He could easily be 5-3 instead of 4-4 right now, the latter, with how bad we are hitting, showing how he has been good most of the time to even be 4-4 with his ERA. Again, the clunkers are clunkers but the other ones are not terrible, especially with our bullpen, if Encarnacion hits. Hey, don't get me wrong, Tomlin and Bauer are WAY below their career WARs right now. Still, if we are clicking on all cylinders offensively, we are not worried about our 4-5 starters not pitching like Cy Young.
Hey, we are 23-20 even with the key to our offense struggling, Kluber being out, Kipnis just rounding into shape and with all of our outfield injuries. So, fingers crossed that Encarnacion hits. If he does, this could start looking like the Cavs first 10 playoff games. If not, we could keep struggling like the Cavs first game against Indiana and the most recent game against the Celtics. Hard to watch but not out of the running by any means.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Morimando
Good outing today. He still has work to do, just like Luis Lugo does and Juan Hillman does. I like all these guys as future major leaguers or some level. Lots to dream on.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Pannone...part 3
OK, if you all have been following this, Thomas Pannone had his streak of consecutive innings without giving up an earned run snapped on Saturday. Or did he?
The game was suspended in the middle of the 3rd inning with Akron leading 6-3. Now, in the majors the stats would just not count as the game would have to be replayed from the beginning as it was not an official game. However, in the minors, normally games that are suspended due to bad weather are simply resumed and finished at a later date.
But is it possible for a team to petition minor league baseball to simply have that game cancelled and restarted from the beginning like a major league game would be?
I don't know but Saturday's game was scheduled to be finished on Sunday but that game got rained out, too.
So we have a situation here. Can this game be cancelled before it is finished. If so, Pannone's streak would be intact at 51 innings and he would still have a chance to break the record for most consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, a streak that appears to be 59 innings and was set in 1907.
I don't know but I am starting to ask that question. If I get an answer I will post it here.
Stay tuned. Hopefully the Rubber Ducks can work to get this game cancelled before it is resumed.
The game was suspended in the middle of the 3rd inning with Akron leading 6-3. Now, in the majors the stats would just not count as the game would have to be replayed from the beginning as it was not an official game. However, in the minors, normally games that are suspended due to bad weather are simply resumed and finished at a later date.
But is it possible for a team to petition minor league baseball to simply have that game cancelled and restarted from the beginning like a major league game would be?
I don't know but Saturday's game was scheduled to be finished on Sunday but that game got rained out, too.
So we have a situation here. Can this game be cancelled before it is finished. If so, Pannone's streak would be intact at 51 innings and he would still have a chance to break the record for most consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, a streak that appears to be 59 innings and was set in 1907.
I don't know but I am starting to ask that question. If I get an answer I will post it here.
Stay tuned. Hopefully the Rubber Ducks can work to get this game cancelled before it is resumed.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Pannone...again
Ok, he gets a promotion and goes out and throws another 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
So, Thomas Pannone sets at, I think, 51 1/3 consecutive innings without giving up an EARNED run.
So, I did some digging and asked Sean Lahman at SABR for some help in finding the minor league record for consecutive innings without giving up an earned run by a pitcher. Here is his response:
"Our game-level data is incomplete for many minor leagues, but I believe the record for consecutive scoreless innings is 59, set by Irving Wilhelm of the Memphis Redbirds in 1907. This was uncovered in 2004 when another pitcher, Brad Thompson with the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League, ran his streak to 57. (It was actually 49 in the Southern League and 8 in the FSL)". Thompson's, like Pannone's streak, came over two seasons.
So, as officially as we know, Pannone would have to go 8 more scoreless innings a row to break the minor league record.
Will be difficult to do as he is now pitching in a better league and he would likely have to do it over 2 more starts. But he is close and he has had a great run so far.
Let's hope for a little luck.
So, Thomas Pannone sets at, I think, 51 1/3 consecutive innings without giving up an EARNED run.
So, I did some digging and asked Sean Lahman at SABR for some help in finding the minor league record for consecutive innings without giving up an earned run by a pitcher. Here is his response:
"Our game-level data is incomplete for many minor leagues, but I believe the record for consecutive scoreless innings is 59, set by Irving Wilhelm of the Memphis Redbirds in 1907. This was uncovered in 2004 when another pitcher, Brad Thompson with the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League, ran his streak to 57. (It was actually 49 in the Southern League and 8 in the FSL)". Thompson's, like Pannone's streak, came over two seasons.
So, as officially as we know, Pannone would have to go 8 more scoreless innings a row to break the minor league record.
Will be difficult to do as he is now pitching in a better league and he would likely have to do it over 2 more starts. But he is close and he has had a great run so far.
Let's hope for a little luck.
Monday, May 1, 2017
Pannone
Another 7 scoreless tonight. That's over 27 innings this year without giving up an earned run. But wait, it gets better.
Looking back over last year it looks like this last two starts (7 and 6 innings) were scoreless and his 3rd to last start he gave up a HR in the first inning.
So, likely, he has gone 45 innings at Lynchburg over the last two seasons without giving up an ER.
Amazing. Probably not close to a minor league record but, still, really darned good for a guy who is not too old for the league...and did I mention that he is a lefty?
Pannone is a guy to keep an eye on.
Looking back over last year it looks like this last two starts (7 and 6 innings) were scoreless and his 3rd to last start he gave up a HR in the first inning.
So, likely, he has gone 45 innings at Lynchburg over the last two seasons without giving up an ER.
Amazing. Probably not close to a minor league record but, still, really darned good for a guy who is not too old for the league...and did I mention that he is a lefty?
Pannone is a guy to keep an eye on.
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