It is hard to fathom the infatuation with Russ Canzler. The guy has raised his average but he still has no HRs (only 3 XBHs in 83 ABs) and 9 guys are hitting better than him on the Clippers. You have Chisenhall at 3B, LaPorta at 1B/LF. I know Canzler has an opt out but so what, the guy is irrelevant on this team.
Beau Mills is like Josh Tomlin used to be in the minors: Treat him like crap and like an after-thought and he still performs. He deserves to play more.
They're dropping like flies: Chen Lee and now probably Bryce Stowell in addition to LeVon Washington. Guys who were on the upswing, prospect-wise, are having potentially serious injury issues. There may be other guys (Bryson?), too.
Cody Allen sighting: Just when prospects are dropping due to injury, Allen is coming on like gangbusters. I saw him today pitching for Columbus and his stuff plays really well even in his first game at AAA.
Speaking of Canzler, Jared Goedert needs to be at AAA.
Francisco Lindor and Luigi Rodriguez could be the top two prospects in the organization by the end of the year. Low A stats are misleading but both of these guys look like they are for real. There is not a lot of plate discipline on Lake County, however, as Lindor (9 BB in 102 AB) leads the team in walks.
Would I rather have Josh Judy, Zach Putnam and Cory Burns instead of Kevin Slowey and Aaron Cunningham? Who wouldn't...now OR when they were traded for? Smart sometimes takes a long time to materialize but stupid is apparent from the get-go.
One can only wait for the end of the Jairo Ascensio and Dan Wheeler eras in Cleveland and the callup of some of these young, stud relievers. BTW, Putnam and Judy are lights out at AAA and Burns is scuffling a bit but is still striking out guys.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Musings for a Friday the 13th
- Of the teams that have played home games (22), the Indians are dead last in attendance trailing Houston, who is 21st, by over 4,000 fans a game. Only one of the remaining 8 teams (KC) is even a remote possibility to have fewer fans than the Indians. The Indians are averaging just over 18,000 people per home game but the last 3 games they didn't even average 10,000 people a game.Bottom line: fans are not going to go see this team. The basketball team stinks, the football team stinks, yet no one is going to spend money watching this collection of AAAA players.Remember, as I said, except for the 30-15 start last year the Indians are averaging 69-93. They started 1-4 AT HOME. This franchise is in trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Let's officially bury the CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee trades. Anyone who still says that we got anywhere near reasonable value in either of those trades is just flat out wrong. As I have said previously, those trades, plus the desperate trade for Jimenez and the resultant desperate trades to justify the Jimenez trade will make it so this franchise does not have a winning season for 10 years in a row.
- With the signing of Johnny Damon we will probably bid farewell to Aaron Cunningham, another of Antonnetti's stupid, desperate trades after the Jimenez deal. The Cunningham deal cost us both Cory Burns and Josh Judy, both of whom are doing well in the minors.
- BTW, have you seen how well the guys we traded for Jimenez are doing? Even Matt McBride is looking like he might be more than a throw-in on this deal, not surprising as he was hitting well before the trade.
- The Kevin Slowey trade is looking like another dog of a move. The guy couldn't even make our ML roster this spring. So, tell me now if you would rather have Zach Putnam or Wheeler/Asencio.
- On a brighter note, LeVon Washington, the guy a lot of fans panned over the winter and when we drafted him, is an on-base machine at Lake County. He, Francisco Lindor and Luigi Rodriguez are showing why they are among the top Indians' prospects. Also, the starting pitching throughout our system has been great. Part of this is due to the backup of pitchers due to our ML depth at AAA but it is encouraging, especially in light of us not having Pomeranz, White and Gardner any more.
- Now, about Johnny Damon. Hey, with that contract and our current offensive woes he can't hurt this team. I think, given everything, this is a good addition. I don't see anyone at AAA ready to step up and claim a starting OF spot. Crowe is a 4th outfielder. I think he is better than Brantley but that is just my opinion. Carrera is a classic AAAA player so far as none of his tools play that well in the majors except maybe his defense/arm and LaPorta is not really an OFer. Huffman is just a AAAA guy, as well. Sizemore is hurt so Damon is an answer. Once again, however, it shows how foolish the Indians were to give Hafner and his bad wing a long-term contract at DH. Giving DHs long term contracts is even more foolish that giving pitchers long term contracts, IMO. DH is where you put your guys to rest them or for a year or two later in their career. If Hafner stays healthy and stays productive he can be an average DH, meaning we don't need to give his ABs away. Still, signing Hafner KILLED our flexibility, first with VMart and now somewhat with Santana.
So, Mr. Antonnetti, good job so far....if you spend your days watching the ownership of "Major League". You are doing a great impersonation of those people!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
A couple of early minor league questions
1. Why, after 3 games, does Beau Mills have exactly one AB? Is he hurt? He was 5 for his last 7 in spring training including 2 HRs. That would have seemed to give him at least a DH role in AAA. The DHs for the first three games were Andy LaRoche, Russ Canzler and Trevor Crowe. LaPorta played 1B all three games.
2. Are the pitchers dominating based on ability, expereince or both? Slowev, Kluber and McAllister have spent 1+ years at AAA.
3. Akron's pitching has been unexpectedly brilliant. Is this because Paulo Espino, TJ McFarland and Steven Wright have been here before?
4. I would have guessed that Akron would crush the ball as guys who are being held back at AA are guys who have hit the ball well not only in Akron but at AAA in the past. The Aeros have scored only 3 runs in going 2-1 in their first 3 games.
5. Will the Captains' starting pitching be as good as it appears it will be? Having Araujo, Sterling and Roberts in the rotation makes it appear pretty strong. With Colon, Blair and Radeke behind those three, this could be an exciting year for Captains; baseball, especially if the hitting prospects hit.
2. Are the pitchers dominating based on ability, expereince or both? Slowev, Kluber and McAllister have spent 1+ years at AAA.
3. Akron's pitching has been unexpectedly brilliant. Is this because Paulo Espino, TJ McFarland and Steven Wright have been here before?
4. I would have guessed that Akron would crush the ball as guys who are being held back at AA are guys who have hit the ball well not only in Akron but at AAA in the past. The Aeros have scored only 3 runs in going 2-1 in their first 3 games.
5. Will the Captains' starting pitching be as good as it appears it will be? Having Araujo, Sterling and Roberts in the rotation makes it appear pretty strong. With Colon, Blair and Radeke behind those three, this could be an exciting year for Captains; baseball, especially if the hitting prospects hit.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
2012 Predictions
OK, we are to that point. The season has started or is about to start for all of the Indians' minor league teams and for their major league team. So it's time to do my annual predictions. These are done without a lot of knowledge of what will happen during the season in terms of injuries, promotions, etc.
Cleveland - I really want to find something positive to say about the Indians. In the 70s and 80s the Indians had the #1 draft choice one time, I think. They were just never bad enough to be the worse, just bad enough to be terrible. So it will be for the Indians this year.
Record: 70-92
MVP: Justin Masterson
Biggest Surprise: Lonnie Chisenhall
Biggest Disappointment: Ubaldo Jimenez
Columbus - This will be an interesting team. On paper it is the best team, top to bottom, that the Clippers have had. The starting pitching is great, the bullpen is deep, the position players are experienced and hungry and know, with a good performance, they stand a good chance to play in Cleveland this year.
Record: 85-59
MVP: Lonnie Chisenhall
Biggest Disappointment: Matt LaPorta
Biggest Surprise: Beau Mills
Akron - Akron will benefit from the position player backup at Columbus. Their starting pitching will probably be weak but the bullpen is strong and the position players are mainly prospects with some talent who are, due to too many guys at AAA, are repeating this level.
Record: 83-61
MVP: Tim Fedroff, Jared Goedert
Biggest Surprise: Nick Weglarz, Rob Bryson
Biggest Disappointment: Kyle Bellows
Carolina - New team, same league, different results. Carolina will finish with a 60-84 overall record and fail to make the playoffs.
Record: 60-84
MVP: Carlos Moncrief
Biggest Surprise: Cody Allen, Carlos Moncrief, Ronny Rodriguez
Biggest Disappointment: Tyler Holt, Jake Lowery, Tony Wolters (only because of his age)
Lake County - Same team, different year, different result. This team will sizzle this year. All the guys who underperformed there last year will perform very well this year.
That's it. I will revisit this in a couple of months to see how I am doing.
Record: 90-54
MVP: Felix Sterling, LeVon Washington
Biggest Surprise: LeVon Washington, Alex Lavisky, Kyle Blair
Biggest Disappointment: Francisco Lindor (he is too young and inexperienced to be here, just like Lavisky was last year)
Cleveland - I really want to find something positive to say about the Indians. In the 70s and 80s the Indians had the #1 draft choice one time, I think. They were just never bad enough to be the worse, just bad enough to be terrible. So it will be for the Indians this year.
Record: 70-92
MVP: Justin Masterson
Biggest Surprise: Lonnie Chisenhall
Biggest Disappointment: Ubaldo Jimenez
Columbus - This will be an interesting team. On paper it is the best team, top to bottom, that the Clippers have had. The starting pitching is great, the bullpen is deep, the position players are experienced and hungry and know, with a good performance, they stand a good chance to play in Cleveland this year.
Record: 85-59
MVP: Lonnie Chisenhall
Biggest Disappointment: Matt LaPorta
Biggest Surprise: Beau Mills
Akron - Akron will benefit from the position player backup at Columbus. Their starting pitching will probably be weak but the bullpen is strong and the position players are mainly prospects with some talent who are, due to too many guys at AAA, are repeating this level.
Record: 83-61
MVP: Tim Fedroff, Jared Goedert
Biggest Surprise: Nick Weglarz, Rob Bryson
Biggest Disappointment: Kyle Bellows
Carolina - New team, same league, different results. Carolina will finish with a 60-84 overall record and fail to make the playoffs.
Record: 60-84
MVP: Carlos Moncrief
Biggest Surprise: Cody Allen, Carlos Moncrief, Ronny Rodriguez
Biggest Disappointment: Tyler Holt, Jake Lowery, Tony Wolters (only because of his age)
Lake County - Same team, different year, different result. This team will sizzle this year. All the guys who underperformed there last year will perform very well this year.
That's it. I will revisit this in a couple of months to see how I am doing.
Record: 90-54
MVP: Felix Sterling, LeVon Washington
Biggest Surprise: LeVon Washington, Alex Lavisky, Kyle Blair
Biggest Disappointment: Francisco Lindor (he is too young and inexperienced to be here, just like Lavisky was last year)
Monday, April 2, 2012
May I introduce your 2012 Cleveland Indians
I have said it before: The Indians gave away a lot of talent this winter. So far, it has not panned out:
Ubaldo Jimenez has not only been a bad pitcher this spring, now he looks like a head case. He cost us 4 prospects: Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner and Matt McBride.
Kevin Slowey has been optioned to the minors. He cost us Zach Putnam, maybe a top 10 and certainly a top 20 prospect in this organization.
Aaaron Cunningham is barely hitting over .200 in spring training. He cost us Cory Burns and Josh Judy. Cunningham made the team ONLY because he was out of options and because he stunk it up just slightly less than his 'competition'.
Derek Lowe - Looking like exactly what they bought: an innings eater who will get lit up sometimes (cost us Chris Jones; may be worth the price and more). He looks like a solid trade chip in July
Josh Tomlin - If his body hangs together, an excellent #5 and a mediocre #4.
Jeanmar Gomez - I hope his body holds together although we still have Huff, McAlister and Barnes.
Bullpen: The Perezs, Sipp, Pestano and Joe Smith will be solid if healthy. Dan Wheeler stinks and so, probably, does Jairo Asencio. Note that the latter two would have EASILY been replaced by Zach Putnam and Josh Judy and THAT shows how stupid the trades for Cunningham and Slowey were.
The starting lineup: Duncan is coming off one hot month in his ML life (last September) and that earned him being our starter in LF. Hanahan is a .230 career hitter and had his career (.250) year last year. Kotchman had his career year last year and this journeyman is our starter at 1B. Thus three of our starting players are probably no more than AAAA players coming off career years or,in Duncan's case, one career month. That is truly pathetic. You invest heavily in Jimenez and then, the next year, start THREE AAAA players. The rest of the lineup is solide but the damage is done
The bench: Besides that Donald and Marson are the career backups they projected to be (and I said they would be) when we made the Cliff Lee trade, Lopez looks solid and Cunningham stinks so 3 of our 4 bench players are ML average, or better, for bench players. The bench is relatively strong except for Cunningham.
So there you have your 2012 Cleveland Indians. Remember, that except for the 30-15 start last year, Acta has essentially identical winning percentages for 2010 and 2011.
People, this team is in trouble on paper...and teams that are in trouble on paper don't give up 7 prospects and get very little back in return except increased salary. That is a recipe for disaster and Chris Antonneti is taking us down that road.
If we weren't Indians fans I would be worried about some of you and would ask that all sharp objects be removed from your grasp. But we are Indains fans and that sucking sound we hear from our team in April is actually music to our ears.
So, let the opening day crowd be a sellout and the second day crowd be about 10 times the number of vendors in the stands. If it was any other way it wouldn't be Cleveland.
Play ball...or whatever semblance of it the 2012 Cleveland Indians try to fumble through
Ubaldo Jimenez has not only been a bad pitcher this spring, now he looks like a head case. He cost us 4 prospects: Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner and Matt McBride.
Kevin Slowey has been optioned to the minors. He cost us Zach Putnam, maybe a top 10 and certainly a top 20 prospect in this organization.
Aaaron Cunningham is barely hitting over .200 in spring training. He cost us Cory Burns and Josh Judy. Cunningham made the team ONLY because he was out of options and because he stunk it up just slightly less than his 'competition'.
Derek Lowe - Looking like exactly what they bought: an innings eater who will get lit up sometimes (cost us Chris Jones; may be worth the price and more). He looks like a solid trade chip in July
Josh Tomlin - If his body hangs together, an excellent #5 and a mediocre #4.
Jeanmar Gomez - I hope his body holds together although we still have Huff, McAlister and Barnes.
Bullpen: The Perezs, Sipp, Pestano and Joe Smith will be solid if healthy. Dan Wheeler stinks and so, probably, does Jairo Asencio. Note that the latter two would have EASILY been replaced by Zach Putnam and Josh Judy and THAT shows how stupid the trades for Cunningham and Slowey were.
The starting lineup: Duncan is coming off one hot month in his ML life (last September) and that earned him being our starter in LF. Hanahan is a .230 career hitter and had his career (.250) year last year. Kotchman had his career year last year and this journeyman is our starter at 1B. Thus three of our starting players are probably no more than AAAA players coming off career years or,in Duncan's case, one career month. That is truly pathetic. You invest heavily in Jimenez and then, the next year, start THREE AAAA players. The rest of the lineup is solide but the damage is done
The bench: Besides that Donald and Marson are the career backups they projected to be (and I said they would be) when we made the Cliff Lee trade, Lopez looks solid and Cunningham stinks so 3 of our 4 bench players are ML average, or better, for bench players. The bench is relatively strong except for Cunningham.
So there you have your 2012 Cleveland Indians. Remember, that except for the 30-15 start last year, Acta has essentially identical winning percentages for 2010 and 2011.
People, this team is in trouble on paper...and teams that are in trouble on paper don't give up 7 prospects and get very little back in return except increased salary. That is a recipe for disaster and Chris Antonneti is taking us down that road.
If we weren't Indians fans I would be worried about some of you and would ask that all sharp objects be removed from your grasp. But we are Indains fans and that sucking sound we hear from our team in April is actually music to our ears.
So, let the opening day crowd be a sellout and the second day crowd be about 10 times the number of vendors in the stands. If it was any other way it wouldn't be Cleveland.
Play ball...or whatever semblance of it the 2012 Cleveland Indians try to fumble through
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