Tribe Updates - Looking ahead to the hapless M's

The Tribe enters the weekend after losing 2 of 3 to the A's only 3.5 games out from the card. There are 7 teams w/in 5 games of the lead, and if the Tribe does not take advantage of the weekend series with the M's, they'll find themselves in a tough spot w/ the Yanks coming to the Jake on Tuesday.

Pronk to the DL

From the CPD: "Hafner returned to Cleveland on Tuesday night to recover from the lingering effects of a concussion suffered July 16 when he was struck in the face by an 86 mph fastball from Chicago's Mark Buehrle....."

"....Buehrle, who started the All-Star Game for the American League, has not called Hafner to check his condition. "I wouldn't want him to call me," said Hafner. "I wouldn't care what he had to say. I really don't care."

Gotta love that spirit.

On the farm:

"Lefty Brian Tallet was recalled for the third time this year from Buffalo. He will replace Fernando Cabrera, who was optioned to Buffalo on Tuesday. "

"Indians first baseman Stephen Head went absolutely berserk in high Class A Kinston's 25-4 throttling of Frederick. Head, the Indians' second-round pick in June out of Mississippi, blasted his first two Carolina League home runs--including a seventh-inning grand slam--but that is only part of his ridiculous batting line. He finished 6-for-7 with nine RBIs and four runs scored, raising his high A batting average 86 points to .354."

What's up with the C'town faithful?

D'town Roger Brown: "Through 51 dates at Jacobs Field, the Indians are averaging 22,517 spectators. At that rate, the Indians will draw 1.82 million this season - short of the 1.95 million ownership has claimed is needed to break even. That said, the Indians should draw huge crowds next Tuesday through Thursday, when the Yankees visit."

What more does this team need to do? They are in the thick of the wild card chase, and they are a pretty damn exciting young team, albeit quite inconsistent.

A Great String of Takes from Sons of Geronimo Faithful

On Jody Gerut's trade and the 1B of the future:


It's probably a wash, but why trade a team favorite at this point in the
season? I guess they've seen the best Gerut has to offer, and Dubois has
more upside. I don't know of a more solid number 4 outfielder than Gerut.
On a side note, I say it's time to bring up Garko to play 1st, move Blake
to 3rd (I'm cringing as I type that) and play Dubois everyday in right (they say he is a 25-30 hr guy).

On Dubois (the next Ludwig?):


DuBois is (supposedly) the big-RBI right-handed bat they've been looking
for after it turned out that Ludwick and Juan-Gone were not. Gerut is
certainly one of the better 4th outfielders in baseball, but anytime you
can trade a reserve player for a potential everyday player, especially one
that addresses a weakness, it's a good move. Also, Gerut will be arbitration-eligible after this season, while Dubois will not be until after the 2007 season, so Gerut projects to make about 1.5-2.0 M for each of the next two years compared to about 350K for Dubois.

Re: Soriano rumors:

I don't think Adam Miller is available. There are 20+ teams in baseball whose only chance at getting a true number one starter is to produce it themselves or give up most of their farm system for one. The Tribe has (kind of) had one in the past 20 years (Colon), and I'd be
shocked if they gave up a decent chance at another one for the right to overpay an overrated player for one year and a half years before he becomes a free agent. I've heard outfielder Brad Snyder's name in those rumors, which would make more sense. And I can't remember who the other guys were supposed to be, but the Tribe has plenty to offer. I think what I'm supposed to say is, thank you, I'm out.

On Sabathia and other recent bums in Tribe memory....

Sabathia is a bum. I'm not losing the faith yet, because this team always emerges w/ a huge winning streak. But, losing a game to the Royals in which they had 2 errors and 2 wild pitches and Jose Lima on the mound is just god awful.


yeah, i'm so off sabathia. i just dropped him yesterday off my fantasy roster. he may end up being good someday but my juggernaut sons of geronimo squad cannot wait for him to get his act together. that fat-ass.

Terry Pluto's take on sending CC to Buffalo: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/12233112.htm

Paul Hoynes had this to say about CC:
http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/11224567494180.xml&coll=2


what indians pitcher in recent memory is worse than cc sabathia? chad ogea pitched in the world series. jason grimsley was over .500 a couple of times. jason bere was the second coming. ryan drese was an up and comer. even doc gooden came out of his crack haze to put together a few outings. do we have to take it all the way back to mike bielecki in 1993? or jack armstrong in '92? i don't know who it is, but there aren't many i'd take cc over...


Rich Yett..?


Always gotta throw my in favorite Kane Davis. JC astutely pointed out he was part of the 2000 debacle when the Tribe used like 45 pitchers including household names like the aussie wrangler Cam Cairncross, Scott Kamienicki, Sean Depaula, Jamie Navarro, Jim Brower, Alan Newman, former prospect Willie Martinez....and so on. For old times sake ManRam hit .351, 38 HR, 122 RBI in '00. Not a bad season considering he probably only cut-off the cut-off throw 2-3 times.


to continue memory lane...
c. baerga clubbed 200 hits, good for a .321 average, 21 bombs, 114 rbi and scored 105 runs in '93. oh, the good years. he also did enough booger sugar to kill a small horse. that's when athletes were men.

I still think the Jose Jimenez/Scott Stewart combo was one of Shapiro's most cunning moves. I mean those clowns had era's of 8.42 and 7.24, respectively.