Indians Confidential

The Indians are not saying it, but they are not officially in rebuild mode, as Saturday night after the game the team announced they had sent third basemen Mark DeRosa to the St.Louis Cardinals for relief pitcher Chrs Perez and a player to be named later.

DeRosa was not in the lineup on Saturday night, and when asked if he knew something was up, he said that he knew once he was not in the lineup, that something was amiss. He said that while excited to be going to a team in St.Louis that is challenging for a division title, it is tough to leave the Indians, a team he really wanted to succeed with in 2009.

So with that, the Indians are down a key vet in the locker room, and the mood was somber at best as players like Kerry Wood, Victor Martinez and Carl Pavano said their good-byes to DeRosa and sat around trying to take away the sting of what is going to be another long summer, as if it has not already.

Perez will join the club on Sunday, but won’t be able to pitch till probably Monday according to GM Mark Shapiro, who said this move had to be made simply to address a serious issue with the team – the bullpen. The 23-year-old Perez has spent most of 09 in the Cards pen, going 1-1 with a save and an ERA of 4.18.

He started the 2008 season at AAA Memphis, but spent most of the year in St.Louis after being called up on May 16th. DeRosa was hitting .270 with 13 homers and 50 RBI. He was a key offseason pickup that was supposed to be a rock at third base. Now, he’ll be nothing more than a footnote for his three month Indians career.