Indians Confidential

The Indians will miss Yanks third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who will be out till mid-May after he has hip surgery to have a cyst removed. That could lead to a move where the Indians offer up Andy Marte, who the Indians have been trying to move since they decided that he won’t be playing third base for them in 2009.

GM Mark Shapiro said the Yankees have not called about Marte. But Shapiro added, “If they call, we’ll listen.” Marte is sitting in AAA Columbus, and out of options, he won’t be back with the big league club anytime soon.

If he starts the year in Columbus, he’ll be behind Wes Hodges at third base. Marte, 25, hit .221 (52-for-235) with three homers and 17 RBI for the Indians last season.

The Indians today acquired RHP JUAN SALAS from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league INF ISAIAS VELASQUEZ. To make room on the 40-man roster for Salas, the Indians designated INF ANDY MARTE for assignment.

Salas, 30, who was designated for assignment by the Rays on February 13, spent nearly the entire 2008 season with AAA Durham, posting a record of 4-5 with a 2.62 ERA and 1 save in 28 appearances (44.2IP, 32H, 13R/ER, 11BB, 53K, .201 avg against) out of the bullpen for the Bulls. He also made 5 appearances (6.1IP, 5H, 5R/ER, 4BB, 8K) with the Rays over two different stints.

Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Devil Rays in 1998 as an infielder, Salas was converted to a relief pitcher in 2004 and owns a career Major League record of 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA (52.2IP, 54H, 31R/26ER, 24BB, 42K, .255 avg. against) in 47 appearances. In 2007, he made 34 appearances with Tampa going 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA (36.1IP, 36H, 19R/15ER, 17BB, 26K, .248 avg. against).

In 2006, Salas participated in the Future’s Game for the World Team and was named to Baseball America’s All-Minor League Team as well as awarded MiLB.com’s Minor League Reliever of the Year. In his career at the Minor League level he is 13-7 with a 2.54 ERA and 20 saves (187.2IP, 134H, 66R/53ER, 77BB, 223K) in 135 appearances.

Sometimes the difference between good and bad teams comes down simply to clutch hitting and defense.  That was evident at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon, as the Los Angeles Angels took advantage of four Indians errors and the fact the Indians couldn’t get a big hit when they needed it in their 4-3 win.

With the game tied at one in the third, the Indians put on one of the more uglier defensive displays you’ll ever see.  From Ben Francisco throwing a ball 15 feet short to the cut-off at third that allowed a run to score, to an Andy Marte short hop throw to first, to a wild pitch that allowed Vlad Guerrero to go from second to home, the Indians looked more like the Bad News Bears than a team trying to stay competitive.

Fausto Carmona threw that wild pitch, it was one of two for him on the day, but overall can’t be blamed for this setback.  He lasted seven innings, allowing two earned runs, four overall, on six hits.  He walked three and didn’t record a strikeout while falling to 5-5 on the season.  He was able to limit any damage the Angels did throughout, and deserved a better fate.

As for the offense, they were led by the long ball, as David Dellucci hit a solo homer in the first to tie the game at one, and then Ryan Garko hit a two-run shot in the fourth to make it 4-3.  It was the last run of the game.  The Tribe loaded the bases in the 7th off relief pitcher Darren Oliver, but a strikeout, a senstional play by short stop Erick Aybar, and then a ground out ended the frame.  Aybar was running at the popout in short left and made a diving play on a ball by Garko to save one or possibly two runs.

Francisco Rodriguez allowed a single to Jhonny Peralta (2-for-4) to start the ninth, but then the team was unable to get that clutch hit and it ended with the team dropping another one-run game.  The loss drops them to 55-67 on the season, the Angels improve to 76-45.

The series wraps up on Sunday with Jeremy Sowers (1-6, 5.70) vs Joe Saunders (14-5, 3.07) at 1:05pm.

It seems like forever a go that the Indians had won five straight games. The locker room at the time was full of players that were ready to make a run at a title, like C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd, Casey Blake, and players like Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner  were healthy. In other words - it was a time when the Indians felt they had a shot in the AL Central. Fast forward to August 12th. The team has moved the first three players on the list, while the other two are on the DL. Nevertheless, this Indians squad now simply playing out the season is at least showing some signs of life.

Tuesday night against the equally as bad Baltimore Orioles, and just about three hours after moving Byrd to the Red Sox, the Indians built an early 4-2 lead and led at one point 5-2, but like Monday night saw the game slip away only to then regain the lead late for a 7-5 win. The team gave up the 5-2 lead by allowing the O’s a single run in the 5th and two more in the 7th to tie the game at 4. The Tribe offense continued to stay hot, as they scored twice in the bottom of the 8th to seal the deal.

Shin-Soo Choo was hit by a pitch, then Andy Marte bunted Choo to second. Asdrubal Cabrera stayed hot, hitting a single to center that scored Choo with the winning run to make it 6-5. Two batters later the team added an extra run when Ben Francisco singled to left that scored Cabrera to make it 7-5. Jensen Lewis pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save and send the Indians to their second straight over the birds.

Jeremy Sowers went for the Indians to start the game, and was good after a shakey first that saw him allow two runs. He lasted 6.1, allowing four runs on six hits. His fastball seemed to have pretty good movement, and he continues to make progress in his development in trying to make sure he’ll be a part of the starting rotation in 2009. The bullpen of dispair saw Masa Kobayashi not retire a batter and allow a run on two hits.

Rafael Perez, who is the best of the pen’s bunch right now, went 1.2 scoreless innings, and picked up the win to improve to 2-2. Lewis’ 9th inning gave him his second save of the season. It’s the second night in a row the team threw him out in the 9th, and the second time he was able to come through with a good outing. The Indians will continue their series with the Orioles tonight. Anthony Reyes, who’s 3-and-1 with a 3.86 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Orioles will send out Jeremy Guthrie, who’s 9-and-8 with a 3.26 ERA. First pitch at Progressive Field is set for 7:05 p.m.

Paul Byrd continues to be a bright spot in a season gone wrong for the Indians, as Saturday he threw a six-hitter vs the Blue Jays in the Indians 4-2 win at the Rogers Centre.  “I had a really good curveball today,” Byrd said. “I used it to left-handers a lot. I got a strikeout on it, a number of outs on it. I got some first-pitch strikes on my curveball, I thought that was key. It’s probably not in the scouting report for them over there.”  It was the 4th straight win for Byrd, who had at one point lost five straight from June 11th to July 4th.

He moves to 7-10 on the season, it was his first complete game since a 7-0 win last season vs the White Sox on September 1st.  He allowed two runs and six hits, walked none and struck out two. He threw 93 pitches, 67 for strikes.  He set down 12 straight batters and 21 of 22 overall when Lyle Overbay hit a two-out single in the ninth. Overbay was thrown out by left-fielder Ben Francisco to end the game as he tried to stretch the hit into a double.

The Indians offense did a nice job getting Byrd the win, as they scored three runs in the 6th inning to turn a 2-1 deficit to a 4-2 lead.  Jhonny Peralta led off with a single and Choo followed with a grounder to short that left runners at first and second after John McDonald threw high to Inglett as he tried for the force. Francisco bunted to advance the runners before Garko and Andy Marte hit run-scoring singles.  Asdrubal Cabrera walked and Garko was forced out at the plate on Grady Sizemore’s fielder’s choice before David Delluci drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.

The Tribe has owned the Jays this year, as they are 5-1 against them, and have outscored them 30-8 in the six games.  Sunday they look for the sweep as 15-2 Cliff Lee goes for the Indians vs Scott Richmond (0-1, 4.91) for the Jays, making his 3rd career start.

Paul Byrd played with fire for much of the night, but in the end was good enough as the Indians continued their hot streak with a 5-2 win over the Angels in Anaheim Monday night. The Tribe is as hot as at any point in this letdown of a 2008 season, as they have now won 7 of their last 8 after they had dropped 10 in a row. Byrd allowed 9 hits, but only one run in the 5.1 innings pitched. The former Angles pitcher improved to 4-10 on the season.

The offense was paced by the long ball, as three Indians homers paced the win. Casey Blake hit his 11th of the year, a two-run shot, and Jhonny Peralta hit his 17th in the 8th inning, a solo shot, while Andy Marte went 2-for-4 with his 2nd homer, a solo shot in the 4th. Blake’s two-run blast in the 5th off losing pitcher Ervin Santana (11-4) made it 4-1 and it was all the Tribe would need.

The bullpen did a nice job for Byrd, as Rafael Perez, who’s had a tough 2008, threw 2.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit, a solo homer to Howie Kendrick in the 8th that made it 5-2. Masa Kobayashi threw a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 6th save, striking out the side to shut the door and put any doubt out of the Angels mind about extending their 5-game winning streak.

The win puts the Indians one little percentage point behind the Royals for 4th place in the AL Central at 44-54. They are still 11 games back of the White Sox in the Central, who lead the division by only .5 over the Twins. The Indians will continue their series with the Angels tonight. Matt Ginter, who’s 1-and-0 with a 0.00 ERA, will start for the Indians. Jered Weaver, who’s 8-and-8 with a 4.03 ERA, will start for the Angels. First pitch at Angel Stadium is at 10:05 p.m.

Coming off their awful 0-6 road trip, the Indians look as if they will make some roster moves that could help the bullpen, and possibly the offense. Paul Hoynes’ Insider today says that the team will activate closer Joe Borowski today, this after he pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday night for Akron. Jo-Bo also looked close to ready when he pitched Monday night in Lake County. With the hitting null and void, the bullpen has also started to scuffle as of late, leaving the team hoping that Borowski, despite his issues already this season, can add a spark to the team. It’s been said all along that he’ll be the closer upon his return.

As for the offense, Eric Wedge also said that we could see our first appearance of outfielder Shin-Soo Choo in 2008 soon. Choo is on a 20-day rehab assignment in Buffalo, and could be with the team shortly. You can also expect Jake Westbrook to be back soon, meaning that Aaron Laffey’s spot in the rotation will be gone and he’ll likely be back at AAA Buffalo. As for who goes where when Borowski and Choo may be ready - Michael Aubrey, who showed some pop in his bat with two homers on this recent road trip, will probably go down. Hoynes also says that it could be time to cut the cord with Andy Marte. He has no options left, meaning that the team can’t send him down unless they designate him for assignment and he’d likely get picked up by another team.