Indians Confidential

For those that were wondering where the money is going on the Indians roster this season, consider the following when it comes to what the following players are making, and where on the club they rank:

1. Jake Westbrook $10 mil per year - On the DL for the rest of the year after major surgery, and may not be ready to go again till the summer of 2009.

2. Travis Hafer $8 mil per year - Has never hit the same after getting his new deal, and was struggling before that. Is on the DL with a shoulder issue that really has never been fully disclosed.

3. Paul Byrd $7.5 mil per year - 3-10 this year w/ a 5.53 ERA. Was the subject of a steroids scandal story in the ALCS, and since then he’s been cleared, but has never pitched as well as last season.

4. Casey Blake $6.1 mil per year - Having a solid season, batting .279 with 8 homers and 47 RBI, but likely will be traded before the deadline.

5. Victor Martinez $4.4 million per year - Tweaked his hamstring opening day vs the White Sox, and has not been the same. Lack of power alarming as he’s hitting just .278 with no homers and 21 RBI. Also on the DL.

7. David Dellucci $3.7 mil per year - Has basically been a bust in the two seasons with the team, hitting just .220 with 7 homers and 27 RBI, was hurt a good portion of last season, and will be gone when his contract is up.

9. Masa Kybayashi $3 mil per year - Has had good and bad moments in his first year playing ball in America. Has four saves and an ERA of 3.21. The team has hopes that he may eventually be the closer.

10. Jhonny Peralta $2.5 mil per year - Hitting .250 with 14 homers and 40 RBI. Still blasted by many for his shoddy play at short and lack of big hits, Peralta has never regained his 2005 form when he hit .292 with 24 homers and 78 RBI.

The other two players in the Top 10 not listed are Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore, two players that have lived up to or even passed expectations for this season.

Below is a quick look at all the news around the Indians Tuesday:

* Miguel Cabrera went 4-for-4, clubbing two homers and plating three, as Detroit crushed the Indians, 9-2, on Tuesday night. Marcus Thames and Curtis Granderson had three RBI apiece, with two of Thames’ RBI coming off his 17th long ball of the season. Ivan Rodriguez added a solo shot in the win. Justin Verlander tossed seven solid innings, allowing two runs and fanning seven to improve to 6-and-9 for Detroit, which has won two in-a-row to move to 45-and-44 on the season. Jeremy Sowers absorbed the loss for the Indians after yielding seven runs, six earned, over 5.2 innings of work. Jhonny Peralta clubbed a two-run homer for the Tribe, which has dropped a season-high nine straight games. The Indians will conclude their series with the Tigers tonight. Paul Byrd, who’s 3-and-10 with a 5.53 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Tigers will send out Eddie Bonine, who’s 2-and-1 with a 4.30 ERA. First pitch at Comerica Park is set for 7:05 p.m.

* The Akron debut of outfielder Matt LaPorta was delayed as the Aeros had their game against the Bowie Baysox rained out on Tuesday night. LaPorta is the main piece the Indians received from Milwaukee as they sent pitcher C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight. The first pitch of the first game at Canal Park is set for 6:05 p.m.

* The Indians are expected to call up from Triple-A Buffalo today relief pitcher Juan Rincon. He will take the roster spot left vacant by the trading of Sabathia to the Brewers on Monday. The Indians will need a starter to take Sabathia’s turn on Saturday and could call up Matt Ginter from the minors.

* The Indians placed pitcher Scott Elarton on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday for a non-baseball medical condition. Elarton had been on the restricted list because of personal issues. Manager Eric Wedge said that Elarton is out indefinitely. Elarton was 0-and-1 with a 3.52 ERA out of the bullpen.

* As for the debut of Sabathia in a Brewers uniform - he picked up the win as Milwaukee edged Colorado 7-3 at Miller Park. Sabathia allowed two earned runs while fanning five and walking five over six innings to pick up the victory. Ryan Braun smashed his 22nd homer of the year, and Bill Hall plated two for Milwaukee, which has won seven-of-nine. Prince Fielder and Corey Hart had an RBI apiece in the win. Yorvit Torrealba doubled in two runs in defeat for Colorado. Mark Redman gave up four runs over five frames to fall to 2-and-4.

WHAT A NIGHT: CF GRADY SIZEMORE went 3 for 4 w/4RS, a walk, steal and 2 homers last night in Chicago…It was his 4th two-homer game of the year and the 5th of his career…He leads the league with 21 HR and is vying to become the first Indians hitter since ALBERT BELLE (50) in 1995 to do so.

HISTORICAL PLAYER: CF GRADY SIZEMORE now sits at 99 career home runs and 99 career steals and is about to become just the 2nd player in Indians franchise history to hit 100HR and steal 100 bases as an Indian…JOE CARTER (151HR, 126SB) is the only other Indians player to accomplish the feat (1984-89)…Grady currently leads the team in on-base & slugging %, OPS, games, at bats, runs, hits, total bases, triples, homers, walks, steals and extra base hits…He has 9HR in his last 20G & has 13HR in his last 31G… Among AL leaders, Sizemore is 1st in HR (21), 3rd in TB (174), T4th in BB (49), T7th in RS (55), 8th in SB (20) & 7th in slugging % (.534)…He is the only 20HR/20SB player in the AL to date.

TV SWITCH: The following games have been switched on the television schedule… On Saturday, July 5th STO will televise that night’s contest from Minnesota & on Saturday, July 12th vs. Tampa Bay, WKYC will air the 7:05 PM tilt from Progressive Field

HODGES ON OLYMPIC WATCH LIST: Akron 3B WES HODGES has been selected to play in the Futures Game in Yankee Stadium on July 13 for Team USA and is one of 60 players currently being considered for the 24-man United States Olympic Team that will be selected on July 16th…The Olympics begin in Beijing, China on August 9th…Hodges is hitting .307 (94-306) with 15 2B, 9HR & 64 RBI in 82 games this year for Akron…He leads the Eastern League in RBI and is 2nd in hits.

RUNDLES AN ALL-STAR: LHP RICH RUNDLES is the lone representative for the AAA Buffalo Bisons in the Triple A All-Star Game…He is 5-4 this year w/a 3.48 ERA in 32 games (33.2IP, 26H, 13ER, 20BB, 39K).

CHISENHALL SETTLING IN: 2008 First Round pick INF LONNIE CHISENHALL has hit in 6 straight games and over his last 5 contests is 11 for 20 (.550) w/2 2B, 1HR & 4RBI to raise his average to .286 (16-56, 5RBI, 13G) on the season at A Mahoning Valley.

TOREGAS BOMBS: CA WYATT TOREGAS hit 3 homers for Akron last night at Erie (Aeros hit 7 for the game)…He entered the contest with 4 homers on the entire season.

Fri., July 4 at Minnesota (7:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

RHP Paul Byrd (3-9, 5.26) vs. RHP Livan Hernandez (8-5, 5.22)

Sat., July 5 at Minnesota (7:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

LHP Aaron Laffey (4-5, 3.24) vs. RHP Kevin Slowey (5-6, 3.47)

Sun., July 6 at Minnesota (2:10PM ET, WTAM/IRN, STO)

LHP Cliff Lee (11-1, 2.34) vs. LHP Glen Perkins (4-2, 4.31)

Steve Henson from Yahoo Sports has put out his mid-term grades for MLB teams, and the Tribe has earned a D+.  Here is the report from Henson about the Indians thus far.

Cleveland Indians: The biggest disappointment in the AL save that rainy outpost in the Pacific Northwest has trading deadline decisions like no other. It’s got to be gut wrenching to all but quit by dealing starters C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd and perhaps a position player. Especially so soon after finishing one game short of the World Series. But the time is drawing near.

Saturday night was one of those nights for the Indians where they strung hits together, but when they needed a big hit to put some runs across, they were futile in that department. The team was 0-for-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position, and it showed on the scoreboard as they dropped a 5-0 decision to the Reds in front of over 39,500 at Progressive Field.

They put base runners on all night long, with the only inning popping by without a runner was the third. In the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th they were able to put multiple runners on, but again, when they needed the big hit they were left with nothing in the tank. Reds starter Johnny Cueto was able to work out of each and every jam he got in, and was good enough to move to 6-8 on the season.

Paul Byrd started for the Indians, and as usual, allowed a homer early, this time as Adam Dunn laced his 19th homer of the season just over the wall in right to make it 1-0 in the first. It was the 21st homer that Byrd as allowed this season, a staggering number. He’s allowed homers in 8 straight starts. The other big hit of the night was a Paul Bako bases clearing double that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead in the 4th.

While Byrd was unable to get any run support with the team leaving runners on all over the place, he was able to pitch well enough to go six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out four. His record now sits at 3-9, and his ERA is at 5.26. Rafael Perez gave up another run in the 7th to make it 5-0 when old pal Brandon Phillips drove in a run.

The loss snaps a modest two-game winning streak for the Indians, as they fall to 36-44 on the season, 8.5 back of the White Sox who won Saturday afternoon vs the Cubs. The Reds improve to 37-45. Sunday the finale of the set kicks off at 1:05pm, as Aaron Laffey (4-4, 2.83) goes for the Indians vs Bronson Arroyo (4-7, 6.52).

The Indians dreams of a weekend sweep in L.A. vs the Dodgers were swept away by one bonehead base running decision by third base coach Joel Skinner in the 5th inning that allowed the Dodgers to escape with a 4-3 win to salvage the finale of the three-game set.  The loss puts the Indians back at 35-41, and they end the six-game stretch vs the Rockies and Dodgers at 2-4 when it could have easily been 3-3.

The mistake came with the Indians down a run, and Jhonny Peralta on first with David Dellucci at the plate.  Dellucci doubled down the first base line, and Peralta came racing around second to third.  Skinner waived him home, and Andre Ethier’s throw to second baseman Luis Maza came into the plate with plenty of time to spare, nailing Peralta and ending the threat.

Fromt there, the Indians had just one hit, a double by Peralta in the 7th with two outs, but from there, were shut down the rest of the day and never really came close to getting that tying run across the plate again.  The loss again was suffered by Paul Byrd, who allowed four runs on five hits in the first inning to fall to 3-8.  A James Loney RBI double brought in two runs, then catcher Russell Martin homered, a Byrd trademark, to bring in two more runs to make it 4-0.

The Indians did rally off of Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley in the third to make it 4-3.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a fielders choice to drive in a run, then a hit by Ryan Garko past short make it 4-2.  Casey Blake hit a ground out to short to make it 4-3, but as stated above, that was about all she wrote for the Indians offense for the rest of the day.

Four Dodger relief pitchers shut the Indians down, as they allowed just one hit, no walks and four strikeouts over the final four innings.  Byrd would have been great minus that first inning, as he went 7 innings, allowing the four runs on seven hits, not allowing a walk and striking out one.  His ERA sits at 5.21 following the loss.

The Indians get Monday off as they get back home for two more series’ vs the National League this week. Tuesday night it’s the return of Omar Vizquel to Progressive Field, as the 32-44 San Fran Giants come in for the first of three, then the Reds come in over the weekend for the rahter overrated “Battle of Ohio” part two.

On a season that has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster at Cedar Point, the Indians again have given their fans a reason to think that maybe, just maybe, the 2008 season isn’t over just yet.  After falling to 33-40 on Thursday after a loss to the Rockies, the Indians moved further west to Los Angeles, and in two extra innings have quickly moved back to 35-40, and more importantly, back to 6.5 back of first in the Central.

Saturday the team’s offense was held in check for more than 9 innings, as their only run came from - who else - pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who hit a homer to right in the third inning to make it 1-0.  Sabathia, who has been rumored to be on the trading block, was crusing for the first five plus innings, and made just one mistake, a homer to deep left center by the Dodgers Matt Kemp that tied the game at one.

The game stayed that way for five more innings, till the Indians offense exploded for one of its best innings of the season, putting up six runs on six hits to make a 1-1 game quickly into a 7-1 blowout.  Three outs later, and one Dodger run, the Indians were on the winning end for the second straight day with a 7-2 victory.  Masa Kobayashi pitched one scoreless inning to get the win to improve to 4-3 on the season.

Sabathia went 7 innings, allowing one run on five hits.  He walked one and struck out 10.  If the Indians do move Sabathia on or before the trading deadline, his stock over the past three starts has once again soared. In those three starts, he’s gone 24 innings, allowing four runs on 16 hits, striking out 25.  Needless to say, he’s looked like the Cy Young C.C. more than the one that floundered early in 08.

As for that 11th inning, the hits came at a furious pace, with Jhonny Peralta getting the first RBI on a single, then Casey Blake driving in a run with a single, Kelly Shoppach doing the same to bring in two more runs, and after a Grady Sizemore single, Jamey Carroll hit a sac fly to end the scoring at six for the inning.

The finale of the road trip and the three-game set in L.A. comes up on Sunday, with struggling Paul Byrd (3-7, 5.21 ERA) going for the Indians vs Chad Billingsley (5-7, 3.54) at 4:10pm.  Who knows, maybe another step closer to moving back in the AL Central race?