Indians Confidential

Some rambling thoughts on what turned out to be one of the most emotional days in Indians history:

- For those of you that continue to scream and yell for the Dolans to sell the Indians, save your breath. They purchased this team from Dick Jacobs with the intentions of making it into a winner on and off the field. It hasn’t happened in either yet, but they will continue to stick it out till they think they can’t go on.

- Mark Shapiro does need a reality check. The players the team has acquired over the last week could be good – but they also could suck. Using big words and phrases like “high celing” on guys no one has ever heard of outside of the cities they may have played in doesn’t impress fans.

- I spoke to someone in the know that knows all things Red Sox, and he said that the Indians lost out big time in this deal. That’s not good.

- Another thing Shapiro likes to do is throw around what number prospect they got based on Baseball America. Ever think they could be wrong, and the fact the Indians got a teams #2 or #3 prospect might not mean all that much?

- I feel awful for Victor Martinez. He gave his heart and soul to this team, and Shapiro basically ripped it out Friday afternoon. What was so wrong keeping him on board and paying him the $7.6 mil he would have earned for next year?

- No move has hurt as much for the Indians fans in my opinion since the team ditched Omar Vizquel.

- By the way, the Indians won 6-5 over Detroit in 13 innings, but why did it seem like all the 35,000+ cared about was watching some fireworks display dedicated to Tom Hamilton?

- You do realize the Indians still have about 40% of their home games left in their last two months of the season? Get ready for some small, and I’m talking 7-8,000 small crowds come September.

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has acquired RHP JUSTIN MASTERSON, LHP NICK HAGADONE & RHP BRYAN PRICE from the Boston Red Sox for CA VICTOR MARTINEZ.

Masterson, 24, has spent the entire season to date with the Boston Red Sox where he has compiled a record of 3-3 w/a 4.50 ERA in 31 appearances, including 6 starts (72.0IP, 72H, 36ER, 25BB, 67SO, .271AVG). He has not allowed an earned run over his last 4 appearances covering 7.0 innings of work (2H, 2BB, 8SO). He spent most of the 2008 season in a similar role with Boston, going 6-5 w/a 3.16 ERA in 36 games/9 starts (88.1IP, 68H, 31ER, 40BB, 68SO), limiting Major League hitters to a .216 (68-315) average against. He also recorded an ERA of 1.86 (9.2IP, 10H, 2ER) in a Boston rookie record 9 playoff appearances in 2008.

He was Boston’s 2nd round selection (71st overall) in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of San Diego State University and is a native of Beaver Creek, Ohio. Masterson is the first Jamaican-born pitcher in Major League history and just the 4th player overall, joining Chili Davis (1981-99), Devon White (1985-2001) and Rolando Roomes (1988-90). He split the 2007 season between A Lancaster and AA Portland and was a combined 12-8 w/a 4.33 ERA (153.2IP, 152H, 74ER) and was 10-0 over a 12-start stretch from June 7-August 5. He now owns a 2-year Major League career record of 9-8 with a 3.76 ERA in 67 games (15GS, 160.1IP, 140H, 67ER), 135SO).

Hagadone, 23, was selected by the Red Sox in the sandwich round (55th overall) of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Washington and entered the 2009 season as the # 3 overall prospect in the entire Red Sox organization according to Baseball America. He is currently pitching at Class A Greenville where he has gone 0-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 10 starts (25.0IP, 13H, 7ER, 14BB, 32SO). In his brief tenure this season he has limited South Atlantic League hitters to a .149 (13-87, 0HR) average against with 11.5 strikeouts per 9.0IP (0ER in last 5 starts/14.0IP, 4H, 19SO).

Hagadone was limited to 3 starts at Greenville last season (1-1, 0.00ERA, 10.0IP, 5H, 0ER, 6BB, 12SO) before undergoing reconstructive left elbow surgery in June of 2008 that pushed his 2009 debut back to June 6. The 6’5”, 230 pound left-hander owns a career minor league ERA of 1.82 (59.1IP, 32H, 12ER, 77SO, 11.7SO/9.0IP) in 23 starts.

Price, 22, was also a sandwich round selection (45th overall) by the Red Sox in the 2008 draft out of Rice. He entered the 2008 draft as the 47th overall prospect (25th pitcher) in the 2008 draft according to Baseball America. So far in 2009 the Freer, Texas native has split the season between A Greenville of the South Atlantic League and A Salem of the Carolina League where he has gone a combined 4-8 w/a 4.67 ERA in 19 starts (96.1IP, 99H, 50ER, 6HR, 31BB, 97SO), averaging 9.1 strikeouts per 9.0IP. He was 1-3 w/a 3.83 ERA in 12 games/9 starts at A Lowell of the New York-Penn League (40.0IP, 47H, 17ER, 43SO) last season after signing out of Rice and was named the 12th best prospect in the NYPL and the 20th best prospect in the Boston organization according to Baseball America.

Martinez, a 3-time AL All-Star, is hitting .284 (107-377) with 21 doubles, 1 triple, 15 home runs and 67 RBI in 99 games so far in 2009.

The Toronto Blue Jays played home run derby on the Indians pitching staff Wednesday night, turning a one-time 1-0 Tribe lead into an eventual Jays 10-6 win. Carl Pavano had 10 days off, but looked pretty much as bad as he has in some of his poor outings this year, as he basically got shelled most of the night.

Pavano lasted 4.2 innings, allowing 7 earned runs on 7 hits, walking two and striking out four. He allowed four homers, and dropped to 8-8 on the season. At the end of the day, Pavano was a nice pickup, but if this team is going to get even close to taking a step to the next level in 2010, Pavano won’t be on this roster.

Overall the Indians allowed five homers to a team that usually doesn’t specialize in homers. The biggest blow wasn’t allowed by Pavano, it was given up by reliever Jose Veras, who allowed former Indian Marco Scutaro to blast a three-run shot to turn a 7-4 game into a Jays 10-4 game. There’s just something this year about former Indians coming back to haunt the team, and Scutaro did it on Wednesday.

On offense, the Indians were able to push across 6 runs on 10 hits, the biggest hit of the night was a three-run homer by shortstop Luis Valbuena, who’s 5th blast of the season made it a 7-4 game. As stated above though, that was short-lived till the Jays came right back in the bottom of the inning.

Ryan Garko was 3-for-3 with a run scored and is now hitting .284 on the year. Victor Martinez was 2-for-5, he was the only other player than Garko to manage more than one hit. Ricky Romero went 5.1 innings for the win for the Jays, he improves to 8-4 on the year.

The Indians and Jays will wrap up the series Thursday at 12:37pm. They will then move further west to play the Mariners over the weekend in a three-game set.

I think at this point if the Indians trade Cliff Lee, I might just stop writing about them for the rest of my life.

What good reason would at this point Mark Shapiro give up on Lee, who has been the rock of the rotation the last two seasons, and was the AL Cy Young award winner a year ago? Lee was great against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night, going the distance as the Indians won with two in the 9th to beat the Jays 2-1.

Lee allowed one run on seven hits, not walking a batter and striking out four. Sure he’s just 6-9 on the season, but when you take into account the run “support” that he usually doesn’t get, it’s amazing he’s even got this many wins. Lee is the talk of baseball now that the trade deadline is getting near, and some say that he’s the number one target of Charlie Manuel and the Phillies if they can’t get Roy Halladay from the same Jays the Indians beat Tuesady.

That would make no sense AT ALL right now for this team to move Lee. End of story.

He’s got another year left on his deal after this year, and has never really complained about much, and seems to be a good locker room guy. Trading Cy Young award winners in back to back years will get you nowhere, and if the Indians do it – they would be fools.

Back to the game, trailing 1-0 in the 9th, the Indians got two runs in for the win with a single, fielder’s choice, intentional walk, then a shallow double by Victor Martinez that scored the two runs to win the game. Not taking any chances with Kerry Wood, Lee allowed a one-out single in the 9th, but that was it.

The Indians move to 20 games under .500 at 37-57 on the year, and will continue the series tomorrow night at 7:05pm.

The talk about the Indians blowing up their team yet again is officially in full swing, and while the team is taking a few days off for the All-Star break, there’s one player they can talk to – the only Indian All-Star – catcher Victor Martinez. Though in a slump right now, Martinez is a player any team would want, and his name has come up in circles of possibly being moved.

It’s soemthing that Martinez is not in the mood to hear. “I can’t see myself in another uniform,” said Martinez, during Monday’s media session for American League All-Stars. “We’ll see what happens.” The Red Sox are one team that reportedly has interest in Martinez, who says he wants to stay with the Tribe despite the teams issues.

“This organization is great,” said Martinez. “This organization has made me a better player and a better person. I love this organization. In my mind, I’d like to retire as an Indian.”

The Tribe hold a $7 million club option on Martinez for 2010. After that he’s a free agent. They could do what they did with C.C. Sabathia last year, trade him before he walks. It’s not something Martinez wants. “It’s not about me,” said Martinez. “It’s what they want to do. I’m open to anything they want to do. They hold the option [for 2010], but if they want to talk, I’ll talk.”

Martinez is in a major slump at the break, he’s 4 for his last 44. Even with that, he’s hitting .294 (97-for-330) with 14 homers and 59 RBI.

In a lost season, there are times that there seems to be little good to write about, and Sunday at Progressive Field, that notion was exactly the case. On a breezy, warm day, the Indians were as flat as could be, scoring a run in the first inning but doing nothing good after that in a 8-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. About the only positive from the game is that it wraps up the 2009 version of Interleague play, and considering the Indians, who use to dominate the NL, went 5-13, it’s a very good thing it’s over.

David Huff, who was sharp in his last outing at PNC Park vs Pittsburgh, started good, but quickly went bad. He was on the first two innings, but the Reds quickly got to him in the third, and put up a four-spot as it was all the runs they would need in the win that puts them at .500 on the season at 37-37. Huff suffered his 3rd loss of the year, and the setback snaps his personal three-game winning streak. He allowed 7 runs on 9 hits in five innings. The 7 runs he gave up was a career-high.

The Indians offense started hot with back-to-back hits from returning Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore off Reds starter Micah Owinga. A Victor Martinez sac fly gave the Tribe the short-lived 1-0 lead. After that, Owinga settled in, and the team managed just five hits the rest of the day, and never scored again. Sizemore did extend his hitting streak to 9 games, and Jhonny Peralta going 1-for-3 to raise his average over the last 10 games to .333 (13-39) were about the only two offensive highlights.

The Tribe has lost 10 of its last 12 games, and to say that Eric Wedge is on shakey ground at the moment has got to be an understatement. The team is now 31-46, a full 15 games under .500, and they are 17-21 at home. The Mark DeRosa trade seems to be the start of what easily could be a few, and there are already rumblings about moving players like Martinez and Kerry Wood. Let’s just say Progressive Field is not exactly going to be a hot spot this summer after all.

Yeah, this is yet another one that hurts.

The Indians looked like they were in cruise control Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, building a nice 7-0 lead vs a Cubs team that wasn’t exactly an offensive powerhouse. Instead with ace Cliff Lee on the mound, the club (as they have done oh so often this year) allowed the Cubs to come back, and with a Derek Lee homer in the 9th to tie it off Kerry Wood, the Tribe eventually lost in 10 to the Cubs 8-7.

There was plenty of talk in Cleveland on Thursday during the off day about Eric Wedge being shown the door, and nothing that took place on Friday afternoon in the Windy City is going to change that. The team is now 11 games under .500, and they have no answers whatsoever to solve all the issues that are making this one long summer of baseball.

After a rain dealy, the Tribe built a 6-0 lead with two three-run homers from Luis Valbuena and Victor Martinez. They went up 7-0 in the 4th, and from there it was all Cubs, as they chipped away with runs in the 5th and 6th to make it 7-2. Lee left the game after the 7th up 7-2, and it was disaster from there with the bullpen from hell.

Joe Smith allowed three runs, one earned in 0.2 in the 8th, and then Wood allowed the solo homer to Lee in the 9th to tie the game at 7. Luis Vizcaino was the loser, as he got to two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but then allowed a bad-hop single to Ryan Theriot to score the winning run.

There isn’t much you can say right now, other than the Wedge Watch is hotter than ever, and the team is simply going to be forced to make a change sooner rather than later. “It’s hard, but you can’t give in to it,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “Obviously, our bullpen has really been struggling on and off all year. When you have games like this, it’s about as bad as it can get.”

He’s right, it’s hard to believe this can get any worse. But then again, there’s always tomorrow.

Don’t let it get to your head – but how good does 4th place feel now in the AL Central?

For at least one day, the Indians can celebrate being out of the Central cellar, as thanks to a solid comeback led by a game-winning grand slam from Mark DeRosa in the 7th, the Indians topped te Royals 8-4 to move ahead of them for 4th in the division.

It didn’t look like it would go that way for most of the night, as the Royals built a 4-0 lead off Cliff Lee with two in the 3rd inning, and two more in the 6th to make it look like yet another long night for the Indians. But the offense finally responded and put together a nice comeback to get the win.

The Indians were able to rally to tie it in the 6th with four runs. Shin-Soo Choo reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Jamey Carroll. Then Travis Hafner got on the same way, scoring Victor Martinez to make it a 4-2 game. Kelly Shoppach hit a sac fly to make it 4-3, and then a Jhonny Peralta fielder’s choice tied it.

The winning rally saw Ben Francisco single, Martinez walk, then Choo was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for DeRosa vs Jamey Wright. The relief pitcher threw a pitch down the middle of the plate on the first pitch, but then DeRosa got the good wood on the second pitch, putting it over the wall in right for the grand slam to make it 8-4.

The Royals got a hit in the 8th, and then a walk in the 9th off of Kerry Wood, but could do no further damage as the door was closed and the Tribe got the win. Rafael Perez got the win in relief to move to 1-1. The win puts the Indians at 26-34, dropping KC to 24-33, losers of 9 of their last 10.

Carl Pavano who is 6-4 goes for the Indians Wednesday against Gil Meche for the Royals (2-5) at 7:05.