via www.fangraphs.com

On the day yet another key player was placed on the DL, what remained of the Indians pounded out 18 hits, blew out the Twins, and in the process kept themselves within reasonable distance of the division leading White Sox.

Aaron Laffey didn't have to do much since the game was essentially over by the 3rd inning, but he pitched well in spite of the large lead. In a year with a lot of bad surprises, the guy who Cliff Lee beat out in Spring Training is now ensconced in the rotation, and not because of the injuries. If both Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook were still healthy, Mark Shapiro would be working the phones now trying to get a bat for Paul Byrd.

Livan Hernandez, who the Indians last saw in the 1997 World Series, had no velocity and no control, and was pounded into submission quickly. Four singles and a Choo home run in the third inning gave the Indians five runs and a 6-0 lead. Hernandez stuck around for the forth, ostensibly to eat another inning or two. It didn't work, as Grady Sizemore lead off the inning with a home run, and the next two batters singled.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Twins-Indians game without someone getting thrown at. Edward Mujica hit Alexi Casilla to start the eighth, which was probably intentional, though no words were exchanged after the beaning. In the bottom of the inning, Dennys Reyes hit Andy Marte with his first offering - that was definitely  intentional. Everyone stayed put, though Eric Wedge and Ron Gardenhire held a long-distance shouting match from the top steps of their respective dugouts.

What was said?

"I'm not going to comment on that," Wedge said.

Said Gardenhire: "I told him, 'See you in Minnesota.'"

Hey, if things go south, at least we have this to look forward to.

(Part 2 in a series ... see Part 1 - the starters.)

July 18, 2006:

Most fans at this point are sick of the entire Indians roster, and who can blame us?  I don't know if everyone on the roster is "on the table" for trades, but a part of me would like to think that there is no option for improving the roster that Shapiro wouldn't consider.  That nobody is untouchable.

In theory, nobody is untouchable.  With the right offer of players and/or money, there is no player in the game who can't be had in a trade.  It's just a question of making the right offer.  So why not consider it?

Funny how we feel exactly the same way, even though the circumstance is very different.  As of that day, in some ways, the Indians had been out of the race for two months — seven games behind the division lead on May 8, 10.5 games behind on May 26, 17 games behind on June 25.  By July 18, the deficit was 21 games, and the Wild Card outlook was hardly any better.  Sabathia spent April on the DL, both Betancourt and Cabrera appeared damaged by the WBC, and if it were possible to make a train out of a sieve and then wreck it, then you'd have a really good metaphor for our infield defense.  We ditched Phllips in favor of Vazquez, but my mid-May we'd already demoted Vazquez in favor of Lou Merloni.

It got real late, real early, but at the same time, the team made the best of that moment's clarity.  Unlike the Expos in 2002 or the Mariners in 2006, we were so clearly out of it that there was no temptation to hope or pretend for another 30 days — not for the players' sake or for the fans.   So there was no reason to make any plays for the current season, and there was a great chance to improve the team's prospects for 2007 and beyond.  We had already traded Eduardo Perez and were on the verge of trading Bob Wickman — deals that eventually produced two key players for the 2007 stretch run.

This season is different.  We have a slightly worse record based on a different combination of failures, but the division and Wild Card races have not run away form the club entirely.  Seven weeks of intermittent struggles left the team improbably in first place, up by 1.5 games, only to fall into a disastrous run of 2-10.  Now 5.5 games behind — but only 5.5 games behind — the Indians are in a division that appears mediocre enough to be won by any decent team, should one emerge.  But can the Indians be that team?  Should we reconfiguring for a drive, or reconfiguring for next season?

Will we decide to be the 2006 Indians again ... or the 2006 Mariners?

RYAN GARKO
$420K salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2012

• PRO - Could be one part of a significant trade — scouts and managers love his grinder approach and mentality, and GM's will love his contract status, which has him still making the minimum in 2009.
  
• PRO - Struggling at 27, he's very unlikely to peak at a level much higher than his 2007 numbers.
  
• PRO - 1B is arguably emerging as a position of depth — Aubrey and Brown may be reasonable options for first base in 2009 and 2010, and they fit better into a C/1B rotation with Martinez and Shoppach.
  
• CON - Young, cheap players with reasonably good production are the lifeblood of a good roster.
  
• CON - Wouldn't clear significant payroll space, now or over the next couple of years.
• CON - Might be selling low on a player who's struggling.
  

ASDRUBAL CABRERA
$393K salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2013

• PRO - Should be recognized as equivalent to an elite prospect, given his track record, and so should get a significant return.  Billy Beane no doubt still very interested.
  
• PRO - Would have greater value to a team without an established shortstop, or with a shortstop in his walk year.
  
• CON - Probable high-quality player and potential impact player over the next six seasons — and cheap.
  
• CON - Weak overall depth in the middle infield.
  
• CON - Best defensive player in the entire organization, with no close second in the majors or high minors, high-leverage asset for a team that may well feature the most extreme groundball rotation of all-time over 2009-2010.
  
• CON - Uncertain long-term viability of Peralta at shortstop.
  
• CON - Hard to imagine a viable trade scenario where trading him wouldn't be a huge mistake.

JHONNY PERALTA
$2.25M salary, signed through 2010, controlled through 2011

• PRO - Presents the best out of all our struggling hitters — shortstop on pace for 33 HR, barely 26, with postseason heroics, under reasonable contract for three more seasons.
  
• PRO - Would be considered a viable 3B option by many teams.
  
• PRO - Would allow team to reconfigure middle infield for better defense in light of groundball-heavy rotation.
• PRO - Likely will be seen by the Indians as merely a reasonable value towards the end of his contract.
• PRO - Not a fan favorite, probably the most significant asset the team could trade while minimizing backlash; local shills would eagerly endorse the deal.
  
• CON - Lack of overall middle-infield depth, likely would have to acquire at least one player (2B) if we traded him.
  
• CON - Unclear if Asdrubal Cabrera will hit well enough to stick in the majors in 2008 or 2009, even if moved to shortstop.
  
• CON - Production possibly can't be replaced at less than twice the price.
  
• CON - Barely 26, likely will bounce back to higher production, and may have a significantly higher peak left in him.
  
• CON - Clutch, generally has been immune from team-wide slumps or postseason pressure.
  
• CON - Would be the first case of trading someone considered to be a core player, unclear how that would affect future dealings.
  

CASEY BLAKE
$6.1M salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2008

• PRO - Versatile player with veteran clubhouse rep, apparently considered a clutch performer in some circles, could be considered a significant trade piece in a tight market.
  
• PRO - Unlike in 2006, team has viable major-league options at each of his positions.
• PRO - Despite slump, may well be selling high.
  
• PRO - It's his walk-year anyway, and his $4M in remaining salary is high enough to want it gone, and yet low enough to attract most suitors — and low enough to consider eating it to get superior talent coming back in a deal (a tactic heavily employed by Shapiro in past deals).
  
• PRO - Using Marte at 3B would upgrade the infield defense.
  
• PRO - Would create opportunity to play glut of rookie corner position players — not just Marte, but also Choo, Francisco and Aubrey — and may have no downside in terms of overall production.
  
• CON - Uncertain whether Marte can hit well enough to stay in the majors without being a significant hole in the lineup.
• CON - Overall depth at 3B in particular is not good.
  

ANDY MARTE
$392K salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2012

• PRO - If some team actually wants him, and is willing to assign any significant value to him in a trade package, it may well be the best offer we ever get for him, as many scouts are quite down him at this point based on his 2007 performance.
  
• PRO - Shapiro seems committed to Wedge, and Wedge seems incredibly un-committed to Marte — possibly facts not made public influencing the club's evaluation of the player.
  
• PRO - Some injury history, and despite outstanding track record as a young minor leaguer, has never looked "above" Triple-A pitching, not clear he can hit above replacement level in the majors.
  
• CON - Uncertain what his ceiling is, has never gotten significant opportunity as a major league hitter.
  
• CON - Unlikely to get offered anything significant and would save almost no money.
  
• CON - Would be jettisoning a player under inexpensive, low-risk, team control for the next 3-4 seasons.
• CON - Would have to sign a free agent or trade for someone to play 3B in 2009 and possibly 2010, nobody major-league ready at that position.
• CON - Brandon Phillips.

JOSH BARFIELD
$416K/238K split salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2013

• PRO - If some team actually wants him, and is willing to assign any significant value to him in a trade package, it may well be the best offer we ever get for him, as many scouts are quite down him at this point based on his 2007 performance.
  
• PRO - Value to team roster would plummet to zero if the team acquired a 2B, which is a logical target to upgrade.  Barfield's bat doesn't work at any other position, and his glove doesn't work as as utility player. 
  
• PRO - Might still be seen as a viable major leaguer by some teams, particularly in the NL.
  
• CON - May well be selling low, as bat/glove may well return to league-average levels given another opportunity — would be jettisoning a player under inexpensive, low-risk, team control for the next 3-4 seasons.
  
• CON - Unlikely to get offered anything significant and would save almost no money.
• CON - Weak overall depth in the middle-infield, can't expect help from the minors until 2010 at the earliest.
  

MICHAEL AUBREY
$380/60K split salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2014

• PRO - Could we convince Billy Beane that he wants Aubrey as much as he wants Cabrera?
  
• PRO - Incredibly persistent injury history, scouts report significantly diminished skills from his heyday as a prospect, has never produced good numbers above Single-A.
• CON - Already has more HR than Victor.
• CON - Is a reasonable option if Garko is traded, fits well into platoon with Martinez and Shoppach.
• CON - Young, cheap, under control for many years, still one option left.

JAMEY CARROLL
$2M salary, signed through 2008, controlled through 2009

• PRO - Useful player, high-quality defender who could be attractive to a "fat" contender looking to shore up weak depth.
  
• PRO - Not a significant long-term piece.
• PRO - Would create opportunity to work Barfield into a two-position rotation with Cabrera and Peralta, which could be somewhat optimizing.
  
• CON - Weak overall middle-infield depth, would only make it harder to demote Cabrera, as probably is needed.
• CON - Possibly undervalued in trade market, probably as valuable to the Indians as to any team.
  
• CON - It's harder than it looks to find a quality bench/platoon middle infielder — see also Vazquez, Rouse — and Carroll has a perfect, club-friendly contract.
  
• CON - No more sweet baboo.

IN GENERAL:  There's a lot of reason to think about reconfiguring the entire infield.  Garko has been disappointing and never had a high ceiling.  Cabrera's bat doesn't work at 2B.  Peralta has provided high-value production but seems unpredictable, he's fringy at shortstop, and his bat/glove package may not play any better at another position.  As for the others, would anybody really care if they left?

It would seem to behoove the team to make a series of moves aimed at upgrading the infield defense.  Not that it's bad, it's fine overall, but the club likely will get over 200 starts from now through 2010 out of three extreme groundball pitchers, Westbrook, Carmona and Laffey — 260 starts if they're all healthy.  Our best defensive configuration right now is Aubrey, Carroll, Cabrera and Marte — which notably looks nothing like our Opening Day infield.  It also looks notably like our best offensive configuration, but that idea of "best" seems highly questionable at this point.  If the infield's hitting isn't as good as we thought, or even is merely highly uncertain, that too is a reason to start giving defensive issues more consideration.  (Amazingly, Wedge might actually be realizing this himself.)

That provides a rationale for moving even younger players like Garko or Peralta — let alone short-timers like Blake — but the truth is, without those guys, we don't really have the horses.  Shifting guys around still leaves us with projected mediocrity, and worse hitting than before.  We could move Garko with little risk or downside, but moving Blake leaves us a little exposed — and if we move both of them, we'd have to be thinking about getting someone who can play 3B off the bench, either with more glove than Blake or more bat than Carroll, for 2008 and beyond.  As for the middle infield, we can't really trade Peralta without acquiring a substantial second baseman — and if we do that, we might as well ship Barfield out, too.

Ironically, we have a number of players worth trading in the infield, but we're also in the market for infielders who can make a difference.  Infield defense sank the team in 2006, but it could make a huge positive over the next several seasons — and in this one.  There are opportunities here to make a series of moves that improve the team in three ways:  By bringing in a quality player, by replacing a weak player in the lineup, and by shifting one or two others into roles where they can be more valuable.

via www.fangraphs.com

Let's get this out of the way first: the Indians cannot win a game as presently constituted if the starting pitcher does not go at least six innings and allow less than four runs. And three runs allowed is pushing it.

Cliff Lee finally came back to earth, giving up 10 hits and five runs in 5.2 innings. Last year, we would have taken that kind of outing from Cliff, and besides, the offense was actually capable of winning a shootout. Those fastballs which were formerly kept to the edges of the plate found their way to the middle of the zone, and most of them got hit hard somewhere.

The Indians' offense "exploded" for four runs on eleven hits. with most of those hits spread throughout the starting lineup. Michael Aubrey got his first major-league hit in the fourth inning, a home run. Jamey Carroll was on base three times; sadly, he's had one of the better on-base percentage on the team.

Yes, they were facing NL ERA leader Edinson Volquez, but at what point do we stop clinging to the desperate idea that the Indians have faced twenty straight great pitching performances? And when are other fans going to catch on that their pitchers aren't actually shutting down a good offense?

The series:  Visited the Yankees (win, win, loss) and hosted the Blue Jays (win, win, win, loss).

The big story:  The team put together a strong week behind a dominant rotation, but the daily lineups wore the strange hue of a series of odd decisions — moves that occasionally excited but more often puzzled, or even smelt of desperation.

Newly promoted Ben Francisco was used in all seven games, including five starts, performing similarly to (and not demonstrably better than) the man he replaced, who was traded to Pittsburgh for (we can guess) something in between a bag of balls and a case of bats.  Slight-hitting Jason Tyner was also promoted, adding to our already overstocked cupboard of weak-hitting outfielders, or perhaps more accurately subtracting by addition.  Even more strange than Tyner's promotion was his being given a start immediately upon his arrival.  We have four better-hitting outfielders — five if you count Blake — most of whom are also good or great defenders, so what was the point of this?

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it, unless it was to send the other players a message, something along the lines of:  "You guys suck so bad, we might as well be playing Jason freakin' Tyner.  That's right, you guys, it's that bad.  Our hitting is as pathetic as the goddam Twins now."

And then there's Andy Marte, long buried at the end of the bench, who shockingly got three starts this week — and yet already has fewer at-bats this season (22) than Ben Francisco (25), who has been on the roster only 11 days compared to Marte's 43.  Some guys just have to play, apparently, and some guys don't.  (See full screed.)  It's a good thing we don't have to understand these decisions, because who could?

In other news:  Cliff Lee ascended to a new level of other-worldly Chuck Norrissitude, leading a rotation that allowed just nine runs in seven starts, including five games allowing one run or zero.  Five!   Five starts allowing one run or zero!  This week alone!  Since April 17, Indians starters have allowed just 35 runs in 23 games, good for a 2.07 ERA.  Sabathia even managed to climb out of the ERA cellar, having needed four excellent starts to get his ERA down to 6.55 — still awful, but good enough to surrender the "lead" to Nate Robertson at 6.64, of our alleged rivals the Detroit Tigers.  (Happily, the bottom five also includes two other Tigers, Justin Verlander at 6.43 and Kenny Rogers at 5.82.)

Asdrubal Cabrera delivered a stunning series of defensive gems in a two-game stint at shortstop, but he made history when he returned to second base last night, turning just the 14th unassisted triple-play in the history of major league baseball.  Rather than save the ball for himself or for the Hall of Fame, AbaCab casually flipped the ball to some fans sitting behind the Indians dugout as he jogged in from the field — just another routine play, I guess.

Post of the week:  Okay, maybe let's start using that recommend-until-it's-green thingy.  And no, I'm not eligible, thank you.

Who fed it: Cliff Lee pitched 16 scoreless innings, starting a new streak perhaps to rival his previous 27-inning tear.  Carmona and Laffey provided another 16 scoreless innings, Carmona's in a complete game shutout, the quartet of Perez-Lewis-Julio- Breslow contributed eight more, and man, that is just a lot of scoreless innings.  Julio has been pounding on the door of the Circle of Trust, having retired 22 batters since the last time he allowed a run (April 16) while allowing just two singles and two walks.  Breslow meanwhile was fighting just to have his existence recognized, appearing in just his second game in the past four weeks.  Casey Blake had the best offensive line of the week with a 912 OPS, though that was more of a reflection on the team's hitting than anything else.  Sizemore hit another two home runs, matching his pair from last week, and has a 1063 OPS over his last dozen games.  And, well, that's about it for the hitters.  How did we ever score 12 runs in that one game?  Absolute Best:  Lee.  Relative Best:  Lee.

Who ate it:  Garko was the worst-hitting starter this week by far, with just two singles, a double and the obligatory HBP to show for 19 trips to the plate.  He bears an atrocious .140/.219/.175 line over his last 16 games, with as many strikeouts, double-plays and sac-flys (14) as times on base (also 14).  I can't tell if we're supposed to consider Francisco a bench guy or not, but if we assume that he isn't one, then the bench (Carroll, Shoppach, Marte and Tyner) was unbelievably awful this week — 4 for 43 awful, .093/.152/.093 awful — often frustrating Wedge's attempts to shuffle the lineup and give extra days off to his  struggling sluggers, i.e., half the roster.  You know who else sucks?  Rafael Betancourt, whose ERA is something around 9 since being anointed the closer, I can't even stand to look it up.  Absolute Worst:  Garko.  Relative Worst:  Betancourt.

The other guys. false alarms and open questions:   Will return next week; I kind of got sidetracked by the whole Marte thing.

via www.fangraphs.com

Even with the offense recently waking up, the Indians' strength all season has been their starting pitching. Paul Byrd (ignore the WPA) continued that trend, limiting a full-strength Yankee lineup to four runs on six hits. Eric Wedge, who normally will not err on the side of caution when it comes to pulling a starter, has been very aggressive with Paul Byrd so far this season. Byrd had thrown just 77 pitches through 5.2, but after giving up a home run to Hideki Matsui, was hooked quickly.

The move paid off, as Rafael Perez bridged the gap between the sixth and the ninth, allowing only one baserunner and using just 23 pitches in his 2.1 innings, quite a feat against a finicky New York offense. Perez wasn't expected to go the distance, as Wedge had Masa Kobayashi warming behind Perez, but the Indians' manager changed his plans after he saw how Raffy Left looked.

The Indians' offensive upsurge hasn't been driven by the stars of the lineup, but by everyone else. Tonight it was the unlikely trio of Jamey Carroll (2 hits, 2 SB, 1 RBI), Jhonny Peralta (2 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI), and Franklin Gutierrez (HR) who accounted for the six runs scored tonight. Carroll has slowly been winning playing time over Asdrubal Cabrera, and while he's not the future at second, he's certainly been good enough warrant more at-bats in the present.

The series:  Hosted the Red Sox (loss, loss) and Tigers (loss, win) and visited the Twins (win, loss, loss).

The big story:  We got six quality starts out of seven, but our offense got exactly one win out of those six quality starts.  These weren't borderline quality starts, either – in each of the six, the starter either made it into the 7th inning or gave up less than 2 runs, and in three out of six, he did both.  Five regulars put up averages under .170 while only one hit better than .250 – but they maddeningly continued to draw walks, drawing the fifth-most this week in the AL despite apparently not being able to hit.  The Indians were only outscored by five runs on the week but managed to distribute their runs badly, winning two games by 14 runs and losing five games by 19 runs.  The net result is that the Indians missed an opportunity to get a little distance in the standings from the Tigers, joining them in the cellar instead, and fans are forced to start wondering just how inevitable a crash is for first-place Chicago.

In other news:  Sabathia and Borowski, nominally our #1 starter and reliever respectively, further bombed out.  Already the worst starter in baseball entering the week, Sabathia gave up his second nine-spot in a week's time, one of just two pitchers to give up more than six runs in a game, twice, in 2008 – and his co-honoree Tom Gorzellany has an ERA more than four runs lower.  Borowski, meanwhile, failed in such spectacular and obvious fashion – struggling to throw a  fastball over 80 mph – that many felt relieved to see such his agonizing career as Indians closer end swiftly (at least for the moment) by a trip to the DL for "noodle-like symptoms."  It turned out that Borowski's giddyup deficit was well known to the staff, which raised questions as to why he was allowed to attempt to close four games.  Sabathia and Borowski's struggles led directly to five of our 12 losses this season, and we survived Sabathia's Opening Day blowout and nearly overcame another on April 11.  So it's not wishful thinking to believe that even with all the team's other problems, we'd probably be 11-8 right now had these two pitchers not failed so profoundly.

Lee continued his improbable run as the game's most effective pitcher, leading the majors in RA, ERA and FIP.   Byrd made a more or less unheralded return to form this week with two very fine starts, while Carmona quieted fears following last week's  nine-walk adventure.  Hafner hit a game-winning home run but otherwise struggled to keep his OPS over 700, as Indians fans start to wonder if we haven't even seen him hit rock-bottom yet.   Perez bounced back from a shellacking the previous weekend to pitch effectively in four games, but he was finally touched for a run on his 11th batter of the game yesterday, his first game facing more than 9 batters since moving out of long relief last June.  Despite being tagged with a loss yesterday, he actually made great strides toward re-asserting himself as an 8th-inning ace.

Post of the week:  Now taking nominations.

Who fed it:  Byrd pitched far better than your typical #5 starter, giving up just one run over 13 IP in two starts.  Lee put up eight innings of two-hit, shutout ball and fans looked on in disbelief.  Victor surged back with a 12-for-27 week, but his searing .444 average was a little empty, accompanied by just one walk and one extra-base hit, a double.  Carroll continued to perform well in a supporting role, supplementing his .200 average with a beefy .500 secondary average and his usual fine defensive play.  Perez was unlucky on base hits but overall very effective over four games and 4.2 IP, allowing just one walk and no extra-base hits to go with 6 K's – 11 groundballs, 3 flyballs and just one line drive.  Absolute Best:  Lee.  Relative Best:  Byrd. 

Who ate it:  Sabathia and Borowski were complete disasters – although in fairness, Sabathia's ERA for the week (20.25) was twice as good as Borowski's (40.50) .  While many hitters were terrible, nothing was more awful than Peralta's slugging average of .136, or more disappointing than Sizemore's overall line of .160/.300/.240, or more troubling than Hafner's overall line of .167/.259/.333.  Stomp Lewis had two miserable outings out of two, lucky to give up only two runs to Boston after allowing two doubles and two walks in the two-run loss, and allowing two walks before getting just one out a few nights later.  Absolute Worst:  Peralta.  Relative Worst:  Borowski.

The other guys:  Indians pitchers got mugged pretty good by Manny, Lugo and Pedroia for the Red Sox, as well as Renteria, Cabrera and Inge for the Tigers, but nobody inflicted as much damage as Youkilis, who collected a walk, a single, three doubles and a home run in just two games, good for a 2075 OPS.   Ortiz produced an empty 3-for-10, 600 OPS, and needed some luck even to do that well.  Pudge went 0-for-6, stranding ten, in a game where his teammates were teeing off on Indians pitchers to the tune of 11 runs.  Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez, both 22-year-olds acquired in the offseason, combined for just one single and one walk in 23 AB.  On the other side, the Indians dispatched Verlander, Lester and Liriano handily only to get manhandled by the utterly unheralded Armanda Galarraga and Nick Blackburn, plus the somewhat heralded Scott Baker.  The Indians put up a five-spot on Detroit's Zach Miner to seal their one strong offensive game, but against Boston, Papelbon and Okajima each sealed a two-run victory with a two-strikeout perfect final frame.

False alarms:

• Paul Byrd as an excellent starter.
  
• Sabathia being the worst pitcher in the game.
• Borowski being sent in to close a game.
  
• Perez looking rough.
  

Open questions:

• Can we turn it around quickly enough that we don't dig a 2006-sized hole for ourselves in the standings?
  
• Since any blogger writing in his/her parents' basement in his/her underwear can speculate on whether C.C.'s contract situation is distracting him, what exactly do we need newspaper columnists for?
• Too soon to start the Cy watch for Cliff Lee?
• How long can Byrd keep it together?
• How long can Sabathia keep it apart?
• What kind of production will the team consider acceptable from AbaCab? 
  
• Why are the Indians so strangely unwilling to play Blake in LF or RF, which would allow them to give Marte playing time in lieu of Micheals and sometimes Gutierrez?
• Is there anything more to the lack of playing time for Marte, other than his just being low-man on the totem pole to start the season?
  
• How much playing time will Carroll siphon from Peralta and especially AbaCab, and will his performance hold up given more exposure?
  
• Will Borowski ever return to the active roster, and if so, in what role?
• Kobayashi, Breslow, Julio – seriously, can these guys pitch?
  

via www.fangraphs.com

Excerpts from Managing to Win (11th Edition), by Leo Martin:

If your charges aren't putting out, the first step is always a chewing out. First of all, it usually will shock the lackadaisical guys out of a rut. And the public will just eat it up. Trust me, you can never go wrong with a good old verbal tirade.

On building team unity:

If team chemistry just isn't there, try building it with a beanball war. This especially works with a big rival. You don't need much of a pretext - any old brushback will do. If you get lucky and the other guy plunks one of yours, you probably won't even need to start the ball rolling, if there's any starch in the boys at all. As an added touch, nail the biggest SOB on the other side - this way everyone's behind you. And if some hack asks you about it after the game, act all indignant and so forth, like you would never dream of stooping to that level of indecency, all the while grinning like a cheshire cat inside.

On the secret to winning:

Do you actually think I can answer that? Get some [deleted] good pitchers and [deleted] good hitters, and you have a chance.

The series:  Visited the Angels (loss, win, loss) and hosted the Athletics (loss, loss, win).

The big story:  The 2008 rotation became Bizarro 2007 Rotation.  Westbrook and Lee were the team's biggest problems in early 2007, combining for a 6.99 ERA through June 2, with just four quality starts in just 13 tries, having missed nine starts due to injury.  Their paths diverged after that, with Westbrook returning from the DL to be one of the league's better pitchers in the final three months, while Lee's downward spiral culminated in three straight seven-run trainwrecks and a demotion to Buffalo.  This season, the two have combined for a 1.31 ERA and have the same four quality starts in their four tries.  This week, Westbrook was either one ground ball or 480 feet away from a shutout, depending on how you look at it, while Lee baffled the Athletics for eight innings of two-hit ball.  Lee has allowed just one walk and one extra-base hit in his two starts.

On the flip side, Carmona, so dominant in 2007, started 2008 with fine results but worrisome walk totals, and they finally caught up with him this week in an eight-walk trainwreck in which he was lucky to give up only 3 runs in 3.1 innings.  Byrd, surprisingly good to start 2007, has been surprisingly terrible to start 2008.  Sabathia, the Cy Young incumbent, produced his third trainwreck in three tries, in fact the worst of the three, and has been the worst starter in all of baseball this season.  The last time an Indians starter made three straight starts with an 11-something ERA, he was demoted to the minors the next day, despite his multi-year deal and multi-million-dollar salary.  That man, of course, was Cliff Lee.

In other news:  All in all, it feels like we're closer to 4-8 than 6-6, whether or not that's actually the case.  JoBo served up the first totally incomprehensible and indigestible loss of the year.  Iron Rafi seemed to right himself with two perfect innings following a very shaky start, while Steel Rafi got roughed up pretty good.  Carmona signed a deal almost too good to be believed, with the Indians guaranteeing just $14.5 million for 2009-2011 while securing Carmona's services at bargain prices clear through 2014.  Victor slowly returned to the lineup with little sign of ill effects.  The Tigers deepened their early-season hole with a 2-4 performance, getting outscored 39-18 and suffering the losing side of three shutouts along with a minor rash of minor injuries.  Gutierrez had the sniffles ("I am Jay's total lack of surprise"), leading to the natural conclusion that Wedge should be fired, while Dellucci defiantly emerged as our second-best hitter behind Garko.

Post of the week:  Now taking nominations.

Who fed it:  Peralta slugged a cool 947 with three home runs, now on pace for 40.    Dellucci smacked three doubles in his four starts, scored as a pinch-runner, and pulled a bases-loaded walk as a pinch-hitter, ending the week with an astonishingly useful .400/.526/.600 line.  Lee and Westbrook rocked.  Masa, J.J., Craigers and Stomp gave up 3 runs total in 13.2 innings of mostly long relief, with 10 K, 5 BB and 8 hits.  Jamey Carroll was transcendently solid, pairing deft defense with a .545 OBP.  Shoppach hit .375 with a clutch home run.  Absolute Best:  Peralta.  Relative Best:  Dellucci. 

Who ate it:  Sabathia and Byrd unequivocally crapped the bed in their only starts.  AbaCab went 4-for-19, but it's 4-for-24 if we include last Sunday's game, with just one walk and no extra bases.  Michaels was an empty 2-for-14, no walks or extra bases – which sadly raised his OPS by 50 points, all the way to 315 – and in fact his OBP (.133) was even lower than his average (.143).  Sizemore slugged just .275 over the past ten games, with no extra base hits despite a fine average (the same .275 of course) and decent OBP (.362).  Finally, since his clutch double on Opening Day, Blake's line is .129/.206/.161, and he really might be playing his way out of a job.  Absolute Worst:  Michaels.  Relative Worst:  Sabathia.

The other guys:  Joe Saunders had a terrific outing against us to start the week; K-Rod did not.  Vlad and Torii combined to go 8-for-23, and each smacked two home runs in three games.  Darren Oliver faced ten batters, hit two of them and walked one, but gave up no hits or runs.  Some poor bastard named Fernando Hernandez gave up six runs to us in two outings, recording only a HBP and a run-scoring walk in the first game.  The second time out, he very nearly got through two whole scoreless innings, but then he changed his mind and quickly gave up four runs.  Bobby Crosby went 5-for-11 with a home run and two walks.

False alarms:

• Royals and White Sox, still in first place.
• Sabathia being the worst pitcher in the league.
  
• Cliff Lee as Cy Young candidate.
• Marte getting a start.
  

Open questions:

• Could we stop screwing around and have one really good week please?
  
• Since any blogger writing in his/her parents' basement in his/her underwear can speculate on whether C.C.'s contract situation is distracting him, what exactly do we need newspaper columnists for?
• How good can Cliff Lee really be, and for how long?
  
• Can Dellucci be the nice role player he was meant to be for us?
• Still too soon for a Michaels death-watch?
• Too soon to mention a Caesy Blake death-watch, even in hushed tones?
  
• Martevich?  Martevich Martevich Martevich Martevich?
  
• Still too soon for a Tigers 2008 season death watch?
• How healthy will Victor be this season?
• Could Peralta be charging into a breakout season, just one month from his 26th birthday?
  
• Can Cliff Lee really bounce back to be a pretty good pitcher?
• Does anybody have any clue who will be our 2009 Opening Day starter?
• For more than half our relievers, do we really have the slightest idea if they're really good or really bad?
  

Before playing their final Florida Spring Training game, the Indians optioned Ben Francisco to Buffalo, effectively setting their Opening Day 25-man roster. Shin-Soo Choo still has to go on the DL, but other than that, the roster's locked in.

There were two mild surprises this spring: Aaron Fultz released in favor of Craig Breslow, and Jorge Julio making the team over Tom Mastny. And for a team left intact like the Indians, no big surprises are a good thing. Thus far there have been no injuries to major-league players, no collisions with sprinkler heads, no 100-mile taxi rides, and the only controversy was between Casey Blake and Travis Hafner's pet dog.

After all these non-stories, you might wonder what the Indians' roster looks like. Well, you can see the latest 40-man roster on the left sidebar (thank you, SBN 2.0), so I'll jump right to the 25-man roster:

Infielders (plus Pronk)

 C Victor Martinez
1B Ryan Garko
2B Asdrubal Cabrera
SS Jhonny Peralta
3B Casey Blake
DH Travis Hafner
C Kelly Shoppach
IF Jamey Carroll
IF Andy Marte

Aside from the backups, no change from last year's configuration. The big question with this group concerns Marte: how often will Eric Wedge get him into games? Casey Blake's versatility will make it easier for Marte to get starts, for although Andy played first base this spring, his play there made Ryan Garko seem like a Gold Glover.

Otherwise, the playing time seems locked in. Carroll is the backup for Cabrera and Peralta, though I'd imagine he'd see most of his playing time at second, with Cabrera moving over to short on Jhonny's days off. Shoppach will catch every fifth day, with Victor Martinez playing first on most of those occasions. Of course, how well Garko (and, to some extent, Travis Hafner) hit will determine how many true days off Martinez will have.

Outfielders

RF Franklin Gutierrez
CF Grady Sizemore
LF David Dellucci
OF Jason Michaels

Dellucci's job is on the shakiest ground of any starting position player. Ben Francisco was sent down to Buffalo for no reason other than it was he who had an option. Shin-Soo Choo, who does not have an option, will be ready to play in a couple months. The Indians understand the meaning of a sunk cost, so if Dellucci isn't slugging .500 by the end of May, he'll be somewhere else.

I think Jason Michaels is pretty safe. Even though the Indians don't need a backup who can play center field (Gutierrez is probably better defensively than Sizemore there), he'd be useful with either Francisco or Choo starting in left.

Starting Rotation

LHP CC Sabathia
RHP Fausto Carmona
RHP Jake Westbrook
RHP Paul Byrd
LHP Cliff Lee

The only drama here was whether Cliff Lee could win back his starting job over a couple worthy contenders. And he did, pitching well enough to stay with the team. Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers provide the Indians excellent depth, so it isn't a given that Lee is off probation - remember, the Indians can still option him to Buffalo.

Aside from Lee, the main concern is how Fausto Carmona (and, to some extent, CC Sabathia) will fare after seeing a big uptick in innings pitched last season.

Bullpen

RHP Joe Borowski
RHP Rafael Betancourt
LHP Rafael Perez
RHP Jensen Lewis
RHP Masahide Kobayashi
LHP Craig Breslow
RHP Jorge Julio

Like last year, the Indians are going with all short relief. The Indians brought in Kobayashi to siphon off some innings from the Circle of Trust, as well as to guard against performance falloff from the COT. The Indians swapped out Fultz for Breslow, a classic example of how fungible matchup guys are. As Jay pointed out, Breslow gives the Indians more contractual upside, but he first has to get 2008 hitters before we can worry about when his arbitration cutoff will occur.

First of all, I apologize for the long absence. Real life and other projects came together all at once.

So what have the Indians done this offseason? They've acquired two players, both complimentary pieces. Jamey Carroll probably isn't going to hit, but is a good defensive player, and allows the Indians to play Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop. Masahide Kobayashi should a new member of Eric Wedge's exclusive Circle of Trust.

But none of the bigger issues have been resolved. The future of the infield is still muddled. Jhonny Peralta likely isn't going to stay at shortstop for much longer, Casey Blake isn't a long-team answer at third, and Asdrdubal Cabrera should be play at short, not second.

Beyond the starters are two young players who had awful years: Andy Marte and Josh Barfield. The Indians can be patient with Barfield, as they have an option on him, but Marte has to be on the roster. The Indians are in a very difficult spot: they really need to play him regularly to really see what they have in him, but are going to be competing for the division title. Marte's probably not going to beat out Casey Blake to be the starting third baseman, so he's going to have to win the job by having a great Spring Training and continuing that production while playing a couple times a week. Yeah, that's not likely to happen.

So if Marte doesn't work out, and Casey Blake leaves after the end of the season (both in themselves reasonable moves by the Indians), then what? If Jhonny Peralta, who played the position early in his career, can play third base, then that's the most logical move. It allows Asdrubal Cabrera to move to his natural position, and greatly betters the infield defense. This is assuming Josh Barfield figures out how to hit again, admittedly as likely as Andy Marte doing the same this season.

If Marte does work out, then you start to think about dealing Peralta, who is still a valuable player. He's signed through 2010 with a 2011 team option, so he'd still under control for three years if the Indians waited to dangle him after this season.

I guess you can detect a running theme through all this rambling: Asdrubal Cabrera needs to be playing shortstop, and here's how the Indians can make it happen. Infield defense continues to be one of the biggest weaknesses on this team, and now the Indians have the players to fix it. Now they just need the right configuration.

So what's your long-term infield configuration?