Cleveland Indians Video: Seven Homers In 3 Minutes

Take a few minutes and enjoy the video of the 7 homers the Tribe smacked versus the Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Video Highlights: Scott Kazmir Versus Kansas City Royals

MLB is now being very aggressive in adding highlights to their YouTube Channel. Here is a video of Scott Kazmir versus the Kansas City Royals:

Video: Daisuke Matsuzaka Injured....again

Video from MiLB.tv Daisuke Matsuzaka had to leave his start against the Pawtucket PawSox on Sunday afternoon. He had retired the first nine men he faced including two strikeouts but after delivering one pitch in the top of the 4th inning he grabbed his left side in pain.
The training staff came out to the mound and he briefly attempted to stretch hoping it was just a cramp but Dice-K didn't react as if it were just a cramp:

Trevor Bauer's Nasty Curveball

Trevor Bauer with a nasty 79 mph curve ball to strike out John Lindsey

A 96 mph heater to end the 6th inning:

 (Videos From Milb.TV)

Shin Soo-Choo and Joe Carter?

Work A Trade & Sign

Say what? This isn't the NBA! Besides didn't you just say that odds were long that Choo would sign an extension anywhere? Yes, I know this isn't the NBA and yes I did say that the odds were long....but not impossible. Trade and sign deals don't happen often in major league baseball but they do happen and should be explored as history shows benefits can be advantageous for the Indians.

The player was Joe Carter and then Indians GM Hank Peters wanted desperately to sign him to a long term contract. He made several proposals to Carter's agent Jim Turner and each one was rejected and Turner made at least one counter proposal which Peters rejected. After the 1989 season Peters made one last offer to Carter for 3 years at $10M and after Carter rejected the offer Peters released a statement to the press announcing that the negotiations had ended and Carter would be traded by the end of the year.

Since Carter, like Choo, was entering the final year of his contract the team acquiring him would want to sign him to a long term extension before finalizing the deal with the Indians. This didn't seem to be much of a deterrent until Turner alerted Peters that Carter would only sign extension with 5 teams (Padres, Dodgers, Angels, Royals, or Cardinals).

Luckily, Jack McKeon was running the Padres who had finished 2nd to the Dodgers in 1989 a mere 3 games behind the San Francisco Giants and had a loaded farm system. The Indians and Padres reached a deal that would send  Carter to the Padres in exchange for Sandy Alomar Jr., Chris James, and Carlos Baerga and the next day the Padres and Carter reached an agreement on a 3-year $9.2M contract. The trade became official on December 6, 1989.

Dugout Seeds: What Type Of Manager Will Sandy Alomar Be?

Today the Indians fired manager Manny Acta and put the interim tag on Sandy Alomar Jr. at the helm. The Indians will continue to interview others over the winter (Terry Francona, Dave Martinez, Sandy Alomar Jr.) etc.  I touched on why I'd support Alomar's hiring over at Wahoos On First:

Why Sandy Alomar Jr. Should Be The Indians Next Manager

What kind of manager will Alomar be? After interviewing with the Boston Red Sox last winter he met with the media to answer a few questions about his thoughts on managing. The video is iincluded below.

Dugout Seeds: Drew Pomeranz - The Rockies Project & Indians Draft Process

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post scribed about the Rockies worst season ever in an article titled Colorado Rockies' worst season ever breeds 10 key questions in which he discusses former Indians pitcher Drew Pomeranz and asks:

Will Drew Pomeranz blossom? The young left-hander seems to have it all — size, a 94 mph fastball, a sharp curveball. But he's pitched terribly in the second half, and the Rockies can't seem to get their message through to him. Namely, throw strikes! He remains a huge project.

The Rockies obtained Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner, and Matt McBride from the Indians at the trade deadline in 2011 in exchange for Ubaldo Jimenez. Pomeranz has had a rough first full season with the Rockies posting a 1-9 record with a 5.30/4.78 ERA/FIP. His big problem has been the ability to get right handed hitters out (.892 OPS against) and his inability to command the strike zone issuing 4.26 walks per nine innings of work and has walked 10.4% of the batters he's faced.
Do the stuggles of both Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, both former first round draft picks by Indians, reflect poorly on the Indians philosophy for drafting or is it a reflection of the inability for the Rockies to develop pitchers (especially in Coors Field)? Did the Rockies error and rush Pomeranz to the majors? Or, are Drew Pomeranz and Alex White two more missed prospects drafted by the Tribe?

All tough questions.

Dugout Seeds: Indians Need To Deal Asdrubal Cabrera Not Focus On A Backup Shortstop

Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes that the Indians need to find a reliable backup for Asdrubal Cabrera as Brent Lillibridge and Jason Donald have been ineffective in the role.

He quotes Manny Acta as saying:

"We really need somebody, when we give Cabby a day off or he goes down, who can step in help us out. It's been an issue. . .It's been an issue."

The words from Manny Acta seem rather odd to me as he had ample opportunity to bring up Jason Donald to give Asdrubal Cabrera an occasional day off early in the year. There was the time that Jack Hannahan missed 12 games and was out for 13 days while Jason Donald sat in Columbus and Cabrera played everyday.

Point being: An organization on the verge of losing close to 100 games need not worry about the backup shortstop rather they should focus on collecting talent.

I'd recommend shopping Asdrubal Cabrera, who is signed for two more years, to the San  Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, or Seattle Mariners. An example of a trade that could help both teams is a with the Braves. The deal would be centered around pitching prospect Julio Tehran who struggled in 2012 and top prospect shortstop Julio Andrelton.

If the Indians want a backup shortstop for the 2013 season their will be plenty of opportunities with guys like Reid Brignac and Elliot Johnson of the Rays that could step in and fill that role.

Dugout Seeds: Jim Bowden List Indians As Possible Managerial Vacancy

Jim Bowden discusses the Astros early search to fill their managerial vacancy and discusses some other possible managerial openings.

He notes Bobby Valentine of the Red Sox, Ned Yost of the Royals, Ozzie Guillen of the Miami Marlins, Jim Tracy of the Colorado Rockies, and Manny Acta of the Cleveland Indians.

The rumor mill should pick up on who may be the next Indians manager and the list should include Terry Francona, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Dave Martinez.

Dave Martinez currently is a Rays bench coach and has worked directly with Joe Maddon since he was hired in October of 2007.

Terry Francona has the rings and the experience but he may not want to go through the rebuilding process. If Francona doesn't find his way into a major league dugout in 2013 he should, at the minimum, brought in to fill an advisory role similar to the role Davey Johnson had with the Nationals prior to taking over for Jim Riggleman.

In the end the Indians should turn the future over to Sandy Alomar Jr.

Dugout Seeds: Shapiro Tweets & Offseason Spending

Major League Trade Rumors featured a tweet from Mark Shapiro who is back on the Twittersphere after a two month hiatus due to what he called harrassment toward him and his family - his Tweet messages (strung together)

"Want to reconnect with all of you Tribe fans," Shapiro wrote on his account. "Sorry for my absence, been a rough time for all & I stepped back to focus on leading the [organization]. We're as disappointed in this season as you are and can't thank you enough for the dedication you show every day toward our team. "We are lucky to have fans with your passion and are working tirelessly to bring you that championship you deserve. The reason I joined Twitter though is to connect directly with you all, so I want to refocus my efforts with that goal in mind." - clevelandindians.com

 Another of his tweets indicated that the Indians will have money to spend in the offseason but is concerned with the depth of the free agent class:

.@joycekeo I think we will have the ability to spend.Just concerned about depth of FA mket this offseason
— Mark Shapiro (@MarkShapiro) September 18, 2012

MLB Trade Rumors suggests the Tribe may be interested in outfielders and believes this may be an area of strength in the free agent market this winter. Below is the list of available free agent outfielders provided by MLBTR.

Dugout Seeds: Good News For Indians On Carlos Santana

As reported on MLB Trade Rumors the 2012 Super-Two cutoff now projects at two years and 139 days of service time (CAA Sports Twitter Link).  Players who are classified as Super Two will be eligible for 4 years of arbitration as opposed to the 3 years afforded to other players.

A fourth year of arbitration can often lead to escalated salaries for players. Although these players remain under team control they can become too expensive to keep. Carlos Santana fits the mold of a player who through better performance over the next several seasons could reap a big arbitration payoff if classified as Super Two. Luckily, at the current projection of Super Two status Carlos Santana will finish the season with less than 2 years 139 days of service thus missing the cutoff for Super Two.

Finally, having Carlos Santana eligible for Super Two would have brought back all the pain of watching Mike Redmond toil behind the dish for the Tribe while Santana crushed the ball in AAA all in an attempt to avoid the Super Two label.

Dugout Seeds: Acta Resigned To Losing?

Over the weekend Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal stated that the Indians were leaning toward bringing Manny Acta back in 2013. Today he reports that (as highlighted on MLB Trade Rumors):

Scouts following the team in recent days, however, say that Acta is displaying poor body language, almost as if he is resigned to the team’s fate. Not a good sign.

Of course, it isn't a good sign when a teams manager is displaying poor body language - if that is noticeable to scouts who are around the game everyday - it is a sign that the writing is on the wall for the manager.

The problem with bringing Acta back would be the inability to overhaul the coaching staff (which is needed) and convincing any free agent to join a team with a lame duck manager. In his time in the Indians dugout Manny Acta has done nothing to establish himself as the type of manager that you an organization can lose with while allowing his brand of baseball to develop.

The logic here is clear - Manny Acta will be replaced at the end of the 2012 season. The short list of my candidates to replace Acta include Sandy Alomar Jr., Mike Maddux, Travis Fryman, and Terry Francona.

Dugout Seeds: Indians Leaning Toward Keeping Acta

From Ken Rosenthal (Fox Sports) Video Link and MLB Trade Rumors:

Indians officials are leaning towards retaining manager Manny Acta as they know that a new manager won't make all that much of a difference. They also don't have to worry about placating their fans as they already rank 28th in MLB in home attendance. Of course, a poor finish to the season could change their minds about Acta.

A new manager may not make all that much of a difference but a change in philosophy, roster management, and talent utilization is required in the Indians dugout. Placating fans should never be the cause of replacing a manager.

Dugout Seeds: Indians Might Fire Acta - In print..

Ken Rosenthal is one of the first to put the Indians Might Fire Manny Acta into an article about managerial openings next season:

The Cleveland Indians might fire Manny Acta; Francona was a special assistant with the Indians in 2001, and remains close with team president Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti. Better positions could open, too — Atlanta? Detroit? The Los Angeles Angels? — depending upon which teams’ seasons end in disappointment.

Interesting that Rosenthal brings up the name of Terry Francona.

Dugout Seeds: Indians To Promote Three

According to Chris Assenheimer the Indians will call up Russ Canzler, Scott Barnes, and Thomas Neal.

Canzler, Neal and Barnes will be called up tomorrow. #Indians
— Chris Assenheimer (@CAwesomeheimer) September 1, 2012

Scott Barnes (LHP) appeared in 7 games with the Indians in 2012 and went 0-0 with a 8.10 ERA (9ER/10IP). He went 2-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 31 Appearances (3 starts) with the Clippers. He was originally obtained by the Indians from the San Francisco Giants in 2009 for Ryan Garko.

Russ Canzler (RHB) spent the season with the Clippers posting a .797 with a slash line of .259/.324/.473 with 21HR and 73 RBI. He was purchased from the Tampa Bay Rays on January 31, 2012.

Thomas Neal (RHB) spent most of the season patrolling the OF in Akron. The Indians removed the 25 year old Neal from their 40 man roster this past season and to make matters worse sent him to AA Akron where he spent the entire season. To his credit, he did what he had to do to become relevant again, and that was to hit. He finished the season with a .867 OPS with a slash line of .314/.400/.467 with 12 HR and 51 RBI. He was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Orlando Cabrera on July 30, 2011. Neal is not currently on the 40-man roster but the Indians will most likely move Josh Tomlin to the 60-day disabled list to make room (h/t T.J. Zuppe)

According to Manny Acta, none of the September callups are here as a reward for a good season (good news for Canzler and Neal).

"It's a combination of it," Acta said, "but the guys that are coming up are going to be getting some at-bats; the majority of them are going to be getting some at-bats. So it's not so much rewarding but also evaluation time for us." - mlb.com

Dugout Seeds: Asdrubal Defends Acta's Performance, But Why?

Asdrubal Cabrera says Manny Acta is not to blame for the Indians poor performance and hopes that he (Acta) is not the scapegoat.

"It's not the manager's fault," Cabrera said. "He doesn't hit, he doesn't pitch, he doesn't throw and he doesn't play defense. We're bad right now. Everything is bad right now -- defense, hitting, pitchers. It's not [Acta's] fault. He does his job."

The one question I have is if a team isn't pitching, isn't hitting, and isn't fielding....and if everything is bad right now - how exactly is Manny Acta doing his job?

Judge The Indians By Their Words - Not Mine

Instead of me opining about how disappointed I am in the organizational structure of the Indians (I'll do that on www.wahoosonfirst.com) I'll allow their words to be put in print. The following is from Terry Pluto's book Dealing - The Cleveland Indians New Ballgame.

Start with the Cleveland Indians Vision Statement:

To build and sustain a championship caliber team that competes passionately, relentlessly, and professionally. And in the process, make a positive statement about its collective vision and core values.

Scouting Mission Statement:

To scout a passionate, relentless, and systematical manner in order to provide accurate evaluations to assist in procuring championship-caliber Cleveland Indians players.

Player Development Mission Statement:

To develop true professionals, each of whom reaches his full potential mentally, physically, and fundamentally through a systematic approach founded upon Cleveland Indians vision and values. 

Indians Trade Deadline Message From The Past

When F.J. "Steve" O'Neil and Gabe Paul returned to the Indians ownership in 1978 Gabe Paul made reference to the Cleveland Sports fan as the "Sleeping Giant". His words were scoffed at through the hard years and finally came to fruition in the perfect storm of the mid to late 1990's.

It is often suggested that voices from the past speak to us but we are often not willing to listen. I hope Chris Antonetti, Mark Shapiro, and Paul Dolan can take a moment to reflect on the words of Gabe Paul:

"It [sleeping giant] only needs to be reawakened, that won't come with words, only action. But give the fans what they want, a winning team, and they will react like no other city."

"And if we don't succeed, we can't blame it on the people, only ourselves"

Is the front office willing to listen?

From Here To The Trade Deadline: Remaining July Schedules for AL Central Teams

In ranking the toughest second half schedules ESPN.com's Buster Olney ranks the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox as the two easiest and the Detroit Tigers as the 4th toughest. Olney's strength of schedule rankings are based on the number of games remaining against teams with a .500 record and at the time of his writing the  Indians had 33 opponents with a .500 record or better, the White Sox 35, and the Tigers 54.

Currently the Chicago White Sox lead the AL Central with a record of 47-53 and lead the Indians (44-41) by 3 games, the Detroit Tigers (44-42) by 3.5 games, the Kansas City Royals (37-47) by 9.5 games, and the Minnesota Twins (36-49) by 11games. The Indians trail the Baltimore Orioles (45-40) for the final wild card spot by 1 game and Tigers trail the Orioles by 1.5 games.

How  active the White Sox, Indians, Tigers, and even the Royals are at the trade deadline will be determined by how they perform between now and the July 31st trade deadline so let's take a look at who's playing who and where.

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Cleveland Indians:

Home Games (7): Baltimore Orioles (4) Detroit Tigers (3)

Road Games (11): Toronto Blue Jays (3), Tampa Bay Rays (4), Minnesota Twins (3), Kansas City Royals (1)

Off Days: 1 (July 30th)

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Chicago White Sox:

Home Games/Opponent: (3): Minnesota Twins (3)

Road Games (15): Kansas City Royals (3), Boston Red Sox (4), Detroit Tigers (3), Texas Rangers (3), Minnesota Twins (2)

Off Days: 1 (July 26th)

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The Detroit Tigers:

Home Games  (7): LA Angels (4), Chicago White Sox (3)

Road Games (11): Baltimore Orioles (3), Cleveland Indians (3), Toronto Blue Jays (3), Boston Red Sox (2)

Off Days: 1 (July 23rd)

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Kansas City Royals:

Home Games ( 11): Chicago White Sox (3), Seattle Mariners (4), Minnesota Twins (3), Cleveland Indians (1)

Road Games (7): LA Angels (3), Seattle Mariners (4)

Off Days: 1 (July 30th)

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Minnesota Twins:

Home Games (12): Oakland Athletics (3), Baltimore Orioles (4), Cleveland Indians (3), Chicago White Sox (2)

Road Games ( 6): Kansas City Royals (3), Chicago White Sox (3)

Off Days: 1 (July 26th)

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Tribe Day Off - They Need It

The Indians have a day off to day and by Tuesday should have Carlos Santana back in the lineup and by Wednesday Johnny Damon back in LF. Hopefully the Indians will hold off on returning Carlos Santana to behind home plate and take advantage of the opening at Designated Hitter created by the Travis Hafner injury. 

The best move for the Indians to make is to send Matt LaPorta back to Columbus on Tuesday and activate Santana and stick him at DH. 

Then on Wednesday activate Johnny Damon and send Diaz to the minors. 

After 7-10 days with Santana splitting time at DH/1b the Indians could elect to send one of the catchers back to AAA and call up a useful player to help with the roster but by then we could be nearing the return of Jack Hannahan so the roster move may be an easy one.