This writer has been as down on and disappointed in the 2008 Cleveland Indians as any fan or follower. As many lines of personnel adjustments have emanated from these keys as have been generated anywhere. That this did not feel like a season for which to be complacent is evidenced in pieces dated as long ago as Feb. 17 and March 23. See for yourself if you doubt me. The first is about dealing CC to the Dodgers and the other is about the roster being too full of marginals.
Recent commentators of far greater prominence have pronounced this a lost season, one best utilized to prepare for next season.
Yet I do not believe this is necessarily a lost campaign, nor one that needs to be bagged. It is not time to dismantle nor to liquidate, though some judicious adjustments must occur. Minor tinkering would not, in and of itself, seem to be enough. Then again, this core group has never been about having the best personnel relative to its competitors. It has, instead, been characterized by a collection whose whole exceeds the sum of its parts. Recent entries representing the city of Cleveland in the American League, those led by Manager Eric Wedge, have collectively accomplished more than what might be expected from so motley a crew.
Just today, in Terry Pluto's argument (available at cleveland.com/sports, the online site of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) that blowing-up the roster is imminent and justified, GM Mark Shapiro reminded that the Bartolo Colon deal---the one that brought back Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips---was consumated on June 26, an anniversary still a week away, and that the deal came relatively early on the baseball calendar.
The point is, there is plenty of time for liquidations. The non-waiver trading deadline is nearly six weeks away, falling as it does on July 31. There is a significant meantime during which what remains of contention can be salvaged.
It is not as if I'm a die-hard, either. Just a bit of a realist. At least from time to time. I think this year's club can still compete viably in the AL Central, where there is no dominant squad. Given the still-realistic possibilities that DH Travis Hafner, C Victor Martinez, RHS Fausto Carmona and 2b Josh Barfield can still return for meaningful late-season contributions, and that only three top-line starters typically make the post-season starts, this can still be a club that does serious damage at playoff time.
Getting there first, of course, must be managed. That is where Wedge, Shapiro and the rest of the braintrust must rally themselves to enact a plan of action that affects positive change.
It has not helped that interleague play resumed precisely at a time when this club could least afford to subtract yet another bat from its already impaired order. Losing the DH, regardless of how humble might be the production coming from that slot, was not a prescription for optimal success.
Nonetheless, things are, as we've been told, as they are. The reality is the team appears again to be afflicted by offensive strain. The suspicion is that may be somewhat illusionary. Wedge is not entirely mistaken to point out some balls have been hit hard, but right at opponents. Colorado played some outstanding defense against the Tribe during their sweep.
Allowing LH Jorge De La Rosa to achieve 67% of his outs on Ks, however, cannot be denied.
But that is a digression.
What the Rockies demonstrated is what an impact speed and defense can have upon a struggling squad. Swift CF Willy Taveras ran the visitors right out of his new residence, showing what a mistake it was to dismiss his candidacy as an everyday performer. Slick-fielding SS Omar Quintanilla was stellar and pesky all week, and was featured at both the bottom and top third of the Rockies' batting order, the promotion mysteriously coming against the LH Jeremy Sowers.
Then there was the suddenly-torrid Jeff Baker, homering in all three contests, after having hit but one in his previous 41 MLB games. Baker revealed appealing versatility and a very live bat. So, the question must be asked: "Did it seem to anyone else that Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd, who preceded Shapiro as John Hart's Assistant General Manager, might have been showcasing both Baker and Quintanilla for Cleveland's benefit?"
I think he most assuredly was. Conveniently, Cleveland SS Jhonny Peralta failed to flag down more than a few grounders average MLB shortstops convert into much-needed outs, contrasting most graphically what it was that Quintanilla---a virtual unknown in the baseball universe and someone soon to return to the bench once Rockies' MVP Troy Tulowitzki regains his health---was bringing to a winning effort for his club. (Baker's role figures also to be affected by a currently-disabled but rapidly-returning infielder, Clint Barmes.)
Whatever the case in that regard, it is hoped the Tribe brass saw the benefits of attributes like quickness, base-stealing speed and fielding range, as each has been in short supply since Omar Vizquel and Kenny Lofton's heydays passed.
So long as this year's club restores such gifts to its key middle infield spot and adds a potent bat to the middle third of its order, contention can yet be had along the North Coast in 2008. Before remarks begin saying that is all more easily said than done, be advised viabilities do exist affordably---though there is certainly no guarantee the solutions will definitely produce as recommended.
Vizquel can be had from San Francisco. Dmitri Young can be imported from Washington. Neither guy would cost an arm nor a leg to acquire. And neither guy would need to have an earth-shaking season foreign to their recent pasts in order for them to combine to impact this year's club.
Vizquel, now 41, would steady and undeniably enhance a defense that is supposed to complement a pitching-first organization. Young would need merely to DH in Hafner's stead, supplementing what Ryan Garko and Casey Blake contribute behind Grady Sizemore and Ben Francisco.
Inasmuch as it is evident Peralta is not up to the dual tasks of fielding as an infield leader or producing runs in the meat of the order, something must be done about compensating for his deficiencies. To fail doing so would allow this year to go to waste entirely.
It would be fine if Jhonny and a secondary piece---such as whatever it is David Dellucci might bring from someone like the Cubs, for whom he'd become an off-the-bench asset---could bring from Colorado Quintanilla and Baker, with the duo assuming the keystone roles in Cleveland. But that cannot be counted on, though it is hereby wished for.
Better, perhaps, to have Vizquel back to take charge of the Indian infield, with Peralta force-fed 2b, sink-or-swim. As an alternative, Jhonny has a remaining minor-league option. He could be demoted until he polishes the requisite skills, while the varsity moves further forward with Jamey Carroll as the 2b starter. I'm inclined to think farming JP is unnecessary, however.
Were Grady, Omar, Ben, Garko, Young, Blake, Choo, JP and Shoppach to comprise the order, this would not be a pushover offense or a permissive defense. Some resourceful and creative manuevering would be necessitated, certainly, but such execution might salvage what remains of this summer---at least before a definitive decision must be made on marketable vet hurlers CC Sabathia and Paul Byrd.
Plenty of time would remain to explode the roster should such measures not pan out as hoped.
A few things seem fairly certain. The OF is replete with worthwhile young candidates. A superior and more consistent corner OF bat might be desired; but shouldn't the organization first fully audition what it already has in-house? It is not as if anyone is going to be giving away a more proven run-producing OF at this point anyway, as only a contender would be dealing for what it is Shapiro has to barter and such a club would need its proven pieces.
Similarly, the corner infield slots are respectably occupied by suitably productive batsmen in Garko and Blake, both of whom are having fine seasons thusfar. Catcher, with Martinez out, suffers some, but talent at that spot is always lacking in the sport and no one is making what they may have there available.
This is all a long way of saying this lineup is best enhanced by addressing what it has in the middle of its shaky infield.
O'Dowd may have been encouraging Shapiro to contemplate what could be up-the-middle. Or what transpired could merely be coincidence. Either way, if this team is to regain its status as the team to beat in the AL Central, it must fix itself in the middle of its infield, ideally with a wide-ranging gloveman at SS and a live bat at 2b---precisely what it was that most turned the Rockies series in favor of the home team.
Assuming JP and Dellucci cannot be converted into Quintanilla and Baker, bringing back Vizquel (or a reasonable approximate, a description that does not allude to Jorge Velandia, incidentally) and adding an established vet bat like Young's may be as good as it would get.
What is more, that just may be enough---not only to resurrect hopes for '08 contention, but also to persuade a certain lefthander to reinvest in Cleveland Indians baseball.
Otherwise, what Pluto and so many others have to say is indeed true. Going on with what is being employed will not get it done. And this will prove itself to be a lost campaign, indeed.
Landing an established and feared LHR like Damaso Marte would make the challenge easier, as well. Something impactful for the pen is quite possibly as essential as any possible addition. And Marte is one for whom this space has argued all spring.
Read the complete post at http://www.xanga.com/MALeonard/662542925/tribe-refrain-from-towel-tossing.html