Monday, November 14, 2005

Here and There

Since I don't want to give any more credence to Scott Boras' comments on Millwood, the Indians, and budgets; you can check them out in the Paul Hoynes article from Sunday's PD.

Other than Scott Boras proving he's the smarmiest agent this side of Bob Sugar, I take issue with the PD running this article and giving some credence to this blowhard. The problem is that Joe Bandwagon wakes up on Sunday and reads this article, saying to himself, "Boy, is Dolan cheap. If they don't give Millwood an 8 year contract - I'll never buy another ticket."

Knowing the (unfortunate) influence that the PD Sports Section has in this town, that's just irresponsible. Why don't they just float a story that Manny wants to come back to town (regardless of money still owed on a bloated contract or what the Red Sox would want in return). Oh, wait.

With article titles like "Time to Pay Up", is it any wonder there's so much defeatism in this town when it comes to sports?

Meanwhile, in reality, it's INSANE to give any pitcher a 5 year deal, much less one with major arm problems in his past. I'm all for getting Millwood back on this team for the innings, leadership, and guidance that he adds to the Tribe. But 5 years!?! Let Mike Ilitch sell some more Little Caesers' pizza to pay off that contract. A 5 year deal for a 32 year old pitcher with arm problems sounds tailor made for the Tigers or Orioles.

Word around the Stove has the Tribe offering Tom Gordon a contract, presumably to close. Howry seems to have priced himself out of the Indians' plans. While Howry had a great year with the Tribe, he too is still only a few years removed from major arm surgery and just pitched a ton of innings. Howry will probably get closer money and close somewhere next year, just not the Jake. Wickman remains a name not often seen or heard as to 2006.

If the Tribe signs Flash Gordon to close, expect them to sign another veteran reliever to solidify the bullpen. Perhaps a return to Cleveland by that famous bw-3 (when it was still bw-3) pitchman Julian Tavarez? I would pay to see him do another commercial where the umpire goes out to the mound to see wing sauce on the ball. Or maybe he'll come back to hit Brecksville's senior prom again (which Tavarez did in 1995).

All of this is probably just smoke coming out of the Hot Stove, but with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report on February 18th, the clock is ticking.

11 comments:

Baltimoran said...

i agree its stupid to overpay anyone...buuutt, i wouldn't be too excited to see Flash as our closer over howry, and Sugar has a point about the Indians getting to 70 million if they want to contend.

BIG game for the cavs tonight and i get to watch finally. Gilbert is sick, and i don't know how they are now playing better defense when hughes was supposedly their best defender (easy sched. maybe..but they beat the spurs). The cavs could prove a lot with a win tonight, they can start to separate themselves from the bucks and wiz as the 4th best team in the east

Rockdawg said...

Hughes and Lebron are a lot alike on D. They look like solid defenders on paper because they get a lot of steals and a decent amount of boards, but they both need to improve their team defensive skills. Getting steals is great, but when you overplay the passing lanes, it leads to easy buckets.

I, like Crattus, would not be too excited to see an aging Flash as our closer, but I said the same thing about Slim, and he seemed to do decent last year.

t-bone said...

I thought it was Rocky River's senior prom...

Cy Slapnicka said...

did anyone see the six pack plans? http://indians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cle/ticketing/six_packs.jsp

How ridiculous is it that John Adams is getting his own bobblehead!?! Whats next, the fat guy from browns games with his mask or maybe the guy that wore the wolfman looking mask get bobbleheads?

That being said, I'd display is proudly on my desk.

Paul Cousineau said...

I love the idea of a John Adams bobblehead. The guy's bought his own seat for 20 odd years, this is the least that the organization can do.

With all of the Cavs' talk (and they have looked great), I've put some feelers out there to put together a Cleveland Sports Page that will cover all of the sports.

The Baltimoran is buying into AgentSpeak. Bob Sugar has you right where he wants you.

Baltimoran said...

sugar is a smooth talker. i'm too lazy to look anything up...but how many world series teams have been at the bottom of the league in payroll. and yes i know that doesn't mean give stupid contracts, but i'd take millwood at 4 yrs. despite the possible breakdown because he's a good guy and he's clutch with men on

cavs were very impressive last night, i'm so happy that sasha is not in the rotation and think of how much stronger the defense and rebounding will be when sideshow bob replaces allan henderson. They even played good when lebron was on the bench.

rockdawg, will you be at BW's drinking bombs and breaking ribs next weds... you idiot

Rockdawg said...

Not going home for Thanksgiving...Moms couldn't be more upset. I gotta go to Florida tomorrow for Jessica's wedding, can't afford too many plane tickets, so we'll have to wait until Christmas.

You make a good point about teams with low payroll. It is possible to win with a small payroll, but it is also possible for someone to shove a sword all the way down their throat...Point being, just because it's possible, doesn't make it likely. The Tribe should be SMART with their money, not selfish with it. I believe the Twins went through this last offseason, relying on what they had, instead of spending some cash. Then, when they had a couple injuries, they went right downhill.

Cy Slapnicka said...

i agree, but its a risk signing a pitcher to a 5 year contract for big money, especially one who has had arm problems. we'd cripple ourselves for the remainder of his contract if he goes down. i think teams can get some sort of insurance on stuff like that, but i'm sure they still lose out.

i like millwood, but for 5 years at that kind of jack, i'm not sure i do. if i was shapiro, i'd be paralyzed by excessive risk and fear at this point, and that, my friends, is why i'm not a GM...that and i would have signed Thome for 85 billion dollars and 50% ownership of the team when he was looking for a deal and Bernie Kosar will still be under center.

Paul Cousineau said...

The last pitcher to sign a 5 year deal...Chan Ho Park! Not a good thing to do.

The Matsui and Eyre deals set the bar pretty high on OF and set-up guys.

The numbers and years being thrown around for Burnett and Wagner also set a bad precedent for bargain shoppers, looking for SP and closers.

Baltimoran said...

i put full trust in Shapiro, i just hope dolan steps up and realizes what a golden opportunity he has with this squad right now

another cavs game tonight...can't wait

i give braylon edwards a month before he beats the hell out of R. Brown

Cy Slapnicka said...

bags, boy that MIN game at the Q is looking tempting Saturday of turkey day weekend. can't pass up big lar on the pipes though...