The Bronx Zoo on a Lazy Sunday

Has there ever been a more vivid illustration of how October baseball is won than the Yankees getting taken out by the Tigers? The Yankees, with their “Greatest Lineup in History” and an All-Star at every position were knocked out by a team that starts Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge every day because of…(cue the trumpets)…PITCHING!

No matter how good of an offense can be put in the batter’s box, good pitching beats good hitting more often than not. If the last week wasn’t enough to illustrate that point, ask John Hart how many WS rings he has using a similar strategy in the mid-90s.

The Yankees lost because their high priced arms (Unit, Mussina, Wright) were no match for the TALENTED, not expensive arms, of Verlander, Zumaya, and Bonderman.

You would think that with $200M to spend that the Yankees would be able to send someone other than Jaret Wright out to try to salvage the series (paging Carl Pavano…oh, that’s right), but the Yankees have spent their money in the rotation on items whose expiration date has past or is rapidly approaching.

To bring the relation to Cleveland, it emphasizes the importance of this franchise’s emphasis on starting pitching and how, with a vastly improved bullpen, this team (despite its detractors) is NOT far away from pulling off a playoff run.

If you don’t think that the bullpen is an important piece to this puzzle, consider this, here are the top 5 bullpen ERA’s in 2006:
Twins – 2.91
Mets – 3.25
Padres – 3.42
Tigers – 3.51
A’s – 3.60

The Cards, Dodgers, and Yankees come in 14th, 15th, and 16th; but you get the point.
The Indians 2006 Hellpen was 24th of 30 teams.

The starting pitching (with or without Byrd) is more settled than most teams, so a revamped bullpen could go a long way.

With that off the chest, let’s take a whirl at a Lazy Sunday:
Paul Hoynes has a superb (and that term is not often used in regards to PD Tribe coverage) recap of the season, offering both an insider’s look (in particular B-Phil dressing down John Farrell in the Bisons’ locker room in 2005) and a look to the future. Take the time to catch the whole piece online if you’re out of town, as it is worth a read.

Terry Pluto takes one last look at B-Phil and examines the Wedgiro dynamic.

Socker gets Shapiro’s wish list and (surprise!) revisits the Phillips situation.

Everyone’s favorite optimist, Jim Ingraham, is back with his Indians’ 2006 grades. If you want to save yourself the rise in blood pressure, he gives C.C. a B+, mainly because C.C. hasn’t reached #1 status.
Any time you start to wonder where Tribe “fans” get their sour outlooks, visit the Ingraham archive.

Andy Call reports that Kevin Kouzmanoff will play 1B in the Arizona Fall League instead of Michael Aubrey, who remains injured. For Ryan Garko’s sake, the hope is that K2’s trial at 1B is only to see if he can play at 1B to add that feather to his cap, or to show other teams that Kouz can play there. Also, Trevor Crowe will stay in the OF for the Arizona Fall League, so the Band-Aid approach for acquiring a 2007 2B is not an option.

It also means that Crowe, a natural CF, may eventually push Sizemore to LF…and before you spit your coffee out on the keyboard, consider the fact that Sizemore’s daredevil antics in CF are awfully entertaining. But, ask Darin Erstad and Aaron Rowand how easy it is to go through a season unscathed playing CF like a strong safety. Sizemore’s bat is too valuable to have him extended periods of time to the DL, like Ken Griffey, Jr. did when he broke his left wrist in Seattle making a phenomenal catches.

Lastly, back to the playoffs (where my Twins-Dodgers WS is now laughable), here are a few players no longer playing who could figure into some Tribe offseason plans:

Mike Mussina – Would the Boss pick up a $17M option on him, or would that money be better used to sign a Schmidt/Zito AND a solid set-up guy. Mussina’s a PA native (Montoursville to Cleveland is about a 4 ½ hour drive) who may take a short contract to pitch close to home to close out a stellar career. He would really fit into the Tribe rotation, as he wouldn’t be counted on to be an ace, but would be an obvious upgrade over Byrd and would allow the Indians to fill holes by moving Byrd.

Nomar Garciaparra – His 1-year deal with the Boys in Blue is done, and he played well enough to merit a long-term deal. Is he healthy enough to play SS again? Would a promise to play SS full-time be enough to lure him to the North Coast. How would he look between Sizemore and Hafner?

Greg Maddux – He hits the FA market again and, while he certainly is not what he once was, he may provide the veteran leadership that Millwood provided a year ago. This is a long shot at best, but worth mentioning. Again, signing him would allow the Tribe to move Byrd for a reliever/2B/corner OF.

Gary Sheffield – This, too, could be a pipe dream. But, he fits the profile of a RH power-hitting corner OF, assuming that his body hasn’t been ravaged by flaxseed oil. He may end up playing 1B in the Bronx next year, but all bets are off for what the Yanks are planning for 2008 if they feel their Fantasy Baseball approach isn’t working.

Why do I get such pleasure out of the knowledge that the Yankees will be watching the ALCS and the WS from the same place as me…the COUCH!