Boobie Sunday

Please allow me to get something off of my chest:
THE CAVS ARE GOING TO THE FINALS!!!

Behind the young man who may be Robin to LeBron’s Batman, the Cavs rode the hot hand of a man called Boobie to set up this moment that was only a dream on that night when the ping pong balls bounced the Cavs’ way.
On to San Antoine to see if the Cavs can continue their roll through the playoffs on the substantial shoulders of our King.

Meanwhile, across the plaza (which looked like this), the Indians fell victim to the law of averages (and another effort by Cliff Lee to head to Buffalo) and finally lost to the Tigers.

This despite Grady Sizemore not only going retro in his uniform, but in his stirrups as he took that next step to look like a baseball player in 1977.
I hope this becomes a new look for SuperSizemore, but it’s unlikely.

Without dwelling on the only negative thing that happened last night, let’s take a Lazy Sunday:

No sooner had the word “negative” appeared in the intro, does Sheldon Ocker throw some cold water on everybody who’s feeling pretty good about the Indians these days. Let’s see, according to the Bitterman, the Indians have given up on Marte and are unlikely to have Casey Blake on the roster next year.

Does anyone ever wonder if Ocker actually goes to these games or really “talks to scouts”? His write-up of the heart pounding victory on Friday is laughable in that it focused ONLY on the negatives. I was at the game, and sure there were negatives, but if the ABJ ever wonders why their circulation is down, they need to go no further than this dreadful “recap” of what my brother described as “the most exciting game at the Jake in 10 years”.

It is almost a weekly desire stated here, but please…PLEASE, ABJ – take Ocker off of the Tribe beat and promote Stephanie Storm, who covers the Akron Aeros so well.

Here’s the weekly Brad Lidge trade talk, as well as the weekly Rangers’ fire sale talk.

Andy Call has a great story on Pronk’s signing with the Texas Rangers over Frostys at Wendy’s.

Jim Ingraham finally addresses the elephant in the room regarding Cliff Lee in print. While it’s been discussed here (and dissected very well in the comments section by new serial poster Halifax), Ingraham is the first newspaperman to put it in print that Cliff Lee has just as much of a chance to vacate the rotation as Jeremy Sowers does when Jake Westbrook returns from his rehab stint.

While Westbrook certainly didn’t impress in his first rehab start (1 1/3 IP, 4 ER 7 H, 1 BB), Lee is making it a two-horse race to be sent to Buffalo as he still retains two options.

Consider the numbers in their last 3 starts:
Sowers
18 2/3 IP, 12 ER, 5.78 ERA, 1.28 WHIP

Lee
13 2/3, 16 ER, 13.66 ERA, 2.16 WHIP

While Sowers certainly hasn’t evoked those comparisons to a young Tom Glavine recently, Cliff Lee has performed significantly worse. Sowers at least has moments of being in control and has been victimized by poor relief pitching after him (CaBBrera), while Lee continually walks the tightrope and taxes the Tribe bullpen because of his short starts.

Each will probably get one more start (not counting Sowers this afternoon), but it will be interesting to see which direction the Indians decide to go and if, by chance, Lee becomes trade bait to shore up a beleaguered bullpen (which I promise to dissect at some point this week).

Not to just throw something against the wall (OK, maybe just to throw something against the wall), but would San Diego be willing to part with a piece (or pieces)of their magnificent bullpen (Scott Linebrink or Heath Bell perhaps) to see if Lee’s fly ball tendencies play out well in Petco?

Or maybe the Dodgers (with Jonathon Broxton or Joe Biemel) to get Mark Hendrickson or Brett Tomko out of their rotation and see if Chavez Ravine is kind to Five and (F)Lee?

The Indians will have to part with a valuable piece to shore up their bullpen at some point this season. And Brian Slocum and Ben Francisco aren’t bringing Akinori Otsuka, so the question needs to be thrown out there – is Cliff Lee that piece?

He has a track record of winning (ugly, yes…but still winning), with a fairly reasonable contract ($2.75M in 2007, $3.75M in 2008, $5.75M in 2009, club option for $8M in 2010) that runs for quite a while. So, he is an attractive commodity to other teams. But, are the Indians confident in their current stable of pitchers and their arms just below the surface (Atom Miller, Chas Lofgren, etc.) to trade Lee to shore up the back end of their bullpen?

It can certainly be argued (and has been, by me) that solid starting pitching is a commodity too valuable to trade, particularly for a team in contention. But, if Lee no longer falls under that “solid” category, and is on a downward spiral that will result in him either eventually being moved to the bullpen or falling out of favor in the organization altogether, isn’t it time to at least explore those options, when a 28-year-old pitcher with 51 career wins has some trade value?

Today’s start by Sowers and the next starts by the two LHP will go a long way to determine how this all plays out, but don’t be too surprised if that arm that we all assumed at the beginning of the season to be Paul Byrd to shore up the bullpen becomes Cliff Lee.

Still a great chance for the Tribe to take 3 of 4 from the Motor City Kitties today, as Bonderman has struggled since coming off of the DL.
It’s time to go all LeBron and put that foot on the Tigers’ throat and announce the Central as Indian Territory once more.

Finally, the most poignant moment of the night – LeBron searches out Z, the only player remaining from LBJ’s 1st practice with the Cavs who has endured some hard times in a Cavs uni, to give him this bear hug at center court.Cleveland is rising, enjoy the ascent.

Torched

After missing the first portion of last night’s game while visiting friends who had just welcomed a new son (Ryan Michael Joyce – UD Class of 2027), I stepped into the elevator at the hospital and learned (via text messages) that Westbrook was getting shelled and the Tribe was down 10-1. Is there anything more deflating than hearing news like that, especially when you’re excited to hear good news?

I was reminded of the day in 1995, when the Indians were in the World Series while another national event was happening in L.A. On my walk back to the dorm after a shocking outcome to the event in L.A., a friend asked me what I thought of Ogea (Chad Ogea was starting the World Series game that night). I frantically asked, “What happened to Ogea?” When I was told that he was acquitted, I said, “Oh that O.J.” It’s all a matter of perspective.

Since the Tigers suddenly have Westbrook’s number (after he dominated them last year), and the end result was depressing, I’m not going to wallow in my misery by recapping the game.

Just one question to ponder: Maybe the Indians aren’t as good as we thought they were going to be, or maybe the Central is stronger than we originally thought. Things have to turn around soon; timing it with the ChiSox imminent fall to earth would be ideal.

On a lighter note, C.C. signed a two year extension, which puts him in the teepee through the 2008 season (they also picked up his 2006 option). The contract numbers aren’t that big, especially when you look at what Clement/Lieber/Wright got last off-season. This signing (even more so than Martinez, Hafner, Westbrook, etc) is a fantastic sign at the Dolans’ willingness to spend money to keep their home-grown, talented players in an Indians uniform. Call it the Twins Model for Small Market Teams: to keep core players by signing them early and using an abundant farm system to fill holes as players hit arbitration, free agency, or become unproductive. It just stinks that the Twins figured this out three years ago...and are in our division.

I’ll be at a wedding in Milwaukee all weekend, so I’ll see I can put in some posts from the In-Laws' house; though the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel doesn’t give a lot of ink to happenings of our beloved Wahoo Warriors.

Livin' On the Edge

Well, it's never a dull day watching the Indians post 6 in the 1st, then hang on to win 7-6. Jason Davis looked OK. Every time I see him, it makes me more convinced that he belongs in the pen. Watching him blow away the Tigers in the 1st, while struggling some in other innings (particularly the 2nd and 3rd time through the lineup) proves that he would be very tough coming out of the pen for the 7th, 8th, or 9th (someday). I understand the Indians' thinking that with Davis' arm, it's better to get 5-6 innings from the flamethrower, as opposed to one; but, Davis' place in the future is out of the pen. When C.C. comes back, look for Davis to move to long relief, transitioning into a later inning pitcher as the season wears on. The bullpen looked good today, with Howry's 7th inning (Guillen, Pudge, D. Young) proving huge as Wickman let up a cheap run in the 9th.

The Tigers' starting pitching will determine where they end up in the Central. With Pudge (and his "scary looking eyebrows", as reader Michael Swytowski points out), Carlos Guillen (if only Omar would've passed that physical), and Magglio Ordonez (assuming he ever gets healthy), the lineup has great potential. Taking 2 of 3 from them in Detroit is necessary though.

Opening Day tomorrow, 3:05PM. Should be a city-wide holiday, but that's just me.

Ouch

No sooner had I mocked the Tigers' starting outfield of Marcus Thames, Nook Logan, and Craig Monroe did they begin to turn the Indians inside out. Thames hits a grand slam and makes about 14 put-outs and Logan and Monroe don't seem to let one ball drop in the outfield. I'll take some of the blame for this one. Never again will I mock an opponents' lineup prior to game time.

Westbrook looked horrible, leaving all of his pitches up, as it seems that the Tigers have figured him out, after being owned last year. Peralta and Belliard still haven't formed any sort of consistency in the middle of the diamond, consistency that is critical to the pitchers' success (particularly Westbrook). Please stop all of this talk of sending Jhonny to Buffalo though. What happens then? B-Phil comes up and tries to hit home runs, while batting .180? No - stick with Peralta through some growing pains. He won the MVP in AAA last year, meaning that he does have talent, he just needs to find his comfort level. Probably reading Paul Hoynes' daily condemnation of him doesn't help.

Jason Davis better last for a while today, otherwise the bullpen is going to be a wreck for the Home Opening Series. Don't be surprised if Jason Dangerously lasts less than 4, that Brian Tallet comes up from Buffalo for a short stint to give some much-needed rest to the pen. Not sure who would be sent down/placed on the DL, but fresh arms are needed.

As an aside, Wedge has joined the ranks of the mustached for the year. With Carl Willis already on board, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the coaching staff are all sporting some upper lip fur. A caller to the Tribe post-game said that Wedge looked like Lou Brown from Major League.
"Can I call you back? I've got a guy on the other line asking about some whitewalls."

Deja Vu All Over Again?

As Sticky Wickman blew a 3 run lead in the ninth, all I could think was, “This cannot be happening again”. Rewind to the opening of 2004, where most thought that Jimenez and Stewart, while by no means spectacular, would be serviceable relievers in lieu of the injured Wickman. Well, both turned into gas cans who couldn’t be in the rear view mirror soon enough. Are we fooling ourselves again this year? Coming into the year, I thought that the bullpen had been significantly upgraded, then this. Wickman’s only recorded out was on the sac fly that won the game! But, before we hit the panic button, let’s look at Rivera and Foulke getting pummeled and chalk this one up as an aberration. Lost in the meltdown was the strong showing of Kevin Millwood. If he can turn in a performance like that when he toes the rubber, then “Bravo, Mr. Shapiro”, and let’s see if Clement and Lieber fare as well.

Today, the Indians snuck one out of Chicago by coming back in monster fashion to take the game in extra frames. The hits kept coming, after Contreras handcuffed the Indians’ lineup (as usual) and the bullpen bailed out a shell-shocked Cliff Lee. Most impressive was Rocky Betancourt (if you listen to Wedge’s press conferences, his Raffy sounds like Rocky; thus, heretofore, he will be referred to as Rocky) who did what he does: throw strikes, with great results. Big mistake by Ozzie Guillen, only having Luis Vizcaino left in the pen. Tony LaRussa, he is not.

Also, the Tribe locked up Vic the Stick…until 2010! This contract is a great deal for the Indians, assuming the Stick stays healthy. Don’t be surprised if other players begin to follow suit, with the line starting with C.C., Hafner, and any other young player (maybe Coco?) who proves he belongs in the majors with continued productivity. After John Hart issued his masterstroke in the early ‘90s, I thought that most player agents had wised up to this strategy, to avoid being paid below market value in the prime money earning years of a player’s career. I guess that the security of guaranteed money and a long-term deal is too compelling to a young player still establishing himself in the Big Leagues.

1-2 against the White Sox in Chicago isn’t bad. I know that it could’ve been 2-1, but let’s figure that Wickman and Takatsu’s meltdowns balance each other out, and hope that the Indians study some tape of Mark Buerhle and Jose Contreras before we meet again.

Next game tomorrow night, 7:05 vs. the Motor City Kitties.