Keep Cliff Lee!

Poll voters overwhelmingly voted that they couldn't bear to lose Cliff Lee because he is one of the only Indians worth watching. I am stunned. Do any of you actually think to yourself, "Indians game. Is Cliff Lee pitching? If so, I'll actually make a point to watch this one tonight."

He may be one of the only Indians worth watching, but that doesn't mean he actually gets people to watch the games. If he doesn't do that, we need to trade him while his value is so high.

Please comment loyal readers. Explain yourselves.

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How to Resuscitate the Indians in 5 Easy Steps

It's easy to forget about the Indians. They're a lifeless last-place team with absolutely no personality. They play in a football town that also just so happens to be the main stage for the greatest basketball player on earth and a team that is potentially on the verge of a title. Their home is a somewhat dated looking ballpark that is, much like it's sole tenant, a decade past its prime. They play in front of crowds that long for the big bats and bigger personalities of the 90's. As Mike Tyson might say, the Indians are quietly fading into Bolivian.

For the most part, the death of the Indians has been little more than a footnote on this site. With enough stress and disappointment in our lives, it's just easier to talk about the Cavs than it is to dwell on the Tribe's downward spiral. Although we would all probably acknowledge that something has been missing from this summer, most of us are generally content to keep the Indians out of sight and out of mind. While I find it difficult to find compelling reasons even to get myself to care about this organization, before we write them off altogether, let me just remind you of something that drifted into my conscience while reading a piece (more on the content later) about the Indians on ESPN today: When the Indians are winning, they're probably the most fun of any of our three teams to root for. I know that this town would probably implode if the Browns ever reached a Superbowl, but just consider the following about the Indians: 1) They play 162 games a year, 2) the bulk of their season is played in the summer and fall when people in Northeast Ohio actually venture out and associate with others, 3) you can watch them from a good seat for $15 bucks, and 4) they play the sport that has the most thrilling postseason (baseball is my 3rd favorite sport to watch but NOTHING, and I mean nothing, comes close to October baseball. It's as good as it gets).

Bottom line: We should care about the Indians. Our parents and grandparents care about them because they remember the champions of the 40's and 50's. We care about them because they were the central part of Cleveland's renaissance in the 90's. As much as we try to forget about it, this team really matters to this town, or at least it used to. Go ask the Downtown businesses which team is most important to Cleveland's metropolitan revitalization. It's not even close. 40,000 fans 81 times a year dwarfs the economic impact that any other team or activity can have on this city. The point to be made here is that the Indians have turned into a crappy organization and this town can't afford to have them stay that way. So, without further ado, I bring you 5 easy steps to fix the Indians.

1. Fire Eric Wedge:

I think I speak for just about every Indians fan when I say that it will be a slap in the face to all of us if Wedge survives this season. I don't even need to go through every reason. In a nutshell, he doesn't develop players and he doesn't give the fans one god damn reason to care about the team. His stoic bullshit has run its course with all of us. At this point, every interview is just a disgusting, patronizing sham. If you're going to act like he does, you'd better make sure you're a winner. Wedge may have taken a team with two aces and two unhittable relievers to the brink in 2007, but everything that happened prior to that second-half run and everything that has happened since game 4 of that ALCS have proven that Wedge is not a winner. Get rid of him.

2. Trade all or some of the following: Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, Rafael Betancourt, Carl Pavano, Kerry Wood, Ryan Garko, and Jhonny Peralta:

Lets take these one at a time:

Cliff Lee: His value is at an all time high. If the Indians traded him now with a full year and a half left on his reasonable contract, they could duplicate the haul they received for Sabbathia. Contenders are always willing to trade prospects for aces. What makes Lee unique is that the Indians could even have small market teams offering multiple top prospects if he is moved now because those teams be willing to give up more for what is beyond the traditional 3-month trade-deadline rental. Lee has inexplicably become one of the best pitchers in baseball. Unfortunately, by the time the Indians are ready to contend again, he will have almost definitely moved on anyway. Trade him now. Let the deals for him and CC become the cornerstones of the next Indians contender.

Victor Martinez: This is by far the toughest call to make because Victor is one of the last guys here that actually makes the fans care. Trade him and you might have a full-fledged fan mutiny on your hands. Here's the thing though: Trading him just makes too much baseball sense to ignore for cosmetic reasons. He's over 30. His contract will be up before the Indians can contend again. Teams would pay a ransom for a backstop with his bat. Finally, and most importantly, the Indians top prospect plays his position (Santana). I love Victor Martinez. He plays hard, he does it with personality and flair, and he has been nothing but good to the fans in this town. That said, we'd be doing him a favor by moving him to a contender. It's in everyone's best interests to trade him soon.

Rafael Betancourt: Teams are always willing to overpay for relievers at the deadline, even right-handers. Betancourt is too old (34) to contribute to the next Indians contender. Moving him is an easy call.

Carl Pavano: It's a miracle that he actually has value right now. The Indians should take advantage of it.

Kerry Wood: There obviously aren't many games to save. I'm not sure what we accomplish by paying him another $15 million over the life of his deal. Even given his rocky start, teams needing a setup man or closer will pay for his services at the deadline.

Ryan Garko: Slow, no pop, no position. This is exactly the type of player that has no future here. See what you can get for him and move on.

Jhonny Peralta: See Garko, Ryan. This isn't the type of guy you build a team around. Asdrubal is our SS of the present and future. Peralta is a disgusting player, and I never want to see him in an Indians uniform again.

If a player isn't on this list, it's either because he's both young and good (Sizemore, Cabrera, Choo, etc.), promising enough to potentially be a part of our future (Reyes, Carmona, Laffey, Lewis, etc.), worthless in trade (Francisco, Barfield, etc.), or just laughably overpaid to the point where it's not even worth trying to move him (Hafner). If a player isn't in one of these categories, he needs to be moved.

Now, I know what you're thinking: If you traded all of the guys on my list, the Indians would be a 55 win team that nobody would watch. Here's my question to you: Is that any worse than a 70-win team that nobody will watch? I mean honestly, what's the difference? The only difference I can think of is that our current 70-win team lacks the depth of top-level prospects to actually improve in the coming years. My hypothetical 55-win team is stocked with a handful of elite prospects and even more high-ceiling developmental players that could evolve into solid major-leaguers. As a fan, which team would you rather root for?

Here's what this really boils down to: When you're a small to mid-market team like the Indians, if you're going to build a perennial contender like we saw in the 90's, you either have to get extremely lucky through the draft and player development (obviously not the Indians forte), or you have to make enough timely moves to create a bumper crop of top prospects that can grow into a contender before they all reach free-agency. The Indians need to infuse their system with a glut of young talent in the mold of Santana, Brantley, and LaPorta. Holding on to veterans just for appeasement and appearances isn't going to help anyone. Still, I recognize that a massive fire sale is going to create even more resentment from the fans. Thus, I give you step 3 . . .

3. Hire Omar Vizquel or Mike Hargrove as Manager:

I know what you're thinking: I'm typing with my heart and not my head. Allow me to make my case: The Indians have two gigantic problems right now: 1) They stink and have no serious prospects for improvement; and 2) perhaps more importantly, they have NO connection with the fans anymore. There is not a single personality in that dugout, aside from maybe Martinez, who gives the fans a reason to care. They all carry on like robots. Even Sizemore, who I love as a player (and who under the right regime might actually become the top 5 player that he should be), is more of a bassist than a frontman. There is a huge disconnect between the Indians and their fans. That problem is only going to be exacerbated by the selloff that I'm calling for in step 2. There are only two men on Earth who harbor the potential to make the fans care again if this franchise goes into a full-blown rebuilding mode: Omar Vizquel and Mike Hargrove.

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Vizquel is the better choice of the two here. The Indians would sell more tickets with a 50-win team managed by Vizquel than by continuing with their current operation headed by Mr. Personality. Vizquel is one of the most beloved athletes in the history of Cleveland sports, which is saying a lot for a career .273 hitter. What's more, I think he will eventually be a very good manager. He obviously has a high baseball IQ, he was well-liked as a teammate, his media skills are fantastic, and most of all, he understands how to connect with the fans. Some might argue that it's foolish to hire a guy without any coaching experience, let alone managerial experience, but honestly, how much of a risk are we really talking about here? First, you'd be handing him the keys to an operation with no chance of contending regardless of the manager. Second, he can't be any worse at developing players than our current manager. Third, we're talking about a baseball manager here. They're important but they're not football coaches or even coordinators for that matter. They make a difference but it's not as if the job couldn't be done by a novice, especially one who has been playing professionally for 20 years.

Vizquel + young talent is a package you could sell in this town. They'd still be bad and they still wouldn't be breaking any box office records, but I assure you, this town would embrace them. People would actually care about the Indians again. Vizquel could walk out of the dugout and simply wave his cap, Jimmy Dougan style, before every game, and it would still give fans more of a thrill than the outfit currently masquerading as the Indians. If you don't believe me then you didn't see the reception Vizquel got when he came back to Cleveland as a Giant. The word beloved doesn't do justice to the relationship between Vizquel and the fans here. He's the right guy to make this team matter again.

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Would he take the job? It's hard to say. He's still under contract with the Rangers and probably wants to play as long as he has a job, but you could concieve of a scenario in which Wedge is fired, an interim manager is named, and then Vizquel is contacted about taking the job next year. The guy loves the Indians, loves the game, and probably wouldn't mind keeping a 7-figure salary for the foreseeable future. Who knows if he wants to manage, but there is at least some reason to believe that the Indians would have a shot.

If Omar won't take the job, the Indians would have no better option than Hargrove. I'm the first to admit that teams rarely go forward by looking backwards, but given the special circumstances surrounding the Indians right now (namely, that the fans hate the organization), a little nostalgia might go a long way. I saw a piece on ESPN yesterday about Hargrove (the one I referenced earlier) and I have to admit, it made me sad. I was never really a huge Hargove fan but I must concede that I miss the guy. Yes, 99% of those feelings are probably more about what Hargrove represents than what he actually brought to the table, but perception is every bit as important as reality. If the current Indians regime can make itself look a little bit more like the one that preceeded it, maybe the fans would be willing to give them a shot. You could sell Hargrove + a youth movement as the second coming of the 90's Indians. Plus, while Hargrove may not have been the best game manager in the league, he certainly oversaw the development of a lot of great young players, roids or no roids. He's currently managing a Summer League team in Kansas called the BJs (I swear I'm not making that up) and desperately wants back into the Majors. If called, he'd be on a plane before Dolan hung up the phone.

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4. Sell Reality:

Cleveland fans are not as stupid as the current Indians regime might wish to believe. They can feed us heaping bowls of bullshit, and lord knows they try, about staying the course and sticking with what you've got, but we all know the truth: The Indians aren't going anywhere. They have a couple of stars, a handful of above-average players, a few talented prospects, and a bunch of crap. Yet, in spite of this painfully obvious reality, we can't ever seem to get an honest assessment from Wedge, Shapiro, or Dolan, about what's really happening to this team. When my plan takes full effect, and the Indians as we know them have been imploded and the team is led by Vizquel or Hargrove, ownership and the front office need to come clean. Tell the fans the truth: "Look, we weren't going anywhere so we traded all of our veterans and and decided to go into full-blown rebuilding mode. But, at the same time, we whacked the manager you all hated and replaced him with an icon that all of you love and who knows the game well enough to succeed. We want you to come along for the ride and grow with this team, because as you can see by all of our elite young talent, we're going to be special down the road." Give Cleveland fans some credit. It's not that we're afraid of losing . . . It's that we're afraid of never winning. Give us genuine hope and we'll buy into it, even if you tell us it's going to take a while.

5. Let the kids play:

If you're going to sell the youth movement, you've got to let the kids play. Aside from speeding along their development, this will also foster the type of player-fan connection that is so sorely lacking in the current state of affairs. Fans always have a greater connection to players that they watch grow up. That's part of the reason, along with the fact that they had all-stars at every position, that the mid-90's Indians meant so much to this town. So many of those guys made the leap as Indians. For my future team, the same thing needs to happen. No more Dave Delluccis, Carl Pavanos, or any other stopgap veterans brought in to make the team slightly less worse (and take away at-bats or innings from the prospects). It will be time to live, and more likely die, at least for a while, with the kids.

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That's it. That's my plan. You may not like it, but I can assure you it's better than the road to nowhere we're currently traveling. How about it Tribe fans? What do you think?

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Indians Thoughts

A few thoughts on our now 0-5 baseball team:

1. I didn't expect the Indians to win more than about 85 games this year but they're definitely not this bad. My guess is that they'll settle down eventually and become a .500 team. What kills me about the idea of another atrocious April though is that the Indians are going to be completely out of it by the all-star break, even in a very mediocre division. That makes for an awfully long season. It's one thing to play a meaningless second half. It's quite another to be playing virtual exhibition games in early June.

2. Shapiro and Dolan have to be absolutely terrified by the scenario that might be unfolding for the organization right now. Combine a cold, wet April with a terrible start for the team, now add in a bad recession and the possibility of the Cavs making a very deep playoff run that could last all the way into late June. I mean really, if all of those things come to fruition, the team could be looking at an absolute financial armageddon. What's more, I don't even know if they could really even dump salary if they wanted to because most of the expensive pieces that they might consider moving are virtually untradeable (Hafner, Dellucci, Kobayashi). I mean sure, you could shop a guy like Jake Westbrook if he can come back healthy but then you'd be seriously jeopardizing your chances to contend in 2010. The situation has the potential to turn into a mess. If the Indians can't stay within a hope and a prayer of the division lead in the first half, the only card that Shapiro will have to play as the summer rolls on is to bring up the kids from Columbus and sell the fans on the idea of growing with the team, with an eye toward next year. I don't see Indians fans opening their wallets for that idea but it might just be Shapiro's only option.

3. I've never been an anti-Eric Wedge guy. I've always thought that for the most part, he's done a decent job with what he's been given. That being said, I think if after 40 games, the Indians aren't showing any signs of life, it might be time to make a move. If nothing else, it would allow the Indians to bring in a new voice and a fresh perspective. I also think it's high time for Derek Shelton to be relieved of his duties as well. I know people will point to the second half of last season but I've always had my doubts about Shelton. If you look at the Indians young position players, how many of them have truly improved their approaches at the plate during Shelton's tenure? As a team, the Indians still don't work themselves deep into counts, they strike out at an alarming rate, and they swing at an abnormally high number of pitches outside of the strike zone. You can even look at a guy like Sizemore, who by all accounts is just a phenomenal hitter, and see that his weaknesses really aren't getting any stronger. I just don't think Shelton is helping the team to develop disciplined young hitters. It's time for him to go.

4. As for the pitching staff, I think the bullpen will end up being fine. There are just too many decent arms in that pen for them to continue to struggle like they have. I also think that both Lee and Carmona will straighten things out to some degree and end up winning between 12-15 games apiece. I think Lewis isn't going to be back withe the big league team anytime soon and I suspect that Pavano will end up being this year's Jason Johnson. It's certainly not a rosey perspective, but looking forward to next year (and after all, it's already mid-April....why wouldn't we be looking forward to next year), the Indians would have a chance to piece together a decent rotation out of Lee, Carmona, Westbrook and then some combination of Reyes, Laffey, and Huff.

5. Here's something that really bothers me about the Indians: As a team, they have absolutely no speed. So, even when they string together a couple of base hits, they end up playing station to station and making the diamond look like a clogged toilet. They must improve this aspect of the team going forward. I know that speed is probably less important in the American League, but it is still a huge disadvantage to be completely devoid of good baserunners. For example, look at a guy like Ryan Garko. Yes, at times, he's a perfectly decent hitter, but if he's going to be a sloth on the basebaths, he at least needs to be able to hit for power. If he can't (and I think it's safe to say that he can't), I'd rather have a guy like Michael Brantley (and yes, I'm aware that they play different positions) who, although he may bring even less power, will be a threat every time he gets on base. This team has been slow for far too long. It's time to get faster and more athletic.

6. It really upsets me when I see the Indians swinging at first pitch after first pitch against good pitching like they did today with Halliday. I understand that when you're facing an ace, sometimes you only get one pitch in an at-bat that you can really drive, but if you keep making outs early in counts, you have no chance of getting to the other team's bullpen. Good teams always seem to work deep into counts and force other team's pitchers to throw strikes. The Indians . . . not so much. Again, I think some of the blame for this has to fall on Shelton and Wedge.

7. I think that if the Tribe isn't in contention at the All-Star break, the should explore the idea of trading Victor Martinez. I know that's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way but I think it makes a ton of baseball sense. I believe that the Indians have an option on Martinez for next year, but then after 2010, he would be a free agent (and of course, the Indians probably wouldn't be able to afford to re-sign him). If Victor is healthy and reestablishes himself as a premier hitting catcher/1B during the first half, at age 30 with a lot of gas left in the tank and a contract that plenty of teams could absorb, Martinez could bring in a huge haul. If you look at this team, they're probably a couple of years away from contending again with or without Martinez. If they moved him, they would still have an above-average catcher in Kelly Shoppach, along with the jewel of their farm system, Carlos Santana. With all of the teams out there that would fall all over themselves to get Martinez, the Indians should use their organizational depth at Catcher to bring in more prospects. Given their payroll limitations,the team is probably going to struggle to contend more than once every few years. If they can move Martinez (and maybe even Cliff Lee) now, they can create a bumper crop of top-level prospects to give them the chance of growing into a serious contender a couple years down the road.

That's all for now. Here's hoping we can get off the schneid tomorrow.

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Updating the Power Rankings

After a couple of months, the revised power rankings look strikingly similar to the original. The only new name on the list is Anderson Varejao, who replaces Cliff Lee (currently getting shelled for a second straight game) and knocks Josh Cribbs and Shaun Rogers down a spot. The justification for the move is pretty obvious: The Cavs have been the talk of the town for months, Varejao is having his best season as a pro, and the fans and media are all in love with the way he plays the game.

As for Lee, it's not that all of the goodwill of a Cy Young season has been wiped away with two bad starts. But considering the way the Indians and Lee have stumbled out of the gate, the truth is just that Varejao is probably more beloved in this town right now than Lee. Rogers barely hangs on to the 10th spot after reconciling with the Browns after previously demanding his release.

Others just missing the list: Delonte West, Travis Hafner, Cliff Lee, Matt LaPorta

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Alvaro's Afterthoughts: Cleveland Crushed In Opener

The Indians looked absolutely awful today in dropping their season opener to the Rangers 9-1. Cliff Lee continued his poor performance from Spring Training in giving up 7 runs and 10 hits in only five innings of work, looking nothing like the dominate Cy Young award winner of a year ago. Lee failed to consistently get ahead of hitters, which he excelled at last season, and made the cardinal sin of allowing four runs to score with two outs in the second inning.

Meanwhile, the offense was downright anemic against Kevin Millwood, managing only 5 hits and stranding nine runners. At no point in the game did the Tribe muster any serious threat other than the 4th when, with Grady on third and Victor on first, Hafner weakly grounded into an inning ending double play.

Even Jensen Lewis who had a very solid spring, was hit hard, giving up 2 runs and 4 hits in his inning of work, including a home run to Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

So what to take away from this disappointing start to the season? Well, it's important not to get worked up over one bad game. Baseball games at the beginning of the year tend to feel more important than those from later in the season because we have less of a sample size to judge from. Through the course of a 162 game season, a team is going to have a few of these clunkers. If the date was July 6 rather than Opening Day, a loss like today's may be nothing but a mere bump in the road.

What does worry me is that I fear this year's team lacks an anchor in the rotation. Last year, Cliff Lee could be counted on to take the mound every fifth day and give the Indians a very good shot at a victory. I don't have the confidence that Lee is going to be able to repeat that role this season. Perhaps Lee's bad day could be attributed to the line drive he took off his pitching arm in the second inning (proceeding the 4 runs he allowed). Or perhaps Lee's day was a continuation of his spotty performances all spring. We know Lee is capable of being a much better pitcher than he showed today. Arlington Park is a difficult place to pitch successfully at and the Rangers tend to smack the ball pretty successfully against the Tribe. I think Lee's results this year will lie somewhere between his magical run of last year, and his disappointing 2007 season. On a side note - I was shocked to hear during the game that Lee threw to first base only 4 times the entire season last year to hold runners on. I know Lee's left-handed, which gives him an advantage in holding guys at first, but seriously, only 4 throws to first all season? That certainly isn't doing any favors for Victor or Kelly Shoppach.

In positive pitching performances, I was pleased to see Masa Kobayashi work a solid inning. Kobayashi's been treading thin ice with the team all Spring Training and it would be a big boost to the bullpen if he's able to straighten himself out sooner rather than later . Raffy Perez also continued his role as the most solid arm out of the pen, working a scoreless inning.

At the plate, Victor looked good swinging the bat - having the best at-bat of the day, a 10-pitch battle in the first inning. Prior to getting injured last season, I thought Victor was one of the best pure hitters in the game and I was glad to see some of that reemerge today.

Finally on Pronk Patrol: Hafner went 1-4, with the above-mentioned double play ground out. Though Hafner failed to get the ball out of the infield in his first two at-bats, I was pleased with his approach at the plate (read: he didn't seem to swing weakly at balls or grossly misjudge pitches) and even hit a single and scored the only run of the game. What's worried me most about Pronk, beyond his glaring absence of power, has been that he's seem to have lost his ability to judge pitches and the strike zone - resulting in his looking mismatched. I am optimistically hopefully that Pronk can contribute in some manner to the success of the team this year, but realistically believe he might be near the end of his rope. I'll make the bold prediction that for the Indians to make the playoffs this season, Hafner will have to hit over 20 home runs. I think less than 10 may be more likely.

Up Next for the Tribe: Wednesday Night 8:05 pm at Texas: Carmona vs. Padilla. Unlike Lee, I believe Carmona may end up being the anchor off the pitching staff this year. I hope he gets it started on Wednesday. Read the rest of this article

Here, in Cleveland? I didn't know we still had a team

Yes, the Indians are still playing ball, at least until today. The Tribe closed out an interesting year with a 5-1 loss to the White Sox. With future Cy Young winner Cliff Lee nursing an injury, Orel Hershiser, er, make that Bryan Bullington took the mound for the Indians.

The kid didn't pitch too badly, calling upon his inner-Bulldog to hold the Chi-Sox to 2 earned runs in 5 innings. That's pretty good for a guy who was recently cut by the perennial cellar dwelling Pittsburgh Pirate organization. Hopefully, one day, he'll become the player he was meant to be as the number 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll be in the bigs next April. And that is what this season became about early, next season.

So what did this season teach us about next season?

1) Andy Marte is a bust. 80 games and he struggled to reach a .221 average. The biggest concern is his lack of power, which was much more prevalent in the minors than his batting average. 3 home runs just won't cut it for a third baseman. At 24 years old, he still has time to get better. But with no more options, are the Indians willing to wait to find out?

2) Shin-Soo Choo is a ball player. 94 games and a .309 average, easily tops on the team. This was a refreshing change to the .240 averages put up by his outfield predecessors Guterriez, Dellucci, Michaels. His development also provides solid insurance for the organization in case corner outfielder of the future not named LaPorta, Trevor Crowe, is unable to develop into a major league talent.

3) Jeremy Sowers is done. After two straight seasons with an E.R.A. over 5.53, Sowers has fallen too far down the depth chart of young starting pitchers. We should see a rotation next year of Lee, Carmona, Reyes, Laffey, and Scott Lewis. Westbrook will find a way into the rotation at some point mid-season following his rehab. Of course, if superstud Adam Miller can go 2 weeks without a blister, he might finally get a chance in the bigs.

4) Jensen Lewis might be a good closer, possibly, perhaps. 13 saves in 14 chances is promising, but so was 10 wins in 15 starts last season for Derek Anderson. After a horrendous June and July where he had E.R.A.s of 6.00 and 6.97, Lewis settled down and had E.R.A.s of 3.38 and 1.00 in August and September. Not surprisingly, 12 out of his 13 saves came during August and September. And at only 24 years old, Lewis has his best years ahead of him.

So here's to the summer of 2008, as it leads us to the summer of 2009.

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