Since becoming a free agent, Sizemore has generated interest from the Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees -- teams that viewed him as an intriguing bounce-back candidate on a one-year deal. Those clubs either called Urbon to express interest in Sizemore or asked to check out his medical records as a prelude to contract talks.


Not sure how I would read it if we ended up as high bidder against those teams.

Can't believe the Tribe's offer is the best deal out there.

Can't believe the Tribe even wants him back...for what? to trade him at the deadline.

Valbuena DFA.

Totally baffling moves by the Indians here. Juan Diaz and Danny Salazar? Seriously?

Tribe adds three to roster, designates Valbuena

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 11/18/11 7:01 PM EST

CLEVELAND -- It is not the sexiest part of baseball's Hot Stove season, but the Rule 5 Draft still plays an important role in the constant roster maneuvering that takes place throughout the winter months.

Friday marked the deadline for ballclubs to protect eligible players from selection, and the Indians made a handful of moves to do just that. Cleveland selected the contracts of left-hander Scott Barnes, right-hander Danny Salazar and infielder Juan Diaz in preparation for the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 8.

The three players were added to the Indians' 40-man roster, which is at capacity for the time being. Prior to the transactions, the Tribe's roster included 38 players, making it necessary for an extra spot to be vacated. In order to do so, Cleveland designated infielder Luis Valbuena for assignment.
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As things currently stand, the Indians have 37 players in their system who are eligible to be added in the Rule 5 Draft. Some notable players within that group include outfielders Trevor Crowe, Chad Huffman and Tim Fedroff; lefties T.J. McFarland, Eric Berger and Elvis Araujo; right-handers Bryce Stowell and Rob Bryson; and infielder Jared Goedert.

Selecting a player, however, involves a certain amount of risk. Teams are required to pay $50,000 for a player in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft and, if a draftee does not remain on the acquiring club's active roster for the entire season, he must be offered back to his prevous team at half the cost.

The Indians, who are in the market for an outfielder and possibly a first baseman, would need to clear room on their roster in order to add any Major League players through free agency or trades. Cleveland would also need to vacate a spot on the roster if the club plans on potentially adding a player in the Rule 5 Draft.

Adding the 24-year-old Barnes to the roster seemed like a no-brainer for the Indians. This past season, the lefty went 8-4 with a 3.45 ERA across 18 appearances between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. As injuries piled up at the big league level, he was on the Tribe's radar as an alternative before a left knee injury in July led to season-ending surgery.

Barnes -- acquired from San Francisco in the July 2009 trade that sent Ryan Garko to the Giants -- enters the 2012 season with a chance to impact the Major League team at some point during the summer. On the current depth chart, Barnes is among the top starting candidates (Jeanmar Gomez, David Huff and Zach McAllister being the others) behind the Major League staff.

Diaz -- a 22-year-old shortstop for Double-A Akron last season -- led the Aeros in doubles (24), multihit games (35), games (133), hits (133) and total bases (192) in 2011. He ended the season hitting .255 with nine homers, four triples and 60 RBIs, earning a spot on the Eastern League All-Star team.

The Indians obtained Diaz, along with outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, as part of the trade that sent Russell Branyan to Seattle on June 27, 2010. Diaz finished this past season with Columbus during the team's run to the Triple-A championship.

Salazar, 21, returned from reconstructive surgery on his left elbow last season and made eight starts between Class A Lake County and the Rookie League Arizona Indians. He posted a 3.07 ERA in those outings, striking out 18 and walking four in 14 2/3 innings.

By designated the 25-year-old Valbuena for assignment, the Indians have 10 days to either trade or release the infielder, or re-assign him to a Minor League affiliate if he clears waivers. Valbuena excelled at Triple-A Columbus last season, hitting .302 with 17 homers and 75 RBIs, but hit just .209 (9-for-43) in a 17-game stint with the Tribe.

Among those left unprotected, Crowe and Huffman represent a pair of players with some big league experience. Crowe -- a regular in Cleveland's lineup in 2010 -- returned from right shoulder surgery this past season and hit .214 over 15 games with the Indians. Huffman hit .246 at Triple-A Columbus in 2011 and had a cup of coffee with the Yankees a year earlier.

Some intriguing lefties eligible include McFarland, Berger and Araujo. McFarland, 22, went 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA over 27 starts (Class A Kinston/Double-A Akron). Berger, 25, had a 4.04 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A and piled up 87 strikeouts over 71 1/3 innings. Araujo, 20, went 9-1 with a 3.36 ERA in 15 games (Rookie/Class A Mahoning Valley).

Other interesting candidates include: Stowell (2.09 ERA, 57 strikeouts and 21 walks in 38 2/3 innings over three levels); Bryson (2.29 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 16 walks, 39 1/3 innings over three levels); Fedroff (.308 average, three homers, 28 doubles, six triples and 63 RBIs over 132 games between Double-A/Triple-A); and Goedert (.272, 18 homers and 48 RBIs over 87 games between Double-A/Triple-A).

Sizemore is coming back
NOV
19
Written by: Tony Lastoria
11/19/2011 11:15 AM
Wow, how quickly things can change.

Just less than three weeks ago on October 31st the Indians chose to decline outfielder Grady Sizemore’s $9 million club option and the chances of him returning were remote. While he and the Indians would still keep in contact in the offseason, the general feeling was that it was a long shot for him to return to the Indians. Many thought that there would be more than enough potential suitors to give him a one year deal close to the $9 million option the Indians declined.

All that changed late Friday night as reports swirled like a tornado that discussions between the Indians and Sizemore’s agent Joe Urbon had reached the very serious stage. So much so that an official announcement could come anytime in the next 48 hours that he is coming back to the Indians.

Talk about a complete reversal of direction for both Sizemore and the Indians.

Sizemore and his agent did their due diligence in trying to find a team interested in signing him for a deal close to the $9 million he would have received with the Indians this year. Over the past few weeks there have been several reports of teams being "interested" in Sizemore, but most of that was agent driven as Urbon tried to build a false market by generating interest for his client. Sure, teams were interested in his client, but in the end what Urbon probably quickly found out is that those teams - like the Indians - were only going to give him a low base contract nextyear with lots of incentives.

With the prospects of a sizable one year deal off the table, Sizemore and Urbon probably thought the best situation was to return to the familiarity of Cleveland where the team fully understands his medical situation and him as a player. Cleveland may also have been his best opportunity to play every day. By returning to Cleveland it offers him the best chance to stay healthy and rebuild his market value for a run in free agency next year.

As for the Indians, they may have planned all along that Sizemore would return, though they likely also had a few fallback plans in mind in the event he did get the deal he wanted elsewhere. They stuck to their guns on their contract proposal to him for 2012 and gambled that he would not get the deal he wanted from another team in free agency, and in the end the poker move appears to have paid off.

While official contract details are still unknown at this time, it looks like Sizemore will be signed to a low base contract for a few million that will include a lot of incentives to make the $9 million (or more) he would have received with the original club option.

The Indians are still gambling with Sizemore’s health next year as there is no assurance that he will not break down for a fourth consecutive season. But by bringing him back into the fold it is a sign that they believe he has a very good chance to be healthy next year and if so could once again be an impact player for the lineup. All of that comes with limited risk on a one year deal expected for a low guaranteed amount of money.

All that having been said, the timing of this move is interesting. We are only three weeks into the offseason, yet a deal has been reached. Urbon never really gave his client a chance to build his market, which can grow as the offseason progresses, especially during the Winter Meetings in December. Either the Indians’ offer was much better than what other interested teams were offering, of the Indians have some moves up their sleeve they want to move onto and they needed a decision on Sizemore now.

Not that surprising that no team was going to give Sizemore $9 million but thought a team out there would offer a tempting enough deal.

The last paragraph of Tony`s article does get the mind ticking. With so much time left before spring training 3 weeks really isn't a lot of time to generate interest from other teams.

It will be interesting to see the particulars of the deal.

If he hits .275+ and plays 115 games plus, I'm good with the decision.

The Tribe tosses a big old bunch of flowers to Grady's Ladies, I guess.

At least we have a free agent we have kept, I guess.

We locked up Pronk a few years ago, too. Hasn't worked out so well...

I have to admit (for now at least) I'm a little bit indifferent about bringing Sizemore back.

It was an opportunity to get someone who was healthy and actually had a recent track record of being productive to take his place. Now we have to cross our fingers and hope Sizemore can stay healthy for more than 5 minutes.

I'll reserve final judgement and see what other moves are made, but the Indians badly need a couple of new bats to boost an offensively challenged lineup.

Donald Fitzpatrick Sex Scandal: Former Boston Red Sox Clubhouse Manager Preyed On Boys Decades Ago

First Posted: 11/15/11 02:38 PM ET Updated: 11/15/11 08:16 PM


Editor's Note: This story contains graphic subject matter that may be upsetting to some readers.



Long before revelations that former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky had allegedly sexually abused a number of at-risk youth, another high-profile predator used the cover of athletics to molest young boys.

Between 1971 and 1991, Donald Fitzpatrick, a long-time Red Sox clubhouse manager, systematically molested and abused nearly a dozen African-American boys in their hometown of Winter Haven, Florida, where the baseball team held their Spring training.

"He grabbed me and told me to take my clothes off," Leeronnie Ogletree, who said Fitzpatrick lured him into years of molestation when he was just 10, told thepostgame.com. "I'll never forget him putting his mouth on my penis. I don't mind telling it now because I'm over it. But that stands out. And I'll never forget it."

It took decades for the truth to come out about Fitzpatrick, who is white, and his criminal desire for young black boys. In 2003 the Boston Red Sox settled a $3.15 million federal lawsuit brought against them by Ogletree and seven other men from Winter Haven who said Fitzpatrick repeatedly molested them as boys.

Benjamin Crump, the lawyer who handled Ogletree’s case against Fitzpatrick and the Boston Red Sox, said the similarities between the Penn State and Red Sox scandals are startlingly similar. There were cover-ups, denials and the enabling of pedophiles to use the power of their institutions to prey on the weak, in the Red Sox case, "poor black boys," he said. The kinds of youth often considered society's "throwaways."

"You have these sports institutions; you have all these people of authority; you have all this public support for these institutions and hear talk about what great institutions they are, but then when you ask them to do the right thing and have compassion for these young people, the institutions deny, deny, deny," said Crump, of Parks & Crump. "They sweep it under the rug and they look the other way."

According to reports, former Red Sox players such as Jim Rice and Sammy Stewart got wind of Fitzpatrick's deeds and would warn kids in the clubhouse to avoid him. In 1971, one of Fitzpatrick's victims came forward to the team, and in a manner similar to Penn State's handling of the Sandusky allegations, the team did not alert authorities or fire Fitzpatrick.

But supporters for Ogletree and the other men who settled in the case, who have become known as the Winter Haven seven, wonder how race and class might have played in the team's inaction once they got a whiff of what Fitzpatrick might have been up to.

"These kids came from impoverished backgrounds and many times, no father. Fitzpatrick used that to his advantage and preyed on these kids that were poor," Crump said. "The one thing that I do think is not similar to the Penn State situation is that with the Boston Red Sox case, they had 11 kids and they were all black, almost as if they wouldn't let this happen to little white boys."

It wasn't until 1991, two decades later, that wheels of justice began to turn. Howard Bryant of ESPN.com, wrote that in '91, a young aide whom Fitzpatrick was suspected of recruiting showed up at a nationally televised Red Sox game with a sign that read "Don Fitzpatrick sexually assaulted me." The Red Sox paid out a $100,000 settlement, Bryant wrote. The $3.5 million settlement came years later.

The seven men who settled with the team and Fitzpatrick include Myron Birdsong, Terrance D. Birdsong, Walter Covington III, Eric Frazier Jr., Willie Earl Hollis, James A. Jackson and Ogletree.

In a recent story published on the website thepostgame.com, Ogletree recounted those days of his stolen youth. He remembers hearing the sounds of pitched baseballs smacking into gloves and the sounds of balls cracking off of bats. And eventually being lured in by Fitzpatrick.

"If you're a kid, you fall in love with the game of baseball," Ogletree said. "There's one-in-a-million chance of meeting a professional ballplayer, let alone working with them. If kids like something, and if you say you're going to take that away, they'll do anything to keep what's good to them. I know what happened to me at 10 years old."

"I was a good kid," Ogletree said. "I was raised right. The sentence I really got was a life sentence because of what I went through with the Red Sox."

Sometimes, Ogletree said, "I'm not sure who I am."

Crump, who has kept in touch with Ogletree's family, said that Ogletree and many of the others victimized by Fitzpatrick have never shaken the trauma of their assaults. Some have turned to drugs, he said. Others, like Ogletree, have battled with addiction and have had numerous stints in jail.

"It's one of those situations where once you steal a kid's innocence, they never ever get it back. And the question is, are they ever really going to be normal when something like that happens so traumatically at such an early age?" Crump said. "Their assaults color their feelings on mostly every issue in their lives, that's what we were dealing with. These guys never got right after that.”

In 2002 Fitzpatrick accepted a plea deal. He would serve no jail time, get a 10-year suspended sentence and 15 years of probation, according to reports.

Ogletree, who has battled the trauma brought on by the boyhood assaults, was in a mental institution when the multimillion dollar settlement was reached. He called Fitzpatrick's deal a "sweetheart deal."

But he has vowed never to let people forget what Fitzpatrick and others like him have stolen from innocent, vulnerable young people.

"I need to tell people my story," he said.

Below is statement reportedly released by the Boston Red Sox and reprinted on thepostgame.com:

Mr. Fitzpatrick served as the team's clubhouse manager from the 1960s until 1991, and the actions you have inquired about occurred between 1971 and 1991. When the team, then under a previous ownership group, became aware of the allegations against Mr. Fitzpatrick in 1991, he was promptly relieved of his duties. Civil litigation was filed in 2001 by victims of Mr. Fitzpatrick for actions that had occurred more than 20 years earlier. The team, which was acquired by the current ownership group after the lawsuit was filed, reached a settlement in 2002. Mr. Fitzpatrick has since passed away. The Red Sox have always viewed the actions of Mr. Fitzpatrick to be abhorrent.

Very doubtful Sizemore will do the team much good. But we are so short of OFs it makes sense anyway.

Donald Fitzpatrick Sex Scandal: Former Boston Red Sox Clubhouse Manager Preyed On Boys Decades Ago

Sounds like The Red Sox deserved the Bucky Dent game.


On a peripheral note, I heard an interview in The Bay Area today with the Baltimore Rat Birds play by play guy.

His name is Gerry Sandusky.

Tony Lastori opines:

Indians should listen to offers for Perez

8:17 AM Tony 3 comments


Chris Perez (Photo: AP)
The Cleveland Indians have already made one trade at the outset of the offseason when they traded for right-handed starting pitcher Derrek Lowe last month. It was the opening salvo to what is expected to be a very busy offseason for the Indians.

No one really knows what the Indians are up to this offseason and how things will look when the dust settles. They have some money to spend in free agency and can take on some salary in a trade, and they have proclaimed that they will upgrade the offense with some needed right-handed power.

General Manager Chris Antonetti and the rest of his staff have spent a lot of time this offseason surveying the options both in free agency and trade to help bolster their lineup. The Indians are taking a creative, exhaustive approach to fill their lineup needs, and you can bet that while attending the GM Meetings in Milwaukee last week that the wheels were already put in motion for several potential free agent signings and trades.

After you eliminate the upper tier free agents that are out of the Indians price range (sorry folks, Pujols and Fielder are wishful thinking), the free agent pickings are slim. There are some free agents who have some star power that could be affordable and they will certainly entertain – players like Aramis Ramirez, Michael Cuddyer, and Josh Willingham – but in the open market there are no guarantees and most of the players will end up being too costly to sign.

If the Indians make any kind of splash this offseason it is probably going to have to come via the trade route.

The trade market is a much more level playing field for teams like the Indians. In free agency it is all about who has the most money and who is willing and capable to take on the most risk. But in the trade market the best currency is not money but players, so if you have very good prospects or a surplus of good Major League talent to trade then you can acquire almost anything if it is available.

The Indians depleted their high end prospect talent in the upper levels of their farm system this past season with trades and promotions. The trade of left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz and right-handed pitcher Alex White in the Ubaldo Jimenez deal combined with the promotions of third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and second baseman Jason Kipnis leaves very little if any impact quality talent in the minors for the 2012 season. A few good players remain in the upper levels, but most of their elite talent is now in the lower levels of the minor leagues and a few years away.

With the lack of much high end talent in the upper levels of the Indians’ minor league system for teams to covet in a potential trade for a Major League bat, the Indians may have to result to trading a player or two already on their 25-man roster. Obviously they would not want to trade from a position of weakness where they fill one but create another. No, the idea here would be to trade from an area of strength where a hole that is created can be adequately backfilled from within.

Everyone knows that the Indians have a black hole right now at first base and even with Grady Sizemore set to return they still have the need for a good right-handed bat in the outfield. They do not have a reliable every day option within the organization to fill those spots to start next season. What they need to do is assess the team and determine where they could best risk losing a player in order to fill one of those holes.

That area of risk may be the bullpen.

If you take a look at the entire Indians organization from the big league team down to Double-A Akron your assessment would come to realize that their strength lies in relief pitching. Yes, they have depth in the starting rotation, but the Indians have a plethora of relief pitching prospects that could impact the Major League team to varying degrees and are ready for (or close to) an opportunity.

Indians fans saw some of those relievers last year as right-handers Josh Judy and Zach Putnam and left-hander Nick Hagadone made their big league debuts and saw limited action. It was also seen firsthand with the emergence of right-hander Vinnie Pestano who came into the season with almost no big league experience but by the end of the season proved to be the best reliever on the Indians’ staff.

Pestano is a prime example of the talent in the Indians’ farm system that is ready to emerge next year. Someone like Putnam or Judy could make the same splash next year that Pestano did this past season. Others like right-handers Chen-Chang Lee (C.C. Lee) and Hector Rondon could also factor into the mix at some point as well. And beyond them are a litany of relief pitching prospects headed by right-hander Tyler Sturdevant that are almost ready and could help the big league bullpen later in the season.

Answer and listen

The Indians have already had and will continue to get a lot of phone calls on the availability of a lot of players on their big league roster. They will decline most of the offers thrown their way, but one player they should keep an open mind about and listen to offers for is right-handed closer Chris Perez.

It may sound crazy to trade your closer; one that was also named to the All Star team this past season. But given the depth the Indians have with relief pitching and the lack of a big trading chip or two in the minors, an All Star closer like Perez would have some value on the market for a team looking to fill their closer need.

The closer’s market in free agency is already off its rocker this offseason as the Phillies signed right-handed pitcher Jonathan Papelbon for four years, $50 million. Former Phillies right-handed reliever Ryan Madson also had a four year, $44 million deal on the table before it was pulled. The one thing teams with closer needs know right now is that if they want to sign a closer in free agency they will have to overpay.

With that in mind, executives from other teams will surely look for other options to fill their closer needs. Several teams like the Reds and Blue Jays are rumored to be considering the trade route to pick up a closer. As these teams and others search through every possible option to fill their closer need, perhaps that search will take them to the Indians’ doorstep.

That’s where Chris Perez comes in.

Perez, 26, was an All Star last season and went 4-7 with a 3.36 ERA and was 36-for-40 in save opportunities. He helped anchor a very strong Indians bullpen and at the moment looks to have solidified himself as the Indians’ closer for the next few years.

But is Perez’s future really that secure with the Indians? And did he have as good a year as the save numbers suggest?

From a pure results standpoint, yes, he did his job and nailed down a high percentage of his saves (90%). But when putting a baseball team together for the next season it is often not about looking at what your players did the past season or in previous seasons, it is more about accurately predicting what your players will do the next season and in future seasons. One of the best ways to do that is to look at their peripheral statistics to try and forecast whether a given player’s success or misfortune will continue.

In other words, how likely is Perez to save 90% of his games again next year?

By now most people should know the Indians are huge proponents of statistical analysis which includes a lot of the more advanced metrics, some of which are not publicly available. When looking at some of the more important public stats for Perez last year there has to be some concern with him going forward and if that 90% conversion rate on saves can continue.

The warning signs are there. Perez had a drastic decrease in his strikeout rate last season as he had a paltry 5.9 K/9 rate, which was down almost four points from his career 9.5 K/9 coming into the season. He also had a poor 1.50 K/BB ratio, and in the advanced metrics department had a 0.1 WAR (wins above replacement).

In fact, look at the WAR for the most common Tribe relievers last season (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Vinnie Pestano: 1.5
Joe Smith: 1.2
Rafael Perez: 0.8
Chris Perez: 0.1
Frank Herrmann: 0.0
Tony Sipp: -0.1
Chad Durbin: -0.3

WAR is not a common stat used by baseball fans as it is unknown to many and can be confusing, but it is one of the top stats baseball teams use. It is a helpful statistical evaluation tool for players because it combines a few stat attributes and in a way spits out a summary of how important a player was to the team and if their performance was replaceable by another player.

With a 0.1 WAR, Perez was right at what is called “replacement level”. In fact, he was along the lines of fellow bullpen mate right-hander Frank Herrmann who is your typical fungible middle reliever. The 0.1 WAR suggests that Perez performed at a replacement level where a minor leaguer or another bullpen option could have had the same effect on the team.

This is hard to grasp because it would be hard to see how a minor leaguer could come in and close out games at a high rate or any at all, but going beyond the saves and going strictly by the numbers they were very mediocre and at that “replacement level.”

Pestano is the future

So how is Perez replaceable? And if he is not closing games for the Indians, who should?

That’s easy. Vinnie Pestano.

Pestano, 26, is more than a capable replacement for Perez and would more than adequately fill the closer need for the team if Perez were traded.

Pestano is ready for the opportunity. He made his Major League debut at the end of the 2010 season and pitched 5.0 total innings, so he came into the 2011 season as a rookie and had as great a first full season in the big leagues than any player in the Indians organization in some time.

Pestano made 67 appearances for the Indians and went 1-2 with a 2.32 ERA. The ERA was nice and one of the best in the American League among relievers, but ERA can often be a misleading stat. Beyond his ability and personality that are both suitable for the closer’s role, the deeper stats from this past season show he was an elite performer and is one of the top late inning relievers in the game.

Pestano ranked 5th among American League relievers in strikeouts (84), 8th in holds (23), 7th in batting average against (.184), 11th in WHIP (1.05), 14th in K/BB (3.50), 4th in K/9 (12.2), and tied for 11th in appearances (67). For the advanced metrics fans out there, they also favored Pestano as his 1.5 WAR was 11th among American League relievers, and he also ranked 8th in FIP (2.67) and 7th in xFIP (2.80).

By comparison, Perez had just three less appearances (64) than Pestano but among AL relievers he ranked tied for 55th in strikeouts (39), 4th in saves (36), 23rd in batting average against (.215), 32nd in WHIP (1.21), 62nd in K/BB (1.50), and 60th in K/9 (5.9). From the sabermetric perspective Perez ranked 45th in WAR (0.1), 46th in FIP (4.27), and 58th in xFIP (5.01).

Those are some pretty damning numbers that outside of the save total show that Perez was a very mediocre performer last season.

And it is not just the numbers from last season that suggest Pestano is the Indians’ closer of the future and maybe the present. He was born with the mentality to pitch in high leverage situations late in games and has about as much experience as a closer as any first year player in the big leagues can have. He closed 27 games in college at Cal-State Fullerton and pitched exclusively in a closer role in the minors where he totaled 71 saves in 166 games.

The Indians could certainly afford Perez next season at the $4-5 million he will likely command as a second year arbitration player and he is still under team control through the 2014 season. But his sudden inability to miss bats and a lack of life on his fastball should be a big concern for the Indians and this is why they should be open to the idea of a trade.

Obviously other teams are privy to the same stats everyone else is looking at and also see the same red flags, but even with the sub-par numbers from this past season there may still be a team willing to overlook them because of his young age, historical performance, moxie, and most importantly his contract. If the Indians were to find a palatable trade partner that is in search of a closer that is willing to part with a quality big league corner outfield or infield bat in return, they would surely have to listen.

No one is saying the Indians should trade Perez for prospects. No way. That’s not where they are as a team as they need to focus most of their efforts on acquiring big league talent. And no one is saying the Indians should dump Perez either. He’s a valuable member of the Bullpen Mafia and barring a good trade offer the Indians should keep him.

But if a team comes calling and offers up a deal that gives the Indians a nice bat to add to their big league lineup, it is an offer that the Indians should seriously consider. With what is perceived as a surplus of big league relief pitching talent, it arguably makes Perez the Indians best trade chip that they can use to improve their lineup, and they should consider cashing it in.

Pestano, 26, is more than a capable replacement for Perez and would more than adequately fill the closer need for the team if Perez were traded

Is he? Would he? Maybe. But we have other possibilities, too, in Nick Hagadone who throws the hard stuff that closers are supposed to feature; Chen Lee who has been very tough to hit and has much better control that Chris.

Shaprio On Sizemore Return – “Hopefully We’ll Have A Pre Turkey Present For Everyone”


By Matt Loede - 92.3 The Fan Indians Beat Reporter


November 22, 2011 1:23 PM


CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) – Everyone knows about Christmas presents, but Thanksgiving presents?

It appears that the Cleveland Indians are in that mood, as Tuesday morning at Progressive Field, Indians team president Mark Shapiro stated that the team would have a little gift for Tribe fans at some point in the next 24 hours.

The present – the signing and return of popular outfielder Grady Sizemore.

While Shapiro wouldn’t directly bring up Sizemore’s name, it’s been reported by a number of sources that the Indians and Sizemore are closing in on a one-year deal to come back to Cleveland for the 2012 season.

“Hopefully we’ll have a pre turkey present for everyone in the next 24 hours, and then we’ll address that,” Shapiro said.


Sizemore again had struggles staying healthy in 2011, he played in just 71 games, hitting just .224 with 10 homers and 32 RBI with no steals.

Still, the Indians are in need of help in the outfield, and for now, Sizemore is an option that they seem to feel can contribute in 2012 if he can get near 100 percent and come back from surgery at the end of this past season.

GM Chris Antonetti has had designs on bringing Sizemore back from the moment the team announced they would not pick up the $9 million dollar option for the 2012 season.

The GM spent the time to fly to Arizona to meet with Sizemore the week before the team announced they would not pick up the option, and now it appears that gesture went a long way in him coming back to the team.

“We will stay in touch with his representatives and Grady throughout the course of the offseason and hope that we can still keep him as a part of this organization,” Antonetti said back on October 31st.

It appears now the official return of Sizemore will be done in just a matter of hours.

Follow Matt Loede on Twitter @MattNFLGG

Well, I wouldn't offer him half of what he made in 2011. I think there are more attractive alternatives than Sizemore out there. This deal could be ripe for some armchair quarterbacking.