Blah Blah blah. Why is Baron Davis not practicing yet?

Definately very excited that we got Grady Sizemore back after multiple surgeries on a discount and dont forget we got Atlanta to pay most of the salary for us to employ a starting pitcher who was around during the dead ball era.

@jonmorosi

Jon Morosi

#Astros will eat some salary to move Carlos Lee, who is better at 1B than OF. #Indians a fit but wary of cost.

Get the price to the Indians to around 5M and they might bite.

This doesn't sound very encouraging:

JIM BOWDEN
@JimBowdenESPNxm JIM BOWDEN
Acta just told us @mlbnetworkradio that after the signings of Lowe and Sizemore they couldn't afford a high payroll bat unless they move $

What is a high payroll bat ? They have about 5 million to spend if needed. Anything after that would have to reduce current payroll. (Chris Perez, etc). That was their game plan going into this offseason. Their payroll is going to go up just based on their 5 arbitration eligible players alone.

TDU wrote:This doesn't sound very encouraging:

JIM BOWDEN
@JimBowdenESPNxm JIM BOWDEN
Acta just told us @mlbnetworkradio that after the signings of Lowe and Sizemore they couldn't afford a high payroll bat unless they move $

I sure would like to know why they bothered trading for Jimenez if they had no intention of doing anything else to improve the team. Even one "high payroll bat" shouldn't put what Dolan is spending up to where it was in 2008-09, much less where it was in 2000-01.

Meanwhile, the immediate competition just got a lot weaker: the Marlins now have Mark Buehrle, and for a decent number (allegedly 4/58). Gonna be weird not seeing him on Opening Day.

Amen on the Jiminez trade

I'm surprised you guys like the Buerle signing. Way over priced for my taste and both Jimenez and Masterson are better. Heck I'd rather have Tomlin....

Cleveland Indians GM Chris Antonetti expects some roster moves before leaving Texas: Winter Meetings Insider
Published: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 8:08 PM Updated: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 8:09 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer



Potential free-agent first baseman Derrek Lee is apparently not that interested in an offer from the Indians.
DALLAS, Texas -- GM Chris Antonetti said the Indians should make a player move before the winter meetings end Thursday.
No, it's not going to be a free-agent signing along the lines of what the Marlins did this week in signing Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle. Be it a signing or a trade, it's going to be small potatoes compared to those moves.
But at least it would be something.
"We have a lot of stuff going on, I just don't know if we'll get anything done [in Texas]," said Antonetti. "It's not Pujols-Reyes newsworthy, but it could make us a better team."
As for getting something done before returning to Cleveland, Antonetti said, "I expect we'd get something done. Whether it's a minor-league free-agent signing or something else.
"We have a handful of actual trade proposals out there right now. There are a couple that are up to us and are a handful that are up to the other teams."
Antonetti joked with reporters Tuesday that they'd been approached with a trade that "you guys couldn't guess if I gave you 50 tries."
The meetings end Thursday with the Rule 5 draft. The Indians are not expected to take a player because their 40-man roster is full.


No go: First baseman Derrek Lee was expected to turn down the Pirates' offer of arbitration by midnight Wednesday. On the surface that would appear to be good news for the Indians. They've been interested in Lee, 36, since he filed for free agency. Apparently Lee's interest in the Indians is not as strong, which has all but scuttled a possible deal.
It's too bad because Lee's a right-handed hitter who offers more power and consistency than the Indians are getting from Matt LaPorta. Lee hit .267 (116-for-435) with 17 doubles, 19 homers and 59 RBI for Baltimore and Pittsburgh last year. Lee made $7.25 million last year and has a history of back and wrist injuries. At the end of last season he talked about retiring.

First baseman Carlos Pena has already turned down the Cubs' arbitration offer. He's a left-handed hitter looking for a multiyear deal, which would probably put him out of the Indians' reach. Pena hit .225 (111-for-493) with 27 doubles, 28 homers, 80 RBI last season. The Cubs signed him to a one-year, $10 million contract.
The team did meet with agent Scott Boras on Tuesday night. Boras not only represents Pena, but right-handed hitting outfielder Andruw Jones as well. Jones would fit in nicely with the Indians' lefty-dominated outfield.
The Indians would not lose a draft pick by signing Lee or Pena. The Pirates and Cubs would receive draft picks as compensation.
Scout's eyes: Here's what a scout said about veteran right-hander Derek Lowe: "He is going to support that pitching staff. He's not what he was, but he's not going to go down. He missed one start in the last four years."
The Indians acquired Lowe from Atlanta in on Oct. 31.
Thumbs up: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel on Sandy Alomar Jr., "I think he's ready to manage now. He's accountable. Players will follow him."
Alomar interviewed with the Cubs and Red Sox this winter. Manuel was the Indians hitting coach when Alomar played with the Tribe. Alomar will be the bench coach this year.
Regarding Jim Thome, Manuel said he plans to get him 200 at-bats between pinch-hitting and playing some first base.
Words to remember: When asked if he had trouble leaving the Mets, Reyes said, "It was time to move on. The Mets didn't want me there. They never made a real offer."
The Marlins say shortstop Hanley Ramirez is ready to move to third base to make room for Reyes. That remains to be seen.
The Marlins have apparently withdrawn from the Albert Pujols bidding, but did come to terms with Buehrle on a four-year, $58 million deal. It reunites Buehrle with former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
Texas had been interested in Buehrle, but felt he wasn't a good fit for their ballpark. They also felt he was better suited for the National League at this point in his career.
Finally: The Indians talked with reliever Dan Wheeler's agent, but bullpen help is not high on their priority list. The Red Sox offered Wheeler arbitration. ... The Indians haven't decided if they'll send a scout to Texas next week to watch former Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya throw a BP session.
On Twitter: @hoynsie

Speaking of Ubaldo....


Cleveland Indians keeping a close winter watch on Ubaldo Jimenez

Updated: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 9:48 PM

Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer

DALLAS, Texas -- Catcher, first baseman or DH, the Indians know one thing about Carlos Santana.

"I'll tell you what Santana is. Santana is a very good middle-of-the-order bat. Wherever you put him, he's going to produce," said manager Manny Acta to reporters on Wednesday at the winter meetings.

The Indians wish they had that much of a grasp on Ubaldo Jimenez. Is he the lead dog starter he looked like in the first part of the 2010 season for the Colorado Rockies? Or is he the mechanical mess they acquired in a trade that shook the organization on July 31?

This winter they have taken similar, but not identical steps to discover more about two of the players that will help determine if the Indians can improve on their 80-win performance last season. Santana and Jimenez have spent most of the off-season in their native Dominican Republic. Indians trainer Nelson Perez was sent there to oversee their conditioning sessions.

The Indians told Santana not to play winter ball because of his workload last season after undergoing knee surgery in August of 2010.

"Carlos was not tired," said Acta. "He wanted to play winter ball and I've always been a pro winter ball guy. ... But we are just trying to be cautious with him."

The Indians feel differently about Jimenez. He will make his first start of the winter ball season for Licey on Dec. 20. The debut was originally set for Dec. 15 with Acta in attendance, but he isn't able to stay until the new date. Instead, Acta will watch Jimenez throw off the mound at the Indians' academy in the Dominican.

The big thing the Indians want to do with Jimenez is try to get his delivery in order.

"His mechanics are a mess," said one scout. "The stuff is there, but he needs someone like Rick Peterson to get his mechanics straightened out."


Peterson at one time was a minor-league pitching coach for the Indians. He went on to coach in the big leagues with Oakland, the Mets and Milwaukee.

The Indians were in the AL Central race when they acquired Jimenez. There was no time to make big changes in his delivery to correct flaws that may have been caused by a hip and thumb injury in spring training. By the time the season ended, former pitching coach Tim Belcher and new pitching coach Scott Radinsky had already started to tinker with the 6-5, 210-pound right-hander. They made him hold the ball higher when he was in a set position. Then they worked on making his stride to the plate more consistent.

"We feel that if he's able to control his lower half and be consistent with the strength of his stride, then the strike-throwing department will improve," said Acta.

Jimenez struck out 180 and walked 78 in 188 1/3 innings. Strikeouts weren't the problem, the number of pitches were. Jimenez seemed to be 3-2 on every hitter he faced.

After going 19-8 in 2010, Jimenez didn't pitch winter ball. This off-season, Jimenez told the Indians he wanted to pitch in the Dominican to get ready for spring training.

"I think it's very important for him," said Acta.

Santana hit just .239 (132-for-552) in 2011, but had 35 doubles, two triples, 27 homers, 79 RBI and 97 walks. He was one of just four hitters to finish last season with at least 25 homers, 35 doubles and 90 walks. Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera and Joey Votto were the others.

"We didn't make that much out of the batting average because he walked 97 times," said Acta. "People sometimes get caught up in the old batting average stat. But that's only relevant if you don't walk at all.

"That fact that he kept his on-base percentage at .350 (.351) was good enough for us. ... What that tells us is he's better than .240. When he gets in the .280 and .300 range, we know how scary things are going to be."

Just where Santana will be playing at that time is unknown. He appeared in 95 games and catcher and 66 at first base.

"If we go out and get a first baseman or Matt LaPorta shows up in spring training and becomes the player we envision, it makes things easier for us," said Acta. "Not many teams have a catcher with Santana's kind of production."

On Twitter: @hoynsie

Angels To Sign Albert Pujols

By Tim Dierkes [December 8 at 8:56am CST]

The Angels are the bridesmaid no more. Albert Pujols will sign with the Angels for ten years and $250-260MM, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown. He'll receive a full no-trade clause. Pujols decided this morning, writes Brown. If Pujols received more than $252MM, his new deal will be the second-largest in baseball history in both its total and average annual value.

If the above is true, watch the Indians make a play for Kendry Morales.


With Kendrys Morales and Mark Trumbo, the Angels now have a couple of first base trade chips. Morales could be non-tendered next week.

So what was our look good offer?