Is this the most boring ST in Tribe history? Not one young player came out of nowhere. No breakthrough. No one turning heads. No one crashing his way into the lineup. The final roster spots will be won by default not by success.

Pie crashed into the centerfield wall ?!?!?!

We need all-star seasons out of Santana, Choo, Cabrera, and Kotchman.

Duncan leading the pack for the starting left field job hitting at a .195 clip but he does have 5 homers and 15 rbi's.

Kotchum is not of All-Star caliber. There is a reason he was the last FA 1st baseman to sign, and no surpise we were the team that signed him.

Choo, Santana and maybe Cabrera (if he is not out of shape as elsewhere suggested) are the sum total and extent of our above average position players and All-Star candidates. Perhaps Kipnis in a few years, too.

Kotchum and Hanhanan are quality defenders who hit a bit.

Duncan can't field and can hit HRs generally off low-quality pitching and will fan a ton.

Brantley hasn't proven himself to be more than a marginal major leaguer. Could become average.

Hafner had three excellent seasons a numbers of years ago. No longer has much power and will be lucky to play 100 games.

Donald and Marson are good role players.

And there are a whole bunch of OFs who offer very little in reserve roles.

That's the roster. Makes me yawn.

Kipnis is a much better player then you are giving him credit for.

We're counting on it, rusty!

Kipnis will be a good player. I don't think he is likely to be any better than major league average in his first full season, but I don't consider that bad at all. In fact "major league average" is not a criticism when I say it. I consider Casey Blake the ultimate "major league average" player and I'd be OK with a team of 7 of them and a couple players who exceed that level.

Limited sample. Just less then 150 at bats (136). .841 OPS. Not bad and better then average especially at 2nd base.

Tribe - Cubs in Mesa:

Another fine spring game for the Tribe. Tomlin was battered for 9 hits in 5 2/3, but only 2 runs, fanned 6. The bullpen was scoreless. And so was the "offense". Mr. Kipnis with 2 of the 5 hits. The bozos who play OF go 1-13.

Tomlin solid, bats held down vs. Cubs
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com | 03/28/12 6:40 PM ET

MESA, Ariz. -- Bryan LaHair and Joe Mather each hit RBI singles to back Jeff Samardzija and lift the Cubs to a 2-0 victory Wednesday over the Indians.

Samardzija, making his last start before the Cubs staff meets to finalize the rotation, gave up three hits and walked one over six scoreless innings while striking out five. He was tested, as the Indians stacked their lineup with left-handed hitters, with the exception of Russ Canzler and Aaron Cunningham.

Samardzija, who has two hits in his young Major League career, also tripled to lead off the Chicago fifth, but was stranded.


Alfonso Soriano and Ian Stewart hit back-to-back singles in the sixth and, one out later, LaHair and Mather delivered consecutive RBI singles to take a 2-0 lead. LaHair is now 12-for-26 in his last seven games.

Josh Tomlin, battling for a spot in the Indians' rotation, was charged with both Chicago runs runs. He struck out six and gave up nine hits over 5 1/3 innings, his longest Cactus League outing.

"I felt good. I felt like I was commanding my pitches well," Tomlin said. "Overall, I felt like the ball was coming out of my hand good. I felt great the whole time, so I probably could say it was my best outing [of the spring]. The hits were a little high, but other than that, I felt pretty good."

Jason Kipnis had two hits for Cleveland.

Up next for the Indians: Closer Chris Perez, who is working his way back from a left-oblique strain, is set to make his Cactus League debut on Thursday, when the Indians host the Rockies in a 4:05 p.m. ET, split-squad contest at Goodyear Ballpark. Veteran Derek Lowe will get the start against the Rockies. Against the D-backs in Scottsdale, lefty David Huff will make his final start before learning his fate in the Tribe's fifth starter competition.

Darkstar wrote:LOL @ LaMarte

For kicks and giggles I dove into the treasure chest of my hard drive and Worldcrossing captures.....



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seagull - Mar 29, 2011 10:32 pm (#17 of 228)


As the Tribe leaves Arizona, I wonder if Matt Laporta has morphed into Matt LaMarte.

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This place turns one, in a couple of weeks.

Our dog turns 15 on Saturday.

I'm holding a yard sale in her honor. Treats for all attending dogs are on the house.

No beer this year in Oakland, as they lost the real season opener in Japan last night.

The regular season has officially started.

I truly feel we'll (The Cleveland Indians) be doing much better than our Spring Training won-loss totals have indicated with regard to future performance.

Whoever started today was awful, Lowe?, as we got behind 5-1 after 3. Offense has since been in high gear and we're down only 5-4 in the 8th. Chris Perez pitched a scoreless inning, so I guess all the pieces are coming together just in time for another hot April for the Tribe.

More from DENVER LOU:



Some more information from Fla.



Seems like the biggest story involves the Nationals. The first game we went to in Viera, we got into discussions with a couple of the locals about the future. Seems that the Nats are very sour on Viera and want to move. The attendance has been very bad there and interest seems to be low. Then one of the guys also pointed out that the Washington attendance isn't all that great either. MLB has already had two failures there.!? They also have a minor league team there, the Manatees, and we were told that sometimes they are lucky to get 200 people in attendance. Went to a game there last Mon and the announced attendance was 1,100. No Way !



So we looked things up. Yes, the Nationals have expressed a strong desire to move from Viera and petitioned MLB to allow them to move. MLB has given the Nats permission to dicker with Ft Myers to move into the Red Sox old park, City of Palms, in ST 2013. That quick! That's what the word out of MLB was.



Viera was originally owned by the owner of the Red Sox. Initially it was rented by the Marlins until the new facility at Jupiter. Then they swapped with EXPOs who came to Viera. It is a very nice park with an ugly exterior.



Cannot determine if the locals lack the interest in baseball or the Nats aren't a drawing card.



LOUFLA and EVA will be a lot busier in STs to come.

Mills goes deep twice in split-squad defeat

Perez makes Cactus League debut, tosses scoreless inning
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 03/29/12 6:53 PM ET

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Troy Tulowitzki collected three hits and Chris Nelson continued his audition for the open third-base job, helping lead the Rockies to a 6-3 Cactus League victory over the Indians on Thursday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark.

The Rockies came out swinging in the first inning, when Eric Young Jr. led off with a triple against Indians sinkerballer Derek Lowe, and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Marco Scutaro. Tulowitzki added a two-out double, then crossed the plate on a base hit from Ramon Hernandez to put the Tribe behind, 2-0.

Cleveland countered in the third, when first baseman Beau Mills -- the Tribe's top pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft -- launched the first of his two solo homers in the game against right-hander Juan Nicasio, the Rockies' likely third or fourth starter. Indians center fielder Michael Brantley added a solo homer off Nicasio in the third to pull the game into a 2-2 tie.

Lowe, acquired in a trade with the Braves over the winter, exited after turning in three innings for the Indians. The right-hander was charged with two runs on three hits and ended with two strikeouts and no walks. Lowe was replaced by left-hander Chris Seddon, who ran into trouble against Colorado in the fourth.

Wilin Rosario opened the inning with a double and Tulowitzki followed by sending a pitch from Seddon into left field for a single. Two batters later, Nelson -- a candidate for Colorado's vacancy at third base -- delivered a two-run double for the Rockies. Tyler Colvin added an RBI single to push Colorado out front, 5-2.

Nicasio allowed two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Rockies, mixing in six strikeouts and three walks.

Indians closer Chris Perez, who has spent the bulk of Spring Training recovering from a left oblique injury, worked the sixth in his Cactus League debut. Perez -- expected to be ready in time for Opening Day -- needed just five pitches to breeze through Colorado hitters Nelson, Colvin and Brandon Wood.

Up next: Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez, who has fashioned a 1.69 ERA this spring, will continue his push for the available fifth starter role when the Indians face the Reds in a 4:05 p.m. ET tilt on Friday at Goodyear Ballpark. Gomez is up against Kevin Slowey for the only vacancy in the rotation. Bullpen hopeful Dan Wheeler is also scheduled to pitch for the Indians, along with relievers Vinnie Pestano and Rafael Perez.