Cleveland Sports Forum

Latest example of what can happen to a young pitcher is Buchholz.

Not only is there a big leap from the minors to the Show, but it's even harder to stay there, either because of adjustment issues or injury.

RR here is the link for more.

http://www.espncleveland.com/audiovault/

I do not put a lot of faith in Rick Sutcliffe but last night on ESPN he said something is probably wrong with Jiminez since they gave up too easily on him.

Hope he is wrong.

A bit of history here, courtesy of SI:

Memories are long in baseball, too. In 2000, the Mets nearly traded for the Reds' All-Star shortstop Barry Larkin, hoping to use him as a half-season rental filling in for Rey Ordoñez, who was injured. The deal ultimately fell apart because the Mets didn't want to give Larkin a contract extension, but it was well-known that they were willing to give up Alex Escobar, one of their top prospects, in exchange for Larkin.

A full year later, the Mets were in talks with the Indians about a trade involving Roberto Alomar, and Escobar was at the heart of those discussions, too. The problem was, according to Duquette, that Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro knew the Mets had been willing to give up Escobar for Larkin a year earlier and thought that meant something was wrong with Escobar.

"They were reluctant because they were like, 'Why would you trade Escobar for a rental?'" Duquette says.
In the end, the Indians did the deal but after it was completed, Shapiro called Duquette, who was an assistant GM at the time. "He was like, 'All right, just tell me: What's wrong with Escobar?'" Duquette says. Duquette laughed. "It was just a reminder that at this time of year, everything -- everything -- matters."


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1TssR2ou4

It's amazing that the prevailing opinion on the Jimenez deal from Cleveland is that the Tribe was fleeced and Ubaldo is injured/ a head case/ over-rated/ in decline and Pomeranz and White are the greatest since Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove.

Must be many relatives of Darth Vader.

heard on a sports talk show that Ubaldo's fast ball has lost 2 mph over last year and we was something like 10 wins in his last 36 starts. Not a good sign, sounds like Pedro as he neared his injury prone days

loufla wrote:I do not put a lot of faith in Rick Sutcliffe but last night on ESPN he said something is probably wrong with Jiminez since they gave up too easily on him.

Hope he is wrong.

I remember when ESPN said pre season that Asdrubal Cabrera would be a MVP candidate. That didn't happen either.

jayjay7 wrote:heard on a sports talk show that Ubaldo's fast ball has lost 2 mph over last year and we was something like 10 wins in his last 36 starts. Not a good sign, sounds like Pedro as he neared his injury prone days

C'mon JJ he had 5 wins in the last month. The Pedro crap is ken whining as usual.

I remember when ESPN said pre season that Asdrubal Cabrera would be a MVP candidate. That didn't happen either.

Hey, if the Indians make the postseason, that might just happen.

When I hear Rick Sutcliffe I turn the sound down.

It does seem at times that Sutcliffe is negative on the Tribe and we gave him a job once.

From the Tribe site written by a Rockies fan:

Go kick some butt Ubaldo. We miss the hell out of you already but you deserve to win and I hope you win every game you pitch. Show these Indian's fans what they've got and what you can do.

Wonder if it was Denver Lou....wish he would chime in with some ideas.

I just noticed that Ubaldo has started 5 post season games in his career, total of 28 IPs, longest outing 6 IP and ERA of 3.54.

Certainly not overwhelming numbers there.

OTOH, CC stunk in the playoffs until he was 28 years old and pitching in pinstripes.

I like the fact that Ubaldo not only has the playoff games under his belt, but has the experience of charging down the stretch of the regular season fighting for a playoff spot.

The fact that Ubaldo has good numbers since June 1 (he had a bad start) would certainly indicate there is no physical issue.

Hey, let's face it, if he had been tearing up the NL he wouldn't have been dealt to anyone! It's a gutsy, good move for Antonetti.