Cleveland Indians reach contract extension with Asdrubal Cabrera through 2014, says source
Updated: Sunday, April 01, 2012, 9:50 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
"I'd be happy for him," Indians manager Manny Acta said of a possible contract extension for Asdrubal Cabrera, which the team did not announce Sunday but was confirmed by another baseball source to The Plain Dealer. "I'd be happy for the franchise. It's good to have one of your best players locked up and not have him worrying about arbitration hearings and things like that."
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Indians, who haven't given a player a contract extension since Roberto Hernandez was known as Fausto Carmona, reached agreement with All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera on a two-year extension which will keep him in Cleveland through 2014.
The team has yet to confirm the extension, but another source did. The deal is reportedly worth $16.5 million. Cabrera signed a one-year, $4.55 million deal over the winter to avoid arbitration.
GM Chris Antonetti would not comment on reports that the deal was done. Manager Manny Acta took the same approach, but hypothetically the idea of having Cabrera signed through 2014 appealed to him.
"If it did happen, I'd be happy," said Acta. "I'd be happy for him. I'd be happy for the franchise. It's good to have one of your best players locked up and not have him worrying about arbitration hearings and things like that. It would be nice."
Cabrera, 26, is in his fifth big-league season. He would have been eligible for free agency after 2013. The two-year extension buys one year of Cabrera's free agency.
This spring has been a quiet one for Cabrera. He came to camp above his playing weight and it's taken him time for him to get back in shape.
Indians Chatter
Start me up: Ubaldo Jimenez plunked Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki on left elbow and benches clear. Jimenez lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on four hits and five walks. Gave up two long homers and threw 86 pitches.
Big thump: Travis Hafner and Shelley Duncan each hit grand slams as Indians broke a 10-game Cactus League losing streak. Hafner slammed in the first. Duncan in the seventh. Hafner went 3-for-5 with five RBI.
Swing the bats: Jose Lopez, Lou Marson and Felix Pie had two hits each.
In the pen: Rafael Perez worked a scoreless eighth. Minor leaguers pitched the rest of the game with J.D. Reichenbach, Dale Dickerson and Jose Flores seeing action. Dickerson earned the win and Flores the save.
Let there be runs: The 12 runs on Sunday tied a spring-training high for the Tribe.
Old friends: Former Indians Jeremy Guthrie and Alex White allowed a combined nine runs on 10 hits in five innings against their old team.
— Paul Hoynes
Related stories
On the field: Indians 12, Rockies 10
Indians-Rockies boxscore | MLB scoreboard
Lopez, Ascencio, Cunningham make final roster
"He's fine. He's right at his playing weight that he had last year," said Acta. "He's worked very hard. It wasn't like he showed up here like a blimp. We want everyone here to be in top shape. That's all there is to it."
Cabrera is hitting .211 (12-for-57) with four doubles, one triple, two homers and six RBI this spring. He was bothered by a sore right shoulder about a week ago.
"My shoulder is fine," Cabrera said late last week. "That is behind me. I feel good. My body feels strong."
Cabrera did not make the trip to Sal Rivers Field at Talking Stick on Sunday. The Indians beat Colorado, 12-10, to end a 10-game Cactus League losing streak. The Indians are 7-21-3 this spring.
"I don't worry too much about spring training," said Cabrera. "I know we have a good team. Sometimes we're not playing our full team. I think we'll be all right. We're just waiting for the season."
In April of 2008, the Indians signed Carmona to a four-year deal worth $15 million. The deal included club options for 2012, 2013 and 2014. Carmona was arrested in the Dominican Republic on Jan. 19 for using a false identification when he tried to apply for a visa to the United States. Dominican authorities said he was really Hernandez and that he was 31 instead of 28.
Hernandez, with the Indians scheduled to break camp Monday after they play Cincinnati, is still in the Dominican trying to obtain a waiver/visa.
Cabrera is coming off a career season in which he hit .273 (165-for-604) with 32 doubles, three triples, 25 homers and 92 RBI. Until last year, the switch-hitting Cabrera had 18 career homers.
The Indians acquired Cabrera from Seattle for Eduardo Perez on June 30, 2006. He made his big-league debut in 2007 and helped the Indians reach Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
Until Cabrera's extension, the Indians did not have a player signed past 2012. When asked about that this off-season, Antonetti said the Indians have approached players about multiyear deals, but the terms have to be right for both sides.
On Twitter: @hoynsie
Re: Articles
1548Not exactly, Civ. We already had him locked up through '13 didn't we? Which means we only added 1 year. Not exactly the multi- year deal we would hope for.
Re: Articles
1549Good article in the New York Times yesterday about how all teams need to find some "efficiency" to make them competitive. e.g. John Hart invented the multiyear contract for young players in the 90s. Tampa seems to be able to keep players healthy. Some teams make special use of computer record keeping. Some devote more attention to player drafting and development. Some concentrate on Latin players. I cannot discern anything the Indians are doing to give themselves an edge. Although to their credit they do seem to be trying something new in amateur player acquisition with much more focus on young athletic players than has been our history. Even if this strategy winds up effective, the return will not be three to five years from now since there is no talent in the farm system above Class A.
Re: Articles
1550The Next Big IdeaMajor League Teams Seek New Ways to Deconstruct Game
By TYLER KEPNER
Twenty years ago, under a glorious canopy of sunshine at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Rick Sutcliffe threw the first pitch of a baseball revolution.
Printing Money: Teams are signing increasingly lucrative cable television deals that allow them to imitate the Yankees. The Los Angeles Angels struck a multibillion-dollar deal with Fox Sports West last December just as they were signing Albert Pujols for $240 million. A Fox reporter, Liz Habib, interviewing the Angels’ Jered Weaver.
With the opening of the shimmering Oriole Park at Camden Yards, envious owners felt a sudden revulsion to their antiseptic stadiums with limited earning potential. In the years since, almost every team has built a new ballpark, increasing profits and improving the fan experience but essentially negating the competitive advantage.
Ten years ago, faced with the departure of several star players, the cash-poor Oakland Athletics combed through statistics, finding undervalued assets to help them keep winning. The principles of “Moneyball” — celebrated in a popular book and movie — spread rapidly, with objective analysis complementing traditional scouting to form a better understanding of talent and value.
For all their influence, the Orioles and the A’s now find themselves as also-rans, without a pennant in the last two decades to show for their ingenuity. Their legacy is in introducing elements that have since become all but essential to operating a viable franchise.
As the 2012 season dawns, it is logical to wonder what is happening now that will, in a decade or two, be just as important as stadiums and statistics. Some teams, like the Tampa Bay Rays — who have won without a new ballpark — concentrate heavily on finding advantages before they become widespread.
“We’re aggressive in doing so,” their general manager, Andrew Friedman, said. “The game is incredibly efficient right now relative to where it was 10 years ago. Our greatest fear is it becomes perfectly efficient.”
If that happened, Friedman said, payrolls would decide the standings. As it stands now, front-office ingenuity matters just as much, if not more. That is why the same issue grips every smart executive: what can we do to get an edge before the competition catches on?
“I don’t agree with ‘Oh, we can’t do this or that; we don’t have this or that,’ ” said Alex Anthopoulos, the Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager. “The question is, ‘How can we?’ Give me a how. There’s got to be a way.”
Anthopoulos is still searching. He is quick to point out that in his first two years on the job, the Blue Jays have done no better than they did for his predecessors. The team has not made the playoffs since 1993.
Perhaps Anthopoulos can devise a groundbreaking strategy that is not known outside the Blue Jays’ front office. Or perhaps other factors now percolating throughout the game will make the biggest difference in this generation.
A decade ago, Jeff Luhnow was a top executive at Petstore.com. Now he is the general manager of the Houston Astros, the team with baseball’s worst record in 2011. Luhnow speaks with equal enthusiasm about a sports analytics seminar in Boston and a bunt-defense clinic in spring training. He has a wide-ranging mind but struggles to identify the next big trend in baseball.
“What are the chances of you stumbling on something that’s never been stumbled on?” Luhnow said. “At the same time, there’s also so many choices for where you want to differentiate yourself that I think a big part of our job is to figure out which of those areas we should invest in.”
Luhnow listed a handful of issues teams could emphasize, including injury prevention. Imagine if a team could keep all its best players off the disabled list, year after year. Freakish injuries are inevitable, but which body types are more likely to stay healthy? What are the proper hitting, pitching and running mechanics to minimize physical risk?
The issue has become especially important since amphetamines were banned. In a 162-game season, muscle recovery and energy maintenance are crucial. Without artificial means to help, players theoretically must adhere more closely to guidelines from the training staff.
“There’s no question that injury prevention is going to be a massive differentiator going forward,” Friedman said. “It’s difficult, because some of it’s doing the right things from a preventative standpoint, and some of it is just the DNA and composition of the player. You can’t really know, not when you’re drafting.”
Friedman shared no secrets about his team’s methods. But it is probably no coincidence that in each of their three playoff seasons since 2008, the Rays had four or five pitchers make at least 29 starts apiece.
The Rays, who consistently win with skimpy payrolls, come up often when executives talk about the game’s innovations. The Cleveland Indians of the 1990s popularized the concept of signing young players to long-term contracts, and the Rays have been especially aggressive, while adding their own twist.
The Picture of Health: David Price is a key member of the starting rotation for Tampa Bay, a low-payroll franchise increasingly drawing attention for its success in keeping its pitchers healthy and its team in the postseason. In the seasons ahead, injury prevention will probably draw more and more emphasis from teams looking for an edge.
They signed the star third baseman Evan Longoria to a six-year, $17.5 million contract during his first week in the majors, in 2008. The deal effectively locks up Longoria through 2016 because of three club options. The starting pitchers James Shields and Matt Moore — who was guaranteed $14 million after just two major league starts — also signed deals with three club options.
The Kansas City Royals, another small-market team with a strong farm system, have caught on. Shortly after Longoria signed, the Royals signed closer Joakim Soria to a deal that included three options. This spring, they put two option years on shortstop Alcides Escobar’s new contract, and three on their deal with catcher Sal Perez.
“Usually to get some trade-off, you’ve got to sign them a year or two earlier than you’d want to,” Royals General Manager Dayton Moore said. “It’s certainly more risky from an evaluation standpoint. The younger you sign them, there’s less history there. But that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Before joining the Royals, Moore worked for Atlanta with Frank Wren, who is now the Braves’ general manager. Asked how teams can gain advantages, Wren emphasized day-to-day game preparation.
The Braves are one of several teams that now employ an assistant hitting coach. Before, one coach would be responsible for 13 or 14 hitters. Now, even though the assistant cannot be in uniform during games, the hitters receive more personalized attention beforehand. The St. Louis Cardinals used this arrangement last season and won the World Series.
Wren also pointed to technological advancements that can help players study data and video wherever they are.
“I think the use of iPads is probably the next great wave — for instruction, for advance scouting, for tendencies and how they’re utilized,” Wren said. “Right now, it’s still illegal to use them on the bench, but instead of using advance books, we’ve got all that information on our iPads.
“When you have notebook after notebook on every team, it’s a lot. You carry one little iPad that’s three-eighths of an inch thick, you’ve got all of that, and more.”
One area that will not be an advantage for the Braves is money from local cable rights. They are locked into their deal for more than 20 years and will miss out on the trend toward soaring fees that helped the Los Angeles Angels sign Albert Pujols and the Texas Rangers land Yu Darvish.
“Some of the newer deals are really starting to have an impact,” Wren said. “We saw it in the free-agent market this year, where teams that are part of these new deals and revenue streams could jump into the market unlike any time before. I think it has a chance to be a separator.”
The value of baseball’s six months of programming — mostly viewed live, so audiences cannot skip commercials — has never been greater. The Yankees have thrived in the first decade of the YES Network, and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ $2.15 billion sale price last week was fueled largely by the promise of a lucrative cable deal.
The Astros are a long way from contention, but with their shared majority stake in a cable network starting this fall, they may not stay down for long. If they develop the farm system and revive fan interest, Luhnow said, the television deal could help them rebuild “potentially in a third the time as some other clubs.”
Houston is a major media market, unlike Milwaukee, where the owner Mark Attanasio has lifted the Brewers from a perennial doormat to a division champion with the help of revenue sharing. Attanasio said cable deals could have an even bigger effect than stadiums once did, and he stressed that they should be monitored closely to comply with revenue-sharing guidelines.
“If somebody else, from a business standpoint, is better situated to earn money I can’t earn, I’m happy for them as long as it doesn’t create a competitive imbalance,” Attanasio said. “What I don’t want to do is wake up one day and see that the rest of the league has $200 million payrolls, and we’re the Washington Generals.”
The Padres, who regularly lose their most expensive players to richer teams, are coming into their own cable money with the creation of Fox Sports San Diego. General Manager Josh Byrnes said the team’s future payrolls were “very flexible,” but he does not have a specific budget for how high they can go.
More important, Byrnes said, is finding the best amateur talent. For all the changes in baseball through the decades, the surest path to success never changes. Teams with deep farm systems almost always win in the long run.
The new collective bargaining agreement, announced in November, imposes spending restrictions on the draft and international markets. In essence, the worst teams not only pick before the best teams, but also have more money to spend. The total bonus payouts are predetermined, with penalties for teams that exceed their limits.
“The teams that have produced the best in the last 10 years have probably been a combination of good scouting, spending and strategy,” Byrnes said. “But I do think going forward there won’t be real differences in the spending, and there isn’t as much maneuverability with the strategy. So if I were to guess, in the next 10 years, the teams that produce the best will have scouted the best.”
The new rules could hurt teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose recent strategy has been to plow money into draft bonuses to stockpile amateur talent. Last summer, the Pirates paid $8 million to the first overall pick, pitcher Gerrit Cole, and $5 million to the 61st overall pick, Josh Bell, a high school infielder who had told teams he was going to college.
Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington acknowledged his team’s methods must change, but said he hoped that the Pirates had gathered a deeper and more talented group of prospects than their rivals. Meanwhile, Huntington, like his colleagues, will search for the next efficiency.
Maybe analysts will figure out a better way to interpret data, he said, or maybe scouts will learn how a player’s character truly affects his performance.
“You hear the term makeup, and it’s a catch-all,” Huntington said. “What does it really mean, and how does it really play out? If you’d want somebody to marry your daughter, does that mean he can be a good big-league player, or does it just mean he’s a really good guy? There’s a difference there. Measuring the intangibles — if somebody ever comes up with that, that’s a huge separation.”
Scouts miss top prospects all the time; Matt Kemp was picked in the sixth round, Pujols in the 13th, Jose Bautista in the 20th. Could something in those players’ personalities have hinted at their true potential?
The chances of unlocking that mystery are slim, but rewards from a discovery would be huge. The hunt for an edge can be exhausting in such an unpredictable game, but it is also a thrill.
“Baseball as an industry, I’ve studied it up and down, and we’re dealing with human beings,” Anthopoulos said. “We’re never going to get it right, and that’s part of the fun.”
By TYLER KEPNER
Twenty years ago, under a glorious canopy of sunshine at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Rick Sutcliffe threw the first pitch of a baseball revolution.
Printing Money: Teams are signing increasingly lucrative cable television deals that allow them to imitate the Yankees. The Los Angeles Angels struck a multibillion-dollar deal with Fox Sports West last December just as they were signing Albert Pujols for $240 million. A Fox reporter, Liz Habib, interviewing the Angels’ Jered Weaver.
With the opening of the shimmering Oriole Park at Camden Yards, envious owners felt a sudden revulsion to their antiseptic stadiums with limited earning potential. In the years since, almost every team has built a new ballpark, increasing profits and improving the fan experience but essentially negating the competitive advantage.
Ten years ago, faced with the departure of several star players, the cash-poor Oakland Athletics combed through statistics, finding undervalued assets to help them keep winning. The principles of “Moneyball” — celebrated in a popular book and movie — spread rapidly, with objective analysis complementing traditional scouting to form a better understanding of talent and value.
For all their influence, the Orioles and the A’s now find themselves as also-rans, without a pennant in the last two decades to show for their ingenuity. Their legacy is in introducing elements that have since become all but essential to operating a viable franchise.
As the 2012 season dawns, it is logical to wonder what is happening now that will, in a decade or two, be just as important as stadiums and statistics. Some teams, like the Tampa Bay Rays — who have won without a new ballpark — concentrate heavily on finding advantages before they become widespread.
“We’re aggressive in doing so,” their general manager, Andrew Friedman, said. “The game is incredibly efficient right now relative to where it was 10 years ago. Our greatest fear is it becomes perfectly efficient.”
If that happened, Friedman said, payrolls would decide the standings. As it stands now, front-office ingenuity matters just as much, if not more. That is why the same issue grips every smart executive: what can we do to get an edge before the competition catches on?
“I don’t agree with ‘Oh, we can’t do this or that; we don’t have this or that,’ ” said Alex Anthopoulos, the Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager. “The question is, ‘How can we?’ Give me a how. There’s got to be a way.”
Anthopoulos is still searching. He is quick to point out that in his first two years on the job, the Blue Jays have done no better than they did for his predecessors. The team has not made the playoffs since 1993.
Perhaps Anthopoulos can devise a groundbreaking strategy that is not known outside the Blue Jays’ front office. Or perhaps other factors now percolating throughout the game will make the biggest difference in this generation.
A decade ago, Jeff Luhnow was a top executive at Petstore.com. Now he is the general manager of the Houston Astros, the team with baseball’s worst record in 2011. Luhnow speaks with equal enthusiasm about a sports analytics seminar in Boston and a bunt-defense clinic in spring training. He has a wide-ranging mind but struggles to identify the next big trend in baseball.
“What are the chances of you stumbling on something that’s never been stumbled on?” Luhnow said. “At the same time, there’s also so many choices for where you want to differentiate yourself that I think a big part of our job is to figure out which of those areas we should invest in.”
Luhnow listed a handful of issues teams could emphasize, including injury prevention. Imagine if a team could keep all its best players off the disabled list, year after year. Freakish injuries are inevitable, but which body types are more likely to stay healthy? What are the proper hitting, pitching and running mechanics to minimize physical risk?
The issue has become especially important since amphetamines were banned. In a 162-game season, muscle recovery and energy maintenance are crucial. Without artificial means to help, players theoretically must adhere more closely to guidelines from the training staff.
“There’s no question that injury prevention is going to be a massive differentiator going forward,” Friedman said. “It’s difficult, because some of it’s doing the right things from a preventative standpoint, and some of it is just the DNA and composition of the player. You can’t really know, not when you’re drafting.”
Friedman shared no secrets about his team’s methods. But it is probably no coincidence that in each of their three playoff seasons since 2008, the Rays had four or five pitchers make at least 29 starts apiece.
The Rays, who consistently win with skimpy payrolls, come up often when executives talk about the game’s innovations. The Cleveland Indians of the 1990s popularized the concept of signing young players to long-term contracts, and the Rays have been especially aggressive, while adding their own twist.
The Picture of Health: David Price is a key member of the starting rotation for Tampa Bay, a low-payroll franchise increasingly drawing attention for its success in keeping its pitchers healthy and its team in the postseason. In the seasons ahead, injury prevention will probably draw more and more emphasis from teams looking for an edge.
They signed the star third baseman Evan Longoria to a six-year, $17.5 million contract during his first week in the majors, in 2008. The deal effectively locks up Longoria through 2016 because of three club options. The starting pitchers James Shields and Matt Moore — who was guaranteed $14 million after just two major league starts — also signed deals with three club options.
The Kansas City Royals, another small-market team with a strong farm system, have caught on. Shortly after Longoria signed, the Royals signed closer Joakim Soria to a deal that included three options. This spring, they put two option years on shortstop Alcides Escobar’s new contract, and three on their deal with catcher Sal Perez.
“Usually to get some trade-off, you’ve got to sign them a year or two earlier than you’d want to,” Royals General Manager Dayton Moore said. “It’s certainly more risky from an evaluation standpoint. The younger you sign them, there’s less history there. But that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Before joining the Royals, Moore worked for Atlanta with Frank Wren, who is now the Braves’ general manager. Asked how teams can gain advantages, Wren emphasized day-to-day game preparation.
The Braves are one of several teams that now employ an assistant hitting coach. Before, one coach would be responsible for 13 or 14 hitters. Now, even though the assistant cannot be in uniform during games, the hitters receive more personalized attention beforehand. The St. Louis Cardinals used this arrangement last season and won the World Series.
Wren also pointed to technological advancements that can help players study data and video wherever they are.
“I think the use of iPads is probably the next great wave — for instruction, for advance scouting, for tendencies and how they’re utilized,” Wren said. “Right now, it’s still illegal to use them on the bench, but instead of using advance books, we’ve got all that information on our iPads.
“When you have notebook after notebook on every team, it’s a lot. You carry one little iPad that’s three-eighths of an inch thick, you’ve got all of that, and more.”
One area that will not be an advantage for the Braves is money from local cable rights. They are locked into their deal for more than 20 years and will miss out on the trend toward soaring fees that helped the Los Angeles Angels sign Albert Pujols and the Texas Rangers land Yu Darvish.
“Some of the newer deals are really starting to have an impact,” Wren said. “We saw it in the free-agent market this year, where teams that are part of these new deals and revenue streams could jump into the market unlike any time before. I think it has a chance to be a separator.”
The value of baseball’s six months of programming — mostly viewed live, so audiences cannot skip commercials — has never been greater. The Yankees have thrived in the first decade of the YES Network, and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ $2.15 billion sale price last week was fueled largely by the promise of a lucrative cable deal.
The Astros are a long way from contention, but with their shared majority stake in a cable network starting this fall, they may not stay down for long. If they develop the farm system and revive fan interest, Luhnow said, the television deal could help them rebuild “potentially in a third the time as some other clubs.”
Houston is a major media market, unlike Milwaukee, where the owner Mark Attanasio has lifted the Brewers from a perennial doormat to a division champion with the help of revenue sharing. Attanasio said cable deals could have an even bigger effect than stadiums once did, and he stressed that they should be monitored closely to comply with revenue-sharing guidelines.
“If somebody else, from a business standpoint, is better situated to earn money I can’t earn, I’m happy for them as long as it doesn’t create a competitive imbalance,” Attanasio said. “What I don’t want to do is wake up one day and see that the rest of the league has $200 million payrolls, and we’re the Washington Generals.”
The Padres, who regularly lose their most expensive players to richer teams, are coming into their own cable money with the creation of Fox Sports San Diego. General Manager Josh Byrnes said the team’s future payrolls were “very flexible,” but he does not have a specific budget for how high they can go.
More important, Byrnes said, is finding the best amateur talent. For all the changes in baseball through the decades, the surest path to success never changes. Teams with deep farm systems almost always win in the long run.
The new collective bargaining agreement, announced in November, imposes spending restrictions on the draft and international markets. In essence, the worst teams not only pick before the best teams, but also have more money to spend. The total bonus payouts are predetermined, with penalties for teams that exceed their limits.
“The teams that have produced the best in the last 10 years have probably been a combination of good scouting, spending and strategy,” Byrnes said. “But I do think going forward there won’t be real differences in the spending, and there isn’t as much maneuverability with the strategy. So if I were to guess, in the next 10 years, the teams that produce the best will have scouted the best.”
The new rules could hurt teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose recent strategy has been to plow money into draft bonuses to stockpile amateur talent. Last summer, the Pirates paid $8 million to the first overall pick, pitcher Gerrit Cole, and $5 million to the 61st overall pick, Josh Bell, a high school infielder who had told teams he was going to college.
Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington acknowledged his team’s methods must change, but said he hoped that the Pirates had gathered a deeper and more talented group of prospects than their rivals. Meanwhile, Huntington, like his colleagues, will search for the next efficiency.
Maybe analysts will figure out a better way to interpret data, he said, or maybe scouts will learn how a player’s character truly affects his performance.
“You hear the term makeup, and it’s a catch-all,” Huntington said. “What does it really mean, and how does it really play out? If you’d want somebody to marry your daughter, does that mean he can be a good big-league player, or does it just mean he’s a really good guy? There’s a difference there. Measuring the intangibles — if somebody ever comes up with that, that’s a huge separation.”
Scouts miss top prospects all the time; Matt Kemp was picked in the sixth round, Pujols in the 13th, Jose Bautista in the 20th. Could something in those players’ personalities have hinted at their true potential?
The chances of unlocking that mystery are slim, but rewards from a discovery would be huge. The hunt for an edge can be exhausting in such an unpredictable game, but it is also a thrill.
“Baseball as an industry, I’ve studied it up and down, and we’re dealing with human beings,” Anthopoulos said. “We’re never going to get it right, and that’s part of the fun.”
Re: Articles
1551Good article.
Tough to identify anyone in the Indians orginization looking to find a way to get an edge.
Tough to identify anyone in the Indians orginization looking to find a way to get an edge.
Re: Articles
1552Some ex-Indian official quoted in there who are thinking deep thoughts. Since Antonetti is now his GM, I suppose Mark Shapiro is Indians Director of Creating Thinking. I am curious what deep thoughte he is working through.
Re: Articles
1553Tough to identify anyone in the Indians orginization looking to find a way to get an edge.
---
Some ex-Indian official quoted in there who are thinking deep thoughts. Since Antonetti is now his GM, I suppose Mark Shapiro is Indians Director of Creating Thinking. I am curious what deep thoughte he is working through.
---
I was watching that new statistics show on ESPN a few weeks back and they were broadcasting live from a Sports Analytics conference that day.
The conference had number crunchers from all over the country there explaining their new methods of analyzing numbers and players across all the major sports.
One of the first front office guys ESPN interviewed while there was Mark Shapiro.
And not only were the Indians attending talks on Sports Analytics from baseball number crunchers, they were also attending talks intended for other major sports, hoping to find an edge anywhere they could.
Now maybe it will end up not helping at all, which I seriously doubt, but if you are being fair at all you have to give them an A for effort.
---
Some ex-Indian official quoted in there who are thinking deep thoughts. Since Antonetti is now his GM, I suppose Mark Shapiro is Indians Director of Creating Thinking. I am curious what deep thoughte he is working through.
---
I was watching that new statistics show on ESPN a few weeks back and they were broadcasting live from a Sports Analytics conference that day.
The conference had number crunchers from all over the country there explaining their new methods of analyzing numbers and players across all the major sports.
One of the first front office guys ESPN interviewed while there was Mark Shapiro.
And not only were the Indians attending talks on Sports Analytics from baseball number crunchers, they were also attending talks intended for other major sports, hoping to find an edge anywhere they could.
Now maybe it will end up not helping at all, which I seriously doubt, but if you are being fair at all you have to give them an A for effort.
Re: Articles
1554Really? I thought we were just coming off a string of multi-year contracts (Sizemore, Hafner, Peralta etc) that turned out to be an absolute disaster, mostly with injuries.A multiyear contract! Wow, a whole new concept for Dolan.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain
Re: Articles
1556Cleveland Indians will appeal Ubaldo Jimenez's five-game suspension for Tulowitzki beaning
Published: Monday, April 02, 2012, 6:15 PM Updated: Monday, April 02, 2012, 10:00 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Ubaldo Jimenez didn't think he'd get suspended. He thought wrong.
Major League Baseball suspended the Indians' right-hander for five games and fined him an undisclosed amount Monday for hitting former teammate Troy Tulowitzki with a pitch on Sunday at the Rockies ballpark in Scottsdale.
Manager Manny Acta said Jimenez will appeal the suspension and make his scheduled start Saturday against Toronto at Progressive Field. Jimenez pitched poorly this spring, but was still put in the No.2 spot in the rotation behind Justin Masterson.
Jimenez and the Rockies have been in a verbal battle this spring. Jimenez was not pleased about how Colorado treated him last year before trading him to the Indians on July 31 for Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner and Matt McBride. He was unhappy that Rockies' front office would not renegotiate his club-friendly contract, but gave big extensions to Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.
The bad feelings found their way to the diamond Sunday when Jimenez hit Tulowitzki in the first inning. Tulowitzki, who recently criticized Jimenez for his attitude last year, was Colorado's third batter of the game.
"It's disappointing, but I'm not surprised," said Acta, after the Indians' final Cactus League game of spring training Monday. "I got the call this morning."
Acta didn't think Jimenez should be suspended after Sunday's game. He felt the same on Monday.
"I'm very disappointed at their inconsistency on how they make their decisions," said Acta. "We had a situation in New York last year that I thought was worse than this situation and the guy got fined $750."
Roberto Hernandez hit Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira in the back with a pitch on June 10 at Yankee Stadium. It caused the benches to clear.
"I just think everyone is relying too much on the comments made in the newspapers," said Acta. "That's what everyone is going on. [Jimenez] walked five guys. One of them didn't even have to swing the bat and he got walked three times.
"Where do you draw the line? It's disappointing that they let themselves be swayed by you guys. I understand you guys have a lot of power, but sometimes you have to make decisions without what the press is campaigning for."
Commissioner Bud Selig happened to be Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale when the incident took place.
"Who cares whether he's there or not?" said Acta. "Everyone gets the same TV feeds and reports. People are not going to play the game different just because Bud is sitting in the stands. They're not going to change the way they play the game.
"The majority of the players didn't even know he was there."
Rockies manager Jim Tracy called for Jimenez to be suspended during an emotional rant after Sunday's game.
"That's the most gutless act I've seen in 35 years of professional baseball," said Tracy. "I've lost all respect for him ... all of it."
Monday morning, Jimenez pleaded his case, but he was not available after the suspension was announced. The Indians broke camp following a 2-1 loss to Cincinnati. Jimenez was onboard one of two busses waiting to take the team to the Phoenix airport while Acta talked to reporters.
"I don't think I should be suspended," Jimenez said on Monday morning. "A hit by pitch is something that happens every day in the game. It's not a surprise when someone gets hit."
Regarding his former manager's comments, Jimenez said, "I can't control what people say. Whatever people think, leave it like that. ... I was probably a little surprised to hear what he said, but that's OK."
The umpires did not eject Jimenez or Tulowitzki, who walked toward each other gesturing and screaming. Tulowitzki was replaced by a pinch-runner and had X-rays taken on his elbow. The exam showed no broken bones.
Jimenez said he would not apologize to Tulowitzki.
"He was calling me a [expletive], so why should I?" said Jimenez. "I already said I didn't mean to hit him. It was a pitch that got away. I had five walks in the game. I was everywhere [with my pitches]."
Jimenez went 1-4 with a 7.43 ERA in seven Cactus League starts. He allowed 24 runs, 19 earned, on 30 hits and 15 walks in 23 innings. He struck out 15 and the opposition hit .316 against him.
"I'm glad spring training is over," said Jimenez. "Now we go to the fun part of the season. That's where everything counts. I'm really excited for the season."
Indians Chatter
Start me up: Josh Tomlin ended spring training on a good note by allowing one run in five innings in a 2-1 loss to the Reds. Walked two, struck out two and allowed three hits.
Where’s the beef? The Indians were held to one or fewer runs for the sixth time in 32 Cactus League games. They averaged 4.2 runs per game this spring.
Crisp closer: Chris Perez pitched a scoreless sixth inning. It was his third and last appearance of spring after missing much of camp with a strained left oblique. He did not allow a run in the three one-inning outings and will be ready to open the season Thursday at Progressive Field.
No mercy: The Reds and Indians, who shared Goodyear Ballpark, met seven times this spring. The Reds won all seven games.
Thanks for coming: The Indians drew 74,836 fans to 16 home games at Goodyear Park this spring. They drew just 59,744 last year.
One and only: Jason Donald prevented the Indians from getting shut out for the third time this spring with an RBI double in the fifth inning.
— Paul Hoynes
Published: Monday, April 02, 2012, 6:15 PM Updated: Monday, April 02, 2012, 10:00 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Ubaldo Jimenez didn't think he'd get suspended. He thought wrong.
Major League Baseball suspended the Indians' right-hander for five games and fined him an undisclosed amount Monday for hitting former teammate Troy Tulowitzki with a pitch on Sunday at the Rockies ballpark in Scottsdale.
Manager Manny Acta said Jimenez will appeal the suspension and make his scheduled start Saturday against Toronto at Progressive Field. Jimenez pitched poorly this spring, but was still put in the No.2 spot in the rotation behind Justin Masterson.
Jimenez and the Rockies have been in a verbal battle this spring. Jimenez was not pleased about how Colorado treated him last year before trading him to the Indians on July 31 for Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner and Matt McBride. He was unhappy that Rockies' front office would not renegotiate his club-friendly contract, but gave big extensions to Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.
The bad feelings found their way to the diamond Sunday when Jimenez hit Tulowitzki in the first inning. Tulowitzki, who recently criticized Jimenez for his attitude last year, was Colorado's third batter of the game.
"It's disappointing, but I'm not surprised," said Acta, after the Indians' final Cactus League game of spring training Monday. "I got the call this morning."
Acta didn't think Jimenez should be suspended after Sunday's game. He felt the same on Monday.
"I'm very disappointed at their inconsistency on how they make their decisions," said Acta. "We had a situation in New York last year that I thought was worse than this situation and the guy got fined $750."
Roberto Hernandez hit Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira in the back with a pitch on June 10 at Yankee Stadium. It caused the benches to clear.
"I just think everyone is relying too much on the comments made in the newspapers," said Acta. "That's what everyone is going on. [Jimenez] walked five guys. One of them didn't even have to swing the bat and he got walked three times.
"Where do you draw the line? It's disappointing that they let themselves be swayed by you guys. I understand you guys have a lot of power, but sometimes you have to make decisions without what the press is campaigning for."
Commissioner Bud Selig happened to be Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale when the incident took place.
"Who cares whether he's there or not?" said Acta. "Everyone gets the same TV feeds and reports. People are not going to play the game different just because Bud is sitting in the stands. They're not going to change the way they play the game.
"The majority of the players didn't even know he was there."
Rockies manager Jim Tracy called for Jimenez to be suspended during an emotional rant after Sunday's game.
"That's the most gutless act I've seen in 35 years of professional baseball," said Tracy. "I've lost all respect for him ... all of it."
Monday morning, Jimenez pleaded his case, but he was not available after the suspension was announced. The Indians broke camp following a 2-1 loss to Cincinnati. Jimenez was onboard one of two busses waiting to take the team to the Phoenix airport while Acta talked to reporters.
"I don't think I should be suspended," Jimenez said on Monday morning. "A hit by pitch is something that happens every day in the game. It's not a surprise when someone gets hit."
Regarding his former manager's comments, Jimenez said, "I can't control what people say. Whatever people think, leave it like that. ... I was probably a little surprised to hear what he said, but that's OK."
The umpires did not eject Jimenez or Tulowitzki, who walked toward each other gesturing and screaming. Tulowitzki was replaced by a pinch-runner and had X-rays taken on his elbow. The exam showed no broken bones.
Jimenez said he would not apologize to Tulowitzki.
"He was calling me a [expletive], so why should I?" said Jimenez. "I already said I didn't mean to hit him. It was a pitch that got away. I had five walks in the game. I was everywhere [with my pitches]."
Jimenez went 1-4 with a 7.43 ERA in seven Cactus League starts. He allowed 24 runs, 19 earned, on 30 hits and 15 walks in 23 innings. He struck out 15 and the opposition hit .316 against him.
"I'm glad spring training is over," said Jimenez. "Now we go to the fun part of the season. That's where everything counts. I'm really excited for the season."
Indians Chatter
Start me up: Josh Tomlin ended spring training on a good note by allowing one run in five innings in a 2-1 loss to the Reds. Walked two, struck out two and allowed three hits.
Where’s the beef? The Indians were held to one or fewer runs for the sixth time in 32 Cactus League games. They averaged 4.2 runs per game this spring.
Crisp closer: Chris Perez pitched a scoreless sixth inning. It was his third and last appearance of spring after missing much of camp with a strained left oblique. He did not allow a run in the three one-inning outings and will be ready to open the season Thursday at Progressive Field.
No mercy: The Reds and Indians, who shared Goodyear Ballpark, met seven times this spring. The Reds won all seven games.
Thanks for coming: The Indians drew 74,836 fans to 16 home games at Goodyear Park this spring. They drew just 59,744 last year.
One and only: Jason Donald prevented the Indians from getting shut out for the third time this spring with an RBI double in the fifth inning.
— Paul Hoynes
Re: Articles
1557Sorting through the questions and answers that spring training posed for the Cleveland Indians: Paul Hoynes analysis
Published: Tuesday, April 03, 2012, 7:25 PM Updated: Tuesday, April 03, 2012, 9:47 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The training complex stood silent and mostly empty at the foot of the Estrellas Mountains on Monday evening. The mountains were streaked in shadows and light from a setting sun that sent long lines of orange, yellow and blue across an endless sky.
A beautiful sight to be sure, if anyone was around to see it.
But the Indians were long gone. After seven weeks of non-stop activity, spring training was over and the big-league club was headed east. They played an exhibition game in Zebulon, N.C., on Tuesday and then continued on to Cleveland for a Wednesday workout at Progressive Field in preparation for Thursday's season opener against Toronto.
There can be no turning back now. The season, good or bad, has been set in motion.
The Indians started spring training on Feb. 20 with pitchers and catchers reporting. That's 43 days of nothing but baseball, but in actuality it was longer. Players such as Jeanmar Gomez came to Goodyear in late January to begin training. For Gomez the extra work was worth it because he won a job in the rotation as the fifth starter.
Spring training is about finding out such things. The answers aren't always permanent. They might not last until April 15, but the process has begun.
Here's a list of what the Indians did and didn't get done this spring. First the list of accomplishments by GM Chris Antonetti and manager Manny Acta:
• Fifth starter: Gomez had one of the best springs of any pitcher in the Cactus League. His slider has improved and he looks much more confident.
• Starting pitching depth: Kevin Slowey, Zach McAllister and Scott Barnes pitched decently in camp. So did David Huff, until he strained his right hamstring. They will be available at Class AAA Columbus when a move has to be made.
• Veteran presence: Derek Lowe, 38, had a solid spring. He's 38 and coming off a 17-loss season with Atlanta, but gave every indication that he should be a useful part of the rotation.
• Third base: Jack Hannahan was the easy winner over Lonnie Chisenhall in the competition for the hot corner. It's good for Hannahan, but if the Indians are going to make any noise this year in the AL Central, Chisenhall must get his swing together so he can contribute.
• Left field: Shelley Duncan showed power and determination in winning the job out of the sea of contenders in camp. It's clear, however, that the Indians are not satisfied and are still looking for an upgrade. Rumors connecting them with Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero didn't happen by accident.
• Multiyear deal: The Indians haven't confirmed it, but they have signed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to a two-year contract extension through 2014. When camp started, the Indians didn't have one player signed for guaranteed money past 2012.
• Utility men: Jason Donald and Jose Lopez won the two utility infielder jobs. They hit right-handed and should balance the predominately left-handed starting lineup.
• Bullpen: Closer Chris Perez's strained left oblique cost him most of spring training, but he pitched well late in camp. He was unable to pitch on consecutive days before the start of the season and that's a concern. If the Indians have two or three straight save situations early in the season, Vinnie Pestano will give Perez a break.
The rest of the pen offers stability grounded in success with Joe Smith, Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp. Dan Wheeler and Jairo Asencio are the newcomers.
• Outfield: Michael Brantley moved from left to center without a problem following Grady Sizemore's back surgery. Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was unhappy with his stats coming out of camp, but fully recovered physically and mentally from a disappointing 2011 season.
• Pronk power: Travis Hafner, in the final year of his contract, had his best spring in memory. He was one of the few players who hit from the start to the finish of camp.
Now for the things that didn't get accomplished.
• Offense: This is still a glaring weakness. Acta and Antonetti said the poor performance this spring was partly due to shuttling so many players in and out of the lineup in an attempt to find a left fielder. It certainly didn't help that most of the candidates fell on their face offensively, but the problems run deeper.
Until the end of camp, they showed no ability to put walks and hits together to generate rallies and big innings. As for team speed, forget it. They were successful in 54 percent (14 of 26) of their stolen base attempts. A team has to be successful 70 to 75 percent of time for steals to be positive part of an offense.
• No shows: Just wondering if Carlos Santana and Cabrera brought their bats to camp. They didn't hit much at all. For this offense to be effective, Santana, Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, Brantley and Choo must become its focal points.
• Ubaldo Jimenez: The Indians wanted to concentrate on fixing Jimenez's mechanics this spring. Jimenez went 1-4 with a 7.43 ERA in seven starts. How do you think that worked?
He capped off a troubling spring by hitting Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki with a pitch on Sunday and getting suspended for five games Monday. He needs to find the strike zone with his fastball and live there or this is going to be a long year.
• Sizemore factor: The Indians took a $5 million gamble on re-signing Sizemore and so far it hasn't worked. They tried to prepare for the eventuality of injury, but when he went down with back surgery on March 1, the depth they acquired during the winter proved useless.
Who knows how effective Sizemore will be if and when he returns? The fact that another setback by a player with his injury history could have such a profound effect on the offense shows just how poorly the Indians have drafted and developed outfielders over the last several years.
• 7-22-3: Yes, spring training won-loss records don't count, but for the Indians to finish the Cactus League with that record is embarrassing and worrisome. The coaching staff and management can brush it aside, but this team doesn't have the kind of talent that allows it to flip an internal switch to magically raise its level of play come Thursday.
If a switch was going to be flipped, it needed to be done a lot sooner than Thursday.
In this corner: Here are the pitching matchups for the Indians vs.Toronto series that begins Thursday with the season opener at Progressive Field:
LHP Ricky Romero vs. Justin Masterson at 3:05 p.m. Thursday; RHP Brandon Morrow vs. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez at 1:05 p.m. Saturday and RHP Joel Carreno vs. RHP Derek Lowe at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. SportsTime Ohio and WTAM will carry the series.
Published: Tuesday, April 03, 2012, 7:25 PM Updated: Tuesday, April 03, 2012, 9:47 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The training complex stood silent and mostly empty at the foot of the Estrellas Mountains on Monday evening. The mountains were streaked in shadows and light from a setting sun that sent long lines of orange, yellow and blue across an endless sky.
A beautiful sight to be sure, if anyone was around to see it.
But the Indians were long gone. After seven weeks of non-stop activity, spring training was over and the big-league club was headed east. They played an exhibition game in Zebulon, N.C., on Tuesday and then continued on to Cleveland for a Wednesday workout at Progressive Field in preparation for Thursday's season opener against Toronto.
There can be no turning back now. The season, good or bad, has been set in motion.
The Indians started spring training on Feb. 20 with pitchers and catchers reporting. That's 43 days of nothing but baseball, but in actuality it was longer. Players such as Jeanmar Gomez came to Goodyear in late January to begin training. For Gomez the extra work was worth it because he won a job in the rotation as the fifth starter.
Spring training is about finding out such things. The answers aren't always permanent. They might not last until April 15, but the process has begun.
Here's a list of what the Indians did and didn't get done this spring. First the list of accomplishments by GM Chris Antonetti and manager Manny Acta:
• Fifth starter: Gomez had one of the best springs of any pitcher in the Cactus League. His slider has improved and he looks much more confident.
• Starting pitching depth: Kevin Slowey, Zach McAllister and Scott Barnes pitched decently in camp. So did David Huff, until he strained his right hamstring. They will be available at Class AAA Columbus when a move has to be made.
• Veteran presence: Derek Lowe, 38, had a solid spring. He's 38 and coming off a 17-loss season with Atlanta, but gave every indication that he should be a useful part of the rotation.
• Third base: Jack Hannahan was the easy winner over Lonnie Chisenhall in the competition for the hot corner. It's good for Hannahan, but if the Indians are going to make any noise this year in the AL Central, Chisenhall must get his swing together so he can contribute.
• Left field: Shelley Duncan showed power and determination in winning the job out of the sea of contenders in camp. It's clear, however, that the Indians are not satisfied and are still looking for an upgrade. Rumors connecting them with Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero didn't happen by accident.
• Multiyear deal: The Indians haven't confirmed it, but they have signed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to a two-year contract extension through 2014. When camp started, the Indians didn't have one player signed for guaranteed money past 2012.
• Utility men: Jason Donald and Jose Lopez won the two utility infielder jobs. They hit right-handed and should balance the predominately left-handed starting lineup.
• Bullpen: Closer Chris Perez's strained left oblique cost him most of spring training, but he pitched well late in camp. He was unable to pitch on consecutive days before the start of the season and that's a concern. If the Indians have two or three straight save situations early in the season, Vinnie Pestano will give Perez a break.
The rest of the pen offers stability grounded in success with Joe Smith, Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp. Dan Wheeler and Jairo Asencio are the newcomers.
• Outfield: Michael Brantley moved from left to center without a problem following Grady Sizemore's back surgery. Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was unhappy with his stats coming out of camp, but fully recovered physically and mentally from a disappointing 2011 season.
• Pronk power: Travis Hafner, in the final year of his contract, had his best spring in memory. He was one of the few players who hit from the start to the finish of camp.
Now for the things that didn't get accomplished.
• Offense: This is still a glaring weakness. Acta and Antonetti said the poor performance this spring was partly due to shuttling so many players in and out of the lineup in an attempt to find a left fielder. It certainly didn't help that most of the candidates fell on their face offensively, but the problems run deeper.
Until the end of camp, they showed no ability to put walks and hits together to generate rallies and big innings. As for team speed, forget it. They were successful in 54 percent (14 of 26) of their stolen base attempts. A team has to be successful 70 to 75 percent of time for steals to be positive part of an offense.
• No shows: Just wondering if Carlos Santana and Cabrera brought their bats to camp. They didn't hit much at all. For this offense to be effective, Santana, Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, Brantley and Choo must become its focal points.
• Ubaldo Jimenez: The Indians wanted to concentrate on fixing Jimenez's mechanics this spring. Jimenez went 1-4 with a 7.43 ERA in seven starts. How do you think that worked?
He capped off a troubling spring by hitting Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki with a pitch on Sunday and getting suspended for five games Monday. He needs to find the strike zone with his fastball and live there or this is going to be a long year.
• Sizemore factor: The Indians took a $5 million gamble on re-signing Sizemore and so far it hasn't worked. They tried to prepare for the eventuality of injury, but when he went down with back surgery on March 1, the depth they acquired during the winter proved useless.
Who knows how effective Sizemore will be if and when he returns? The fact that another setback by a player with his injury history could have such a profound effect on the offense shows just how poorly the Indians have drafted and developed outfielders over the last several years.
• 7-22-3: Yes, spring training won-loss records don't count, but for the Indians to finish the Cactus League with that record is embarrassing and worrisome. The coaching staff and management can brush it aside, but this team doesn't have the kind of talent that allows it to flip an internal switch to magically raise its level of play come Thursday.
If a switch was going to be flipped, it needed to be done a lot sooner than Thursday.
In this corner: Here are the pitching matchups for the Indians vs.Toronto series that begins Thursday with the season opener at Progressive Field:
LHP Ricky Romero vs. Justin Masterson at 3:05 p.m. Thursday; RHP Brandon Morrow vs. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez at 1:05 p.m. Saturday and RHP Joel Carreno vs. RHP Derek Lowe at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. SportsTime Ohio and WTAM will carry the series.
Re: Articles
1558Healthy Travis Hafner looking for a return to form for Indians
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published: April 3, 2012 - 11:27 PM
GOODYEAR, Ariz.: Maybe this will be the season when Travis Hafner puts it all together at the plate.
Maybe the series of debilitating injuries finally have run their course. Maybe the Indians’ designated hitter still possesses the physical skills and mental discipline that allowed him to bat .308 with 42 home runs and 117 RBI in 2006, his most productive year.
Impossible? Hafner was 28 in 2006; now he is 34 and endured surgery on his right shoulder in 2008, two stints on the disabled list in 2009, another in 2010 plus a strained oblique and a foot injury that cost him almost seven weeks of the 2011 season.
Advancing age and his injury history would suggest that Hafner can never be the same hitter he was six years ago. And that might be true. But he came through spring training healthy and looking like the superlative hitter of his youth, who could take a walk or take a pitcher deep in equal measures.
There is always doubt about whether spring training performances are real, so there are maybes left to be determined. But manager Manny Acta isn’t worried.
“If Hafner is healthy, he’ll produce,” he said frequently during training camp.
For the first time in several years, Hafner is injury free but also feels no residual effects from his previous maladies. It took him two years to shake off the small aftershocks from the operation on his shoulder that forced Acta to play him no more than four days in a row.
“Last spring I felt good coming in,” Hafner said. “I hadn’t had a completely good year with my shoulder, so I didn’t know what to expect. Now I have no concerns about anything.”
Hafner batted .314 with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI in 51 at-bats during exhibition season, showing a level of power that he hadn’t displayed in at least four springs. But he isn’t dwelling on the past.
“I don’t think in this game you can ever say, ‘Why me?’ ” he said. “You just try to get healthy and produce at a high level. If I start pouting about it, everything will snowball on me.”
Hafner does reference the past for some things, like trying to recapture the swing that made him one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball.
“I look at video from 2005 and 2006, when I was at my best mechanically and as a hitter,” he said. “I go back and study that.”
Why has it been necessary for Hafner to examine evidence of his good swings on videotape? Hasn’t that swing been committed to muscle memory long enough for him to merely walk to the plate and repeat it?
Beginning in 2008, he began to compensate for the pain in his shoulder by altering his swing.
“I kind of had to,” Hafner said. “I became more of a top-hand hitter than a lead-hand hitter, and it wasn’t natural for me. To me, driving the ball is a matter of consistency. When you get in a groove for a couple of weeks then go on the DL, it’s hard to keep any timing.
“For a couple of years, I had more movement with my body and head, so I didn’t see the ball quite as well. I got a little anxious.”
And now?
“I’m definitely getting there,” Hafner said. “Last year, I got a lot closer. It’s been coming together very well. I’m a lot closer now than in 2008 and 2009.”
Besides the physical toll he took because of his injuries, Hafner appeared to lose confidence at various times in the past four years.
“As a player, you rarely feel 100 percent,” he said. “If I sit around thinking about that, it’s going to affect my confidence. You can have the best mechanics in the world, but if you have no confidence, you’re not going to be able to do anything.
“For a couple of years, my swing didn’t feel like I wanted it to, but you have to go out there with what you have and maximize your ability.”
Like most players, if Hafner is thinking about reaching specific numbers, he will keep those to himself.
“I have certain goals, but I don’t focus on numbers,” he said. “I want to stay healthy, put up good at-bats and win games. I feel if I’m healthy, I can have a great year.”
If he does, his timing will be perfect. This is the final guaranteed season of Hafner’s multi-year contract. The Indians hold a $13 million option for his services in 2013, but the odds are the team won’t exercise it, and he will become a free agent.
“I don’t think it changes anything about my approach,” Hafner said of impending free agency. “After the season, I’ll evaluate everything.”
Hafner is at least as optimistic about the fortunes of the club as he is about himself.
“This is a team with a lot of young players,” he said. “In some ways it reminds me of 2004 and ’05, when the guys were hungry to prove themselves. Last year, we got off to a good start and stayed in the race a long time.
“That got everybody hungry. Having experienced that, everyone wants to win the division. Anything short of that will be a disappointment.”
Indians 13, Mudcats 0
Jason Donald homered and drove in five runs in the Indians’ 13-0 exhibition rout Tuesday of the Carolina Mudcats, their new Single-A affiliate in Zebulon, N.C.
Asdrubal Cabrera and Shelley Duncan each hit solo homers. Donald had a two-run single in the seventh and a three-run shot in the eighth.
Starter Derek Lowe threw three strong innings in the Indians’ stress-free final tuneup before their regular-season opener Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SheldonOckerABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published: April 3, 2012 - 11:27 PM
GOODYEAR, Ariz.: Maybe this will be the season when Travis Hafner puts it all together at the plate.
Maybe the series of debilitating injuries finally have run their course. Maybe the Indians’ designated hitter still possesses the physical skills and mental discipline that allowed him to bat .308 with 42 home runs and 117 RBI in 2006, his most productive year.
Impossible? Hafner was 28 in 2006; now he is 34 and endured surgery on his right shoulder in 2008, two stints on the disabled list in 2009, another in 2010 plus a strained oblique and a foot injury that cost him almost seven weeks of the 2011 season.
Advancing age and his injury history would suggest that Hafner can never be the same hitter he was six years ago. And that might be true. But he came through spring training healthy and looking like the superlative hitter of his youth, who could take a walk or take a pitcher deep in equal measures.
There is always doubt about whether spring training performances are real, so there are maybes left to be determined. But manager Manny Acta isn’t worried.
“If Hafner is healthy, he’ll produce,” he said frequently during training camp.
For the first time in several years, Hafner is injury free but also feels no residual effects from his previous maladies. It took him two years to shake off the small aftershocks from the operation on his shoulder that forced Acta to play him no more than four days in a row.
“Last spring I felt good coming in,” Hafner said. “I hadn’t had a completely good year with my shoulder, so I didn’t know what to expect. Now I have no concerns about anything.”
Hafner batted .314 with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI in 51 at-bats during exhibition season, showing a level of power that he hadn’t displayed in at least four springs. But he isn’t dwelling on the past.
“I don’t think in this game you can ever say, ‘Why me?’ ” he said. “You just try to get healthy and produce at a high level. If I start pouting about it, everything will snowball on me.”
Hafner does reference the past for some things, like trying to recapture the swing that made him one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball.
“I look at video from 2005 and 2006, when I was at my best mechanically and as a hitter,” he said. “I go back and study that.”
Why has it been necessary for Hafner to examine evidence of his good swings on videotape? Hasn’t that swing been committed to muscle memory long enough for him to merely walk to the plate and repeat it?
Beginning in 2008, he began to compensate for the pain in his shoulder by altering his swing.
“I kind of had to,” Hafner said. “I became more of a top-hand hitter than a lead-hand hitter, and it wasn’t natural for me. To me, driving the ball is a matter of consistency. When you get in a groove for a couple of weeks then go on the DL, it’s hard to keep any timing.
“For a couple of years, I had more movement with my body and head, so I didn’t see the ball quite as well. I got a little anxious.”
And now?
“I’m definitely getting there,” Hafner said. “Last year, I got a lot closer. It’s been coming together very well. I’m a lot closer now than in 2008 and 2009.”
Besides the physical toll he took because of his injuries, Hafner appeared to lose confidence at various times in the past four years.
“As a player, you rarely feel 100 percent,” he said. “If I sit around thinking about that, it’s going to affect my confidence. You can have the best mechanics in the world, but if you have no confidence, you’re not going to be able to do anything.
“For a couple of years, my swing didn’t feel like I wanted it to, but you have to go out there with what you have and maximize your ability.”
Like most players, if Hafner is thinking about reaching specific numbers, he will keep those to himself.
“I have certain goals, but I don’t focus on numbers,” he said. “I want to stay healthy, put up good at-bats and win games. I feel if I’m healthy, I can have a great year.”
If he does, his timing will be perfect. This is the final guaranteed season of Hafner’s multi-year contract. The Indians hold a $13 million option for his services in 2013, but the odds are the team won’t exercise it, and he will become a free agent.
“I don’t think it changes anything about my approach,” Hafner said of impending free agency. “After the season, I’ll evaluate everything.”
Hafner is at least as optimistic about the fortunes of the club as he is about himself.
“This is a team with a lot of young players,” he said. “In some ways it reminds me of 2004 and ’05, when the guys were hungry to prove themselves. Last year, we got off to a good start and stayed in the race a long time.
“That got everybody hungry. Having experienced that, everyone wants to win the division. Anything short of that will be a disappointment.”
Indians 13, Mudcats 0
Jason Donald homered and drove in five runs in the Indians’ 13-0 exhibition rout Tuesday of the Carolina Mudcats, their new Single-A affiliate in Zebulon, N.C.
Asdrubal Cabrera and Shelley Duncan each hit solo homers. Donald had a two-run single in the seventh and a three-run shot in the eighth.
Starter Derek Lowe threw three strong innings in the Indians’ stress-free final tuneup before their regular-season opener Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SheldonOckerABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
Re: Articles
1559Jim Ingraham: The Angels will win it all, and more sure-to-be wrong 2012 MLB predictions
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Before entering into the always murky waters of speculation, intuition, supposition and hallucination — which is to say I'm about to make my predictions for the 2012 baseball season — I always like to offer the reader, in the spirit of full disclosure, my credentials for engaging in such folly.
In the 1990 World Series, I predicted the Oakland A's would sweep the Cincinnati Reds in four games.
Series result: The Reds swept the A's in four games.
It remains to this day the worst prediction in World Series history.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
So that's my way of saying now might be a good time to take the dog for a walk. Continue reading at your own risk.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Central
Tigers — Their roster already included the 2011 Cy Young Award winner (Justin Verlander), Most Valuable Player (Verlander) and AL batting champion (Miguel Cabrera), and then they added Prince Fielder. Sure, their infield defense may be by Barnum and Bailey, but who's going to outscore them or, when Verlander is on the mound, outpitch them? They are the most certain division winner in the majors.
Indians — Call me crazy, but even though, artistically, the Indians couldn't have had a worse spring training, I still think they have a chance to reach 90 wins. Spring training is spring training. It means nothing. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it, although if Ubaldo Jimenez's ridiculous spring is the precursor to a full-blown regular-season implosion, the Indians won't even reach .500.
Royals — They are young, they are talented, and they are hungry. This should be their big-leap-forward season.
Twins — Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are both former MVP's, but current health question marks. Veteran leaders Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Joe Nathan are all gone, and they play half their games in a ballpark in which it is almost impossible to hit a home run. However, I do hear the duck hunting is still pretty good up there.
White Sox — They compare favorably with any Indians team from the early 1960s to the early '90s, if you get my drift.
East
Rays — How good is their pitching? David Price may only be their second- or third-best starter. Evan Longoria seems destined to win an MVP award some year, perhaps this one, and Joe Maddon is one of the best managers in the game. There's a lot to like here.
Yankees — CC Sabathia and Nick Swisher are both 31. Mark Teixeira is 32, Andruw Jones 35, Alex Rodriguez 36, Hiroki Kuroda 37, Derek Jeter 38, Raul Ibanez 40 and Mariano Rivera 42. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
Red Sox — When the going gets tough, they sit in the clubhouse and drink beer. Stay thirsty, my friends.
Blue Jays — Assuming Jose Bautista remains in beast mode, I could see them pushing the Red Sox for third.
Orioles — Hey, kids, believe it or not, starting in 1966, the Orioles finished first or second in 15 of the next 18 years.
West
Angels — They are dangerously close to being an All-Star team, with a killer starting rotation, and I hear they finally have a fairly decent first baseman.
Rangers — It's really difficult to win your division and go to the World Series three years in a row. Especially if your chief competitor signs Albert Pujols.
Mariners — Eric Wedge must feel like he's back in Cleveland in 2003 … or 2004 … or 2005.
A's — Yeesh. Let's see them Moneyball this.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
Marlins — Strong lineup, strong pitching staff, and the buzz they will get from playing in front of big crowds in a new stadium for an energetic new manager, Ozzie Guillen.
Phillies — Monster starting rotation. But with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley both out indefinitely with injuries, where are the runs going to come from?
Braves — With an aging Chipper not feeling chipper (knee surgery), a bullpen that some felt was overused last year and selected other question marks, say hello to the middle of the pack.
Nationals — A year away, because a year from now Stephen Strasburg will be well over a year removed from Tommy John surgery, wunderkind Bryce Harper will be a fixture in the outfield, and their under-the-radar roster will be on the radar.
Mets — Are this close to being pronounced "Mess."
Central
Reds — Sometimes the best way to get better is to have your opponents get worse. Hello, Reds!
Cardinals — Can a team lose one of maybe the 10 greatest hitters in history and still repeat? Sure. And I can sing the aria from Rigoletto.
Brewers — Fielder is gone, and Ryan Braun will have to deal with suspicions he beat the drug testing system. Other than that, not much going on here.
Pirates — In the 20th anniversary of the last year they had a winning record, they will go (drum roll, please) … 80-81, with one rainout.
Cubs — The best thing they've got going for them is they are not the Astros.
Astros — They are.
West
Diamondbacks — Mostly because I can't think of a reason to pick anyone else. How's that for a reason?
Dodgers — They've got Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, and nobody else in the division does.
Giants — It's really hard to win with a T-ball offense.
Rockies — What if Drew Pomeranz wins more games than Ubaldo Jimenez does for the Indians?
Padres — On the plus side: great weather!
Wild cards
AL: Yankees and Rangers
NL: Phillies and Cardinals
ALCS
Angels over Tigers
NLCS
Phillies over Marlins
World Series
Angels over Phillies
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Before entering into the always murky waters of speculation, intuition, supposition and hallucination — which is to say I'm about to make my predictions for the 2012 baseball season — I always like to offer the reader, in the spirit of full disclosure, my credentials for engaging in such folly.
In the 1990 World Series, I predicted the Oakland A's would sweep the Cincinnati Reds in four games.
Series result: The Reds swept the A's in four games.
It remains to this day the worst prediction in World Series history.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
So that's my way of saying now might be a good time to take the dog for a walk. Continue reading at your own risk.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Central
Tigers — Their roster already included the 2011 Cy Young Award winner (Justin Verlander), Most Valuable Player (Verlander) and AL batting champion (Miguel Cabrera), and then they added Prince Fielder. Sure, their infield defense may be by Barnum and Bailey, but who's going to outscore them or, when Verlander is on the mound, outpitch them? They are the most certain division winner in the majors.
Indians — Call me crazy, but even though, artistically, the Indians couldn't have had a worse spring training, I still think they have a chance to reach 90 wins. Spring training is spring training. It means nothing. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it, although if Ubaldo Jimenez's ridiculous spring is the precursor to a full-blown regular-season implosion, the Indians won't even reach .500.
Royals — They are young, they are talented, and they are hungry. This should be their big-leap-forward season.
Twins — Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are both former MVP's, but current health question marks. Veteran leaders Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Joe Nathan are all gone, and they play half their games in a ballpark in which it is almost impossible to hit a home run. However, I do hear the duck hunting is still pretty good up there.
White Sox — They compare favorably with any Indians team from the early 1960s to the early '90s, if you get my drift.
East
Rays — How good is their pitching? David Price may only be their second- or third-best starter. Evan Longoria seems destined to win an MVP award some year, perhaps this one, and Joe Maddon is one of the best managers in the game. There's a lot to like here.
Yankees — CC Sabathia and Nick Swisher are both 31. Mark Teixeira is 32, Andruw Jones 35, Alex Rodriguez 36, Hiroki Kuroda 37, Derek Jeter 38, Raul Ibanez 40 and Mariano Rivera 42. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
Red Sox — When the going gets tough, they sit in the clubhouse and drink beer. Stay thirsty, my friends.
Blue Jays — Assuming Jose Bautista remains in beast mode, I could see them pushing the Red Sox for third.
Orioles — Hey, kids, believe it or not, starting in 1966, the Orioles finished first or second in 15 of the next 18 years.
West
Angels — They are dangerously close to being an All-Star team, with a killer starting rotation, and I hear they finally have a fairly decent first baseman.
Rangers — It's really difficult to win your division and go to the World Series three years in a row. Especially if your chief competitor signs Albert Pujols.
Mariners — Eric Wedge must feel like he's back in Cleveland in 2003 … or 2004 … or 2005.
A's — Yeesh. Let's see them Moneyball this.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
Marlins — Strong lineup, strong pitching staff, and the buzz they will get from playing in front of big crowds in a new stadium for an energetic new manager, Ozzie Guillen.
Phillies — Monster starting rotation. But with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley both out indefinitely with injuries, where are the runs going to come from?
Braves — With an aging Chipper not feeling chipper (knee surgery), a bullpen that some felt was overused last year and selected other question marks, say hello to the middle of the pack.
Nationals — A year away, because a year from now Stephen Strasburg will be well over a year removed from Tommy John surgery, wunderkind Bryce Harper will be a fixture in the outfield, and their under-the-radar roster will be on the radar.
Mets — Are this close to being pronounced "Mess."
Central
Reds — Sometimes the best way to get better is to have your opponents get worse. Hello, Reds!
Cardinals — Can a team lose one of maybe the 10 greatest hitters in history and still repeat? Sure. And I can sing the aria from Rigoletto.
Brewers — Fielder is gone, and Ryan Braun will have to deal with suspicions he beat the drug testing system. Other than that, not much going on here.
Pirates — In the 20th anniversary of the last year they had a winning record, they will go (drum roll, please) … 80-81, with one rainout.
Cubs — The best thing they've got going for them is they are not the Astros.
Astros — They are.
West
Diamondbacks — Mostly because I can't think of a reason to pick anyone else. How's that for a reason?
Dodgers — They've got Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, and nobody else in the division does.
Giants — It's really hard to win with a T-ball offense.
Rockies — What if Drew Pomeranz wins more games than Ubaldo Jimenez does for the Indians?
Padres — On the plus side: great weather!
Wild cards
AL: Yankees and Rangers
NL: Phillies and Cardinals
ALCS
Angels over Tigers
NLCS
Phillies over Marlins
World Series
Angels over Phillies
Re: Articles
1560"CC Sabathia is 31"
So what? He's strong, he's durable. He's in his prime. He'll be baseball's first 300 game winner in many years before he is done.
So what? He's strong, he's durable. He's in his prime. He'll be baseball's first 300 game winner in many years before he is done.