Cleveland Sports Forum

The Indians placed right-handed reliever Jensen Lewis on waivers on Monday morning, according to a tweet from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Lewis was off to a somewhat rocky start this spring, allowing nine earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Last season, however, Lewis proved to be a valuable asset in the Indians' 'pen, registering a 2.97 ERA in 37 games, with opponents hitting just .215 against him.

Would anyone here agree that "last year he was a valuable asset in the Indians' bullpen"?

here's another national story on Lewis that vastly overrates his past achievements:

Jensen Lewis has consistently been one of Cleveland’s best relievers since debuting in mid-2007, posting a 3.68 ERA and 177 strikeouts in 198 innings, but he’s been knocked around in a half-dozen appearances this spring and now Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the Indians have placed him on waivers.

Lewis is under contract for $650,000, which any team that claims him would also assume, but as far as veteran relievers available in late March go he should be a fairly attractive target.

On the other hand, for a non-contender like the Indians to willingly cut bait on a cheap 27-year-old reliever with a strong track record suggests he did something to fall out of favor in a hurry. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it wasn’t based entirely on his pitching poorly for five innings in exhibition games.

13 homers in 66 innings!!! in 2009 may have something to do with why "he fell out of favor" or perhaps the 19 walks in 36 innings in 2010 when his 2.91 ERA masks how well he pitched less well than his numerous demotions to Columbus

I would never count on Lewis to be someone I'd put in a tough position. He lived off deception, and the league caught up with him. A straight 88 mph fastball doesn't do much anymore!

If somebody asked me who would be on the 25-man to start the season I'm not sure I could get more than 15 of them correct. Somebody give me a good guess, please ...

Starters: 5 righties most of whom don't know throw too hard

Carmona, Carrasco, Masterson, Talbot, Tomlin

Bullpen: 1 hardthrower and friends

Chris Perez, Raffy Perez, Sipp, Durbin, probably Herrmann, maybe Germano, maybe Pestano; or possibly Todd or even Mathis

Starting lineup:

Brantley CF, Cabrera SS, Choo RF, Santana C, Hafner ugh, Kearns LF, Cabrera #2 2B, LaPorta 1b (I love firstbaseman who hit at the bottom of the order), Hannahan (who??) 3B

Bench:

Marson or Phillips or Carlin: catcher who can't hit
Travis Buck, OF who had a great spring
either Shelly Duncan or Chad Huffman (who?) OF
either Valbuena or Everitt IF

There you go, Your 2011 Cleveland Indians

Germano earning his ticket back to bullpen
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 03/23/11 6:29 PM ET

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- For nine days in late December, Justin Germano was in pitching purgatory. He was designated for assignment by the Indians and unsure of what his future held.

That was until Germano received a phone call from Indians general manager Chris Antonetti.

"Chris was straight up with me," Germano said on Wednesday morning. "He just said, 'We had a tough roster move to make. We'd still like to bring you in to compete for a job.' Basically, he just said I still had a good chance to make the team."
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After being removed from the 40-man roster, Germano accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus on Dec. 31, agreeing to head to camp as a non-roster invitee. With a week remaining until Cleveland departs Arizona, Germano is now in a great position to make the Opening Day bullpen.


Germano has quietly pieced together an impressive spring showing.

"He has," Indians manager Manny Acta agreed. "That's the way he goes about his business. He just lays in the weeds, throws strikes, gets people out. He did that for us last year and he's doing that here in camp, too."

Through six Cactus League appearances, Germano has not allowed a run over seven innings of work. His ability to log multiple innings makes him a prime candidate for a long-relief role. With a relatively young rotation, Acta wants to carry one or two pitchers capable of multi-inning outings.

Last year with the Indians, the 28-year-old Germano posted a 3.31 ERA in 23 games for the Indians, piling up 35 1/3 innings along the way. Germano spent the first half of the season between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, but stuck with the Tribe after being promoted on July 30.

As things currently stand, there are two -- possibly three -- spots available in Cleveland's bullpen. The relievers vying for those jobs include Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, Frank Herrmann, Doug Mathis, Jess Todd and Germano. Smith is trying to returrn quickly from a strained upper abdominal muscle.

Among the candidates, only Germano and Mathis are not a part of the Tribe's 40-man roster. When Spring Training began, though, Acta and Antonetti met with each player individually to let them know where they stood. They reiterated to Germano that his contract status was not hinder his part in the bullpen competition.

"They told me being on the roster, not being on the roster, doesn't really matter," Germano said. "They said they were going to take the best 25 guys and I had the same opportunity I'd have even if I was on the roster.

"You definitely think your chances change a little bit when you're not on that roster. The fact that they came out and pretty much said that on their own, without me asking, it's a little more comforting."

Noe Crowe? Ohe Noe

Since Buck is non-rostered, that may be a problem having him on the bench OD

They'll probably put Crowe on the 60 day DL to open a spot on the 40.

I'm really surprised to see Germano back--figured last season was just going to be a fluke for him.

I just returned to Ohio a couple of days ago and haven't seen any games yet this season, so for those of you who have, a question: Does LaPorta really look as bad as everyone says?

# #Indians will try to trade jayson nix. If not, he will be designated for assignment. 12 minutes ago via txt

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#Indians option jess todd and luis valbuena to aaa. Catchers Paul Phillips and Luke Carlin reassigned to minors. 14 minutes ago via txt

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#Jayson Nix is out of options but will stay with teams until he goes thru waivers. 17 minutes ago via txt

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#Indians tell Vinnie Pestano he's made the bullpen. 19 minutes ago via txt

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#Indians tell Lou Marson he makes team 39 minutes ago via txt

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#Indians tell Adam Everett that he made Team. 44 minutes ago via txt

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N,othing official but it looks like catcher lou marson makes #Indian. about 1 hour ago via txt

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#Indians Frank Herrmann makes pen. about 1 hour ago via txt

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#Indians Justin Germano makes pen. about 1 hour ago via txt

It sure would be a major loss if some team, for some reason, signs Jayson Nix.

He won't have a job at Columbus, if we keep him. Columbus has Kipnis at 2nd, Chisenhall at 3rd and Phelps backing them both up. Valbuena's at shortstop. Jordan Brown is at 1st. Maybe they'll stick Nix in LF until Nick Weglarz returns from his annual two-months on the DL.

Germano and Herrmann both started strong for the Indians last season and then both lost their touch. Maybe we'll get a couple months out of each again this season. By then perhaps Bryce Stowell and Zach Putnam will be ready for their big league debuts.

civ ollilavad wrote:Germano and Herrmann both started strong for the Indians last season and then both lost their touch. Maybe we'll get a couple months out of each again this season. By then perhaps Bryce Stowell and Zach Putnam will be ready for their big league debuts.

Don't forget that Germano's numbers for 2010 were badly impacted by his having to start the final game of the season, where he predictably got beat up. Subtract that outing, and his ERA was barely over 2. I'm sure the Tribe could live with that again...although the odds are probably against it.