Yeah, let's take a stand-up guy who has saved games N-1 out of N chances and run him out of town because he hurts the fan's feelings. He's not hurting MY feelings. He has a big mouth, but that's not my fault and it's not my problem. And I don't give a damn about the Cavs or the Browns, they can lose every future game they play as far as I care!

Indians notebook: GM says better days are ahead for Indians

Published: June 26, 2012 - 09:57 PM

NEW YORK: General Manager Chris Antonetti thinks the Indians will improve as the season progresses.

“We’re competitive,” he said Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. “We’re just not playing our best baseball. We still have a lot of potential to play better.”

Why?

“In some cases, it’s track record,” he said. “In others, it’s potential.”

That doesn’t mean a trade or a player signing is not forthcoming.

“We’re looking internally and externally,” he said. “There are a couple of guys who are playing well [in Columbus] who might help us, and we’re investigating the trade market.”

Antonetti named Matt LaPorta, Trevor Crowe, Jason Donald and Russ Canzler as potential call-ups from Triple-A.

“We’re not making nine trades or calling up nine players from Columbus,” he said. “That’s not the way it works. I believe in the guys we have here. I think this roster has a lot of talent, enough to stay competitive in the division race.”

HAFNER OFF TO REHAB — Travis Hafner (arthroscopic knee surgery) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus tonight. It’s uncertain how many at-bats the designated hitter will have to accumulate before he is activated from the disabled list, but he could rejoin the team after the current trip is over on Sunday.

BULLPEN SESSION A WINNER — Carlos Carrasco threw a two-part bullpen session Tuesday, delivering 30 pitches in each, before heading back to Goodyear, Ariz., to continue his recovery from elbow reconstruction surgery in March.

“I threw a few change-ups from flat ground, too,” Carrasco said. “That was the first time. Everything felt good. I was throwing at about 65 percent, nice and easy.”

Manager Manny Acta watched and said, “He was very upbeat. We told him he has to be patient. We’re looking to see him next year.”

BIG GUNS ASSISTING — The Tribe enlisted the aid of Ohio’s two U.S. senators, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, in trying to persuade the State Department to grant a work permit for Roberto Hernandez, the former Fausto Carmona.

“We asked both Brown and Portman to help us,” Antonetti said. “Other than that, there’s nothing else for us to do.”

The club keeps track of Hernandez’s throwing sessions but has no idea when he will be cleared to come back to the United States.

“He’s been throwing 50-65 pitches at our Dominican Academy,” Antonetti said. “And we’ll work that up to 70-75. We also get video of him so we can watch his mechanics.”

AWARD WINNER — The Indians have named Columbus outfielder/infielder Canzler the organization’s Minor League Player of the Week for batting .346 with one double, two home runs and seven RBI. For the season, Canzler is batting .274 with 16 doubles, nine homers and 38 RBI in 266 at-bats.

FARM FACTS — Canzler hit his ninth home run of the season and doubled, driving in two runs, as Columbus defeated Lehigh Valley 7-3. Crowe doubled and drove in one run, and Corey Kluber (7-6, 3.55 ERA) gave up three runs and seven hits in 7⅓ innings. ... Michael Goodnight (2-8, 4.50 ERA) gave up one run and nine hits in seven innings, striking out seven, in Carolina’s 1-0 loss to Frederick in Class A. ... Alex Monsalve got two hits and two RBI in Lake County’s 8-3 win over Dayton in Class A ... Luis DeJesus gave up one run and three hits, walking none and striking out eight in six innings, but Mahoning Valley lost 3-2 to Williamsport in Class A. ... Anthony Santander had two hits and two RBI as the Arizona League Indians lost to the Cubs 6-4.

— Sheldon Ocker

Yeah, let's take a stand-up guy who has saved games N-1 out of N chances and run him out of town because he hurts the fan's feelings.

I loved that part.

And I don't give a damn about the Cavs or the Browns, they can lose every future game they play as far as I care!

I loved that part. Spoken like a true jackass just like Chris Perez. Wah ! Wah!

Chris Perez talks to reporters asking questions and he opines that he's surprised that few fans are in the stands when The Tribe has been and is flirting unexpectedly with First Place as The All Star Game break is near.

I do not understand at all why any Cleveland Indians Fan, or any Cleveland sports fan, has a problem with his candid off the cuff remarks.

For the record, I seriously wanted that former Cavalier to lose in Miami, too.

I didn't watch the games, but I sure as heck did not want him to win, and it pained me that he did. The Quitter in Cleveland is a Messiah in Miami.

It sucks.


Being a Cleveland sports fan is complex.

NASCAR is much simpler for me. No Cleveland connections. I most root for the #24 and the #22. I've ridden on a NASCAR track with #22 driving at top speeds. I also cheer for the #88 when he is in contention, and I don't get too upset if the #48 wins.

If one of those numbers does not win, I can be very happy if the #14 gets loose and hits the wall.


All my NASCAR guys are in numbers divisible by two. Go figure.

My fave number is divisible by itself and one, and by twelve, eight, six, four, three and two.


I'm happy that I have no worries about Eric Wedge getting a World Series Trophy, or no hate for Charlie Manuel getting one in Philadelphia.

Guys, you are missing the point. Perez isn't just hurting some fans' wittle feewings. He is telling Cleveland fans he doesn't relate to you at all and don't care how you feel. He's telling you how you should feel when he has no damn clue or emotional investment. When he should be shutting up cause he doesn't know what he's talking about he is instead purposely insulting many of us and giving us a big screw you, and doing it publicly.

I don't care if you are a Browns fan or not, but I will guarantee you this, never in a million years would Joe Haden, Josh Cribbs, or Joe Thomas publicly blast you and embarrass you like this.

Kyrie Irving, as young as he is, has the maturity to never show a careless disregard to Clevelanders the way this pampered piece of shit of a closer is.

He can KMA... If you feel differently God bless you, not something we should be fighting each other about. He's ticked some of us off, move on.

But HB, guys with that kind of talent and that kind of salary will NEVER be able to relate to me. If my enjoyment of baseball depended on believing that the players related to me, I would not follow the game.

Perez could certainly benefit from more maturity, and maybe some day he'll find it. By then he will likely no longer be the closer, though, at least not in Cleveland. Very few hold that job for more than a few years, whether with one team or many. So anyone who'd like to see him go may have to wait a bit, but maybe only a year or three.

Anyway, I suspect that his message was supposed to be "Hey, come out to the park and see some great Indians baseball! We're a winning team and are serious contenders for the divisional title!" But he gives it a negative spin rather than a positive one and--yes--seems insensitive to the real-life circumstances of the average fan.

However, I've read many times in this forum and in the previous thoughts along these lines (though not of course from all of you): "I don't care about 'character' guys, I want someone who will help us win even if he is a jerk." Well, he's here and he's being pilloried.

If he were just saying "come to the ballpark and watch us, we are winning!" I would not have a problem at all with that. I would agree totally with him. It's the way he is publicly lambasting the cities fans that I have a problem with. Especially with the Lebron situation. He has no idea what he's talking about cause he wasn't emotionally invested. He, being a Miami guy and being happy with The Decision, is really just rubbing it in as far as I'm concerned.

I have two co-workers that are huge NBA fans and was rooting for Lebron to win a ring. One is a Heat fan (also a Gator and Jaguar fan, has some Florida ties so he isn't a bandwagon guy) The other is just a big basketball fan that wanted to see quitter get his championship.

They both gave me alot of crap everytime the Heat would win a game. Eventually, after the first series series or two I had to tell them ... I know we give each other friendly ribbing about stuff and it's all good, but I don't think you fully appreciate the emotions involved with this Lebron thing. I am not liking the ribbing at all about this guy. Thankfully one of the two was cool about it and layed off me. They really were pissing me off, when normally we take the good natured ribbing from each other as it is intended, no problems at all. The Lebron situation is, I dunno, different. Alot of emotions there. Still a little too earlyto be hearing $#!^ about that guy.

Perez can stick it.

If I were owner or GM I would be thinking of an exit strategy already for him. Not now, but after the season. He's worn out his welcome with me. We have many athletes in the city that go out of their way to be fan friendly. I mentioned a few, Cribbs and Haden quickly come to mind. This guy is the exact opposite. He obviously wants out. Show him the door.

And again, that's just my opinion. Don't wanna fight with my fellow Tribe peeps about it. Just the way I feel. I can understand if you aren't a BRowns or Cavs fan and didn't take his comments as personally as some. But to me he obviously isn't interested in being cool with the cities fans, and may even want out, so fine with me. He's worn out his welcome in my little corner of the Cleveland sports world.

“We’re looking internally and externally,” he said. “There are a couple of guys who are playing well [in Columbus] who might help us, and we’re investigating the trade market.”
Antonetti named Matt LaPorta, Trevor Crowe, Jason Donald and Russ Canzler as potential call-ups from Triple-A.

I suggested the same yesterday. Not sure they'll make any difference but let's stop wasting time and shake up the roster now. Crowe and Canzler for Cunningham and Duncan makes sense to me. We don't really need to have 3 .190-hitting LFs any longer, do we?

Antonetti doesn't seem to realize that he is the one who can make these decisions; what is he waiting for?

Well HB I do admit that I am not from Cleveland and I don't follow the NBA so I have no emotions one way or the other about LeBron James and will not try to tell the rest of you what to think. I have a friend from college from Wickliffe (sorry if the spelling is wrong) who is very intelligent and literate and WOW is he bitter about King James so I do understand that it means a lot to some. As far as Chris Perez goes, I won't try to tell anyone he's not a jerk; probably most ballplayers are (why should they be any different from the rest of the population?). And I won't mind if he decides to shut the hell up, which he should for his own sake. But at the moment, he is one of the pluses on the diamond and I thought that was supposed to count for something. Especially for a team for which that's in limited supply.

Indians GM talks Roberto Hernandez

Updated: June 26, 2012, 9:20 PM ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK --

Cleveland Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said he doesn't think the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona will face the same eight-week suspension that Miami reliever Juan Carlos Oviedo received for age and identity fraud when he was allowed to return to the United States.

Roberto Hernandez has been on the restricted list since last winter when he was arrested in the Dominican Republic for false identity charges. He was cleared of those charges in February after completing a work program. Hernandez's contract was reworked for a lower salary at the Indians' request, but Hernandez still awaits a visa.

"Our understanding at this point is because Roberto restructured his contract, there won't be an additional suspension required," Antonetti said Tuesday before the Indians played the New York Yankees. "That's the guidance we've been given at this point. There are just no absolutes."

Manager Manny Acta said Hernandez is pitching simulated games at the team's complex in the Dominican Republic. The Indians have videotaped his progress and Antonetti said Hernandez is going to increase his pitch count to 75-90 soon.

"He's anxious to come up here and be part of it," Acta said. "We are expecting him to come up here sooner rather than later."

Hernandez was arrested on Jan. 19 outside the U.S. consulate in Santo Domingo, where officials discovered his name was not Carmona -- the name the Indians signed him under in 2000 -- and that he was 31 years old, not 28.

Hernandez has applied for a visa to rejoin the Indians. It's not known if the application has been reviewed by U.S. authorities.

Asked how difficult it's been for Hernandez, Acta, who's been in frequent contact with the pitcher, said: "I know it must have been hard to carry that burden."

Oviedo admitted in September to playing under the false name Leo Nunez since 2000 and was suspended eight weeks by Major League Baseball after receiving his visa in late May. He'll be eligible to rejoin the Marlins on July 23.

He is telling Cleveland fans he doesn't relate to you at all and don't care how you feel. He's telling you how you should feel when he has no damn clue or emotional investment.

I'm not going to further disagree (much) about the Chris Perez stuff, but I will once more submit that as a blue collar guy from Northeastern Ohio and a seven decade Cleveland Fan, my perspective is that he put accurately in a nutshell the thoughts and actions of possible Indians real time game attendees.

Cribbs and all those other Cleveland Browns guys are going to play to crowded stadiums......in the 8 regular season home games a year for which season tickets are arguably a bargain.....come Hell or high water. The Cavs have a small arena to fill, so supply and demand drives ticket sales for Gilbert's place.

I'm happy to have a closer with Kahunas, and I were Mark Shapiro I'd be working on a new contract for Chris Perez now.

Well HB I do admit that I am not from Cleveland and I don't follow the NBA


Good for you, VT.


In my book, true athleticism and athletic smarts is lost after the high school and college level.

The NBA is another version of Saturday afternoon "big time wrestling" with theatrics for the cameras and talking sports heads.