Cleveland Indians CEO Paul Dolan says there are no plans for front office, managerial changes

Published: Thursday, August 23, 2012, 6:26 PM Updated: Thursday, August 23, 2012, 7:42 PM
By Dennis Manoloff, The Plain Dealer

Indians CEO Paul Dolan insisted Thursday night that no moves were likely in the front office before the end of the 2012 season.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Indians CEO Paul Dolan said Thursday night that there are no immediate plans to dismiss any combination of President Mark Shapiro, General Manager Chris Antonetti and manager Manny Acta.
The Indians have lost eight in a row and 21 of 25 to careen out of playoff contention. They are 54-70, fourth place, 14 1/2 back in the American League Central.
"We all have a lot of work to do, but their jobs aren't at stake in this,'' said Dolan, who spoke with reporters at Acta's charity bowling event at The Corner Alley downtown. "As I sit here today, I have no intent to make any changes. I have to understand what's happened. I'm not going to have that understanding today. Hopefully, sometime in this off-season, we'll be able to assess and move from there.''
Later in the five-minute session, Dolan reiterated, with conviction, that he is not considering a managerial change. Acta, in his third season with Cleveland, has one year remaining on his contract.
"I don't know how (to explain the free fall),'' Dolan said. "I don't understand exactly what's happened -- other than we haven't performed at virtually every level of the game for the last month.
"We had a team threatening to make the playoffs that has collapsed. We have to understand what happened, and I'm not going to make judgments on that right now. It's going to take more time to assess what we have, what we need, and what we're capable of doing.''
On July 26, the Indians rallied to defeat Justin Verlander and the Tigers, 5-3, at Progressive Field. They improved to 50-49 and were in third place, 3 1/2 games back of first-place Chicago. The Indians went on the road and set a franchise record for futility by losing all nine games on the trip. The streak eventually reached 11. On their most recent nine-game trip, which ended Wednesday, they won the first and lost the next eight.
"It's been extraordinarily difficult,'' Dolan said. "In our entire tenure as owners here, we haven't seen a contending team deep into the season collapse like this. We share the fans' frustration. At the end of July, we were in the playoffs, or on the verge of the playoffs, having just beaten Verlander. Then it all fell apart.''
The Tribe made no significant moves at the trade deadline, when it was 50-53 and six games back.
"I doubt it was demoralizing to the team,'' Dolan said of the inactivity. "Most teams I know are glad when they're kept together like that. We were very aggressive in looking for something that could help the team. I'm not convinced, given what's happened, that anything we might have done would have made a material difference.''
Dolan was asked what he would say to fans who are frustrated with his franchise's lack of success since coming within one game of the World Series in 2007.
"Over the last five seasons includes teams that have had some success, including the best team in baseball,'' Dolan said. "The fact that we haven't won consistently is frustrating to all of us. But we have been, on balance, a team that has accomplished some things, in contrast to some teams that have done nothing.
"Our challenge is to take teams and get them to the next level. We thought we were on the verge of doing that this year, which is why it's so much more frustrating.''
Under the Dolan ownership, which began in 2000, the Indians have reached the playoffs twice and won one playoff series.
Related topics: cleveland-indians, manny-acta, paul-dolan

What a moron.

That's the CEO.

That's what happens when the ONLY reason he has anything to do with the team is daddy is the owner.

So Paulie give the fans the finger and says wait till next year.

"We had a team threatening to make the playoffs that has collapsed. We have to understand what happened"

What happened was that it was at best a marginal team, and the pitching held up early so that the team remained near 0.500 for over half the season. Then, reality bit. This was never a playoff team.

still beats being a yankees fan

Good luck selling tickets.

Remember Dolan saying something to the effect that if the fans turn out he will spend the money.

How did this family succeed in business?

Lawyers. Enough said.

Speaking of Space Men......

65-Year Old San Rafael Pacifics Pitcher Becomes Oldest To Win

August 24, 2012 6:30 AM
Former Boston Red Sox left-handed pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee, 65, signs autographs at Albert Park after pitching a complete-game win for the San Rafael Pacifics.


SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) — Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the 65-year-old former Boston Red Sox great, pitched a complete game for the San Rafael Pacifics on Thursday night, breaking his own record for the oldest pitcher to win a professional baseball game, according to the team.

“I’ve just solidified myself as the best old guy on the planet,” Lee said with a broad grin as autograph-seeking fans mobbed him after the game.

The Pacifics beat the Maui Na Koa Ikaika 9-4 at Albert Park, with Lee pitching the full game even as he appeared to limp through the last few innings. He gave up eight hits, with no walks and no strikeouts, and even batted in a run on a base hit in the bottom of the fifth.

Lee, a left-handed pitcher, was playing for the Pacifics on a one-game contract. The independent team is heading into the playoffs with the Maui team this weekend to determine the North American League’s North Division champion.

Pacifics manager and former Los Angeles Dodgers player Mike Marshall nearly took Lee out in the top of the eighth inning. The Pacifics were up 7-4, but the lead-off batter hit a single on the first pitch.

Going into the inning, Lee had told Marshall, “If I get in any trouble, come get me,” Marshall later said.

Lee was tiring, and his record-breaking win was on the line. However, as Marshall jogged to the mound, Lee held up his index finger, looked up from under his mop of white hair, and mouthed “one more.”

Marshall turned around, and Lee retired the next six batters to win the game.

As he walked off the field afterward, Lee, a graduate of Terra Linda High School, dropped to his knees and kissed the ground, to loud cheers from the sellout crowd.

Marshall called Lee’s outing “one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen on the baseball field.”

The Pacifics will play the Maui Na Koa Ikaika again in a three-game playoff series starting Thursday night. More information about the games is available on the Pacifics’ website at www.pacificsbaseball.com.

Indians Will Consider Offseason Trades For Choo
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [August 24 at 10:03am CST]
The Indians don’t expect to be able to sign Shin-Soo Choo to an extension and will listen to trade offers for him this offseason, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. GM Chris Antonetti told Heyman the Indians have attempted to sign Choo long-term “multiple times” in recent years. However, Choo and agent Scott Boras have been unreceptive to possible extension discussions, Antonetti said.

Choo, 30, is on track to hit free agency after the 2013 season. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz recently projected a 2013 salary of $7.6MM for Choo, who will go to arbitration for the final time this coming offseason.

Antonetti pointed out that the Indians can trade Choo at next year’s trade deadline or hold onto him for the entire 2013 season if they don’t find an offer to their liking this winter. The GM suggested the Indians would make Choo a one-year qualifying offer if he’s still in Cleveland at the end of the 2013 season. Doing so would enable the Indians to collect a compensation pick in 2014. If the Indians trade Choo midway through the 2013 campaign, the acquiring team wouldn’t be able to obtain draft pick compensation the following season.

The Phillies, Pirates, Dodgers, Rangers and Reds were linked to Choo leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline last month. If Choo were available in the offseason, it wouldn’t be hard to envision teams such as the Mets and Giants expressing interest.

WoW ! What a bunch of BS ! I think a grade school grad can figure out what Dolan and Company can not.

Trading Choo ?!?!?!

Good luck ! Our best bargaining chip right now ! Let's hope Shapiro, Antonneti and his subordinates can finally figure out a decent return on their investment. Afterall, we are talking Ivy League Graduates and skilled businessmen here. Let's hope Dolan approves any deal which will result in the opening of the pocket book.

If the Indians are not going to contend, nor draw fans, in 2013--and I wonder why anybody should believe they will--then trading Choo had damn well better be under consideration.

rusty2 wrote:Indians Will Consider Offseason Trades For Choo
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [August 24 at 10:03am CST]
The Indians don’t expect to be able to sign Shin-Soo Choo to an extension and will listen to trade offers for him this offseason, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. GM Chris Antonetti told Heyman the Indians have attempted to sign Choo long-term “multiple times” in recent years. However, Choo and agent Scott Boras have been unreceptive to possible extension discussions, Antonetti said.

Choo, 30, is on track to hit free agency after the 2013 season. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz recently projected a 2013 salary of $7.6MM for Choo, who will go to arbitration for the final time this coming offseason.

Antonetti pointed out that the Indians can trade Choo at next year’s trade deadline or hold onto him for the entire 2013 season if they don’t find an offer to their liking this winter. The GM suggested the Indians would make Choo a one-year qualifying offer if he’s still in Cleveland at the end of the 2013 season. Doing so would enable the Indians to collect a compensation pick in 2014. If the Indians trade Choo midway through the 2013 campaign, the acquiring team wouldn’t be able to obtain draft pick compensation the following season.

The Phillies, Pirates, Dodgers, Rangers and Reds were linked to Choo leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline last month. If Choo were available in the offseason, it wouldn’t be hard to envision teams such as the Mets and Giants expressing interest.

Why do I know we'll get fleeced?

Might as well put Perez out there as well, and Cabrera will be next.

Such is life with an AAAA developmental team.

But maybe by the year 2525 we'll be really really good.

I'd rather keep Choo, see what happens next season, and take the draft pick in 2014 as opposed to making a Cliff Lee-style trade for garbage because you don't want to pay the guy in 2013.

One of the problems the Indians have had making trades is that other teams know that we're desperate to cut payroll, and realize they can get out treasure for their trash if they resist long enough. Don't kid yourself; any trade of Choo will have the same result.

Do they still get draft picks after this year ? I think they changed that.

Here's what Wikipedia thinks:

The next collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players union, signed on November 22, 2011 and taking effect with the 2012 season, will dramatically change free agent compensation. Players will no longer be classified by type. Instead, a team will only be able to receive draft pick compensation if it makes its former player an offer at least equal to the average of the 125 richest contracts.[3] However, if a player is traded during the final season of his contract, his new team will be ineligible to receive any draft pick compensation.[4]

Carlos Carrasco (elbow) is scheduled to appear in Arizona League games this week.Carrasco is working his way back from last September's Tommy John surgery. He seems likely to appear in instructional league and/or winter league games, as well. Carrasco could be part of the Indians' Opening Day rotation next year if his recovery continues to move along. Aug 21 - 9:02 PM