Cleveland Sports Forum

Bauer and Phillips are not at all alike. Phillips was a complete punk. Wedge did him a favor by letting him know that he was not all he thought he was.

Probably helped turn Phillips career around.

Or maybe Wedgee was just a dumb shocker.

Indians GM happy with deal, but still seeks more
By CHUCK MURR (Associated Press) | The Associated Press – 3 hours ago
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CLEVELAND (AP) -- General manager Chris Antonetti knows it is going to take more than a new manager and a few added players to get Indians fans fired up.
If nothing else, though, the franchise is taking the proper steps.
''We still have work to do,'' Antonetti said Wednesday, less than 24 hours after completing a three-team trade that involved nine players.
Antonetti acknowledged the addition of outfielder Drew Stubbs from Cincinnati and three pitchers, including promising Trevor Bauer, from Arizona doesn't quite get the fans' pulse beating. But the Indians are getting there.
''This is another step forward in our offseason,'' said Antonetti, vowing to try and complete more moves to enhance what he hopes will be a quick makeover for a team that lost 94 games in 2012. ''We still would like to improve our starting pitching and add a corner outfielder.''
Dealing Shin-Soo Choo only added to the void in left field, where several players failed to provide enough run production as the Indians flopped miserably in the second half. Michael Brantley or Stubbs, both considered top-notch center fielders, could move to left. Antonetti has had discussions with free agent Nick Swisher, as well, who could fill Choo's old spot in right.
''We have at-bats available,'' Antonetti noted, adding that the Indians still don't have a designated hitter after buying out the final year of oft-injured Travis Hafner's contract.
Mark Reynolds, signed to a one-year, $6 million deal, is expected to be new manager Terry Francona's first baseman. Both Reynolds and Stubbs are high risk-reward players. In 2011, Stubbs led the NL in strikeouts with 205, nine more than Reynolds' AL-leading total for Baltimore. In the three previous years with Arizona, Reynolds averaged 213 strikeouts.
''The best way to improve your team,'' Antonetti said, succinctly, ''is to score more runs and allow fewer runs.''
He pointed out that Cleveland cut the strikeout total in 2012, but ranked low in run production. A few seasons ago, the Indians led the AL in strikeouts, but were in the top three in scoring.
''I'm not as concerned at how we do it,'' he said. ''But our focus is to score more and allow fewer.''
Antonetti also is not worried about Bauer's devotion to a sometimes controversial long-toss program or the 21-year-old's insistence on hitting the weight room hard.
''Trevor works exceptionally hard and is very committed to being the best pitcher he can be,'' Antonetti said. ''He's spent a lot of time studying how to do that. We're not looking to change him. We're looking to work with him.''
The Indians scouted Bauer in high school and again during his career at UCLA. Antonetti said he personally spent two hours with the pitcher before the 2011 draft, when the Diamondbacks made Bauer the No. 3 pick overall. He has gone 13-4 with 200 strikeouts in 156 minor-league innings.
''Trevor has the potential to be a top-of-the-rotation starter,'' Antonetti said.
Whether or not Bauer begins 2013 in Cleveland's rotation will be decided in spring training.
Right-handers Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw, also acquired from Arizona, will be given the chance to be part of Cleveland's revamped bullpen. Lefties Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez - along with right-hander Esmil Rogers - are gone from a unit that was the strongest part of the Indians in 2012.
''We feel we have some young pitchers ready to contribute and we may add a couple more,'' Antonetti said. ''I don't think we're done making changes quite yet.''

July 3, 2012 - Diamondbacks pitcher Trevor Bauer does his warm up routine where he throws across the outfield before the game against the Padres at Chase Field


Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Trevor Bauer brings unique routine

Bauer isn't the first pro athlete to humor us with quirky methods of warming up before play

by Bob Young - Jul. 7, 2012 09:28 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Here at The Heat Index, we're hoping that Trevor Bauer never changes his crazy, entertaining pregame routine.

The Diamondbacks right-hander, who makes his third start since coming up to the big club Sunday against the Dodgers, hasn't had much success in his first two starts with the Diamondbacks. But don't blame his warm-up routine. It didn't suddenly stop working just because he reached the major leagues.

Back during spring training he took MLB.com through the whole thing, which includes isometrics, core work on a Swiss ball, some hopping around, a leg-stretching routine, resistance-band exercises, a wacky wand that shimmies and shakes to loosen his shoulders, and chucking a four-pound medicine ball against a wall.

Then he goes through his now-famous long-toss routine in which he works his way from one foul pole to the other and back again.

An ESPN reporter asked him to estimate how far the foul-pole-to-foul-pole throw goes. Bauer went a step better.

"It's 330 feet down both lines," he explained. "So it's 330 times root 2."

See, Bauer majored in mechanical engineering at UCLA. He whipped out his phone, pulled up a calculator and said, "That's 466.69 feet."

Hey, don't ask us if that's correct.

The thing is, his methods are based in science. And while going through all of that before even throwing a pitch in the game would leave most of us in a coma, Bauer is used to it and has said that it "wakes up" all the muscles in his body.

He wakes everybody else up, too, with his final act, when he takes a couple steps behind the mound and attempts to behead somebody by firing a ball with a running start.

Anyway, there is a lot to be said for finding a routine that works.

NBA sharpshooter Ray Allen, who reportedly is taking his quirks to South Beach, follows the exact same routine before every game: He naps from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. He eats a meal of chicken and white rice at 2:30 p.m. He arrives at the arena at 3:45 sharp and shaves his head, polishing with a dab of Vaseline.

At 4:30 he takes the court and goes through his shooting routine from each corner, the elbow and top of the key. He once told the Boston Globe that he has a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder. You think?

Golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez has a pre-round routine that golf writer Dan Jenkins once said "would get a stripper arrested."

Jimenez has a belly that belies his flexibility, but he manages to work around it beginning with deep squats.

Then then he squeezes his knees together and moves them in unison in small circles. He spins the clubs like a baton twirler in each hand to loosen his wrists, then puts them behind his back for a series of moves right out of a contortionist's handbook. Jimenez executes all of this without ever removing his cigar.

Washington Capitols goaltender Braden Holtby plays a game of catch with a teammate with a baseball and gloves before taking the ice. Then he beats his pads with his stick. He told the Washington Post he does not know why.

Once on the ice, he does a little "shuffle" dance during the playing of the anthems, explaining that he wants to be mindful of keeping his feet moving.

The weirdest, but perhaps most ingenious, trick is to squirt water from his bottle into the air, pick out a single drop and train his eye on it until he sees it hit the ice. This, he says, gets him ready to follow the puck.

Hey, whatever works. And Bauer's routine has been working since he was 14 years old. Why change now?

I just read where some scouts have dubbed Trevor Bauer as Tim Lincecum Jr. Hey! Tim's mechanics were based on science.

"Weird Science" works for me.

Philly Paper says:

Don't be surprised if the Phillies end up signing Nick Swisher
POSTED: Thursday, December 13, 2012, 11:22 AM
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer

It has been an interesting couple of weeks for the Phillies, who at times have projected a quiet confidence in the way the offseason has progressed, and at others have seemed to be scrambling to adjust to a free agent market in which dollars flowed like chocolate water in Wonkaville.

. . .

The mystery might involve Nick Swisher. I wouldn't be surprised if the Phillies surprise people and land him. While national reports have only casually mentioned the Phillies as having interest in Swisher, Amaro tends to keep his true intentions guarded. Perhaps reports like the latest offering from Jim Bowden, which suggests that the Indians are "in aggressive pursuit" of Swisher, is merely an attempt to drive up the price for a team that has targeted him but continues to balk at the asking price. While these things usually come down to dollars, it would be a mighty leap for Swisher to move from New York City to Cleveland, where it is hard to envision the Indians competing despite their solid start to last season. In that situation, it would make sense for Amaro to keep his interest in Swisher on the extreme down low in order to avoid a bidding war.

Really, Swisher is the perfect player for the Phillies right now. It would be awfully hard for them to get away with platoons in both left field and right field, because it would leave them thin on left-handed options on the bench when facing a right-handed starter. Swisher is a switch-hitter who is adept against both righties and lefties. He can play first base or right field. And he would slot perfectly into the three-hole, breaking up Chase Utley (two-hole) and Ryan Howard (clean-up), both of whom have struggled against lefties.

Adding Swisher would also put the Phillies in far better position to weather a situation like they encountered last year, when Chase Utley and Ryan Howard both ended up on the disabled list for the first three months of the season. Michael Young started 14 games at second base for the Rangers last season, so he could give the Phillies a better offensive option behind Utley than they had last year in Freddy Galvis. And, as mentioned before, Swisher could play first base, leaving Galvis and Kevin Frandsen to handle third. It wouldn't be an optimal defensive alignment by any stretch of the imagination, but it would give them options, which is what they sorely lacked last season. Most importantly, though, it would give them a right fielder who can both hit a home run and draw a walk, and who can balance out a lineup without the logistical problems that a platoon can create.

Cleveland Indians have more moves to make to keep up with fast-changing AL Central


Published: Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:26 PM Updated: Thursday, December 13, 2012, 10:39 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Chris Antonetti's off-season targets to improve the Indians, at least the ones made public, have been mostly hitters.

What do Shane Victorino, Nick Swisher, Kevin Youkilis, Mark Reynolds and Drew Stubbs have in common?
They're all position players who can swing the bat and have been pursued by Antonetti. Reynolds and Stubbs just so happen to be the only ones who are now property of the Indians.

Mostly that's because of how the free-agent market has unfolded. Every team goes into the off-season with a shopping list, but rarely do they get to methodically cross off the items in order from A to Z. Filling the holes on a roster is like filming a movie. Scenes are shot out of sequence and cut and spliced into their proper place when the movie is finished.

What the Indians are really trying to do this winter surfaced Tuesday night in their three-team, nine-players deal with Cincinnati and Arizona. The Indians' haul from the trade was three pitchers and Stubbs. The key arm in the deal belonged to right-hander Trevor Bauer, Arizona's No.1 pick in 2011.

Bauer, 21, is a starting pitcher and the Indians need starters badly because the balance of power in the AL Central in 2013, despite the presence of Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, will be decided on the mound.

Two-time defending champion Detroit has Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Drew Smyly and Rick Porcello in the rotation. If they are able to re-sign free agent Anibal Sanchez, or replace him with another starter, they will be even stronger. Detroit's rotation went 63-51 with a 3.76 ERA, second best in the American League, last season.

The second-place White Sox have Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, Gavin Floyd, Jose Quintana and John Danks. Danks is recovering from a capsule tear in his shoulder and could be ready for spring training. Chicago's rotation went 60-52 with a 4.15 ERA last year. They were ranked seventh in ERA.


The rotations of the Indians, Kansas City and Minnesota, the other three teams in the Central, were disasters. The Royals went 47-69 with a 5.01 ERA followed by the Indians' 48-76, 5.24 and the Twins 39-75, 5.40. The Indians and Twins finished 13th and 14th, respectively, in ERA.

How bad were they really? The opposition hit .283 against the Royals starters, .284 against the Indians and .291 against the Twins.

The Royals and Twins have taken steps to improve. The Indians' acquisition of Bauer was their first attempt to keep pace, but Antonetti knows they need to do more.

"We would like to continue to try and improve our starting pitching," the Tribe's general manager said.
"We felt we accomplished a portion of that Tuesday, especially for our future. But we still need to fortify it."

For the last two years Kansas City has had one of most dangerous lineups in the big leagues. Pitching, however, let them down. GM Dayton Moore has gone all out this winter to try and change that.

In the biggest trade of the off-season, Moore acquired right-handers James Shields and Wade Davis from Tampa in exchange for outfielder Wil Myers, Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, right-hander Jake Odorizzi, left-hander Mike Montgomery and third baseman Patrick Leonard.

The Royals think Shields will be the No.1 starter they've been missing. He's expected to be followed in the rotation by Davis, Ervin Santana, Jeremy Guthrie, Bruce Chen or Luke Hochevar. Moore traded for Santana after last season and re-signed free agent Guthrie to a three-year, $25 million deal.

Twins GM Terry Ryan acquired Philadelphia right-hander Vance Worley for outfielder Ben Revere and is close to signing free-agent Kevin Correia. Lefty Scott Diamond could be the No.1 starter. Nick Blackburn and Liam Hendricks are expected to fill out the rotation. Worley underwent elbow surgery in September, but should be ready for spring training.

Ryan received Worley and pitching prospect Trevor May for Revere. He sent outfielder Denard Span to Washington for Alex Meyer, another minor-league starter.

The Indians' rotation has three healthy bodies in Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez and Zach McAllister. Corey Kluber (right knee) and Carlos Carrasco (right elbow) should be ready to compete in spring training. Bauer, meanwhile, could fit nicely into the fourth or fifth spot.

Josh Tomlin (right elbow) will probably miss the season, while David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez provide depth, but the Indians will need more starters than that to get through the season. They have talked to a number of free-agent starters. Edwin Jackson and Francisco Liriano are two on their list.

Antonetti, however, made it clear that the only way the Tribe's rotation is going to take a real step forward is by the pitchers already in it to improve. That would require big bounce back years from Masterson (11-15, 4.93) and Jimenez (9-17, 5.40). They're going to need plenty of help from Bauer as well.

I have played golf with Wil Myers, Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, and his high school coach. A golfing buddy of mine was his mothers basketball coach in high school. Tells me that Wil Myers father never played competitive sports.

Wil is from Thomasville but attended Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point NC.

My golf course is starting to arrange a bus trip to Tampa to see him play. Told them to wait until June because there is no way that the Rays are going to allow him to get super 2 status.

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_ski ... 6&f=881261

Chris Antonetti on the trade.

Justin Masterson knows exactly what to do to become a success again. Next we need to hear athe same thing from Ubaldo and everything will be fine.

LEVELAND -- Justin Masterson does his best to keep smiling. The Indians pitcher is always quick to remember that baseball is only a game, putting him in a position to routinely search for any positives within a difficult situation.

Masterson's disposition is such that he can give up seven runs on the road in Detroit, continuing a disheartening losing streak for Cleveland, and then bring up his wife's growing cookie business during a postgame interview. He is the friendly giant within the Tribe's rotation, always keeping things loose with a grin or a playful quip.

At the end of this season, though, Masterson finally admitted that keeping his composure was not always as easy as it seemed.

"It has been challenging at certain times," said Masterson, sitting at his locker a few days before the season's conclusion. "There were definitely some trying moments. What makes those moments so hard is the pride that comes in. You know people are hating on you. Everybody. Even your own team.

"Pride-wise, you want to say, 'Screw you.' It happens. It's a team game. It's a game in general. Things aren't going to always work out the way you want."

Across the board, things did not work out the way the Indians wanted in 2012. The offense labored. The role players struggled. Injuries took their toll once again. At the top of the heap of problems, however, was a rotation beset with inconsistency. Ubaldo Jimenez and Masterson were trusted to lead the way to contention, and instead they paved a disastrous path toward a second-half collapse.

It was a tough season for many of the men inside Cleveland's clubhouse, but Masterson was especially flummoxed by what transpired. Coming off a breakout showing in the previous season, the sinkerballer's setbacks came in sudden bursts in 2012, erasing any statistical progress achieved in his positive starts.

By the time the smoke cleared, Masterson had gone 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA over 34 starts. He was happy about topping 200 innings for the second straight year, but the right-hander was certainly not thrilled with his 88 walks or 212 hits allowed, or by the fact that he gave up at least seven runs in seven starts. Masterson's performance was especially discouraging after he went 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA in '11.

The starter was left trying to make sense of it all.

"The challenging part has been when you feel like you pitched pretty good," Masterson said, "and the results are still six runs on the board or something like that. You're like, 'Seriously?' Whether it's the countless infield broken-bat hits that I'm good at giving up, or some of the bombs, that one pitch where four runs scored somehow, it's not like any one person is at fault."

By the end of the season, Masterson did at least have a theory, which he did not want people to confuse for an excuse. In October 2011, he underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left (non-throwing) shoulder, forcing him to alter his typical offseason training program. When Spring Training arrived, Masterson had done little throwing due to the surgery.

Throughout the season, Masterson struggled to maintain consistently strong mechanics with his lead arm (left) during his delivery. The sinkerballer admitted at the end of the year that -- possibly due to a different type of offseason -- he never did feel completely right on the mound.

"I just never really felt comfortable, even when things went well," Masterson said. "I think we got to a point where, sometimes you just have to keep it simple. There were some times we tried to do too much. It was, 'Let's do this,' or 'Let's do that.' There's a point where you just have to sit back.

"You realize that you don't have to do more. Sometimes there's that flawed philosophy that if you're not doing something, you're not working hard enough. Sometimes you need to just sit back, maybe just sit there for a second, and not touch a baseball right now. You know what you have to do."

Masterson knows what he needs to do this winter.

"For me, last offseason," he said, "I didn't have a chance to do much working out or anything until a couple weeks before Spring Training. By no means am I making excuses. That's no excuse. But for me to understand where we're at and what need to do, I need to know what was different.

"It's nice to be able to know I'm going to have a solid offseason and have the ability to come back and go back to what I know I can do -- go through the normal routine. I'll do everything I need to do and come back next year, hopefully, having lots of success. That's what I feel like we'll be able to do."

Don't think there's much new info on Bauer but just a summary of why Arizona traded a high prospect pitcher for a light-hitting shortstop.

USA Today.... Nightengale

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ml ... o/1765351/

Hot Stove: Five teams to watch

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UPDATED DEC 14, 2012 7:07 PM ET

Everyone catch their breath? Good. More free-agent signings are coming. And yes, more trades.


HAMILTON TO ANGELS
Where do Rangers go from here?
Rosenthal: We have Angels' answer
Did Rangers even want Hamilton?
Can LA teams live up to billing?
Torii Hunter's bitter tweet on Halos
In fact, this week’s flurry of activity around baseball has created new trade possibilities and increased the chances of other deals occurring.

Here are five teams to watch:

• New York Mets — All signs point to a trade of National League Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey. The Mets have made little progress in their attempt to sign Dickey to an extension, and the right-hander’s $5 million salary for next season looks more attractive by the day.

The Texas Rangers are among the clubs interested in Dickey, sources say, but the price remains high. The Mets are telling clubs that they have an acceptable trade offer for Dickey, but they are trying to get an even better package, one source says.

• Los Angeles Dodgers — They began shopping right-hander Aaron Harang and lefty Chris Capuano at the winter meetings, anticipating that they would add at least other two starting pitchers.

Righty Zack Greinke and lefty Ryu Hyun-jin turned out to be those two starters, and now Harang and Capuano are even more in play. The Pirates, Mariners, Twins, Blue Jays and Indians are among the teams checking in, major-league sources tell FOXSports.com’s Jon Paul Morosi.

• Los Angeles Angels — Hello, Josh Hamilton. Goodbye to another outfielder, or perhaps designated hitter Kendrys Morales.


ON THE MOVE
Where did 2012's top free agents land and who's still available?
Center fielder Peter Bourjos or left fielder Mark Trumbo could bring a starting pitcher; Bourjos, a less accomplished hitter but gifted defender, would appear more likely to be moved. But the Angels, according to a source, “will be as opportunistic as possible without ruling anything out.”

One rival executive predicts that the Angels will keep Bourjos and Trumbo and move Vernon Wells, who holds a no-trade clause and is owed $21 million in each of the next two seasons. Wells, however, probably could not bring the Angels the pitcher they need.

• Pittsburgh Pirates — The re-signing of right-handed setup man Jason Grilli gives the Pirates the option to trade closer Joel Hanrahan, who likely will make $7 million in arbitration next season before becoming a free agent.

Hanrahan has been linked to both the Tigers and Dodgers, but both clubs are wary of his salary, sources say. The Tigers’ agreement with free-agent right-hander Anibal Sanchez on a five-year, $80 million contract could be their last big move — or not, if owner Mike Ilitch decides that he wants a proven closer.


• Cleveland Indians — Their four-player return for right fielder Shin-Soo Choo and infielder Jason Donald will not deter the team from moving right-hander Justin Masterson, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera or closer Chris Perez in the right deal, according to a source.

The Indians, rival teams say, insisted upon major leaguers or major-league ready pieces for Choo; right-hander Trevor Bauer, center fielder Drew Stubbs and relievers Bryan Shaw and Matt Albers qualified.

Presumably, they would seek to make the same type of deals with their other veterans.

Maybe Bauer is a lot like Phillips after all. That being said, if he turns out to be as good as Phillips, I'll be a happy camper.

Sorry, no one is buying it. You don't guarantee a player $4.45 million 17 months ago, with a $3.4 million signing bonus, and boot him out of the organization after four major-league starts, even if they did result in a 6.06 ERA.

In his last appearance in an Indian's uniform, Jeremy Guthrie got his first start lasting 5 innings and got the boot. Prior to that start, he appeared in 15 games as a reliever totaling only 29 innings.

Sounds like Bauer has a nice career ahead of him.

The Diamondbacks will be watching. Maybe this is the wake-up call he needs. Maybe this will force him to do some soul-searching, realize his fastball has dropped from 95-97 mph to 91-92 mph, and recognize that big-league hitters are a lot more patient than pimple-faced college kids.

I guess my only concern right now is the significant dip in speed of his fastball.

Hey! Antonetti said he did his due diligence.

Jeremy Guthrie sucked when he was in Cleveland. LaPorta like !

Baseball America's 3 reporters did not say that Bauer's velocity had dropped like that. One of them would have been aware