Cleveland Sports Forum

He's only 21, and looks like he's still in high school at 5-9, 165 pounds.

Is that this Ramirez kid, or Pedroia? Could describe either.

Pluto quote on Naquin: Tyler Naquin -- is hitting .286 (.781 OPS) with six homers at Carolina. He's 22, and sort of a Drew Stubbs-type outfielder, although the Indians believe he has a chance to be a much better hitter.

Unfortunately his strikeout totals are reminiscent of Stubbs. Steals fewer bases than Stubbs. Is more of a doubles hitter than Stubbs, less of a homerun hitter than Stubbs. Otherwise almost identical.

That Wendle is age 24 in the Carolina League tells you the Indians aren't impressed. He does lead his league in batting average and has plenty of xb hits too. We can hope another team is more impressed and will take him as a key asset in a trade.

Chisenhall for Garza? Nope, not gonna happen

Tribe not willing to part with any top prospect for a rental

Minneapolis — First things first, the Indians aren’t trading Lonnie Chisenhall for Matt Garza.

Yes, they’re interested in the Cubs’ right-hander, who reportedly is close to being traded to Texas. They believe he’s one of the few available starting pitchers who could help them at the front of the rotation, but not at the expense of Chisenhall.

The Cubs did ask for Chisenhall, the Indians’ No. 1 pick in 2008, who has had his ups and downs at third base. The Indians still believe Chisenhall is going to be a good player and at 24, with less than two years in the big leagues, he has plenty of time to prove that.

Garza (6-1, 3.17), meanwhile, would be a 10-start rental to help get the Indians to the postseason. He’s a free agent at the end of the year.

Chisenhall opened the season as the Tribe’s third baseman, but was optioned to Class AAA Columbus on May 13. Since being recalled June 18, he’s hitting .278 (22-for-79) with nine runs, eight doubles, three homers and 14 RBI.

Outside of Garza, it’s going to be challenging for the Indians to find a starter they can pair with Justin Masterson. White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy is signed through next year, but he has a history of injury. It’s also difficult to work a deal with a divisional rival. Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo is signed through next year and Houston’s Bud Norris won’t be eligible for free agency until 2016.

Gallardo and Norris haven’t pitched particularly well this year, but are playing for bad teams. The rebuilding Astros are looking for high-profile prospects, which probably means Francisco Lindor/ Danny Salazar when it comes to the Indians. That’s not going to happen.

The Indians don’t feel a pressing need to add a third, fourth or fifth starter because they have depth there. They also like the way lefthander Scott Kazmir has pitched and wouldn’t want to knock him out of the rotation.

The starting depth includes Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco at Columbus. With Zach McAllister scheduled to rejoin the rotation Tuesday in Seattle, there isn’t a spot for Salazar right now, but to say that the Indians were impressed by his big-league debut on July 11 against Toronto is an understatement. If there’s a breakdown in the rotation, Salazar will be ready. The Indians are talking about using him out of the bullpen for the stretch run.

GM Chris Antonetti’s main focus with the July 31 trading deadline 10 days away is trying to improve the bullpen, especially from the lefthand side. Rich Hill is the only lefty in the pen and manager Terry Francona let right-handed sidearmer Joe Smith face lefties Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in the eighth inning Friday when the Twins rallied for a 3-2 victory on Mauer’s game-winning hit.

Seattle’s Oliver Perez, the Angels’ Scott Downs and Milwaukee’s Mike Gonzalez are lefties eligible for free agency at the end of the season. It’s been speculated that they’re available for trade. Lefties Nick Hagadone and Scott Barnes are a phone call away in Columbus, but they’ve had inconsistent performances whenever they’ve been promoted to Cleveland.

The Indians have some bullpen depth, especially right-handers, to use in a trade. Righties CC Lee, Matt Langwell and Preston Guilmet have all made their big-league debuts this year. Blake Wood, who has pitched in 106 big-league games with the Royals, was just activated after missing last season with Tommy John surgery.

If Antonetti can’t improve the pitching side, he’ll look for a hitter. The Indians, however, like their position players and consider it a strength. Yes, that includes shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

The Indians dangled Cabrera during the winter, especially to the pitching-rich Cardinals, but that stopped once the regular season started. They’ve taken calls on the two-time All-Star this season, but have not been actively seeking a trade because they feel they’re a better team with him. Cabrera is signed through 2014, when he will make $10 million.

Cleveland Indians' offense takes another night off in 2-1 loss to Seattle

By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
on July 23, 2013 at 2:47 AM, updated July 23, 2013 at 7:25 AM


SEATTLE, Wash. -- Hold the celebration on Nick Swisher escaping the cleanup spot. He homered in his first at-bat and singled in his second, but that was it for Swisher and the rest of his Indians' teammates.

For the third time in four games since the All-Star break, the Indians were held to two or fewer runs Monday night in a 2-1 loss to Seattle at Safeco Field. The Mariners have won seven straight games.

Pitchers aren't supposed to get beat by solo home runs. At least that's what old-time pitching coaches say, but don't say it to Ubaldo Jimenez. He gave up leadoff homers to Kendrys Morales in the fourth and rookie catcher Mike Zunino in the fifth for all of Seattle's runs.

"Sometimes you do get beat by solo home runs," said Jimenez, 7-4, 4.49. "The thing is if you're going to give up home runs, you want to do it with nobody on base so it doesn't hurt that much."


That's what Jimenez did, but as he said, "we still lost."

Jimenez has allowed 15 homers this year, 12 coming with no one on base. But this loss did not belong to Jimenez as the Indians fell to 2 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central. The offense wore this defeat.

The rotation is 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA (16 earned runs in 72 1/3 innings) in the last 12 games.

"Our pitching is doing excellent," said center fielder Michael Bourn. "Ubaldo gave up two earned runs, the most of any of our starters since we came out of the break. You can't ask for anything more. Offensively, we have to pick it up. Not press, just stay focused. We can't blame anybody, but us on the offensive side."

Before the game, manager Terry Francona did something he's been talking about for weeks. Namely, he moved Swisher out of the cleanup spot. Swisher flip-flipped with Asdrubal Cabrera, Swisher moving to the No.2 spot and Cabrera going to the No.4 spot in the lineup.

The move worked great for the struggling Swisher. He hit a 3-2 pitch, in his first at-bat over the left field wall for his 10th homer and first since July 6. Swisher followed the homer with a bloop single in the third to chase Bourn to third with one out. The rest of the inning set the tone for the rest of the game.

Jason Kipnis struck out on a high fastball and Cabrera grounded out weakly to first. Speaking of Cabrera, besides getting hit with a pitch in the first, he took an 0-for-3 in his first game this season in the cleanup spot.

"It's nice to kind of get back on track, but it's frustrating not to be able to score any runs," said Swisher. "We've got to score more run s than that. We've got to pick up that win."

Said Francona, "It started out real promising. Swish takes that beautiful swing and that's really all we had. He needs to be a big part of what we're doing, and he will be, so that was very encouraging."

Jimenez, who lost for just the second time in his last nine starts, threw a hanging split finger fastball to Morales that he yanked just inside the right field foul pole to tie the score. Zunino, who had never faced Jimenez, hit an 0-2 fastball right down the middle for the game-winner.

If the Indians had a Kangaroo Kourt, Jimenez would have been fined for giving up a homer on an 0-2 pitch.

"A mistake," he said. "I wanted to go away with a fastball to set up another pitch. I threw a four seamer and it came right back over the plate."

Harang (5-8, 5.06) made one mistakes to Swisher. He did not make another.

While the Indians jacked up his pitch count in the early going, the big right-hander was flying when he reached the mid to late innings. He retired the Indians in order on five pitches in the sixth and six pitches in the seventh.

"He manhandled us," said Bourn.

The Indians wasted scoring chances early and late.

Carlos Santana hit a one-out double in the fourth and took third on a wild pitch. Jason Giambi popped up to short and Lonnie Chisenhall grounded out to second to end the threat.

Drew Stubbs drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, but Harang retired the next three hitters.

In the eighth, Charlie Furbush hit Bourn to start the inning. But Swisher took a called third strike and Bourn was caught stealing.

"I messed up there," said Bourn. "I thought I had him read, but he got me."

Said Francona, "That doesn't bother me at all. We told him to run and those kind of things are going to happen."

Tom Wilhelmsen pitched the ninth for his 22nd save. The Indians didn't have a hit after Santana's double in the fourth until Brantley's one-out double in the ninth. Giambi kept the inning going with a two-out walk, but Chisenhall flied out to right.

Each team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position with solo homers accounting for all three runs.

"We're not rolling right now," said Francona, regarding the offense, "but if we keep pitching like we're pitching, we'll be just fine."

Ramirez is 20 not 21. He won't be 21 until the season is over. Tough break. After being named the Minor League player of the week, He had a collision while playing defense, injured his ankle, and hasn't played in over a week now. The injury came a day after he was named POW, the same day Francisco Lindor was promoted.


Indians Press Release

7/17/2013 12:41 P.M. ET

Akron infielder Jose Ramirez named Minor League Player of the Week

The Cleveland Indians today announced that Double-A Akron INF JOSE RAMIREZ has been named the Indians Minor League Player of the Week for July 8-14.

Ramirez, 21 (actually he's only 20 years old), ranked 5th in the Eastern League in batting throughout the week, hitting .478 (11-23) with 3 RBI and 6 runs scored, while posting a 1.217 OPS (.478 OBP/.739 SLG.). He led the Eastern League in extra base hits, collecting 4 doubles and a triple through his 5 games. Ramirez recorded 3 multi-hit performances during the week, including a career best 4-6 effort on July 8 at Richmond. He is currently riding a 10-game hit streak and has recorded at least 3 hits in 4 of those 10 contests. On the season, Ramirez is batting at a .278 clip (99-356) and leads the Eastern League in steals (33) and runs scored (65).

The 5'9", 165-pound infielder was originally signed by the Indians as a non-drafted free agent on November 11, 2009. Hailing from Bani, DR, Ramirez entered the season ranked as the 9th overall prospect in the organization according to MLB.com.

[Best stat is his walks to strikeouts ratio (33-29)]

I wouldn't say that JRam is a POW, even though he's got to find playing time with both Lindor and Ronnie Rodriguez sharing the middle IF with him. We;ve already converted SS Tony Wolters to a catcher. I would expect Rodriguez and Paulino to move to 3rd or LF.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge sustained what the club called a "very mild stroke," but he was released from the hospital on Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery.

The 45-year-old Wedge was hospitalized Monday when he complained about light-headedness during batting practice.


He missed the entire three-game series against Cleveland, but after a battery of tests was sent home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, the Mariners said in a statement.

"We are happy to announce that Eric Wedge has been released from the hospital," the statement said. "He is home with his family resting and feeling well.

"After much testing the doctors believe he suffered a very mild stroke. The doctors expect that he will have a full and complete recovery."

Wedge, the Mariners manager since 2011, won't be in uniform for the Mariners' upcoming four-game series against Minnesota and he won't go on the next road trip to Boston and Baltimore.

"What he needs to do is stay home for a short period of time. We expect him to be back sooner than later," general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "He's excited. He sounds normal. I talked to him and it sounds like everything is fine and he is ready to roll.

"We are going to err on the side of caution, and I think the common sense thing is to have Eric rest. It makes sense that he doesn't take this trip to the East Coast."

Zduriencik said Wedge will be evaluated further the next 10 days.

Bench coach Robby Thompson will continue to fill in for Wedge, who was the Indians' manager from 2003-09.

"I'm sure there is a lot of concern out there," Thompson said. "Eric is a very caring man and loves every one of those guys in that clubhouse. I think they have that in return for him."

Zduriencik and Thompson addressed the team and provided an update on Wedge after the Mariners' 10-1 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday.

"Any situation like this that arises, there is concern," Thompson said. "We put our hearts, thoughts and prayers into him and Kate and their extended families.

"Fortunately, it was a mild stroke but from here they know what to work with and what to do with him to work his way back."


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Seattle shortstop Brendan Ryan stressed that Wedge should take his time and not try to rush back to the dugout.

"Come back in his own time," Ryan said. "We will be thinking of him and he will be with us, so the sooner he gets back the better.

"We just wish him the best, speedy recovery."

Wedge has been a staunch supporter of many of the Mariners' younger players, and now they are offering their support to him.

"It's not just me. It's a lot of guys in here," first baseman Justin Smoak said. "A lot of guys, and he's stuck with us a long time now. He's going to get through this, and we look forward to have him back."

The loss Wednesday was Seattle's first since July 12 and it ended the Mariners' season-high, eight-game winning streak.

Cleveland's Scott Kazmir allowed just one hit in eight innings, Michael Bourn hit his first career grand slam, and the Indians salvaged the final game of the three-game series.

The only hit Kazmir (6-4) gave up was a clean leadoff single to center by Smoak in the fifth. Kazmir struck out seven, walked two and allowed an unearned run.

"He was a different pitcher than in Cleveland," Thompson said of Kazmir, who allowed five runs and seven hits in three innings against the Mariners on May 20. "He looked like he was the old Kazmir.

"Great life on his fastball, location and command of it. That made his secondary stuff even better. Velocity was probably up 4-to-5 mph from when we saw him in Cleveland."

There can be no rest for the Tribe's leaky defense: Cleveland Indians insider

By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer


SEATTLE -- Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and the Indians returned to Cleveland after Wednesday's 10-1 victory over Seattle with a 2-4 record and a defense that made nine errors in six games.

"You have weeks where you don't make errors and you have weeks where you make three or four," said Chisenhall.

He had a week where he made four in four games. Second baseman Jason Kipnis made two, while first baseman Nick Swisher, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and Mark Reynolds, filling in for Chisenhall at third Wednesday, made one each.

"We need to get home and get some good early work in," said manager Terry Francona.

The Indians have made 64 errors in 101 games. They entered Wednesday ranked 11th in errors and fielding percentage in the American League. Baltimore was first with 31 errors, while Houston and the Angels were tied for 15th with 73.

"For us to be a good team, and I honest to goodness think we can be, but we have to play cleaner baseball," said Francona. "We're not the team that hits the three-run homer a lot. But that doesn't mean we can't be good. The burden is on us to play clean."

Chisenhall has made eight errors in 52 games with the Indians. He made eight in 105 games at Class AAA Columbus. On the trip through Minnesota and Seattle, he made two bad throws, misplayed a grounder and couldn't catch a foul pop. There's not a whole lot of ground left to cover in the spectrum of E5s.

Two errors came in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Mariners. They didn't lead to any runs, but they did make starter Zach McAllister throw more pitches. Against the Twins, his two errors played critical roles in a pair of 3-2 defeats.

Francona said the more experience Chisenhall gets, the more he'll be able to anticipate what is coming his way.

"As the game slows down for guys, you don't see those plays," said Francona. "When the ball is hit to you and all of a sudden you see, not panic, that's not what I'm talking about, but indecisiveness or rushing something. That comes with experience.

"In some areas, we're trying to have guys mature into good big leaguers, while we're trying to win. You try to balance that and it's not always the easiest thing."

Francona said the Indians still have confidence in Chisenhall. They turned down a potential trade for Matt Garza because the Chicago Cubs wanted him in return.

"Our organization thinks this kid is going to be a good player," said Francona. "I agree. He hasn't even tapped into what he's going to be. That's what's exciting. There are things in there that no one has seen yet. ... When it happens, it's going to be exciting.

"I don't want to get in the way of that. I'm just trying to do the best I can."

The Indians opened the six-game trip following a four-day break for the All-Star break. They have not looked sharp since.

"As a manager, how you come out of the break is a concern," said Francona. "You're worried about coming out sluggish, and I don't think we are. . .We just aren't finishing plays. It will be good to get home and get on a schedule where we can take some ground balls."

Wedge update: After Wednesday's game, the Mariners announced that manager Eric Wedge suffered a mild stroke Monday when he had to leave Safeco Field during batting practice was hospitalized.

Wedge, who managed the Indians for seven years, was released from the hospital Wednesday and was at home resting. He will not manage for the rest of Seattle's homestand and will miss the following six-game trip to Boston and Baltimore.

A release from the Mariners said Wedge, 44, is looking forward to rejoining the team in the near future, but no timetable was given.

Bench coach Robby Thompson, who managed the Mariners against the Indians, will continue in that role.

Finally: Indians' minor league shortstop Rubiel Martinez has been suspended for 50 games for testing positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, a banned substance under the minor league testing program. Martinez was hitting .176 (3-for-17) in eight games for the Indians' Dominican Summer League team. He's the second Indians minor leaguer to be hit with a 50-game suspension. Right-hander Dillon Howard was suspended earlier this season.

Here's the one CALIFLA has been waiting for:

Dennis Manoloff interviews Chris Antonetti: General overview of season (video)

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ss ... s_chr.html

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_ski ... &f=1671891

Mark Shapiro on the rest of the season.

Indians Looking For Relief Help
By Charlie Wilmoth [July 26 at 8:45pm CST]
The Indians are looking for lefty relief help, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Rich Hill is the only lefty reliever on Cleveland's active roster, and he has struggled this season, posting a 6.51 ERA and 5.5 BB/9, albeit with 11.7 K/9. The Indians haven't had much better luck this season with fellow lefty relievers Nick Hagadone, Scott Barnes and David Huff. Here's more out of Cleveland.

Pat McManamon of FOXSportsOhio.com confirms that the Indians are looking for relief help, particularly of the left-handed variety, but says not to expect much beyond that. McManamon reports that GM Chris Antonetti is pleased with the Indians' starting pitching, offense and defense, which only leaves the bullpen as a possible spot to upgrade. Antonetti remains open to a bigger trade, but he is unlikely to trade a young talent like Francisco Lindor or Danny Salazar, and he says he "feel[s] good about the group of guys that we have."

Antonetti also notes that it's a tough market for buyers, according to McManamon. "[Y]ou could make the argument that there are 24, maybe 25 teams that are buying or at least holding onto players," Antonetti says. That's particularly problematic for the Indians, since one of the few clear sellers (the White Sox) is in the Indians' division, and two other potential ones (the Twins and Royals) are as well. Those teams might not want to trade within the AL Central. Antonetti says it might actually easier to make deals in August, despite the barrier of the waiver process, because more teams will know that they're out of the race by then.

From EESPN, after Rayburn's walkoff against Tejas:

I'm not sure there is any team in a more difficult spot leading up to the trade deadline than the Cleveland Indians. No one -- and this probably includes members of the Indians' front office -- thinks they are as good as the Detroit Tigers. However, after a wild walk-off win against the Texas Rangers on Friday night, the Tribe sit just three games out of first place.

It was the kind of game that was shaping up as a disaster for the Indians, who jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning only to see the Rangers fight back to tie the game at 8-8 in the eighth. Both teams' bats went quite for a few innings before Ryan Raburn ended the affair with a three-run, walk-off homer in the 11th to give Cleveland a thrilling 11-8 victory.

Of course, the Tigers won again as well, so the Indians didn't gain ground, but they are obviously right in the thick of things. And that's kind of the problem: As close as they are, they can't be sellers at the deadline. It would make all sorts of sense for them to try and market Asdrubal Cabrera to the Cardinals. St. Louis desperately needs a shortstop and the Indians are unlikely to re-sign Cabrera when he becomes a free agent following the 2014 season because their top prospect (Francisco Lindor) is a shortstop, but that just can't happen.

Why? Because you can't tell your fans you are punting the season when you are three games out of first on July 26. (The Indians are also three games out of the wild card, but that is a much more crowded field, and they probably have a better shot of beating out the Tigers than winning the wild card.)

On the flip side, does it really behoove the Indians to try and be buyers? As noted, the Tigers have a three-game lead and are a more talented team, so giving up long-term assets is probably not the most prudent move. At the same time, general manager Chris Antonetti will likely be perceived as timid if he doesn't do anything to improve the club. So what's a GM to do?

If you skim Rumor Central, you'll see that the Indians aren't being mentioned in a lot of deals, so it seems like they are likely to sit tight. The one trade chip who could make sense is shortstop Dorsyss Paulino, who is a good prospect but not as good as Lindor.

To catch the Tigers, their biggest need is on the mound, as they could really use an elite starter. But the best guy available is Jake Peavy, and it's rare for teams to make big deals within the division.

What seems more likely is the Indians behaving like the Pirates at the last two deadlines, making a couple of minor upgrades that are mostly cosmetic -- a way to tell the fans, "look, we're going for it!" They are probably better off playing out the season with their current hand and hoping that enough breaks go their way. If not, they can hope to move Cabrera over the winter in the same way they moved Shin-Soo Choo last winter in the offseason before he hits the market.

With a core of Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, Justin Masterson, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, the Indians are close to contending. However, this probably isn't their year. So while it would be fun if they tried to make a splash at the deadline, the lack of available upgrades and the fact they are not quite as good as the Tigers suggests the will (and should) stand pat.

Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/ ... tion-limbo

Well written and so true.

I have been thinking the same thing for a week now. Do not make a trade unless it benefits you in the future or it is a salary purge by another team.

The Shapiro interview I posted a couple days ago sounds like he feels the same way.

More August transactions (salary purge) then trade deadline.