Cleveland Sports Forum

Terry Pluto's Blog: Baseball was right to suspend PED users, but penalties not severe enough

on August 05, 2013 at 7:56 PM, updated August 05, 2013 at 8:06 PM


Suspending 13 players for using performance enhancing drugs is a good idea.

But the penalties from Major League Baseball are not enough, except in the case of Alex Rodriguez (214 games).

But the rest?

Fifty games for the Tigers' Jhonny Peralta and the Rangers' Nelson Cruz?

Both are all-stars. Both can come back near the end of the regular season and take part in the playoffs, assuming their teams make the post-season.

That's why 50 games for most of the players is not enough.

At the very least, these guys should be done for the year...and that includes the playoffs.

Moving forward, here is what baseball should do:

1. For a first offense, 100-game suspension.

2. That suspension voids all the remaining years on the player's contract.

3. A second suspension is a lifetime ban.

It's very obvious the 50-game suspension is not enough.

In 2012, Melky Cabrera was suspended for 50 games. After the season, he received a 2-year, $16 million deal from Toronto.

Peralta is a free agent after the season. Wonder what kind of contract he'll receive. Bet it's hefty.

Yes, Peralta has not been in any serious trouble during his career. He's a quiet guy who plays every day.

He did issue this statement when accepting the suspension: "I take full responsibility for my actions, have no excuses for my lapse in judgment and I accept my suspension. I love the fans, my teammates and this organization and my greatest punishment is knowing that I have let so many good people down."

Peralta made the All-Star team and was batting .305 with 11 homers and 54 RBI.

In his statement, Peralta also said he "made a mistake in the spring of 2012 that I deeply regret."

That seems strange, in terms of timing.

In 2011, he made the All-Star team, batting .299 with 21 homers and 86 RBI.

The next spring, he now admits using PEDs. The result? He batted .239 with 13 homers and 39 RBI.

The truth is we don't know the truth with most of these guys, not just Peralta.

In the spring, the law firm representing Cruz issued this statement: "We are aware of certain allegations and inferences. To the extent these allegations and inferences refer to Nelson, they are denied."

Accepting the suspension, Cruz now delivered this statement: ""From November, 2011 to January, 2012, I was seriously ill with a gastrointestinal infection, helicobacter pylori, which went undiagnosed for over a month. By the time I was properly diagnosed and treated, I had lost 40 pounds.

"Just weeks before I was to report to spring training in 2012, I was unsure whether I would be physically able to play. Faced with this situation, I made an error in judgment that I deeply regret, and I accept full responsibility for that error. I should have handled the situation differently, and my illness was no excuse."

Like Peralta, Cruz will be a free agent at the end of the season.

And like Peralta's situation, baseball should be embarrassed for allowing Cruz to play at any point this season.

The bottom line is MLB was correct to discipline the cheaters, only the penalties were not severe enough.

AFAIK, ARod has never failed a drug test.

Why the 212 game ban?

Maybe the Yankees had something to do with that? I'm sure it's without pay...

MLB wanted 212 games because he also:

Recruited people to the Biogenesis clinic for steroids.

Tried to cover up records of his involvment.

Has now lied continually about his use throughout the years. Has used a minimum of twice, and probably far more.

I think it is certain everyone agrees the penalties are inadequate.

That's because of the history of negotiations - and it IS negotiated.

That said, it is also pretty darn certain those negotiation will be reopened this offseason and the penalties will be increased.

That is certain because the vast majority of players now want that.

And the public as well. The union responds to those two things.

Add up the guarenteed money the suspended players have under contract. Now you know why so many are jucing.....

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed OF RYAN RABURN to a two-year contract extension thru the 2015 season with a club option for 2016.

Off season additions

Absolute Steals

Ryan Rayburn

Scott Kazmir

Yan Gomes



Better than advertised

Mike Aviles

Michael Bourn


As advertised- nothing special

Matt Albers

Rich Hill

Brian Shaw

Jason Giambi

Drew Stubbs


Disappointing

Trevor Bauer

Mark Reynolds

Nick Swisher



Absolute Bust

Brett Myers

Gomes could turn out to be the best addition of them all. Does a great job controlling running game, hitting over 300. Under our control for many years ahead.

And, I agree with Frank. Gomes should be the #1 catcher.

Terry Pluto's Cleveland Indians Blog: The sudden rise of Danny Salazar required lots of patience

on August 06, 2013 at 6:05 PM, updated August 06, 2013 at 6:24 PM


When the Indians signed Danny Salazar, he was 16 years old. He stood about 5-foot-10, and weighed 160.

"I went to a tryout camp with about 40 guys at the Indians complex (in the Dominican Republic)," said Salazar. "They had me throw in the bullpen, then I pitched a little bit in a game."


The Indians had no idea that Salazar would become the team's hottest pitching prospect.

"Back then, he threw 87-89 mph," said John Mirabelli, who was the team's director of scouting when Salazar signed. "He wasn't real big. For a 16-year-old to throw 87-89 mph is pretty good. He was a prospect, but really, he has been under the radar most of his career."

Not any more.

Wednesday, Salazar will take the Progress Field mound against Detroit. He has made one big league start, six sizzling innings against Toronto -- seven strikeouts, two hits, one walk, one run allowed.

In his last Class AAA start, it was five hitless innings, no walks, eight strikeouts.

Salazar is lighting up the radar gun at 95-98 mph with a deceiving changeup and sharp breaking ball.

In his last five starts at Class AAA, it's 39 strikeouts and only three walks in 27 innings. His ERA in that span is 1.00.

Throws hard. Throws strikes.

Makes it look easy.

But it wasn't always that way.

He never even appeared on Baseball America's list of the Top 10 Tribe prospects until this season.

THE SIGNING

The year was 2007, and Salazar said he had an agent -- Cesar Geronimo Jr.

Yes, he's the son of Cesar Geronimo, who played 15 years in the Majors. In the Dominican Republic, agents often serve as coaches, trainers and mentors for young players.

Geronimo brought Salazar to the attention of Junior Betances, who was the Director of Dominican Operations for the Tribe.

The Indians signed Salazar for $200,000.

That sounds like a lot. But at that point, it was common for the top Dominican prospects to receive bonuses as high as $2 million. Bonuses of more than $1 million were not uncommon.

"Here's what we knew about Danny," said Ross Atkins, the Tribe's Minor League Director. "He is very athletic. When we did tests on agility and things like that, he has always scored high. And his work ethic is outstanding."

Salazar said his father is a bus driver, his mother is a house wife.

"They gave me discipline," he said.

Salazar embraced the idea of learning English and took his language classes seriously.

"We knew that he'd become the best player that he'd could be because of his athleticism and attitude," said Atkins.

THE WAITING

In 2007, Salazar pitched for the Tribe's rookie team in the Dominican.

In 2008, he was with the Tribe's rookie team in the Gulf Coast League.

In 2009, he finally made it to Lake County -- a "Low-A" team in the South Atlantic League. And at the age of 19, he was 5-7 with a 4.44 ERA for the Captains. He had 65 strikeouts in 107 innings.

"He was an unheralded guy," said Brad Grant, the Tribe's current scouting director. "You can look at him and try to project...but you just don't know when someone signs that young. I give our scouts and development people a ton of credit for Danny."

In fact, the Indians hired Geronimo as a scout. He is now scouting with the Cardinals.

"With young players like Danny, you wait," said Mirabelli. "And you wait some more."

His fastball was in the low 90s. He was maturing physically, but no one would call him a phenom.

And how about this?

In 2010, Salazar started seven games at Lake County -- and injured his arm.

Next came elbow reconstruction surgery.

So four years after signing with the Tribe, Salazar had never advanced higher than Class A Lake County -- and then was having Tommy John surgery.

THE RECOVERY

Salazar pitched only eight games in 2011 as the Tribe slowly brought him back from surgery.

"The impressive part was how he handled the surgery and the recovery," said Atkins. "He never got discouraged. He kept working hard. He's a humble kid and never has been in any trouble.":

Now 6-foot and 190 pounds, Salazar opened the 2012 season at Class A Carolina. The Indians limited him to 70 pitches and he never threw more than 4 1/3 innings in his first 15 starts.

But something was happening.

He was suddenly throwing 95 mph. He had developed a nasty changeup.

He ended the 2012 season at Class AA Akron, where he was 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA.

By the conclusion of 2012, the Tribe was thinking he could be in the Majors by the 2013 All-Star break.

"(Minor League coaches) David Miller and Ruben Niebla did a great job helping Danny work on his delivery after the surgery," said Tribe General Manager Chris Antonetti. "It really helped his velocity."

THE PHENOM

The Indians brought Salazar to big league camp for spring training in 2013.

"But we didn't let him pitch in any games," said Antonetti. "We didn't want him throwing too hard, too soon and hurting his arm. That has happened with some other young prospects over the years."

The Tribe sent him to Class AA Akron, then promoted him to Columbus.

His combination of a fierce fastball, the deft changeup, a sharp breaking ball and incredible control made him one of the top prospects in the minors. At the age of 23, he was ready for Cleveland.

" Back when Danny was signed, most teams signed 25-30 kids from the Dominican each year," said Mirabelli. "Most don't make it. There was something about Danny. He wasn't the 6-foot-6, 210-pounder that you like as a right-handed starter. But he was so relentless."

Mirabelli made another point: "He has a loose arm. His windup is effortless."

Those in the scouting and minor league development departments say how difficult it is to make a projection about young Latino players such as Salazar.

"Very few pitchers are as gifted athletes as Danny," said Atkins. "That's why we stayed positive about him."

Even this season, the Tribe has been careful with Salazar. His pitch counts usually are under 90.

This season, he has 129 strikeouts and only 24 walks in 93 minor league innings.

But now, the wait is over. And it appears patience really is about to pay off for the Tribe.

Reynolds----DFA.

$6M for April

Thanks for playing

After promising start to season, Indians designate Mark Reynolds for assignment

From one end of the spectrum to the other; that is probably the best way to summarize Mark Reynolds in 2013 with the Cleveland Indians.

After a power-packed month of April had fans pleading with the Tribe to lock him up to a contract extension, the downward spiral of frustration led the team to designate Reynolds for assignment on Thursday.

Reynolds carried the Tribe offense for much of April, crushing eight homers and hitting .301 in the first month of the season. However, after slugging his way into Cleveland fans' hearts, the right-handed hitter went ice cold in the months that followed.

Reynolds hit .218 in May, .187 in June and .098 in July.

While he is the co-leads the team in homers with 15, he hasn't hit one since June. His average and slugging percentage both rank near the bottom of the league since the end of April.

And he has only driven in seven runs since the end of May.

http://espncleveland.com/common/more.ph ... t_id=20831
Overall, Reynolds is hitting .215 on the season, while posting a career low OPS of .680. In addition to his 15 home runs, he has driven in 48.

He had recently seen his playing time greatly diminish with manager Terry Francona electing to give more at bats to back-up catcher Yan Gomes, DH Jason Giambi and outfielder Ryan Raburn.

With the Tribe's offense scuffling and Reynolds now DFA'ed, it would not be surprising to see the team attempt to address it's offensive issues via a waiver trade this month. In the meantime, expect Gomes and the newly locked-up Raburn to see more playing time in Francona's struggling offense.

Reliever Preston Guilmet will be recalled from Triple-A to take the spot of Reynolds on the 25-man roster.

It is interesting to also note, in two of the Indians' biggest free-agent signings, Reynolds and pitcher Brett Myers, Reynolds was DFA'ed while Myers has spent the majority of the season on the disabled list. The team spent roughly $13-million dollars on their additions in the off-season

Lessons learned.

Stay out of the high priced FA market.

Swisher could be the next money pit.

Bourn, so far, is earning his money

seagull - I agree with the lessons learned.

That said, I can live with 4 year deals like those 2 got. It's the 6 year, 8 year, even TEN year deals that are insane.

Especially to pitchers, but in general too.

Rocky Colavito honored that Cleveland Indians' fans still love him: Terry Pluto



By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer

on August 08, 2013 at 3:38 PM, updated August 08, 2013 at 4:05 PM Rocky Colavito waves to fans at Progressive Field after being inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame in 2006.
Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Saturday, Rocky Colavito will be 80 years old.

Think about that.

“Eighty,” said Colavito. “Growing up, I don’t think I knew anyone who was 80. Eighty would be considered ancient.”

Colavito will be honored at the Tribe’s Saturday 7 p.m. game against the Angels and the first 10,000 fans attending will receive a Rocky Colavito Hall of Fame plaque.

“I’m honored,” said Colavito. “I admit, I never thought about being 80.”

Colavito talked about growing up in the Bronx, where his father was a truck driver, working more than 12 hours a day.

“Dinner was at 8 o’clock every night,” he said. “My father expected all the kids ... everyone to be there. He hauled scrap metal out of New Jersey. The man worked hard.”

Colavito said when he met his wife, Carmen, “She thought most people in New York lived in a penthouse, like in the movies.”

He told her that wasn't his life in the Bronx.

“It was tough,” he said. “But not like now, where guys walk around with Uzis.”

Colavito’s dad lived until he was 74.

“My mother died at 43,” he said. “High blood pressure. I was only 9 years old.”

That’s part of the reason being 80 “seems strange,” as he said.

He finds himself saying, “You young guys ...” to men in their 50s. He has spent far more time out of baseball than in the game.

In 1992, he had surgery for prostate cancer.

In 2003, it was heart surgery.

“I’m in good health, and I’m grateful for that,” he said.

Don’t knock the Rock

Colavito’s first full season with the Tribe was 1956, when he hit 21 homers in 101 games.

His best seasons were 1958 (41 HR, 113 RBI) and 1959 (42 HR, 111 RBI).

The American League home run champ, a 25-year old Colavito was traded to Detroit in spring training of 1960 for Harvey Kuenn. It remains one of the least popular trades in Tribe history.

The Indians had a young slugger in his prime. He was shipped to Detroit for Kuenn, a good hitter whose body was physically breaking down at the age of 29.

Fans loved Colavito.

When he received some criticism, his backers often countered with “Don’t Knock The Rock.”

Former Plain Dealer columnist Gordon Cobbledick wrote this about Colavito: “He’s handsome, boyish, and doesn’t smoke, drink or use violent language.”


Colavito dueled with Frank Lane, the former Tribe general manager. They fought over a $3,000 raise after he hit 41 homers with 113 RBI in 1958. Lane offered only $1,500.

Now you know why players hired agents when they had the chance.

In the spring of 1960, Colavito wanted a raise from $28,000 to $45,000 after leading the league in homers. Mickey Mantle was baseball’s highest-paid player at $70,000.

Colavito ended up signing for $35,000 — and Lane was angry about paying that much.

So money was behind the deal, Lane adding that he traded “a hamburger for a steak” in the Colavito/Kuenn swap.

Furthermore, Kuenn was making $42,000 — so that raised the budget.

Colavito always said it was “personal” between him and Lane, and that seems to be the case.

It also led to a very stupid trade.

Coming back

After the trade, Colavito hit 35-45-37-22-34 homers over the next five season. He returned to the Tribe in 1965, playing every game in right field without an error, and batting .287 with 26 homers and 108 RBI.

Remember, this was in the pre-steroid era, and it was during the 1960s when pitchers dominated.

He finished his career with 374 homers.

The trade that brought him back was even worse than the one that sent him to Detroit. The Indians gave up Tommie Agee, who became a World Series hero with the Mets. And they also traded Tommy John, who won 286 after the deal.

Colavito was a coach with the Tribe in 1973, and again from 1976-78. He coached with Kansas City in 1982-83.

“The most money I ever made was $68,000,” he said. “That was in 1966. I thought I’d have enough money when I retired. I saved a lot. But if you remember, in the 1970s, inflation hit. I had two kids in college. I had to work.”

Colavito said the Tribe paid him $15,000 to coach in 1973.

“They could be so cheap,” he said.

One season, Colavito served as a batting coach before the game, then went up to the TV booth to do color commentary. How was that for a double-bang for the buck?

For a few years, he owned a mushroom farm with his father-in-law outside of Reading, Pa. He still lives in nearby Bernville, Pa.

He also worked for Minuteman Corporation.

“About all of us had to work after we retired,” said Colavito.

Rocky and Carmen Colavito will celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary in October. They met when Colavito played minor league ball in Reading.

His oldest son, Rocky, is 57.

And Colavito is coming to Cleveland for his 80th birthday party. The Indians will have a lunch in his honor Saturday, and the event is already sold out.

“I love Cleveland,” he said. “I never wanted to leave. It’s great that they want me to come back.”