Cleveland Sports Forum

@ZackMeisel: Indians have acquired outfielder J.B. Shuck -- an Ohio State grad -- from the Angels in exchange for cash.

Indians claimed outfielder J.B. Shuck off waivers from the Angels.
Shuck was a really nice surprise for the Angels last year, hitting .293/.331/.366 in 437 at-bats and playing strong defense in left field. This year, he was a complete non-factor, hitting .167/.195/.250 in 84 at-bats in the majors. He came in at .320/.382/.446 in Triple-A, but that was in a great offensive environment at Salt Lake. Most likely, he'll bounce around as a reserve outfielder/Triple-A guy for a few more years. The Indians should bring him right to the majors, but he probably won't have any fantasy value with David Murphy back.


Related: Angels
Sep 5 - 4:05 PM

Hopefully his addition means we move some other outfielders if he plays well, because we sure don't need another left handed bat. I'd like to see moncrief or carson given their shot.
AW SHUCKS!

Ah yes! Tribe now shuckin' and jivin' their way to the playoffs.

Indians 2014 season starts TONIGHT! Only three games with the Tigers are left the rest of the way that we aren't the better team!

Agree, Frank, but if we don't start hitting we will not win. No Tickee. No Laundry!

offense potential is there with

1. Bourn, hitting triples but doesn't steal anymore
2. Ramirez, a little of this and a little of that, and can steal bases
3. Brantley, does everything
4. Santana, walking machine, off and on big power bat
5. Gomez, good reliable hitter
6. Murphy, when he's on he's valuable
7. Chisenhall, 2014 phase 1: extremely hot; phase 2: cold; phase 3: warm
8. Kipnis, he's the key: if he can finally get back to his 2012-13 performance we'll be good
9. Walters/Shuck/Holt/Aguillar/Giambi: a little this, a little that

I agree Lou but man we finally have a pitching staff!!! And they are all under Indians control for multiple years!!! Our offense is just awful but I do not see anything changing this year. The one thing that will change is our infield defense. It will be MUCH better next year with Lindor and Ramirez.

Kipnes is all done as the indians 2B. I'd package him and Swisher for a vet bat and use Kipnes to get rid of ALL of Swisher's contract! Keep Bourne another year and drop the payroll below $50M, stash some $$$ and lock up our core players for 3 - 5 yrs!!! And see if you can get VMart back in Cleveland!

This really is a pretty solid group of core players.....

PED's are unacceptable BUT I sure would like to see Cruz in the 4 hole

Dickerson outrighted to AAA. Now we have room on the roster, but don't what we'll do with that space now.

Oh my Frank! Rusty will go ballistic when he reads this post.

Lindor and Ramirez are Dominicans! They are PED candidates (if not already using). After all, they are from the third world

I was also guaranteed that Ramirez would be gone by now (that Kipnis was a fixture at second base).

Actually, I'm very happy about the way Ramirez has been playing. It appears that second base is not his only primary position. I mentioned this winter (winterball) that Ramirez was playing very well at shortstop as well as at third base. Unfortunately, Ramirez does not have the power to play third or the corner outfield positions. He is a very good center fielder though. Good instincts at all those positions. He's the ultimate untility player if all else fails. Nothing Ramirez can't do (except hit homers). I'd really hate to lose him though.

It's kind of late for that power bat this forum has been looking for. In the past, we failed to land five Cubans as well as Nelson Cruz. If Baltimore makes Cruz a qualifying offer, he won't be coming to Cleveland. The price tag would be out of ownership's sights.

I agree on Bourn.

Not so sure about V-Mart.

Let's hope Swisher rebounds next year!

I like our core group also especially our starting pitchers.

It's nice to see we've finally done well in the draft the past couple of season. The farm teams appear to be the best they've been in ages.

Checking back through the archives.............

November 2012...

OK! I'm ready to pick my position player for next season....JOSE RAMIREZ !! This kid looks awesome so far. He can hit, he can run, and he looks like an excellent fielder.

Also November 2012...

Ramirez is a second baseman and is a really slick fielder. I wonder if Kipnis can play third to make room for Ramirez. It really does not look like he is that far away from a big league job. Lindor at shortstop. WoW! If I thought that Peralta and Phillips would have been our best keystone combination, I would just love to see Lindor and Ramirez go for it.

Also November 2012

Ramirez is raking for the Toros. There are not very many players including the experienced and including the veteran players that can roll through the Dominican League as easily as Ramirez has so far. He looks special. I guess that's why I'm selecting him as my break out position player this year.

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During spring training in 2013, Ramirez and Lindor spent some time working together in Arizona. They both hit well and both made some high light reel plays in the field. I think it would be neat to watch these two guys playing on the same field together. True, Kipnis is a sticking point for Ramirez. I guess it all depends on how well Ramirez can handle major league pitching and how well he can keep performing in the second spot in the lineup.

CLEVELAND -- The Indians added Chris Dickerson to the fold two months ago when the team's outfield depth was depleted and thin. With the landscape now entirely different, Dickerson became the odd man out for Cleveland over the past two weeks.
Prior to Tuesday's game against the Twins, the Indians sent Dickerson outright to Triple-A Columbus, which had its season end last week. The move reduced Cleveland's active roster to 34 players and now gives the club a chance to place a higher priority on some of its younger players down the stretch.

Indians manager Terry Francona added that the recent acquisition of outfielder J.B. Shuck -- obtained from the Angels for cash considerations on Friday -- made Dickerson expendable.

"All of a sudden, you have a bench job basically the guys are kind of the same skill set," Francona said. "Sometimes you can try to create spots for two guys and then neither one gets the proper amount of [playing time]. So we told C.D., 'For better or worse, we made a decision to go with Shuck and allow you a chance to move on, rather than have you just sit here.'"

The Indians currenty have their starting outfield trio of left fielder Michael Brantley, center fielder Michael Bourn and right fielder David Murphy together again. Bourn was dealing with left hamstring woes when Dickerson was acquired via trade from the Pirates on July 7, and Murphy recently returned from a month-long bout with a right oblique strain.

Behind the Tribe's three regular outfielders, the team has veteran utility man Ryan Raburn, Shuck and rookies Tyler Holt and Zach Walters. Cleveland also has utility man Mike Aviles (an option in all three outfield spots) on the active roster, though he has been recovering from concussion-like symptoms since being removed from a game on Sept. 1.

In 41 games for the Indians, the 32-year-old Dickerson hit .224 with two home runs, six RBIs and a .636 OPS. Both homers and all six RBIs came within his first 20 games, during which he hit .314 with an .887 OPS in 51 at-bats. In the 21 games since that stretch, dating back to Aug. 4, Dickerson posted a .128 (6-for-47) average with a paltry .360 OPS.

Over the past couple of weeks, Dickerson also missed some games due to some "nagging" injuries, according to Francona.

"When he first came up, he got real hot and he really helped us," Francona said. "And then, that last 100 at-bats was tough -- a lot of strikeouts. Sometimes, not being available [due to injuries] was a little bit difficult, especially before September. But you just deal with that stuff. That's part of the game."

Across parts of seven years in the Majors, Dickerson has hit .257 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs in 355 games between stints with the Reds, Brewers, Yankees, Orioles and Indians.

He was the odd man out because he wasn't performing. AAAA players keep on popping up briefly in the majors. Dickerson will likely be back somewhere again.

Kipnes seems to have become the new Pronk! He watches first pitch strikes all the time, and with his physical ailment, seldom gets the ball in the air.

fkreutz wrote: Tuesday Sept 9 Indians 2014 season starts TONIGHT! Only three games with the Tigers are left the rest of the way that we aren't the better team!

I don't think so....I think the season pretty much ENDED on Thursday Sept 4th after our pitching allowed double digits twice and blew a 9th inning lead to lose 3 out of 4 against the (TIGERS)closest competition in the Division AND the WC.

Aside from the fact we gave up double digits yet again on Monday, and lost another game that should have been won on Tuesday.........makes sweeping the Whitesox a moot point.

..I just wish my doctor would prescribe the good stuff like yours does.