Cleveland Sports Forum

That was very fortunate! How lucky was he to just so happen to have Hoffman, a guy with one of the best changeups ever, to come by while he threw his crappy one.

Regarding the 3 batter rule change - screw Tito on this one. I am so tired of a parade of pitchers facing 1 batter.

What crap.

Look it's the same for everyone. Move on.

Me too.

Here here! My father is cheering from the great beyond.

Jayson Stark on Hall of Fame ballot


Omar Vizquel

OK, here comes the portion of this column that is going to lead the league in What the hell are you thinking, Stark?! tweets, comments and emails. Why would I dare to argue that Omar Vizquel was historically great? I don’t mind telling you why. It’s what we’re here for.

Omar Vizquel was the most sure-handed shortstop in the history of baseball.

That’s why.

There are so many ways I could make that case. But I’m just going to roll out my favorite Vizquel tidbit of all time:

Seasons of 140-plus games with 5 errors or fewer
(all SS since 1900)

Omar Vizquel: 3
All other shortstops combined: 3

I unearthed that astonishing nugget when I was writing my “Stark Truth” book over a decade ago. It still blows my mind every time I repeat it — because it hasn’t changed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know we have many, many cool, next-level metrics that measure defense in more sophisticated ways than, say, errors. Got it. I know all about it. I’m not arguing that Vizquel was better than Ozzie Smith, or a better defender than every shortstop except Ozzie Smith, or whatever advanced metric you’d like to cite to prove to me I’m nuts. I think I have a good feel for what Vizquel wasn’t, if that helps calm you down.

But I also got to watch Vizquel play in the big leagues for nearly a quarter-century. It tells me a lot about him that there were teams that wanted to let him play for nearly a quarter-century. It tells me what his peers thought of him that they handed him 11 Gold Glove Awards. It isn’t lost on me that there are only two other players in history with as many hits (2,877) and Gold Gloves as Vizquel — and their names are Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente — even though some people would dismiss that as just “compiling.”

I’ve thought about this a lot. And you know what the Omar Vizquel debate feels like to me? It falls into a really strange category. It’s about a bunch of people using numbers to try to convince me that my eyes didn’t see what I thought they saw.

And what I thought I saw was a player with spectacular hands, genius-level baseball IQ and a level of professional dependability that allowed him to do things that the shortstops around him didn’t do — never even thought of doing, in fact.

Feel free to disagree. It’s cool. But my definition of a Hall of Fame shortstop is allowed to differ from yours. And it’s extra cool if it does in this case — the unique case of Omar Vizquel.

DOMINIC LEONE
RP, CLEVELAND INDIANS

Indians signed RHP Dominic Leone to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
Leone was released by the Cardinals in November after struggling to a 5.53 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and 46/22 K/BB ratio over 40 2/3 innings last season, but he's been an effective reliever in the past and is a low-risk addition to the Indians' bullpen depth chart on a non-guaranteed minor league deal. The 28-year-old right-hander will have the opportunity to compete for an Opening Day roster spot this spring.

SOURCE: Tribe Insider on Twitter
Jan 23, 2020, 2:06 PM ET

Sounds like a ST innings eater. Non-roster, non-guaranteed minor league contract has NO chance of making the opening day unless 10 other pitchers get hurt.

Plus Leone gets to pitch in front of other teams. Win/win

Cleveland Indians were in the mix for Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte: The week in baseball


Updated 10:49 AM; Today 10:35 AM

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- At least the idea of adding payroll didn’t scare the Indians.

On Tuesday the Pirates traded center fielder Starling Marte to Arizona for prospects -- infielder Liover Peguero and right-hander Brennan Malone. The Indians were in on Marte as well, but the rebuilding Pirates liked Arizona’s offer better.


The interest in Marte can be taken two ways -- so what, the Indians didn’t close the deal. Or ownership was willing to add payroll for the right player. Owner Paul Dolan has slashed almost $44 million from the payroll over the last two years, but if the Indians acquired Marte, he would have not come cheaply.

Marte will make $11.5 million this year with a $12.5 million club option for 2021. It would have made him the third highest paid player on the Indians after Francisco Lindor at $17.5 million and Carlos Santana at $13.5 million. Santana’s salary does not include the $4 million Seattle will pay the Tribe this year according to terms of the deal that brought him back to Cleveland in December of 2018.

The acquisition of Marte would have brought order to the Tribe’s hodgepodge of outfielders. They could have played him in center field, floated Oscar Mercado between all three spots on a regular basis and given Franmil Reyes a shot in left or right field this spring.


Marte, 31, hit .295 (159-for-539) with 23 homers and 82 RBI last year for a last-place Pirates team. He scored 97 runs and stole 25 bases in 31 attempts.

If nothing else, the swing and miss on Marte showed that ownership should be willing to listen to adding talent at the July 31 trading deadline if the Indians are in contention. Dolan’s track record is established regarding that.

Still, there’s no doubt that the reduction of the payroll over the last two seasons has made it harder for the Indians to continue to play winning baseball. They enter the 2020 with seven straight winning seasons.

Asked about the lack of wiggle room because of the shrinking payroll, manager Terry Francona said, "I do think like you said, with the organization, you lose a little bit of wiggle room, but I’m not sure we had a ton to begin with. And I don’t think anybody is complaining about that.

“We just need to make good decisions. There are some teams where if they make a poor decision, they can make it go away. We’re not in that boat. I’m actually OK with that. We’re not going to be the type of team that just throws the bats and balls out there and wins and I’m OK with that too.


"We’re going to have to go out and play the right way and getting to that point, I really enjoy it, because it’s not easy. You go through spring training and you come out in the season and you try to find your footing, but when you do, it really gets fun.”

The Indians used to take pride in finding a hidden jewel among their spring-training invitees. Former big-leaguers such as Ryan Raburn would come to camp on minor-league deals and turn into productive players for the big-league club. This spring they are breaking from that tradition, filling the majority of the non-roster spots in spring training with their own minor leaguers.

Part of it has to do with saving money, but it also has to do with giving prospects and players on the 40-man roster a chance. Right-handers James Hoyt, Phil Maton and Hunter Wood are three of the 20 pitchers on the 40-man roster. They debuted with the Indians last year and will be competing for a spot in the bullpen this spring.

That is one reason why Dominic Leone, to date, has been the only non-roster pitcher invited to camp from outside the organization. Leone made 40 appearances with the Cardinals last year.


Position wise, the Indians don’t have a lot of openings, so they can give at-bats to their prospects and borderline guys on the 40-man. Last spring they used those at-bats on veteran non-roster players such as Brandon Barnes, Ryan Flaherty, Matt Joyce and Trayce Thompson.

It also allows the Indians to bring over players from minor-league camp such as Brayan Rocchio, Tyler Freeman, Aaron Bracho and George Valera to play in a big league spring-training game or two. They did the same thing with Lindor and Jose Ramirez before they were on the 40-man roster. That’s exciting for the organization and helps a player’s development.


MIke Clevinger talked to reporters on Friday night to start the Tribe Fest festivities. Clevinger was sporting new tattoos the fingers of his left hand. They featured guitar god Jimi Hendrix, rapper Lil Wayne and Charles Darwin, who conceived the Theory of Evolution. Clevinger was asked why Darwin? "Survival of the fittest,” he said. ... Francona said catcher Roberto Perez’s right ankle is fine and that he should be ready to go for spring training. Perez had offseason surgery on the ankle to remove bone chips. ... Francona said he’s heard nothing but good things from his friends around baseball about new backup catcher Sandy Leon. ... Carlos Carrasco says he’s been cleared by doctors to report and compete with no restrictions in spring training. Carrasco was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia last season. ... When asked if any of the Tribe’s excess starters would be moved to the bullpen instead of being sent to Triple-A, Francona said, "That’s a little premature. ... But you also know you need to have some starters in Triple-A and sometimes you’re doing a kid a disservice by putting him in the bullpen. Even though he might be mad you’re sending him down, in the long run you’re doing what’s right for him.” ... This from Driveline Baseball’s Stuff metric: They rank the Indians’ James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase as the top two relievers by stuff in the big leagues. Hat tip to Eno Sarris.

Say no to anybody named Marte.

But the point is that a Marte trade would have raised payroll and they were all in on it.

This from Driveline Baseball’s Stuff metric: They rank the Indians’ James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase as the top two relievers by stuff in the big leagues. Hat tip to Eno Sarris.

Like HB said!

Actually I might have remembered what I read wrong. I thought it was minor leagues, but that said BIG leagues. Even more impressive!

Stuff is stuff. Can you throw it where you want to?

Clase's command has been much more consistant than Karinchak's so far.

Francisco Lindor and some intriguing comments about his future

Zack Meisel Feb 1, 2020 50

CLEVELAND — Francisco Lindor ignores much of the offseason scuttlebutt. He trains, he vacations, he relaxes.

Trade rumors? He pays them little attention. The Dodgers? He didn’t give them a mention.

“I’m still wearing an Indians jersey,” Lindor said Saturday, “so I guess there hasn’t been much happening.”

Lindor remains the Indians’ starting shortstop, but his future remains shrouded in mystery. The Indians control him for the next two seasons, but the two sides have yet to strike an agreement on a long-term extension.

And why is that?

“Because they haven’t offered me the right thing,” Lindor said.

What is the right thing? Lindor said he wasn’t sure. He said the topic wasn’t discussed during his salary negotiation last month, and he isn’t worried about it.

“I don’t care about free agency,” he said. “I don’t care about what’s happening next year. I care about what I have today.”

He’s certainly given it thought. His thought-provoking, yet somewhat contradictory comments Saturday carried two themes:

1. He’d love to stay in Cleveland long-term
“I love Cleveland,” he said. “This is a home. This is a great city. There are great fans, and we’ve got a good team and a great group of guys. The front office is good. The coaching staff is good. It’s great, and I love it here. This is where I came up, and I’m extremely comfortable here.

“I am not opposed to anything. Make sure you guys write that I’d love to be here in Cleveland.”

That, of course, depends on the terms of any potential pact. Which leads us to …

2. He wants a ton of money … but also said he’s ‘not money-driven’
Here’s the thing: If Lindor winds up in a different uniform at some point in the next two years, there figures to be plenty of posturing by both sides until the moment that transaction takes place. Some have yet to forgive the Indians for dealing CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. Imagine the backlash if Lindor walks out the door after prattling on about how much he wants to build a home in Westlake.

Lindor noted that he wants to ensure that he gets “paid for a long time,” even projecting that his skills won’t decline much by the time he turns 37. He’s certainly deserving of a lucrative payday, given his status as perhaps the premier shortstop in the sport. Lindor went so far as to say that if he were constructing a team, he’d be one of the top five players he’d select as a franchise cornerstone.

“Is there a right number for me right now? I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “I’m not there yet. I’m going to worry about what I’ve got in front of my toes. A lot of money sounds pretty right now. Everything sounds pretty. A lot of years sounds pretty, too.

“At the end of the day, it’s about what’s best for me, my family and also the Indians organization. If they don’t think I can stay here because of the money situation, then I won’t be here. But I do want to be in Cleveland.”

That sure sounds like a message to the fourth floor of the Progressive Field offices … or an appeal to the fan base.

Lindor wouldn’t reveal how recently or how often the Indians have placed an offer in front of him, but he did say “it’s a process and it’s fun.”

“It’s just the right amount hasn’t come up,” he said. “The ideal money hasn’t come up for either party.”

The Indians have reduced their Opening Day payroll for two consecutive years. In 2018, they started the season with a figure of nearly $135 million. That dropped to about $120 million last year, and the number has plummeted to about $90 million for this season. Lindor is convinced every team in the league has the finances to sign him.

“There’s money,” he said.

And yet, he also stressed that money isn’t the sole driving force behind his plans.

“It’s not about how much money I get,” he said. “This is not a thing about pride or money. It’s not about that. I’m not money-driven. I’m championship-driven. That’s what I want. I want to win. Wherever I go, I want to win. I want to bring a championship to the city of Cleveland. This is what I want to do. That’s my mission. I’m here today, and I want to win for the Indians. It has nothing to do with the money. It has nothing to do with the years. It has nothing to do with who I like or who I don’t like. It has to do with championships.”

So, it’s not about money. But it is about money? Really, it doesn’t matter. Lindor holds the leverage because he’s the superstar coveted by 30 teams.

The bottom line: Regardless of who says what between now and then, Lindor will deservedly land a nine-figure contract at some point in the next two years.

“If I was an owner, I would try to sign him,” Roberto Pérez said. “He’s a really good player. He’s the face of the Indians. If I was to start a franchise, he’s gonna be the face of my franchise. He’s a hard worker. He prepares himself very well every day. He’s a great teammate. I can go on and on saying really good things about him. He’s one of the best players in baseball. If it was me, I would sign him right now.”