Cleveland Sports Forum

I think White has a good future ahead of him. Good #2 or 3 starter. But I wouldn't rush it. Nothing more than a cup of tea at the end of the year. He has flew threw the system as is.

Sheldon Ocker on the Indians
Manny leaves his heart in Cleveland
Good-natured and fun with the Indians, Ramirez becomes different person after leaving town

By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

POSTED: 08:00 a.m. EDT, Apr 17, 2011

I was walking through the Indians' clubhouse one day in the late '90s, and suddenly someone jumped me from behind, as if he had decided to ride me piggyback. Almost before I could turn to see who it was, Manny Ramirez slid off and smiled as he walked past me.

That was the Manny Ramirez I came to know for the eight years he spent with the Indians. Just Manny being Manny.

I never knew him to utter a cross word (well, maybe once), nor to my knowledge did he ever express his displeasure or play the prima donna by refusing to take the field or demanding special privileges.

Manny was all about having fun playing a game. He teased his teammates, and they responded in kind. If something caught his attention in someone's locker — a shirt, a bat, a glove — he would take it. If a player was missing an item, he would retrieve it in Manny's locker.

No hard feelings. Manny just forgot to return what he borrowed. Almost every day, he borrowed the pants of hefty coaching assistant Dan Williams. Manny loved to wear the pants — about eight sizes bigger than his own — for batting practice.

Manny didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. He did become angry once in he was being disrespected. Except for that incident, Manny didn't create much heat in the clubhouse.

Even now, it is difficult for me to refer to him by his last name in print, even though that is the form usually required by the rules of editing.

When he signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox, Manny became someone I didn't know. He never wanted to leave Cleveland. And it didn't take long before he started calling his pal, utility infielder Enrique Wilson, plus a few other friends to say Boston was not for him and that he missed the Indians.

Of course, by then it was too late. I don't know if Manny ever made peace with his decision (really the decision of his agent, Jeff Moorad) to take the Red Sox's money. But Manny was never the same.

Maybe it was the increased media scrutiny or the strange surroundings and new teammates. Maybe someone got in his ear (Manny was easily manipulated) and told him he needed to start acting like the celebrity he had become. Maybe it was just the enormous piles of cash he was making. At any rate, by the time the Red Sox cut their ties with him, they had seen enough of Manny acting like a spoiled rock star.

His occasional lack of hustle angered management and the media. He asked to be traded in 2005 and 2006. He got in a shoving match with Kevin Youkilis and in a fit of anger, he knocked down 62-year-old traveling secretary Jack McCormick.

The day before the Sox traded Manny to the Los Angeles Dodgers, he told ESPNdeportes, ''The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me.''

Who is this guy? He's not the Manny Ramirez who leaped on my back. He's not the player who innocently said after hitting a home run with a bat he knew was cracked, ''I just like that bat.''

Then there was the issue of performance enhancers. He was suspended for 50 games as a Dodger in 2009 for using a banned substance. He failed another drug test in spring training and decided to retire rather than face a 100-game suspension.

''I'm at ease,'' Manny told ESPNdeportes. ''I'll be going on a trip to Spain with my old man,'' as if he were heading out on spring break rather than ending an 18-year career as one of the best hitters who ever played the game.

The New York Times reported that Manny also failed a drug test in 2003, when Major League Baseball was trying to determine how many players were using steroids. The results of those tests were supposed to be kept secret.

His violation two years ago stemmed from a failed test for human chorionic gonadotropin. I doubt that Manny would know what you were talking about if you mentioned the name of that drug. But I have no doubt he used it.

It is a female fertility drug that can be used by males to restart their production of testosterone when they are coming off steroids. So do we conclude that Manny was using steroids and wanted to stop? Seems logical.

We don't know the basis for his recent failed drug test, except that it was for a banned performance-enhancing substance rather than amphetamines.

Why would a player risk his reputation and a long suspension when he knew he would be tested periodically, particularly a player who had been caught once and would be tested more often than the norm? That part is still Manny being Manny.

Anyway, what's done is done. Manny has trashed his legacy and what remained of his career. His hall of fame credentials are impeccable, except for the minor detail of running afoul of MLB's drug policy.

A few samples of Manny's excellence with a bat are in order. On baseball's all-time list, he is ninth in slugging percentage and OPS (on-base plus slugging), 13th in extra-base hits, 14th in home runs, 16th in on-base percentage, 18th in RBI and 24th in doubles.

And he is first in one distinctly negative category. If Manny hadn't retired, he would be the only player ever suspended twice for using performance-enhancing drugs, and that prospective ranking probably will deny him entrance to the hall of fame.

Does Manny care? I'm not sure he does. Manny's priority never seemed to be recognition. He had a good time and made a lot of money. Maybe that's enough for him. Not that he has a choice as to whether he will be elected to the hall.

As for me, I won't vote for Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens and maybe a few others. I don't see how I can vote for Manny, either.

But I will forever wonder if he would have fallen on his sword had he stayed in Cleveland. One other thing: He always will be Manny to me.

Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.

Great article.

And some day that jerkwad Bud Selig will be in the HOF. Pfffffft.

A look at the Tribe payroll going forward:

2012 Contract Issues: Cleveland Indians

By Tim Dierkes [April 18, 2011 at 7:41am CST]

The Indians are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series.

Eligible For Free Agency (4)

The signings of free agents Austin Kearns, Orlando Cabrera, Chad Durbin, Adam Everett to one-year deals pretty much represent Chris Antonetti's first offseason as GM. It's too early to say whether these veterans will have trade value or be worthy of re-signing or an arbitration offer. One thing we can say is that the 2012 Indians aren't faced with any major losses.

Contract Options (2)

Grady Sizemore: $9MM club option with a $500K buyout. Sizemore's option, devised over five years ago, makes him most valuable to the Indians. He gets a $500K assignment bonus if traded, plus it appears that his 2012 salary might increase to $9.9MM. More importantly, the club option changes to a player one if he's dealt, so a team can't acquire Sizemore with his 2012 season in mind.

Yesterday was a promising season debut for Sizemore, and if he has a vintage year and the team stays in contention he could remain with the Tribe for 2012.

Fausto Carmona: $7MM club option, arbitration eligible if declined. Though it's technically possible, I can't see the Indians declining the option and tendering Carmona a contract, since he'd make more than $7MM that way. If he provides 200 credible innings again this will be an easy decision to pick up, and the team also has options for '13 and '14.

Arbitration Eligible (10)

First time: Justin Masterson, Travis Buck, Jack Hannahan, Tony Sipp, Justin Germano

Second time: Shin-Soo Choo, Chris Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Joe Smith

Third time: Rafael Perez

A few players here will fall short of the necessary service time. Sipp projects to be eight days short of the projected Super Two cutoff, but you never know. Masterson, Choo, Perez, and Cabrera are the big ones here, as they'll all be much more expensive next year.

2012 Payroll Obligation

The Indians have a payroll obligation of $13MM for 2012, according to Cot's, with Travis Hafner accounting for all of it. Under a scenario where the Indians aren't selling off pieces in July and both players are reasonably effective, we can add another $16MM for Sizemore and Carmona. I'll estimate another $20MM for the aforementioned four big arbitration eligible names, putting the team at $49MM. That's the exact number Cot's has for the 2011 payroll, but of course there are additional arbitration eligible players, and even those making the league minimum account for millions in total. Though their season is not even 10% done, it'd be exciting to see the Indians contend all year and then make an offseason push for a few significant veteran reinforcements.

Pestano Becomes Grizzled Rookie In Cleveland

By Stephanie Storm
April 19, 2011
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CLEVELAND—Reliever Vinnie Pestano was the only rookie on the Indians 25-man roster on Opening Day, but the righthander was hardly the youngest.

"It's odd because I'm a rookie and yet (at 26) I'm older than some of my teammates," Pestano said. "But there's a lot more guys in here with more big league experience than I have."

Pestano's career got off to a slow start as a 20th-round pick in 2006. In May of his junior season at Cal State Fullerton, Pestano injured his right elbow and had Tommy John surgery not long after being drafted. Once healthy, Pestano racked up 71 saves and a 2.55 ERA in four minor league seasons.

Last season, Pestano made three stops between Double-A Akron, Triple-A Columbus and Cleveland. Holding a cumulative 1.81 ERA with 17 saves between the Aeros and Clippers, Pestano arrived in Cleveland on Sept. 23 to make his major league debut against the Royals. Three nights later, Pestano earned his first big league save. He yielded one hit in three innings with the Tribe.

"He showed some grit here last year when he came up," Tribe manager Manny Acta said. "I look at him as a very important part of our bullpen."

When Pestano's whirlwind season came to an end last year, he was called into Acta's office and told he had a legitimate shot to make the Opening Day roster next season.

Six and a half months later, Pestano made good on that offer thanks to a spring training performance in which he held a 1.13 ERA in eight innings and had a 12-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. It helped when Jensen Lewis was outrighted to Columbus and Joe Smith was sidelined with a strained abdominal muscle.

"It'll be an interesting year for him because he's a couple years removed from surgery," Acta said. "At this level, we're not going to be able to accommodate him as much as they did in the minor leagues. So we put him to the test the last week of the spring training and he responded well."

Originally Published: April 21, 2011

Cleveland Rocks! Cleveland Rocks!

And Bud Selig couldn't be happier. At least, he should be happy, because baseball needs this. Badly.

I love what's happening in Cleveland. We're less than a month into the season, but the franchise that allowed itself to be spoofed in the baseball classic -- yes, classic! "Major League" is making us forget about the underachieving Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins, not to mention slumping sluggers Albert Pujols and Carl Crawford. And the Seattle Mariners.

Closer Chris Perez, center, and the Indians have had plenty to celebrate so far this season.The Indians are the best story in baseball. At 12-5, they are tied with the Colorado Rockies for the best record in the game and sit atop the American League Central. They'd won four straight before Tuesday's 5-4 loss to baseball's other surprise team, the Kansas City Royals.

They're doing it with hitting -- second in the majors in scoring (90 runs), fifth in on-base percentage (.338), seventh in slugging percentage (.425) and eighth in team batting average (.268).

They're doing it with pitching -- first in quality starts (13) and walks and hits per inning (1.13), second in BAA (.218) and seventh in ERA (3.26)

And they're doing it with a cast that is almost as colorful as Ricky Vaughn, Pedro Cerrano, Roger Dorn, Willie Mays Hayes and the rest of their hilarious cinematic counterparts.

"It's early, yes," new Indians manager Manny Acta told MLB.com earlier this week, prior to the start of the series with the second-place Royals. "But I don't care. I'm happy."

He added: "This is good for baseball. This is the way it should be."

Correction: The way it has to be.

As a business, baseball is on a bit of a hot streak of its own. Last season, 73 million fans tripped the turnstiles and overall revenues increase 4 percent to $6.1 billion, according to Forbes.com. Moreover, the average franchise is worth more than ever, $523 million.

Grady Sizemore is back and, perhaps, better than ever.Yet everyone knows baseball simply doesn't compete anymore with the NFL or the NBA when it comes to being cool and featuring stars your kids want to be. That battle is done -- lost in part due to the steroid era and to the slow, steady essence of baseball's being.

What to do when even the Nationals don't want you? If you're Manny Acta, you start over in Cleveland.

But more than likely, they'll also cheer (and maybe even idolize) the likes of Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Michael Brantley and other less-than-humongous-market heroes in places such as Kansas City, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Oakland and even Seattle.

Consider Cleveland's new "Major League Cast"
• There's a plethora of young arms led by 26-year-old Justin Masterson, strikeout specialist Fausto Carmona (27), Josh Tomlin (26) and newcomer Jeanmar Gomez (23), who was elevated from the minors on Monday and took the hill Tuesday night in place of injured starter Mitch Talbot. (Alas, Gomez lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up nine hits and five runs.)

• There's the fear-no-one closer. Chris Perez, 25, has five saves and a 0.00 ERA (not a typo); he's gone 26 innings without allowing a run (dating back to last season), the longest stretch in the majors.

• There's the grizzled designated hitter. Hafner, 33, is hitting .346 with four home runs, nine RBIs and an OBP of .407 (no burning incense required).

• There's the popular returning veteran star. Three-time All-Star Sizemore, 27, missed all but 33 games last season with a left-knee injury. He returned to the lineup on Sunday and promptly hit a critical home run to help lead the Tribe to a 4-2 win over Baltimore.

• There's the young, eager-to-please rising star. In 15 games as the Indians' leadoff hitter, center fielder Brantley, 23, hit .328, had six RBIs and a .400 OBP. Upon Sizemore's return, he moved into the No. 7 spot, without a peep of complaining.

• And finally, there's even the cast-off manager. Dumped two seasons ago by the Washington Nationals (of all teams), Acta is now the toast of Cleveland as he grooms and guides this eclectic bunch with an Opening Day payroll ($61.2 million) that ranked 26th among the 30 major league teams.

Travis Hafner gives the Indians some veteran leadership.Sure, embracing Middle America's Pastime is counterintuitive to the popular theory that baseball can still be the "it" game if it only nurtures and promotes more of its stars, speeds up the pace for the ADD generation, and features T. I., Kanye and Katy Perry in a music video to raise its Q-rating among Generations Y and soon Z. Oh, and make sure the World Series includes either New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago (fat chance) or Los Angeles to boost ratings.

But small-market thinking doesn't have to be small-minded thinking. And as the Indians and Royals are showing so far -- and as the defending World Series-champion San Francisco Giants demonstrated last year -- it can also mean winning.

Winning by allowing young, homegrown talent to rise and flourish, and remain at home as Twins catcher Joe Mauer did when he signed a very big-market eight-year, $84 million contract extension last May.

Teams such as the Indians and Royals will ultimately have to follow suit and be willing to pay their hometown stars.

Middle America baseball: You can stay home again.

That's a game baseball can win.



Roy S. Johnson

Thanks, Chief

Good upbeat article.

Best update though is that we now are 13-5!

And six games in front of the White Sox, and seven in front of Gardenhire's Twins.

And the season just started 19 days ago.

Cellar dwellers dreaming
Cleveland in first, Kansas City right behind while Twins, White Sox and Tigers all under .500.By Jon Krawczynski

MINNEAPOLIS - When the Chicago White Sox took two of three games from Cleveland to start the season, Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen heard the snickers while he spoke so highly of the Indians and what they had assembled.

"I said that in Cleveland, when we left Cleveland, and people laughed at me," Guillen said.

Same old Indians, the critics thought. They'll be fighting the Kansas City Royals for the AL Central basement again the way they've always been in recent years.

That still may wind up being the case. But for now, the division has been flipped on its head. The preseason division favorites in Minnesota and Chicago are looking up at the two teams they've grown used to kicking around.

The Indians won 12 of their first 17 games to jump out to an early lead in the division, with the Royals (11-6) right behind them after a 5-4 win over the Tribe on Tuesday night. The last time the Indians and Royals, who combined to lose 382 games over the last two years, were at the top of the division at least 15 games into the season was May 31, 1999.

The White Sox (7-10) and Twins (6-11) have struggled with injuries and sluggish offenses, leaving them eating a little dust three weeks into the season.

"We're on top and the Twins, White Sox and Tigers are on the bottom," Indians closer Chris Perez said. "I don't think anyone could have seen that. I think we're doing it in different ways. Kansas City has come back a couple times and scored late. We seem to get the lead and never let it go."

After losing those first two games of the season to the White Sox, the Indians have gone 12-3. Grady Sizemore is giving the team a boost with his return to the field after playing in just 139 games over the last two seasons because of microfracture surgery on his left knee.

Travis Hafner has regained his hitting stroke, batting .353 with four homers, and the Indians' bullpen has been nothing short of spectacular with lefties Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez setting up Chris Perez. The three have combined for a 0.00 ERA in 21 2-3 innings this season.

"I don't want to say what they've done is kind of flash and mirrors," Chris Perez said of the Royals, "but I like what we're doing better."

Not so fast, Chris. The Royals lead the AL with a .270 batting average and are tied with Cleveland for first in runs scored and first in stolen bases.

Alex Gordon is finally starting to look comfortable in the big leagues, hitting .361 with nine doubles and 12 RBIs, and the Royals' offense has helped them survive a shaky start by normally dominant closer Joakim Soria.

"Those two teams, there's nothing fluky about those two teams at the top of the division," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland, whose Tigers are sitting in third place. "They're darn good. Cleveland is for real and Kansas City is playing really well. It think it's going to be tooth-and-nail, it really is."

The Twins are used to getting out of the gates a little slow. The six-time division champs have earned a reputation as strong finishers with the ability to close large deficits in short time frames. But they're not used to chasing the Indians and Royals.

"It's early," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "People make way too much of that stuff. We're playing good. They're playing good."

Star catcher Joe Mauer is on the disabled list with leg problems, second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka is out with a broken leg and slugger Justin Morneau is hitting just .208 while working his way back from a concussion that caused him to miss the last three months of last season.

Joe Nathan has struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery and lost his role as closer, and the Twins are hitting a paltry .230 and have scored fewer runs (50) and hit fewer homers (5) than any team in the majors.

"We haven't played great yet, but we believe we have a chance to be a pretty good team," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "For sure, we've got to start hitting and start to score runs. That'll take some pressure off our pitching."

The Twins lost to Baltimore 11-0 on Tuesday night, but nobody in that veteran clubhouse is pushing the panic button this early in the season.

"April's not it, April's not it at all," Twins closer Matt Capps said. "It's tough having teams target you. I don't know if you look back over the last 15 or 20 years of major league baseball, but how many teams in first place on April 15 finish in first place? It's tough.

"If we can be in the mix the middle of the year, maybe the next month or month and a half hover around .500, we can start to get to where we're playing good baseball and it'll all even out. When you look up in August and September, I think we'll be where we want to be."

The White Sox and Twins are downplaying the slow start and leaning on the "it's a long season" crutch, fully confident that order will be restored as the season drags on. But the Indians and Royals appear to be brimming with confidence because, for once, they're not out of the race.

"When a team comes together with winning as its overall goal, everybody is going to outperform their normal selves," Cleveland's Shelley Duncan said. "It happens everywhere I've ever been. Because of that, people push each other. You want to do well for better reasons than just doing well for yourself. You want to play the game the right way. When you do that, good things happen."

Tribe ponders 'what if' on various scenarios

Published on Thursday, Apr 21, 2011

KANSAS CITY, MO.: Talk about premature. It's far too early to consider whether the Indians would seek help from outside the organization if they were in a contending position with the trading deadline bearing down on them.

But that kind of situation already has been talked about, at least in general terms, by the organization.

''We talk about different scenarios all year,'' General Manager Chis Antonetti said Wednesday. ''We try to anticipate various situations. But we would have to see where we are at that point, what our needs were, what the availability of players were and what it would cost us in players and in dollars.''

HOW FAST? — Has Grady Sizemore lost foot speed in the aftermath of microfracture surgery on his left knee?

Players are commonly timed with stop watches going from home to first base, but it doesn't mean much unless it's a play that requires all-out effort. Since Sizemore was activated from the disabled list last Sunday, he hasn't had much reason to make a headlong dash to first.

''He was timed in a minor-league game on rehab,'' Antonetti said. ''He was in the same area as he was before.''

THE PROBLEM — Jeanmar Gomez still needs work on developing his slider and his change-up, which is more difficult to do in the big leagues than it would be in the minors. Nevertheless, that is the task that presents itself.

''It's not that those pitches aren't very good,'' Indians manager Manny Acta said. ''It's about consistency. That comes with experience, and he's still a baby.

''That's why he was in the minor leagues last year, and that's why he was in the minors this year [until Tuesday night]. But both his slider and his change-up are pretty good pitches.''

ANOTHER OPTION — When will Anthony Reyes be ready to pitch in either minor-league games or the big leagues?

''He's getting pretty close to throwing in minor-league games,'' Antonetti said.

Reyes is throwing in the Tribe's extended spring training program in Arizona after being shut down with a sore elbow in camp.

KEARNS CASE CONTINUED — The DUI case against outfielder Austin Kearns has been continued to May 3 after a pretrial conference and show-cause hearing in Jessamine (Ky.) District Court on Tuesday.

On Feb. 12, a few days before he came to spring training, Kearns was arrested near his home in Lexington, Ky., on suspicion of drunken driving.

FARM FACTS — Jensen Lewis pitched two scoreless innings in relief, as Columbus fell to Louisville 4-2 in Class AAA. He has yet to give up a run in four appearances, allowing six hits and three walks (two intentional) and striking out four in five innings. . . . Drew Pomeranz gave up three runs, three hits and three walks in four innings, but Kinston defeated Wilmington 7-3 in Class A. Justin Toole had four hits and four RBI.

— Sheldon Ocker

Don't know how he's commanding his slider or his change-up, but Alex White's stats are very good after 3 AAA starts:

18 innings, 14 hits, 3 walks, 20 strikeouts no homers, 4 earned runs.

Sooner or later we can be sure he'll push ahead of Gomez. They won't want to promote him until he's ready, and there's that thing about salary arbitration which delays promotions until about June, doesn't it?

Manny Acta brushes aside worries about Carlos Santana: Indians Insider

Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 9:51 PM Updated: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 9:52 PM

By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manny Acta knew the questions were coming.
Is there any thought about moving Carlos Santana out of the cleanup spot?
"No," said Acta.
After his at-bat in the ninth inning Tuesday, was it tough to write his name in the cleanup spot for Wednesday's game?
"No."
Do you think he's feeling pressure?
"No."

Santana didn't offer at three straight strikes by Royals closer Joakim Soria on Tuesday night in the ninth inning with two out and the bases loaded. Santana, with one of the most aggressive swings on the team, took three straight offerings right down the pipe without taking the bat off his shoulder to put the seal on the Tribe's 5-4 loss.

The young catcher entered Wednesday hitting .203 and in a 3-for-33 slump, but Acta is keeping him in the middle of the lineup.

"We're winning," said Acta. "This is a team sport. If we continue to win, and everyone contributes, we don't have to make any changes. We don't sit here and make changes based on who is struggling on a week-to-week basis.

"On the seventh game of the season in Seattle, Carlos was hitting over .300. No one complained. In the last three games, Carlos drove in a run in the eighth inning on Tuesday. On Monday, he started the game-winning rally with a walk. On Saturday, he hit a home run.

"It's a long season and I'm not going to be panicking about Shin-Soo Choo or Carlos. Those guys are good hitters and we're winning. They'll be fine."
Acta said Soria deserved credit for making three good pitches -- all cut fastballs -- on the black.
"Santana is human, just like anyone else," said Acta. "He's just going through a little slump."

Acta understands the media questions and the concern of the fans. "The same people that wanted to send Travis Hafner to Afghanistan last year, now want him to hit cleanup," said Acta. "The same people who wanted Santana to go to heaven last year, now want him to send him to Libya.

"I have to understand that. But that's why I'm the manager. I don't make decisions based on that."
GM Chris Antonetti discusses the lineup with Acta daily, but the manager has the final say on who plays and where they hit.

"We have every confidence that Carlos is going to hit," said Antonetti. "He's hit throughout his minor-league career. He hit in the major leagues last year. He's just going through a tough stretch."

What a relief: The Indians entered Wednesday's game with the best bullpen ERA in the AL.
The seven-headed relief monster has the best ERA in the AL at 2.47. Rounding out the top five are the Angels at 2.67, Tampa Bay 2.70, Toronto 3.43 and Oakland at 3.59.

"We started pitching well last year and it carried over into spring training," said closer Chris Perez. "The last guy to make the bullpen out of camp had to fight for the job. That's good."

On the run: The Royals, through 17 games, have stolen 24 bases in 28 attempts. Five of came Tuesday night with Jeanmar Gomez on the mound and Lou Marson behind the plate.

"You want to stop stolen bases?" said Acta. "You've got to stop them from stealing first. That's how you stop stolen bases."

Gomez took the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. It was his first start since being called up from Class AAA Columbus to replace the injured Mitch Talbot. Asked if Gomez would stay in the rotation as long as Talbot is on the disabled list, Acta said, "He's pitching in five days. Then we'll go from there."

Talbot is expected to miss four weeks with a strained right elbow.

Day dreaming: If the Indians are still in contention come midseason, is ownership and the front office prepared to add to the club?

"If the team is playing well, we'd have to see where we were at that point, what our needs are and what's available," said Antonetti. "Then we'd have to see what the acquisition cost would be in terms of players and dollars."

If the Indians are still in contention come midseason, is ownership and the front office prepared to add to the club?

"If the team is playing well, we'd have to see where we were at that point, what our needs are and what's available," said Antonetti. "Then we'd have to see what the acquisition cost would be in terms of players and dollars."

Talk about a non-answer! The guy should be a politician.

Civ - early June is when those guys usually get called up.

JR - I don't see how he could accurately say otherwise? It's not like he can guarantee anything.

I LOVE this quote:

"When a team comes together with winning as its overall goal, everybody is going to outperform their normal selves," Cleveland's Shelley Duncan said.

I would have preferred something like:

"We're in it to win it. The Dolans have assured me that they will step up to do whatever that takes. This town and its fans deserve no less."