Month: April 2005 (Page 17 of 18)

Bob Wickman has always scared me. ALWAYS. His meltdown this afternoon (4 hits, 4 ER, 1 out, 1 blown save) will not be the last of the season. I mean, the Sox were teeing off on Wickman in the ninth — Paul Konerko crushed his homer and Jermaine Dye sent his shot into orbit. Even Juan Uribe sent Casey Blake to the track in right with the bases loaded.

The good news is, Arthur Rhodes mowed down Chicago’s hitters in his 1.1 innings of work, striking out two and giving up just one hit in an efficient 19 pitches. There are several good arms in the bullpen, but if Arthur Rhodes can start pitching like he was with Seattle a couple years ago, he’ll be the best of the lot.

One thing’s for certain — Wickman better recover quickly or he’ll find himself demoted. There are too many talented guys behind him that could take over the ninth inning if he’s ineffective for long.

Besides growing that stupid mustache that makes you look like a creepy “B” actor from the 70’s, when are you going to “grow” your managing abilities? We keep hearing about his genius…yet going by last season and today’s game, it’s obvious he doesn’t have a clue when it comes to the bullpen. Fatman Wickman had nothing this afternoon, yet Wedge leaves him in there to lose a game. This manager and coaching staff better concentrate on this bullpen or we’re in for another disappointing season.

An ESPN Insider article (subscription required, unfortunately) by John Hollinger offers some compelling analysis of the Cavs’ backcourt problems, concluding that the team’s best option is to play Eric Snow and Jeff McInnis together. Hollinger suggest that, rather than relying on ineffective players like Lucious Harris, Jiri Welsch, Ira Newble and Sasha Pavlovic, McInnis should be starting at the two alongside Snow, not bolted to the bench (‘DNPs-Coach’s Decision’ each of the last two games). Plus, you’ve also got LeBron creating instead of running the point, and the Cavs are a much better team when LeBron’s not bringing the ball up the court.

Hey, they’ve lost nine of 12 and are plummeting out of the playoff race. This makes more sense than playing Jiri Welsch 16 minutes a night.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is reporting that the Cavaliers will fire GM Jim Paxson within the next 48 hours. The writing seemed to be on the wall last month when Paul Silas was fired and, during the ensuing press conference, team owner Dan Gilbert refused to address Paxson’s future with the Cavaliers.

The question now (assuming the report is true, of course) is who does Gilbert bring in as the new GM? Considering his track record, especially during the draft, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone better than Paxson.

By the way, did the Cavaliers really lose to New Jersey by 31 points Tuesday night? Ugh.

The Indians announced that catcher Victor Martinez has agreed to a five-year, $15.5 million contract extension with a club option for the 2010 season. This is fantastic news for Tribe fans. Martinez at $3 million a year is a huge bargain, and at 26 years old, the All-Star catcher will only improve throughout the length of this deal. Props to Mark Shapiro for getting it done.