Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 59 of 96)

The Boston Herald is reporting it’s a done deal:

According to baseball sources, the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians have agreed in principle on a deal that will bring outfielder Crisp to the Sox in a multi-player trade. The Red Sox will send a package including reliever Guillermo Mota and prospect Andy Marte to the Indians.

If in fact this is true, I hate to see Coco go, but I can’t help but be excited about this deal. Marte looks like a future stud at third, a patient hitter with loads of power, and, at just 22, he’ll team up with Grady Sizemore (23) and Jhonny Peralta (23) to give the Tribe perhaps the most exciting young team in baseball. MinorLeagueBaseball.com ranked Marte as the sixth-best prospect in baseball last August, and while it’s no guarantee that Marte will become an elite player, that’s apparently a risk Mark Shapiro is willing to take. After watching him bring in guys like Sizemore and Travis Hafner via trade, I tend to trust his judgment (even if we are still waiting on Brandon Phillips).

Gary, a regular reader here, pointed out in my last Coco blog that he’s not sure the inclusion of Mota would be a good thing, saying that he’s got a great arm but questions about his character have followed Mota, who failed as the closer for the Marlins last season, throughout his career. I understand the concerns but Mota will slot in nicely at the back end of the bullpen, and his power arm will help fill the void left by Bobby Howry’s departure.

The Herald article also says the Indians are working on a trade to land Coco’s replacement in left:

The deal was agreed upon several days ago under the condition that Cleveland be able to acquire another outfielder to replace Crisp, presumably Jason Michaels from the Philadelphia Phillies. Cleveland was believed to be sending one of two relievers – left-hander Arthur Rhodes or right-hander Rafael Betancourt – to the Phillies in exchange for Michaels.

First off, let’s hope it’s Betancourt and not Rhodes. With Rhodes and Scott Sauerbeck, the Indians have the luxury of having two very good lefty relievers in their bullpen, one for the middle innings and one for the late innings. Meanwhile, with the addition of Mota, Betancourt is expendable. As for the 29-year-old Michaels, he’s been a part-time player for the Phillies the past few years and while he doesn’t seem to have much power, he’s a career .291 hitter and he takes walks, sporting a .399 on-base percentage last season. He’s not as dynamic as Crisp, at least judging by the numbers, but he’s a solid defensive outfielder, he gets on base and he’s cheap. All things considered, he would seem to be an adequate replacement for Crisp in left and in the two-hole, at least until some of the young guys (Franklin Gutierrez) are ready to take over.

Of course, none of this is official yet, but if/when the deals are announced, it’ll be interesting to see how accurate these rumors are and how the Cleveland fans will react to losing Coco.

The Boston Globe says they are:

Also yesterday, there were ongoing conversations between the Sox and Indians aimed at bringing outfielder Coco Crisp to Boston. The deal, according to a major league source, probably would cost the Sox top prospect Andy Marte and probably would include multiple players changing sides.

I love Coco and think he’s a fantastic #2 hitter, but this would be a tough deal to pass up. Marte is a future stud. In fact, I’ve read that, had Marte stuck around for his entire college career, he would’ve been a senior this year and likely would’ve been the first pick in the draft. The Sox are desperate for a centerfielder now that Johnny Damon’s wearing pinstripes, and while Coco’s a very good player, the Indians have several promising outfielders in the minors who could fill his shoes.

Of course, the question then becomes, what would the Indians do this season if they pulled the trigger? Would Marte get a chance to start at third? If so, what about Aaron Boone? I suppose they could move Boone to first, but you just signed Eduardo Perez to be the righty platoon with Ben Broussard at first. There’s also an ongoing rumor that, should the Indians pull the trigger on this deal, they’d then turn around and trade for young Braves outfielder Ryan Langerhans.

In the short term, a Crisp/Marte deal may hurt the Indians’ chances at competing with the Sox this year, but if Marte earns a starting job right away and turns out to be the real deal, that may not even be the case. Regardless, as much as I like Coco, it’s hard to justify turning down a deal for someone as young and talented as Marte.

The Indians signed reliever David Riske to a one-year, $1.8 million deal Monday.

I know, big news. Still, Riske figures to be a key guy again in the middle of the ‘pen, though if the Indians have a hard time settling on a right-handed set-up guy, Riske could occassionally find himself in for some eighth-inning duty. Fernando Cabrera looks like the best fit for that role right now, and Matt Miller and Rafael Betancourt also could get a shot. Of course, the key is for Wickman to stay healthy so that our biggest concern this year will be who his set-up man will be and not his replacement.

The Indians missed out on Trevor Hoffman. They missed out on Nomar Garciaparra. Their big free-agent acquisitions? Paul Byrd, Jason Johnson and Eduardo Perez. Oh wait, Steve Karsay, Danny Graves and Todd Hollandsworth too. Can’t forget those monster signings.

I guess it’s too easy to blame the Indians for all the free-agency failures. Check that, it’s too easy to blame Mark Shapiro for those failures. There were big holes on this team that needed to be filled, and while guys like Byrd, Johnson and even Perez will help fill those holes, those aren’t the names we all envisioned heading into the offseason. Shapiro says the Perez signing likely will be the last major move before the start of spring training. Aside from questioning his definition of a “major move,” that statement tells Tribe fans that this is it. Don’t look for an out-of-the-blue signing of Frank Thomas or Mike Piazza. This is the team, at least until the trading deadline.

The unfortunate thing is, the Indians actually have some money to spend, with the coin from the Hoffman and Nomar offers still jingling in their pockets, not to mention the added cash they’ll see with this new TV deal. You’ve got to credit Shapiro for not throwing that money into a high-risk guy like Preston Wilson just because he’s got the extra cash. At the same time, I’m tired of having to settle for guys like Byrd and Perez when there were so many better options available. Maybe that means Dolan and Shapiro need to be much more aggressive earlier in the process and perhaps even overpay for someone who represents a clear upgrade in an area of significant need.

All I know is, the White Sox got better this offseason and the Indians did not. Granted, they could improve this year simply because their young talent will continue to mature, but as nice as it is to rely on all of that home-grown talent, you’ve also got to be able to supplement that with some key free agent signings. And I’m not talking about Eduardo Perez.

Eduardo Pzere?

Perez is a fallback plan for the Indians, who were unsuccessful in trying to sign Nomar Garciaparra, Brian Giles and Eric Byrnes this offseason to help upgrade their right-handed power.

The Tribe always seems to be in a “fallback” plan when it comes to free agents. We always aim high, go lower, then end up signing lowest, sorta like, “well, we got our right handed batter, whatever.”