Category: Cleveland Indians (Page 61 of 96)

I smiled when I heard Trevor Hoffman elected to re-sign with San Diego today. And even though he scares the crap out of me, I smiled when I read that the Indians signed Bob Wickman, the “Walking Keg” as one colleague calls him, to a one-year, $5 million deal. I like Hoffman, but not for three years and $7 million per, and while I’ve never been a big Wickman fan, I’d rather have him for one more year at $5 million than commit to a 38 year old for two or three years.

The Indians now have their closer. So…who do they get now, especially since they saved some money by getting Wick instead of Hoffman.

It sounds good, but I have a few questions right off the bat. First, it sounds like we’re going to be treated to a lot of fluff, spin, and uncritical “analysis” from an Indians-owned TV network. That can get real old, real fast. Second, anything that is under the control of one cable network, especially the remnants of Adelphia which is now owned by Time Warner, is suspect in my book. How do people with dishes get the Tribe? And third…the increased revenue the Tribe expects to get makes these regular cries of poverty in the off-season ever more ridiculous. Said Shapiro in today’s PD…

“At this moment, my budget hasn’t changed over the last few weeks. Paul and I talk every couple of days. I know our parameters. I know the players we can’t afford to get involved with.”

Well, if the budget hasn’t changed now, it’ll change next year and the year after that, right when the Tribe should be challenging for a World Series. The list of excuses for losing out on free agents is getting shorter all the time.

Fox Sports is reporting that the Tribe is close to signing Padres closer Trevor Hoffman to a 3-year deal. Since Shapiro spoke to Bob Wickman recently, perhaps that means Wickman is gonna retire. That would be me talking out my ass. But anyway.

If Hoffman gets signed, all in all, it’s been a pretty good off-season for Mark Shaprio. You go from a guy with 45 saves in Wickman to a guy with 43 saves in Hoffman, you pick up Paul Byrd to replace a likely departing Kevin Millwood. You lost Howry, yeah, big loss, but it was expected…all that’s left to do is get Elarton back, right? Next stop, front page of Sports Illustrated?

The Tribe signed free-agent right-hander Paul Byrd to a two-year contract worth $14.25 million with a club option for a third season. Byrd was 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in 31 starts last season.

This appears to be a solid move by Shapiro. It looks like Scott Boras was going to make it very difficult to resign Kevin Millwood, so at least the Indians will have a quality starter to fill one of the two open slots in the rotation. Many are speculating that they will resign Elarton as the fifth starter. Byrd is a pro, though he has been injury-prone in the past. At least the Tribe is loaded with young arms who can step in if Byrd doesn’t hold up net season.

Giles re-signs with the Padres, and I’m bummed out.

People said all along that Giles wanted to stay in San Diego but it didn’t look like the Pads were going to meet his contract demands. Well, scratch that. At least the Yankees didn’t get him, right?

But where does this leave the Tribe? It looks like they won’t re-sign Millwood…and they missed out on Giles…and Ryan…and Farnsworth…. Coming off a 93-win season and sporting one of the youngest, most talented rosters in baseball, it looked like the Indians were in a prime position to make some key acquisitions this off-season, just as the Cavaliers were this summer. Unfortunately, Larry Dolan is proving you can’t make much noise in the free-agent market when you’ve got a cheap owner signing the checks.

There’s still time to get something done, of course, but now that you’re not spending the money on Giles — and I hope they don’t invest a lot of money into one of the senior citizen closers out there (Hoffman or Gordon) — why not throw a little more cash Millwood’s way to get that done? What else are you going to spend your money on? Ninety-five games of Nomar Garciaparra? Please. Sure, the upside is great with Nomar, but unless you get him real cheap, the risk may be too much.