|
News & Notes
12-06-2006
Assistant GM Chris Antonetti was
on STO last night talking about future lineups. It looks like
the platoons in the OF will be: Michaels in LF and Blake in RF
against lefties, Delucci in LF and Choo in RF against righties.
He added that against righties Blake would then move to 1st
base.
Here is yet more confirmation
that Ryan Garko is not in their plans. The Indians have never
given any indication he was in their plans in a serious way and
this latest bit of news is another in a long line of of this
kind of talk. If you think they will still keep him around, what
would the reason possibly be?
A) As a backup 1st baseman. Since
when do MLB teams keep bench players on the roster that can only
play 1B and not that well?
B) The Indians have to play Kelly
Shoppach (C) at least some of the time. Since about the only
time Shoppach even resembles a ML hitter is against lefties
(.997 OPS against & .529 against RHP), then that will be his
only opportunity for playing time. Which means either Victor
Martinez is going to sit the bench or, if they want to keep him
in the lineup, will have to play another position. The DH is out
with Hafner there. Martinez can't play any other position that
we know of. So first base it is.
If you combine the above
scenarios, that leaves about the 10-15 games that Victor
Martinez does not play at all where Garko could possibly get
playing time. It aint happening. Garko is gone. Either the
Indians get something for him now or wait around like they did
last year with the "utility infielder competition" in spring
training (Brandon Phillips/Ramon Vazquez) and end up with nothing. Well,
they could always send him to Buffalo again and push his value
down a little more.
Might as well get something for
him, either another prospect or part of a package that would
bring something significant back. I could see quite a few teams
being interested in him: Oakland, Boston, Anaheim, Pittsburgh,
Baltimore, and even peripheral teams like Atlanta & Seattle if
they end up trading their own first basemen for other needs.
Most of these teams have players the Indians should be
interested in:
Oakland: has very good bullpen
pitchers.
Boston: has Manny Ramirez, who
has Cleveland as his 1st choice of teams to be traded to.
Anaheim: like Oakland, has very
good bullpen options.
Pittsburgh: has a good closer in
Mike Gonzalez
Seattle: has another good closer
in J.J. Putz.
Atlanta & Baltimore have various
prospects that would return equal value for Garko.
The GM needs to quit chasing
cheap bullpen pieces and not ignore other areas of the team.
Getting decent value for Ryan Garko should be a priority if for
no other reason than this: Garko has got a chance to make the
Brandon Phillips fiasco look like a blip on the fans' radar
screens.
Jake Westbrook - If
starters with spotty histories (injury and performance) are
getting multiple year deals at $11 million/per, then what is
Westbrook going to cost in free agency after the 2007 season?
Surely he is worth more than Vincente Padilla. Westbrook is not
an ace and not even a front of the rotation pitcher (since when
do guys averaging 4+ ERAs get labeled FOR?). Here's another guy
the Indians should be looking to deal for the best return. No
way should the Indians sit on their hands and end up with
nothing more than a draft pick as compensation. The way this off
season has gone, even Paul Byrd might net a good prospect.
Westbrook should get either a package of them or a significant
ML player.
And whether Westbrook said he
wanted to test the market after 2007 (as has been rumored) or
not, the market realities make that mute now as the Indians are
not going to break the bank on middle types of starters.
Chris Antonetti also said last
night on STO that Fausto Carmona will not be in the bullpen in
2007 and is ready for a starting job. That makes one of the
Indian's starters expendable. Then, when you consider the
Indians have Adam Miller knocking on the door and guys like
Jason Davis, Brian Slocum, or even Jeremy Guthrie around in a
pinch, there is really no reason to hold onto this starting
staff the way it is constituted today. Jake Westbrook, Ryan
Garko, and one of the surplus in the OF now should bring back
quite a bit to this organization.
top
|