Last Place

Last night, the Indians

• Lost to Barry Zito, who was charged with 1 run (but really, he left a guy on base who was let in by a reliever, so, really, despite what the box score says, we didn't score on Barry Zito)
• Were passed by the KC Royals in the standings, and are now in last place in the AL Central
• Started Jorge Velandia
• Pinch-hit for Jorge Velandia with Andy Marte
• Afterwards, moved Casey Blake to shortstop for an inning.

Really. I'm not making any of this up.

Free Andy Marte! Redux!

When last we left the Indians, on June 7, they'd just returned from Texas, they had beaten Detroit in the first game of their series, and well, it looked like any moment they could turn it around, with a weak NL West interleague schedule coming up.

The Indians have proceeded to go 7-9 over the intervening two and half weeks, dropping to 7.5 games below the Whine Sox. They have been passed in the standings by the Motor City Kitties, and now stand a half game out of the AL Central basement.

Since we last spoke, Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield have been added to the DL. The Beaded One is now the Beaded One of Buffalo. Yamid Haad has come and gone and been replaced by Sal Fasano at backup catcher. Jorge Velandia is now officially the emergency middle infielder.

It's time to trade CC. It appears that there will be no appreciable change in the performance either by the offense or the bullpen, the two major reasons that this team is losing games. Our two best historical offensive performers are out, with no definitive timetable for return. Blow it up. Get help. The two compensatory draft picks we would get for keeping CC are likely 4 or 5 years out from helping the team, at best. Start the bidding war now.



Meanwhile, Casey Blake continues to look like a reasonable approximation of a major leaguer, at least with the bat, as he has improved his line to .269/.342/.437 with 7 home runs and 45 RBI. He has increased his OPS+ to 107, proving that he is at least swinging the bat slightly better than the average third-baseman.

Fun facts about Casey Blake:

• At home, he has an OPS+ of 49 and away his OPS+ is 172. All 7 of his home runs have been hit on the road
• In June, his OPS+ is 159.
• With RISP, his line is an incredible .422/.500/.781
• With nobody on, his line is .216/.286/.336
• Career line: .263/.333/.444 (In other words, he had to get unbelievably hot in June to reach his career line, which indicates just how much he sucked in April and May)
• Casey's career line with RISP (including this year): .235/.319/.383 . There's a reason that up until this year, the folks at Let's Go Tribe have called him LOBlake.
• Casey Blake has made 9 chargeable errors at 3B and 1 at 1B in 596 total innings, or 1 error every 66 innings

So, what to make of Casey Blake's magical year with runners on base? My conclusion is that it's highly likely that it's completely unsustainable and that the odds are that he will regress to somewhere closer to his career line. His BABIP with RISP this year is .451. That's extremely lucky. His career BABIP is .300.

What to make of Casey Blake's home/road split? It's more extreme than years past, but over the course of his career, he has hit significantly better on the road than at home:

• Home: .246 / .320 / .392, 42 home runs
• Away: .279 / .345 / .493, 72 home runs

Given how many doubles he's had high up on the left field wall this year, I suspect that the dimensions of Progressive Field actually deflate Blake's homer totals. The 19-foot wall turns balls that would be home runs elsewhere into doubles at his home park.

While Casey Blake is on his hot streak, Andy Marte continues to play dominoes on the bench. Between June 6 and last night, this is what Andy Marte has done:

• June 7 - started at 3B. Went 0-3. Was lifted in the 9th for a pinch-hitter.
• June 11 - Came into the game in the 9th as a defensive substitute. Did not bat
• June 12- Came into the game in the 8th as a defensive substitute. Batted once. Was hit by a pitch
• June 18 - Pinch-hit in the 9th inning. Hit into a double play
• June 21 - Pinch-hit in the 10th inning. Struck out
• June 24 - Started at 3B. Went 0-2 with two strikeouts. Was lifted in the 8th for a pinch-hitter

Since June 7, Andy Marte has had 8 plate appearances and is 0 for 7 with a hit by pitch, with a 17-day stretch between starts.

Andy Marte's season line: .140 / .189 / .160, with 0 home runs and 0 RBI. He has made 1 error in 137 innings at third base.

I'm not going to lie to you - Marte's line this year is not very good. But, this represents 50 official plate appearances. He's started 15 of the Indians 77 games, and he finished only 7 of those - in 8 games he was lifted for a pinch-hitter.

Andy Marte's history has been that at every level he has played, he has started slowly and once he has adjusted he has been effective. When he got hurt last year, Casey Blake fell into one of his hot streaks and Andy Marte got stuck in Buffalo, repeating AAA for the third year in a row. Andy Marte has had no chance to adjust to the major leagues for any extended period of time. A late season callup in 06 and 57 at bats in 20 games last year certainly don't count as an adjustment period.

We need to find out whether Andy Marte can help this team in the future. We don't want to get rid of him cheap only to have him blossom elsewhere (a la Brandon Phillips). Right now, because of Eric Wedge's pigheaded usage of Marte, his trade value is probably at an all time low, but the kid's only 24!

Free Andy Marte! This team's not going anywhere, not with this bullpen and all of these injuries. Lots of teams could use a super utility guy like Casey Blake. He hits better on the road anyway, and his extreme luck with RISP is due to start fizzling any day.

Let the fire sale begin. Casey - see ya! CC - hasta la vista, and enjoy counting your money! Looch - time to enjoy someone else's bench.

The Wind

"The wind, the wind brings me cards from Argentina
It brings scarves from finer ladies
And the scent of the gardenias
Won't sleep or rest or sit itself beside me
If I run out, there's no one that could hide me
And I know that I'll regret it
But I think I'm gonna let it in"

"The Wind" by Nathan, from Key Principles

The Indians have been looking for something to "take fear from bats", and it seems like they may have found it in Arlington this week. The weather was hot, the wind was blowing out, and the Indians got to feast on weak Rangers' pitching. Alas, the wind was also blowing out for the Rangers as well, as the ulitmate result was a split, with the Tribe scoring 39 runs and the Rangers scoring 39 runs. The highlights:

• Monday: Tribe 13 - Rangers 9: Casey Blake, 2 HR, 7 RBI. Laffey got pummeled. Westbrook put on DL. Nobody ready to start next game, since Sowers started earlier in the week.
• Tuesday: Tribe 7 - Rangers 12: Tribe starts Tom Mastny due to Westbrook's sudden appearance on DL. Mastny gets plowed under like last year's corn stalks. Bullpen really didn't recover for the rest of the series.
• Wednesday: Tribe 15 - Rangers 9: Everybody hits! Ben Francisco gets 5 all by himself! Garko gets 4, with 6 RBI. Cliff Lee leaves after getting hosed by the home plate umpire in the 5th inning and allowing the go ahead runs and then paces the dugout hurling curses towards home plate as the Indians break the game open with 5 in the top of the 6th to give him the victory.
• Thursday: Tribe 4 - Ranger 9: With the chance to capture the series and staked to a 4-0 lead, CC Sabathia falls prey to his "inning of crap" (thanks, Steve Buffum), surrenders the lead and then the Senor Slow implodes, putting the game out of reach. Kevin Millwood, after a bad start, pitches lights out into the 7th to get the win for the Rangers.

Other notes:

• Milton Bradley continues to be a showboating douchebag. At least CC hit him with a pitch on Thursday, though he came around to score in the "inning of crap."
• Jake Westbrook is on the DL with "right elbow soreness." He went to see Dr. Yocum and the results will be released this weekend. Uh-oh. Still think the Indians should trade some of their pitching depth?
• The Westbrook injury forced the Tribe to shuffle their bullpen. Tom Mastny and Jensen Lewis were up. Then they were down and Rick Bauer and Brian Slocum came up. Bauer closed out the 15-9 game, giving up 3 runs in the 9th.
• The draft was this week. The Indians took Lonnie Chisenhall, a middle infield type, allegedly with a plus bat, who fell from grace at U South Carolina after being involved in an incident regarding the theft of some electronic equipment.

Last night, the Indians beat the Tigers 4-2, with Paul Byrd getting his 100th career win. The Tribe is now 6.5 games behind the Whine Sox, who have won their last 4.

Andy Marte played Tuesday. So did Blake. Andy went 1 for 3 with a run scored. He was pinch-hit for late in the game by Dellucci, who flied out weakly to left. This is particularly noteworthy because Wedge got outmanaged. Texas pitcher Jamey Wright was struggling. The bases were loaded and the Rangers needed more time to get a pitcher ready. Instead of sending up Marte against a struggling pitcher, Wedge wastes time getting a pinch-hitter up (lefty Dellucci vs righty Wright) allowing the Rangers time to get lefty Eddie Guardado into the game, who proceeded to drink David Dellucci's milkshake.

When we last left Casey Blake's stats, he had an OPS+ of 52. Now that he's been on the road to feast on weak KC and Texas pitching, he has increased his OPS+ to 94, which now actually approximates the OPS+ of an actual major league player, albeit still a below average one. His batting line is now .236/.315/.407. So, don't expect the Casey Blake Experience to end any time soon.

When Andy Marte plays, the Indians are 11-6, with a two game losing streak. Blake also played in both games. When both Marte and Blake play, the Indians are 6-5.

At Least There Was Probably Some Really Good Barbecue

When we last left our intrepid Tribesmen, they were heading to Kansas City for some baseball and some barbecue.

At least, we can only hope they all got some good barbecue, because the baseball was pretty sad. The quick recap:

• Friday - Andy Marte and Casey Blake both play. Andy Marte extends his hitting streak to 4 games. Cliff Lee gets knocked around a little bit but get saved by 2 homers by Sizemore and 1 by Blake and the Indians win, 5-4.
• Saturday - Andy Marte does not play. Casey Blake does. CC Sabathia has, as Steve Buffum calls it, The Inning of Crap. The Indians fail to get their offense going against Kyle Davies, who has just been called up from AAA. Indians lose 4-2. Kansas City losing streak ends at 12 games,
• Sunday - Age and Treachery starts for the Tribe against Brian Bannister. Youth and Inexperience hit Age and Treachery pretty hard, while Bannister shuts the Tribe down. Final score - 6-1 Kansas City. KC win streak now at 2, and the Indians have lost another series, their 5th in a row. Andy Marte plays, goes hitless ending his hit streak at 4 games. Casey Blake does not play.

More fun facts:

• When Andy Marte plays: Indians are 11-5. When Blake and Marte both play - 6-4.
• Pronk is now on the DL with a shoulder injury which he's apparently been battling since very early in the season. Maybe he'll get sent out on rehab and get to devour some Eastern League pitching for a few days and get back in a groove.
• The Indians' silence about injuries to both Pronk and He Who Shall Not Be Named is extremely troubling - it's as if they are trying to become the New England Patriots or the Denver Broncos of the Major Leagues (that's not a good thing - both of these teams are notorious for being tight-lipped about player injuries). This really makes me wonder what we're not hearing about Victor Martinez - his lack of power continues to be puzzling, and I cannot help but think that there is some physical reason why his power has vanished.
• Welcome back, Shin Soo Choo. When Hafner got shut down, Choo got brought up.

Onwards to Texas, having lost 2 in a row and 12 of our last 15 (to the Reds, Whine Sox, Rangers and Royals). This is not the way a contending team performs. Aaron Laffey tries to right the ship against Vicente Padilla tomorrow night.

Andy Marte Sightings and Fun Facts

Andy Marte played Tuesday. The Indians won, increasing the Indians' record when Andy Marte plays to 10-3. Marte got a hit, a double high off the left centerfield wall. Casey Blake did not play.

Andy Marte and Casey Blake both played on Wednesday. The Indians lost. Andy Marte got a hit, increasing his average to .156 and his hit streak to three games.

Fun facts, for your edification:

• The Indians' record (through May 28): 24-29
• The Indians' record when Andy Marte plays: 10-4.
• The Indians' record when Andy Marte does not play: 14-25
• The Indians' record when Andy Marte and Casey Blake both play: 5-4.
• The Indians' record when Andy Marte plays and Casey Blake does not: 5-0.
• The Indians' record when Casey Blake plays: 18-29
• The Indians' record when Casey Blake does not play: 6-0
• Andy Marte: 1 error in 14 games at 3b for a fielding percent of .971
• Casey Blake: 5 errors in 44 games at 3b for a fielding percent of .955
• Casey Blake: 72 OPS+ in 153 at bats on the season (through 5/28)
• Andy Marte: 9 OPS+ in 32 at bats (through 5/28)
• Casey Blake's May batting line (70 at bats): .214./.295/.314
• Andy Marte's May batting line (19 at bats): .211/.250/.263

Swept

The bad news: The Indians just got swept this weekend, at home, by the Royals.

The good news: One of the games was rained out, so it was only a two-game sweep.

Let's go to the checklist:

• Excellent starting pitching wasted? Check
• Closer gives up a home run? Check
• Fielding errors gives up costly runs? Check - this time it was Casey Blake (Sunday) and Franklin Gutierrez (Saturday)
• Failure to pound second- or third-rate opposition pitching? Check
• No sight of Andy Marte? Check
• 8 total hits in two games? Check

Right now, the Indians are a mediocre team. Something has to change to shake this team up before some other team gets hot and puts the whole division in a deep, deep hole. They can't keep wasting good starting pitching like this.

Opening Day, 2008

Instead of posting game summaries (there are a lot of places you can go to get game summaries), this year, Pronk Needs You will be posting quick-hitting impressions, as well as continuing Mojo Watch.

I was at work trying to get a market study out the door, so pretty much all I could do yesterday was listen to the game on Gameday Audio, and since the game went long and we had errands to run, I missed portions of the game call.

My impressions:

• Yes, CC made a few mistakes, but, sheesh, people, don't panic. It's one bad game.
• Nick Massett has clearly been replaced by a Beta Unit.
• To paraphrase Bill Cosby, talking about his friend Harold in one of his classic stand up routines: "Mark Buehrle's gettin' a beatin'? I love to see Mark Buehrle gettin' a beatin!"
• Joe Still Knows Closing
• Victor is day to day, but, to quote Keith Olbermann, "then, again, aren't we all?" Seriously, keep your fingers crossed on the MRI. No word yet on how serious his injury is.
• Casey Blake hit with RISP? Enjoy it, crimestoppers, because if history is any indication, you won't see another one for awhile.
• Frank the Tank! Bringing the lumber!
• Yes, the bullpen was bad. Hope it's not a trend. Senor Slow saves the day again.
• Still think we should have traded Gutierrez to the Royals last year for Dotel? Thought so.
• After all the complaining they did, maybe we need to call them the "Whine Sox" (credit for this belongs to a Let's Go Tribe poster).

Mojo Watch

Franklin Gutierrez -

Casey Blake:

CC Sabathia:

Victor Martinez: Before the injury, it would have been 5 Elvi.

Pronk: 1 for 4, with a double, RBI, and two Ks.

The weather:

Off day today, so enjoy the rain and bask in the glory of yesterday's victory.

Checking Back In

The latest dishes cooking on the Hot Stove:

• Casey Blake, Super Utility Mountain Man (SUMM), has reached agreement with the Indians on a $6.15 million contract before arbitration. Management keeps repeating that Blake will be the starter at third, while Ande Marte, out of options, will likely moulder on the bench, getting spot starts and likely not getting anything going. Blake's a good guy to have around because of his versatility, but I remain unchanged in the opinion that the Tribe needs to either play Marte or trade him. Free Andy Marte!
• The Indians apparently no longer have Johan Santana to treat as their personal rented mule. While last year's domination of Santana was enjoyable, I suspect it was also a statistical anomaly, and I'm glad to find that the Twins dealt him to the National League and not to the FEDBU, or the FEDBU-lite. Although it would have been nice to watch either of those teams empty their farm system for Santana, I'm fully aware that this has a big impact on the Indians for 2008. Santana might win 25 games while pitching in AAAA for the Mets. It was also extremely smart of the Twins to extend Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer before announcing the Santana trade, if only to placate their fans that they're not completely blowing up the team. How long till the Twins sell high on Joe Nathan?
• The Santana extension has still not happened for the Mets, so CC's price remains unfixed. However, it appears that both CC and Mark Shapiro are saying the right things and keeping negotiations out of the media - in other words, everyone's acting like a grown up so far. Gotta love that about this organization.
• Jorge Julio has been extended an NRI (non-roster invitation) to attend spring training with the Indians. If they can get him to throw quality strikes, and has a great spring, it's a good move - he has closing experience,and he still throws heat.
• Since my last post, the Tribe has also extended Senor Slow. Another fine move to lock up the best of the people you have by Tribe leadership.
• Indians lose Brian Barton (no surprise) and Matt Whitney (big surprise) to Rule 5. I have to believe that Whitney will be back, given the glut at first base of the Nationals. Barton - it would have been nice to have been able to keep Barton, but I find no fault with the guys they did protect instead. It's nice to have so much talent at the upper end of the sytem that you can't protect it all.

I went to the Indians Press Caravan in Columbus last week. It was a zoo. There must have been several hundred people milling about the ballroom at the Columbus Easton Hilton. Some notes from that event:

• It was amusing to see women lined up two deep with cameras to take Grady Sizemore's picture while he talked with the sports talkers from WBNS-AM.
• Tom Hamilton does not believe the Tigers have the pitching to win the AL Central. Neither do I.
• Eric Wedge believes we should just relax in the 9th inning when Joe Knows Closing is on the mound, because it is out of our hands and in the hands of the baseball gods.
• The line for Grady Sizemore's autograph was significantly longer than the line for Scott Lewis' or Jensen Lewis'.
• Eric Wedge radiates confidence and again repeated what we've been hearing from Mark Shapiro about other teams wanting major leaguers on the current roster in trades, rather than prospects, and Wedge was extremely reluctant to give up on anyone on this team.
• According to Wedge, Barfield is almost certain to start the season at Buffalo, specifically to work on his hitting. It seems that The Beaded One is the second baseman next year, period, unless Josh Barfield works some kind of miracle and Cabrera fails to hit.
• When asked about left field, Wedge expressed significant confidence in the Dellucci-Michaels platoon.

In other news:

• Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen? It's hard to believe that the reputations of both of these players have diminished to the point that this deal provokes a yawn on my part.
• Nick Swisher to the Sox - Shapiro is taking a lot of heat on the fan boards for not going hard after Swisher, but it seems to me like Swisher was not available until the White Sox made the A's an offer they couldn't refuse. The White Sox continue to baffle me - they should be blowing this team up and rebuilding, yet they're selling low on their best prospects. It's okay with me if they want to continue to be a 70-win team, but I imagine all 12 Sox fans are puzzlecd by the way their front office is handling this team. Yeah, they're making moves, but it seems like they're making moves just to make moves.
• If the Erik Bedard deal with the O's falls through because Peter Angelos is clueless, then the Tribe should explore trading Sabathia to the M's for a similar package if it seems that CC and management have an unbridgeable negotiating gulf. Adam Jones would look fantastic in left field. Could you imagine an outfield of Adam Jones, Grady Sizemore and Frank the Tank?
• Now that Santana is off the board, it will be interesting to see how the pitching market shapes up for the remaning free agents (Lohse, Livan Hernandez, etc.). Cliff Lee, anyone?
• I have suggested on at least one other forum that, now that the A's are blowing things up, the Indians should make a push for Eric Chavez and Huston Street, with a package built around Marte, and some excess pitching. The A's would have the luxury of playing Marte every day, and the Indians could use a more reliable (albeit injury prone) closer. Blake could back up Chavez when (not if) he gets hurt. Sure, it would be expensive, but it could also help put the Tribe over the top. Chavez is a vacuum cleaner at third, and we have more than our fair share of groundball pitchers.
• The Super Bowl - Yawn.
• Yanks sign Ensberg - do the Yanks really need any more expensive reclamation projects? I guess that's why they're the FEDBU - they can afford to throw bucnhes of guys like Ensberg against the wall in the hopes that one of them will stick, unlike the Indians, who have to be right on every time.
• I'd love to believe Roger Clemens. I just can't. He can trot out as many statistics as he wants, but now he's more than a headhunting punk - he's a headhunting punk on PEDs.
• Mike Hampton is healthy? Heard that before. If you believe that, you'll buy this watch.

All He Does is Throw Strikes

Thoughts on the ALCS Game 4:

• Who knew that Paul Byrd was such a big game pitcher? All he does is throw strike 1, then strike 2, and then make you swing at his pitch. It's Pitching 101, and the old guy can do it through the lineup twice. It's age and treachery overcoming youth and skill. He beat the Yankees, and for 5 innings, confounded the Red Sox. If the Indians had not batted for over a half hour in the bottom of the fifth, allowing Byrd to get cold, I wonder whether Byrd might not have been good for another two innings.
• The problem with knuckleball pitchers without another good pitch is that they are prone to hang that one knuckleball that gets clobbered. Tim Wakefield hung that one pitch, Casey Blake, Mountain Man, clobbered it, and then the wheels fell off for the Sawx in the bottom of the fifth. Manny Delcarmen didn't help much by giving up a three-run homer to Jhonny Peralta that pretty well sealed the deal.
• What difference does a stolen base make? I was surprised to see Lofton steal second base with the Tribe up 6-0, because typical baseball etiquette has been that if you are up by that much then stealing is showing the other team up. Lofton scored to make the game 7-0. When the Sawx got their back-to-back-to-back shots in the 6th, the difference between a four-run game and a three-run game meant the Tribe could keep Senor Slow in the game in the 9th because it was not a save situation.
• You just went back-to-back-to-back out of the yard, Manny Ramirez! Please admire your shot and showboat around the bases for your adoring fans! The fact that you're still down 4 runs should make no difference! You can argue that it's just Manny being Manny, but sometimes, Manny being Manny is actually Manny being a clueless egotistical jerk.
• I thought the Sawx defense was supposed to be better than the Tribe's. After both Youk and Pedroia managed to muff a foul pop by Asdrubal Cabrera that might have settled the team down in the fifth, Wakefield then muffed one up the box. If they make either of those plays on Cabrera, the game is different. And Youk made a bad error (one he got charged with) on an attempted pickoff play that was lucky not to have hurt the Sawx in the 6th. So far, the Indians and Sawx have only been charged with 1 error.
• What's that giant sucking sound I hear? No, Ross Perot, it's not NAFTA sucking American jobs south of the border - it's the bottom of the Sawx lineup. Once you get past Lowell, it's pretty much automatic outs until you get back around to Youkilis.
• In the battle of personal catchers, Shoppach went 1 for 3, plus getting hit by a pitch and scoring a run in the pivotal fifth inning. Mirabelli went 0 for 2 and was pulled for Varitek as soon as possible after Wakefield was lifted.
• Pronk got the golden sombrero, striking out 4 times in 4 at bats. Mercifully, Cabrera ended the 8th inning by grounding into a fielder's choice before Pronk could take the mucho gigante golden sombrero in his 5th at bat. Pronk seemed overmatched by the knuckleball. He's hitting .200 for the series, with an OPS of .694. And the Indians are up 3 games to 1.
• Gho Jhonny Gho! Ihf thhe Ihndians whin thhis sheries, Jhonny ihs clhearly the AhLCS MhVP. Jhonny's OhPS - 1.h213.
• The Tribe's postseason veterans have been getting it done. Lofton - key homer in Game 3. Trot - game winning hit in Game 2. Byrd - winning pitcher Game 4. Joe Knows Closing - Save Game 3, Finished Game 2. Sabathia - well, we'll give him a pass until tomorrow.
• Which CC shows up tomorrow? Big Game CC of 2007, calmly throwing strikes and unruffled by bad umpiring or facing Johan Santana, or Postseason CC, who is a mess of flop sweat because he can't throw a strike. If CC shows command of the strike zone and command of himself tomorrow, I think the Red Sox go home for good. Even so, I like the pitching matchups for Game 6 and 7 in Boston in case the Indians can't finish it up at home.
• Dane Cook Must Go.

Age, Treachery and Facial Hair

"Age and Treachery will overcome Youth and Skill" -- popular T-shirt

The Indians' version of Age and Treachery, Paul Byrd, bamboozled the Minnesota Twins on 4 hits to pitch a complete game shutout, using only 99 pitches to go the distance. The Twinkies were completely off-balance all night, grounding out weakly and popping out.

The Tribe managed just enough offense off Carlos Silva. A clean-shaven Casey Blake, sacrificing his beard for the good of the team, had 2 RBI, and Pronk hit a mammoth clout off the facing of the upper deck in right field. The Indians actually had some timely hitting, getting 2 of the 4 runs with two outs. One run was the direct result of Pronk breaking up a double play.

The suddenly surging White Sox, fresh off of a sweep of the Motor City Kitties, will host the Tribe tonight, with Westbrook going against Danks.

In other news, utility infielder Mike Rouse was DFA'd after the game. It's not known who his replacement will be. Possibilities include Joe Inglett, Asdrubal Cabrera, and someone off the waiver wire. It is unlikely to be Luis Rivas, who is currently on the minor league DL. Rouse, a reasonably solid fielder, has made several critical fielding mistakes lately, and was hitting about at the Neifi Perez line, which is several notches below the Mendoza line.

Still no word on the ulitimate disposition of Fernando Cabrera. Hector Luna got picked up by the Blue Jays. Go figure.

Mojo Watch

Cleveland Indians:

The Tribe showed some Elvis last night. I hope this will carry over into the White Sox series.

Pronk:

Pronk showed substantial Elvis last night, crushing one to the facing of the upper deck in right, and breaking up a double play. However, his Elvis has been so low lately that he's still barely above Michael J. Fox level.

Paul Byrd:

The old guy's still got some major Elvis left. Last night's win was victory #10 on the year. Yeah, it's Vegas Fat Elvisness because it's all about age and treachery and the old school full windup, but it's still Elvisness, a quality this team has been dangerously low on lately.