Now What?

I've taken a few days to get the season out of my system. I've moved past denial into acceptance, and I'm ready for Hot Stove.

Here are the issues that the Tribe needs to face during the offseason, as I see them, in no particular order:

• Pronk's Mojo - Pronk's Mojo must be found. First priority. It's out there, people - keep looking!
• Who's on Third? - Andy Marte is out of options. It's time to fish or cut bait with Andy Marte. If Andy Marte can be a right handed power bat in the bottom of this order, that would be huge for the Tribe. That also frees Casey Blake to be Super Utility Grizzly(SUG), a role for which he is ideally suited.
• Whither CC? - I suspect that negotiations on an extension for CC have already started. The only way CC is not on this roster at the end of the 2008 season is if the Indians are 20 games out at the All-Star break. I don't see that happening. I think 2007 has only made this team hungrier for 2008 and the Tribe's best shot to win it all is with CC on the mound, despite his poor post-season performances. CC appears to be one who is very capable of learning and growing from his mistakes. Chalk up the 2007 postseason for CC as a learning experience.
• How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Byrdman? - Three weeks ago, picking up Paul Byrd's option was a drop dead no-brainer. At $8 million for a veteran #4 starter, Byrd is cheap in today's baseball economy. Then came the HGH controversy. Without getting into any conspiracy theories about the allegation's timing, it is fortuitous for the Indians that this came out before the Tribe was required to notify Byrd whether they were going to pick up his option, as the team can fully assess the ramifications before saying "yes." I think they pick up his option and slot him at #4. The free agent market for pitching is pretty thin, and Byrd's clubhouse presence cannot be ignored.
• Who's the #5 Starter? - It's going to be a fun battle this spring to see who is the number 5 guy. Aaron Laffey is a left-handed ground ball specialist. Can lefty Cliff Lee get his pitching and attitude together and flash back to 2004 form? Is "Atom" Miller ready? Was Jeremy Sowers a flash in the pan with his Jamie Moyer like junkballing? Do you trade one or any of these guys for offseason help? If Adam Miller is ready, then I think you have to add his power arm to this rotation, with Aaron Laffey as a swing guy out of the pen. Is there a team out there who would be willing to take a chance on Cliff Lee in return for a prospect or two? I think Shapiro has to explore that option in the offseason. I think we've seen the last of Lee in Tribewear.
• Who Closes? - Gotta be Joe Knows Closing. His option is cheap, and unless Shapiro does something radical like bring in Mariano Rivera, we're in for more tightrope walking in the 9th next season. Senor Slow will continue to be the high leverage guy in the late innings.
• Crowded House in the Outfield - No, not the Finn boys from Kiwi land, but the logjam of bodies in the outfield. We know K-Love will be gone. Gutierrez appears to have solved the right field problem, so that pretty much leaves Jason Michaels, David Dellucci, Ben Francisco and Shin Soo Choo fighting it out for playing time in left field. Can the platoon of Michaels and Dellucci perform next year as advertised? Choo is out of options. Neither one has anything left to prove at AAA. Do we see them carry 5 outfielders, with Choo/Gutierrez platooning in right and Dellucci/Michaels platooning in left. If so, then it limits the team as to bench help in the infield. Look for Shapiro to try to move either Francisco or Choo in the offseason, perhaps packaged with a pitcher (Lee or Sowers?), either for prospects or a talented corner outfield bat.
• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Josh Barfield? - The causes for the complete nosedive of Josh Barfield in 2007 are totally mysterious. Sophomore slump? League change? Did he lose some lucky object in his move to Cleveland? Is he under some kind of voodoo curse? At any rate, it looks like he and Cabrera will go into Spring Training fighting it out for the second base job, and it looks every bit like this is Cabrera's job to lose. Barfield probably starts the year at Buffalo to see if he can find anything resembling plate discipline. After this horrendous season, his trade value is at an all-time low, so he's not going anywhere.
• Retire the Chief - It's time. In fact, it's way past time. As someone with a very small percentage of Native ancestry, I understand why it's offensive, and as a fan, it bothers me that people cannot root for my team because they find its symbol offensive. It's one thing to root against a team because you find the players (Albert Belle anyone?) or the city not to your liking. It's another when the mascot mocks and trivializes your ancestry and heritage. We could also change the name while we're at it so we don't have any more idiots showing up at the park in headdresses with their faces painted red. Man, that was embarrassing. Symbols matter. Get a fresh start, Tribe. Put Chief Wahoo in the rear view mirror.
• Trades? - This team really doesn't have to do much in the offseason trade market. A power hitting corner outfielder for left field would be nice. Additional bullpen help is always a good idea if the price is right, as building a bullpen is a crapshoot every year (see Cabrera, Fernando or the 2006 Indians). If the past is any guideline, whatever Shapiro does will probably be something we don't see coming.

It's Good to Be Back Home Again

When last we left our intrepid band of Wahoo Warriors, they were in the midst of a wicked 10-game road trip featuring stops in Minnesota, A Nameless Place in Southern California, and Chicago. They had just dropped the first game of a 4-game set in that Nameless Place in Southern California.

The good news is that, after dropping a tough game 2 of that series, the Indians went on to take the next two, including a Sunday night victory on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, to split the series.


After a 4:30 AM arrival in Chicago, the team managed to show some spunk, behind a 3-run 7th-inning rally to win a rain soaked 6-2 game that lasted well into Tuesday morning. After a 2-hour-plus rain delay, the Indians poured on two more runs while Chicago was phoning it in. Chicago phoned in the next game as well. With the off-day coming, Eric Wedge decided to rest key regulars to give them a two-day break. Unfortunately, the Indians were facing Javier Vazquez, who is pretty much the only consistent pitcher the Sox have left, and, with the Sox' Konerko given a gift home run that was clearly foul, as well as a poor relief performance from Cliff "Sleepy Kitten" Lee (see below), the Tribe managed to lost 7-4.







So, the grueling road trip is over, and the Indians went 7-3. This caps a stretch of 23 straight days with a game, during which the Indians went 16-7, and ended with a 5.5 game lead, and a magic number of 11. You know, this team might turn out to be pretty good after all, after all the hand-wringing we've been through this year.


After an off day for everyone, the Tribe last night managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat once again, coming from a 4-1 deficit against the Royals on a 2-run homer by Franklin Gutierrez in the 7th, a solo homer from Victor Martinez in the 8th, and a leadoff, walkoff solo shot by Casey Blake in the 9th against Tribe castoff David Riske. Joe Knows Closing got the victory for pitching a reasonably uneventful 9th. Last night's victory leaves the Tribe's magic number at 10.

Mojo Watch:

Pronk: It seemed like Pronk was about to turn it around. He hasn't, at least not to the extent we all have hoped. He still has managed to knock in 91 runs. However, his 21 homers is half of what he put up last year in 8 fewer games than he has already played this year.

Indians: The Indians continue to run on Full Elvis. They're winning the games they should win, and sometimes even winning the games they have no business winning. The magic number is 10.

Sweep!

If the Indians do indeed go on to win the AL Central, their performance this year against the Twins, a team that has given them problems in recent years, will be one of the key reasons why. Yesterday's 6-2 win left the Indians 14-4 in the season series versus the Twinkies, including 5 victories against Johan Santana (who, despite the thorough beatdowns he's received from the Indians, still seems to get all the pub for AL Cy Young).

The Indians continued their recent trend of jumping out to an early lead by getting to Scott Baker for 3 runs in the first inning and peppering him for 11 hits in 5 innings. Tribe starter Fausto Carmona spent most of the game pitching with runners on base, but was also bailed out by three double plays, and only had one bad inning, giving up 2 in the fifth. The Tribe put it out of reach with 3 big insurance runs in the 9th on big RBI hits by Jhonny Peralta and Kenny Lofton, allowing Rafael Perez to stay on and get his first major league save, giving Joe Knows Closing the day off.

Pronk: 2 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and 1 RBI. Hitting streak now at 7 games. Batting average up to .260.

With this victory, the Indians have now won 16 of their last 20 games, and continue to hold a 7-game lead in the AL Central after Detroit's extra-inning 2-1 victory over the White Sox.

Mojo Watch:
Pronk: Still not clearly at Full Elvis, but clearly not regressing either.

Tribe: This team remains at Full Elvis. We'll see how much Elvis they'll have after a West Coast swing, as they start a four-game series today against the Angels of Somewhere Between LA and San Diego. Tonight - Byrd vs. Escobar.

Pronkitude! Tightrope Saves! Spills, Chills and Thrills Aplenty!

Pronk went yard in the first inning last night to stake the Tribe to a first inning lead for the second night in a row, and the Indians survived another bizarre save by Joe Borowski to hold on to a 6-5 victory over the now not-quite-so-hot-as-they-were Twins.


Grady Sizemore also went deep for the Tribe and Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Garko and Jhonny Peralta all came up with big RBIs, as the Tribe extended their AL Central lead to 3.5 games over the Tigers and 7.5 games over the Twins. Last night the Motor City Kitties lost 6-3 to the Royals.

With the Tribe leading 6-3 going into the ninth, Joe Borowski came in and promptly gave up Brian Buscher's first major league home run. After inducing Rondell White to pop up, Borowski gave up a bunt single to Jason Tyner, and then Jason Bartlett hit what looked like an inning-ending double play down the third base line, where Casey Blake, playing on the line to prevent doubles, was hunched over ready to field the ball. Because Joe Borowski was on the mound, however, the ball hit the base and took a crazy hop right through Casey Blake's legs for a double, putting the tying run on second base. After retiring Torii Hunter on a sac fly, Borowski then struck out Justin Morneau looking with a wicked slider on the outside corner and Cleveland was able to breathe again. I'll say it again - Joe Knows Closing.

The game also featured a phenomenal catch by Torii Hunter in centerfield, who robbed Blake of extra bases with a full speed leaping catch, after which he hit the wall hard and laid on the turf for a couple minutes, clearly winded. Nick Punto also made a nice barehanded stop of a bouncer up the middle to get Ryan Garko.

With this win, the Indians have now guaranteed their fourth straight series victory, and have won four in a row and eight of their last twelve. Pronk has a 5 game hit streak and has raised his average to .256.

Mojo Watch
Pronk: Pronk looks like he's coming around.

Indians Bats: The two-out clutch hitting continues.

Indians Pitching: Although neither Westbrook nor Byrd nor Borowski cruised, they are getting the job done, and the Two Raffies (Betancourt and Perez) are locking down opponents.

Indians Overall: No reason to reduce them from 4 Elvi. They're getting the job done, this series against a good team that needed to win to stay in the pennant race. It's nice to see the Indians exposing the Twinkies for the pretenders that they are.

Next up: Santana vs. Sabathia. So far the Indians have managed not to lose to Santana this year. Here's hoping the trend continues.

Tribe Finds a Pearl in Cabrera

Asdrubel Cabrera, the Tribe's "Shortstop of the Future" is looking more and more like the "Second Baseman of Today." All he did yesterday was get a clutch two-out 9th inning hit to send the game into bonus baseball. The day before he made a totally sick play where he fielded a wicked hop groundball and shoveled the ball to Peralta to start a double play - with the runner going. Plus, he's got a signature fashion statement - a necklace which appears to be pearl. Not every baseball player could get away with that.

Since The Pearl was inserted into the starting lineup, the Tribe is 7-3. They finish a road trip where they won all three series at 6-3. Small sample size? Heck yes. Were two of those teams Tampa Bay and Kansas City? Yes. But he seems to have given this team some sort of spark, and the team certainly needed it. On this road series, the Indians did something they hadn't been doing - they beat teams they should have beat. And they took 2 out of 3 from the Tigers.

It was nice to see Pronk get a big base hit yesterday - the winning hit in the 11th in fact, smoking a liner up the middle that actually fell in. Pronk has been a victim of some bad luck lately, but he looked good on that at bat. Turning point? Maybe. We'll see. We've had so many potential turning points recently for Pronk and he's not turned on any of them.

The series against those Pesky Twins will be big for both teams. A good showing here by the Tribe will likely knock the Twins out of playoff contention and perhaps even make them August 31 deadline sellers instead of buyers. Wouldn't that be pleasant to see?

Mojo Watch
Pronk: . I'm giving Pronk back some Elvis, since he got the game winning hit and all.

Indians hitting: This team actually displayed some clutch hitting over the weekend - big hits with two outs and two strikes and game on the line and whatnot. Sure, it was KC, but it bodes well.

Indians pitching:

Asdrubal Cabrera: This kid's got major Elvis going right now, and it seems to be catching.

The Cleveland Indians: Let's give them 4 Elvi for taking care of business on the road. Now it's time to come home and do the laundry and put the Twins through the wringer. We haven't seen much Leadership Pie lately. Time to go to the bakery on this key homestand.

Sometimes, You Turn a Corner Only To Run Into Another Wall

Coming into last night's game agains the Kansas City Royals, things were looking pretty good for the Tribe. They had their ace, CC Sabathia, on the mound. They had a 2.5 game lead on the Tigers, after winning two exciting games in Detroit with some clutch hitting and some solid pitching. Zack Greinke, once the Royals ace of the future, was making his first start since getting demoted to the bullpen for incompetence, and was on a 45-pitch limit, so it was guaranteed that the Tribe would get deep into the Royals bullpen.


However, the Tribe once again showed "floppe diem" (fumble the day) as they wasted another fine performance by failing to get any clutch hitting (or any significant hitting at all) in a 2-1 loss to the Royals. The Royals were helped by a critical passed ball by Victor Martinez. With the tying run on third base in the eighth and one out after Emil Brown misplayed Asdrubal Cabrera's fly ball to right into a gift triple, Kenny Lofton, the hero of the previous night's game, whiffed on three pitches. His failure meant Blake had to get a hit to score the run, and he grounded out. Why not a squeeze bunt with Lofton, your best bunter and a swift runner on third, and your team in an offensive funk? Because Eric Wedge doesn't believe in the bunt.


Meanwhile, after wasting whatever mojo they had from winning the last two games of the Detroit series, the Indians were done in time to watch Detroit get a thrilling extra-inning win over the Yankees.


AL Central lead - 1.5 games and slipping.

Mojo Watch:
Pronk:
Pronk has no Elvis. He smashes the ball and the other team makes a ridiculous catch. He bloops the ball and it falls in.

Bats:
I thought the bats had some Elvis after the Detroit series. I didn't expect they would score 1 run against 5 KC pitchers. Ouch.

Pitchers:
The only thing keeping the pitchers from having full Elvis is the fact that they're not winning because the bats have gone cold.