PLAY BALL!

The Cleveland Indians opened their 2010 Cactus League season Friday against the interstate rival Cincinnati Reds; beating the Red’s 9-2 behind 15 hits and solid pitching. Indians pitchers held Cincinnati to just five hits while striking out nine and walking just one.

It’s very early; but there are some potentially valuable nuggets to take from this game.First, Cleveland’s pitchers are going to have to throw strikes this season. 2009 was brutal for Cleveland pitching.The Indians finished the season 2nd worst in ERA (5.07), 5th in BB/9 (3.75), 28th in K/BB (1.65) and 6th in HR/9 (1.15). By the numbers, Cleveland’s staff was the 2nd to Baltimore as the worst staff in baseball. If they are going to be competitive, they are going to have to rely on an average or above-average pitching staff. In order for this staff to do that, they cannot afford to give too much away. Suffice it to say, the Indians are going to need to control the ball a little more and hit the zone, especially to stay ahead in the count and keep opposing runners off base. In Friday’s game, three pitchers critical to Cleveland’s success this season retired every batter faced. Those pitchers are Aaron Laffey, Rafael Perez and Chris Perez, who combined for 4 IP, 3 K’s, and 0 BB. Another player who will be relied on heavily is starter Justin Masterson who faced seven batters in 2 IP with 3 K’s and 0 BB’s while throwing only 13 pitches, all strikes. I for one am extremely high on Masterson who looked stellar in his final outing of last season 9 IP, 12 K’s and 2 BB’s while giving up only one earned run; Friday’s performance was in a similar vein.

On the offensive side, the Tribe just plain hit the ball, with 11 of their 20 batters collecting hits including three doubles, a triple, and three homers while going 5 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Also, 4 of the 11 players had multiple hits. Cleveland also showed some patience accumulating five walks while striking out six times. Newly appointed leadoff man Asdrubal Cabrera lead the game off with a homer, going 2 for 3 and up and coming left fielder Nick Weglarz hit a mammoth opposite field home run and walked in his only other plate appearance.

There’s not a lot to analyze from this as it is only one game, but I liked what I saw on both sides of the ball. I think that Cleveland will put up runs. If we get some pitching support, things could get interesting, especially playing in the AL Central. It’s truly hard to project what will happen this season, but it’s good to come out of the gate with such a strong, encouraging performance.I really hope that Indians’ pitchers throw strikes this season, if for no other reason than for me to keep my sanity. Today was definitely a step in the right direction.

Photo: Cleveland.com

After a physical today, Russell Branyan is set to join the Tribe in Goodyear, Arizona this week for his 4^th stint with the organization.  The 34 year old first baseman has reached a one year agreement with the Indians worth up to $3 million ($2 million base + incentives) with a mutual team/player option for 2011 worth $5 million.  Branyan will bring some much needed power to a tribe lineup that in the bottom half of the league in homeruns (10^th) and overall slugging (8^th). 

There are a few reasons why Branyan fits in nicely with the Indians:  First off, there are glaring uncertainties with the power hitters in Cleveland’s lineup.  Grady Sizemore is coming of an injury plagued season where he hit 18 homers while OPSing .788 in 503 plate appearances (all three career lows).  Another Tribe slugger, Travis Hafner, hasn’t been the old Pronk since he signed a contract extension during the 2007 season.    Secondly, Branyan offers insurance for Hafner and first baseman of the future Matt LaPorta who is coming of hip and toe surgery this winter.  Branyan can also act as a buffer for someone such as Michael Brantley who may benefit from a little more time down in Columbus.  Finally, Branyan is coming off of his best season as a major leaguer and he brings power to the first base position that has not been seen in Cleveland since Jim Thome left in following the 2002 season.  The Tribe offense suffered through injuries to both Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner in 2009.  Hafner entered the 2009 season as a question mark coming off of shoulder surgery that shortened his 2008 season.  His ’09 numbers were more in line with his career numbers than in ’08, but he was still limited to only 94 games and 383 plate appearances while hitting 16 HR’s and OPSing .836.  Sizemore was shut down in early September to have two surgeries and played through pain for most of the season; which no doubt contributed to the lowest offensive output of his career.  Cleveland looks for both of these guys to come back healthy in 2010 and contribute, but it is unlikely that Hafner will return to the player who hit 42 homeruns and OPS’d and amazing 1.097 in 2006.  In fact, Bill James predicts Hafner to replicate 2009: 16 HR’s, .880 OPS.  The outlook on Sizemore is more favorable.  But even if Grady lives up to projections (25 HR’s), the Tribe could still use a legitimate power hitter to shore up the middle of a lineup in which Shin-Soo Choo lead with only 20 homeruns.  Enter Russell Branyan, whose 31 homeruns in 2009 were a career high and were good for 11^th in the American League.    

Photo: AP

Mark Shapiro set a deadline, and not only did he meet it, but he left a couple weeks to spare. Shapiro, sped up by another team's wishes, named former Nationals skipper Manny Acta the 40th manager of the Cleveland Indians Sunday.

Acta, 40, had a record of 158-252 in his two and a half seasons in Washington from 2007 to July 2009. He was let go on July 13th after a 26-61 start to the '09 campaign. The Nationals' records his first two years were 73-89 and 59-102 respectively. To be fair, however, the Nationals have not had a winning record since 2003, when they went 83-79 as the Montreal Expos, and they certainly don't look to be headed that way anytime in the next season or two.

Photo: Jon Fobes/Cleveland.com

I had a feeling it was coming, I knew it was needed, and yet I breathed a sigh of relief when it finally came to fruition. Mark Shapiro pulled the plug on the Eric Wedge regime today, the entire regime in fact, as the entire coaching staff, including pitching coach Carl Willis, hitting coach Derek Shelton, 3B coach Joel Skinner, 1B coach Luis Rivera, bench coach Jeff Datz, and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez, were relieved of their duties effective at season's end.

And so ends the underwhelming tenure of Eric Wedge. In his seven seasons, he compiled a record of 560-568 with his lone playoff appearance coming in 2007 with the AL Central Division crown, and he brought the team to the brink of their sixth World Series appearance, only to be shredded by the Red Sox in three straight games. Wedge nor his team or its fanbase have truly recovered from those three games, and they may not for some time.

For the second straight night, I was in attendance at Fifth Third Field as the Mud Hens and Clippers squared off. Tonight, Hector Rondon took the hill for Columbus against Scot Drucker for the Mud Hens. Here are my brief thoughts about tonight's game.

-Josh Barfield must've taken this writer's message to heart last night, because Barfield crushed a three-run blast in his second at-bat in the third inning to give the Clippers the early 3-0 lead. It was Barfield's 2nd homer as a Clipper. Once again, Barfield was in left field due to injuries.

-Color me disappointed that in two nights I failed to see Michael Brantley or Jason Donald and saw Lou Marson only once (unless you count watching him bullpen catch tonight), yet saw plenty of Jesus Merchan and Niuman Romero. Excluding LaPorta, the Clipper lineup can be best described as a "rolling blackout", i.e. very little power.

On a rainy evening in Toledo, balls were flying out of the park for the hometown Mud Hens as lefty starter Chuck Lofgren struggled through six innings. Here's my perceptions taking in the game in person tonight.

-First, let me start by saying that Columbus is quite depleted right now. Considering the Indians have dug deep into their Triple-A squad this year, that is to be expected. As a result, guys like Mickey Hall, Jesus Merchan, Niuman Romero, and Stephen Head were in the starting lineup tonight.

-Hall, who filled in for the injured Michael Brantley (ankle) in center tonight, went 3-for-4, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances, including two doubles. He was the player to be named in the Paul Byrd trade with the Red Sox last season. He has some speed, but he was picked off of first base after walking in the third inning.

-Toledo starter Ruddy Lugo didn't appear to want anything to do with Matt LaPorta tonight. LaPorta reached base his first three times to the plate via two walks and a hit by pitch.  LaPorta was 0-for-2 on the evening, including a fielder's choice to end the game with the bases loaded down four runs in the ninth.

In Columbus, there might be fewer Cleveland Indian fans than there are in the home city, but there is a good populus of them. Having the AAA affiliate based in this city does make the fan base grow. With that, there are people who want the same accountability held that fans in Cleveland expect.

The latest example took place earlier this week when WBNS-FM radio host Bruce Hooley, who used to be a sports writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wanted answers from the top of the organization. In that, he wanted to talk to General Manager Mark Shapiro. Unfortunately, he was unavailable to comment. Therefore, Shapiro sent Assistant GM Chris Antonetti to face the questions from Hooley and his co-worker, former Ohio State and NFL linebacker Chris Spielman.

The following audio clip is of the conversation that took place: Note: WBNS AM and FM are part of the Indians Radio Network.
http://blog.971thefan.com/bigshow/2009/08/interview_with_indians_assista.html

Photo: Dispatch.com

Yesterday morning, young Victor Jose Martinez asked his father Victor when he woke up if they were still Indians. When the then-Tribe catcher told his son that they in fact were, he was excited. That shouldn't surprise you though, because that's the kind of family values and loyalty Martinez would instill in his own son, the one we've come so accustomed to seeing around the Indians on a regular basis, including when he joined his dad at The All-Star Game (pictured above in 2007) and also in last month's contest.

Mark Shapiro yesterday completed the initial process of rebuilding when he sent Victor Martinez to the Red Sox for RHP Justin Masterson, LHP Nick Hagadone, and RHP Bryan Price. In just a few short weeks, the team has parted ways with Mark DeRosa, Rafael Betancourt, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco, Cliff Lee, and now Martinez. In return, they've received 11 players, nine of them pitchers and most of them being big, power arms in the hopes of re-infusing the player development system.

Photo: Cleveland.com/Jon Fobes

Did you plan on attending a Tribe game in October any of the next four seasons? If you did, this is a heads-up that you can make other plans. The Indians have officially thrown in the towel, backed the truck up, dug the hole and covered themselves up with dirt, phoned it in, and called the time of death on the 2010, 2011, and likely 2012 seasons. They will be buried next to the '09 season in the Curse Of Cleveland graveyard. The seasons are survived by far less fans than they had originally.

For the second straight season, the Cleveland Indians have made a July trade sending away the defending AL Cy Young Award winner for prospects. They added their everyday leftfielder in Ben Francisco to the deal. In return, the Indians will receive four of Philadelphia's Top 10 prospects according to Baseball America. But, they all have incredibly obvious drawbacks, and none are considered a blue-chip prospect, something you should expect when trading a Cy Young winner with a year and a half left under contract. Call it what you want (Shapiro Rebuild 2.0, Nuclear Winter, Slash and Burn, The Trade), but it signals the next phase in the vicious cycle that is small-market Major League Baseball business.

Are the Cleveland Indians going to compete in 2010? That question may essentially be determined by Friday's midnight trade deadline. If the Indians pull off a deal sending away C/1B Victor Martinez and/or SP Cliff Lee for prospects, the Tribe's chances at contending in the AL Central are diminished significantly.