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Photo: Cleveland.com
Photo: Matt Groening/Newsday
With the Indians last weekend completing a four-game series with the Seattle Mariners, who have former Indians Russell Branyan and Franklin Gutiterrez performing well everday, I felt it was a good time to glance at some of the players performing well in the majors that the Tribe gave up on. Here's a few of the most painful ones under the Shapiro regime.
Brandon Phillips, 2B, Cincinnati Reds (Indians '02-'05)
Part of the Bartolo Colon trade in which the Indians also grabbed Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee, Phillips was the Tribe's everyday second baseman in 2002 at just 22 years old. While his defense was major-league ready, his bat was not. Phillips hit just .208 with 6 homers and 33 RBI with 4 steals in 112 games. This case is a dual failure by Shapiro and manager Eric Wedge. The Indians tried to get Phillips to be a high-average guy who used all fields and frowned upon his attempts at power mashing. Well, he certainly is mashing now with the Cincinnati Reds. In April 2006, Phillips was dealt to Cincinnati, and he finished that year hitting .276 with 17 homers, 75 RBI, and 25 stolen bases. The following year he became a 30 homer and 30 steal man (32), driving in 94 and hitting .288. This season, Brandon is batting .271 with 14 long balls, 63 RBI, and 14 steals. He is a core player for the Reds and still a gold glove second baseman (won his first in 2008). The guy we kept instead of Phillips, you ask? Ramon Vazquez, who that season with the Tribe played in just 34 games, hitting .209 with one homer and 8 RBI. Letting Phillips go for a bag of baseballs is by far the worst offense of the Shapiro-Wedge era.
Jeremy Guthrie, SP, Baltimore Orioles (Indians '04-'06)
The Indians drafted the now-30-year-old Guthrie in the first round of the 2002 amateur draft, but he failed to record a win with the Tribe in parts of three seasons over 37 innings and 16 starts from 2004-2006. The Orioles claimed him off waivers in the offseason before 2007, and he went 7-5 with a 3.70 ERA in 175 1/3 innings that following year. He went 10-12 with a 3.60 ERA in '08, but he has been hit a little harder this season as he is currently 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA in 109 innings pitched. Nevertheless, he has been a staple of the Baltimore rotation, and the Indians failed to hold onto him long enough.
Ryan Ludwick, OF, St. Louis Cardinals (Indians '03-'05)
Ludwick was acquired by the Tribe in 2003 from the Texas Rangers, and played parts of three seasons with the team. In his 73 games with the wigwammers, he notched 13 homers and 35 RBI. After becoming a free agent following the '05 season and bouncing around in the minors for another stint, he joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007 and in 120 games .267 with 14 homers and 52 RBI. The following year, Ludwick became an All-Star for the Cards, batting .299 with 37 homers and 113 RBI. Ludwick proved to be a late bloomer who the Cardinals have enjoyed having. His stats this year are a .268 average with 16 homers and 61 RBI. The Tigers and Rangers join the Indians in kicking themselves for not holding onto this guy.
Russell Branyan, 1B/3B/OF, Seattle Mariners (Indians '98-'02)
Ahh, Russell "The Muscle" Branyan, a man who my dad reminded me this past weekend was said by many to have "Light Tower Power", has finally pieced things together. He could always hit the long ball, no one ever questioned that, but he struck out so much as he hovered around the Mendoza line that playing him everyday was a hazard to say the least. The Tribe attemped in three separate years to give him significant playing time, but his averages in those three years were ..238 (67 games), .232 (113 games), and .205 (50 games). His homer totals in those seasons were 16, 20, and 8. In Branyan's best year with the Tribe, he batted .232 with 20 homers and 54 RBI, but he struck out an astonishing 132 times in 315 at-bats. The Indians traded him to the Reds in 2002 for Ben Broussard. Since then, he has bounced through several cities (Cincinnati, Milwaukee (twice), Tampa Bay, San Diego, Philadelphia, and St. Louis), but Seattle has been kind to him. Playing first base solely now, Branyan is hitting .275 with 23, that's right, 23 home runs and 52 RBI. When you're on pace to hit 35 homers, a couple hundred strikeouts doesn't matter quite so much.
Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Seattle Mariners (Indians '05-'08)
The Indians acquired Franklin in a trade that involved sending the troublesome Milton Bradley to the Dodgers in 2004. "Goot" had some reserve work with the Tribe late in 2006, but his big break came in 2007 when he was the Indians' everyday rightfielder by the end of the year, appearing in 100 games and batting .266 with 13 homers and 36 RBI. Gutierrez, however, showed some serious holes in his swing, especially when it came to breaking pitches. Like most of the Tribe hitters that year (and to this day), they can hit a fastball better than anyone, but throw them a breaking pitch and it's like they've never seen one before. The outfielder struggled last season with the Indians, a .248 average with just 8 homers and 41 RBI in 134 games was quite disappointing. The Mariners showed interest in acquiring a centerfielder this offseason, and Gutierrez fit the bill defensively at least because he can really field it out there along with a strong throwing arm. The Indians chose to hang onto Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo and deal Gutierrez in the 3-way trade that netted them Joe Smith and Luis Valbuena. This season, Gutierrez has been in the middle of the order for the admittedly-weak Mariner lineup, but he is batting .294 with 12 homers and 42 RBI.
Luke Scott, OF, Baltimore Orioles (Indians (Minors) '02-'03)
Scott was drafted in the 9th round of the draft in 2001, and he never reached the bigs with the Tribe. He had some nice numbers in the Tribe system, combining between High-Single-A Kinston and Double-A Akron to hit .276 with 20 homers and 81 RBI in 117 games in 2003. Luke was traded in '04 to the Astros for Jeriome Robertson, who finished his big league career with the Tribe going 1-1 with a 12.21 ERA in 14 innings. In 2006 with the 'Stros, he hit .336 with 10 dingers and 37 ribbies in just 65 games. His average has dropped since then to the .260 range, but he is having a fantastic year this year with the Orioles (he was in the Miguel Tejada trade) hitting at a .289 clip with 18 home runs and 53 runs batted in.
Willy Taveras, OF, Cincinnati Reds (Indians (Minors) '00-'03)
The Indians have been looking for a top of the order candidate, and this guy would have fit the bill nicely. Taveras was a Tribe draft pick in 1999, and he has always been a speed demon. In four years at different levels of Single-A with Cleveland, Taveras had 36, 29, 54, and 57 stolen bases from 2000-2003. He never hit for a great average or drove in many runs, though, and he was a Rule 5 pick by the Houston Astros in 2003. Last season with Colorado, Taveras hit .251 with 1 homer and 26 RBI, but he had 68 steals in 75 attempts! This season with Cincinnati, he is struggling and not running as often with just 18 steals in 78 games.
Brian Tallet, SP/RP, Toronto Blue Jays (Indians '02-05)
The Tribe selected Tallet in the 2nd round of the 2000 draft. They had high hopes for him, but he never pitched for more than 20 innings for the Tribe in any season. He had Tommy John surgery in 2003 and missed the 2004 season, so that slowed his progress severely. After being traded to Toronto for a guy I have literally never heard of (Edward Buzachero), he had blossomed into a solid reliever for the Jays from 2006-2008, throwing 60 innings per season and with an ERA in the mid 3s. This season, he has been in the starting rotation for Toronto with a 5-6 record and a 4.95 ERA.
Ed Mujica, RP, San Diego Padres (Indians '06-'08)
The classic saga of Edward Mujica is a long and winding one with the Indians. For multiple seasons, I asked myself "Why is this freaking bum still here?" as his ERA always seemed to be twice what is acceptable for a pitcher. In 38 2/3 innings with the Tribe last year, Mujica was 3-2 with a 6.75 ERA, and he had an 8.31 ERA in 13 innings the year before. The funny thing was he was putting up incredible numbers in the minors as he had 57 career saves and had ERAs in 2005 and 2006 of 2.54 and 1.57 respectively. The Indians gave Mujica what seemed like every opportunity to perform because he had good "stuff". The last straw was in spring training this season where opponents mopped the floor with him. He was traded on April Fool's for a player to be named this season. With the Padres, he has become an absolute workhorse with 43 appearances and a 2-4 record with a 2.64 ERA. Sadly, he would be the number one setup guy in the Tribe bullpen right now if he would have pitched well this spring. I don't really even blame the team for this one; I blame Mujica for teasing the Tribe for so damn long.
Kevin Kouzmanoff, San Diego Padres (Indians '06)
Kouzmanoff was a 6th round selection of the Tribe in 2003, and he had some spectacular statistics in the minors. In 2004, it was a .324 average with 17 homers and 93 RBI between Lake County and Akron (mostly Lake County). The next season, he totalled 12 homers and 58 RBI while batting .333 (at Mahoning Valley and Kinston). Finally, in 2006, between Akron and Buffalo, he hit a scorching .379 average with 22 homers and 75 RBI. He had just 56 at-bats with the Tribe in 2006, notching 3 homers and 11 RBI. Kouz was traded for 2B Josh Barfield before the 2007 season. Barfield was coming off a great season with the Padres, and the Tribe had a pinch at Kouzmanoff's main position (third base) with Casey Blake and minor leaguers Andy Marte and Wes Hodges, so he was expendable. Kouzmanoff has turned into quite a nice power hitter with San Diego (2007 - .275 average 18 homers and 74 RBI). He improved upon his '07 numbers last season, batting .260 and blasting 23 homers while driving in 84. This season, Kevin is at a .247 mark with 13 homers and 50 RBI. As for Barfield... well, you've heard that story already.
Honorable Mention: Ryan Church ('00-'03 (minors)), Justin Speier ('00-'01)
This list alludes to a couple of things. Not only are the Indians having an organization-wide problem in developing talent, but they are also having a crisis when it comes to retaining talent. Something is rotten in the Indians organization in regards to player development, because many of these guys have had a breakout year the very next year after leaving the Tribe. Part of it is age as the Tribe parted with most of these guys at 26-28 years old, but it isn't an excuse for misjudging them in comparison with who they held onto. It is a glaring strike against GM Mark Shapiro in his quest to keep his job as all of these players have left the organization on his watch. While every team has their share of these miscues, the Tribe has been setting the standard lately.
D'oh!
Kirk
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Nice post though, Kirk. It makes these days even more sour when I watch ESPN only to be treated to these former Indians ripping it up for new ballclubs.