Cleveland Indians arbitration-eligible closer Chris Perez’ agent is talking to the Tribe about his contract for next season. The million (or more!) dollar question: how much would it take to sign him?
Wahoo Blues
Multiple teams are interested in free agent Bobby Crosby. After hearing virtually nothing about the infielder since he was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks in August, two American League clubs are interested in giving the 2004 Rookie of the Year a chance to revive his career. Might the Cleveland Indians be one of them? Tribe [...]
Wahoo Blues
Last month, we learned that there was “mutual interest” between the Cleveland Indians and free agent third baseman Nick Punto, but we haven’t heard anything from that front since the Winter Meetings. Now it appears that the Indians are not the only suitor for Punto’s services.
Wahoo Blues
Indians fans don’t have much to get excited about during this week’s Winter Meetings. Unless the front office has been saying the team won’t make a big splash this winter to detract attention and negotiations up to this point have been truly secret (after Jayson Werth signed with the Nationals yesterday, I suppose it’s not impossible).
But while the boys at ESPN won’t give it a second thought, there’s a real possibility that Cleveland fans could be hearing some good news from Orlando within the next couple days: This weekend, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Indians had “mutual interest” with free agent third baseman Nick Punto.
Whether or not the Indians would be wise to bring in a third baseman is the subject of another day. But given that GM Chris Antonetti has made it clear that he doesn’t want to use Jared Goedert or Lonnie Chisenhall at the hot corner on Opening Day, Punto is a fantastic match for Cleveland.
Now, Punto isn’t a very exciting player—in fact, if you were to judge him solely on his offense, you’d wonder why anyone would give him a job in the big leagues. Over his 10-year MLB career, he has a .247/.321/.322 slashline with 13 homers and 198 RBI in 824 games. Last year he was even worse than usual, hitting .238/.313/.302. Yikes.
Luckily, hitting isn’t everything, and Punto has quietly established himself as one of the best fielders in the game. Last year, at age 32, he was worth 11.0 UZR in just 88 games while playing second, short, and third for the Minnesota Twins. His glove has been worth 59.6 runs since 2006—the equivalent of six whole wins.
Defense is especially important for the Indians for two reasons. First, and foremost, the Tribe was terrible in the field last year, with a team UZR of -59.8, the worst in the league (that figure also helps put Punto’s worth into perspective). Signing Punto wouldn’t help the statues in the outfield, but it he would make the infield look less like Swiss cheese.
Perhaps more importantly, defense is especially relevant for the Indians because Cleveland pitchers don’t strike anyone out. The Tribe’s 6.1 team K/9 rate this year was the worst in baseball. That means the Indians allow more contact than any other team, and therefore defense is—or, at least, ought to be—more important to Cleveland than it is to anyone else.
Consider also that Indians pitchers had the highest groundball rate (48%) in the league last year, and it’s clear that a solid glove in the infield would do the team wonders. Punto has a career 18.9 UZR/150 at third base, but behind Cleveland’s staff, he could be even more valuable.
The best part? Because of his poor offense, he can be had for a bargain price—I’d guess $ 3 million at the most, probably less.
Signing Punto wouldn’t be a big splash, and he’s not likely to put the Tribe over the top in 2011. But it’s a move that makes a lot of sense for the team.
Cleveland Indians fans have it rough. It’s been more than 60 years since we won a championship, and we’ve made the playoffs only once in the last nine seasons. We’ve seen countless hometown heroes traded away while the team wallowed in mediocrity.
But tomorrow is Thanksgiving, meaning we should try to find something to be grateful for. But why stop at one? Here are 10 things Tribe fans should be thankful for (in no particular order):
1. Shin-Soo Choo’s military exemption. After leading the South Korean baseball team to victory at the Asian Games last week, Choo has officially been relieved of his compulsory service requirement. That means he can stay with the Tribe instead of having to serve in the Korean army for the next two years.
2. Carlos Santana’s bright future. Santana was absolutely phenomenal in the 46 games between his call-up and his knee injury. His power and plate discipline suggest he’ll be a great player for years to come.
3. Talent in the minors. This might sound like a tired cliche by now, but the Indians have a bright future ahead of them with guys like Lonnie Chisenhall, Nick Weglarz, and Drew Pomeranz waiting in the wings.
4. Chris Perez’ dominance. In case you missed Monday’s post, Perez’ 1.71 ERA was the second-best in the league amongst pitchers with at least 50 innings. For the first time in years, we’ve got a closer we can count on.
5. Second-half improvement. For the seventh straight year, the Indians played better after the All-Star (35-49) than they did in the first half (34-54). Still pretty bad, but it’s progress.
6. It could be worse. The Indians didn’t finish last in the division—they ended up two games ahead of the hapless Kansas City Royals. In fact, there wasn’t a single division in baseball where a team with Cleveland’s record would have had sole possession of last place.
7. Progressive Field. The best stadium is one with a winning team, but The Prog is a top-notch facility for playing and watching the game. Most ballparks aren’t as nice as ours.
8. 2007. It feels like we haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time, but 12 teams have been waiting for a postseason berth for even longer.
9. At least we have a team. How many other cities would kill to have a professional baseball team?
10. Wahoo Blues. No matter what happens, we’ve got Tribe news, opinions, and analysis, seasoned heavily with 100% of your daily recommended dose of dry wit. You’re welcome!
Much ink has already been spilled over the Indians’ desire to import a starting pitcher this offseason. But while Cleveland reportedly wants to bring in a veteran starter, no one expects to see a new ace warming up in the Tribe’s bullpen in 2011. We don’t want a great hurler—we want an “innings eater.”
In case you’re not hip to the latest baseball lingo, an innings eater is a roughly average pitcher whose value comes solely from consistency and durability. We’re talking 150-200 innings with an ERA around 4.25, plus or minus half a run. An innings eater isn’t supposed to carry his team on his back. His job is to go out every fifth day and not screw up too badly.
But let’s forget the apparent inevitability of such a move and focus on the normative—should a team like the Indians really be going after a pitcher like that?
For the sake of argument, let’s say that there are three types of teams, herefter referred to as A, B, and C. Team A enters the season looking like a surefire contender and considers it a disappointment if they miss the playoffs; Team B isn’t expecting to see the postseason, but they have a realistic chance of making it to October if everything goes right; and Team C has raised the white flag on the season before it even starts. Think of Team A as like the Red Sox and Yankees every year, Team B as 2010′s White Sox and Mariners, and Team C as the Royals or Pirates. How would an innings eater fit into each team’s plans?
If Team A has any holes in its rotation, an innings eater would be a great addition. Why? Because if they’re already expecting to make the playoffs, they presumably have the talent to contend before filling the gap in their staff. On a good-hitting club, his job is to keep his team in the game; on a pitching-heavy team, the point is to ensure that the back of the rotation isn’t a complete disaster. The Cardinals’ signing of Jake Westbrook is a good example of the latter.
With Team B, things get a little fuzzier. For a team with an outside chance of making the playoffs, potential is more important than stability. A consistently average pitcher will probably be better than someone who has, say, a 30% chance of being an All-Star and 70% chance of busting, but if a team is in need of someone to put them over the top, playing it safe is counterintuitive. The only reason to go after an innings eater is if there are no other options whose realistic upsides are better than what you’d expect from the innings eater.
With Team C, we get to the worst case of all. If the team has nothing to play for, the only productive use of the season is to further the development of the team’s young players. Every pitch an innings eater throws is an opportunity lost for a prospect to refine his stuff in the bigs. Unless all of a team’s best pitching prospects still have major refinements to make in the minors, signing an innings eater makes no sense at all.
So what of the Indians? The 2011 Tribe probably falls somewhere between Teams B and C, so the argument that an innings eater would bring stability doesn’t hold much water.
And we don’t have a dearth of pitching. Unless they’re traded, Fausto Carmona and Mitch Talbot are virtual locks for rotation spots, and Justin Masterson will probably keep his as well. One has to assume Carlos Carrasco will get the chance to start after impressing in seven starts at the end of 2010, and Josh Tomlin should be the favorite for the fifth spot after leading Triple-A Columbus Clippers starters in ERA last year (2.68).
That means Corey Kluber, Zach McAllister, Jeanmar Gomez, and Justin Germano will be battling it out for backup duty—and that’s assuming no lower-minors prospects take the next step and there’s no resurgence from Aaron Laffey and David Huff. How will that situation be bettered by adding Vicente Padilla or Freddy Garcia?
The bottom line is, the Indians needn’t worry about eating innings. Maybe we should just wolf down some Cracker Jacks instead.
In honor of Thanksgiving, I’ve tried to devote this week to things that should cheer up the Indians’ depressed fanbase. I’ve honored an underappreciated pitcher, given Tribe fans a list of things to be thankful for, and handed out end-of-season awards to Cleveland’s best players.
But when dealing with the Tribe, it’s hard to maintain such cheery optimism. I now present the product of my pent-up pessimism: the 2010 Cleveland Indians anti-awards.
Least Valuable Player: Luis Valbuena
There is no way to adequately describe how bad Valbuena was in 2010.
In 91 games with the Indians, he hit .193 with a .531 OPS while providing abysmal defense all over the infield. All told, he was worth -1.5 WAR in just over half a season’s worth of games, meaning the Indians would have won 1.5 more games if they had given Valbuena’s playing time to an average Triple-A player.
Cy Old: David Huff
After bursting onto the scene with a 5.61 ERA in 23 starts last year, Huff somehow got even worse in 2010, posting a nauseating 6.21 ERA with a mediocre 4.2 K/9 rate and an unimpressive 3.8 BB/9 rate in 15 starts.
Win-and-loss records may be bad ways to measure pitching, but you don’t go 2-11 without sucking.
Bookie of the Year: Michael Brantley
It’s way too soon to give up on Brantley, but that doesn’t mean we have to completely forget the terrible .623 OPS and -0.7 WAR he posted this season.
Moldy Gloves: Michael Brantley, Jordan Brown, Trevor Crowe, Jason Donald, Andy Marte, Jhonny Peralta, Luis Valbuena
The Indians ranked last in the league in UZR (-59.8) in 2010, and it’s not hard to see why. Crowe, Brantley, and Brown displayed awful range in the outfield; Donald, Marte, and Valbuena were miserable around the infield; and Jhonny Peralta was his usual self at the hot corner.
Pilfer Sluggers: Michael Brantley, Asdrubal Cabrera, Trevor Crowe, Lou Marson, Andy Marte, Matt LaPorta, Jhonny Peralta, Grady Sizemore, Luis Valbuena
Of the players listed here, only Cabrera had an average over .251 or an OBP above .308 with the Indians. No one topped 12 homers or 43 RBIs, and every single one posted an OPS south of .700.
Come-Back-Then-Go-Away Player of the Year: Grady Sizemore
After a disappointing 2009 campaign, Sizemore responded to doubts about his ability to come back by hitting .211 with no homers and a .560 OPS in 33 games before being shut down for the year. In less than two years, he’s gone from one of the best players in baseball to one of the most useless players in the league.
Worst Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge
Who cares if he’s not here anymore?