Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

BASEBALL WINTER MEETINGS
Cleveland Indians leave baseball winter meetings empty, but content


Friday, December 07, 2007 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Nashville, Tenn.- Some teams go to the winter meetings desperate to make something happen. Others go to listen and respond only if properly intrigued.
The Indians came to the Opryland Hotel on Sunday evening in a listening mode. They left Thursday morning the same way.
"We're not aggressively looking to do anything," said General Manager Mark Shapiro during the meetings. "We have to resist the urge to do something to just do something. You have to walk through the process. If you hit on something that makes sense, you'll finish off."

Continued.......

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Cleveland Indians lose pair of minor leaguers in Rule 5 draft

Posted by Paul Hoynes December 06, 2007 11:24AM

Categories: Breaking News, Indians
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Indians lost first baseman Matt Whitney and outfielder Brian Barton in today's Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings.
Washington, picking ninth, selected Whitney, who hit 32 homers between Class A Lake County and Class A Kinston last season. Whitney, 23, suffered a badly broken leg in a spring-training mishap in 2003 and is just now starting to return to form.

Continued.....

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Indians add infielder Carroll in trade with Rockies

Sunday, December 9, 2007 6:44 AM




The Cleveland Indians acquired infielder Jamey Carroll from Colorado in exchange for a player to be named, a move that almost certainly means Josh Barfield is ticketed for triple-A.

Carroll, 33, provides solid defense at second base and shortstop and another good base runner. He is due at least $2.3 million, which could make him the team's highest-paid infielder next season.
With Asdrubal Cabrera penciled in at second base and third baseman Andy Marte out of minor-league options, Barfield likely will be sent to Buffalo. General manager Mark Shapiro said he hasn't spoken to Barfield and would not comment on his role.

Continued......

[Piney]

Heard a rumor from Buster Olney, about a sleeper team that might trade for Dan Haren... The Indians!

He was saying that if the Tribe management feel they won't be able to re-sign CC that they would be very interested in getting Haren who is signed til 2010. The A's would be interested in multiple pitching prospects and the main one we would have to give up is Adam Miller (and also Sowers). And to have Haren... I wouldn't mind giving up Miller.

And the thinking here is the Indians would go full out to win it this year in CC's last year and then let him walk next year.

Imagine a starting rotation of...

Sabathia
Haren
Carmona
Westbrook
Byrd

Now THAT is a starting rotation! Then in 2009 when CC walks we still have an ace in Haren at a reasonable price and then have time to develop Carmona as the 2nd ace.

A very interesting rumor that I had to pass along here.

[MolGenBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Piney

Heard a rumor from Buster Olney, about a sleeper team that might trade for Dan Haren... The Indians!

He was saying that if the Tribe management feel they won't be able to re-sign CC that they would be very interested in getting Haren who is signed til 2010. The A's would be interested in multiple pitching prospects and the main one we would have to give up is Adam Miller (and also Sowers). And to have Haren... I wouldn't mind giving up Miller.

And the thinking here is the Indians would go full out to win it this year in CC's last year and then let him walk next year.

Imagine a starting rotation of...

Sabathia
Haren
Carmona
Westbrook
Byrd

Now THAT is a starting rotation! Then in 2009 when CC walks we still have an ace in Haren at a reasonable price and then have time to develop Carmona as the 2nd ace.

A very interesting rumor that I had to pass along here.

That would be a fantastic trade, in my opinion. I was wondering why the Tribe wasn't in the discussion for Haren, and just assumed NY/Boston was willing to offer more.

[billmac91]

it just doesn't make sense to let C.C. walk. You either sack up and over-pay or you get something in return.

The dumbest thing you could do is accept he won't sign and just let him walk after the season.

[Brutus1]

You give him your best offer, find out how close it is to his demands and find out if he's really intent on pitching closer to home (Cal.). If it's a no win situation, you make his name available for trade and see what's offered. You don't have to accept, but at least you'll have an idea. You can't let him walk for just a first round pick.

[Piney]

Originally Posted by billmac91

it just doesn't make sense to let C.C. walk. You either sack up and over-pay or you get something in return.

The dumbest thing you could do is accept he won't sign and just let him walk after the season.

I don't know about you, but if he helps us win the World Series next year I wouldn't give a crap if he walked. And that is the 3rd option. You either sign him (if it is for good value I would, I would not overpay) you trade him (and thus conceding any real chance to win it all next year) or you ride him the last year for the chance of a championship.

All of them are gambles, you overpay and CC gets hurt and you basically kill the Indians budget for the length of CC's contract and we start selling off pieces. You trade CC away and then Dolan gets called cheap cuz he couldn't resign CC and the players we get don't pan out. Or you try for it all and we fall short.

I would rather gamble for the shot to win it all then if we fail and CC leaves us, we at least have money to pay for free agents (or in the above scenario you have Haren as your fall back) Not bad in my book.

[billmac91]

i'd rather set ourselves up long-term, than put all our eggs in one basket. Detroit has to be favorites in the central, and Boston is obviously a heavy favorite to repeat, especially if they do land Santana. If C.C isn't re-signable, they have to find out what the market is for him.

We could easily fill a hole a LF/RF/3B with a proven commodity and then take several prospects.

Letting C.C. walk is leaving a helluva lot of good talent on the table.

[LitlBuck]

I would do the deal in a heartbeat. Adam Miller has not pitched in the majors and has experienced arm problems over the past couple years so we really don't know how good he will be or if his arm will give out on him in a few years.

Do the deal and if CC still wants to stay around and sign a long-term contract, the Indians will also be better for the long-term. We have Lee and some others prospects that we can offer for a corner outfielder/3rd baseman.

[Piney]

Finally saw the rumor in print...

FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - Starting pitching market will get hot

This could be the week when the starting-pitching market begins to shake out.

The week when Japanese free-agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda signs with the Mariners, Dodgers or Diamondbacks. The week when the Diamondbacks or Indians trade for A's right-hander Dan Haren. Maybe even the week that the Mariners or Dodgers obtain Orioles left-hander Erik Bedard and some team finally acquires Twins lefty Johan Santana.
The trade of Haren could happen first ? and the Diamondbacks and Indians, two clubs deep in young talent, are in the best position to make a deal, according to major-league sources.

[Brutus1]

Going to be tough to top the D-Backs offer.

[aurorabuckeye13]

There are also some rumors over on the Indians board that the Tribe is looking into maybe getting Eric Chavez along with Haren... Would certainly cost a bit more but it would fill our need at 3B

[billmac91]

Originally Posted by aurorabuckeye13

There are also some rumors over on the Indians board that the Tribe is looking into maybe getting Eric Chavez along with Haren... Would certainly cost a bit more but it would fill our need at 3B

Chavez is definately a guy I could see rebounding to prior form. He's been hurt and in a line-up where he can be pitched very carefully. I'd love to get him if possible.

Plus he's always raked in Jacob's field.

[NFBuck]

After last winter, I just want some kind of a move. The Tribe had a nice year, but many other teams are improving and Shapiro cannot stand pat if he wants to make a serious run at a championship.