Indians Tidbits (2009 season)

[scarletandgrey]

Nice to see 2 former cleveland pitchers facing off in the world series. I think there is a lot of indians fans saying wow if we would grow a pair of nuts and spent some cash that might be us in the big games.

[tsteele316]

Originally Posted by scarletandgrey

Nice to see 2 former cleveland pitchers facing off in the world series. I think there is a lot of indians fans saying wow if we would grow a pair of nuts and spent some cash that might be us in the big games.

not hardly. nobody was going to come close to what the yankees offered CC, period. Cleveland offered him 4 years and $100 million and he scoffed at it. there is no amount of testicular fortitude that can justify spending that kind of money.

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by scarletandgrey

Nice to see 2 former cleveland pitchers facing off in the world series. I think there is a lot of indians fans saying wow if we would grow a pair of nuts and spent some cash that might be us in the big games.

If only it were that simple...

[OHSportsFan9]

Originally Posted by scarletandgrey

Nice to see 2 former cleveland pitchers facing off in the world series. I think there is a lot of indians fans saying wow if we would grow a pair of nuts and spent some cash that might be us in the big games.

Originally Posted by tsteele316

not hardly. nobody was going to come close to what the yankees offered CC, period. Cleveland offered him 4 years and $100 million and he scoffed at it. there is no amount of testicular fortitude that can justify spending that kind of money.

Originally Posted by NFBuck

If only it were that simple...

True, but either way, Game 1 is going to turn my stomach a little bit...

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by WoodyWorshiper

Acta is a great hire. I mean, c'mon, the guy can actually COMMUNICATE with Latin players. On top of that he spent countless hours studying the Cleveland Indians after he got [censored]-canned from the worst team in baseball. Kinda like a kid at "Rally's" studying the "McDonalds" menu in hopes of moving on to bigger and better things.

I'm sure the Tribe phones will be ringing off the hook tomorrow with Season Ticket purchases, which is a great thing. Hell, before they announced Acta as the new manager I was kinda bummed out about having to watch Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia square off in Game #1 of the World Series. NOT ANY MORE! Now, the future is "Gotta Wear Shades" bright.

No Espa?ol I know I have Ticketmaster on speed dial right now.

I was listening to Sports Time Ohio, the Indians TV flagship station, and Bruce Drennan did not know anything about Acta which was truly shocking to me because while I disagree with him quite a bit when it comes to sports he does know baseball. Well, he notes baseball when it comes to statistics and the backgrounds of players and managers. It was just surprising that he knew absolutely nothing about Acta.



I guess after thinking about it I really would have liked them to try and get Donnie Baseball. At least he would have brought some excitement to the team with a fresh face and outlook. This hire is just so blah.

[WoodyWorshiper]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

No Espa?ol I know I have Ticketmaster on speed dial right now.

I was listening to Sports Time Ohio, the Indians TV flagship station, and Bruce Drennan did not know anything about Acta which was truly shocking to me because while I disagree with him quite a bit when it comes to sports he does know baseball. Well, he notes baseball when it comes to statistics and the backgrounds of players and managers. It was just surprising that he knew absolutely nothing about Acta.



I guess after thinking about it I really would have liked them to try and get Donnie Baseball. At least he would have brought some excitement to the team with a fresh face and outlook. This hire is just so blah.

Amen! And, the fact that Bruce knows nothing about Acta speaks volumes. Bruce is a legendary sports guy here in Cleveland and he makes no bones about the fact that baseball is his favorite sport.

But, in years past Cleveland sports teams have hired a few "blah" types of guys as their leaders ( guys like Bill Belichick and Charlie Manuel) and these guys have gone on to great runs winning championships.

Peace.

[NFBuck]

Pretty much the hire I was figuring on. Sure, Mattingly would have made a bigger splash, but I get the feeling he is/was holding out for a bigger job (LA?). I know a lot of people are just going to look at his record with the Nats and groan, but nobody could have won there. He had less talent in DC than he will here to work with. He's still pretty highly regarded in baseball circles despite that record.

I also like that he did his homework on the organization. It shows an enthusiam for the job that you want out of a manager coming into a situation where he's going to have to know the farm system and develop young talent. Plus, the fact that he's a sabermetrician already puts him leaps and bounds ahead of mongo's "fly by the seat of your pants" approach to managing. He's a guy that knows how to play the percentages and trends. Something Wedge was clearly lacking. It's not an exciting hire by any means, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm willing to be patient.

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by OHSportsFan9

True, but either way, Game 1 is going to turn my stomach a little bit...

Mine too because, if anything, it shows how damn cursed this franchise is. With the Yankees, C.C. looks like [censored]ing Sandy Koufaz in the postseason. With the Tribe he looked like a big, fat, Bobby Witt.

[buckeyemania11]

Originally Posted by NFBuck

Mine too because, if anything, it shows how damn cursed this franchise is. With the Yankees, C.C. looks like [censored]ing Sandy Koufaz in the postseason. With the Tribe he looked like a big, fat, Bobby Witt.

im not even going to watch that [censored]

[censored] new york

[censored] philly

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by NFBuck

Pretty much the hire I was figuring on. Sure, Mattingly would have made a bigger splash, but I get the feeling he is/was holding out for a bigger job (LA?). I know a lot of people are just going to look At his record with the Nats and groan, but nobody could have won there. He had less talent in DC than he will here to work with. He's still pretty highly regarded in baseball circles despite that record.

He might have excellent baseball knowledge and he has done his homework on the Indians so I will give him props for that. However after reading his press conference yesterday, he almost put me to sleep. I guess I would have liked a guy with a little more enthusiasm and I do not think he brings that to the table. Even Valentine might have brought some entertainment to the couple of thousand people that are going to show up at Progressive Field next year. Maybe they should rename it Regressive Field

[NFBuck]

Write up on the search for a pitching coach...

Top Pitching Coach Candidates

Posted by Tony at 12:01 AM


From where I sit, I believe the biggest decision for new manager Manny Acta and the Indians is who they pick as his pitching coach. With so many young arms presently on the staff and a lot on the horizon, the focus the next few years will be on finishing off their development at the big league level.

I really believe such a hiring will come from within the organization as they look for someone familiar with the current staff and also very familiar of the influx of arms they will be adding in the next few years from the minors. To me, that makes the two most likely candidates as Minor League Pitching Coordinator Dave Miller and Triple-A Columbus Pitching Coach Scott Radinsky. Continued...

Indians Prospect Insider: Top Pitching Coach Candidates

My money would be on Radinsky.

[buckeyemania11]

Indians Prospect Insider: Indians Sign Japanese Pitcher?

Unconfirmed reports are saying the Indians have signed or are close to signing Japanese right-handed free agent pitcher Takafumi Nakamura. According to the Sponichi Annex (which is a site written in Japanese), the Indians have supposedly agreed to a minor league contract with the right-handed pitcher from Chuo University, which is a private university located in Tokyo, Japan.

According to this site (again, in Japanese) and translated on NPBTracker.com, "Nakamura has got a big frame at 195 cm, 89kg (6′5, 195lbs), and throws from a three-quarter delivery. His heater tops out on the gun at 149 km/h (92mph), but he mostly sits at about 140 km/h (86 mph) with both his fastball and slider. He also has a curve, forkball, and shuuto. Looking at his stats, he shown an ability to strike his college competition out, but walks have been an issue."

An official announcement from the Indians or confirmation one way or the other will provided when (if) such a signing has taken place.

sounds sort of like a young Kobayashi, just what we need

[buckeyemania11]

Indians Prospect Insider: Belcher Named Big League Pitching Coach

The Cleveland Indians today announced the hiring of Tim Belcher as Major League Pitching Coach, and is the first member of new Indians manager Manny Acta's major league coaching staff.

Belcher, 48, has spent the last eight seasons in the Indians organization as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. In that role Tim worked extensively within the Indians Player Development System, providing instruction and evaluation at each level of the organization. He also spent a considerable amount of time scouting players from outside of the organization and for the last several years provided advance scouting reports to the major league staff. He has assisted the major league pitching coach during each of his spring training camps during his tenure and at various points served as interim pitching coach at each level (AAA, AA, A) of the Indians system.

Belcher is a native of Sparta, Ohio and in his major league pitching record compiled a record of 146-140 with a 4.16 ERA over a 14-year career from 1987-2000 with seven major league teams and 373 starts (394 G, 2442.2 IP, 2423 H, 1130 ER, 1519 K). He won 10 or more games in 9 of his 14 seasons at the big league level, topped the 200.0 innings pitched mark 7 times and finished in the top 10 in his respective league’s ERA on three different occasions. His 2442.2 big league innings are the most of any active pitching coaching in the Major Leagues at present.

Belcher was an All-American pitcher at Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio before winning The Sporting News National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year honors in 1988 with the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (won Game 4 of the WS for LA). The following season with LA he led the National League in complete games (10) and shutouts (8). He was the first overall pick in both the 1983 June amateur draft (Minnesota) and the 1984 January secondary phase amateur draft (NY Yankees).

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by buckeyemania11

Indians Prospect Insider: Belcher Named Big League Pitching Coach

At least he's familiar with the guys coming up through the organization.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by NFBuck

At least he's familiar with the guys coming up through the organization.

not if they bring them in from Japan I agree this is a solid pick although Not very glamorous he does know the guys in the organization as you stated. I will be interested in seeing who they bring in as their bench coach and hitting instructor. There was some chatter yesterday about Alomar coming back as the bullpen catching coach. I think there will be quite a few hires in the next week or two because they wanted to wait until the end of the WS.