Who's the next Tribe skipper?

With John Farrell out of the picture, is there really a manager candidate that sets anyone on fire? Did Farrell set anyone on fire, for that matter. Remember, he hasn't ever managed before, and his previous staffs in Boston happen to be some of the best pitchers money can buy.

Bobby Valentine likely heads the list, and does bring some serious cred to the job, but is almost more known for his antics than his managing. Is he prepared to build a team, which he has been proven to have done in the past, or is he at an age where winning now is a premium? He has declined to talk about the job, which usually means he's in play. Mike Hargrove would also fit in this list, and wants to bookend his managing career with another gig in Cleveland, but Grover also brings several questions, least of which is the fact that he quit in Seattle. Ned Yost, Clint Hurdle, and Manny Acta are also managers from other clubs that might get a look, even though they've been recently canned from their prior job.

Minor League skippers Torey Lovullo of the Clippers and Travis Fryman of the Scrappers should also get looks at the head job, buy may either not be ready, or not far enough from Wedge for anyone's liking...Luvullo in particular. Fryman might be the fresh face the team needs, but brings several questions to the table with regards to readiness.

Of course, Tribe fans are in the dark because of the Shapiro Death-Squad mentality and super-secret...well...secrets.

More on this over the next several days, as the rumors continue to swirl in Tribeland...

Jake Westbrook's lost year

Jake Westbrook has been shut down for six weeks, essentially ending his season before it really had a chance to begin. Westbrook was working his way through a rehab assignment after Tommy John surgery over a year ago, and was scheduled to rejoin the Tribe within the next two weeks. Now, his future status is certainly up in the air.

The news isn't all bad. Fans of the scrappy pitcher feared the worst with regards to his surgically repaired elbow. Another surgery would have likely ended Westbrook's career with the Tribe, and likely would have jeopardized his career. Those worries can be brushed aside for now, as Westbrook's soreness in the elbow appears to be caused by scar tissue from the surgery. As bad as it sounds, it is a normal reaction to the invasive surgery. Pitcher's so routinely have the procedure done in this era of the game that it's often easy to forget that the window for return is up to 18 months.

For those counting at home, Westbrook will have spent nearly all of the first two years of his three-year, 33 million dollar deal injured. Don't get me wrong, he deserved the money, but it's painful to watch Mark Shapiro now pocket more ammo as to why he should never sign a pitcher to big money.

Westbrook, the Tribe's resident bulldog, will likely spend the winter building up his arm for next season. Anthony Castrovince speculates that he may even pitch winter ball to strengthen the arm. Either way, let's hope that Westbrook comes back healthy in 2010.

The Indians will only be better for it.

Jake Westbrook: 2010 opening day starter, or another year-long DL stint?

How bad are the Indians going to be in 2010? Mark Shapiro is already lining up Jake Westbrook to be the opening day starter in 2010. No offense to you Jake Westbrook, but...what?!?

Jake Westbrook isn't a bad starter. As a matter of fact, he's far from it. You could make a case that during his tenure as a healthy Indians' starter, he's been the most consistent pitcher not named Sabathia to wear the Indians' jersey since the days of Chuck Nagy. Westbrook pitched just over 900 innings from 2003 and 2007, making 143 starts during that span. His ERA was slightly over 4.00, and he went 57-53 during that span. There's no doubt that Westbrook had become a prototypical #3 or #4 starter. He was an innings-eater who could win games when needed.

Now, after over a year off, Shapiro is proclaiming Westbrook to be the opening day starter in 2010. Okay, I get that Westbrook is a pitbull on the mound, has tenure, and has been unhittable in spring training over the past couple of years when healthy. But do you really want to throw that comment out there with Westbrook not nearly recovered from Tommy John surgery? I'm sure Justin Masterson and Fausto Carmona are just thrilled with the news.

In fairness to Mr. Mark Shapiro, he did say "if he's healthy" after making the initial comment. In equal fairness, he also made the comment before Westbrook was pulled from his latest start with double A Akron last night. I'll get to that in a minute.

In case you were wondering, Jake Westbrook hasn't made a start since May 28th, 2008. In case you were wondering more, he hasn't made back-to-back starts since April 14th and April 19th, 2008. Either Westbrook is a future Cy Young award winner for Shapiro to proclaim him the opening day guy in 2010, or the Indians' pitching is going to be utter garbage. Call this the irony of waiting so many years for solid pitching, only two trade off two Cy Young award winners in back-to-back years.

Enter Westbrook, who missed most of 2008 and all of 2009 so far because of Tommy John surgery. As mentioned before, Westbrook was pulled from his start on Sunday because of a sore elbow. It's not known whether or not the soreness is the regular process of recovering from Tommy John surgery, or something much more dramatic, such as the need for another surgery. Either way, it puts a rather large cloud over whether or not he can start on opening day, oh, say seven months from now.

The hope here is that this soreness for Westbrook is a normal elbow issue and that he finishes out the season with a flourish. Let's hope he follows it with a spring like a couple of years ago, and earns that opening day starter's job.

Leave the game-day decisions to the manager Mark. Oh, wait, Wedge is still the manager. Nevermind.

Indians' Jamey Carroll auditioning for postseason work

The Cleveland Indians are dumping salary, and Jamey Carroll is looking for his first class ticket out of town. Carroll emphasized his point today in going 2-5 with a double, homer and three RBI, as the Indians took 2 of 3 from the second place Chicago White Sox.

With two on and two out in the fifth inning, and the Indians trailing 3-2, Carroll hit a laser down the left field off of Jose Contreras. The double scored both runners and gave the Indians a 4-3 lead they would never relinquish. Carroll capitalized on his double with a lead-off, solo shot in the seventh inning, to give the Indians a 6-3 lead.

The win makes it four of five wins for the Indians, who are playing like a house of fire now that they really are playing for nothing.

Don't tell that to Carroll, who is most definitely playing for a shot at the series, albeit with another team. Carroll, a free agent at the end of the year, could bring the Indians something for nothing. The Indians have no shot at signing Carroll as a utility next year since he makes too much money. Anything they get for him would be icing on the cake at this point. Carroll doesn't believe he'll be dealt, or at least that's what he wants everyone to believe. When asked about being traded after Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez were traded, he said,

"I guess I fit into that category, but usually when trades are made at this time of the year it's for a guy who comes in and plays. You've got Mark DeRosa, Carl Pavano, Victor Martinez. Everybody already has me, a utility player."

Carroll is exactly what teams need. Not only can he play nearly every position, but he can give you quality at bats as a starter over long stretches. After today's performance, don't be surprised to see Carroll playing somewhere else in the near future.

Isn't tomorrow an off day?

After Carroll, look for two other Indians to get a look before the postseason rosters have to be set on September 1st. Kerry Wood's massive contract doesn't make any sense for a team that doesn't figure to contend next year. There aren't many teams contending that need a closer, but he could be the icing on the cake for a team that needs a quality, back-end arm. I'm sure Wood wants to go somewhere else as well. Kelly Shoppach is also a guy that seems to be on his way out the door. Tampa Bay recently made a deal via waivers for Gregg Zaun of the Orioles. I'm not sure what that means with regards to Shoppach's availability or lack thereof, but I'm sure the Indians are either talking to a team that claimed him, or searching for a team to deal if he cleared waivers.

Can you trade a manager?

The ongoing saga of John Meloan and Wilson Abreu

Lord knows I've spent the better part of a month bitching and moaning about the morons running the Indians. The dealing of a young arm in John Meloan for an old arm in Wilson Abreu was the prototype deal in the 'land of idiots' known as the Indians' front office.

Perhaps it was much ado about nothing.

The Indians had designated Abreu for assignment after three bad appearances. As expected, the former Rays reliever cleared waivers, and Cleveland offered him a minor-league deal to stay with the Tribe at triple A Columbus. Abreu chose instead to re-sign with the Rays this past Thursday.

Oh how I wanted to hammer Shapiro for giving up Meloan for nothing, which was accentuated by the Rays reacquiring the shabby player they dealt for the young hurler.

Leave it to the Rays to save Shapiro when they designated Meloan for assignment on Friday to make room on the 40-man roster for catcher Gregg Zaun. They had acquired Zaun earlier in the day in a waiver-induced trade with the Orioles. It's unknown if the Indians will try and sign or trade for their former reliever, and even a bigger unknown if Meloan will even want to return to the Indians.

It speaks volumes that Abreu would rather sign with the Rays than the rebuilding Indians. My how times have changed.

Pavano dealt to division rival

The Cleveland Indians continued their major upheaval yesterday when they dealt Carl Pavano to the Minnesota Twins for another one of those players to be named later.

Pavano had started 21 games for the Tribe, going 9-8 in those starts (matching his 4-year win total with the Yankees), with a 5.37 ERA. Pavano struck out 88 and walked only 23 in 125 2/3 innings this year. He was the last remaining member of the Tribe staff with a clear shot at winning 10 games on the season. The next most wins on the roster. He was also scheduled to make a boatload more money with tonight's start with the Indians, had he made it.

Pavano was placed on waivers earlier this week and claimed by the Twins, and the Indians quickly worked out a deal with their division rival. To replace Pavano's roster slot, the Indians recalled Rafael Perez from triple A Columbus for his third stint with the Tribe.

Justin Masterson, who was acquired by the Tribe last week in a trade deadline deal involving Victor Martinez, will take over Pavano's slot in the rotation tonight against the White Sox. Masterson, who many thought wouldn't be starting for the Tribe until September, will be on a short leash tonight, taking the mound with a 60-65 pitch count. Likewise, Pavano will be on the hill against the Tigers tonight.

As for the player to be named, you know the drill. The Indians will have until September 1 to choose a player off a list that the Twins and Indians have been working on all week. Many are speculating that it's going to be a pedestrian player, but I'd be willing to bet that the Indians will get a player near the top five in the Twins organization. Shapiro has made a killing off deals like this, and I have no doubt he's done it again. It's about the only thing he's good at.

Pavano certainly wasn't a need on this current team, and dealing makes nothing but good future sense in a year that has made no sense at all.

Indians DFA Winston Abreu

In one of the most confounding moves of the season, Mark Shapiro dealt away John Meloan on July 2, 2009 for a 32-year old reliever Winston Abreu. Adding more to the confusion, the Indians now have DFAed Abreu today, which essentially means they have 10 days to either work out a trade with another team, release him, or send him to Columbus if he should clear waivers.

Meloan was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last year in the Casey Blake deal that also brought the Indians Carlos Santana. Meloan has a mid-90's fastball, and a whole bunch of upside. On a team that has a bad habit of signing cruddy relief pitchers, Meloan seemed like an incredible get for Blake, especially when you consider that certain guitar wielding catcher the acquired with him. Sure, Meloan has struggled for much of this season, but certainly the upside for the then 24-year old (turned 25 on July 11) far outweighed his half season struggles.

Unless you're named Mark Shapiro.

You have to question the trade based on the simple logic that Meloan was 24, had a live arm, and upside. Abreu has played with about half the teams in the majors, is 32, and was having one of those seasons that makes scouts scratch their heads. He was pitching too good for a pitcher that's been a whole lot of bad. He was suspended for three games as an Indian, and really bad in the only three games he pitched in (23.14 ERA after giving up six earned runs in 2 1/3 innings over three appearances).

The move made so little sense, that many figured that Abreu had to fit into some other trade scenario with either the Rays, or perhaps as a fill in for another trade involving Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez. It turned out that Abreu wasn't dealt, although it is potentially possible that he was supposed to be moved based on the fact that the Indians dfaed him the day after the deadline. Perhaps he was a door opener for Shapiro with the Rays, who were interested in acquiring both Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Shapiro may have been looking to soften the Rays by taking a lesser player with the hopes of springing some of their slew of prospects. If that was the case, it obviously didn't work.

Either way, the Indians dump Meloan for Abreu, which is slang for acquiring a large pile of dung. Chalk it up to another screw up in a growing list of man for GM Mark Shapiro. Whether or not Meloan fit into the future plans of the Tribe, it doesn't really make sense dumping a live relief arm when you are trying to acquire LIVE RELIEF ARMS.

Victor Martinez leaves "his house"

Roll this one off of your tongue a couple of times: Victor Martinez was traded to the Boston Red Sox. Who the Indians got in return is nearly secondary, but for the record, the Indians brought in three more fireballers to add to their system. The 6'6", 250 lb, 24-year old Justin Masterson is the anchor to this trade for the Tribe, having spent the past two seasons mostly in the back-end of the Red Sox pen. Along with Masterson, the Tribe received two top-ten pitching prospects from the Sox in lefty Nick Hagadone and righty Bryan Price.

Who cares.

Anthony Castrovince reported earlier today that V-Mart spent the afternoon crying in front of his locker. I can't deny feeling the same way that he does.

I've followed this team since birth, and had to live through the teams of the 70's and 80's to get to the 90's. Now the thought of any amount of longevity with regards to losing is nearly too damn painful to even think about. The Indians have shed every noteworthy player on their team. Grady Sizemore remains, but you have to wonder what in the hell he is thinking at this point. Nice sales pitch to Grady, don't you think. "Don't worry Grady, stick it out, and we just might have a winner a couple years from now...maybe."

So now this team is an unknown commodity. There doesn't appear to be any hope for 2010, unless a slew of prospects can somehow surprise the hell out of the American League. Don't count on it. Perhaps 2011 is the year this team rebounds, but don't hold your breath.

Trust me...I haven't barely taken a breath in 37 years waiting...

Blue Light Special at V-Mart

There's not much to mention on the V-Mart front, other than the fact that there has been a surprising silence since early this morning. The Rays apparently dropped out of talks with the Indians when Cliff Lee left the building. There were rumors that the Rays were willing to open up the coffers a bit to get both Lee and Martinez. V-Mart alone isn't nearly as enticing. The Red Sox have already apparently turned down a one-for-one deal that would have given the Indians Clay Buchholz. If they won't deal Buchholz, who has yet to find much success in the majors with any consistency, then I can't see a deal being made. The Mets also seem to be in the mix, especially with Omar Minaya under the gun. A deal for V-Mart could right the ship a bit for the bewildered GM. There are supposedly a few other teams knocking on the Indians door, but as of right now, nothing appears serious or imminent. As for the Indians...

I can't wait until 2011, can you? That's supposedly when the Indians will catch wind in the Mark Shapiro rebuild 2.0. Can't you feel it Cleveland? Grady Sizemore will be firmly in his prime, and about to play in his contract year. Matt LaPorta will be dominating the majors with his power. Michael Brantley will be making everyone forget about Kenny Lofton in the outfield, leading off and stealing bases at will. Carlos Santana will be busy playing the guitar, and becoming the next great catcher in the majors. Hector Rondon, Carlos Carrasco and David Huff will be three of the top starters in the majors. Jason Knapp will be knocking on the door as the top pitching prospect in baseball. Luis Valbuena and Asdrubal Cabrera will have developed into to top middle infield tandem in baseball. Andy Marte will be attempting to top 40 homers for the second season in a row.

Just close your eyes, you can almost see it, can't you?

Of course, for most of you, I had you at Grady Sizemore about to enter his contract year. Sure, he'll be in his prime alright. He'll be prime pickings for Shapiro to dump him for several prospects that will allow the Indians to spin perennially into the abyss of rebuilds that will likely occur under the constraints of the Dolans and the economic marketplace.

Will there ever be lightning in a bottle for this team? Maybe, but I know it's getting less and less fun waiting for it to happen.

More on the VMart watch tomorrow...

Cliff Lee-ving

Cliff Lee has left the building, as the Cleveland Indians traded their ace to the Philadelphia Phillies for AAA RHP Carlos Carrasco, SS Jason Donald, C Lou Marson, and RHP Jason Knapp. I'm left...strangely...numb.

There was no doubt something afoot last night, when the Indians and the Phillies discussions for the Tribe lefty heated up. The Indians spent a bit of time last season rooting through the Phillies minor league organization before they dealt CC Sabathia to the Brewers. Nothing the Phillies had to offer, including Carlos Carrasco, interested Mark Shapiro enough to seriously consider the City of Brother Love as possible suitors. My how things have changed.

Lee leaving is a near-final admission by the Dolans and Shapiro that the Cleveland Indians are long done for 2010. Shapiro's rebuild 1.0 is a complete and utter failure, with the peak coming in 2007, one game from the world series, and the gutter coming, well, take your pick.

The deal is staggering, in that it hinges on a 19-year old power pitcher in single A ball who was shut down this year because of a sore arm. Jason Knapp has the capability of topping out in the upper-90's. He also has injury concerns, and we all know how (Adam Miller) upside (Adam Miller) can (Adam Miller) sometimes (Adam Miller) go (Adam Miller) down (Adam Miller) the (Adam Miller) drain. Young power pitchers aren't a dime a dozen, but blown out arms are. Giving up Lee with this kid being the anchor of the deal is a monster risk for a club that has proven it can't take the next step once they HAVE players that can win a series.

The rest of the deal is a pure head scratcher.

Carlos Carrasco has a big arm, but has been lit-up by triple A pitching this year, and many scouts have questioned his head. Lou Marson is a catcher. He's a freakin' catcher. THEY TRADED FOR A FREAKIN' CATCHER? Sure, Victor Martinez will likely leave Cleveland in the next 48 hours, making Marson a likely fill-in. He's top five in the Phillies organization, so he's no slouch behind the plate. Here's the thing. Don't the Indians have Carlos Santana, Wyatt Toregas, Chris Gimenez and Kelly Shoppach? Now they have one more...for a Cy Young award winner with numbers in the ballpark of Roy Halladay. Oh yeah, they have Jason Donald, a SS that many can't figure out where he may play. He could be a second baseman, or a shortstop, or maybe he could play third base. Nice. They picked up a utility guy.

Oh, I'm sure I'll have to stomach some morons talking about how the Indians are a small-mid market team, and that this was the best they could do under the circumstances. That's garbage. Lee was a cheap asset over the next 1 1/2 years, and they had plenty of time to shop him for a package that might include the likes of a player like Kyle Drabek or Domonic Brown or Michael Taylor, who most, including the Blue Jays, considered the three potential gets that were guarantees for the majors. The Indians couldn't get a single one of them.

Well done Shapiro.

The best part about it is that the Indians not only gave up Lee for the package of overrated garbage, but they had to give up Ben Francisco as well. Now, I'm not sad to see Francisco and his fourth outfielder stats gone, but it's funny that the Indians had to give up TWO players for their less than standard haul. It's like shooting a dog in the neck with a BB gun, then kicking him in the ass on his way out the door. I could get into the Francisco piece, but at least this should get Matt LaPorta up to the big club, so I'll just leave it alone. I guess keeping Francisco as insurance for Grady's injury was like everything else Shapiro spews out of his mouth.

You know, I get this team is constrained by the market. I get it. The problem I have is that unless they align every planet, and every prospect works out in the next five years or so, this team will never win a series. The ONLY way to win is to spend when you are on the precipice. No, the team may fail to make money for a few seasons, but a World Series trophy would certainly curtail that. The Indians mantra continues to be "just not enough."

Shapiro was jerkin' everyone around today, mumbling about how this team was better off than when he took over in 2002. You've got to love the irony. The Indians are hunting for a future ace, by trading away an ace. Make that two.

See you around Cliff...

More tomorrow after the Indians deal Victor Martinez for a can of corn.

Great posts one the article at Tony Lastoria's Indians Prospect Insider and Paul Cousineau's The Diatribe. Here's another from Paul as well.