No Youkilis, No Problem

Youkilis to the Tribe? Thank goodness
it didn't happen.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

There are a bunch of Indians fans out there that really wanted Kevin Youkilis.

I was not one of them.

If you look at Youkilis' stats, injury history, and the position(s) he plays, trading for him just didn't make any kind of sense. And I know that the Indians were reportedly "in" on him, but as I tweeted the other night, thank goodness he's not going to be in a Tribe uniform.

Yes, there is a huge need for a right handed bat, but unlike the nearly 70% of people that have voted in this 92.3 The Fan online poll, the Indians don't just need any right handed bat.

Kevin Youkilis—since he's so topical right now—is right handed, but he absolutely was not the answer. I think any educated Indians fan knows this, but all the people starving for any right handed bat off the street do not.

First of all, where could Youk play on this team? First base? I know Casey Kotchman has not been great with a bat, but you're not going to take away his defense. And if you want a right handed first baseman hitting in the mid-.200s, we've already got Jose Lopez. 

You can make a similar argument for third base, where Jack Hannahan and Lonnie Chisenhall are splitting time. And even if you thought Youkilis would be an upgrade there, why would you get Youk to limit Chisenhall's playing time—especially cause the Chiz kid is so young and is making progress in his development. There's no space at DH either, since Travis Hafner is reportedly about to start a rehab stint and should be back with the team soon.

I mean, are you seeing a fit here? Because I'm definitely not.

And if you want to get some numbers, how about these—in the second half of last season, Youkilis hit .199 in 37 games with just four HR and 17 RBI. Even more alarming, in 57 games away from Fenway, Youkilis hit just .191 in 2011. This year, he was on the DL with back problems—a red flag for any athlete in any pro sport—and has hit .233 with four HR and 14 RBI. Again, he's hitting just .191 away from Fenway, and only hitting .256 against lefties. Nothing to write home about there. 

So again, how in the world would this guy have fit on this current Indians team?

Of course, now that I write this, Youkilis is probably going to light up the world with the White Sox. Everybody knows the situation in Boston was toxic, and when a guy is so discontent in the clubhouse a change of scenery can definitely affect performance—just ask Brandon Phillips.

But I'm going to stand firm in my belief that the Indians using their limited trade resources to bring Kevin Youkilis to Cleveland would have created more problems than it would've solved. 

~MAS 

A Bad, Bad Start to a Road Trip

Photo from brianpenzone of Flickr

If you're an Indians fan, I'm sure you've heard of the "What if?" campaign. Really, it's a bit odd because it harkens back to the 90s teams, saying "What if it never happened?"

What a silly hypothetical. I mean, obviously it did happen and those teams were great, despite never winning a World Series. But why keep talking about those teams when (besides bench coach Sandy Alomar) they have nothing to do with the current one?

So here's a "What If?" for this current Indians team:

What if the team could manage to score more than four runs in a series against the freaking Houston Astros?

Here's another—What if the Indians could find a way to, say, score some runs off of a left handed starter?

And yet another—What if the Indians could find an effective arm in the bullpen that didn't have the last name of Smith, Pestano, or Perez?

And one more for good measure—What if this team could just play good, consistent baseball?

People keep wondering why the Indians are dead last in attendance, and this series is a perfect illustration of why. The Tribe only managed to score four measly runs against a team rated 27th overall in MLB in ERA. There are only three pitching staffs worse than the Astros in all of baseball, and the Indians only scored four runs in three games!

Everybody keeps talking about how great Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez have been lately—well it won't matter if the bats can't score any runs to pick them up. You can't expect Masterson and Ubaldo to go out and throw 1-run ballgames, or shutouts every time. That's just not going to happen in the AL.

I want a big right-handed bat as much as the next guy to combat the team's struggles against lefties, but the Indians are going to have to start doing better with what they have. This weekend, the Indians were shut down by one lefty making his second career start, and another that entered the game with a 5.15 ERA. In a combined 16.0 innings against both, the Indians managed just two runs, 10 hits, and worked just three walks.

On the weekend, the Tribe scored four runs on 15 hits, which comes out to a horrid .167 batting average.

So uhh...yeah, one bat just isn't magically going to bring that average up to a respectable .260.

If there's one player that really needs to get his head out of his backside it's Carlos Santana. I don't know about you but I'm really sick of seeing Jose Lopez in the #4 hole. Unfortunately, as long as Santana keeps driving the struggle bus and Hafner is on the DL, Lopez will probably stay there.

In June, Santana is batting a very bad .175 (10/57) with no homers, five RBI, and four doubles. He's struck out 16 times, but walked eight to have a fairly remarkable .304 OBP for the month. If the Indians are going to be a contending team—and I mean contending in the sense that they could do something in the playoffs, not just win this horrid AL Central—he has to get going at the plate.

But honestly, the guy needs to get his head out of the clouds in general. A passed ball on a 94mph fastball that was just off the plate? C'mon, that's absolutely ridiculous.

As for Lopez batting cleanup, he's batting .222 (10/45) with just one extra base hit (a double) and six RBI. And by the by, he's also got a .182 average in June, and is batting just .256 against lefties on the year. With Michael Brantley hitting .295 over May and June, it's time to put him at cleanup. I know he has little power and it would make three of the first four hitters in the lineup lefties, but Brantley's hitting .291 against southpaws and is batting .324 with runners in scoring position. It's out of the box, but it could work.

Obviously, these are basic changes and probably won't affect the big picture too much, but losing two of three to the Astros was not the way to start this road trip. The Indians mercifully won't have to face CC Sabathia in New York with the white hot Yankees, but will go up against Andy Pettitte on Wednesday afternoon. And Baltimore isn't any joke either this season.

In our bad division you can't call it a "make or break" road trip, but man oh man did it start off on the wrong foot.

~MAS

My Irrational Hate for LeBron James

Okay, so maybe "hate" is a strong word. Or perhaps it's not. On a night where LeBron validated everything he set in motion when he had that infamous "The Decision" special, I can't say that I'm surprised. But I can say that I'm disappointed. 

I'm disappointed that the universe doesn't care about how those three buffoons planned this for years before they got to do it.

I'm disappointed that Dan Gilbert's promise won't get to be fulfilled, and he's going to be the butt of all kinds of national jokes.

I'm disappointed that LeBron quit on the Cavs in Game Five of the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals, blamed it on his elbow, said he "spoils" people with his play—all because he knew he was going to Miami with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh and he didn't give two you-know-whats about Cleveland at that point.

I will say this, LeBron James has finally figured it out. He's finally matured into the player that everybody expected him to be. You can see it in press conferences, on the floor when he told Mario Chalmers to stop celebrating towards the end of the 3rd quarter in tonight's massacre. But most of all, you can see it in the way he's now realized that winning isn't easy—this is as hard as LeBron James has worked in any postseason since 2007. And now that he's finally won that elusive first ring, he's undoubtedly earned it. 

You see, I have this theory about LeBron James and I'll lay it out to you now. I think that after he led the Cavs to The Finals in '07—against all odds, and in spite of the lack of talent around him (seriously, Larry Hughes was on that team)—LeBron thought to himself, "Wow, that was really hard. And then we got swept! You know what, I shouldn't have to work that hard. I may be good—even great maybe—but this is ridiculous!"

So after that, LeBron began to think that it was Cavs GM Danny Ferry, and Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert's jobs to do everything in their power to make sure LeBron James had enough talent around him so that LeBron James didn't have to work so hard to just get the team to The Finals—let alone win a championship.

Then, in 2008, LeBron, Bosh and Wade were all on the Olympics team together and won a gold medal. I think sometime when all three were in China, they had a conversation that went something like, "Wow, wouldn't it be great if we could all play together and freaking dominante the league? Think about how easy that would be! We'd win so many Championships!"

This is something plenty of people have suggested before—that the three planned on playing together since Beijing—but I think the mentality of those three coming into last season played into their little party after it became official that they'd all be playing together. LeBron especially seemed to think it would be easy, and this didn't change even after he got steamrolled by the Mavs last year in the Finals.

But here's the deal—it turns out, LeBron James had to work just as hard, if not harder, than he did in '07 to win his first title here in 2012. He finally figured out that he had to work during the series against Indiana. Once the Heat got down, you know who showed up like the superstar he was supposed to be? LeBron James.

Once the Heat got down 3-2 to the Celtics, who showed up? LeBron James.

And who played like an MVP in the Finals? None other than LeBron James.

And that's what frustrates me so damn much. LeBron had gotten everything handed to him for so many years, (seriously—a Sports Illustrated cover before his senior year of high school?) how could you blame him for thinking winning a Championship should be easy?

But how can you not blame him for quitting on one team knowing he would go to another to take the path of least resistance to winning a Championship just a few weeks later?

I won't congratulate him. I know that makes me the subject of every national analyst telling Clevelanders to "get over it" but I just can't.

This is a night that all of us in Cleveland believed we'd be sharing with a victorious Cavaliers team. I know he's a great player—I see that, I recognize that.

But you know what? Anyone that trashes my city like LeBron James did when he announced a decision made years before the fact deserves neither my respect nor my congratulations.

Go Cavs, Go Indians, and Go Browns.

And damnit, Go Cleveland.

Never forget.

~MAS

Hey Grady? I think it's time to call it quits

Oh you oft-injured Grady, you...
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

In case you haven't heard, news surfaced today that Grady Sizemore hit yet another setback in his rehabilitation process.


Okay, so Indians Head Trainer Lonnie Soloff didn't exactly call it a "setback" per se, but in coach speak he did. If, as Tribe manager Manny Acta said, "The process has been slowed down a little bit," that most definitely isn't encouraging news as to when Sizemore will be available to play.

Sizemore has now spent over 60 days on the DL and can be activated whenever the Indians want to do it. But, as it was reported today, apparently the guy can't run. He's done hitting and throwing, but he can't run without pain.

Yes, fellow Indians fans, $5 million of the Indians payroll is being sucked up by Sizemore—a guy who can't even freaking run!


Let's face it, I wrote back in February that any realistic picture of Sizemore being healthy for a full season would be maybe 120ish games with perhaps 20ish HRs and 70 RBI. But now? Heaven only knows what Sizemore could contribute if he ever can mangage to pick himself off the DL.

Soloff said today that it would be "unreasonable and unfair" to set a timetable for Sizemore to make his first appearance on the Indians big league roster, but he's still "optimistic" that Grady can contribute in 2012.

...Really?

So if there's no timetable, Sizemore had a setback, the last "optimistic" outlook the team told us said he could be back by the All-Star break, when in the wide world of sports is this guy going to play?! August? And even when he comes back, how much is he going to play—three times a week?

In my mind, that's just unacceptable for someone being paid $5 million this year.

Again, let's be real, Sizemore is never going to be anything close to the player he once was. He can't even run for goodness sake! Frankly, I'm sick of hearing about how the organization is going to be patient with Grady, how he's working very hard to get back with the team, blah, blah freaking blah.

So you know what? Sizemore should just save himself and the Indians all the trouble and just call it a career. I don't want to say that at this point he's embarrassing himself, but it's just sad to see that his career has degenerated into this.

You know the last time this guy went through a full season healthy? 2008. Two-thousand, freaking eight! I was a sophomore in high school the last time Sizemore had a full, productive season. That's just...wow.

The next year, Sizemore struggled through elbow problems before calling it a season in late August to have surgery on it so he could recover in time for Spring Training in 2010. But, that year he only played—wait for it—33 games. Last season, Grady played in a stunning 71 games, in which he hit 32 extra-base hits including 10 homers, 21 doubles and a triple.

So, okay, the Indians were hoping for the Sizemore who hit 10 homers and 21 doubles in 2011 would be able to do that for the whole year, but they gave someone who missed 91 games due to injury last season freaking $5 million for this season. Five million dollars to rehab. Between Sizemore and Hafner, the Indians currently have $18 million dollars invested in two guys that can't stay on the field.

For the money the Indians spent on Sizemore, Hafner, "Fausto Carmona," and Jake Westbrook, we could at least still have CC Sabathia and Victor Martinez. And I know the contracts for the now-Hernandez and Sizemore aren't the same ones they signed when the Indians invested in them years ago, but the sentiment still applies.

So there's that. And there's the most fragile of all the fragile, Grady Sizemore, hitting and throwing but not running.

I know it's tough and I know you want to play, but Grady?

Just save us all the trouble and call it quits.

~MAS

Time to hit the Panic Button?

Some of you may recognize the style of the image to the right from the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster England used right before WWII broke out. I've seen people wearing shirts that have that phrase on it in college to try to promote mental health and stability, and the Dodgers Twitter account has been using a modified version of the phrase when the team starts losing.

But because of the slogan's history (seeing as how there really was no reason whatsoever to "Keep Calm and Carry On" in England in 1939... Seriously, how are you going to tell me to keep calm and carry on when the country is about to get the crap bombed out of it? But I digress...), I find "Now Panic and Freak Out" to be both funny, and probably more appropriate to the original situation.

But since you're not here to read my thoughts on historical posters, I'll get right to the point—I know it's baseball, I know teams go through rough stretches, especially when there are injuries, but I'm just going to say it:

When you lose four of six games to the bottom two teams in the division, and seven of your last nine games overall, it just might be time to panic and freak out—at least a little bit.

Consider the fact that even when you factor in the injuries, it's really been the pitching that's killed the Indians in their last nine games. In the seven losses, the pitching staff has given up run totals of 9, 14, 12, 8, 6, 7, and 6.

Have the Indians been world beaters on offense in those losses? Absolutely not. But if you have a game like last night, where the team is scratching and clawing back and ties the game, the pitching must go out and keep the score where it is. Josh Tomlin battled all night in yesterday's 7-4 loss, but once the offense tied the game he went out there and gave up a solo shot, and then Tony Sipp gave up a 2-run jack to Mauer to kill any and all momentum for a comeback.

It nearly seemed like a carbon copy in today's game. Justin Masterson yet again didn't have good control and gave up three runs in the first four innings. I was watching it, and I'll tell you, it could've been much worse. Masterson, however, did go six innings and gave the Tribe a chance to get back in the game. But Nick Hagadone came in with the score 3-2 in the seventh, and by the time Manny Acta took him out of the game with two outs in the same inning, it was 5-2.

Those are the types of things that just kill your team.

Now, the Indians are going on what's going to be a "show me what you're made of" 10-game road trip to Detroit, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. Yes, the Fat Cats are also reeling having lost five of their last seven, but if the Indians continue to pitch poorly, they'll wake up the perhaps 600 lb. two-headed monster of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.

And it won't get easier from there—the Cardiñals and Reds have been battling it out all season for first place in the NL Central.

So here's the deal—Carlos Santana should be back for Tuesday's game in Detroit. Lonnie Chisenhall has hit well so far since being called up and should continue to do so. Matt LaPorta has a fantastic opportunity for the next few games to show that he, in fact, can be the productive right handed hitter everyone expected he'd be when the Indians traded for him in 2008.

When the starting pitching rights itself, the Indians can beat any team any day of the week. But if that doesn't happen soon, it might be time to panic and freak out.

~MAS