ICHIRO YOU DAMNSTER

I don't know what a damnster is, but Ichiro is one.

Seriously... Let's go with that...

If you didn't see it.... Well.. Welll..

Welll....

Victor can't buy a break, neither can the Indians.

And that damn Ichiro.

THAT DAMN ICHIRO!

ARRRRRGGGHHHHH

ICHIRO!

Seriously.... What?

I was driving down the free-way and like usual when I'm in the car by myself, listening to the game...

I actually yelled the first thing that came to my mind, which was FIRETRUCK remove the IRETR and ICHIRO followed it.

Of course though.

OF COURSE...

You know until then, I was like, okay this series blew, but our pitching wasn't that bad and we just faced the best pitching staff ERA-wise in the entire league.

Still doesn't excuse losing three out of four, but it gives me hope for the the second half.

I don't know why we need hope though.

F(IRETR)UCK ICHIRO!!!!! YOU BROKE OUR HEART... Not reallly... BUT

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Laffey was a little better this time around. The offense today was actually pretty good with the two-out hitting. Not good enough, but I give them credit for what they did today as opposed to the rest of the series.

We've got an off-day tomorrow, amazing. Then begins a road-trip of hell to Toronto, Seattle, and Anaheim.

Cliff Lee and Brett Cecil on Tuesday, Carl Pavano and Ricky Romero on Wednesday, and Dave Huff and uh... Marc.. Rzepcyeahthatname on Thursday.

[BOXSCORE]

Morning Upd...no... Changes: Make These Moves

Instead of the usual.

Look... Last night, we know what happened.. Franklin's Revenge as the CPD calls it. If you really want to know how I feel, you should already know... But in case you don't.. Here it is.

I really don't want to talk about Tomo Ohka.. He pitched decent, but I don't care.

This isn't about Tomo Ohka anymore.

I guess I trust the Indians to be handling the Fausto Carmona situation right. They made a smart move sending him to Arizona to get him straight and have done well bringing him through. I guess they know him better than any of us do, so if they say he isn't ready, I guess we have to go with it.

What I have a problem with is them going down the Jeremy Sowers road again.

I mean really? Are we really going to do that?

Tony Lastoria hinted that moves may be coming with the off-day tomorrow. Most of them, on the offensive side of the ball.

Let's put Sowers on the back-burner before I shank someone over it.

What do we have that is call-up worthy, most who were noted by Tony?

Andy Marte, Matt LaPorta, Trevor Crowe, Jordan Brown, and Josh Barfield. I think that's where it starts and ends. No Mike Brantley right now, it isn't time for that.

All of them have been in the big leagues, minus Brown. Is it time for him to get his shot?

Terry Pluto says Matt LaPorta won't be back up for awhile because the Indians want him to get a handle on first base. Obviously Brantley is a better fielder and if Sizemore is occupying center, and Choo is in right, you want Brantley in left, not LaPorta. There is also Nick Weglarz as Pluto pointed out.

And as both Pluto and Tony point out, this LaPorta to first base thing makes it sound like Ryan Garko's days are numbered, which angers me. I mean, LaPorta at first is probably offensively, better for this club's future, that isn't what angers me.

What angers me is Garko's treatment here.

He's going to get traded, for less than what he's worth mind you, and that's going to be that.

They could also trade Kelly Shoppach, which would make all sorts of sense given what he'll be making and the fact that Chris Gimenez is here and barely playing at all.

That would open up two spots for a Jordan Brown and Andy Marte in the short-term, to get shots at the big leagues.

Now I'm all for that if that is the overall plan. LaPorta is going to be up here before the year is over, but I'd at least like to get a look at Andy Marte and Jordan Brown if at all possible. Remember Brown can play the outfield and Marte can play first. Give them an audition for the end of July and most of August and see how it goes.

Now why is there a sense that Marte is getting a call-up?

Mark Shapiro has been in Columbus for the past three days. He's obviously looking at something and as Antonetti said, the only thing in his way is the fact that they'd have to DFA him again if they were to send him down. To me though, if this last gasp doesn't work, there really is no place for him anyway.

And even Eric Wedge has shown some support for Marty.

"He's played rock-solid defense at third and he's made some adjustments with his swing," said Antonetti. "Yes, he's out of options, but we could bring him up if there's a place for him. Our only problem would be if we were going to send him down."

"Reading the scouting reports, what he's done down there is real," said Wedge. "He doesn't seem to be the same guy who was here the last couple of years. We have to see if it translates up here at sometime."

I'm for the following.

Marte Up, Immediately... But find a taker for Kelly Shoppach, or else we're sending Gimenez down (he's not playing a lick anyway, it's not beneficial to him to be sitting up here).

IF Garko gets traded, and only if, Jordan Brown gets the call.

and if Shoppach gets traded, send Gimenez down anyway for Josh Barfield, who's much more useful as the last man off the bench.

It's just a mess right now really. If you wonder why I don't touch Ben Francisco, it's because he's good as a fourth outfielder. Sending him down to Triple-A does nothing. They're going to have to trade him or go with him as their fourth outfielder.

Minor Issues: Constanza Superman in Aeros win; Marte states his case

WHAT'S THE NEWS

Eddie Burns suffered an injury and has been placed on Lake County's disabled list. Taking his spot is AZL's Francisco Jimenez. The Double Jimenez on the AZL team has now been split up.

The board has been updated to reflect this and a lot of other stuff, but I had a problem uploading yesterday. Hopefully it works today when I try.

COLUMBUS

Chuck Lofgren went seven strong for the Clippers in their 6-3 win over Syracuse yesterday.

Lofgren went the seven innings, gave up three runs off 6 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. Jensen Lewis threw a scoreless eighth frame, but it was adventurous with two walks and a hit. Greg Aquino struck out the side in the ninth to earn save number 7.

The big inning game in the third when Andy Marte hit a three-run home run to help spark the Clips lead. He also doubled and scored two runs on the day.

Stephen Head doubled and scored twice as well, but he also had a RBI and four total hits on the night. Josh Barfield knocked in a run and so did Wyatt Toregas off two hits.

Keep an eye on the game versus Syracuse today. If some certain people are out of the lineup, that could mean they are getting the call up to Cleveland.

AKRON

Jeanmar Gomez started the second half off on the right foot with his seventh win for the Aeros. Gomez kept Bowie down for the offense to give him a win in their 5-3 game.

Gomez went six innings, gave up two earned, three total runs, off seven hits and no walks. Carlton Smith continues to be amazing with two scoreless innings, no hits or walks surrendered, and Josh Judy filled in for Vinnie the Gangster with his third save for the Aeros.

Two hit nights for Beau Mills, Kyle Haines, and Carlos Rivero. Haines and Mills scored a run and Rivero and Mills knocked in a run.

Three hits on the night for leadoff man Jose Constanza. He was 3-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored, a run batted in, and two stolen bases. MVP.

KINSTON

A narrow defeat for the K-Tribe at the hands of Potomac. Just one run separated Kinston from tying the game late as they both had four hits.

Lonnie Chisenhall, Ole Sheldon, Ron Rivas, and Adam Davis with the those four hits. Davis with the lone RBI for Kinston.

Russell Young pitched 6.2 solid innings, giving up the two runs off four hits and a walk. No offense support though, tough luck loser.

LAKE COUNTY

They scored six in the fifth inning to take a one run lead. They'd give it back and then tie it up in the seventh inning. But the Captains would then surrender two in the tenth to fall to Greenville.

Three hits, including a triple, and a run scored for Donnie Webb on the night. The big blasts came off the bats of Nate Recknagel and Michael Valdez who both hit three-run shots to aid the Captains in their fifth inning.

Chris Nash also had two hits, including a double, and a run scored.

MAHONING VALLEY

The Valley improved to a Pinckney best 18-11 record with a one-run win over Oneonta. The Scrappers scored two runs in the eighth and withstood a ninth inning charge to win 3-2.

Kyle Bellows with one hit and two RBI and Lurvin Basabe with two hits and one RBI.

This was all Preston Guilmet though. Seven innings, one earned off four hits and no walks with two strikeouts. He didn't get the win though, Vidal Nuno did for pitching when the Scrappers took the lead.

ARIZONA LEAGUE

The AZL Indians actually lost five straight since we last talked about them. They had won four straight and all their games have a team scoring a lot of runs.

That happened again yesterday as they scored a bunch in their win over the A's to snap that losing skid.

3 Hits on the night for Argenis Martinez, Jesus Brito, and Roberto Perez. Martinez knocked in one and scored one, Brito scored four times, knocked in two and hit two doubles, and Perez knocked in four, hit a double, and scored twice.

A combined effort from the pitching staff with Mike Rayl going the first four, giving up the lone run off two hits and a walk with four punchouts. JD Goryl picked up his first professional win with three innings of shutout ball, giving up just one hit and one walk. Jose Flores pitched two innings of scoreless ball.

Kobayashi Released

Credit to Tony Lastoria at Indians Prospect Insider for breaking the news hours ago that Masa Kobayashi was released.

It's now been confirmed from the Indians via their twitter account.

Tony mentioned that the spot opens up a 40 man roster spot. It actually does not. Kobayashi is not on the 40 man roster. They DFAed him earlier this year and he ended up in Columbus.

So unless another move related to the 40 man is made, no Marte or Jordan Brown.

Eric Wedge, for what it's worth, said the other day that the Indians will be going at it with this ratio(pitchers to position players) for the time being. They want the extra pitcher on hand because of the uncertainty.

The releasing of Kobayashi though could open up the door for someone in Double-A to get the call? Perhaps Steven Wright, Carlton Smith, maybe Erik Stiller or Zach Putnam? Who knows.

Or, it's not out the realm of possibilities that the Indians have decided on that PTBNL as Tony pointed out. It would not be Jess Todd then, he's on the 40 man. He'd have to be at the Triple-A level and not on the 40 man, unless they are making another move with the 40-man (but who?).

I think it's a straight up release for someone in Double-A really. Or Blaine Neal (yawn) is being activated.

Either way... Masa Time is Over... For Good

Remember, the Tribe is still on the hook for the rest of his $3,000,000 dollars this season. And that 2010 options is surely out of the question now.

Shaking off the rust because I'm a lazy bum!

It's like something was rebuilt, only now it's sharper, stronger (maybe), less problematic, but definitely not too much faster, if faster at all.

I got my laptop, by very tiring means, back on Thursday. I spent that night and all of Friday basically putting all my old programs, 60 virus protection programs, and re-downloading (no I didn't) season four of How I Met Your Mother (I only kept the important files, as important as Barney Stinson is, he wouldn't fit on my flash drive).

And I now spend Saturday morning, catching up on what was.. I have no clue.

And doing other stuff, like finally updating the Rafael Betancourt Cap Counter.

That's right!

Amazingly, not really any changes to the boards. The Depth Chart underwent some mild changes after the break, but other than that, I wasn't cleaning it up like I did the last time.

Everything here is good though because the reformat actually got rid of a few annoying issues with my laptop.

1.) I no longer have to enter 0000 when I flip my blue-tooth mouse on. It reads it automatically.

2.) IE Explorer and my taskbar is no longer blurry

3.) My color also seems to have improved, as my old Indians wallpaper that I had is showing my awful cut jobs, so I replaced it with a Dwight Howard background I found.

4.) Unfortunately, the reformat didn't make Tomo Ohka better at pitching.

The reformat did lose my ability to see what volume my computer is at. That is unless of course I click on the speaker button down at the bottom by the clock. But who wants to do that when you can be lazy?

Let's get to the past two games and the happenings in the minor leagues before I go even more nuts.

Starting in the minors.

Hector Rondon to the major leagues is the most popular topic going around, even more popular than "erin andrews peephole video" is on google. I should get like 100 hits just for mentioning those words.

I wonder if I can get more?

Peyton Manning

Lance Armstrong

Barrack Obama

Harry Potter

Tomo Ohka

Oh dear I just pressed my luck.

Anyway, Hector Rondon turned in his second out of second good performance for the Clips last night.

He went six innings, giving up just one run off seven hits, no walks, and he struck out five.

This came a day after Carmona impressed with a seven inning outing for the Clippers. Could it be the last start he makes for them? He gave up two runs, but struck out seven and didn't walk a hitter.

I don't want another Tomo Ohka start.. Although that's what we'll get. Carmona...needs...up...now...

Or at his next start at least. They will stall him though, I just know it.

"He threw a good ballgame," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Good things are happening and he needs to keep working in that direction."

"Fausto has been pretty good throughout this process. He's been a true professional," Wedge said.

Bobby Livingston gave up 10 beautiful runs in a barn-burner for Akron and Bowie the other night. They did win last night though, Steven Wright blew the save to improve himself to 7-0. Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer and struck out three times.

A night after beating Frederick 9-1, the Kinston Indians lost 10-1 to Potomac. Paolo Espino spot-started for a gem in the win, while McGuire-Stowell platoon piggy-back friendship thing suffered. McGowell?

Give it up for Francisco Jimenez for his Lake County Debut. He jumped the Mahoning Valley level, went 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit, one walk, and striking out three hitters. The Caps won.

After getting swept by Staten Island, the Scrappers bounced back for a win last night. Juan Aponte and Kyle Bellows went deep in the slug-fest. If you are waiting for Jason Kipnis to make his Scrappers debut, you'll be waiting. Kipnis has reported to the Valley, but he's not 100% yet.

Injury news concerning some of the absent Minor Leaguers in the Minor Happenings for this week. Of note though, Jerad Head was placed on the DL for the Aeros. He hurt himself in Thursday's game. Also notes on why Andy Marte (personal reasons in the DR) and Wyatt Toregas (injured) did not participate in the Triple-A All-Star game.

Let's get to the big leagues now.

Nothing you can do about last night as far as Felix Hernandez goes. David Huff wasn't any good, but he'd have to be that much better than King Felix for the Indians to have a chance, and that's just something he doesn't do right now.

"You can't have that," Huff said. "You've got to be able to go deeper. Sometimes I go out there and do it and sometimes I haven't. I'm just trying to have consistency."

Felix was as good as I've ever seen him. He looked different too the way he pitched. He was a lot faster working when he was good. Glad he isn't in our division.

It comes down to that. Huff no good, Felix very good, team doesn't stand a chance. Grady hit that double that everyone thought was a home run that would have brought it within three instead of four, but really, Aardsma just shut it down in the ninth anyway.

Sizemore is back in the leadoff spot and the past two games, he's been good. I'm keeping him there, even though people still want him in the three hole.

I think I'd move Travis Hafner up to the three hole with Victor Martinez struggling. Choo should stay as the cleanup hitter. He had his best game hitting next to Hafner. Before or After, doesn't matter, put him next to the big dog.

I wish we could pencil in Franklin Gutierrez's name into left field every day.

Remember who said trading Gutierrez was a mistake?

Remember who said we'd regret it?

Okay so I laughed at Shapiro when he acquired another arm for the pen. But it turns out that we were both crazy.

I at least stuck up for Gutierrez.

Which makes me only half-crazy.

I maintain my position on this. Franklin Gutiererz is the best all around defensive outfielder on this team. That's not a slight at Grady Sizemore, but rather a statement at just how good Grady is. He doesn't have the arm that Gutierrez does and I don't think he has AS MUCH god-given talent to go get the baseball at every single spot on the outfielder as Gutierrez does.

You can print this post out and save it, or bookmark it or whatever if you think I'm wrong. I truly believe that we made a mistake in getting rid of Gutierrez at this point. Not just getting rid of him, but for what we got and the situation we are in.

BOO YAH!

Gutierrez is ripping heads off chickens right now.

"He's finally relaxing," teammate Ken Griffey Jr. said. "Being traded, he was trying to make a good impression and trying to do too much. We got him to relax and go out there and have some fun."

"I don't feel any pressure now," he [Gutierrez] said before the game. "I know that I'm playing every day, so that probably keeps you more relaxed. I didn't make any adjustments in my swing."

That's it?

If we had just gotten him to relax, he'd hit 20 home runs and knock in 9o RBIs like he has the potential to do this year?

AW COME ON NOW! FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD! IT FITS PERFECTLY! I NEED AN EMMY FOR THAT SUBTLE LINK PLACEMENT!

Damnit... Let's just stop this...

This is why Terry Pluto is a professional.

Finally, Asdrubal Cabrera has the play of the year (for the Indians at least) so far with that behind the back razzle dazzle. How did Jamey Carroll have this thought in the split second between Cabrera getting the ball and then flipping it behind his back?

"I had a feeling that he may somehow try to get it to me," Carroll said. "I didn't anticipate him throwing it to me behind his back, but I knew it was going to be something different because of the angle he took. He gave me a perfect feed for it. It was a very instinctive play. It happened so fast. It was fun."

It was fun....

It keeps getting earlier and earlier

I swear I keep waking up earlier and earlier every morning and I can't get back to sleep.

This morning, I would have laid there until I had to get up, but I had a splitting headache and needed to take something.

And then I thought...

Well I need to waste a half hour.

So here I am, wasting a half hour.

Not really wasting it, but the Indians, oh man.

Let's tidy up some things here with what time I do have.

Last night was the Triple-A All-Star Game. The IL won, Jordan Brown played in left field and went 1-4, but the mammoth that is Andy Marte didn't participate, jerks.

The Double-A All-Star Game also took place, with the South prevailing in the Eastern League. As noted, we had tons of Aeros in the game, and here is what they did.

Carlos Santana started at catcher and went 0-1. I'm assuming since he played in the futures game, they went easy on him. Same with Nick Weglarz who went 0-2 with a run scored. And the other offensive player, Beau Mills, went 1-4.

Jeanmar Gomez pitched a perfect inning of relief and Akron's own Carlton Smith picked up the save by giving up a hit, but recording the last out.

Anyway... It's been a nice few days off, that I purposely took off so I didn't destroy myself from talking about the Indians with nothing to talk about.

They don't deserve it.

Today we resume baseball and it feels good to have it back, even if we are going to suck. I'm not sure if I want to be good though. This team isn't competing for a division title this year, why turn it around and knock ourselves out of a good draft position.

Either way...

The rotation looks like this.

Cliff Lee, David Huff, Tomo Ohka, Aaron Laffey....

Jesus...

They're giving Pavano an extended break, which will mean after the Monday off day, Lee will go again on Tuesday and Pavano goes after that.

So much for skipping Ohka until Carmona is up here.

Carmona and Rondon are starting things off for Columbus in their first two games back.

This is just a mess.. There's like nine thousand different articles out here from the Plain Dealer about the Indians suckness, three from Terry Pluto.

One
Two
Three

I've barely got time to write this, so I have no time to read those.. But really, what more can Terry say other than we suck and everyone was wrong?

Paul Hoynes tried to top him, but again, suck!

One
Two
Three

I'll give Hoynes some credit with Dos, it's more about the second half and what this team needs to do or else we might be seeing things blown up.

Ya..

Like Wedge earlier this year though...

How many different ways can you say, "We're almost there," or "We just haven't hit our stride yet."

It's like...

How many different ways can you say this team sucks and failed expectations?

Lots, but I got one that ends it all.

This team sucks and they failed expectations.

And then Bud Shaw says something that I've been saying.

You trade Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, you just piss everyone off. Then attendance will go down and what revenue we were making off ticket sales, is now gone, and this team is even more strapped for cash.

And here comes the love for once.

Victor addressed these trade rumors at the All-Star break, and pretty much broke the hearts of many media folk, especially in Boston.

Not that Victor has any control over getting traded. But he does control where he signs.

And if the Indians just show up, they can get Victor Martinez back.

"I can't see myself in another uniform," said Martinez, during Monday's media session for American League All-Stars. "We'll see what happens."

That's him talking about the trade rumors.

This is him talking about the fact that he's a free agent after next year (assuming they pick up his option after this one, safe assumption though).

"It's not about me," said Martinez. "It's what they want to do. I'm open to anything they want to do. They hold the option [for 2010], but if they want to talk, I'll talk."

"This organization is great," said Martinez. "This organization has made me a better player and a better person. I love this organization.

"In my mind, I'd like to retire as an Indian."

In other words... He isn't CC Sabathia/Manny Ramirez bolting once he hits the market. He genuinely loves this place and he wants to stay. You might have not been able to buy that talk from CC the past few years...

But you can damn well buy it from Victor Martinez, because we know what kind of person he is and what kind of love he really does have for this organization. Now he can say I want to retire as an Indian and of course when he hits the market, his mind might change. But he is saying right now, he wouldn't mind talking about a new deal.

And if he signs a new deal, it won't be too lucrative.

It will be better than what he as, but he isn't breaking the bank like he would if he hit the free agent market.

And you can tell from that, he loves this team.

I don't know why he would.. I guess I wonder why I do, maybe it's just the attraction to disaster or whatever.

But, he likes us, he really does like us.

Count me in as one of the disappointed that didn't get to see Tim Wakefield pitch in the All-Star game. Not just because he's very old and this was his first, and possibly last, All-Star game, but seeing someone like Victor or Joe Mauer catch his knuckleball would have been great.

Joe Maddon joked he might put Inge back there to do it. Vic wanted to do it though.

"I've never caught a knuckleball. Not in my life. I know it's hard to hit. I can't imagine how hard it is to catch. But I'm looking forward to it."

Oh well.. Victor went 0 for 0 in the game on Tuesday, but he did draw a walk and catch out the remainder. He made a nice stop late in the game on that strikeout of Ryan Howard I believe to prevent anyone from advancing.

Anyway, my time is up and my last day of work for the week is today. I'm hoping I'll have time to pick up my laptop today, because this computer is driving me insane.

Morning Update: Cleaning Up the Business

I've got some stuff to clean-up from the past few days, hell past week really.

I could have done it yesterday, but I was in my usual post-work day laziness.

With the All-Star break happening tomorrow, the blog will be very calm for the next three-four days. I'll be subject to using twitter a lot.

Good news is that excel finally cooperated with me long enough to update the boards and that is now done.

Unfortunately, while my laptop is being fixed, I couldn't get Photoshop on this computer so editing Rafael Betancourt's cap counter is going to be impossible until next week, if I can even get Photoshop on it, if they have to reformat.

So this is sad news.

But I can still type, so that's what's going to happen.

Let's start with last night's game and get all the good news out of the way first.

Carl Pavano was rockin' for eight innings against the Tigers. A refreshing win to have, despite Kerry Wood's near meltdown.

The debate will now begin, trade Pavano while the price is high, or keep him and sign him to a decent deal? And before you ask, the media already did and Pavano knows.

"I understand it's a business. I understand at this time of year, things might be out there. I still have to get ready every fifth day to pitch and win ballgames regardless of where I am."

And Pavano is starting to get used to this whole pitching more often thing. With those injuries, it's safe to say his conditioning wasn't quite used to all this work. Lately, he's been feeling better and the break coming up here should help that too.

"I've got a lot of innings for the volume I've had over the [four] years," said Pavano. "Those extra days have definitely helped me. . .my volume is getting up there and they're, in a way, protecting me."

"Skip made that decision," said Pavano. "I wanted to finish the ballgame, but I think it was the wise decision. We've got a closer down there that throws 98 mph with some of the best stuff in the league. So give him the ball."

So what do I do with Pavano? I'm still not sure. I like the guy. He's pretty cool and he does a good job out there. He pitches the way I want all my pitchers to pitch. He doesn't dilly-dally and last night he worked that strategy to a T the way he threw first pitch strikes to just about everyone.

What would you get for the guy anyway?

I would also assume that when the season ends and he's still on this team and the Indians want to re-sign him, that he would go easy as far as the money is concerned considering this team took a chance on him when no one else would.

Plus that whole injury concern thing, it's still there.

Another name to float out there in possible trades, is surprisngly, to me at least, is Jhonny Peralta.

At the start of the year, I exclaimed that Peralta was a huge key to success, because he carried this team last year, offensively, and he's one of the more clutch hitters we have.

However I've been searching for a word for Peralta's 2009...and Terry Pluto has hit it.

Slogging.

I'm not sure, but it fits. Disappointing isn't the right word because we've seen this performance from Peralta before, but we haven't seen him do it for the reasons he has been.

While I agree the Indians mis-handled the move to third, that is no excuse for Peralta to pout like this.

Would you trade JP?

The value isn't right, so no, and we don't have any better answer for third for next year, unless Andy Marte comes up in place of Peralta and continues to hit the cover off the ball.

But remember the last time we did that?

I did forget Wes Hodges, but his injury has slowed that boat down, and Lonnie Chisenhall looks more like the future third baseman at this point the way he's been swinging the bat. Hodges glove leaves much to be desired and he looks more like a trading chip than a possible option to me. What he looks to the Indians, I'm unaware.

Back to Marte though...

Pluto says it would be crazy to not give him a shot.

Marte is crushing righties, something he had an issue with at the big league level. He's also continued his solid defensive play and to me, it looks like the fact that 29 teams passed on him has sort of motivated him to get himself right.

Part of me wants to give him a shot, and that part also says that whatever value he has worked up, still ultimately isn't worth the same amount if Marte were to make it in the majors and hit very well. I'd much rather take the latter than whatever scrub we get in return for him. While he has increased his value, how much has really increased it? Would we really get much in return?

The other part of me worries more for Wedge actually playing him rather than the trade value decreasing. I mean if we call him up and give him four-games a week, I just remember Wedge doing that with LaPorta.

Jhonny Peralta in all-likelihood will still be on the roster and that's enough for Wedge to not give Marte that shot that the Indians should.

If Peralta wasn't such a fragile mind, I'd use one of his two option years and try and do what they did to Carmona as sort of a reality check. But I know that would just screw Peralta up permanently and there would be no coming back from that.

All in all though, the trade talks will ultimately start and end with Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Both are considered to be safe, unless the Indians are overwhelmed, but that doesn't stop fans and media-folk from speculating, especially ones outside of Cleveland.

I don't think I really have to address this again do I?

Kelly Shoppach would be the catcher I deal. He's not worth the nearly 3 million dollars he could earn next year.

Moving swiftly along, someone questioned in that Hey Hoynsie article about Hafner playing so little for being a guy who "just hits 3-4 times a game."

"I want to play as much as I can, but I don't know what to expect," said Hafner before Saturday's game against Detroit. "We'll see how it goes. The more I can play the better, but I can't predict what's going to happen."

"We're hoping to push him through these three games before the break," said manager Eric Wedge. "That would be progress. ... These baby steps will continue to help him move forward."

Be easy with the big Pronk. His mere presence every time he's in the lineup is enough for me. He's starting to get the breaks now as well. Last night's two-RBI single was typically something that got caught the past year or two. He hit the ball right how you want to hit that ball and it landed perfectly.

Last year, it would have been caught, even though he hit it right.

And that type of hit shows the philosophy he's taking, by going the other way like he used to and then pull the balls that are inside. It's working perfectly and the fear of the pitchers is starting to come back and that equals walks and better pitches for other hitters.

What about Rafael Betancourt being traded? I still offer him arbitration at the end of the year and hope he gets draft pick compensation rather than deal him for some middling prospect.

That CastroTurf brings up several more issues I need to poke my head on.

1. Jeremy Sowers: I would have moved him to the bullpen like I've previously said. There's nothing left for him to prove in a Triple-A rotation. He's a twice through the order pitcher at this stage of his career.

2. Rafael Perez: Back to Columbus. He still hasn't turned it around and I'm starting to get concerned. Not long-term, but it's frustrating watching a guy who was once so dominant become the butt of jokes and be called garbage, when he's not.

3. Victor Martinez and Asdrubal Cabrera: Struggling rough lately.. I hope the break is enough for them, but Victor unfortunately has to play.

4. Ryan Garko: Kicking major ass, yes?

5. Hector Rondon: I forgot to mention this, but his debut for C-Bus this week was great. We'll be seeing him before the year is over, either in August or as a September Call-Up.

6. Winston Abreu: If he isn't decent by the end of July, I'm going wild on someone.

Scott Lewis won't need surgery. I'm sure he's relieved... I still don't think we'll see him for awhile though, if we see him at all the rest of this year. It's still going to be a month or so before he makes a rehab start.

Jake Westbrook is a different story, as he threw a bullpen session on Friday and will throw another on Monday. He could be back in a few weeks if things go right.

Finally... Fausto Carmona will make at least one more start at Columbus and he won't be in the Indians plans the first time around their rotation in the second half. That's something that seems to be certain about the Indians rotation, but Wedge won't reveal anything at all.

"He was good his first two innings, pretty good his last two innings and struggled in the middle three," said Wedge. "He came off his delivery a little bit. There were some good things and some things he needs to continue to work on.

"That's why he's down there. After where he's been, we figured he'd have to spend more time at the Triple-A level."

So the Carmona watch continues and I'm with it. Hopefully his next start looks better and we can get him up here. I'm anxious to get him back and get him right because he's still a huge part of this team.

Tomo Ohka finishes up what has been a stupid first half of the year against Justin Verlander. I'm sure the Tigers enjoy having Justin Verlander pitching today, this way he'll avoid the All-Star game and you could even use him twice in like three or four games. Maybe if Verlander can't pitch they'll add someone, maybe like, Cliff Lee, maybe?