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We are officially in the name game. Welcome to the 2008 Offseason here at the Tribe Time Report. It's time to organize our plans. The first move will be to look at the names on our offseason outlook chart.
As we start to utilize the offseason chart, the first few names we will look at are all second baseman and then cover the lone outfielder on the current list.
As time goes and I make additions to the chart, I'll break those people down. But let's start with what we have.
First up at the second base position.
Mark Ellis - Oakland Athletics (Fall Back Option)
Position: Second Base (Flexible), B/T: R/R
Age: 32, Height: 5'11, Weight: 180
Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
Ellis is probably not going to be brought back by the penny-pinching Billy Beane. He's 32 and I think that would go against the money-ball philosophy. Let's get this out of the way. If we brought in Mark Ellis, he would be a second baseman. Elis has started played seven games at third base, but he's committed two errors and that was a few years ago.
He played gold-glove caliber second base in 2008 and a position change would not work. This would be a product of Jhonny Peralta moving to third.
Ellis put up an awful average in his 117 games in 2008. He hit .233 but got on base at a .321 clip, which is really good with a bad average. Every other year he seems to hit over .250 and then drop below it the next. His best year was in 2005 when he hit .316.
I'm not sure what Mark Ellis is going to command on the free agent market. If he comes at a cheap price and the Indians have to make that last-resort move of putting Peralta at third and bringing in a second baseman, Ellis wouldn't be a bad option. He could hit in the two hole and play excellent defense. Ellis would bring a good disciplined bat to the top of the Indians order that could get on base, his walk to strikeout ratio is good.
This would be my pick at second if we had to go down that road. There are more talented options like Brian Roberts on the trade market, but that would be price that is way too steep for the Indians to pay.
Jerry Hairston Jr. - Cincinnati Reds (In Price Range)
Position: Second Base, Utility (Luxury), B/T: R/R
Age: 33, Height: 5'10, Weight: 175
Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
Jerry Hairston is the definition of a super utility player. But on a team like Cincinnati, when he was healthy, played a lot of baseball. Hairston has been well-traveled these past few years after starting his career in Baltimore.
In just 80 games last year he hit .326, by far his best even in a shortened season. His career on base percentage is around .330 and he is fast.... real fast.. Hairston can steal at least 20 , even more if he's healthy in a full season. His speed would make him a good option for the bottom of the order or at the top if we need to go that route.
Hairston's numbers aren't what you want from a third baseman, especially in the American League. So I do believe he would be in that Ellis mold, start him at second base if we have to move Jhonny to third. Hairston's listed as a luxury because of his multiple positions, that obviously would be a plus.
I don't think it's an ideal fit, but Hairston would be cheap if we wanted to go the route of bringing in a few options to compete.
Dan Uggla - Florida Marlins (Short-Term Solution)
Position: Second Base (Flexible), B/T: R/R
Age: 28, Height: 5'11, Weight: 200
Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
Dan Uggla.. Oh my..
Uggla won't hit for a high average, will probably strike out a lot, but he will hit a lot of long bombs.
Uggla has hit for lower averages these past two years after hitting .286 his rookie year. His OBP jumped up to .360 despite the mediocre average however. He also slugged over .500.
Uggla's power numbers would allow us to maybe move someone like Asdrubal Cabrera to third and take the hit at corner infield in terms of power numbers.
His defense is pretty poor, which I'm sure you know if you saw his barage of errors in the 2008 All-Star Game. He would take something from the center of the diamond, and form probably the worst middle infield in terms of defense in the entire MLB, but also the most powerful one with Peralta.
Uggla is not an ideal fit, unless you are enamoured with Power.. He'll also take the right price from GM Michael Hill and executive Larry Beinfest. The Marlins are real stingy when it comes to their talent and real stingy about paying them as well. They'll probably refuse to pay Uggla in arbitration and demand a very preicse return for trading him. Mark Shapiro knows and he probably will avoid this, but it is an interesting idea to look at.
Raul Ibanez - Seattle Mariners (Luxury)
Position: Outfield/Designated Hitter (Flexible), B/T: L/R
Age: 37, Height: 6'1, Weight: 210
Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
You are probably wondering why, if I was going to put outfielders on this list, why would I put Raul Ibanez, an aging slugger who would be relegated to DH.
Well I have to leave open every possibility and with the news about Hafner, we need to prepare for every alternative. If something were to go wrong with Hafner, we might need a DH, MIGHT. Ibanez would be a shaky left field, but he wouldn't be the worst left field either.
Ibanez will hit for power and he can CARRY a team's offense at points in the season. We wouldn't depend on him, we shouldn't have to do depend on him to provide all the offense, which makes him a nice little addition if we were to need him.
This is less than likely, but his power numbers, close to .300 average, RBI potential, and excellent on base percentage would be a nice fit if we were to say, trade Ben Francisco, go for a power bat in the corner spot, or persue an option at DH if Hafner goes south.
I don't see it happening, but I would keep the idea in the back of your head. At least 20-100 in terms of HR and RBI these past few years. He may be getting older, but he can HIT.
Next: We'll dig into the first half of our third baseman group: Garrett Atkins, Casey Blake, Hank Blalock, and Jorge Cantu.
A few notes to pass along...
- From Indians Prospect Insider, Tony Lastoria: Here are some official releases as far as the minor league system goes. Included are: Zach Booker, Jim Deters, Ramon Hernandez, Jason Stanford, Jason Tyner and Corteze Armstrong, who was brought on as a scout in the Indians system.
- Tony also says that Matt McBride's move to the outfield is going well, but it is unknown if it is permanent. Adam Davis is trying to make the transition TO Catcher, a few pitchers are also pitching in the Hawaii league, check out this link or go to the organizational depth chart to see which ones are participating. Wes Hodges is ripping it up int he AFL and the Scrappers are planning to change Logo, Colors and Uniforms this offseason.
- Travis Hafner will undergo shoulder surgery afterall. Dr. James Andrews will perform an arthoscopic and some what exploratorive surgery TODAY. Lonnie Soloff said the goal is to have Hafner 100% by the time the season goes. They don't think they will have to do any sort of reconstructive deal.
- Yesterday, MLBTR found that Buster Olney said the Indians might just pick up Jamey Carroll's option instead. Who knows what happens here. Either way he'll be an Indian in 2009.
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