I'll Have What Jhonnys Having

For some odd reason, Jhonny Peralta hit everything thrown in his direction tonight.

5-5, three doubles, three runs batted in, a home run and three runs scored.

That brought his average all the way up to .257, a little bit more respectable. He's also had seven straight hits.

And all of a sudden, Eric Wedge is looking a little bit like a genius.

Now come on here..

The comeback came a little short.. The second Swisher home run hurt a bit, and the fact that Jeremy gave up both of those jacks with TWO outs.

It also stung that Jeremy gave up the three spot after we took the lead. It looked like it was going to be a good night offensively and it was. But the pitching did not hold up their end of the bargain.

Hey, thumbs up to the bullpen tonight. Squirrelly Cheeks Mujica and Joe Borowski pitched two scoreless and sandwiched in between that Mastny had the three innings. For five innings of work, one run is not bad.

Shin-Soo Choo had two hits for two RBI as well.

The Indians did out hit the White Sox, so that's encouraging. Gotta get a better starting effort though, and oh look at that.

Tomorrow we got a doooooozy of a pitching match-up. Cliff Lee will try to stop ANOTHER three game losing streak against John Danks who's been awesome this year.

[BOXSCORE]

Scott Elarton placed on Restricted List

Looks like I was totally wrong.. Turns out it was a strange move, because Scott Elarton is going on the restricted list.

The report is "personal reasons" so we probably won't know much more than that for the most part.

Oh well. Wonder how much time Mastny will get. I wanna see him tried out a little, he did a good job in Buffalo this year to date.

It just proves what kind of year this is. You can't pinpoint what moves are happening at all.

What is up Shapiro's Sleeve? Mastny To Be Called Up

Could the Indians have made a move?

I'm not suggesting something has been done. But this is really odd to me.

Anthony Castrovince has posted that Tom Mastny has been called up to the major league team today.

What's the big deal?

Well so far no corresponding move.

Castrovince said he will post it when he can.

What could be that move?

Someone getting sent down? Who would be sent down at this point?

Did someone get released? It had to be.

Or maybe traded?

Who knows..

I have a feeling there is a big shakeup coming.. And this is the start of it.. I mentioned it in the Minor League update the other day. Mastny is tearing it up in Buffalo, the call up is well deserved.

I'm gonna guess..

Rick Bauer got released
Dellucci got released or DFAed or traded

or this would be a big shocker.

Andy Marte is gone.

Something is happening here.. More Later..

Morning Update: It ain't over till you're mathematically out! Get me a bagel!

I think...?

Paul Byrd is pretty sure that if they are mathematically in the race, that they have a chance.

Well Paul that's all well and dandy, but if you keep pitching like this we will be out of the race sooner than later.

This is the road trip though. They need to make something happen with the three top dogs in the division.. If not, then well good bye! Here's your defining moment.

Masa Kobayashi hasn't pitched more than 58 innings in a year. Well Wedge thinks he'll pass that by far.

They are keeping an eye on him though. With him being the one guy who has been close to stable out of that pen, they have no choice but to continue to use him when hes needed.

Masasan has been good, he sometimes has those where did that come from inning, but he's been as solid as you can ask for coming over from Japan.

Jamey Carroll finally got a day off, I would have waited till today, but Wedge decided he wanted Carroll for this entire divisional run. To his surprise, he was on the All-Star ballot for the players.

Wedge by the way said that the "element of surprise" is gone now that the "replacements" have been in there for a good time.

From the same article, Grady Sizemore has joined the Progressive Field 50 home run club.

A little tidbit I learned this weekend on Grady by the way. He's three away from 100 on his career. That was fast...

You've seen me say it.. The players have said it, and Eric Wedge has said it.

Now.. Chris Herring says it.

I don't know who Chris Herring is....

Kelly Shoppach has a few good quotes concering Adam Dunn on Sunday.

On Laffey hitting Dunn twice, "Whatever you do, don't make this guy charge the mound. He's bigger than both of us." (Plain Dealer)

Then on the collison with Dunn at the plate, ''No hard feelings,'' Shoppach said, smiling. ''I was able to ask him if that's all he had. It was a clean play. I was just joking with him.'' (ABJ)

You can blame the lack of attendance on whatever you want. Weather, poor performance. I like to blame it on the midges, but whatever.

But yeah it's been bad. I'd blame it on the bad play.

Bill Livingston says the injuries are not to blame for the poor performance. I sort of agree with him, but the injuries are a part of it.

Minor League Update: Mulhern to DL, Rincon Activated

The Bisons have activated new reliever Juan Rincon to counter the move of Ryan Mulhern going to the Disabled List.

The Indians fully believe that Rincon will be in their bullpen sometime this year. It's just a matter of what he does at Buffalo and what they see needs to be fixed.

For the record, Armando Camacaro was placed on the DL as well, Yamid Haad who was on reserve after accepting the Triple A assignment was activated.

The Bisons swept the double header the other night. over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Yesterday they won 7-5, and tonight they go for the four game sweep.

Akron keeps winning and Trevor Crowe keeps hitting. The guy went deep again yesterday and had two RBI.

Kinston wins as well and they have the best record in the Carolina League.

To prove so, Josh Tomlin and Jason Denham took home both CL awards for this past week.

Tomlin is the pitcher of the week, and Denham is the player of the week. Denham went 7-14 with six runs batted in

Josh Tomlin's award is well deserved though, as he officially threw a one hit shutout. He only threw six innings because of rain, but it's officially a complete game shutout.

Marty Join The Party!

Everyone in the lineup got a hit today, except Andy Marte.

Man, not real good back up for the ones that want to support him. Then again can you blame him with the playing time he gets?

Like I said, everyone got a hit today. Benny Fresh had the late two run jack that got your hopes up. Grady had his 19th to pull into a tie for the league lead.

Aaron Laffey was playing with fire the whole time, and he finally got burned in the 5th. He just kept giving up hits and eventually home run capped it off.

I thought we could get back into it. Had Casey not gotten greedy with the double it would have been two runs on the Choo phantom triple.

Cruddy series to lose.. Especially since they swept the earlier one.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of the season in my mind. Just over the halfway point by a game, and the division is lined up for us three series in a row. It's now or never for the Indians.

Gavin Floyd and Jeremy Sowers.. Oh Boy

[BOXSCORE]

Paul Byrd will let you hit his fastball

I'm not real into it tonight.... I also promise this is the last time I'll use that kind of title.. I think the joke is over..

Most of my energy was spent writing this lovely gem.

Here's what I got to say..

Casey Blake went 3-3 and his average has quietly perked up to .281. Hmm hitting at HOME and the road will do that for ya Casey.

Fear the Fu Man Choo, Sal Fasano gets two hits and a walk.

I love Fasano already. He's got manager written all over him and I think we gotta sign him up somewhere.

I also think that if he hits a home run this year, everyone on the team should grow a Fu Man Choo to the best of their abilities.

Paul Byrd absolutely sucked. He got helped out in the first few innings with some great defense(Sal Fasano), and some lucky breaks. But they eventually got to him.

The offense didn't get enough lucky breaks. They had guys on just about every inning and every other inning there was a legit scoring opportunity. You need to get those guys in.

Tomorrow we got Aaron Laffey against a joker named Bronson Arroyo. We better pound him into salt.

[BOXSCORE]

Morning Update: Hafner's shoulder only at 50%

It's 11:45, maybe if I hurry I can beat the Noon Deadline so this doesn't become "Afternoon Update." GO GO GO GO!

Jamey Carroll has not sat a game since taking over and I don't think I blame Wedge. I'd play him every day against the National League, and why not? He played in it for the last few years.

Jamey has been giving Wedge and the team pointers on the NL.

Anthony Castrovince is always digging for a new story. Which is why I like him.. That and he's Italian and his brother does the local sports here in Youngstown. Trust me, Anthony is the better of the two.. No Offense Bill.

BUT, for some strange reason he talked to Andy Marte... Marte provided some quotables about his playing time.. Here Here..

"I'm still young," said the 24-year-old Marte. "All I need is playing time. If not here, maybe somewhere else. But I'd like to stay here. I like this organization and the way they've treated me. I like it here, but I've got to think about my career."

We all believe that something needs to be done here.. If they fall out of the race, Casey Blake must be the second guy to go. We need to give Marte a real shot at showing he can play. They can't have this guy hanging over their head next year.

So it turns out the bat C.C. Sabathia used was just a loner from Adam Dunn. Dunn planed to go get the bat back. Hopefully C.C. used all the power it had in or Dunn doesn't use it this series. Garsh.

Since I brought him up (7 minutes to noon), I forgot about something on C.C. yesterday.

Jon Heyman of SI rounded up some stuff on Sabathia that likes.

Heyman said the Tribe will probably not committ to a fifth year for C.C., uh-oh. May I propose a mutual option?

There are as many as 12 teams interested and all the contenders have at least asked, excluding the Cardinals.

C.C. could be looking for 125 million.. Yikes, over 6 years thats 20 million, and over 7 thats around 17, but closer to 18.

And finally the Indians probably won't give anyone a window to negotiate.. Why should they? Unless of course the other team sweetins the pot.

Cliff Lee is superstisious. Not really, but he steps over the chalked lines. Carmona hops over them, but Lee tries to make it subtle. I would do the same thing.

Also, Paul Byrd's book is in and he gave it to the media members. I'm thinking of picking it up when it comes out, just to see what's up about this steroid use. Straight from the Byrd himself.

Finally we got injury updates on Fausto Carmona and Travis Hafner.

Shoot, it's noon.

Welcome to the Afternoon update...

First Fausto Carmona...

He played catch yesterday and also ran sprints. The plan is to get him throwing on a mound for a bullpen session in the next week, then go on some rehab assignments. Wedge is pinpointing right after the All-Star break for Carmona.

The news is less-exciting about Travis Hafner, who could be out for a longgggg time.

40-50% is the shape his shoulder is at. They want him to get it to 75% before they even think of letting him swing a bat and what not. There is really no time table, but Lonnie Soloff is supposed to talk to the media today sometime, so maybe he can provide a better insight into this 40-50% thing.

Minor League Update: Rondon To Play in Futures Game

Every year on the Sunday before the All-Star Break, the MLB gets together a bunch of the world's best players to play a little thing called the Futures Game. ESPN usually televises it and you can see some of the best prospects in the minor leagues.

The Indians are usually well represented, especially on the World team, but this year they only had one selection.

K-Tribe Starting Pitcher Hector Rondon has been chosen to represent the Indians at New York next month.

You can check out the rosters here: US Team, World Team.

Congrats to Hector, and once next year rolls around I'm expecting the game to have a lot more Indians.

Akron laid a smacking on Reading last night 16-6. That man appeared again, Trevor Crowe went 3-5 and has a grand slam. He also scored four times. Josh Rodriguez also had three hits with thee runs batted in.

Kinston hit four home runs last night, including two from Beau Mills who is starting to get locked in.

The Captains swept a double header yesterday.

C.C. Sabathia dares you to hit his slider.

Wait a minute....

Two straight games of 8 inning shut out ball?

What the hell is going on here!

Then offense to support it?

The world must be coming to an end as we know it. The Tribe have won two straight in great fashion, manufacturing some two out runage after Sir Franklin struck out with runners on 2nd and 3rd and noooooooobody out! Kelly Shoppach had a sac-fly followed by line drive double by Grady Sizemore, who looked as if he saved the day in the 5th inning with a solo shot and rain coming down.

Sparkplug threw in a single up the middle, and thanks to some sloppy defense he got to second in addition to Garko scored almost surprisingly on the Grady double.

Let's also mention that play Grady made early in the game. I swear to god I thought he broke his ankle, but man did he go up and get that sucker.

CC? Oh yeah 8 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks and 11 of those things we like to call strikeouts.

Looking good here.. Jamey Carroll's average is up over .300 now by the way.

Tomorrow it will be Free Money Night, so I encourage you go and get your free money. You might also see Paul Byrd pitch a good game, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Johnny Cueto for the Reds from Cincinnati.

Oh hey did everyone catch DAVE BURBA in the booth tonight? I think he did radio as well, but man. Gotta love Burba. They showed his home run as well. DAVE BURBA!!

Maybe that's where all this good karma is coming from.

DAVE BURBA!! BRING HIM BACK!

[BOXSCORE]

Blake drumming up interest; C.C. Suitors We like

The always great Ken Rosenthal has a new article out and he talks about a few Indians.

Of course on of them has to be C.C. Sabathia.

The Brewers and Rays are two contenders for C.C. by virtue of their deep farm system and the fact that they are in the race right now.

Like I've mentioned before. A team like Tampa or Milwaukee and Oakland are ones that we Indians' fans need to support if in fact he is traded.

A) Deep Farm System, We would be sure to get some good talent

B) Not so deep pockets, so they probably wouldn't negotiate or attempt to sign C.C. to a long term contract as noted by Rosenthal. Thus they wouldn't need or want a "window" to sign him.

C) They really would rather have the draft picks, which are very useful considering they are both very high. Those teams are good with their draft picks too.

D) They aren't the Yankees

If a deal has to happen, these are the teams you want to see C.C. end up on. They've got loads of talent to make us happy and fill some needs and it still keeps the slight chance of us making a run at him in the off-season, whcih I know is a pipe dream, but it can't hurt to have that.

Rosenthal also mentions Casey Blake's name as having some interest around the majors. Of course the guy who has been knocking in most of our runs is going to. Remember he is a Free Agent and teams will love his versatility.

The possible landing spots, New York(Mets), Oakland, LA(Dodgers).

I'm all for trading Casey Blake as we know. Get a decent guy in return would not hurt at all. Those are the moves Shapiro lives for (Broussard/Perez for Choo/Cabrera ring a bell?).

Morning Update: Casey Blake, master of the deadpan

Hey here's a neat little tidbit.

Despite not starting the year on the active roster, Ben Francisco leads the entire American League in outfield assists with 9.. Benny, your thoughts..

"I didn't know it was that many," he admitted." (Indians.com)

Yeah, neither did I. From the department of great quotes, I now give you Casey Blake's thoughts on playing shortstop the other night.

"Omar was taking some notes," Blake said. (Indians.com)

I swear, between Hafner and Blake, we have two of the most dry humored guys ever. No wonder those two are good friends.

Wedge in all seriousness praised Blake for being an athlete.. He then openly admitted how much of a man-crush he has on his fellow Wichita State Shocker..

Kidding.

We will have some updates on Fausto Carmona and Travis Hafner today, yay!

The Lord of the Flies will be playing catch today.. Eric Wedge said in his presser he hopes to have a schedule for Carmona down fairly soon.

Pronkilicious will be doing some more strength exercises and Wedge was pretty adamant that was all he was doing.. In other words.. NO SWINGING :blink blink blink blink BUGEYE:

Speaking of Pronk, and rerally there is nothing today so far.. Which is why I've got silly quotes from Casey Blake....

The Pronk Bar has made a reapperance..

Rick Bauer and C.C. Sabathia snagged a few at the top of Haf's locker.

Oh.. Yeah and of course.. C.C. The daily grind here of reporting the latest rumors.

Buster Olney says Rays could be a sleeper.. I hope so. Give me Dave Price, no kidding, but really they got a deep farm system.

There was a rumor the Angels could pursue a Sabathia deal.. Well wait, that just contradicts the rumor that they would stand pat.... That's Rumors for Ya!

and of course San Francisco had to ask C.C. if he would consider San Francisco... I think he would if they didn't suck.. But his answer surprised me.

From the same place of the Angels rumor, which is Jayson Stark of ESPN. He speculates that the Indians could make Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez and Franklin Gutierrez available. I don't think Perez will be, left-handers in the pen are too hard to come by. I really wonder if Betancourt wouldn't be a bad guy to shop. Like I mentioned, I love Jeff Stevens, we have Jensen Lewis, Perez. He hasn't displayed that control he did last year, maybe it was a one year fluke?

Minor League Update: Bullpen Shakeup Could Be Next for Stevens

There's been a lot of shake up in the bullpens lately if you haven't paid attention. Luis Perdomo was sent to Akron, in response Vinnie Pestano was sent to Kinston. The next move could be Randy Newsome to Buffalo.

For that to happen though, would mean that Buffalo would lose their closer. Their closer is... Jeff Stevens, a guy I really like.

All of this means Stevens could be on his way to Cleveland soon.

Make sure you read the Minor League Happenings every week. There is a lot of great stuff in there, including more on Stevens and his possible call up.

Speaking of Buffalo, they won last night. Jordan Brown hit a solo shot and went 3-3.

The big news.. Jensen Lewis went three PERFECT innings with three punch outs. That's what you want to see outta the kid.

Akron's new pitcher, Luis Perdomo factored into the win last night. Perdomo came in for two shutout innings of relief and got the win.

Tony Sipp watch... Sipp is on rehab with the GCL Indians and last night he pitched two perfect innings with a strikeout.

Cliff Lee Dares You To Hit His Fast Ball

Has anyone pitched with more control this year than Cliff Lee?

I've never seen someone get as many strikeouts as Cliff Lee has, based on control alone.

He's spotting his fastball on the corner, to the point where these guys just don't want to swing at it. They can't hit it, or at least they hope it's a ball.

But it ain't!

Here's the line for you tonight.

8 innings, 4 hits, 1 silly run, 1 walk, 11 sit-downs and here was his strike-ball ratio.

79 strikes to 32 balls.

That's over 7o % strikes. For every 10 pitches he threw, he only threw three balls.

That doesn't even equal a walk.

One of his better outings, despite the earned run in my mind. Cliff was at his best tonight.

What can you say about that Jamey Carroll guy though? His average is up to .293, he knocked in two runs tonight with a triple and a single.

Mr. Cleanup hitter Jhonny Peralta had a two run double to finish that up. I was going to seriously destroy him if he didnt come through in that situation.

Ryan Garko was bumped to the 8th hole.. If that doesn't tick him off and ignite him, I don't know what will.

It wasn't even Jumpin' Joe tonight.. We had 9 pitch three out Joe... That was even with an error by Blake.. Four hitters, 9 pitches, bing bang boom.

I'm feeling good now.. We got this good news about making one more run at C.C. We avoided the sweep. We got those silly Reds coming in, interleague play hasn't been kind to us, and we need to end it.. Luckily we've won the past two interleague weekend series matchups after droping the middle of the week ones..

Won SD, Lost Colorado, Won LA, Los SF.. Let's keep up the trend here.

Tomorrow to kick it off, it's DA BIGUN.. C.C. Sabathia faces off against a dude named Daryl Thompson. Making his second start of the season.

[BOXSCORE]

One more attempt at signing CC in the works?

MLBTR has put up a story from a Yankee writer in New Jersey.

Take it for what you want.

"According to a major-league executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing a player not on his team, the Cleveland Indians are making a last-ditch attempt to sign ace Sabathia to a contract extension before trading him." (NJ.com)

So..

Well? C.C. cut off talks.. But this is gonna be it.. If he doesn't say yes.. Then that has to mean you trade him.

This could be their Mark Buehrle move. They may be out of it, but if they can get their guy signed up now, why not?

No one expected Buehrle to be re-signed like that. Certainly C.C. is no Mark Buerhle and he'll want a better contract.

But, the last ditch effort doesn't surprise me.

We'll see if this is true. I hope it is. Either way, C.C. will walk.. He'll either be an Indian with a new contract or finishing the 2008 year with a new team. Mark Shapiro has handled this situation very well so far.

Omar Vizquel and how we've arrived to this point

Omar Vizquel. The modern legend of Cleveland and an idol to all.

No one has ever gotten the response Omar got Tuesday in his long anticipated return to the city he won eight gold gloves in.

Not even Kenny Lofton when he returned to the Tribe last year for a playoff run.

Omar was the one constant from the 95 world series run to the dismantling and eventually the rebuilding.

I won't focus on Omar and his career here. It was awesome, and it deserves to stand alone. I've read his autobiography and I suggest, even though its years old, you go check it out and read it. You can learn so much more about the Indians' greatest shortstop ever.

What I want to talk about is how Omar left.

I believe it was the right time.

Omar knew it, the fans knew it, and the organization knew it.

Omar's time was up, and it was the perfect chance to part ways and move on to the future.

You can say what you want about Jhonny Peralta. But Omar wasn't going to be in the Tribe uniform for ever.

I hear a lot of people bash the organization for the move. It's simply one you cannot continue to look back on and say "Oh yeah real brilliant move there Shapiro!"

Does this team go to the ALCS with Omar Vizquel and not Jhonny Peralta?

I don't think so. Peralta was a big part of that team, he had clutch hits and some real good playoff games for them last year.

It was simply the time for Omar to move on in his career.

The fan base is still really bitter about the fact that they moved on, but most need to realize this. Mark Shapiro is trying to win and sustain the winning.

A lot of people didn't like when they traded him to Seattle for Carlos Guillen. Truth is, that would have been a steal of a move.

Omar wasn't in the long term plans. As much as people love the man, they have to put it to rest that he is gone.

It's awesome to have him back for one last visit(probably) and he deserves EVERYTHING that he got these past few days. I'm glad he got to come back to Cleveland for the series.

But let's get over him. He is gone, he isn't coming back and letting him walk when they did was the right move.

Morning Update: Last Place is the Loneliest Place

Well it's official.. The day you didn't want to see.

Surging Detroit passed us up awhile ago, and now the interleague dominating Kansas City Royals have sent us to the basement with a swift kick to the temple. Our fingers are barely holding on to that 5th step as our feet dangle just above the ground.

Can we find our footing?

Bah I don't know.

By the by, because Jorge Velavidivichi (I'm done trying to figure out where the A goes okay?) played short last night, and Jhonny Peralta was the DH, they needed to do some shuffling after Marty came in to hit for him.

So Casey Blake made his first apperance at short. He has now played the outfield, first, third and rumor has it he can play second base as well. I figured that's what they would do and more Carroll to short. I think Wedge is just trying to have fun.

You gotta love the headline on this article though.

"Jorge Velavidivichi Gets First Start with Tribe"
.............. Infielders time with club could be coming to an end soon.

Well Shucks.

I found a real good tidbit in this article from Paul Hoynes..

Or bad depending on how you look at it.

The Indians drafted Tim Lincecum in 2005.. But of course he was drafted in the 42nd round. He didn't sign and of course that was a good decision for him, he was a first round pick in 2006.

I really like the young guy. Too bad.

Michael Taylor of Bleacher Report attended the Return of Omar Game and he shared his thoughts on Omar's time with the Tribe.

Obviously there isn't much news out there right now, which is why I'm talking about Jorge Velavidivichi and Tim Lincecum. But The DiaTribe has a well rounded entry about a double standard, and the reaction guys like Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez get in comparison to Omar's heros welcome.

Also, entirely not related to C.C. Sabathia in anyway, but count the Angels out of the sweepstakes if they were to get into it.

Los Angeles will not be making a blockbuster mid-season deal.

As this series wraps up, I'll be giving my thoughts on Omar later today.

Minor League Update: Two More Picks Sign

Jason Cooper probably would rather not have the distinction, but at least it isn't something like a strikeout record.

Cooper is an outfielder with Buffalo and his first action came in 2004. He is now second place on the all-time RBI list. Not sure what that says about Cooper, who is 27 years of age. Will he ever make it to the majors? Not sure, probably not with the Tribe at least.

Buffalo lost last night, former number one pick Bryan Bullington shut the Herd down for 6.1 innings of work, allowing just one hit. The Indians' bullpen finished it off without anymore hits.

David Briggs posting in Mike Harrington's blog mentioned Bullington was taken with the number one overall pick a few years ago, but Dave Littlefield basically said "We took him because we feel the safest about him and he can contribute faster than anyone." Well neither of that is working our right now.

Asdrubal Cabrera went 0-4 last night, he did no have that one hit.

Trevor Crowe knocked in two more runs last night as the Aeros slipped up against Bowie. Bowie now pulls into a tie for 2nd and Akron leads the division by 2.5 games. Nathan Panther is off the DL and he too knocked in a couple of runs.

It looks as if Luis Perdomo is on his way to Akron. He's listed on their roster as of today. Perdomo was the closer for Kinston.

The Lake County Captains got swept.

Two more draft picks signed, giving the Indians 19 of 50. 14 of their first 21 have also signed.

Matt Langwell out of Rice is a right handed pitcher taken with the 11th pick.

Nate Recknagel out of Michigan (Go Blue) is a first baseman taken with the 19th pick. Mahoning Valley has Brock Simpson, a listed outfielder playing first, so they could use Recknagel.

How do you cure a 17 million dollar pitcher?

Give him a start against the ailing offense of the Cleveland Indians.

Barry Zito certainly had a fun time out there, giving up three hits through six innings. He gave up another hit and eventually was charged with a run, but for the most part, he baffled the Tribe hitters.

I caught the first two innings.. I had some radio duties, so I missed the middle. But I caught Jeremy Sowers give up the runs early.. For the most part, that isn't a bad start. Simply put though you need to do more than 4 hits against Barry Zito.

Just really a bad offensive performance, and bad is understating it. I mean, for the most part, Barry Zito got that curveball falling in for strikes.. He isn't a former Cy Young winner for nothing. They could not touch that curveball, and from what I saw, they dared him to throw it for strikes. He did just that

I did notice his arms lot changed when he threw the fastball. It was more of a sidearm, but when his arm came over the top a bit more, you could tell it was a curveball.

Choo had the lone RBI by the by..

Tomorrow we look to avoide the sweep... :sigh: You shall see Cliff Lee taking on Matt Cain.. Should be a fun one to watch pitching wise. Offensively, it will be another dagger in the leg.

[BOXSCORE]

Morning Update: Sabathia could have missed his chance to stay in Cleveland

It isn't exactly morning now is it?

Just a quick tidbit on the Juan Rincon pick up. Wedge plans on seeing Rincon in the majors this year. They wanna figure him out in Buffalo first, but if things work out, this could be a Bobby Howry type pick up for the Indians.

Tony Graffanino on the other hand is going to be awhile, they want to monitor him physically.

Let's tackle the C.C. stuff early.

C.C. Sabathia will not get that Johan Santana contract from the Yankees. At least that is what it looks like.

Teams might finally be wising up. If the Yankees aren't willing to give C.C. the Santana like 7 year-100 +++ deal. Then who will?

You people might continue to laugh at me. But Johan Santana getting traded and getting that contract might have been the best thing for the Indians in more ways than one.

Teams can point to those guys like Barry Zito and Santana and say.. Hey look, we aren't taking that risk.

C.C. left a very good offer on the table, it was a Peavy like deal, and if he'd rather have the Santana deal, then good luck to him. He is going to be sorely sorry when he tests the market, doesn't get that Santana deal and ends up pitching in a place other than Cleveland.

Paul Dolan was on Bruce Drennan's show yesterday and he said the same thing about what they offered him. If C.C. Sabathia is looking for a deal like Santana's, he will not get it in Cleveland. They felt something closer to what Peavy got is perfect. Remember Jake Peavy won the Cy-Young too, so it isn't like he isn't getting paid Award Winning Pitcher money.

In other news, the Indians aren't even sure they want to trade him yet.

That's just awesome isn't it? I did a complete breakdown on what the Tribe might target if they were to trade him.. You can read it here..

Here is your Hafner and Carmona update that we've been waiting for.

Fausto Carmona will play catch this week. Yeah how awesome is that?

Travis Hafner will continue to do absolutely nothing until later this week. From there they will decide if he can resume activities.

Riveting, isn't it?

Now let's make the rounds on Omar Vizquel.

He had a press conference yesterday that I got a chance to watch. I found it funny as all get out that he felt he could go right into managing without testing the waters in the minor leagues. Gotta love his confidence.

Anyway, the ovation was as expected, and I heard going down to his presser he shook just about everyones hand and even went early.

You can read Omar's response to how the fans and team greated his return. He was really moved.

Terry Pluto shared his always appreciated perspective on one of the greatest shortstops to play the game.

You can read about and hear the entire press conference here. This is one quote from Omar that I really enjoyed hearing. Early in his Indians' career he made three errors in a game. Safe to say that would be the last time that ever happened.

"I think there's a part of me that made me a man that day," Vizquel said. "I think it was the best thing for me, to say to the reporters what was going through my mind about what happened that day. I think, to this day, that took a big weight off my back, expressing my feelings that day. I think it was one of the best moments for me in showing my feelings."

I talked about Paul Dolan on the All Bets are Off Show. Well he gave Shapiro and Wedge votes of confidences essentially yesterday. You didn't expect any heads to roll on this. Bill Bevasi, John Gibbons, Willie Randolph and John McLaren were all on the hot seat, and their teams simply didn't perform with the talent they were given.

The Indians have injuries galore, and you can't place that blame on Wedge or Shapiro.

Minor League Update: Kinston All-Stars Come Up Big

John Halama pitched seven strong for the Herd last night.

He allowed just three hits, one being a solo home run against Indianapolis. He struck out four and walked none.

Asdrubal Cabrera had three more hits last night, his average keeps climbing and he is now around .456. Looks like he wants to get back in the worst way.

How about Tom Mastny? He had the hold last night, his ERA is 1.90. If this bullpen keeps struggling I don't see why Mastny should be in Buffalo. Jeff Stevens got the save.

In other Bisons news, not only did they add Graffanino and Rincon, who right now are on reserve. They got back Yamid Haad, who was designated by the Indians when they got Sal Fasano. He'll probably be the backup now for Gimenez while Camacaro goes back to Akron.

The K-Tribe All-Stars were big in last nights CAL-CAR All-Star game, which saw the Carolina League All-Stars win 3-1.

Niuman Romero had one at bat, a walk, that scored a run, the third run that is.

Josh Tomlin pitched a solid inning of relief with no walks or hits and a strikeout.

Then Luis Perdomo, the K-Tribe closer struck out the final batter in the game for the Save.

Kaimi Mead pitched a solid 5 innings for the Scrappers last night. Five hits, three strikeouts no runs.

Game Recap?

It was supposed to be a fun day.

Omar was supposed to come back, ya know.. We were supposed to beat up on them. All would be good.

But Omar's squeeze play(when have we seen that before?) would be the difference in the score, and would be the final straw in me jamming my foot through the television.

I really don't feel like going over this game. I'm just not in the mood for it. Laffey pitched great, the error in which the ball hit the player and rolled into center field ticked me off in the worst way.

Again with the pinch hitting of Marte.

Do we realize this guy has played in like 23 games, and has only gotten 50 at bats?

He's had 7 hits.. I mean, Wedge is just killing this kids career or at least his FAIR opportunity to have one.

What.........Ever...

Tomorrow. Jeremy Sowers and The 100 million dollar blow.. If we don't lay the smackdown on Barry Zito tomorrow, it's over.

[BOXSCORE]

Indians Sign Two For Buffalo: Rincon, Graffanino

I was hoping the Tribe could go out and get this guy, and they did.

Juan Rincon of the Twins was released awhile ago. He used to be their best set up guy and has recently has sort of just lost it all.

He declined to be sent to Triple A, and now the Indians have picked him up and sent him to Buffalo. You never know with this type of move, he used to have success, so maybe he can find it again.

They also added veteran infielder Tony Graffanino, former Royal, Brewer, Red Sox and probably a gazillion other teams. He won't play right away, but he will be working on and recovering from knee surgery.

No word on the corresponding roster moves, but I'm sure Graffanino will go on the DL and the Bisons bullpen will have to lose someone.

Morning Update: More CC and More Omar

It is a very slow morning with the off-day yesterday, and because of that. You get more OMAR and more CC. Just what you wanted, I know, isn't it great? A former Indian and a most likely-soon to be-former Indian.

Sucky.

Mark Dent talks about Omar Vizquel's return to Cleveland from a different perspective. This will be the first time he is in the visitors dugout, rather than in the home one.

Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer talks about the unforgettable magic that Omar provided.

As for the crowds? I hope it's JAM packed tonight to give Omar a proper welcoming. Shelden Ocker provides his perspective on Omar. I can't go, or I would. But I plead with you to go if you get the chance. Even if you can't go today, go tomorrow and check out the legend. Especially if you have a young kid who didn't get to see Omar in his glory days.

He is one guy that the Indians' fans need to pass down to their children. I'm going to be doing my opinion on Omar and how he left sometime soon. I think enough time has passed between him leaving for us to get a very fair view of it.

If you want to read what more Indians' fans have to say about Omar, check out this article over at Bleacher Report. I helped contribute to it, and every week the round table of Tribe fans get together to discuss the current happenings as well.

Steph Storm talks about the two young Tribe players who are trying to fix themselves in Buffalo. Jensen Lewis and Asdrubal Cabrera are having different results so far, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of either this year.

And of course, your daily C.C. Sabathia update thanks to MLBTR.com

This time we get some information on the Phillies and their trading chips.

You can count out Jason Werth, but aside from Victorino there aren't many noticeable names for me at least. I love Victorino, he is talented as all get out. He can run, throw, play defense and his bat is solid. He'd easily appease Tribe fans because he could hit second, or even make most people's fantasy of Grady in the three hole come true.

The rest are prospects that you can view by clicking the link. MLBTR links to their statistics. All of them are in AA ball or lower, which I don't think is a good fit for the Indians. They are going to want a few guys that are a lot closer to contributing than that.

Dennis Manoloff of the Plain Dealer is posing the question about C.C. now. He ponders what the Tribe need to be thinking in this situation and what options they need to be weighing.

I have seen nothing on Fausto Carmona yet. He was supposed to be evaluated today. I'm sure Castrovince will blog it sooner or later.

Minor League Update: Herr Dealt; Captains Starters Thriving

Big update this morning on the Minor Leagues. The Bisons lost another player.

Aaron Herr, who used to be in the Cincinnati Reds organization, is going back.

Herr was traded to the Reds for Cash Considerations. Yay, Free Money.

To take his spot on the roster, Buffalo gets infielder extraordinaire Chris De La Cruz up from Kinston.

The Herd meanwhile lost last night in a close one. Asdrubal Cabrera lead the game off with his first Bisons' home run. Drubby also went 3-4 with two runs batted in. His season average with the Bisons is up to .434.

Jensen Lewis gave up two earned last night for the loss.

Walk off city in Akron last night. A walk off sac fly by infielder Brandon Pinckney gave the Aeros a 11-10 winnar over Bowie. That divsion lead keeps growing with every win over the Bay Sox, who are now third in the division, a game and half behind Harrisburg. The Aeros hold a 4 game lead over Harrisburg.

Eastern League Player of the Week goes to another Aero. This time it's outfielder Trevor Crowe who ripped it up last week. Crowe went 13-28 with a coupel jacks and eight runs knocked in.

After all the rain outs and what not, the GCL Indians finally won a game. They moved to 1-3 on the year defeated in the GCL Phillies. It was the drafees making an impact, Third Baseman Adam Abraham and Short Stop Kevin Fontanez.

As we all know, the Lake County Captains are just loaded with starters this year. They seem to be have the magic they had in 2003 when Fausto Carmona lead the Captains to a historic season.

Tony Lastoria has a great article on Ryan Morris and the Indians' strategy with the younger starters in Lake County. The Captains staff needs to be commended for the job they've done the past few years. This year is no exception, they might be providing a few more arms within a few years.

A while ago the Indians extended their deal with Kinston to remain the High-A affiliate of the Indians. Now the Indians have reached a deal with Akron for the Aeros to remain the Indians Double A affiliate.

The writing is on the wall for Buffalo and their fanbase. They really love the Bisons up there, but unfortunately next year this team will become the Columbus Something Or Others.. Check out Mike Harrington's blog on the side for updates, he believes that two possible teams that could pick the Bisons up are Toronto and the New York Mets. Both don't exactly excite Harrington, and really can you blame him? Toronto and NY are both closer to Buffalo than Cleveland is, but the Herd is always a competitive team when Cleveland was their parent club.

The Cal-Car All Star Game Is Tonight! Cheer on our K-Tribers!

Morning Update: Here Comes Omar!

I have a quick update on the Fasano Facial Hair Watch. I hear someone mention the minor league team that Sal Fasano played for didn't allow the facial hair. He told them it puts the fans in the seats and that they should have let him keep it. I agree 100%

If you were thinking Coors Field and Chavez Ravine look different from an outfielders perspective, Joel Skinner agrees.

"Here it looks like you're playing at a Little League field," said Skinner, of Dodger Stadium. "It looks like the outfielders are right on top of you. At Coors Field the yard is so big, you can hardly see the outfielders." (Plain Dealer)

The Tribe struck out 61 times this road trip. Awful, I say.. AWFUL

Fausto Carmona shall be evaluated today, and if all goes well, I'll take a stab and say he could make have a bullpen session or a simulated game in a few days. I'm not really sure what they plan on doing today though, or what they will do if all goes "well." Remember he was shut down after he felt soreness after a simulated game. So who knows if they A) Go back to square one with bullpen sessions, B) Try another sim game or C) Skip right to rehab starts.

As I mentioned, It's Omar week all around for Tribe fans as the beloved short stop makes his triumphant return to the city he had his best years with.

With that, I have three very good links to kick it all off.

Obviously, the first thing we need to talk about is his replacement. Jhonny Peralta doesn't have the glove Omar did, and he knows that. So when he started booting ground balls, fans got on him in a hurry. Fact is we were spoiled, and when you are used to seeing anything and everything caught at short, Jhonny can just tick you off.

"That," Peralta recalled Sunday, "was not fun." and "I think fans and everybody look at Omar Vizquel, and see a different guy than me," Peralta said. "He's a really good shortstop. I'm a different kind of shortstop. He has more range than me. He makes a lot of fantastic plays. It's something different, but fans need to understand that nobody is the same." (Indians.com)

Speaking of Jhonny. Eric Wedge feels real strong that Peralta has turned the corner, which is why he was hitting 4th yesterday. He feels Jhonny is a run producer and that will be his role from now on. We'll howdiedoodie then.

Bill Lubinger of the Plain Dealer looks back at Omar, and the day he left Cleveland. Noting that both the Indians and Omar knew the timing was right.

Eric Wedge wasn't the manager of Omar for the longest time, but he had nothing but great things to say about Omar and what he was for that young team the Indians were trying to build.

"You hear me talk about having fun and enjoying the game and loving to come to the ballpark," Wedge said. "I don't know if you could think of somebody who did it better than him.

"I just remember watching Omar play. It was like he was playing Little League. He was so relaxed and enjoyed it so much. And I don't think that was just baseball, I think he generally enjoys life." (Plain Dealer)

Wedge said he was a great deal of help to him for his first two years as a manager.

And finally... C.C. Sabathia didn't use the bat of a fellow Indian to hit that home run on Saturday. No, in fact he used the bat of Adam Dunn. C.C. said he wanted a bat to hit a home run with, and he asked him for some bats when they were in Cincinnati. I guess the strike outs wore off on him to because his other two at bats were both punchouts.

Speaking of C.C. The list of suitors is growing by the day and there is now two more names that you need to add. Two teams that weren't expected to be in contention this year, but then again, you expected the Indians' to be in contention, so go figure.

MLBTR notes that John Perrotto has listed the CC Suitors

You already knew The Yankees, Phillies, Cubs, Red Sox, and Angeles. You can add the Tampa Bay Rays to that list. Tampa has a lot of young talent and even more young talent behind that, so a deal with them would really be beneficial to the Tribe. Plus, they probably wouldn't spend the money to re-sign him. It may not be a national league team, but I wouldn't mind dealing him to a team that wouldn't attempt to bring him back after this year. I'm still headstrong on us bringing him back no matter what next year.

More MLBTR tidbits... Ken Rosenthal thinks the Athletics could be buyers, and they are certainly another team in that Tampa Bay mold. Plus we don't face the A's the rest of this year. Oakland is in the race with Texas faltering and Seattle being as bad as they are, and probably wouldn't mind another starting pitcher if they were to make a run. Moneyball probably suggest they won't give C.C. that contract he desires. I wouldn't mind a team like the A's or Rays. Both would probably just seeking a rental, and they are stocked with talent.

Minor League Update: Huff settling in at Buffalo

David Huff is starting to get his footing in Buffalo, he had a great start last weekend in a 4-1 Bisons win.

Akron finally lost yesterday. Their offense is still hitting, but they stranded 14 runners. They are still leading the division though, and are starting to build up their lead.

The Cal-Car All-Star Game is tomorrow night. Luis Perdomo and Josh Tomlin are pitching and Niuman Romero is playing, Steven Wright was promoted so he will be unavailable.

Mahoning Valley rallied in the 9th inning to get back to .500.

Akron closer Randy Newsome is on the rise according to Tony Lastoria.

A sweep is too much to ask for, but I wanted it

I understand, It is too much to ask for.

But man I wanted it.

It looked as if they were doomed early when Paul Byrd was set to completely implode.

Rocky Start: The first four men that came up to the plate all rounded the bases. Byrd gave up four runs when James Loney doubled home two and Russell Martin followed with a two run home run. Byrd gave up one more hit and then set it on cruise control.

The next six he gave up only two hits and just really had it working. The first inning and the rest of the game was night and day. Byrd's line was 7 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, and a strikeout. What is shocking is he only threw 86 pitches, even with the bad inning.

I was ready to start the "damnit he's doing it again" but then he really impressed me the way he came back.

Unfortunately that four run inning wasn't enough to over come.

Good Inning Not Enough: The Indians had plenty of chances, especially in that third inning. Choo grounded into a fielders choice, which very well could have been a double play. The run would have scored anyway, but it kept one man on and one out. That let Ryan Garko knock in a run and then Casey Blake added on with a groundout.

The bad part was the inning before that. The Indians had two out and Garko on first when Shoppach smoked a double. You'd figure anyone else would have scored, but not Garko. The downside in not sending him was this.. Paul Byrd was due up, so if you are expecting a 2 out hit from Byrd in that situation, you are crazy.

Skinner realized this later in the game. In the fifth inning with 2 outs, David Dellucci hit a double that Peralta really shouldn't have been sent on. But because Kelly Shoppach was on deck, and first base was open, it would have essentially been Paul Byrd once again with 2 outs. Peralta was dead as a duck, but it didn't hurt to try.

I really am not a fan of the pitcher hitting, it derails possible innings, and it certainly could be considered a big culprit in why we didn't score more runs today.

Thankfully, our pitchers are done hitting (well in C.C.'s case, I'm sad, but yeah) as we get an off day tomorrow, and then the Giants roll in to face the Tribe on Tuesday.

Yep, the Giants. The return of Omar Vizquel. It will be an energized week, and I have some Omar stuff planned.

Tuesday's pitching matchup is Jonathan Sanchez and Aaron Laffey.

[BOXSCORE]

What's that you say? A win?

We'll I'll be. I fully expected to come on here and say.. Yeah C.C. hit a home run and pitched 7 shutout innings.

He Called His Shot: C.C. told FOX Sports host and Indian fan Chris Rose that he was going to hit his second career home run today.

He did just that. A towering blast off of Chan Ho Park.

That was unfortunately all the scoring that would be done for 10 innings.

The Indians struck out 16 times, 9 of them coming off Chan Ho Park. That makes another really bad pitcher that has struck the Tribe out a lot in their outing. Disappointing to say the least.

Jamey Carroll got it going in the 11th. Peralta singled him in later that inning, another clutch hit for the P-Gun.

Then everyone just fell into place. Casey Blake followed with a RBI single and then Shoppach had the dagger with a two run hit.

Sizemore knocked in one more with a single then Carroll had a sac fly in which Casey Blake got tagged out on trying to advance.

Pitching wise: He was great.. 7 strong with the lone run off the bat of Matt Kemp.. Had 3 innings of perfect baseball.

7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 Punchouts

The bullpen held strong too. Betancourt had the nerve rattling 8th, Perez shut them down in the 9th and Kobayashi struck out two in the 10th. Elarton finished it off in the 11th, but he gave up a run.

Tomorrow we look for a sweep! Holy Crapola! Paul Byrd and Chad Billingsley

[BOXSCORE]

Morning Update: Garko At Home; Sal Fasano Is Cool

Much discussion over the big time acquisition the Indians made.

Sal Fasano is a fun guy, just what you want in a catcher I guess. Anyway Castrovince said he no longer has the fu-man-choo or the mustache, but a goatee is in the works.

Yesterday he leaned over while Toshi Nagahara was translating scouting reports for Koby and said "Hey I can't read that."

So suttle, yet so funny. Welcome Sal.

Someone at a Golf Resort told Kenny Lofton that the Indians could use him... He replied "Tell Them To Call Me."

Yeah, no thanks.

If there is one thing that is there in the Tribe's play that wasn't earlier in the year, it's the effort.

"I like the effort, I like the energy our guys are showing," (Plain Dealer)

Eric Wedge remarked the Indians are out there with the effort. He ripped them earlier this year when the team wasn't even hitting for giving up At Bats and not showing the effort he expected.

Wedge is an easy guy. You give him effort, he doesn't care if you succeed or fail. Like a parent I guess.. Whaaat?

Ryan Garko is back home, he always does good on the west coast when we faces his beloved Angels. Now we visits the other stadium he holds respect for and had experienced once in High School.

"They wouldn't let us on the field," Garko recalled with a laugh. "If you took one step on the grass, the usher was like, 'Get off the grass!' We were all having some fun with it. It was like, 'What are we going to do, kill the grass just by touching it?'" (Indians.com)

I guess Rafael Betancourt has changed up his mechanics...

"I was opening up too quickly when I was going to home plate," he said. "Sometimes something small like that can throw off your whole mechanics."

Uh oh, so you mean he is even slower now?!

If C.C. Sabathia ends up a Dodger, he may have to block out the images of his childhood.

"It's a sin to root for the Dodgers where I come from," Sabathia said.

And it was heartache for Sabathia rooting against them in the 1988 World Series, when his beloved A's were felled in Game 1 by a hobbling Kirk Gibson's famous one-handed homer off Dennis Eckersley.

"I was crying," Sabathia recalled." (Indians.com)

C.C. ain't thinking about those rumors though.. He is just ready to pitch.

Tribe know how to deprive fans of sleep

I went over the ninth inning last night..

I'm coming around a little more after actually winning, but just watching the way that ninth unfolded was awful.

Shopping What?: With all the "Shopping" being talked about with C.C. Sabathia, it was Kelly Shoppach that provided the spark early for the Tribe. His two run blast in the 3rd inning gave the Tribe an early lead. They would add on in the 4th with a Casey Blake double.

Then it wasa the Jhonny Peralta show.. Mr. Jhonny Come Lately was acting all clutch like with that game yesterday.. With two on and no one out and Scott Proctor in, Garko and Choo struck out. Save Peralta who singled to knock in a run and not let the scoring opportunity go by.

Then late in the 10th after the blown save, with the bases loaded, Franklin Gutierrez hit a ball in the infield that got the force at the plate and because Ben Francisco had no clue what he was doing, the double play happened at third, when there could have been 2 outs with 2nd and 3rd.. OR even 1 out.

Save....... Jhonny Peralta, who got a high fastball from closer Takashi Saito. Winnar..

Cwifford!: I'm done talking about Cliff Lee. The guy just goes out there and puts you in the game.

The cruddy part is when we just screw it up for him.

Cliff shouldn't have even gave up that one run he did. But because Rafael Betancourt has become so incompetant to the point where he can't get a guy when he has him down 0-2, Cliff's ERA climbed a whole .10.

I've gone over Joe Borowski, I don't blame him for that blown save. I absolve him, and I think he's pretty much been nails since coming back. Don't change a thing Joseph.

Cliff's line... 7.1 IP 6 H 1 R 1 BB 3 K

Today it is a afternoon game, thank god! C.C. Sabathia will take the mound and hit ninth tonight, MWAHAHAHAHA! Oh and we face Chan Ho Park. I swear to bajesus....

[BOXSCORE]

Minor League Update: Bison Drama

It's you Bison Mama Drama for ya.

Jordan Brown unloaded the bases with a triple last night to give the Herd a 3-1 winnar in the 9th inning.

Michael Aubrey was activated off the disabled list to go 1-3 and Drubby Cabrera was 2-4 with one of those 9th inning runs.

Just to keep you updated on Asdrubal Cabrera, he is hitting .391 and still has yet to walk. He's struck out 7 times and scored the same number of runs.

Jensen Lewis came in to strike out four in two innings. To update you on him, he's pitched 13 innings to carry a 4.15 ERA with 13 strike outs. I'm gonna monitor him in a little bit to see how his velocity is coming.

Akron keeps winning, they won again last night 7-3 over Reading.

Trevor Crowe hit his first home run of the year, and Josh Rodriguez went deep in the same inning.

Both the Scrappers and Captains lost late, the Scrappers in 11 and the Captains in the 9th.

GCL Indians are now playing. Tony Sipp made his season debut with them as he starts his rehab process. He pitched a scoreless first inning then gave way to the starter.

They lost to the GLC Yankees 2-1.

This Isn't Our Year

Tonight opened it up for me to a point.

Watching Joe Borowski get bad-ball hit to death in the 9th made me realize that something is working against the Indians this year.

As I type this, Joe just intentionally walked James Loney to load the bases. So, the game is not over.

But watching this inning unfold just sickened me.

I think I'll surrender maybe the double by Martin as the only guy that Joe Borowski made a mistake to.

Angel Berrora hit a pitch down and out of the zone. Juan Pierre's wacky infield single was also down and out of the zone, a pitch he had no business swinging at. And then Jeff Kent's RBI ground out was just that. A GROUND OUT.

I can't blame Joe Borowski for this game being tied up. I just can't, not watching the sequence unfold, not in that way.

There is a greater force working against the Indians this year. Sure, they didn't do everything right tonight, and they should have had more than four runs on the board.

But, you just have to take what is given to you at this point in time, and what was given to us was really crappy draw. I can't get on Joe Borowski for the job he did tonight. But Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez, shame on you for allowing two runs to even put us in that position. I've just about had enough watching you two make games more complicated than they should be. Get your stuff together for the love of all that is good.

Andy LaRoche just flied out to end the inning, extras here we come. I wanted to see this for Cliff Lee, because he pitched a hell of a game, and he shouldn't have really been charged with the one run. You have a 0-2 count on a hitter, and you end up giving them a hit on the next pitch? Betancourt needs to fix himself, because that is downright horrendous.

I'll stop here... I'm staying up to watch the game, but I won't do a recap till tomorrow morning.

Morning Update: No Window for Sabathia Suitors

If you've noticed all the hit by pitches this year, then well yeah... The Indians are on pace to destroy the AL Record.

They got hit again last night, and their pace is around 110. Club record is 80, and the AL record is 92.

Willy Taveras is just another former Tribe player that has destroyed us this year. If you remember he was traded with Luke Scott to the Astro's for Jeriome Robertson. Taveras was taken in the rule 5 draft, and I believe they worked something out for the Stros to keep him.

Datz was doing minor league things, and he and Taveras shared a hug before Thursdays game.

Here is your daily C.C. Sabathia update...

There will be no window for teams to negotiate with C.C. Sabathia. That won't stop them from offering him a deal or trying to get something worked out if a team does get Sabathia. But it certainly helps the Indians' if they would want to resign him after the year.

Paul Hoynes also has some scouts point of view on what Mark Shapiro would want in return for Sabathia.

"He's going to need another starter to replace C.C. for next year and because of the injuries he has to his pitching staff," said the GM. "If the Indians do trade him, I think Mark is going to do fine. C.C. is going to be the best starting pitcher available at the trading deadline [July 31]. He's going to be worth something."

Certainly interesting. I'd want at least a major league ready bat, a starting pitcher and another good prospect.

Terry Pluto basically has waved the white flag...

"It's over.

For the Indians, an extended spring training has begun -- and down deep, the front office has to know it.

There will be no contention this season, not even in the pathetic American League Central Division"

Whaaaaatever.

Also.. From the previous article, Masa's interpreter Toshi is trying to learn Korean from Shin-Soo Choo.

Minor League Update: Toregas Sent to AA

Well, he's gone from a backup candidate to Kelly Shoppach, to Double A catcher.

Obviously, he wasn't called up because of playing time, and the organizations desire for him to play everyday. Now, he will be playing every day at Akron.

The Indians made a switch of minor league catchers. Calling up Chris Gimenez to Buffalo and sending Wyatt Toregas to Akron.

A big reason for this move has to be Gimenez more than it is Toregas. Toregas was hitting .219 with 25 RBI, but Giminez has been on fire.

Gimenez has one more RBI but has 6 home runs and a .339 average in Akron. He went 1-3 in his Buffalo debut. Damaso Espina played for Akron.

Speaking of Akron, they swept Bowie yesterday. They now hold a 2 game lead on the division.

Kinston put a beating on Lynchburg last night to complete a sweep. They scored 13 runs in the second inning to win 13-8.

The Gulf Coast League Indians were supposed to start yesterday, but their game was postponed due to wet grounds.

All the boards will be updated later today, I'm in the process of updating the GCL Roster and all the transactions I've found.

I'm Done Sticking Up For the Offense

The offense blows...

I'm pretty fed up sticking up for them at this point.

Ben Francisco gets it going in the first inning with a two run blast, so I'm starting to think, okay we're finally starting to get those hits falling in. Cause last night, if you read, I thought he got a few good rips in there.

Yet.. After that there wasn't much.

Casey Blake went deep in the 6th to tie the game up, but guess what.. There wasn't much after that. Blake had the three hits, including a ninth inning double. But aside from the Grady hit in the first and the Francisco homer that same inning, there was SQUAT!

10 strikeouts at the hands of JORGE DE LA ROSA?!

That is unacceptable. This team has killed the guy in the past, and for some reason, 10 strikeouts?

The pitching was no better. I'll go with Sowers and the 3 earned.. But I don't know.. I'm still not sold on him.. Kobayashi had his bad day this time out.

Just awful baseball played this series. This team just seems to be toying with us at this point..

I'm really getting upset at the faith I'm investing in them. I'm not giving up, but I'm getting real frustrated watching them.

Tomorrow we go out to LA to face the Dodgers. They've just lost two starting pitchers, so Kuroda won't be the guy going on Saturday. However, we get to see the young stud Clayton Kershaw tomorrow against Clifford Red Lee.

[BOXSCORE]

Hafner Is Fine, You Don't Have To Worry

I've been on pins and needles all day waiting to hear word on Travis Hafner.. Now thanks to the Plain Dealer and Paul Hoynes, we have some news.

"The Indians, in a e-mail, said Dr. James Andrews concurs with the team's evaluation of Hafner's sore right shoulder. Andrews recommended that Hafner continue strengthening the rotator cuff and shoulder girdle in his shoulder. He will undergo tests every week to 10 days to re-evaluate the strength in his shoulder." (Plain Dealer)

So.. Just more rest for Mr Pronk.. I'm gonna guesstimate about at least two weeks or so before he goes on a rehab assignment. There is no telling with this type of injury.

Tribe Acquire Backup Catcher Fasano

Well here is a move for ya..

I guess Yamid Haad was not good enough for a backup, so they went out and got catcher extraordinaire Sal Fasano.

Not only do I like him because he's Italian, but he grows a badass mustache.

Fasano was with the Braves, and we traded the always lovable Player To Be Named Later.

SAL is 36 and he probably can't hit worth a lick, but he is solid defensively and he's been a backup before.

Yamid Haad was designated... Later Bub..

Morning Update: Carmona Shut Down; Yankees Claim Perez

As noted yesterday, Fausto Carmona will be shutdown for three more days.

I consider this a minor setback to be honest. I expected it to be much longer when the words "set back" where mentioned. Hopefully he can get back on track and make his rehab starts next week sometime.

According to Lonnie Soloff, Carmona's inflammation flared up after the session, and he showed no signs of hindrance during it.

If you wan to check out the Tribe's third round pick, I hope you've been watching the College World Series. Stanford second bagger Cord Phelps is still in the show and he helped the Cardinal advance last night. He battled some back injuries but he's back to playing now.

With that, I've been updating the best I can on signed draft picks. If you find any information or links on signed picks, send a tip using the upper right hand corner links. There have been several signings, and the only reason I know this is because they've been placed on the Mahoning Valley roster. A bunch more will "Sign" once the Gulf Coast League starts up soon.

Chris Antonetti and a few officials for the Indians checked out how the progress was coming on the Tribe's new home for the Spring.

The Tribe lost Oneli Perez, big deal I guess. The Yankees claimed the reliever that started the year with the White Sox yesterday.

Minor League Update: Kinston Adds All-Stars

Kinston added a pair of K-Tribe players to the Carolina League All-Star game yesterday.

Pitcher Steven Wright was one of a few players called up to Double A that was already on the team, so that allowed pitcher Josh Tomlin and infielder Niuman Romero to be added to the All Star Game.

They now join Closer Luis Perdomo to represent Kinston next Tuesday at the Game.

Double A Akron shutout Bowie last night for to take the series in early fashion. More importantly they are now the sole owners of the division.

Mahoning Valley is 2-0 on the young season with a 6-3 win over Williamsport. Lonnie Chisenhall was 1-5 with a run scored.

Hitters park? What The Hell? Tribe Lose Again

Boy Andy Marte can' t catch a break can he?

He finally gets his chance, guy on first with no one out in the top of the ninth, down two.

He gets into one real good, something that would be destined for extra bases at least.

But, not in the ninth inning my friend.

Not guarding the lines.

No Luck: Just like Marte and that ball hit down the line, the Indians just didn't get it tonight.

They haven't been getting it all season.

I'm starting to get worn out to be quite honest, watching this team, and slowly getting smack in the face with the realization that they don't have anything on their side.

There is no magic like there was last year. There was no lucky bounces.

It seemed like every ball hit hard into that Colorado outfield was dying tonight. Yet everyone the Rockies hit last night was falling in or falling over.

I'm not gonna bash the offense, because quite frankly, I saw way too many hard hit balls tonight to blame them. Francisco had a couple at least, Garko absolutely destroyed one that just missed a home run by a few inches foul. Aaron Laffey even got a good rip into one that Taveras was able to run down.

Jamey Carroll and Shin-Soo Choo had the RBIs, with Casey Blake going 2-4.

Props to Aaron Laffey who punched one up the middle in his first at bat for his first major league hit. He's obviously hit before, the way he swung the bat tonight and even his stance. He also carries a red bat, so watch out Darth Vader.

Punch and Judy: Like I said, a lot of balls were dropping in there last night, and tonight they just seemed to be punching them over the infielders heads.

I don't know what is up with Coors, but the Rockies have certainly perfected playing there.

Laffey did a good job tonight. He went six and gave up three earned, walked three, surrendered eight hits and struck out one. He kept his team in the game the best he could, and really some of those hits were quite simply good hitting by the Rockies or slap hits.

The Indians will try and salvage this stupid series tomorrw. We got Mr Jeremy Sowers against a guy we've absolutely destroyed in the past, Jorge De La Rosa. 7.67 ERA there against the Tribe.

[BOXSCORE]

Carmona Update

Not good news on Fausto Carmona....

He will not do anything for the next three days, then be reevaluated after the inflammation in his hip flared up.

Instead of going out on a rehab assignment on Friday, he probably won't throw another bullpen session for some time.

Castrovince will have an update later, and so far nothing on Hafner. I'll cover it all in the Morning Update.

Rumors: Rangers Eyeing CC; Rockies *UPDATED

Of course, two of the favorite names brought up by Indians fans involved with the trade rumors are two Rockie players.

And since we are facing the Rockies, of course the discussions will be over Matt Holiday and Garrett Atkins.

The News Herald suggests that Aaron Laffey would be the guy the Rockies want, but the Indians just would not do that.

"Colorado would undoubtedly ask for Aaron Laffey in any deal, although perhaps would settle for Jeremy Sowers as the key piece to the package." (News Herald)

Now, also according to Buster Olney, the Rangers have a very strong eye for C.C. Sabathia.

Even if they can't get him in a trade this year, it looks like they'd be one of the major players for Sabathia.

Well, ya don't say. Count on the Rangers to ride in on their high horse with buckets of cash. We know they aren't afraid to break the bank for a big superstar.

Late Update Here.......

Paul Hoynes has some more Sabathia stuff...

Here is the list of teams that could be in the running:

Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Rays, Cubs, Phillies

Mostly American League teams..

Here is what the "SCOUTS" said about what the Tribe could gain in return..

"I would say maybe they could get two young players that were at or close to the big-league level that they could control for a while."

Another scout said the Indians could get between two and three prospects, depending on whether that team could sign Sabathia to an extension before he becomes a free agent this winter.

"There are so many teams still in contention right now, who need pitching, that I think the market is going to be a really big market for him," said a scout" (Plain Dealer)

Take it for what it's worth.. I wouldn't want to see him on an American League team, that is for sure.. I'm still adamant about re-signing him or just letting him walk.. But if they do fall out of contention, I wouldn't feel bad about getting some prospects in return, and attempting to re-sign him in the off-season, if he was okay with that. That would be a complete long shot, but would be the ultimate cunning move by Shapiro.

Morning Update: Injury Set Backs Galore; Antonetti Staying Put

There has been much desire around baseball for a team to get their hands on young Indians' mind Chris Antonetti.

Antonetti is one of our favorites here. Not just because he is Italian, but he can crunch the numbers.

Anyway, Chris turned down the General Manager post with the Cardinals last off-season to stick around here. So obviously, there is no way he would take the Seattle job, would he?

He won't, and he made that very clear.

"I hope I've been very clear how happy I am in Cleveland. I'm looking forward to contribute to build a winning team here." (Plain Dealer)

Perhaps the reason he won't leave is because once Shapiro moves up to team president, the job is Antonetti's. Who would go to that disaster in Seattle when you can inherit a loaded team with a stocked farm system?

Speaking of Antonetti, he is just a busy man with the press. He downloaded the trade talk with the Tribe, contrary to the "Scouts" assessments.

I don't get it.. I'm pretty sure Chris is closer to the club than these scouts are.

Oh shucks, they are counting us out again.

Eric Wedge got a little chippy by the way, and cunning if I might add.

"Ninety percent of those [rumors] are nothing," Wedge said. "We could start a rumor right here and right now if we want to. It's like an in-season Hot Stove." (Indians.com)

Nice job Blinky... That will shut em down.

Jamey Carroll received his NL Championship ring last night in a pre-game ceremony.

"I understand it's not a World Series ring, but it's something you play for -- to get a chance to get something that's a symbol of going through a lot of emotional good times and bad times," Carroll said before the ceremony. "Knowing that they've had them for a while, to finally get it is exciting. I've been looking forward to it. (Indians.com)

Congrats to Jamey, and I understand that he receieved a very warm welcome in his return. Didn't expect anything less from the Rockie Fans.

Now for the bad news..

A setback has happened for Travis Hafner, and while it isn't a setback for Fausto Carmona, the Indians are proceeding with caution. They were expected to be sent out on rehab assignments this week at some point, but both will now be resting a little bit longer.

First, Carmona.. His session didn't go as expected. While he had soreness after his 50 pitch session, the Indians are not sure if it's common or not. He was sent back to Cleveland(was in Mahoning Valley) for an evaluation. If all goes well he could be still on track to go on a rehab assignment soon, but only time will tell.

Now, Pronk is scheduled to visit Dr. James Andrews today for a second opinion.

If you remember earlier, I referred to Andrews and Dr. Yocum(The surgeon who performed Tommy John surgery on Jake Westbrook), as the Drs. of Death.

Thankfully, his shoulder won't need surgery, but the Indians are not pleased with the fact that he is still having strength issues with his shoulder. The visit is mainly to find out what they Indians can do for Hafner in his road to recovery and how to treat him as he tries to get back into the lineup.

I'll try and have as many updates as I can when news comes available on both visits for Carmona and Hafner. CastroTurf is usually pretty good about getting something in, and once Anthony Castrovince talks to Lonnie Soloff closer to gametime(9 PM around these parts), he usually updates the world on his blog.

Minor League Update: Scrappers Win, Ensberg Debut

Ensberg Plays in 2nd Game: Morgan Ensberg was in uniform last night for the Buffalo Bisons, and he played in the 2nd game of a double header for the Herd. He is going to be taking over third base full-time for Aaron Herr who will move to the utility spot.

Morgan went 1-3 with a 2 out RBI single.

Cabrera Watch: Drubby Cabrera is 13 for 33 since getting called down. He's knocked in two runs, scored six times, hasn't gained a single walk and struck out six times. You wanna see that K-BB ratio improve, but at least he is hitting.

Akron Takes Over First: The Aeros moved into first place last night with a win over their main competition, the Bowie Baysox.

Bowie and Akron are now tied atop the division, and will continue their series tonight.

Captains Come Up Huge in ASG Win: With as many Captains sent to the game as there were, if the team came out on top, you'd almost expect Lake County to have a say in it.

The Captains' only position player, outfielder Roman Pena went 1-1 with and 2-run triple.

The bullpen members had a good showing, with closer Vinnie Pestano striking out his only hitter, and Dallas Cawiezell retiring two of the three batters he faced.

Captains' stud starter Ryan Miller started the game and threw a scoreless inning. Fellow Captains starters Kelvin De La Cruz and Ryan Morris each pitched an inning, but gave up an earned run.

However, De La Cruz was on the hook for the win.

Congrats to the Captains and their awesome first half, keep it up!

Party Time For Scrappers: What a way to start the year for Mahoning Valley, who defeated Williamsport in the bottom of the ninth after a rain delay.

First baseman Brock Simpson drove int he winning run with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth after Lonnie Chisenhall reached on an error.

Chisenhall went 2-5 with a double and three runs scored.

Boards are Updated!

That was a spanking! Tribe Lose 10-2

Tonight... Was Simply... Not... Our Night.

Dun dun dun....

Byrd Trap: Paul Byrd got smacked around there.. I've never seen so many triples in my life.. Add in that inside the park home run by Jeff Baker.

He didn't have it. As bad as he is, Jim Donovan was right about Byrd. He's either good or bad. Typically though he has rotated his starts. This was two bad ones in a row now.

Scott Elarton didn't help matters when he came in, and Rick Bauer got smacked around by a few bloopers.

Triple Sacrifice: That's how they scored tonight.. Two triples and two sac fly outs.

Just not the Tribe's night all around.. Tomorrow is a new day..

Everyone had hits minus Paul Byrd and Casey Blake.. Jhonny Peralta had three of them. So, they weren't bad offensively. The big spot came when Shin-Soo Choo lined into a double play after a Garko strikeout. The bases were loaded, and blahhhhhhhhhhh.

I will have some very bad injury updates tomorrow morning in the update.

Aaron Laffey will be on the mound tomorrow against Jeff Francis.

[BOXSCORE]

Josh Barfield Out 6 To 8 Weeks

The news on Josh Barfield is not good.

What did you expect?

Barfield was scheduled to visit a specialist in Baltimore on Monday.

He went there for a visit, and left with surgery.

He will now miss 6 to 8 weeks.

That hurts, just because the kid finally got his chance, and he's out.

Now, if Cabrera continues to tear it up in Buffalo, he'll be back up, and Josh will be the odd-man out.

Barfield could be back at the start of August or Mid-August. That's awhile.. That ain't good.

Indians Sign Morgan Ensberg

According to RotoWorld, the Tribe have picked up Third baseman Morgan Ensberg.

Hmm, it is an interesting move to say the least.

Ensberg will be sent to Triple A Buffalo for now. Not sure why we've added him, but I'm sure we should soon find out. Maybe, trying to catch lightning in a bottle?

Not sure.. This could mainly be used as depth. Ensberg can play first and third. Maybe something with David Dellucci could be coming soon?

Rotoworld speculated that this could mean we could start selling off pieces.

I still refuse to give in.

Minor League Update: Hodges, SAL All Star Game

Akron Aeros' third baseman Wed Hodges was named Eastern League Player of the Week.

Congrats to Hodges, who is just ripping it up in Double A Akron. Hodges is hitting .322 this year, with eight jacks and 53 runs batted in. Last week he collected 12 hits with eight runs batted in and a home run.

Next year he should spend a year in Buffalo, and could be ready for the Majors as soon as 2010.

Former fan favorite Travis Fryman is making his return to the Indians organization tonight. Fryman is the manager of short-season Mahoning Valley, which gets underway tonight at Eastwood Field against Williamsport.

You can read a little bit about how Mahoning Valley came to be here.

Being from Youngstown, I've been to many Scrappers games in the past. This area loves their sports, and we are glad to have the Scrappers around. There are always some great turnouts.

Many future stars have started here. So if you are in the area, check out a Scrappers game!

The South Atlantic League All-Star game is happening tonight.. Captains starter Ryan Morris will start the game for the North Squad.

The Captains have the most representative for the North Squad, you can see the rosters here.

Honors: Sabathia Player of the Week; Vote Grady

I mentioned that Jamey Carroll deserves player of the week honors, but obviously the award isn't for guys like Jamey Carroll who hit over .600 and don't know in any runs.

While Grady was in the running, he couldn't beat out teammate C.C. Sabathia.

C.C. was named American League player of the week for his two stellar performances against the Twins and Padres. It included the 8 inning, 3 run, 10 strikeout game against the Pads yesterday, and the complete game shutout against the Twins earlier last week.

Congrats to C.C.

Grady still has a chance to garner some All-Star votes though.

With Travis Hafner getting injured and falling out of contention, and now Victor Martinez doing the same, Grady is the lone Indian still within striking distance in All-Star balloting.

Grizzle has just over a half a million votes so far, and he trails Ichiro, the third place outfielder by nearly 400,000. He probably doesn't stand a chance, but Terry Francona would probably add him anyway. We could be looking at three All-Stars if C.C. continues to make that ERA shrink.

Check out the voting leaders here

As if we needed it, MORE Sabathia Chatter

Thanks to the season jeopardizing injury to Yankee Ace Chien-Ming Wang, the Sabathia to Yankees chatter is getting even louder.

Let me repeat, it is just chatter.

MLBTradeRumors rounded up all the news.

First: Scouts were present at the game yesterday to watch C.C. pitch. Teams that were represented are unknown.

Second: The Yankees interest has increased. I don't know how this Tyler Kepner guy knows that, but apparently he does.

Third: Totally not related to the Yankees, but Dayn Perry dreamed up an offer for the Cardinals to try and get Sabathia.

Fourth: Nick Cafardo is the one sane person in the room.

First, great for the scouts. Scout him all you want.

Second, I have nothing to say about a journalist speaking for the Yankee organization. Certainly if this Wang injury does in fact become season ending, like it appears to be now, then of course the Yankees might want Sabathia more.

Third, let it be known that looks as if it is a feature Perry does, as a "Dream Blockbuster". It has no chance of happening.

I'm starting to understand the frustration with people year in and year out about trade rumors. This team isn't out of contention yet, and their recent run here suggests that they have a lot left in the tank.

It's frustrating to read these right now, I won't lie. But, I firmly believe that this team has enough to get back in the race to squash the rumors.

I hope the team is taking all these whispers into mind when they are playing. I'm pretty sure while they don't read blogs or websites about them, they hear the murmurs. If I was a player, I'd be doing my best to get these bad thoughts out of the media's mind.

But now, if I can be hypocritical. It would be reasonable to think the Pirates want to deal Xavier Nady, considering Jason Bay and Nate McLouth are playing well, and they have a hot prospect waiting in the wings. Jason Michaels has done nothing but contribute since arriving and Nady is also a Boras client. They could trade Nady even if they are in contention to reach that .500 mark.

Take this in mind. If the Pirates are not happy with Freddy Sanchez, he has two years left on his deal at a very cheap rate and he could be the answer at third base next year until Wes Hodges is ready. These are just random thoughts in my mind, so don't take anything from them. But if the Pirates were willing to deal both Nady and Sanchez to us, we could be that much better this year and solve a problem next year. t

And remember.. That is pure dreaming and thinking on my part.. None of that is even a rumor at this point. Just idle talk from my weird brain.

Morning Update: Bud Shaw is Smart; Left-Handed Rotation

I pointed to a Bud Shaw article the other morning, in which he was using the Martinez injury as a rallying cry for this Indians team.

I agreed with him.

He has now written again, and this time it's about Grady Sizemore.

"Moving Sizemore down in the lineup because he's on pace to hit 39 homers is a flimsy argument, though. For any number of better reasons, he should stay put.

Foremost is that he likes hitting leadoff, isn't too bad at it, and with him in that spot and with actual healthy hitters swinging the bat where Hafner and Victor Martinez toiled at less than 100 percent, the Indians are leading the league in runs scored in June." (Plain Dealer)

This argument is always coming up when Sizemore starts hitting his home runs. I'm perfectly fine leaving him in the leadoff spot. Like Shaw pointed out, he likes it there, and that is where he has had his success. Don't screw with it. It's working, this lineup can't undergo any more changes.

I have faith in Eric Wedge won't make this move though. He's always been against it until later down the road, and when he tried it last year it didn't work. I think we are safe.

Asdrubal Cabrera is finding himself in Buffalo just like the Tribe hoped. He has hit .450 since getting sent down,

From the same article, Jody Gerut got a nice reaction from the fans. We had tickets, but I was not in the fold to go, which I regret. If I was there on Saturday, I would have given him a standing ovation regardless.. That's it, no more, I promise.. No More Jody Gerut talk.

Jamey Carroll, who I'd expect to be named AL Player of the week, or at least be considered it after he hit .619 last week, will get his NL Championship ring when he returns to Colorado on Tuesday.

He may be out for the year, but Jake Westbrook should be around the clubhouse for the rest of the year. He has nothing better to do with his arm in a sling for awhile.

Looks like Pronk isn't close to returning...

Travis Hafner will have to wait another week before he goes out on a rehab assignment. I don't know how this works, but it looks like the Tribe is in no rush to see the slugger back in the lineup.

Hafner took another shot at swinging the bat Sunday Morning. Eric Wedge said he will need more time to rest his shoulder, and they will wait till they return from their West Coast road trip before they think about sending him on a rehab assignment.

Weird, I don't know if that means he is traveling with the team or not. I'm puzzled by waiting a whole week to evaluate him, but whatever. There was hope that Hafner would go on a rehab assignment this week and be ready for the next homestand.

With Westbrook out for the year and Fausto Carmona on the DL, the Indians are left with a very rare rotation.

Four left handed pitchers.

By my count, only the Pirates have that same set up in the entire Majors. Their rotation has Ian Snell a right hander, then four left handers in Paul Maholm, Tom Gorzolanny, Phil Dumatrait, and Zach Duke.

They also have three left handed pitchers in their bullpen.

Our situation is unique, and with Fausto on his way back, it won't be lasting for much longer. But the Indians have always been heavy in left handed pitching, which is great. The Pirates are probably the only team that rivals the amount of left-handers they have in the organization.

That same article has some quotes from a few Tribe players with their thoughts on instant replay. Count on Casey Blake to be the joker.

Speaking of Casey Blake, he resigned awhile ago as the player rep for the Indians. I don't have the link because it was a few days ago, but Ryan Garko has been named the new rep for the Tribe. Jeremy Sowers is the fill-in or whatever they call the second in command. Both went to very smart schools, so that figures.

Minor League Update: Aubrey to DL; Captains Clinch

Michael Aubrey was placed on the DL for the Bisons, Michael Valdez took his place on the roster. Aubrey was hitting .313 in his 17 games.

The Akron Aeros 10 game win streak finally ended yesterday. They lost 11-2, but their surge has put them one game behind Bowie for the lead in the Southern Division.

The Lake County Captains clinched their first playoff birth since 2003 when Fausto Carmona lead the team to a title. The Captains won the first half, and will look to dominate the second. Get your playoff tickets Captains fans!

As noted, Lonnie Chisenhall will be sent to Mahoning Valley to start his career with the Tribe. Their season starts tomorrow against Williamsport! I will make it a point to go see some Scrappers games this year and check out Chisenhall.

The Gulf Coast League Indians start on Thursday against the GCL Yankees

Greg Maddux Has a Potty Mouth; Tribe Win Series

If you didn't hear Greg Maddux yell "SHIT!" after he misplaced a curveball to Jhonny Peralta, you probably weren't paying attention to just how awesome Maddux is.

Get it done Benny: The big blow in this game was via Ben Francisco's bat.

His third inning, three run bomb put the Tribe up 3-0 early. He also had an infield single in the game.

After letting up 3 runs to the Padres the next inning, the Tribe manufactured a run in the 4th. Casey Blake's ground out scored Shin-Soo Choo who had a leadoff double.

Frankie G would single home another runner in the 6th, he went 2-4.

Grady Sizemore homered once again in the 7th inning, his 17th of the year puts him one behind Josh Hamilton for the lead in the AL.

Jhonny Peralta had the final blow later that inning when he doubled to make it 7-3.

Jamey Caroll went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and a hit by pitch. He is just a on base machine lately and has just done nothing but hit since becoming part of the everyday lineup.

Ceee Ceee: Eight Strong for Sabathia today.. Only one walk, compared to 10 punchouts. Six this and three earned for the big guy.

He is not 5-8 and his ERA is inching ever so closer to below 4.00..

You just don't realize how bad of a start he got off to now that you see how well he has pitched. Him losing 8 games already is just un-real.

Masa Kobayashi pitched a scoreless ninth.

Tomorrow is a well-needed off-day for the Tribe. They are going to use it to travel out to Colorado for the short road trip. Paul Byrd goes for the Tribe against Greg Reynolds as I watch all these goofs play catch on the field. Reynolds numbers suck, so you'd think our offensive success will continue.

[BOXSCORE]

Ya, I'm gonna talk about Jody Gerut Again

I promise, no more Jody Gerut love fest after this series, let me get my joy in.

No I was not glad to see him hit that home run against us, but I'm happy for him.

Anyway, Jody isn't the only former Indian having a good series. Kevin Kouzmanoff is laying one on us.

Too bad Josh Barfield wasn't back to stick it to his old team.

Jody is a great guy, but he admittedly did some things wrong.

"The trade basically was my fault," he said. "I thought I was good enough to be back, and the Indians didn't think so. They made an accurate assessment of my playing ability, they tried to tell me I wasn't moving right yet, but I didn't want to see it for what it was.

"I had a childish response to a fall from grace. I didn't do things in a mature way." (Plain Dealer)

Things didn't go well with Pittsburgh. They thought he had tendinitis, he knew it was worse, and they thought he was milking them for money. Jody had problems with being stubborn, but he wasn't a bad person.

He spent last year working our in Florida, got a chance in Winter Ball as the last man on the roster. Impressed the Padres enough to give him a shot, and here he is.

"It's nice to be back," said Gerut, who's in town this weekend with the Padres. "I walked through the city a little bit [Friday] just to smell the smells again, to see the sights." (Indians.com)

Glad to have you back Jody.. Just stop killing us!

Quick Updates: Carmona, Hafner, Chisenhall

Okay, a few notes to pass along here on this lovely Sunday afternoon. Happy Father's Day to all.

Carmona: Mark Shapiro was in the booth last night and he provided some injury updates.

One was Carmona, and Indians.com also provided an update.

Fausto should see a simulated game after his successful bullpen session on Saturday. If all goes well in the simulated game, he should ship out next week to make at least two rehab starts. If all goes well there, he should be back in maybe two weeks.

His simulated game is scheduled for Monday.

Hafner: News on Hafner is scarce. But Shapiro said he is still working on strengthening that shoulder. They are pegging on him making some rehab games late next week so he is ready to return for our next home stand.

Chisenhall to MV: First round pick Lonnie Chisenhall, fresh off his newly signed deal is headed down to my neck of the woods.

Chisenhall gets a $1.1 million dollar signing bonus, and will head to Mahoning Valley to start his career with the Indians.

Chisenhall will play short for the time being, but come Arizona Instructional League, he will make the move to Third Base.

Similar Spin: Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer took a similar spin on the current Indians that I have been using.

"Now that the Indians have underperformed and clogged the disabled list with top talent, their brilliant strategy to save the season is becoming obvious.

When have they played their best baseball in recent years? When it wasn't expected of them. With Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Travis Hafner and now Martinez out, this is a tried and true plan they've hatched." (Plain Dealer)

Blarg, What do you want Eddie Mujica?

Just..

That One Hurt: It was the revenge of the former Indians.

Jody Gerut goes deep and hits a home run to tie it.

Then Kevin Kouzmanoff hits a grandslam to put it out of reach in the 10th.

Cliff Lee pitched well, going 6.1, striking out 6 and only giving up 2 runs.

Raffy Right got himself on track a little bit, coming in to get the final two hitters with Kouzmanoff on 2nd.

Perez gave up the home run in the 8th to Gerut, Borowski worked a scoreless 9th and then Edward Mujica was the last hope.

I figured it was at least a few innings of Mujica if he survived, then Elarton if need be, but I didn't expect Squirrel Cheeks to survive much longer.

Kobayashi pitched two days in a row, so he probably couldn't go.

Baeeeeeeeeeeek: It looked like it was gonna be a good night against Cha Seung Baek. Three runs in the first and he threw a lot of pitches.

But for some reason, he became the indestructible man after that. He only gave up the two hits in the first and that was IT.

Garko singled in a run... Choo doubled one in... Peralta then grounded out to get the third..

That was all she wrote.

I don't know, very weird night..

Ben Francisco had a hit, and then Shoppach doubled in the ninth..

Just.... CRAP

Tomorrow, we get to see a legend.. Greg Maddux takes on CC Sabathia.

[BOXSCORE]

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Tribe Sign First Round Pick Chisenhall

Today the Indians came to terms with their first round pick Lonnie Chisenhall.

The controversy surrounding Chisenhall is his character issues. Bud Grant speaks..

"We've gone above and beyond doing our research," scouting director Brad Grant said on Draft day. "We very much value makeup; we very much value character. Every person that we talked to spoke very highly about Lonnie's character." (Indians.com)

Great.. There was talks of just not signing him.. Oh well, we shall see how the 19 year old progresses. He is still young and has a lot to learn.

By the by, the boards have received a total upgrade.. Check it out.. 2008 picks are listed, theres a $ next to the player if they've signed.. I have added extended spring training(with Mahnonig Valley starting soon though, that shall become useless.) to keep track of all the Indians players. Also added a DSL Indian Roster for reference..

Also a little note to pass along.. Jorge Julio was picked up by the Braves.. So, his stint is officially over.

What time is it? Uh.. 2 Game Win Streak Time!

It's actually 1:30 in the morning...

What the..

I'm firmly behind this being a response to Victor Martinez going on the DL... This could be the turning point in our season ladies and gents.

Hot of the Grizzle: Super Sizemore is starting to feel that home run struck.

He did another one of those dandy lead-off jacks and then went deep later in the game.

Let's see.. 7:00 was the first one and the next one didn't come till like... hours later?

So, Grady, 2-3 with the two jacks, 3 rbi and a walk.

Sparkplug continued to get it done.. 3-5 and his biggest hit was in the 8th inning with the bases loaded. His RBI single pretty much sealed the deal.

Ben Francisco was productive, going 1-4 and also having that sac fly in the 8th.

Ryan Garko got back on track with a 2-4 night, he also walked.

Shin-Soo Choo was probably the most important player tonight though.. Choo knocked in the tying and go ahead run in the 6th..

Kelly Shoppach's hit and run home run was a joy to watch.. Way to go buddy..

Everyone but Dellucci had a hit.. Time to bench this guy, he ain't getting it done..

Man Crush: Did you see my boy out there in center field today? Welcome back Jody!

Tomorrow Cliff Lee will go for win 11 against... Cha Seung Baek? This ain't your momma's Padre pitching staff. Avoid Peavy, Young on the DL.. Damn..

[BOXSCORE]

Another Yankee-Sabathia Rumor

MLBTradeRumors has picked up on a Yankee Writer and his silly speculation.

This joker suggests the injury to Victor Martinez is the nail in the coffin for the Indians.

A painful swing by the Cleveland Indians’ Víctor Martínez on Wednesday could have significant ramifications for the Yankees. An elbow injury to Martínez all but ended the Indians’ flickering playoff hopes, and will probably lead to a trade of the ace left-hander C. C. Sabathia. (NY Times)

I'd love nothing more than to prove this guy wrong... This team has a lot of heart and talent, even without Victor Martinez. Hell, the guy hasn't been hitting these past few weeks anyway.

It's now time to step up if I'm any player on the Indians. This could be a shot in the arm for them, not a shot in the chest. I'm not ready to give up on them yet, no way, no how.

I won't even bother commenting on this dude's speculation. If we traded C.C. Sabathia, I'd like to think Shapiro has half a mind to not trade him to a team like the Yankees, no matter their package. There has to be another team out there that would want him just as bad.

Stick to what you know buddy, don't stick your nose in a place that doesn't belong. As long as we have the pitching we have, we are not out of this race.

The Gray Hair Watch is on for Eric Wedge

I've joked about Eric Wedge aging because of this season, but there is some truth to this whole matter.

Sorry for the silly cell phone picture, but my digital camera is dead right now. Still you can see the bottom of his goatee has turned completely white, compared to just a little gray back in October.

Coaches I think age over time more than regular people. They are always stressed out. You can take a side by side of a coach now and from say 5 years ago and he will look completely different.. Do it with a regular person with a nice job and I'm pretty sure they will look similar.

I really feel bad for Eric Wedge. Guy doesn't know what to do at this point and it literally is making him older than he actually is. Remember this is a 40 year old man. He's gonna look like a grandpa by the time he's 45.

Hell, Jamie Moyer is 45 and still playing. Eric Wedge looks like he's ready to head off to the old folks home.

Eric... Take some time to kick back man. I don't want your kids to see you without your normal hair color. That's embarrassing for a youngin.

The Aeros are HOT

Maybe it's that stinkin' hot Ohio weather, but the Aeros are on a bit of a roll here.

In fact, they are probably hotter than the weather outside.

Last night they put a beating on New Hampshire, 13-6. Ryan Goleski, Wes Hodges(what's new?), Bronson Sardinha, and Chris Giminez all went deep.

"The Aeros just happen to be the hottest team in the Eastern League, having gone 8-2 over the last 10 games and owners of seven consecutive wins - three of which were of the thrilling come-from-behind variety."

Check out Steph Storm's blog for more

The Captains also have a magic number now..

Make sure you check out Tony Lastroia's minor league blog for all the scouting reports and such... But he also has a daily recap of all the Minor League games..

Complete Injury Update for the Sick

Okay... Hopefully this is the last time I will have to do this until Monday.

Fausto Carmona threw a bullpen session for the first time. 35 pitches and it went very well. He will throw a 50 pitch session on Saturday if all goes well these next few days.

Jake Westbrook's Tommy John surgery went fine and he is on his way back to Cleveland to start his recovery. It will be a long road back for Jake, good luck to him.

The Indians are targeting the next home stand as Travis Hafner's return date. He is still taking his hacks in the batting cages for now. He'll get evaluated over the weekend and probably sent out on a rehab assignment come early next week.

Josh Barfield could need surgery on his finger, which is out of place. He will visit a specialist in Baltimore on Monday to have it looked at. Josh always has a smile on though, and his splint is causing him to drop the deuce on people.

"That's the worst part," Barfield said with a smile. "I'll have to keep my hand in the car when I'm driving." (Indians.com)

And finally.. Victor Martinez will have his arthroscopic elbow surgery today. Vic has floating bodies in his elbow that is causing him discomfort and pain in the elbow. I always say you need to fix these things before they become a problem, now because of it they lose him for more than they should have. As much as Vic is a gamer, you can't let him go out there and play through an injury like this.

So far though, their replacements are doing great jobs, and I'm convinced that Jamey Carroll playing during interleague might not be that bad of a thing. He knows the NL probably better than anyone on our team after playing there most of his career and most recently.

Gatorade Bath for Jamey Carroll in Indians Series Win

Looks like Paul Byrd is trying to start a little bit of a rallying cry. He dumped some Gatorade on Jamey Carroll after his 4-4 performance tonight. He didn't do it on camera, and it doesn't exactly have a "rally pie" effect or anything, but credit to him for actually trying.

Lose 2 Starters, Score 12 Runs: Why not?

Maybe it was the wakeup call this club needed. Your two best hitters are now on the DL, it's time to step up.

Jamey Carroll stepped up in fact. Just in time with the interleague play starting tomorrow.

Carroll was 8-9 in the series, and 4-4 tonight with a HBP, a run and a run batted in.

In fact, I think "Sparkplug" would be a good nickname. That's all he was tonight.

Ben Francisco handled his new role pretty well. He'll probably see most of the time in the 3 hole, and he did a good job. He too had 4 hits, knocking in 3 runs and scoring once.

Everyone had a hit tonight, minus Garko, who is granted a little bit of a break after he carried our offense. He better get it back up there though. No more of this inconsistent stuff.

Grady was 2-5 with the home run, and of course the big jack came off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo. He was 2-4 with the 3 runs scored, the 3 runs batted in and the walk.

Most satisfying performance comes from Kelly Shoppach. We are gonna need that type of production from him(okay not quite, but every once and awhile it wouldn't hurt) with Vic out. He went 2-4 as well with two runs knocked in.

Best offensive performance of the year, considering it was our park, not that silly field in Texas, and our highest hit total of the year. Plus the production came from EVERYONE. Garko, Dellucci and Blake were the only starters without RBIs.

Aaaaaron: I love this kid.. We need to start seeing him more. He has young and some spunk, he has some fire and he likes to yap.

I prefer him over the negative sounding Jeremy Sowers who looks like someone just stole his brownie.

Anyway, another solid outing. Six innings, five hits, one walk, one run and the four punchouts. His ERA is down to 2.83 and he is now 4-3.

Speaking of Sowers.. He pitches tomorrow as we restart interleague play. First on deck is one of my favorite National League teams, the San Diego Padres. I started a poll on the right side, and it involves a few former Indians and current Padres.

Brian Giles, Jody Gerut and Kevin Kouzmanoff all roll into town this weekend with the Padres. Which former Tribe player are you looking forward to seeing? Also throw in Jeff Kent and Omar Vizquel.

I'm sure Vizquel will win the vote. But, my vote goes to Jody Gerut due to my ever lasting man crush on him. I'm excited to see him doing well, and unfortunately our lefty stacked rotation might mean we won't see much of him, but I'm glad we get to play him.

Anyway, Josh Banks and Sowers tomorrow..

[BOXSCORE]

Indians Acquire Damaso Espino from Royals

The Indians completed a trade today.

Nothing special for you though.

The Tribe received Catcher Damaso Espino from the Royals today in exchange for cash considerations.

Armando Camacarro was promoted to Buffalo to backup Wyatt Toregas. So Espino takes his spot at Akron as the backup catcher.

All the boards have been totally updated... cool man!

Hey, Choo just went deep and it's 6-0.. Looks like the guys are stepping it up!

Update on Martinez, Perez Designated, Westbrook to 60 Day DL

As expected, Jake Westbrook was one 40 man roster move that was made.

The other was the release of Oneli Perez, one of the possibilities I mentioned. It probably is the move I would have made too.

Bad bad news on the Martinez front though.

"Martinez will have arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow tomorrow at the Cleveland Clinic. He won't be back for at least six to eight weeks. More info will be up on the team site in a little bit." (CastroTurf)

Not good.. Not good at all.

This hurts, real bad. I don't know what to say.

Martinez and Barfield To The DL

About 15 minutes ago, word came out on Josh Barfield and Victor Martinez.

Boosh... Just what I thought.

Both are going on the disabled list..

That leaves the Tribe without

Their starting DH, Pronk
Their starting Catcher
Their 2nd and 3rd pitchers in the rotation
Their second baseman.

Great.

Jorge Velandia is being called up, he is primarily a shortstop but he can play second base. He will get any start at SS if Jhonny sits. Carroll will get most of the second base starts. The Indians don't want to call Cabrera up at this point, because he was just optioned. They want to fix his offense. The move was just as much about Cabrera straightening out his bat than it was about Barfield. I'd expect them to hold onto Velandia until Barfield returns.

Maybe Andy Marte will get more playing time as a result. It's been discussed in the past that Casey Blake can play a little second. I doubt they would try it out now, but some how Wedge can fit Marte into the lineup. Maybe this week at first with Garko DHing?

Instead of Wyatt Toregas, the Indians are opting to purchase the contract of Yamid Haad.

This puts the 40 man roster in a bind. They need to free up some spots, so some corresponding 40 man roster moves could follow. Not sure what those moves could be at this time. One spot will probably come from moving Jake Westbrook to the 60 Day DL. The 60 Day DL allows the Indians to not have to count Westbrook as apart of the 40 man.

Possibilities to lose their spot: Oneli Perez, Rick Bauer, Andy Marte

Shapiro Prepares For the Best and the Worst

The other day I posted about Mark Shapiro's non verbal deadline.

Yesterday he talked to the media and discussed the two avenues he will have to choose as time progresses in this 2008 season.

"I still enter every night believing we're entering that point where this team's going to go on a sustained run," Shapiro told reporters Wednesday. "There are other points in the day when I question how that's possible, when I look at some of the things that have happened to us. What you do is prepare both ways. You prepare for adding players and trading players, as well." (Indians.com)

He also talked about how he is preparing for trading for players or trading away players.

"Right now, we're looking at this team climbing into the race any way we can," he said. "Our jobs are to prepare for any potential outcome. Right now, our hope and our focus are on this team getting back in it."

"Once the objective side of you, the subjective side of you and the emotional side of you line up, you have to be prepared to act quickly," he said. "I can't tell you what moment or day that is. But I can tell you that when that happens, we'll already know the right value is out there to either add players or to consider trading players."

So, Shapiro talking about both options. Of course, it is out of his hands at this point. It's up to the players to decide which way he is going to go. He talked about the players turning it around and playing more consistently of course.

I think a month though is a rather fair amount of time.. If this team is still 8 or so games back by the time the All-Star break, and playing like they are now. It might be time to pull the plug. Now, of course with all these injuries going on,and they are playing better and still around 6-7 games back, I wouldn't be folding it up.

Speaking of injuries, Victor Martinez will have an MRI on his elbow today. I'll be watching like a hawk for updates because he could visit the DL if things don't go well. Wedge revealed that this elbow issue has actually been bothering him for awhile.

Just another injury the Indians have sort of covered up.

Also, I will be on the lookout for a Josh Barfield report. If he takes batting practice today he should avoid the DL. If not, we could see two guys go on the DL today. I'd expect Wyatt Toregas and maybe Jorge Velandia to be called up. I don't know if the Indians would call Cabrera back up yet.

Blackburn plays Houdini in Tribe Loss

Nick Blackburn is almost magician like against the Tribe. For some reason he just seems to work his hocus pocus magic and escape a jam.

Out hit-Can't out score: Simply put.. They out-hit the Twins, but couldn't put them all together for some scoring.

Blackburn simply got a lot of double plays and some lucky bounces. Including a excellent throw to get Franklin Gutierrez on a double by Jamey Carroll.

Grady Sizemore brought the Tribe within one with a three run jack. That followed a Kelly Shoppach solo shot in the 6th inning. The Indians just didn't have the steady pitching to back them up.

Byrd was bad tonight.. He has these games, but it surprising to see it against the Twins, a team he has owned in the past, and especially last year.

Three innings tonight, five earned..

The bullpen was just nails though.. Elarton went 3 solid, Bauer and Betancourt pitched scoreless innings. Unfortunately Joe Borowski was brought in during a non-save situation.. So you know what that means.. 2 runs for him.. I don't understand why Eric Wedge does that. He should have gotten the picture now that Jumpin' Joe feeds off the energy of a save situation, and this right here down a run doesn't do anything for him.

Jamey Carroll had three hits, and an RBI. Grady had the three RBI of course, and Shoppach had one.

Shoppach came in for Victor Martinez, who left the game in the 1st with elbow inflammation. Also an update on Barfield. He pinch ran tonight but said he can't bend his finger. Wedge said if he doesn't take BP tomorrow, he could go to the DL. Not cool, but let's hope for the best.

Tomorrow, we try and win the series.. We need it very bad... AL Rookie of the Month Aaron Laffey takes on Livan Hernandez.

Also.. You may have noticed the layout change around here.. I have a widescreen laptop, and I think the other one was just killing my eyes. Plus this one is much bigger and lets me put everything on the right side rather than the bottom. I can also use videos more often now.

[BOXSCORE]

Laffey Wins AL Rookie of the Month

Aaron Laffey has won the AL Rookie of the Month Award for the month of May.

Laffey's numbers for May were probably the best of most pitchers in the entire Majors, rookie or not.

He went 3-2 with a .79 ERA. Laffey of course was the victim of numerous run-lacking games.

Minor League All Stars: Something Special in Lake County

A few years ago, Lake County had a dominant team that went on to win a lot of games and eventually send a lot of their players to be future Tribe Players. The 2003 team with future stars like Fausto Carmona won over 100 games and brought home a league championship.

This team is stacked with potential, and could do something just as special as the 03 team did.

They have a slew of All-Stars, headed by stud pitcher Ryan Miller.

Manager: Aaron Holbert
Starting Pitchers: Ryan Miller, Ryan Morris, Kelvin Da La Cruz
Relief Pitcher: Dallas Cawiezell
Closer: Vinnie Pestano
Outfielder: Roman Pena

The two Ryans, Miller and Morris are a combined 13-1. Miller leads the league in ERA with a sparkling 1.20.

Morris is carrying a 2.30 ERA

De La Cruz is only 4-2, but his ERA is second to only Miller's. He has a 1.40 ERA.

Cawiezell is the most reliable reliever the Captains have, pitching 30 innings and carrying a 2.70 ERA. He is a late addition to the team.

Pestano is second in saves with 12. He is the oldest of the pitchers at 23. All the starters are 21 or younger and Dallas Cawiezell is 22.

Pena is hitting .320 with a team leading 36 runs batted in, he is 21.

Kinston also has some All-Stars already.

Starter Steven Wright with just a record of 2-3 made the team, but his 2.24 ERA(2nd in the league), suggests the run support is just not there.

The K-Tribe also are sending closer Luis Perdomo. He has 14 saves in 35 innings this year and he leads the league in saves.

Injury Updates: Barfield, Hafner

Rough return for Josh Barfield, who in his return to Progressive Field had two hard hit balls, one snared by Scott Baker that would have knocked in a run. He also hurt himself in that at-bat on a check swing.

The official word is middle finger sprain and he is day to day. Carroll will probably start the rest of the series, and we should see Barfield soon.

We finally have some news on Travis Hafner. Pronk will continue to rest. They don't want to play around, Hafner will take another week off to build up strength in his shoulder. Then he will begin a rehab assignment. Maybe some good minor league pitching could cure his ails.

It is also becoming clear that the big man is going to need surgery in the off-season. He has some issues that need to be addressed, but nothing too serious to shut him down now.

Sources: Hafner A Week Away, Barfield Day to Day

This pitcher we have, named CC.. Yeah he's alright

So. That is pretty awesome.

Vintage Sabathia: I'm gonna rattle something off to you.

9 innings, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts

Yeah, that's CC we know and love.

What is there really left to say? Two double plays that were bad base running errors by the Twins.. Then it was just 17 straight.

Yeah that's all, good night.

I Love Me Some Garko: He gets another RBI.. That was it by the way..

Just one RBI in the game.

I don't really care, that was cool.

Garko went 2-4.. Delluci 2-3, Peralta, Choo and Barfield didnt get hits. Barfield hit the ball hard in his two at bats, but unfortunately might have dislocated his finger on a check swing foul.

Hopefully he is okay, that would be a shame for him to get hurt. He has put some great contact on the ball in his time so far, and tonight was a good example.

Tomorrow, we look for win number THREE in a row! Hey that's new. Paul Byrd takes on the very good rookie, Nick Blackburn.

[BOXSCORE]

Shapiro Sets Deadline

Mark Shapiro has sort of set a deadline to the players.

Shapiro believes it will take at least a month for him to narrow down suitors that are interested in soon to be free agents, C.C. Sabathia and Paul Byrd.

Which means if the team doesn't start to turn it around, and show they are willing to compete for a playoff spot, those two might actually be dealt.

" They have a little more than a month to convince General Manager Mark Shapiro and ownership if they're worth investing in for this season or if bodies should start flying out Gate D of Progressive Field in preparation for 2009. The last day players can be traded without waivers is July 31." (Plain Dealer)

Certainly is interesting. I think we all figured this would be over by now, and that the Tribe would at least be in contention. But with the White Sox going on the run they did after a vocal lash out by their skipper Ozzie Guillen, time is now starting to run out on a comeback.

Two months have been completed. Certainly not time to start pushing panic buttons. But they have about a month here to show they do have what it takes to compete.

If not, Shapiro might do something no one on this team, following it, covering it, or managing it thought would happen. He might have to trade our ace.

Not even the rain can stop us now!

It seemed at the time that the rain was going to come, and completely wipe out the 8 spot the Indians hung on the Tigers.

D-Train Wreck: Willis made his second start in his return to the Tiger rotation, and boy was it not pretty.

Willis has this bad thing about walking hitters, and he did it tonight.

He walked five, and gave up 3 hits, and the Indians took advantage with those three hits.

Ryan Garko started things off in the first inning with a three-run bomb. Then Kelly Shoppach hit a two-run tower shot in the 2nd. At that point, Willis loaded up the bases only to get yanked. Bautista came in to hit Garko and let all three runs score before finally retiring the side.

Shoo had a sac-fly, and Peralta knocked in the other run with a single.

Gutierrez was in the lead-off spot with Sizemore taking the night off, he had a hit and a home run robbing catch in the 8th inning.

Josh Barfield went 0-4 in his debut this year.

Lee Goes 5: He probably could have went 6, but probably should have stayed at 4.

Lee pitched well though, and deserved his 10th win, so after a rain delay, in a game where he already sat for a good period of time waiting for his offense to hit. They let him go out there to get the win.

Lee only had 88 pitches. Coulda went 6, but better be safe.

6 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 2 runs. Win number 10.

Tomorrow we head back home! Scott Baker against CC Sabathia.

[BOXSCORE]

The Move Is Here: Cabrera Optioned; Barfield Called Up

CastroTurf delivers the goods about an hour ago. Here is the official word from Anthony C on the move..

I've been waiting for this for awhile. Barfield just needs this to get him going in my opinion. He did a lot in the off-season with his Dad, Jesse Barfield, to get his bat back up to snuff. I'm expecting some good things from Josh here.

I think he should be on his way to Detroit for the game tonight. If not, Carroll will play second another night. It's clear they are tired of waiting on Cabrera's bat, and his defense is no longer good enough to keep him.

Indians add Halama to Buffalo Mix

Buffalo's rotation was supposed to be stacked, but because of all the shake up, they were itching for another starter.

Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey have both been called up to take important spot start roles. Adam Miller is gone for the year, and Brian Slocum was moved to the bullpen, and another starter was sent to Colorado.

The Tribe re-added Jason Stanford, and now have made a move to replace Sowers for the time being.

John Halama was signed on Friday to a minor league deal, and he did well in his debut for the Bisons.

Halama threw six innings, gave up three runs and struck out four.

On a side note, up in the Wilkes-Barre area, where I was staying for the race. I got to check out a Yankee/Tides game. Good old Ben Broussard is playing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and yes, he sucks.

Draft Recap

I'm not an expert by any means, which is why we leave it to the experts.

I covered the first day the best I could, but honestly I never heard of one of the guys we drafted.

So... If you want to know anything and everything about the Indians and their draft... Cleveland Indians Minor League Insider has it covered..

Full Draft List

Day One Recap

Post Draft Review

I'll start major board updating soon with all the picks. A lot of them will not appear until Mahoning Valley gets under way..

Westbrook Done For the Year

Bad news on Jake Westbrook. He will have season-ending Tommy John surgery on his elbow. He could miss up to a full calender year which puts him out for more than just this season.

CastroTurf broke the news just a bit ago.

Obviously this hurts, and when he was slated to see Dr. Yocum, I kinda got the feeling he wouldn't be pitching any time soon. Jake just got an extension last year, so really he hasn't earned much of his deal so far.

The Indians can deal with one starter maybe two. It is now imperative they get Fausto Carmona back as soon as they can.

You also have to wonder what long term effects this has. Does Paul Byrd come back for another year now? What if Jeremy Sowers doesn't cut the mustard? Are the Indians going to now give in to C.C. a little more in hopes he signs?

It certainly makes things a little more interesting now. We don't have to worry about Aaron Laffey going anywhere for the rest of the year, that's for sure.

Ouch that smarts: Tribe Split

So.. 9 Unanswered is just NOT cool.

Indians Hot Start: So some quick runs in the first.

Victor knocks in Grady, Peralta doubles home Victor, and then Dellucci doubles home Garko and Peralta.

Then Kevin Millwood just started to sit them down in order.

Garko had two hits, keeping his single streak alive, haha yeah that's great. Dellucci had a few hits as well. Blake, Carroll, Sizemore, Victor, Peralta all had hits.

C.C. Matches Millwood, But Loses: He lost because he was the victim of a error on Shin-Soo Choo. It was in the 2nd inning that Choo completely overran a ball hit to him. An extra run scored.

Carsten finished with six innings, 9 hits, 5 runs only 4 earned, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts to take over the American League lead.

But of course.. Not tonight Sir C.C.

I'm disappointed: Milton Bradley was showing off again. Shrugging his shoulders and holding out his arms as he rounded third on his 7th inning home run. He never got up to bat again, so no one had a chance.

But that guy deserved some heat. Milton has not changed one bit.

Series Outlook:

78 runs, 113 hits, 17 HR

Combined in the four games.. Wow.. Thats 19.5 runs a game and 28 and change in the hits per game column.

Insanity...

Tomorrow we head off to Detroit to face the Tigers. That SHOULD be a little bit tamer in the scoring bin, but with that pitching staff, and their offense, you never know.

Byrdman takes on Justin Verlander who still has an ERA over 5.00.

Remember, no game recaps over the weekend, and tomorrow I'll try and post an overview of what the Indians did in the second day of the draft. But who knows. It's vacation for me, I'll be back in action full time on Monday.

[BOXSCORE]

Indians Select: Jeremie Tice With 201st Overall Pick

The Indians have selected Jeremie Tice a 3B from the College of Charleston with their 201st Overall Pick.

Opinion: Another third baseman prospect for the Indians.

Indians Select: Steven Putnam With 171st Overall Pick

The Indians have selected Steven "Zach" Putnam a RHP from Michigan with their 171st Overall Pick.

Links on Putnam: A story on Steven in the Detroit Free Press

Profile On Putnam from MLB.com

Profile: So this guy... Actually could be a hitter or a pitcher.

He has five pitches, but he needs to work on his delivery. Putnam throws a fastball, slider, splitter, curve, changeup.

His fastball has some sink and can reach 92.

Opinion: I always like a Michigan guy, and that's what Putnam is. Another pitcher if you are keeping track. I'm intrigued by the fact that some say he can also be a hitter. Too bad we don't play in the National League.

Indians Select: David Roberts With 141st Overall Pick

The Indians have selected David Roberts a RHP from Cal St. - Long Beach with their 131st Overall Pick.

Opinion: Another pitcher for us here.. This is where it gets fishy, can't really find info on a guy, especially from smaller schools.

Indians Select: Robert Phelps With 107th Overall Pick

The Indians have selected Robert "Cord" Phelps a 2B from Stanford with their 107th Overall Pick.

Links on Phelps: N/A

Profile: N/A

Opinion: We sure do love them Stanford boys. He is a switch hitting second baseman, and from the video I saw he looks good defensively.

Indians Select: Curtis Haley With 76th Overall Pick

The Indians have selected Curtis "Trey" Haley a RHP from Central Heights High School with their 76th Overall Pick.

Links on Haley: He is from HS, so there isn't really anything out there on him.. Here is his MLB.com scouting report.

Profile: A good arm with good frame that he could grow into. Low to mid 90's fastball so far. Curve and changeup are his other pitches.

Opinion: You can never go wrong with pitching. I'm surprised we took a high school guy though. So far in the first two rounds we've seen the Tribe do things they don't usually do in the draft.

He has potential and according to MLB.com he is probably the best high school talent from Texas this year.

Indians Select: Lonnie Chisenhall With 29th Overall Pick

The Indians have selected Lonnie Chisenhall a 3B/SS from Pitt. Community College (N.C) with their 29th Overall Pick.

ESPN Said: 74th Overall Prospect from Baseball America, Character Issues in the past could turn into a very good hitter.

Links on Chisenhall: He started his college career at South Carolina

MILB Draft Profile

Profile: From what is said, he has a character issue, but he has a great bat. He can play third base or shortstop and even maybe right field.

This was obviously a reach, but one that the Tribe feel good about. He has talent, and if the character issues are nothing to be worried about, then it could be a great selection.

He did some closing, so we know he has a good arm for right or third base.

A 12th round pick of the Pirates coming out of High School, went to SC, got kicked off after he and a teammate were charged with burglary and grand larceny.

Opinion: His bat is super good from what I've read. I like the pick, we can afford to make one like this. Especially at a position like third base.

MLB Draft Coverage: Today!

We haven't talked about the draft here at all. The Indians pick 29th, which is a very nice position to be in if you aren't picking high of course.

Anyway, today is the MLB Draft. It starts at 2:00 P.M on ESPN2. I will do my best to post our first pick right as it happens, and over the first day, gather up any information I can on all our picks.

Tomorrow is Day 2, but unfortunately I'll be on my way to the Pocono mountains for the NASCAR race this weekend. That also means no game recaps this weekend, because I won't be able to see the games. However I'll do what I can concerning the draft when I get there tomorrow.

I don't have any idea who or what we might be targetting. I haven't paid much attention, and the MLB draft is not like the NFL or NBA draft. There isn't a whole lot of mocks or discussion on picks past the top ten or so.

Here are a few links and tidbits I've gathered up.

MLB.com/Jonathan Mayo: Josh Fields, RHP
No, not that Josh Fields of the White Sox, but a reliever from Georgia.

Baseball America: Ryan Perry, RHP
Another right handed pitcher.

My MLB Draft: Allan Dykstra, 1B
First baseman from Wake Forest

Speaking of young players.. Ryan Edell had a perfect game going for seven innings.

Injury Updates: Westbrook, Cabrera, Betancourt

Jake Westbrook is indeed scheduled to visit Dr. Yocum on Friday. Noe one has really said anything on the MRI he had Tuesday in Cleveland.

Asdrubal Cabrera is feeling better and Eric Wedge expects him to be available tonight in Texas. We will see if Wedge decides to give him a night off or if he puts him back in the lineup.

Rafael Betancourt pitched in the game last night, which means he has avoided a trip to the Disabled List. Raffy Right had some tightness in his back, which is why he did not pitch in the first two games. He pitched a bullpen session and obviously pitched last night, so thankfully he will avoid the DL.

Cliff Lee will break your face; Indians Clobbertime

The follow segment is brought to you by Cliff Lee and his dagger eyes.


Cliff Goes Five; Then Goes Off: Cliff Lee certainly didn't have his greatest outing of the year, but Tim Timmons didn't exactly help him out.

Cliff got upset at the very small strikezone Timmons was using. He let him know. He ended up putting another man on after a questionable call. Clifford then struck out Chris Shelton on three pitches and had a few choice words for Timmons as he trotted off the mound.

He could then be seen in the dugout ^^^, staring daggers through Timmons and pushing over Gatorade coolers.

Cliff did okay. I really dislike Texas and their stadium. Silly fly balls become home runs, and it just is a nightmare to pitch in. the entire stadium should be knocked down and reconstructed.

I know it seems harsh.. But, this isn't baseball. The winning team is scoring 10+ runs in every game this series. It's stupid.

Then you got the tight strike zones to boot.

Cliff went five, gave up 9 hits, a few walks, 6 runs and struck out 8. His ERA grew to 2.47, but he picked up his 9th win.

Cabrera Leaves Game: Asdrubal left the game with a "mild hip strain". We should find out tomorrow what's up with him, and if a DL stint is in the works, Josh Barfield will be on his way up.

Garkoooooo: The Shark had himself a night.

I had a good feeling about him tonight, so I un-benched him in every league I had him in(which is just about every fantasy league I'm in this year).

Ryan went 4-5 with a walk and six runs batted in. What's funny is all his hits were singles up the middle or through the hole.

THAT is Ryan Garko my friends. I think it's safe to say Garko is turning it around. He didn't hit like 2 home runs because of the Texas atmosphere, but four singles the hard way. That gives me a good enough reason to think he is on his way back.

Victor had a hit and knocked in two runs, he just missed his first home run of the year once again. Keep it up big guy, it will come.

Benny Fresh had himself a night, and was kind of overshadowed by Garko.

Francisco did a lot of the heavy lifting. He collected five hits, almost had six on a hard line drive to Marlon Byrd, which would have equaled the Indians record of 6(which Omar Vizquel did a few years back in New York). He also knocked in a run.

David Dellucci hit a home run and knocked in three, also went 2-4. Casey Blake went 2-5 with a run batted in, and Grady had an RBI as well.

Tomorrow this insane series comes to an end.. C.C. Sabathia takes on a guy he owes a lot of his success as a pitcher to, Kevin Millwood.

[BOXSCORE]

Expect Bradley to feel the heat tonight

I wouldn't be surprised if an Indians pitcher gave Milton Bradley some heat tonight, or even tomorrow.

CastroTurf's "Excruciating Minutia of the Day" is rather informative...

"Milton Bradley is not a very popular guy in the Indians' clubhouse. He stared down Victor Martinez in the dugout after drawing a walk last night and again when he came around to score. And when he hit a homer off Rafael Perez; he made a yawning gesture while crossing the plate."

By now you know my feelings on ex-players like Milton. I didn't have nice words toward BP, and I certainly have nothing kind to say towards Milton Bradley, who is the king of all hotheads. He clearly hasn't matured one ounce since leaving Cleveland, and credit Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro to give up on him when they did.

Westbrook Elbow Issues Serious?

How serious is Jake Westbrook's elbow issues?

I'm not sure how much to trust this link, so take it for what it's worth.

If true, Dr. Yocum isn't a good sign. Hopefully it isn't something serious, but if it is, the Indians will certainly miss Westbrook for an extended period of time, especially if Fausto Carmona is out for a month or so.

More info should be available soon, when he does get his MRI.

Mastny, Lewis Optioned: Bauer, Slocum Up

As expected, Tom Mastny and Jensen Lewis have been optioned to Triple A Buffalo.

To take their spots on the roster, the Indians called up Brian Slocum who is on the 40 man roster already.

They also purchased the contract of Rick Bauer, who closed out 15 games for the Bisons this season. Bauer pitched with both Texas and Baltimore in his career. This fills the 40 man roster spot left by Jorge Julio who is still in limbo.

Bauer should be a nice veteran type arm for this pen right now. He should stay for awhile, while Slocum is probably just a warm body unless he does something unexpected.

Mastny Will Be Optioned

Well, CastroTurf delivers again. Beat writer for the Indians Anthony Castrovince's blog is becoming a great source to hear the news before it actually happens. With that, you can get his link under the Other Indians Blog section on the right hand side now.

AC talked to Mastny and Lewis tonight. Mastny will be optioned of tomorrow, but it is still unknown who will take his spot.

Lewis' spot is still up in the air, but it's almost a given he will be called down. He was only called up to give us some innings tonight, he still has work to do in Buffalo.

That leaves a few spots on the roster open. I'll make a stupid prediction and say one of those spots will be filled by Rick Bauer, who is tearing it up in Buffalo as the closer.

If he gets the call up, I already got a nickname waiting.

The other spot will probably be someone just temporary till Travis returns, or they could call up someone like Barfield and send Mujica down when Hafner is ready.

I think Barfield better get regular at bats though, and if we make a move, Cabrera would have to be sent down. But you never know.

Night of Bullpen Doesn't Go So Well

You can't expect to get solid pitching when you start a reliever in your pen.

Bullpen Stars and Struggles: Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Tonight, the Indians had to go at it with a bunch of relievers. Tom Mastny didn't stick to that 50 pitch plan, and they didn't quite get the five innings they were hoping out of from Mastny and Lewis.

Lewis did go three solid, but he gave up a couple of runs. Which isn't bad considering Mastny gave up five.

Ed Mujica gave up two runs in 2.2 innings. Perez came in, got only two outs and gave up 2 runs, and Elarton finished off the 8th.

Offense Doesn't Bust Through: Typically I can pinpoint several chances the Indians blew and really discuss them.

But tonight, I can't even remember how many times the Indians had the bases loaded.

I do know that Ryan Garko had three hits.. But none of them came when we needed them the most. He popped up on the infield with no body out and the bases juiced early.

Late, David Dellucci pinch hit with the bases loaded and simply flied out. I know it seems radical, but I would have given Andy Marte a chance. He got a hit and hit the ball hard his other time up. The guy deserves a clutch at bat sooner or later.

There were tons of blown chances. You can't blame the offense when they score 7 runs.. But the Rangers used more pitchers than the Indians did, and we started the reliever. We had 15 hits to their 16. 26 men were left on base tonight.

Shin-Soo Choo had the most RBI and he pinch hit. He had the double that knocked in two and the home run in the 9th of C.J. Wilson.

Francisco, Garko and Peralta had the other runs knocked in, and the other came via an error.

I'm not too upset about losing this one, we simply didn't get the pitching we needed. While you would love to see the offense step up when they had the chances, 7 runs is just not a bad outing.

Tomorrow is a must win in my mind though. Cliff Lee takes on Sidney Ponson, who has pitched well this year.

However, not only is he on three days rest(with a pen that has been used a lot in the past two days behind him), he is 0-7 against us in his career.

[BOXSCORE]

Jensen Lewis Recalled

Well, surprise surprise, guess who is taking Jake Westbrook's spot on the roster.

Obviously, when they need another start from a starter, Jeremy Sowers would be brought up to make it, but for now the Indians made a move to bring up another arm for the pen. Considering they are starting a reliever in Tom Mastny tonight, they will need all the arms they can get.

Jensen Lewis will be called upon to take over the spot, and I'm not sure if he will be available to pitch tonight. They are in Texas, he was in Buffalo, so who knows if they called him last night or today. We should find out soon enough. Either way after today, the pen could get worn out, so we need some fresh arms.

This is a surprise considering they sent him down to fix his velocity. I'm not aware if he made any appearances, I'm sure he did, but right now I can't find any statistics of his time with the Bisons.

I can't imagine they called him up just to call him back down later though. I'm going to assume this was because he was ready or close to ready. They had options like Brian Slocum with options left.

Updated: Westbrook back to DL; Mastny To Start

Jake Westbrook has more problems.

Last week after his start he had some issues with his elbow. They thought he might be better for his start today, but catch yesterday didn't go so well.

So Westbrook is headed back to the DL.

I previously said Brian Slocum would start. That is however not true. According to the Plain Dealer, Tom Mastny will get the start. He probably can't go long, so this is just a game that will be pitched by the bullpen.

Hey look at the offense

I'll see what I can muster up here... If you watched the Penguins game tonight, you know exactly what I mean.

Offense Okay?: It's pretty useless to talk about Aaron Laffey.. He pitched five innings and gave up 8 runs. His ERA jumped from the 1 range to the 3 range in just one start.

Oh well.. Texas was just hitting, and so was the Tribe, THANKFULLY.

Grady was the only one without a hit, the rest of the lineup saw everyone but Choo and Victor get at least two hits(and Choo had THREE walks). Everyone was on base at least two times in the game, and remarkably only four different people did the run producing.

The main guy was Casey Blake, of course.

He had two run home runs in the second and third inning, and then a three run double in the fourth. The guy just hits on the road, 27 RBI on the road, compared to 9 at home.

What's scary is we've played way more games at home than we have the road.

Ben Francisco had himself a game, forcing in a run with a walk, and also having the big two run home run in the 7th to break the 8-8 tie.

That 8-8 tie came after Marlon Byrd hit a grand slam off Laffey in the 5th.

Dellucci also went yard to make it a 12-9 game, at the time it was huge cause the Rangers just scored.

Joe Borowski didn't get a save, but he probably was the most painless pitcher of the night. He came in and got the Rangers on 10 pitches. Bup Bup Boooo..

Tomorrow, well later today.. Vincente Padilla has been scratched due to family issues at home, so Jake Westbrook is taking on youngster A.J. Murray. Murray has started one game this year for the Rangers and he gave up 2 ER.

[BOXSCORE]

Aubrey Sent Down; Mastny Recalled

CastroTurf delivers early once again.

Anthony Castrovince has word that Michael Aubrey will be sent back down to Buffalo. Tom Mastny who has been doing fairly well in Buffalo since being sent back down was called up to take his spot on the roster.

Aubrey hit his first two major league home runs in his time with the Tribe. He earned some playing time over a struggling Ryan Garko, but now is the time to get Garko straightened out, and Aubrey regular ABs at Buffalo.

Two things will happen at the end of this week, provided nothing else goes wrong.

Hafner will return from the DL. They will either designate Andy Marte for assignment, and hope he clears waivers. Or Tom Mastny or Edwin Mujica will be sent back down to Buffalo. My best guess is Edwin Mujica being sent back down.

But, with this club, I have yet to be really spot on this year. Shapiro makes interesting moves, and ones that he thinks benefit the club the best, and I'm very rarely aware of the other complications he has.

So... I don't know how much time Mastny gets in the pen. For now, we shall see. Marte has done an okay job since getting regular playing time, he got a hit in three straight games, got a day off and went 0-4 yesterday. Not sure if that's what Eric Wedge had in mind in regular playing time, but we should find out soon enough if Marte got his shot and it's now over or not.

Man this is getting ugly

I'll admit, I missed most of the game.. I just didn't have much interest in watching it. I saw about the first three innings and the last two.

Bad Offense: Yeah Grady hit a home run and that was pretty much it. Bannister shut em down..

End of story..

Bad Pitching: Paul Byrd had one of those outings where he just gets pounded. He got that today.. And when this offense is doing that and you don't have it, well you aren't gonna have a chance in hell in winning.

Just bad.. bad bad.. You can't lose a series to the Royals. But they did. It's off to Texas in the blazing hot weather for a four game series.

Aaron Laffey takes on Vincente Padilla, help me if we don't win.

[BOXSCORE]