The Coaches Exodus

It was a week in which three coaches found their way out of the Cleveland organization.

Carl Willis is off to Seattle.

Luis Rivera is headed to Canada, well not really, but kind of.

And the surprise that shouldn't be a surprise, Torey Lovullo is going to Boston.

Yep, it was a fun week for former Indian coaches.

Look these other moves.. Great for these guys. You have to be happy for Carl Willis and his new job as Seattle's minor league pitching coordinator. Luis Rivera is landing on his feet as manager of Toronto's Double-A team in New Hampshire. We'll see his Fisher Cats in the Eastern League six times next year when they face the Aeros.

But losing Torey Lovullo, kind of sucks.

I was fully expecting him to be a part of this staff. I talked as if it was a given. But it didn't happen. I maintain though that this guy is destined to manage in the major leagues and it will eventually happen.

He's making a bit of a lateral move though. Lovullo is going to Boston to manage their Triple-A team in Pawtucket. The opening was there because their former manager got prompted to the big league staff after Brad Mills left for Houston's managerial job. So in the end, by the Indians taking Acta away, Houston jumped to Boston's staff, and started the chain that put Lovullo in Boston. How odd.

So why make a lateral move? Well for one, it's not really lateral considering Boston is a better team right now and the chances for him moving up go up considering I'm sure most of the Indians current staff are going to be safe beyond this year. Where was Demarlo Hale could get a job after 2010, create an opening on Boston's staff and there goes Lovullo up to the majors.

So the chance for moving up increases. Not only that, you are coaching the Triple-A team of one of the best run organizations in the game, then you'll get more notice. So it makes sense sort of.

"It was a great relationship," said Lovullo, speaking of his time with the Indians, "and it will continue to be. There's no bitterness, no resentment. There is a little disappointment. We're all competitive, we all wanted the position.

"I'll miss the staff members I got to know daily in spring training. I'll miss my relationship with the players that's I've watched grow up over the last three to seven years. It's time to open my eyes to a new direction."

"It's unfortunate I didn't get a couple of opportunities that presented themselves with the Indians," said Lovullo. "Now I've got a different opportunity with a great organization in the Boston Red Sox."

Humor me Torey. There is disappointment. I know he can say that, but he got passed over for TWO major league jobs. After all the praise that was heaped upon him, after all the talk. After the thought that he was a bit of a lock. He HAD to be disappointed. Now I'm not saying that is the reason he left, but he had to be disappointed in the fact he was passed over twice. I would be.

Good luck to Torey in Boston. Again the Red Sox, steal one of our gems in the organization. Nick Hagadone and Justin Masterson better be awesome.

Now what are we going to do for a replacement at Triple-A? We'll here is how it goes.

Eric Wedge - Unemployed, Passed over for Mets Bench Job
Carl Willis - Seattle Minor League Pitching Coordinator
Jeff Datz - Baltimore Bench Coach
Luis Rivera - Toronto AA Manager
Derek Shelton - Tampa Bay Hitting Coach
Torey Louvllo - Boston AAA Manager
Joel Skinner - Unemployed

Okay so we've got three former coaches that landed on their feet in the same jobs they had. We've got two that took a few steps back. Our former manager is obviously still unemployed, but he's sure to land somewhere.

That leaves Joel Skinner. Who was mentioned as a replacement for Lovullo at Columbus along with Mike Sarbaugh.

It's obviously going to be one of the two. Now let's take a look at Skinner's track record. It's been a long time since he was a minor league manager, but he had tremendous success. He started at the bottom rung and worked his way up all the way to Triple-A and received tremendous praise for the work he did. He won the Eastern League and International League in 1998 and 2000 for the Aeros and Bisons. He took his first two teams to the playoffs in his first two years.

Waretown won the NY Penn League and Columbus won the second half. He won the NY Penn League manager of the Year award and then two years later won the Carolina League Manager of the Year award with Kinston. In six years, he hit just about every level and had success at every level.

Skinner is a company man. He obvious loves Cleveland and the organization. He's managed in Columbus before and if he wants to stay within the organization, I'm all for it.

Mike Sarbaugh is eventually going to be on a major league staff. I don't really think it matters if he goes to Triple-A or not. Eventually, he'll be there. I say you keep the continuity you have at Akron and keep the machine rolling as it has been with him there and you bring Skinner in to Triple-A.

I mean why not? He's had success, he knows the organization and the philosophy and he even knows some of these players.

Go with Skinner, keep the hierarchy intact. He's a good guy, a good baseball person and he's had success at the minor league level.

On a few final notes....

Hall of Fame Ballots were announced and a few former Indians are in the mix. The most popular one would be Roberto Alomar, who is surely one to get in. Had he not continued to hold on with the Mets, he'd been eligible a few years earlier, but that won't keep him out. And with John Hirschbeck (The umpire he spit on) saying he'd give Alomar his vote if he was voting for the HOF, that incident surely won't keep him out.

Robbie went to the playoffs many times with Baltimore, Toronto and Cleveland. He had an outstanding career with the bat and the glove. He probably won't go in with the Wahoo cap, but he's got history here and I'd support him. I did go to school with Hirschbeck's kids and what Robbie did was downright horrible, but if Hirschbeck can forgive him and put him in, there is no reason I can't get behind him.

The other candidates that have past experiences with the Indians. Relief pitcher Mike Jackson, who had one of his better years with Cleveland as their closer in the Post-Mesa era. And current Indians special assistant Ellis Burks. Neither really have much of a shot if you ask me, but it's nice to seem the get put on the ballot and have some recognition. Burks was a good player and could do it all, but he didn't end up with the final numbers to support his candidacy, which sucks. But he was a good player. Not a Hall of Famer.

Finally A Rule V Note..

It turns out that Kelvin De La Cruz will get a fourth option year when the time comes. Let's Go Tribe found out this particularly good piece of information and as Tony at IPI says, it makes the decision to roster Kelvin a lot more sensible and acceptable. Remember Tony Sipp still has one coming and De La Cruz's status as someone with not a lot of professional experience gives him the opportunity to have another option year if needed.

Speaking of this, check out the boards as they've reached ultimate update status. The 40 man is completely accurate now as AC confirmed the option years for every Indians player on the 40 man.

Enjoy your final Saturday with Tim Tebow playing in the Swamp and Charlie Weis coaching the Irish. Also enjoy the site updates that will be happening throughout the week as I get my ass in gear. Expect some cool stuff next week, including the hopeful debut of Indians Twitter Pages. Oh Boy.