It has not been a fun winter in Cleveland, and it's not just because of the Cavaliers. The Indians have signed just one player to a big league contract (Austin Kearns), doing the rest of their work on the minor league side. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote about the team's plight in a feature article today, which contained some news about the club's present state and what's to come…
- "We've been in a similar situation before, and we've demonstrated the ability to overcome those challenges and put together a championship-caliber team," said new GM Chris Antonetti, referring to the team's rebuilding nature. "We feel equally strong about our talent base now and throughout our farm system. The challenge is to have patience and let those guys play."
- The Tribe has passed on overpaying third base stopgap players like Jorge Cantu and Pedro Feliz, instead opting to sit tight with their in-house options until top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall is ready.
- Antonetti won't rule out the possibility of adding another starting pitcher to a rotation that currently features Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Carlos Carrasco, and Mitch Talbot. Former Indian Bartolo Colon is a possibility.
- "It's something we remain interested in pursuing," said Antonetti, answering a question about a possible extension for Shin-Soo Choo. "Whether or not there's common ground at this point, we'll have to see." Ben Nicholson-Smith looked at Choo as an extension candidate at the end of the 2010 season.
- Unsurprisingly, the team has little payroll flexibility and will continue to shop in the bargain bin.
I really hope things eventually work out for some of Indians’ prospects, Knapp (cross fingers)
It’s a shame that Zach McAllister has been awful in his limited time with the Indians. He was making great progress in the Yankee system up until this last year.
The Indians signing Choo to a 4-5 year extension is absolutely necessary, in my opinion. He is the face of the franchise and he probably will be for a while. People don’t realize it, but Choo has probably been one of the best players in baseball the past 3 seasons. Last year he hit .300, 22 homers, 90 RBI, 31 doubles, 22 stolen bases, a .401 OBP and a .484 slugging percentage. He put up very similar numbers the past 2 years before, if you don’t believe me, check the stats. Choo has always hit well against the white sox, but if the indians plan on contending anywhere in the near future i think that choo has to play a vital role in that, especially because of the uncertainty of Sizemore’s health and how his injury will affect him in 2011.
Choo is one of te best players in baseball. It would sound crazy to some, but he is on level of Werth and Crawfish, tho he prolly would never get that type of money as a free agent.
Lol Crawfish
He isn’t the most well known name, but I’d certainly put his name on a list of top outfielders in baseball.
1.Ryan Braun – Milwaukee Brewers
2.Carlos Gonzalez – Colorado Rockies
3.Josh Hamilton – Texas Rangers
4.Carl Crawford – Boston Red Sox
5.Matt Holliday – St. Louis Cardinals
6.Jason Heyward – Atlanta Braves
7.Shin-Soo Choo – Cleveland Indians
8.Ichiro – Seattle Mariners
9.Andre Ethier – Los Angeles Dodgers
10. Alex Rios – Chicago White Sox
Honorable Mention
Hunter Pence
Jay Bruce
Nelson Cruz
Colby Rasmus
Justin Upton
Mike Stanton
Jose Bautista
Curtis Granderson
Matt Kemp
Torri Hunter
Nick Markakis
Adam Jones
Corey Hart
Adam Jones
You can’t be serious… Alex Rios in the top-10? Ryan Braun #1? That list needs some serious restructuring. No Jason Werth at all…
Sorry. It’s my opinion. No one said you have to like it, anyways.
And I forgot about Werth, he would be my #10.
It’s a good list, but it’s hard not to forget a few when you do something like this. Such as McCutchen, Swisher, Victorino, Dunn for sure, also youngsters like Delmon, Austin Jackson, Chris Young, Stubbs could be on it.
I def agree with Braun at the top. As much as I like CarGo, can he possibly continue the awesomeness of ’10? Guess we’ll see.
Where’s the Chi sox Patron Saint of outfielders? Dewayne Wise?
“Former Indian Bartolo Colon is a possibility.”
So is asking random fans to pitch every fifth day. I just don’t think the Indians would want to go either route.
If the Stiffians do not add a righthanded real DH type to platoon with Travis Stiffner then I’m afraid that offensively the season will be a loss IMo.
The fans will be subjected to watching Haf ( once was a real ballplayer now just Haf-A- Man – Ner ) strike out nearly every at bat against Left handed pitching.
Welcome back Dave Kingman.
I would kill to see Shin-Soo Choo roving right field in a White Sox uniform next season…
Good luck with that
Sure you send us John Danks, Chris Sale, Dayan Viciedo and Brent Morel and we will put Choo on the next flight out of Cleveland.
Colon is a quitter anyways.. let him stay down south, or let someone else sign him. Preferably close to a Home Town Buffet.