2:53pm: Castrovince hears (via Twitter) that the Indians offered Branyan a major league deal.
10:19am: The Indians have an offer out to Branyan, though it's not clear whether it is for a major league deal, according to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. The club could platoon Branyan with Matt LaPorta, who has been cleared to resume baseball activities after undergoing surgeries on his left hip and left big toe.
7:59am: The Rays and Red Sox are in the mix for Russell Branyan, but neither one of those clubs has progressed as far as the Indians, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Rays have "mild interest" in the 30-homer man and the Red Sox are keeping tabs on him even though they don't appear to have room for the slugger unless they trade Mike Lowell.
Branyan would be nice Ortiz insurance for the Red Sox.
Yeah absolutley. Also a pinch hitter off the bench. Branyan is also a good veteran presence. I think Branyan will be happy just to get a Major League Deal.
Decent insurance for the injury prone trio of Beltre, Lowell and Ortiz. If the Sox want him I am sure he would rather play there than rebuilding Cleveland at this point. If the Indians sign him then where does Dye go? Retirement?
Wait, you guys really think Branyan will take a job as insurance? Are you kidding? The Sox can offer whatever they want, if there is no place for him to play, he won’t sign. You don’t go from hitting 30 homers in a pitchers park to riding the pine waiting for the hometown heroes (Lowell, Ortiz) to get hurt. This is ridiculous. They’ll have 5 Corner Infielders (Youk, Beltre, Lowell, V Mart) if they sign Branyan, and that doesn’t include the DH spot filled up by Ortiz. This isn’t happening…sorry
Don’t see Branyan fitting with the Indians, platooning LaPorta would mean he would sit a lot as a right handed bat and he needs to play everyday, unless they want to keep him in the outfield I’d be very against signing Branyan. Spend on pitching instead.
hes going to the cardinals!
Russell Branyan’s agent to Russell Branyan:
“Great year Russell, the league has been buzzing about what you did in such a huge park out in seattle. So right now on Feb 16th I’ve got a minor league offer from the Indians with…and you are gonna get excited when you hear this…an invite to spring training!! I gave them a strong maybe and that I would have to wait for all the other offers to come POURING IN! I say we take this sweet deal! What do you think??”
this isnt scott boras were talking about only boras could come up with those stories
If I were a White Sox fan, I’d rather see Branyan as my DH as opposed to the A. Jones/ Vizquel/ Kotsay trio
lol… 30 HR last year and he’s gonna take a minor league deal… lol
Couldn’t agree more. The guy deserves way more respect than he is getting.
With all the love Lopez is seeing, despite having a career year in 09, you would think fans could appreciate what Branyan did last year.
And if the guy had the ability to hit anything other then a HR, maybe he would get some respect. Unfortunately, when not hitting HRs he hits worse then Aaron Miles.
Why don’t the Indians keep LaPorta in left? Brantley put up good numbers in 112 AB when Grady was hurt, but LaPorta needs the MLB time more than he does. Put LaPorta in LF, Branyan at 1B. If I were Branyan I’d take the deal, if he proves he can make the team, earns the 1B job, and puts up numbers like last year, he’d probably be traded to a contender at the deadline. A minor league invite is kind of embarassing considering what he did last year though.
I’ve got to plead ignorance on this one, but why don’t the Mariners bring him back? I mean, Kotchman? When the M’s have already made quite a few big steps to put themselves in contention this season, I think they could do better than Kotchman. Why not bring Branyan back, since he is likely to come cheap? Is he that brutal defensively at 1B?
It’s too late now. At 1B they have Kotchman and Garko, and in LF/DH they have Griffey and Bradley. He doesn’t fit anywhere on Seattle anymore.
no, he’s actually good defensively. It was almost certainly injury risk- he missed the end of last year and presumably they didn’t think he had the health to make it through another year. So really, he should be in a platoon or backup situation.
Branyan has played several positions throughout his MLB career.. but, at first base, he’s had 1400 total chances with 12 errors..or a Fielding Percentage of 0.991.. excellent results… He’s not brutal at 1B at all…
Good luck Branyon. The guy earned major respect in Seattle more for his hustle then anything else.. He fits well in the 5 hole in Cleve. I wish him the best.
I don’t see anybody with a better fit than the Rays actually. Pat the Bat was a mess last year, injured and ineffective. If he plays like last year, they don’t have a legitimate DH on the roster. Branyan gives some nice insurance against that. Moreover, even if both are healthy- they could make a quite nice platoon. Burrell kills LHP (Career OPS > 0.900) and Branyan is an improvement against RHP (Last 2 years OPS > 0.950). Together they could probably combine for an OPS of 0.900, which is nothing to sneeze at.
In any event, Branyan is better than Dan Johnson- who is currently occupying a roster spot. And as it looks right now, I think Branyan wouldn’t be that much more expensive…