On this date in 1997, Jim Thome hit his 40th homer of the season for the Indians, who went on to win the American League pennant. Here's the latest on the current version of the Indians, who have a 0.0% chance of returning to the postseason this year, according to Baseball Prospectus' playoff odds report…
- Indians president Mark Shapiro hasn't had contact with the Cubs about their open GM job, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Shapiro is involved in making the Indians more successful on and off the field and appears to be happy in his role, Hoynes writes. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported yesterday that the former GM might be intrigued by the Cubs job.
- The Indians announced that Carlos Carrasco had Tommy John surgery in New York City today, as Dr. David Altchek repaired the ulnar collateral ligament in Carrasco’s right elbow. Recovery time is generally a year or more, so the Indians won’t be counting on Carrasco in 2012.
- Indians manager Manny Acta told Todd Wills of MLB.com that Jeanmar Gomez will be a name to consider for next year's rotation. Gomez has allowed just three earned runs in 17 1/3 innings since being recalled from Triple-A at the end of August.
- Carlos Santana could be a long-term solution behind the plate or at first base, Acta told Wills. The Indians' decision will depend, in part, on others, such as Matt LaPorta.
- The 26-year-old LaPorta has had his chances. In what amounts to two full seasons, he has 30 homers and a .234/.300/.394 line. He has always destroyed minor league pitching, but he hasn't helped the big league club nearly as much as expected.
LaPorta will have an option left next year. I think it is time to find another first baseman. Let him force his way back onto the team.
Santana’s a great offensive catcher with a cannon for an arm, or an average offensive first baseman who is too short to keep his foot on the bag while stretching for wide throws. His long term position should be behind the plate.
The Tribe have freed up more than enough money to pursue a veteran 1st baseman, either through free agency or trade, and hopefully a left fielder. Like the above poster pointed out, if LaPorta wants a future with this team, he’ll have to fight for the chance to earn it. He’s had 3 years.
Santana’s a great offensive catcher with a cannon for an arm, or an average offensive first baseman who is too short to keep his foot on the bag while stretching for wide throws. His long term position should be behind the plate.
The Tribe have freed up more than enough money to pursue a veteran 1st baseman, either through free agency or trade, and hopefully a left fielder. Like the above poster pointed out, if LaPorta wants a future with this team, he’ll have to fight for the chance to earn it. He’s had 3 years.
I like the idea of obtaining a left handed hitting 1b to platoon with Santana. Gives more pt to Marson. We should also obtain at least one right handed hitting of.
Santana doesn’t seem to be much of a catcher though. The cannon arm certainly isn’t helping him throw out base stealers, Marson did a much better job of that this year. I think they should commit to Santana as a catcher though. Shuttling him between 1st and C might be hurting his development as a catcher and especially a signal caller. If only the Indians had money for Fielder…
Big bummer on Carrasco. I really don’t want to see any more of Carmona but there will be 2 rotation spots basically up for grabs next year and odds are he gets one now. If Carrasco wasn’t hurt either Gomez or Huff could probably beat Cargroana out for the 5 spot.
The serious decline of the big contributors and the fact that the entire lineup seems injury prone might be a bigger issue than all of that though.
Why would Shapiro leave? He had an option of remaining as the GM or being promoted and as far as I know, he chose to be promoted. I think Shapiro will remain with the Indians but I do believe he is a great Gm and is responsible for the great crop of young talent the Indians have.
I just hope the Tribe doesn’t go out and sign an average outfielder to a big contract (eg Delucci, Kearns, etc). They may as well stick with the kids because at least they are out there giving 100% every game trying to earn that spot rather than it being handed to you. I would also like to see LaPorta have to earn his spot. Maybe one of the first things they should do is find a hitting coach that works with them a little more to cut down on the MLB leading strike-out totals, especially if they are going to stick with Sizemore and his .300 strike-out rate. Hell if we could put half of those strikeouts into play, they would generate a few more runs. Forget about getting more pitching, we have that. Now we need offense.