Over at Let’s Go Tribe there’s a blurb about the possibility of trading Fausto to clear some money for the Indians to sign free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.
These are the type of rumors that crack me up, but also scares the living $*** out of me.
It’s so ridiculous and so backwards that the Indians … might actually do it?
Well, no. At least I really hope not. But they leave that little flicker of doubt, because well, we’re Indians fans.
But before we start panicking about trading a 26 year old two years removed from a sparkling season in 2007  at [...]

I don’t care how bad the fans want it.  Michael Brantley should not start the season with the big league club.
Now, notice I used the word “start.” He’ll be up with the Indians eventually, but It shouldn’t be until June at the earliest. There are a few reasons for this. Let’s go through them.
1. Because he’s not ready yet.
For starters, Brantley needs to work on his defense in LF and CF. He needs to develop some more power (12 HRs total in the minor leagues). Remember when the Indians rushed up Andy Marte at the start of the 2007 season [...]

Hey all, stumbled across some tasty links over the past week or so and I thought I’d share them with you for your Tribe fix:
First off, this one’s a little old, but here Jayson Stark wants to start a major postseason award for relievers, and I’m inclined to agree with him. He cites that relievers are here to stay and are mostly afterthoughts on the MVP and Cy Young ballots. All of this is true, my problem is when you have relievers winning these awards (which will be awarded by the god-awful BWAA, meaning they are going to look at [...]

I’m so low on David Huff right now. I’ll admit it’s cause I didn’t just buy the original hype on Huff, I overpaid for it. I needed it like a junkie needs crack. Flash back to last year around this time, y’know when the Indians actually thought about contending. David Huff was the best pitching prospect in the Indians’ system actually pitching (sorry Adam Miller). Huff was going to be the midseason call-up, the rookie on a white horse to help boost the Tribe into the playoffs. He was going to be the 2009 version of Asdrubal. The Tribe would [...]

Hey Tribe fans, welcome back to the pity party! We’re counting down the top five disappointments of the past decade. Click here to view numbers six through 10.  As before, the criteria were simple: the event or person had to be involved with the Indians in this past decade. Other than that, it’s purely subjective. If you don’t agree with me, take it up in the comments section or feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
5. December 6, 2002 – Jim Thome signs six-year deal with Phillies
A disappointment more to the fans than anything [...]

I was bored and feeling sorry for myself, and decided to write something up that would just make Indians fans feel miserable. The criteria for being on this list is simple  – the event or incident needs to have happened between January 1st, 2000 and December 31st, 2009. Other than that, it’s purely subjective – disappointment can range from soul-crushing heartbreak to just, “oh man, that really sucked.”
So here we go, the first half of the disappointments of the past decade –
10. January 26th, 2006 – Coco Crisp, David Riske, and Josh Bard Traded to [...]

Updating yesterday’s post, Rafael Perez agreed to a one-year, $795,000 contract.  It’s clear that the Indians are betting that Perez Left can return to the downright dominating form he showed in 2007 (1.78 ERA in 60.2 IP) and the still excellent 2008, when he posted a 3.54 ERA in 76.1 IP. I believe that last number is significant, because I think overwork was the problem with Perez last year. Perez was one of the few things working out of that atrocious bullpen in 2008, and he became Eric Wedge’s go-to guy. Throwing 137 innings in two years is a lot [...]

Looks like the Indians are continuing their streak of avoiding arbitration, as the official Indians twitter voice tribeinsider tweeted that “LHP Rafael Perez was signed today for 2010 to avoid arbitration”. The Indians haven’t had an arbitration case since 1991. Perez was the only Indians player to file for arbitration. I’ll have more info on the deal as it’s released.

The Tribe has made two relatively minor moves (or so they seem right now) in the past few days.  On Friday, they signed 38-year-old catcher Mike Redmond to a major league deal with $850,000 guaranteed.  Yesterday, the Indians traded Class A third baseman Jesus Brito to Pittsburgh for shortstop/utility infielder Brian Bixler. The Redmond signing gives the Indians some experience at the catching position, to go along with youngsters Lou Marson and later Carlos Santana. The Bixler acquisition adds depth, as he will compete for the utility infielder’s job. However, it is most likely that neither of these pick-ups will [...]

I’m going to alienate a lot of people when I say this, but I don’t care. The truth needs to come out.
It’s too early for the Indians to give up on Andy Marte.
Yes, the guy has been around the Indians in some capacity since 2006 (and he appeared in 24 games for the Braves in 2005). Yes, his performance in a Tribe uni has been, at best, underwhelming. And yes, he’s become a poster child for the trade misfires that Indians general manager Mark Shapiro has had.
I know the evidence is [...]