Here are some bits from Spring Training that don’t involve Chris Perez and his oblique!
– Did you see all of the former Indians in camp as special instructors? It’s like a reunion! Obviously Sandy Alomar Jr. is there, along with Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Jason Bere and Mike Hargrove. Can the Indians just re-sign Lofton to fill in for Sizemore? I don’t even care about the fact that he’s been out of the game for a few years.
– According to Paul Hoynes, if Perez isn’t ready for the start of the season, Vinnie Pestano will start the year as closer. I’m sure he’ll be fine in the role, but the absence of Perez takes a little bit of depth away from the bullpen.
– Ryan Spilborghs spent the off-season working on his ‘stache.
– Carlos Carrasco is now throwing at 60 feet as he recovers from last year’s Tommy John surgery.
– Pitcher Austin Adams has been shut down due to shoulder soreness and will be re-evaluated in a few days. The Indians drafted Adams in the 5th round of the 2009 draft. He spent 2011 pitching with the Akron Aeros where he went 11-10 with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP.
– Asdrubal Cabrera said that he signed for just one year because he (and his agent) and the Indians aren’t “on the same page.” I’m going to go ahead and guess that they may never be on the same page on this one.
– Oh, how I’ve missed Manny Ramirez. He was only in camp for a few hours, but he already mistook Oakland Athletics pitcher Brett Anderson for the video coordinator. I should add that Anderson was in full uniform at the time. Bartolo Colon is also in camp with the Athletics this spring.
– I’ve found some amusement from this new series at Deadspin – taking Jose Canseco’s tweets and turning them into motivational posters. Here’s the most recent one, links to others are at the bottom of the story.
– I participated in the Weekly Wroundtable at Wahoo’s on First. This week’s question – would you rather see young players or veterans get the majority of the playing time. I said that I wanted the person with the best numbers to get the most playing time. For some reason, I feel like I have less patience this year. The person who is playing the best, should be rewarded with the most playing time. While I hope that is one of the young guys, I’m not opposed to someone else getting the playing time.
They were on the same page with Hafner, Westbrook, Wood, Peralta, V-Mart and Grady Sizemore. So what makes you think they will NEVER be on the same page with Cabrera? Please, this is the natural steps in a negotiation.
I meant in the sense of a long-term deal. Cabrera wants to be locked down for a number of years, and I don’t think the Indians are interested in doing that at the moment. He’s a free agent after next year, the Indians’ model in recent years has been to trade those players for prospects, not sign them. Wood wasn’t looking for a long term deal (nor did he get one…2 years is not what I consider long term), and V-Mart and Peralta were traded for prospects. Only Hafner and Westbook got deals and that was 4-5 years ago. Everyone else since that point has been allowed to walk. If Cabrera was willing to do a 3-4 year deal, then they could find common ground. If he wants something longer term, the Indians won’t be the team to give it to him.
The Indians signed both Martinez (05-09) and Peralta (06-10) to five year deals before dealing them away. You could also add Sizemore who signed a 6 year deal (06-11).
Since dealing Martinez, Peralta, Lee, Westbrook, Wood and Sabathia they haven’t had anyone to sign long term or trade.
They only traded those guys because all we were doing is spinning our wheels. We were headed nowhere.
Westbrook was just a three year deal, but it cost us 33 Million for one year (two injured seasons).
The Indians signed those long term deals with Martinez, Peralta, and Sizemore to buy out their arbitration years. None of them were nearing free agency at that point in time.
That’s my point – the Indians will sign long term deals with players to buy out arbitration years, but not free agency years (to be fair, sometimes it will be arb years + 1 or 2 years of free agency). They almost never do more than a 3 year deal with someone who has already entered their free agency years.
I hope I’m wrong, but unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case. I will say that I think it’s more likely the Indians are able to work something out with Cabrera, rather than Choo. The Indians don’t usually like to negotiate with Scott Boras.
I must have miss understood, I didn’t realize we were talking about buying out arbitration years. I thought we were just talking about long term deals in general.
Cabrera has one arbitration year left and then he’ll be a free agent.
I’d love to point out his quotes (about staying here long term) , but those, as we have learned from the past, are worthless when coming out of the mouth of an athlete in any sport.
That said, I’m still optimistic something gets done. If even it’s only a two year deal with (maybe) a club option for the third. By then he’s a year or two into his prime. But a small deal like this gives him and his family a nice bank account and some guaranteed cash in case he injures himself before he hits free agency. Some players do that.. Idk if he would.
The Cabrera situation is an informed gamble by the team. The closer Asdrubal gets to FA the more likely he walks. However, the Indians need to see how he performs this year to know whether they’re getting the 2011 version or the 2010 variety, a big difference.
Whether the team actually contends will also likely factor into the equation. No sense making a huge financial commitment if it won’t build toward something.
Keep in mind Lindor will (hopefully) arrive in Cleveland in 2-3 years. If Kipnis and Chisenhall pan out as expected, where does Asdrubal play then? Another reason for a shorter extension.
If his power sticks around, they could rotate him and some others through the dh spot. Hafner will be gone, which would allow them to use it to give guys some rest but yet keep their bat in the lineup. (like the rangers)
Of course, I don’t know if Cabrera would be willing to play two positions (ss & 2B) while occasionally getting reps at dh. But Lindor is supposed to be an above average defender and i believe some power too. Just watching Cabrera, you can tell his range isn’t that great.
That would be ideal, but we shall see. (A lot of IF’s)
I wasn’t explaining myself very well – I’m sorry about that!
What causes my pessimism isn’t necessarily competition within the Indians’ system; it’s competition with other Major League teams. Derek Jeter’s contract runs out at about the same time, and I haven’t really heard of any top-flight prospects with the Red Sox or Mets. By the time Cabrera is a free agent, the Mets may have their money troubles solved and could be ready to make a big splash.
Hopefully Cabrera takes the Cliff Lee route and avoids the New York (or Boston) spotlight.
It’s okay.
This is why it is imperative for the Indians to do well in the draft, international scouting and trades.
The Redsox have a young kid — Jose Iglasias — who may start at short. Since they dealt Scutaro to the Rockies and the other to the Astros, it’s either Punto or iglasias for them. Idk how regarded Iglasias is though.
that is one helluva a ‘stache!