On a day where the Indians looked to the future for their stadium, they also said goodbye to an extremely popular piece of their recent past.

The Tribe sent perpetually-struggling reliever Vinnie Pestano to the Angels for High-A/Single-A right-hander, Michael Clevinger. Pestano, of course, has not been anywhere close to what he was in 2011 and ’12, where it seemed like he’d be the set-up guy for years to come. That seemingly all changed  for him while participating with Team USA during last year’s edition of the World Baseball Classic tournament. Since then, he labored in holding on to his spot on the Indians while spending most of his time as of late in Columbus.

Obviously, this one stings. Vinnie was arguably the most popular member of the team due to his social media presence, as well as his refreshing honesty to fall on the sword publicly to the fanbase when he would stink up the joint. In a climate where so many of the players view themselves as demigods, Pestano conducted himself as “one of us,” and we loved him for it.

But baseball is a cruel business, and if you aren’t helping, the organization will try to find someone who will. That person is apparently Clevinger.

 

: News

4 Comments

  • ryanmccrystal says:

    I hate this trade for 3 reasons…

    1. Pestano’s pitching much better. 1.72 ERA in majors and minors since April demotion.. 9 K, 0 BB in 6.1 IP in brief return to Cleveland.
    2. He’s cheap ($.975M) and under control for 2 more years. And has an elite ceiling that we’ve seen already at the major league level when healthy.
    3. What’s the success rate of 23 year olds with a 5.37 ERA in high-A ball? I’m no prospect expert, but this guy doesn’t appear to moving anywhere fast.

    • yeah, this doesn’t make any sense at all. in what universe is the bum they traded for any better than pestano? even if pestano never reverts to his 11-12 form, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’s better than a 23 year old still mired in A+.

    • Hawaii says:

      If there is one thing the Indians have, is tons of relievers. The fact that Adams has been recalled the last couple times along with Lee shows that the FO has put Pestano below those two at this point. And with the recent emergence of Hagadone and Axford pitching well (before his meltdown in the Bronx) there was not much room for him. I am also going out on a safe limb and guess Pestano was out of options after this year, making him decidedly less valuable not being able to partake in Columbus’ Reliever Express. The prospect is old for his age, but he just had TJ surgery in 2012 preventing him from pitching until late 2013 (only 3 starts). He was only drafted 3 drafts ago (2011) so his age may not be ideal but his experience level combined with injury is consistent with a typical advancing prospect as he had to re-set his year from his first professional year where he pitched well as a 21 year old at A- for eight starts. So after pitching in rookie ball for 3 starts when first coming back from TJ surgery, he started at A- and dominated and only now got promoted to A+. So it isn’t like he is being held back in his promotions because of a lack of performance. Also, he is a starter by trade making him more valuable than Pestano, and those worried about his age, Pestano didn’t come up to the majors until he was a 25 year old September call-up, while as a minor league career reliever.

  • McNabbulousness says:

    face it when you’re in the mafia, things don’t end well