Couple more odds and ends to piggyback off of the Hermida move:

  • Former Indian Kevin Millwood has decided to retire. He only spent one season as a member of the Tribe in 2006, but what a year it was: 9-11 with a 2.86 ERA, which landed him some Cy Young consideration in which he finished sixth in the voting. Of course, he made most of his hay as a young Atlanta Brave surrounded by Greg Maddox, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery. He threw a no-hitter in the first year as a member of the Phillies (he also took part in the wild and wacky combined no-hitter last season for the Mariners). Including tenures with the Rangers and Mariners, and another one-year tent-pitch in Baltimore, he has a solid case at being enshrined for Cooperstown at some point. An IPL hat-tip to Mr. Millwood.
  • Indians are still looking at bringing the Thomenator back. (Anybody remember that commercial? I can’t find it on YouTube. Grrr…) It makes sense on one hand; they still don’t know exactly what they want to do, and he makes as good as a marketable sense as any, even though he’s not what he was. He’s Teflon like Omar, really. They can make him a cheerleader with pom-poms and people would give him another round of time-healed ovations. On the other hand, it kinda feels like we have more warm bodies than we know what to do with right now. Would he gain a spot simply on the basis of who he is? Or could he still be an integral part of the team in what would appear to be his last year? We all love Jimmy, but being a “GCG” (Great Clubhouse Guy) can only carry so much weight. Johnny Damon, anyone?

2 Comments

  • Swift says:

    I am definitely in the “we have more warm bodies than we know what to do with” camp, and I’m sorry, I love Jimmy, but I’m not sure he even counts as a “warm body” in the baseball sense. Why take up a spot in the 25 man roster with a guy who at best can only DH and can’t do that much any more. How is that different from Pronk, who we just said good-bye to?

    If you want to just bring him back as a fan favorite, than hire him in a non-player role, like minor league hitting coach.

    • Drew says:

      Pronk will earn between $2M-$4M next season. Thome would probably sign a $1M contract.

      Pronk had a .228/.346/.438 slash last season
      Thome had a .252/.344/.442 slash.

      Both players are barely a run above replacement and since replacement will run at least $580k, if you can get Thome for $1M, it may be worthwhile.

      Same stats, better clubhouse guy, $1-3M cheaper.

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