Not long ago, this site opined that it was too early to throw in the towel on the Cleveland Indians' 2008 baseball season. Recent performances, however, call into question such perspectives.
As things now stand, this is---as if anyone needs to be told---shaping up as a dreadfully boring, uninspiring, waste of an otherwise respectable spring and summer. Far more than injuries are holding this club back, not the least of which is its overmatched manager, the guy who made some ludicrous remarks in response to Omar Vizquel's squeeze bunt Tuesday evening.
That incident was but one of three separators--- to employ an Eric Wedge word---distinguishing SF's Bruce Bochy from the reigning AL Manager of the Year. Finding himself in a close game, Bochy forced the action in at least three different ways, each enhancing the visitors' shot at winning.
First, Bochy, with Randy Winn on first base and Ray Durham on third with two outs in the eighth, had Winn steal second base, forcing backup catcher Kelly Shoppach to decide if he would throw through or concede the base to Winn in deference to the possibility Durham might race home from third.
Shoppach, who has struggled with his throwing since inheriting the job from the injured Victor Martinez, elected to make a play on Winn, only to have his throw bounce well in front of the bag. Making matters worse, veteran 2b Jamey Carroll appeared to arrive late at the bag, rendering himself unable to move toward the throw or otherwise keep it from bouncing into CF. Durham pranced in from 3b to break a 1-1 tie. Bochy's daring had stolen a gift run.
In the Giants' ninth, SF had a runner on first with one out. Journeyman infielder Jose Castillo, a waiver acquisition from Pittsburgh just before Opening Day, was at the plate. Bochy several times called for the run-and-hit, leading to a number of foul balls off Castillo's bat. But Bochy persevered and Carroll was eventually drawn out of position covering the bag at second. Castillo slapped a dribbler to the area Carroll vacated, enabling SF to have runners on first and third, setting up what became Vizquel's game-deciding squeeze. Bochy had, essentially, managed his club into generating three late-inning runs to decide a closely-contested ballgame.
When was the last time Wedge, even when forced to go into battle with a mis-matched lineup needing every edge it could muster, took matters into his own hands and forced the action on an opposing ballclub? There are reasons the club struggles to score in late innings, finds itself unable to manage four runs per game---a figure that characteristically has foretold victory for his starting-pitching-strong roster---loses close games and is virtually impotent once it has fallen behind. One of those reasons is its manager.
If it should be the preparation of the personnel dictates what can be done with it, whose fault is that?
What is more, Wedge is not getting a whole helluva lot of help from the reigning MLB Executive of the Year. This writer is inclined to suspect at no time in his lengthy adult life has there been more dead weight on a Cleveland roster---excepting those days when the entire roster was dead weight.
Things are so bad that Mark Shapiro has resorted to signing for his AAA club faded veterans well beyond the age of 30: Tony Graffanino (35), Jorge Velandia (33), Morgan Ensberg (32)---most probably because, at the time, there was not a legitimate positional prospect on that Buffalo roster who wasn't a slow lefthand-hitting 1b. Since, versatile catcher Chris Gimenez has been promoted from Akron, a fast-track manuever to protect against the collapse of 36-year-old import Sal Fasano, urgently added once Martinez became disabled.
Foresight is clearly not an organizational forte.
Fingers are no longer needed to count the positional keepers in the daily lineup. Those appendages on the side of one's head would suffice. Run-of-the-mill fill-ins populate the body of the lineup, with a few kids spiced in to contrast with those who began the year relied upon but have since proven themselves unworthy of being core components.
SS Jhonny Peralta---about whom enough has been written here---and 1b Ryan Garko fit that last category. Neither deserves to have a defensive position reserved for him. Both are ordinary, slow and not good enough to be considered longterm regulars at their respective positons. Neither is a multi-dimensional talent nor a reliable run-producer.
In fact, it occurs that Garko might best assist this club returned to his original position of catcher. He hits and runs like one and might salvage this campaign, in part, were he to use it to re-establish himself as a viability at that spot. This is so because a comparably-able offensive player is much harder to find behind the plate than at 1b, a position into which either Michael Aubrey or Jordan Brown might then ascend. Either is a much better offensive player than any other catchers in the system. Furthermore, Aubrey is out of options after this season, while Brown is the most promising hitting youngster in the upper levels.
Inasmuch as base-stealing is no longer a major part of AL attacks, Garko's throwing would not be tested too vigorously while he re-acclimates to the tools of ignorance. Pairing with Shoppach, Garko would enable the organization to feel secure about itself offensively from the catcher position. Meanwhile, 1b would join DH as available slots for a middle-of-the-order piece to fill. Such a commodity is more likely to be found available for those vacancies than for any other in the sport.
Though it must be admitted with emphasis that I cannot speak to the relative defensive abilities of Garko as a catcher, moving him there has considerable appeal, given the potential upside. If Ryan did nothing more than enhance his tradeability by showing some promise as a backstop, it would be an exercise worth pursuing. Best-case scenario, Garko, Shoppach and Martinez make the team uncommonly rich at one of baseball's perenially-leanest positions.
Franklin Gutierrez' marketability as an excellent defensive CF prospect could readily be converted into a meaningful offensive addition, were more potential positions opened. The San Diego Padres might, for example, be willing to return Kevin Kouzmanoff in exchange for someone like Gut to police their spacious outfield expanses, particularly now that switch-hitting prospect Chase Headley has been elevated to the varsity. Ex-Indians Jody Gerut and Brian Giles could then concentrate on playing the corners.
Kouz could play 1b---or DH while Aubrey mans first. Maybe David Dellucci could be moved to the Cubs for 28-year-old LH slugger Micah Huffpauir, who seems to be stuck at AAA. However, with Stephen Head, Beau Mills and Matthew Whitney (the only RH bat, other than Kouz, among them) also in the pipeline, it is not as if the team is not fortified with 1b/dh candidates. The only reasonable way to prune them is by first making way for auditions, something solely investing in Garko at the position would not permit.
While dealing Ryan is always an option, his market value is not exceptional at this point, as he is not fast, slick with the glove, boasting enviable numbers in BA, HRs, rbi or OPS. Therefore, it seems wisest to employ Garko over Fasano as Shoppach's caddie, allowing for more potent alternatives at 1b.
On another matter, the conversations pertaining to CC's impending free-agency always include the organization's balking over the number of required years. Sabathia's representatives are asking for seven years, while the club would prefer three or four at most, citing the injury risk for pitchers as their justification.
Surely it has occurred to someone that Sabathia's demands can be agreed to, with the club simply dealing the southpaw as soon as it became uncomfortable with the hurler's durability. It is not as if the market price for lefty starters with Cy Young potential is going to soon bottom out. By that time, assuming it arrived before actual injury occurred, CC would likely be considered a relatively affordable bargain, one that would still bring back a sizeable booty (no pun intended) in trade.
Reports are the organization is preparing a last-ditch offer for CC in hopes of extending him. It might be wisest of all to deal him for helpful assets, only to bring him back during the winter for the agreed-upon terms negotiated beforehand. This way, CC returns to an enhanced roster.
Such a thought is probably incredibly naive.
Lastly, it is sincerely hoped Shapiro has not waited too long in liquidating Byrd and Dellucci, as both seem to be declining in value and performance. For all the grief DD has received, his production numbers are virtually identical to Ben Francisco's, save for the irrelevancy of batting average. Conversely, Gutierrez has negligibly out-paced Shin-Soo Choo, though he's had many more ABs. OBP probably more vividly enunciates their relative disparities.
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