Ok good day, this is the Free Agency part of the blog, you can read it at your Free Agency parties or by yourself on Christmas Eve if there's nothing else to do. Good day eh, in case you thought I wasn't on this part.
There are lots of good ideas in here so read and don't get stuck.
On the first day of the Free Agency blog we talked about a back-up catcher and the Indians signing Adam Dunn to help rehabilitate an offense that ranked 26th in runs scored, 24th in home runs and 23rd in average.
Today we will look into the middle of the infield and the hot corner. It's always interesting to see what route teams take with the middle of their infield. This year's World Series saw the Rangers with Kinsler and Andrus, two guys that when healthy will both bat .270 and steal 35 bases. With the Giants there was Freddy Sanchez and Juan Uribe. Sanchez is a career .300 hitter with no pop, who field well. Uribe is a .250 hitter with a 20 HR power.
The Indians with Cabrera and Valbuena don't really have either of those combinations. Cabrera is a Kinsler type player, but Valbuena is awful. He doesn't hit for power, he doesn't hit for average and he's a very average if not below average fielder, 10 errors in 2010; granted only 4 at 2nd base.
2B- Luis Valbuena is not the answer, but at 28 neither is Jayson Nix. Jason Donald is likely the best option. There are 2 players I like here. The first being 32 year old Orlando Hudson. O-Dog keeps getting one year mercenary deals and would be unlikely to sign with a team that isn't likely to compete until 2012. But he's a veteran and respected around the league as a good clubhouse guy. Last year's team was missing a true veteran, Russel Branyan and Shelley Duncan are far from being veterans. The other guy I like and is a bit more likely is Jorge Cantu. Cantu struggled a bit after being traded form Florida to Texas in a mid-season trade this year. The two years before that he averaged 75 runs, 22 homers and 97 RBI. Recently Cantu has played a lot of 1st and 3rd, but he does have experience at second. Not a bad choice as an extra infielder.
I don't know what the 28 year old Cantu would cost but it would probably be to the tune of 4.5m a year. Hudson would cost about the same. Put on your "thinking tooks" and try to figure out why signing both of these guys might not be a bad decision.
SS - As long as Asdrubal Cabrera stays healthy the Indians are set here. Jason Donald is the back-up. Derek Jeter isn't coming here and there aren't shortstops out there
3B - Andy Marte is not getting better. Nobody else is better than Andy Marte. Sounds like one of those word problems. The Tribe is not going to sign Adrian Beltre, they might invite some guys to camp but the options on the left are very weak this year. (political innuendo in case you didn't catch it)
If your "thinking took" worked you figured it out. Binging in Orlando Hudson would fill the void in case Cabrera got hurt. Cantu can play 3rd. Now all of a sudden if one guy gets hurt in an infield of Dunn, Hudson, Cabrera, Cantu. You can throw Donald, Valbuena or Marte in and still have a competent infield.
So yesterday we spent 10.75m today we add an extra 9m to that. To go to 19.75m, bumping payroll around 50m.
Now of course we won't sign all of these guys. If we get any of them we become better. I'd love to have Adam Dunn, but I'd rather have Cantu, Torrealba and Hudson combined for the same price.
Come back tomorrow for outfielders, and pitchers on Tuesday.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
It's Tribe Time
I'm back and just in time for MLB Free Agency, luckily for us Clevelanders we have nothing to worry about. Shin Soo Choo will be taking his talents to South Korea where we will need him to win the Asian Games so he will not have to serve his army time.
The 2010 Indians did the exact opposite of what was expected, they didn't hit and they pitched pretty well. With Santana, Cabrera and Sizemore healthy one can hope that the team will improve in 2011. However, there are some pieces in Free Agency that can certainly make the team more competitive.
Catcher - Carlos Santana is recovering well from his surgery, but that doesn't mean he won't have a setback. Lou Marson and Chris Gimenez are not serviceable options. A back-up catcher needs to be able to do 2 things, be good defensive players and bat at least .250. These guys combined to bat right around .194
---The Indians don't need to get Victor Martinez back, but taking a run at Yorvit Torrealba. Torrealba batted .270 last year with the Padres and has a career fielding percentage of .995. Torrealba signed a 2 year/$6m deal with the Rockies in 2007. Last year the 32 year old, signed a 1 year deal worth $750,000, coming off a year in which he batted .291. At that price he's a great fit back-up, for a team with a young catcher like Santana, a major upgrade.
C Total Spending: $830,000
First Base - Is Matt LaPorta ready yet? The guy doesn't hit for power, doesn't hit for average and is in his prime now. Of course the Indians are spinning OF Michael Brantley as the real "piece" in the Sabathia trade. It's because they're aren't quite sure they believe in LaPorta yet.
---I'd love to sign Adam Dunn, through the age of 30, Baseball Reference compares Dunn to Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson and Ralph Kiner. What's crazy about Dunn is that he has been Top 5 in strikeouts in the NL every year since 2002, but he's also been Top 5 in walks. Add to that his 35+ HR power. Dunn has not hit historically well in Cleveland and I don't see management putting up enough money to sign him. But I think a deal similar to the Juan Gonzalez deal of 2001 (1 year/$10m) would be ideal.
A few other options could be Derrek Lee, Lyle Overbay or Aubrey Huff. The Indians don't have much in the minors.
1B Total Spending: $10,000,000
Come back tomorrow for 2nd, 3rd and short, Sunday for the outfield and Monday for pitchers.
The 2010 Indians did the exact opposite of what was expected, they didn't hit and they pitched pretty well. With Santana, Cabrera and Sizemore healthy one can hope that the team will improve in 2011. However, there are some pieces in Free Agency that can certainly make the team more competitive.
Catcher - Carlos Santana is recovering well from his surgery, but that doesn't mean he won't have a setback. Lou Marson and Chris Gimenez are not serviceable options. A back-up catcher needs to be able to do 2 things, be good defensive players and bat at least .250. These guys combined to bat right around .194
---The Indians don't need to get Victor Martinez back, but taking a run at Yorvit Torrealba. Torrealba batted .270 last year with the Padres and has a career fielding percentage of .995. Torrealba signed a 2 year/$6m deal with the Rockies in 2007. Last year the 32 year old, signed a 1 year deal worth $750,000, coming off a year in which he batted .291. At that price he's a great fit back-up, for a team with a young catcher like Santana, a major upgrade.
C Total Spending: $830,000
First Base - Is Matt LaPorta ready yet? The guy doesn't hit for power, doesn't hit for average and is in his prime now. Of course the Indians are spinning OF Michael Brantley as the real "piece" in the Sabathia trade. It's because they're aren't quite sure they believe in LaPorta yet.
---I'd love to sign Adam Dunn, through the age of 30, Baseball Reference compares Dunn to Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson and Ralph Kiner. What's crazy about Dunn is that he has been Top 5 in strikeouts in the NL every year since 2002, but he's also been Top 5 in walks. Add to that his 35+ HR power. Dunn has not hit historically well in Cleveland and I don't see management putting up enough money to sign him. But I think a deal similar to the Juan Gonzalez deal of 2001 (1 year/$10m) would be ideal.
A few other options could be Derrek Lee, Lyle Overbay or Aubrey Huff. The Indians don't have much in the minors.
1B Total Spending: $10,000,000
Come back tomorrow for 2nd, 3rd and short, Sunday for the outfield and Monday for pitchers.
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