Wahoo's on First - A Cleveland Indians Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Omar Vizquel rounding the basepaths at Progressive Field—but in the wrong uniform. (Eric P. Mull-US PRESSWIRE)

The nine-year, $214 million contract that Prince Fielder got from the Tigers on Tuesday dominated baseball headlines this week—and with good reason. Fielder was the second-biggest free agent on the market this winter, and he just inked the fourth-biggest contract in MLB history. It’s no surprise that people are interested in it.

But in the midst of the hubbub about Fielder, another story got pretty much buried. One that, while less important, might mean more to Cleveland Indians fans: longtime Tribe shortstop and local icon Omar Vizquel signed a minor-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

That Vizquel is still playing is incredible—if he makes the Blue Jays’ roster, he’ll be an MLB player at age 45. But it raises an obvious question: Why didn’t the Indians sign him instead? Continue reading this post »

The Detroit Tigers made the second-biggest splash of the offseason this week when they signed free agent first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine-year contract worth $214 million.

Reaction from Indians fans seems to be one of overwhelming despair—and with good reason. As if Miguel Cabrera wasn’t bad enough, the Tigers’ lineup will now feature two of the best hitters in baseball. Detroit’s presumptive lead in the AL Central this year looked vulnerable after Victor Martinez‘ injury, but now the Tigers look like clear favorites to take the division. Fielder could very well make the difference in the division in 2012.

But that’s just one year of the nine in Fielder’s deal. Looking beyond 2012, what exactly does this mean for the Indians? Continue reading this post »

Prospect guru Jonathan Mayo released his list of the Top 100 prospects in baseball for the 2012 season Wednesday on MLB.com, and there’s some good news for the Cleveland Indians on it: Tribe prospect Francisco Lindor came in at No. 32.

Lindor was the Indians’ first-round pick in the 2011 MLB draft, and the eighth player chosen overall. The 18-year-old shortstop seems to be the unanimous choice for the best prospect in Cleveland’s farm system. Continue reading this post »

In their version of the annual top prospect rankings, our friends at Seedlings to Stars have been breaking down each MLB organization’s best minor leaguers into mock 25-man rosters. This week, S2S writer Wally Fish broke down the Cleveland Indians organization. The result was the stuff that rain clouds are made of.

We know that Cleveland’s farm system isn’t what it used to be. The trades of Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, and Joe Gardner; the promotions of Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, and Vinnie Pestano; and the struggles of Jason Knapp, Nick Weglarz, and LeVon Washington have all hit the organization pretty hard.

Even so, Fish’s analysis seems overly skeptical. ”The cupboard is really, really bare,” he writes, before suggesting that the Tribe’s farm system might be the very worst in baseball—worse even than the White Sox’. Check out his grades for different parts of the organization: Continue reading this post »

News broke Tuesday afternoon that the Detroit Tigers had inked free agent first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine-year deal worth $214 million.

As Indians fans digest the news that their biggest rivals for the foreseeable future will now feature two of the best hitters in baseball (facing just Miguel Cabrera 18 games a year was bad enough), it’s worth asking: How much of an impact will Fielder have on the AL Central race this year? Continue reading this post »

Prospect guru John Sickels released his rankings of MLB teams’ minor-league systems this week, and the news wasn’t good for the Cleveland Indians: Sickels ranked the Tribe’s farm system 27th out of 30 teams.

The Indians organization ranked just behind the Phillies, Astros, and Giants, and ahead of only the Brewers, Marlins, and White Sox. Cleveland’s farm system ranked as the second-worst in the American League. Continue reading this post »

The Cleveland Indians’ minor-league deal bonanza continued this weekend, as the Tribe inked veteran infielder Julio Lugo to a contract that includes an invitation to spring training.

In a vacuum, any minor-league deal with a potentially useful player is worth pursuing; there’s no real monetary obligation unless he makes the team, in which case he’ll have to have done something right. But this is just another example of a worrisome trend we’ve seen this winter: the repeated acquisitions of inferior alternatives to the Tribe’s young, higher-upside in-house candidates for utility infield roles. Continue reading this post »

Just after the Indians (and the world) learned that the pitcher we had all known as 28-year-old Fausto Carmona was really 31-year-old Roberto Hernandez Heredia, they had added a new starter to compete for his likely vacant rotation spot.

On Friday, Cleveland sent reliever prospect Zach Putnam to the Rockies for right-handed starting pitcher Kevin Slowey and $1.25 million cash. The move reportedly wasn’t a reaction to the news about Carmona, which had broken a day earlier—”We’ve actually had dialogue with the Rockies for the better part of the offseason,” GM Chris Antonetti said—but Slowey is now a potential fit to fill a hole that did not exist a week ago. Continue reading this post »

This week, the Indians closed up shop on another edition of Snow Days, their yearly winter wonderland setup inside the hallowed walls of Progressive Field. Sure, it might seem a little cheesy or stupid depending on how you feel about ice skating, tubing, and snowball fights, but Snow Days signifies something else that people seem to be overlooking. (By the way, if you think ice skating, tubing and snow ball fights are stupid, then we can’t be friends.)

What some people fail to realize is that Snow Days is more than just holiday family fun: it’s the Indians’ attempt to combat the stigma of being a small market team in a large market world. Continue reading this post »

We haven’t heard any rumors suggesting it’s a possibility. There haven’t been any whisperings about it happening or reputable sources making the connection. Cleveland Indians GM Chris Antonetti himself shot it down. But the idea has persisted that the Indians, in their search for a cheap right-handed bat, might turn to Manny Ramirez.

The thought of “Manny being Manny” in Cleveland again has elicited a wide variety of reactions, from the extremely supportive to the over-the-top negative. In the interest of keeping the debate going, in this edition of the Wahoo’s on First Weekly Wroundtable, we asked: Should the Indians sign Manny Ramirez?

In addition to the usual suspects from Wahoo’s on First, we had the honor of being joined by former Tribe blogger Andrew Cooper. Turns out we didn’t all agree.

Andy Cooper: Of course, the obvious answer is no. After all, there’s nothing more divisive to a young locker room than an old, jaded, egomaniacal veteran (who is also carrying a 50-game suspension). The Indians have enough to worry about without having to wonder how and why ManRam will end up as the lead story on the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter.

But let’s look beyond that. If there’s one thing Manny Ramirez can do, it’s smack the crap out of a baseball. And if there’s one thing the Indians need, it’s someone who can smack the crap out of a baseball. Continue reading this post »