Archive for June, 2010

Source: Yardbarker.com Let it never be said I wasn’t willing to compromise. Since the day the Indians traded Casey F-in Blake to the Dodgers and received Jon Meloan and Carlos Santana, I’ve been pushing to get the nickname “Smooth” to stick for Santana. I thought it was clever, I thought it fit, and it definitely had a nice ring to it: “Smooth” Santana. Kinda rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? While some local Cleveland blogs have embraced the “Smooth” moniker (or variations of it), Anthony Castrovince of Indians.com did not. In any other city, Castrovince would be the best beat [...]

Source: Yardbarker.com In trading Russell Branyan to the Seattle Mariners, the Indians corrected probably their dumbest mistake of the offseason, which was signing Russell Branyan. The Indians received Triple-A centerfielder Ezequiel Carrera and shortstop Juan Diaz, who is in Single A ball right now. Given recent history of trades of Tribe first basemen to Seattle, it’s hard to dismiss this trade as a salary dump. And while Mark Shapiro says he likes both players, commenting that Carrera is a speedy slap hitter (read: no power) who can play defense, and Diaz is more of a project player that helps pad [...]

Some quick thoughts on the Tribe: Carlos “Smooth” Santana wasn’t too smooth in the second inning yesterday, when he missed the catch of an apparent forceout at home plate. Two runs scored, and I’m sure there’s a blogger out there calling for Lou Marson. I’m not one of those bloggers. Everyone knew Santana was a work in progress defensively, or else he would have been brought up a lot sooner. While the Indians’ defensive struggles as a team is downright embarrassing, Santana gets a rookie “Get Out of Jail Free” card for what he’s done with his bat in the [...]

An article by Albert Lyu at Full Count Pitch that covers a lot of things Indians, including new GM Chris Antonetti and outgoing GM Mark Shapiro, the Indians use of the DiamondView player evaluation system, and the decisions to trade Bartolo Colon and to let Jim Thome walk. While the parts about Antonetti/Shapiro and Colon/Thome are by far the more interesting portions of the article, I’m beginning to think that the DiamondView portion is far more important. Lyu is probably handcuffed by never used the DiamondView program and having to rely on secondhand info to describe it. I never felt [...]

Another day, another disappointing loss for the Tribe. as they lose 5-3 in the finale to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Justin Masterson earned himself another start, overcoming a shaky start to the game by going six strong innings, giving up two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. The feel-good story of the day was rookie Carlos “Smooth” Santana having a solid game offensively, finishing a triple away from the cycle (as most would-be cyclists seem to do) before he failed to block Raffy Perez’s wild pitch in the bottom of the 7th, allowing the tying run to score. Smooth has [...]

Hey everyone, I apologize for the lack of activity. As I mentioned I’m going through some computer problems and the only access I’ve had to the Internet is via my phone. I’ve temporarily solved the problem, and will be posting regularly again. As is, if I had to go offline, I picked a pretty good week to do so. A four-game losing streak (including a sweep by the Mets) brought the ugly back out for the Tribe. Some quick thoughts: I didn’t see Justin Masterson’s start Tuesday, but everything I’m reading says it was a mixed bag. Allowed 7 runs, [...]

Strasmas has come and gone, leaving a 9-4 loss and a broken winning streak in its wake.  Stephen Strasburg was impressive, as advertised, going 5.1 IP, striking out 8 and giving up just two hits, one of them a home run by Travis Hafner. The loss snapped a rare four-game winning streak by the Tribe. The Strasburg buzz around the ballpark was fun to be around. It’s been awhile since Indians fans had something to be excited over, and I had the pleasure of watching the game from the Tribe Social Deck. The Tribe Social Deck is located in the [...]

Hey everyone, just wanted to do a quick reminder that I will be appearing on Stache Radio (The New York Mets blog, The Daily Stache’s radio show) at 11:15 p.m. EST TOMORROW (Sunday)! Be there and I’ll introduce our Tribe to our National League brethren. I’m sure we will discuss topics such as Carlos “Smooth” Santana’s arrival, and other things that are sure to interest you Indians fans! Plus it will be a great way to get to know the New York Mets better. The link above should be all you need to join in on the fun. Speaking of [...]

Do you want the big news now, or after the housekeeping notes? You want the big news now? OK, here it is, you’ve been waiting since March for it:  If you had June 11th in your office pools, you win. Carlos “Smooth” Santana has been called up by the Indians today, and will assume the role of starting catcher.  Smooth was hitting .316 with 13 home runs in 57 games. The Indians said they wanted to keep Santana down to work on his defense, and apparently he learned how to play defense in two or three weeks: “We [...]

Hey everyone, if you’ll let me indulge, I have a few Deep Left Field news tidbits. First, there should be a new poll in the lower right sidebar of the site. I say should because it hasn’t loaded yet, but eventually it should be up. The question is, “How many Indians will Stephen Strasburg strike out on Sunday?” For those who don’t know, Strasburg dazzled in his debut, fanning 14 and allowing just four hits (although one was a two-run homer) with no walks. That gets me fired up for Sunday’s game. The poll closes Sunday. Feel free to leave [...]