SB Nation - Aaron Laffey

Non-tender roundup: Miller and Reyes signed to minor league deals

Jay — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:10:39 -0000

Vaporstarter Adam Miller and the oft-injured Anthony Reyes were not tendered contracts by the Indians yesterday, rendering them free agents, but both pitchers signed minor league deals with the Indians just hours later. These transactions remove both pitchers from the 40-man roster while retaining their services for at least one more year. In the (admittedly unlikely) event Miller's career gets back on track this season, this series of moves avoids using up one of his option years, and should the Indians choose in the next year to restore him to the 40-man roster, he will have at least one option year left and will remain under club control at least through 2016. Reyes remains optionless, of course, but still hypothetically could remain under club control through 2013.

The Indians also declined to offer a contract to reliever Jose Veras, who was arbitration eligible, rendering him a free agent, and there is no indication he will be re-signed. Cleveland's 40-man roster now stands at 37, with 18 pitchers and 19 position players.

The Indians did tender a contract to pitcher Rafael Perez, who is eligible for arbitration (and to the other 28 players on the 40-man roster who are not yet eligible). The non-non-tender to Perez was non-unexpected, despite a disastrous season in which he was the fourth-worst reliever in the majors (min. 30 IP) per WXRL, which estimates a reliever's actual impact on the chance of his team winning or losing games. (That's "Win Expectation above Replacement, Lineup-adjusted," if you must know. BP rates Perez as merely the 10th-worst reliever at preventing runs from scoring, but because he blew more runs than his peers in high-leverage game situations, his negative impact on wins and losses was more substantial.)

Perez spent almost two months in the minors but still qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player with several weeks to spare. As a relief pitcher coming off a terrible season with barely enough service time to qualify, Perez is in line to be awarded perhaps the smallest salary of any player going to arbitration, probably less than $1 million. It's worth recalling, at this point, how outstanding Perez was in his truly super two-plus seasons prior to this one. He had a 2.89 ERA (and 152 ERA+) over 149.1 IP. He struck out 9.8 batters per nine innings, with 3.7 strikeouts for every walk. He held lefties to a .241 slugging percentage and allowed them only nine extra-base hits in 249 PA. As long as we keep tendering him contracts, he remains under club control through 2013, and there is a reasonable chance he will re-emerge as an impact reliever, or at the very least a useful one, at some point in that span.

Other notable non-tenders include former Indians Ryan Garko and Ryan Church. Garko of course was traded to the Giants only months ago for a decent enough pitching prospect. Just 115 abysmal AB later, Giants GM Brian Sabean is now saying he doesn't want to pay upwards of $3 million to a guy who isn't really an everyday player. I'm not saying he's wrong, but it's a pretty hilarious statement to make for a guy who will still owes $83 million to Barry Zito for the next four seasons. McCovey Chronicles has a pretty dead-on take on Sabean's curious sequence of decisions. My theory is that you just can't understand how slow this guy is on the basepaths until he's actually on your team, and maybe Wedge actually deked the Giants with respect to Garko's athleticism by playing him in the outfield.

Expect the cleveland.com crowd to clamor for Garko's return, oblivious to the fact that two teams have now deemed him unworthy of an everyday role in the space of just a few months. Despite high regard for his character, I would be surprised if Shapiro brought him back, even at a substantially reduced salary. I rather expect Garko will be signed by a GM who scouted him as a college player and was impressed with his stroke. As a lefty batter, Church doesn't really fit in with the Indians' plans. Other interesting non-tenders include Pirates closer Matt Capps, Yankees sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang, and third baseman Garrett Atkins. Atkins is perhaps best remembered as the guy that the Indians never even considered trading Aaron Laffey to get. I wouldn't be surprised if the Indians took an interest in Mike MacDougal; they seem to like guys who used to be closers.

As for Miller, these moves were unusual, reflecting an unusual situation. The "non-tender" deadline traditionally involves only players who are arbitration-eligible, as there is little reason not to tender a contract to any player on the 40-man roster who isn't eligible, since the most the team can be compelled to pay such a player is the minimum salary, which will remain $400,000 for the 2010 season. Many such players will make less than half that much, if they don't spend much time in the majors.

The latest in Miller's deathless progression of rehab setbacks occurred after rosters were frozen for the Rule 5 draft. Otherwise, the Indians might have chosen to DFA Miller prior to that point, exposing him to waivers. That might have cost the Indians the rights to Chuck Lofgren — but then again, maybe not. The Indians might have protected some other on-the-bubble prospect like Yohan Pino, in which case, Miller's delayed setback actually saved the Indians from burning an option year on whoever-that-would-have-been. And even if Miller clears waivers (and later, presumably, also clears the Rule 5 draft), he would have been granted minor league free agency anyway, since he was originally signed more than six years ago.

In that sense, non-tendering Miller, while unusually, was actually a more straightforward path to the same destination. Either way, he ends up as a free agent, free to sign with any club, but this way, he doesn't have to pass through waivers first. Miller obviously felt some combination of organizational loyalty and faith in the club's ability to rehab him back into a prospect, assuming that's even possible. Reyes has spent far less time in the Indians organization, but he had the same options as Miller and made the same choice. If either player was actually worth something anymore, we might consider feeling good about that.

Game 161: Red Sox 11, Indians 6

Ryan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:58:55 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

An ignominious end to Aaron Laffey's season.

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The Indians actually scored some runs tonight, but Aaron Laffey was awful, so the game ended in the usual way. The two teams combined for twelve runs in the first two innings, with the Red Sox accounting for eight of them. The big blow came on Victor Martinez's first career grand slam, naturally coming against the team that until two months he'd spent his entire career playing for.

Josh Beckett had very little command, missing with his fastball and hanging several curves. He had to throw over 50 pitches to get out of the second inning, but hung around long enough to qualify for a win. After the second inning, the game slowed down to a more normal pace, and true to irrelevant game that it was, Boston's starters were taken out as the contest entered the later innings.

Aaron Laffey gave eight earned runs in just two innings on seven hits and two walks, a disastrous ending to what was a pretty decent season, certainly the best season of the Indians' starters still on the roster. Jensen Lewis, in what was probably his last outing of the season, relieved Laffey and gave up two runs in two innings of work. His future is very much up in the air. Mike Gosling did an excellent job in mopup duty, giving up one run in four innings.

Next Up: Game 162. Ohka vs. Buchholz, 1:35 PM.

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Asdrubal Cabrera	.128	Aaron Laffey	-.641
Michael Brantley	.097	Andy Marte	-.063
Shin-Soo Choo	.083	Matt LaPorta	-.050

Game 157: White Sox 6, Indians 1

Ryan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:20:48 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Aaron Laffey allowed eight hits, all of them singles, and several of them infield singles.

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This was one game where it didn't really matter much what the pitching did, because John Danks was locked in all game. He allowed three hits, two of them to Shin-Soo Choo. His lone earned run allowed was a Choo home run.

Aaron Laffey did ok with the exception of the second inning, when Chicago batted around. Normally when a club does that, the pitcher is removed, but all the base runners came via singles or walks, and the damage was limited to three runs. He stayed in the game into the eighth inning with the game still within reach, but the bullpen let the game get out of hand. Jose Veras was shaky, but got out of the eighth; Jensen Lewis, and the Indians defense, gave up three runs in the ninth to salt the game for the White Sox.

Next Up: Torres vs. Masterson, 7:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Shin-Soo Choo	.104	Matt LaPorta	-.119
Jose Veras	.050	Jhonny Peralta	-.096
Travis Hafner	.004	Trevor Crowe	-.089

Brewers make pitching a priority

Eli Greenspan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:59:39 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

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Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said that pitching is a priority for the Brewers this offseason, and is giving GM Doug Melvin some flexibility to make a move.

"Doug has to decide based on how much capital is available," Attanasio said. "He looks at how much money is available, the guys whose contracts are coming off, the guys he might be able to trade. He can get pitching through trades or free agents."

Pitching is scarce this offseason due to the weak free agent market, which could make teams more reluctant to trade pitching. Attanasio didn't rule out trading Prince Fielder, who is hitting a career best .297 with 43 home runs this season.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Prince Fielder	156	569	99	169	35	3	43	137	102	134	2	3	.297	.406	.596

The Giants seem like a very logical destination for Fielder. The Giants have the pitching that could entice the Brewers, who are looking for a legitimate number two starter behind Yovani Gallardo. Matt Cain's name has been mentioned, but he is under contract through the 2011 season, while Fielder will be a free agent after next season.

The Brewers could attempt to move Prince Fielder to the Indians for Grady Sizemore, among others. The Brewers could look to acquire young pitchers Carlos Carrasco or Aaron Laffey, or attempt to snag a package of young pitchers from the Indians' minor league system.

The Indians would land an impact power hitter, who they could always move at the trade deadline in 2010 if they cannot sign him long-term (similar to what the Braves did with Mark Teixeira).

Another possibility would be to contact the Blue Jays about trading Prince Fielder for Roy Halladay. Who would benefit more from this trade?

Fire Everyone! - The Farm System

APV — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:28:49 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Travis Hafner, soliciting coaching advice from outside the organization

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This is the eighth installment in a 12-part series.

Part of the Tribe's failure this year can be blamed on the reality that when players were failing to perform in April and May (and there were many), no one was there in Akron or Columbus to step up and provide at least temporary relief. When Fausto Carmona was busy allowing 4+ runs in 10 of his first 12 starts, who was there to step up? Sure, David Huff was there to step in and promptly allow 13 earned runs in his first 6 innings of pro ball, but who was there behind him? And behind that guy? And when the bullpen was busy reading up on seppuku rather than "how to record a major league out" for the first two months, was there really no one better than Matt Herges and Greg Aquino available to fill the holes? Mark Shapiro has said nothing more frequently than the need for depth - the need to prepare for individual failures (which are inevitable) and insure against collective failures. So where was the depth when it was needed to keep the season alive?

One explanation is that it was a failure to acquire the right talent. This is a well hashed argument, and one which might have some validity. There is another possibility, however, that perhaps it is not that we have failed to acquire the right talent, but instead failed to develop the talent we have properly. Perhaps our developmental system, again one of Shapiro's trademarks on the organization has failed. Shapiro has been lauded for installing a system based on combining traditional scouting data with rigorous quantitative assessment and emphasizing consistency throughout the system. Players are supposed to enter into the organization and hear the same things at every level. Maybe some have been hearing the wrong things.

Trying to assess how good a developmental staff the Indians have is probably going to be a failed effort on my part. To really do it right, you would have to compare how the Indians fare relative to other organizations. The best hitters get out 60% of the time. Their greatness is only visible when assessed against everyone else, who get out 69% of the time. The success rate for prospects is much lower than either of the numbers. I don't have time for a thorough comparative analysis, sadly. But we can look internally at what the Tribe has done.

I consider the goal of the developmental staff to accomplish two things:

A good system should help players achieve the potential they were viewed to have when they were drafted/signed (with obvious injury caveats).
A great system should strive to raise the ceiling of their players, and strive to turn them into better players than other teams thought they could be.

How do they do this - I have no idea. But I would like to think they identify weaknesses in a player's game and seek to improve on them. Have the Indians done that? Here are some significant minor leaguers, either assessed by performance, draft or reputation, and how they've progressed (or regressed) while in the Indians system.

2003

Michael Aubrey - Injuries make his development impossible to assess

Brad Snyder - I think Snyder's failures are viewed as a contact problem. I think it is more that he didn't hit for enough power given his high strikeout rate. Here are his K/BB rates from A+, to AA, and two years in Buffalo - 2.5, 2.5, 3, +4...that's not good.

Adam Miller - see Michael Aubrey

Javi Herrera - college defensive catcher (and 3rd round pick), never learned to hit at AA

Ryan Garko - Seems like a success story. He's never developed a lot of power, but aside from his senior year at Stanford he never had a lot of power.

Juan Valdes - Injuries (too much coffee, no doubt)

Kevin Kouzmanoff - Kouz is a developmental success for Cleveland, a guy who raised his ceiling to the point of being trade worthy for future superstar Josh Barfield

Aaron Laffey - Big developmental success. While he's always gotten groundballs in bunches, his improving K-numbers throughout his minor league career attest to his improved secondary stuff, particularly his slider.

2004

Jeremy Sowers - I think it is hard to argue Sowers as a developmental failure. He has consistently dominated the minors. The translation to the big league level is not something I feel justified in blaming the minor league staff entirely for. An argument could be made that more of an effort should have been extended to improve his fastball velocity, but that is tough without incurring all sorts of other mechanical issues.

Justin Hoyman - never got started

Scott Lewis - I think a success story from a developmental perspective. Always did well, but was always described as likely having trouble at the next level. He kept doing well at the next level, up until his injury derailment in the majors.

Chuck Lofgren - Hard to know exactly what has happened or who is to blame for Lofgren, but losing the ability to throw strikes is something I'm happy to assign partial blame to the staff.

Mike Butia - Bad pick

Chris Gimenez - The Tribe turned this 19th round pick into a guy who can play multiple positions including catcher. He's not great, but that's not a bad job for a guy not many people probably thought much of.

Carlton Smith - Another guy who the Indians are trying to turn into something useful. They've managed to take his naturally sinking stuff and turn him into an extreme groundballer out of the pen in Akron this year. I say small victory.

Wyatt Toregas - selected in the 24th round, Wyatt's performance has been up and down, but at various points they've managed to get his plate discipline and/or power up to levels that made his appearance on the big league team this year not surprising. Success.

Tony Sipp - he was a late round flyer who I think we're all glad signed. A success obviously, but it is a little troubling that Sipp's control never showed any improvement.

2005

Trevor Crowe - After looking like he was nothing in 2007 in Akron, he did rebound more towards a reasonably projection given his college performance. Not worth a first round pick, but not the developmental staff's fault.

John Drennen - Haven't been able to put together a solid approach at the plate for Drennen. It's either mediocre power with huge K-rates, or zero power with mediocre plate discipline.

Stephen Head - they really should have worked on his mustache more, or tried to put together a coherent set of skills

Nick Weglarz - projectable big guy from Ontario with limited baseball experience turned into a top prospect...Yes!

Jensen Lewis - Again, from the minor league side of things, this looks like a success

Jordan Brown - Following his 2007 season in Akron, it looked like all he needed to do was add a little power and he'd be a good guy at the plate. Instead he fell apart, losing power, discipline and contact skills. He has rebounded a lot this year, but hasn't recovered his discipline at the plate and given his defensive liabilities, isn't viewed as part of the future. In terms of development, I think Brown is probably a draw.

Kevin Dixon, Joe Ness, James Deters - These three consecutive picks from 2005 all reached Akron and promptly had their careers end, I think we can assign a little failure.

Ryan Edell - Edell, the next pick in that draft, actually made it past Akron this year. Edell is not anything special, but he has followed an advance and struggle, then come back and improve trajectory to the point where he is a depth rotation option for next season. I say success from the development perspective.

Roman Pena - Toolsy, but failed to learn how to not strike out

Neil Wagner - Once viewed as a relief prospect sleeper, Wagner's control has gotten worse as he has moved through the system

2006

David Huff - similar story to Jeremy Sowers. He really looked like he was ready in 2008, but in 2009 his stuff has been lacking. I have a hard time saying this is a failure of the minor league development staff, though.

Steven Wright - he's not a guy we talk much about, but he has slowly and steadily progressed through the system and will likely be a major part of the Columbus bullpen next year. Not a glowing victory, but not a developmental failure.

Josh Rodriguez - Rodriguez has dealt with some injuries, but this seems like a failure. He was highly thought of and got off to a nice pro start in 2007.

Wes Hodges - Again injuries have played a role, but Hodges' power and discipline have deteriorated at each level to the point where now he is a deserved after thought.

Matt McBride - Here I largely question the developmental choices the organization has made. McBride was at catcher, but got moved to corner outfield. He had enough of a projectable bat to be a major league catcher, but it would have and will take a minor miracle to make him a serviceable outfielder. I say development fail.

Adam Davis - He got worse each of his final two seasons at Florida, so I don't blame Cleveland for him not being any good, just for drafting him.

Ryan Morris - A big high-school lefty who the Indians have been unable to teach how to throw strikes

Jared Goedert - Apart from a now legendary 46 game stretch in Lake County, he is 9th round organizational fodder

Paolo Espino - Espino has been moved back and forth from rotation to bullpen, but his improved control this season was a positive step forward for him. I say one for the plus column.

Josh Tomlin - a 19th round pick, Tomlin has been steady in his performance across levels, last season as a stalwart in Akron's pitching staff, to the point of being an interesting guy. Development win.

Vinnie Pestano - Enough marginal improvement in his BB-rate to call this a minor victory.

Chris Nash - Big and raw high school firstbaseman, the Indians have never been able to translate his strength into power or any kind of plate performance. Fail.

Ryan Miller - late round flier who showed signs of life for Lake County in 2008, totally blew up in 2009.

Others

Jon Meloan - not drafted, but clearly a developmental failure. Were never able to right his once promising ship.

Asdrubal Cabrera - huge victory. Cabrera was a hugely underrated guy when we acquired him, but he has been able to translate that potential into actual performance.

Fausto Carmona - huge victory....turned huge failure? But this also involves the major league staff.

Frank Herrmann - Transition to bullpen was successful this season and might prove to be a very smart developmental move. That said, he didn't actually improve any of his numbers in the process.

Hector Rondon - Definitely looks like a victory in progress, has been getting better as he has advanced (at least until the final month of this season).

Rafael Perez - Another victory in terms of his minor league performance. Was a borderline starter turned into a momentarily great reliever.

Jeanmar Gomez - Another seeming victory in progress. His stuff has become more effective as he has moved through the system.

Josh Judy - 34th round 2007 pick, his numbers have also shown steady progress. Could warrant a bullpen look in 2010.

Carlos Rivero - was looking good, but had a definite set back this season in his AA debut

Summary

There are lots of guys I have no doubt missed, and I have intentionally left most of the guys acquired from 2007-present out, because for most of them development is still a work in progress. Generally, I think the Indians developmental system has been adequate, if not extraordinary. We have had pitching successes (Aaron Laffey) and failures (Jon Meloan), hitting successes (Asdrubal Cabrera) and failures (Brad Snyder), college successes (Ryan Garko) and college failures (Wes Hodges), high school successes (Nick Weglarz) and high school failures (Chuck Lofgren). Again, a real study would try to assess this quantitatively and comaratively, but I don't have time for that.

I will say the Indians success with pitchers have seemingly been with developing downward movement on their fastball and/or the development of a slider in particular as an effective secondary pitch. There aren't a ton of changeup success stories in the system, or guys who have developed great power fastballs.

At the plate, it is my sense that certain players who have struggled have gone back and forth between trying to achieve their power potential, while also maintaining a reasonable plate approach. Beau Mills seems to be a case of this in progress, where last season he was showing some signs of actually improving in both areas (following a half-season debut with good power and bad discipline), only to come crashing down in many ways this season. I always find it disappointing when guys who showed plus defensive skills, like Brad Snyder, could not ever quite work it out at the plate enough to get a shot at the major league level. Fire everyone! - mabe. But I'd probably rather see an easing of the constraints on the system. Not an abandonment of the over-arching organizational philosophy on player development, but an openness to the reality that Cleveland is not the greatest organization on the planet and does not have all of the answers.

Just about any individual performance success story or failure can be viewed either as a result of the player's contribution or that of the coaches - so it is impossible to really get at the latter. Only systematic problems give reasonable evidence of organizational failings in this regard. By and large I don't think the Indians system has those. I question sometimes whether the one size fits all approach to development and advancement works for everyone, but some of the player development decisions made this year (Abner Abreu, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach Putnam) suggest a more flexible approach on behalf of the front office. The bottom line is that I think the Indians do a good job of getting players to perform to the level that is expected of them. There are not that many examples of guys turning into something more than was ever thought possible, but I would guess these are rare in every organization. There are also not a lot of total failures which don't have some major injury component to them. Fire everyone! - maybe. But I'd probably rather just see more humility in the current organizational philosophy towards development. The Indians are not the greatest organization on the planet and do not know the answers to every (or these days any) question. Allowing a little flexibility and opening the channels of communication regarding development up to a few more smart voices might not be a bad idea.

Game 152: Tigers 11, Indians 3

Ryan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:49:09 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Justin Masterson only lasted four innings.

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If my math is correct, the Indians just have to win two more games to avoid ending the season with 100 losses. Even as bad as they've been playing, they should avoid that, with six upcoming games against teams tanking about as badly as the Indians. But it's almost certain that they'll blow by the 94-loss 2003 team, which means that you have to go back to 1991 to come across an Indians club with a worse record.

Unfortunately, I'd take the 1991 rotation over this one. That team had a 24-year-old Charles Nagy and a 26-year-old Greg Swindell heading it, while this is one, as currently constituted, has Aaron Laffey and a bunch of projects. Justin Masterson, a pitcher who was supposed to contribute right away, hasn't adjusted to full-time starting. Tonight, against a lineup that can to pitched to, he got rocked for six runs in 4+ innings. Yes, two of those runs were unearned because of an Andy Marte throwing error, but I'm just not seeing any improvement in his location or adjustments to past failures. I think he's actually gotten worse since he got here.

The offense got shut down yet again. What else is new. Jhonny Peralta is again in the midst of a exasperating slump, hitting .182/.250/.234 in the month of September.

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Jamey Carroll	.059	Justin Masterson	-.408
Andy Marte	.021	Luis Valbuena	-.064
Shin-Soo Choo	.017	Lou Marson	-.039

Game 151: Tigers 3, Indians 1

Ryan — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:08:30 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

3 months ago: Cleveland Indians' Matt LaPorta, right, is tagged out by Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird in the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Cleveland. LaPorte tried to score from second base on a single by Trevor Crowe. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

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One monotonous day is followed
by another monotonous, identical day. The same
things will happen, they will happen again --
the same moments find us and leave us.

A month passes and ushers in another month.
One easily guesses the coming events;
they are the boring ones of yesterday.
And the morrow ends up not resembling a morrow anymore.

-Constantine P. Cavafy

I thought the game was over when Ryan Raburn hit a home run in the third inning. It wasn't quite over, for the Indians would score a run, but it might as well have been. The Indians have been losing in boring, monotonous regularity, a feature of an especially awful baseball team. Many of the players on this team have futures, but it seems that everyone's taking their cues from their manager, who can see his end approaching. Tonight's loss made nine in a row for the Indians, a season high

Aaron Laffey pitched very well despite a tight strike zone. After struggling in his past two starts, Laffey pitched into the seventh, leaving with the Indians just down a run, a winnable situation for a club of any offensive ability. Unfortunately, the Indians' long run came after Chris Perez gave up two runs in the eighth. Although Cleveland would have an excellent opportunity in the bottom of the inning, three runs were too much to overcome for this punchless offense.

To make matters worse, Matt LaPorta had to leave the game with a hip injury. LaPorta's "only" hitting .235/.278/.426 this month, which ranks among the best on the team. Andy Marte, who is again buried on the bench in favor of Trevor Crowe, got a couple at-bats in place of LaPorta, but I expect we'll be seeing a Chris Gimenez start tomorrow.

Next Up: Porcello vs. Masterson, 7:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Aaron Laffey	.214	Jhonny Peralta	-.220
Shin-Soo Choo	.109	Luis Valbuena	-.189
Jamey Carroll	.095	Asdrubal Cabrera	-.148

Twins Sweep Indians, Cuddyer Shows Off

Jesse — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:23:04 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer pwns Cleveland Indians pitcher Aaron Laffey during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Minneapolis, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

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Twins 7, Indians 3

For most of the game, this wasn't even a close contest. What the Twins were't hitting hard, the Indians couldn't field, and for anyone that reached base off Nick Blackburn, well, Nick had the answer. He blanked Cleveland for six innings before getting into a bit of trouble in the seventh.

He'd only thrown 80 pitches as he climbed the mound for the top of the seventh, but it didn't take long for the Indians to climb back into what had looked like a done deal. Travis Hafner's leadoff double was followed by a first-pitch homer by Matt LaPorta, cutting the score to 5-2. A hard-hit flyball preceeded another Indians hit, and Blackburn was pulled. Jose Mijares put out the fire like he has countless times this season, and Cleveland would never get any closer.

Delmon Young was the only Minnesota starter to not reach base today, with a number of guys picking up multi-hit days. Matt Tolbert laid down a beautiful bunt single in the second inning before adding a double in the fifth. Jose Morales continues to look great at the dish, laying some wood on a pair of doubles off Aaron Laffey. Denard Span picked up a pair of singles, Joe Mauer continues to pull away for the AL biting title thanks in no small part to a bases-loaded single, and Michael Cuddyer? Well, Cuddyer continues to be Minnesota's leader. On and off the field.

Cuddles picked up a trio of hits today, including an RBI single to lead off the day's scoring, a solo homer in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the seventh that helped erase the two runs Cleveland scored in the top half of the inning. Now hitting .274/.337/.511 on the season, this is the kind of offense the Twins will find even more invaluable now that they're Morneau-less the rest of the way this year.

It was interesting in the final third of the game. After Cleveland brought the score to 5-2 only to be turned away in the bottom of the inning by the Minnesota offense, they didn't go quietly. Jesse Crain allowed a run in the top of the eighth after Mijares tasted trouble, before Matt Guerrier put out another fire. The following inning he got into trouble himself, unable to put Cleveland away with a big lead. He allowed a pair of singles and a ground out before Joe Nathan was called upon for the fourth consecutive game.

Shin-Soo Choo and Jhonny Peralta struck out to end the game quickly, with Peralta looking particularly horrible. Blackburn was good before Mijares bailed him out. Mijares was good before Crain...well...before Guerrier bailed them both out. And Guerrier was good before Nathan bailed him out for his 41st save. So that was fun.

The Twins won again, for the fourth consecutive time. It momentarily pulls the them within four games of the Tigers, but that will again chance by the time the calendar turns. With any luck Minnesota could be 3.5 games down tomorrow, which is an off day for the Twins. If the Royals are extremely generous and win on Thursday, it could be three.

Or it could be five. We'll see.

This was a big series for a team that seems eternally on the brink. Beating teams you're supposed to beat is always a good thing.

Stars
#3: Nick Blackburn (6.1 IP, 2 R, 3 K, 0 BB, 8 H, .199 WPA)
#2: Joe Mauer (2-for-3, BB, 2 RBI, R, .137 WPA)
#1: Michael Cuddyer (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, .109 WPA)

Game 146: Twins 7, Indians 3

Jay — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:47:34 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Laffey isn't getting any easier to watch.

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As if we needed one, today's performance provided another reason why nobody should be betting on the Tribe in 2010. Starter Aaron Laffey, one of our best hopes in the rotation for next season, put up another highly suspect performance. Laffey bobbled the ball at first base in the third inning, leading to the Twins' first run, unearned, but an unfocused defensive performance also abetted the three earned runs Laffey allowed in the fourth. It could have been bad luck, but four Twins runners advanced into scoring position on throws from the outfield in that inning, while none were thrown out on the bases.

Laffey pitched a perfect sixth inning, which arguably earned him a shot in the seventh. Viewed another way, Laffey allowed hard-hit balls to all fields in the sixth — flyouts to left, center and right — so it should be no surprise that four pitches into the seventh, Laffey had allowed the Twins' fifth run, with a sixth run primed to score from third with no outs. Jess Todd allowed one run in one inning, keeping his ERA over 11.00. Rafael Perez happily induced groundouts from all three batters he faced, driving his ERA all the way down to 7.50.

Laffey has allowed 21 earned runs over his last six starts, for an ERA of 5.61. Tellingly, he's allowed an additional six unearned runs, for an RA of 6.95. The worst news, however, is that after getting zero out of 32 batters to strike out today, Laffey now has only 11 strikeouts against 17 walks over those six starts, a span of 33.2 IP. There is one piece of good news, however, in that neither Laffey nor any other Indians pitcher will ever have to pitch in the Metrodome again.

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Matt LaPorta	.090	Aaron Laffey	-.231
Luis Valbuena	.029	Jhonny Peralta	-.093
Michael Brantley	.005	Kelly Shoppach	-.088

The Indians lineup teamed up for a vintage Casey Blake performance early in the game, seeing all kinds of pitches without having much to show for it. Jhonny Peralta in particular saw 33 pitches but somehow ended up 0-for-5. Don't be surprised if he gets some hits the rest of the week.

Matt LaPorta led a solid attack later in the game, following a deep Hafner double with a long home run to straight-away center in the 7th, then driving in two more in the 8th. It was LaPorta's second home run in about 17 hours and a nice glimpse into what should be a very productive offense next year. LaPorta's home run last night was the only run Joe Nathan allowed the Indians this season over seven innings, which included 11 strikeouts.

Kelly Shoppach, who had two singles earlier in the game, came up with the bases loaded with two outs in the 8th, representing the tying run. He flied out to right to end the threat, but he did make it through five PA without striking out even once. It's unclear whether this was because Wedge was yelling at him earlier in the game or in spite of it. Unlike past losing seasons, Wedge may have finally lost his clubhouse.

Up Next: The Indians travel to Oakland, for some of those 10 p.m. games we all love.

Game 140: Rangers 10, Indians 0

afh4 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:09:44 -0000

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Will Fausto ever get fixed?

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It took the Texas Rangers less than 24 hours to sweep the Indians and make much of the pitching "progress" that the Tribe had been clinging to start to look more than a bit shaky. Last night, we had to watch Aaron Laffey and Carlos Carrasco get shelled, as well as witness Jess Todd's continued unraveling and then, finally and most despicably, Chris Perez didn't even look inhuman. Today, the pain kept coming as Fausto Carmona lasted only 0.2 IP and surrendered 5 ER. In the last two days the Indians have watched key parts in their 2010 rotation turn in outings that match the shortest starts of their careers, with Carmona's 0.2 standing alone in his illustrious career and Laffey's 3.1 IP performance matching his explosion in Detroit this year.

There were no bright spots in today's game, as the Indians managed only six hits and only Luis V. managed extra bases, with his double in the 8th. To add insult to injury, Rafael Perez got demolished again, going only 0.1 IP and allowing 5 runs to cross the plate, 3 earned. Perez' ERA has now ballooned to 7.94 and I wonder if there's still a place for him in the Cleveland organization this winter.

No matter, though, the Indians losing is old hat. The real problem today was the lineup and that's coming from somebody who normally cares very little about the lineup. However, when Eric Wedge filled in Niuman Romero as the first basemen today he finally crossed the line. I am literally seething about this:

He cannot possibly believe that Romero, a player who managed a .626 OPS in Columbus this year and who has hit righties even worse than he has hit lefties this year, gave the Indians a better chance to win today than did either Andy Marte, who has always pounded righties despite his handedness, or Jamey Carroll, who's having a near career year at the plate.
He undermined the front office and developmental staff who just yesterday had Ross Atkins explaining Jordan Brown's non-callup by saying: "With Andy Marte, Matt LaPorta and four catchers on the roster, there just weren’t plate appearances for Jordan. That is the most important aspect of the decision." Hey, Ross! What do you know, Eric found four at-bats that were just lying around! There is literally no argument, zero, that the Indians should have Romero taking at-bats in Cleveland instead of Brown. There is plenty of argument, being made cogently elsewhere on the site, that at-bats should be taken by LaPorta, Marte, Toregas, Shoppach, Gimenez or Marson before they are taken by Brown. But there is no justification, none, for giving the at-bats that ought to be going to LaPorta, Marte, Toregas, Shoppach, Gimenez or Marson to Romero. Wedge has made Atkins look like a fool and, more importantly, he's made him look like a liar to Brown.

Wedge is a rogue agent on this one: this cannot possibly be the front office's plan and, frankly, I think it represents the most obvious act of insubordination out of Wedge that I've ever seen. As a manager, Eric has always wielded the lineup card as a weapon, using it to punish players and seemingly to send messages to the front office about what will and will not fly on his watch (specifically: Marte will not fly). This, though, this is unbelievable. If Shapiro is not excoriating Wedge right now, I'm disappointed.

Wedge ought to have already been fired for trotting Romero out there. Giving Marte major league at-bats is critical at this point as the Indians need to gather as much information as possible before the offseason. The decision on Marte is going to reverberate to a decision on Peralta and also to decisions on guys like Brown. Wedge stupidly wasting a game watching Romero isn't just stupid, it's hurting the team.

The only upside here is that the Rangers are only 1.5 back of Boston now.

Wedge does things that have no conceivable explanation, large and small.

-Jay