SB Nation User Blog: The DiaTriber

Smoke Signals with Jay Levin, etc.

The DiaTriber — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:44:06 -0000

I just wanted to let everyone know that with Tony Lastoria on "vacation" (which is somewhere around Kinston, I think), our beloved Jay will be my co-host for the Smoke Signals radio show tonight from 9:30 to 10:30. You can either listen live or catch on with the podcast at a later time here.

Jay and I will hit on the all the highs and all the lows of the last week and should hear from Tony Lastoria, who plans on calling in with his thoughts on the latest moves by the Tribe as well as what he's hearing. Additionally, a cameo by Anthony Castrovince from indians.com is expected to check in with his thoughts on the moves that have been made and the moves that could happen.

EDIT - this should probably be a FanShot, so if someone who knows how wants to move it there, have at it.

Woolner with '64 and Counting

The DiaTriber — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:43:57 -0000

Woolner with '64 and Counting

Vince over at '64 and Counting had an opportunity to do a piece on Keith Woolner, the Indians' stat guy who came to the corner of Carnegie and Ontario via B-Pro.

It's an extremely well-written piece full of insight, despite the Polo Shirt Mafia's proclivity to keep things close to the collar.

Woodzoski (The Close)

The DiaTriber — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:55:30 -0000

Woodzoski (The Close)

I hope it's not in poor taste to link this (though I don't think I've ever done so on my own behalf), but I thought that the LGTers might be interested in this case of (what is hopefully) mistaken identity.

Mike Hudson Article

The DiaTriber — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:48:33 -0000

Not sure if anyone remembers mikehudson, who posted quite frequently here about a year and a half back, but this was in today's PD.
Fascinating article, accompanied by pictures, that I found extremely interesting.
It's always pleasantly surprising to put a face and a story to a username.

40-man moves

The DiaTriber — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:58:54 -0000

The Tribe just outrighted Jake Dittler and Jason Stanford off of the 40-man. The moves essentially mean that the current 40-man roster stands at 38.

Interesting on Dittler, as he won't turn 24 until late November and spent the full season at Buffalo. I believe this means that he has to clear through waivers to be added back into the orgaization.

Wickman Moved to Atlanta

The DiaTriber — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 17:54:12 -0000

There's the first domino to fall:

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/pdsports/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_pdsports/archives/2006_07.html#163 304

They don't list the name of the prospect, but it should be a decent one. All the story says is that the prospect will not impact the team in 2006.
I would assume that Langerhans and/or Betemit would be named.

News at 11...

Frank the Tank

The DiaTriber — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:15:55 -0000

With Casey Blake coming off of the DL after the AS Break, where does Gutierrez fit in?

Does Michaels become the 4th OF, with Blake in LF, Gutz in RF, Hollandsworth elsewhere?

Does Gutz get sent back down?

Does Gutz become the 4th OF, with Dutch hitting road?

Does Blake play 3B (or 2B, with Belliard moving to 3B) - "Welcome back, Casey...go take some grounders"?

Personally, I think that the first option is the most beneficial to the team as the Tribe knows what it has in Blake and Michaels, but needs to find out if Gutz is a viable MLer (and possibly a leadoff option for 2007).

The interesting factor in the equation is that Blake and Michaels have always seemed to be "Wedge guys" - hard-nosed grinders. How much that comes into play will be the one to watch, as Gutz needs to be more of a known quantity by year's end.

Craig Wilson Rumor

The DiaTriber — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:03:56 -0000

For you Craig Wilson fans out there, he may be headed to Fenway:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports//s_434540.html

It could all just be conjecture and rumor, but the trade seems to make sense for both parties involved. The Red Sox would be rid of Clement and have some insurance at 3B and the Pirates would upgrade their staff while not doing too much damage to the projected lineup.

Options

The DiaTriber — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:05:30 -0000

What players on the 40 man (and not assumed to have a guaranteed spot on the 25 man) are out of options?

Phillips is generally known to be out of options (as was Tallet), but where do Jason Davis, Jason Stanford, Jason Dubois, and the rest of the 2006 Bisons fall?

How many options remain for players with options?

Anybody have a handle on this?

2006 Offensive Projection

The DiaTriber — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 16:37:09 -0000

A quick question and challenge to those able to easily navigate their way through MLB stats:

The insertion of Peralta into the 3 spot is marked as the time that the offense really clicked; while it wasn't until Hafner returned from Buerhle's beaning that the lineup took the shape that most felt was most productive. That lineup, which is what we're currently looking at for 2006 (minus Perez), obviously being:
Sizemore
Crisp
Peralta
Hafner
Martinez
Belliard
Broussard
Blake
Boone

The date of Hafner's return was August 4th, when the Tribe was 57-51. After that date (a loss, which is remembered for Wickman's meltdown in the 9th against the NYY), the Tribe went 36-18. So the last 54 games (or 1/3) of the season was the only time that the lineup was truly in its present state.

With all of that being said, how did the Indians' offense compare, over those 54 games, with the rest of the league?
Where would it rank against the AL, and all of the ML?

Can you factor that production out over 162 games (as the team won at a .666 clip over the final 1/3 of the season, including the late-season collapse) to predict 2006 offensive production if no changes were made to the lineup?