SB Nation User Blog: Travis17

Ben Fransisco Future in LF

Travis17 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:36:27 -0000

I want to see what everyone else thinks about Ben Fransisco.

Ben Fransisco's 2008 stats

RBI

OBP

SLG

AVG

368

106

174

.345

.473

.288

I don't know about anybody else but i think Ben can be good hitter maybe in the .290-.300 range i think we either use him as trade bait or keep him and continue playing him as the regular LF.

Byrd to Boston for "insignificant prospect"?

Travis17 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:56:31 -0000

I read one of the local papers yesterday athat mentioned that the Indians will receive cash and/or an "insignificant prospect" (or maybe the phrase was "insignificant minor-leaguer") from Boston in exchange for Byrd.

Maybe I'm mistaken here, but isn't Byrd a free agent at the end of this season? And I thought I read that he is a Type A player, meaning he'll bring a high draft pick as compensation. I'm thinking that would've been worth more than what the Indians received in the trade. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I getting my facts wrong? WOuld be interested to hear some insight from you guys out there...

This may be nitpicking but....

Travis17 — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:51:04 -0000

Why did Wedge remove Nixon in favor of Michaels last night in the 7th. To recap, LHP Mahay had loaded the bases on a HBP and two walks. if I'm Ron Washington, I want to take him out and bring in a RHP, but probably won't with Nixon coming up. So what does Wedge do? He helps Washington make that decision by pinch-hitting Michaels. Now you have Michaels vs. a fresh righty when you could have had Nixon vs lefty who can't throw strikes. The only thing I can find in Wedge's defense is if there was another lefty in the Rangers' pen who would've replaced Mahay anyway.

Indians haiku

Travis17 — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:46:13 -0000

A co-worker just sent me a hiaku. He's following today's Indians-Yankees game on the internet, so you can see where his poetic inspiration came from:

"Bases juiced, one out.
Jhonny Peralta strikes out.
Casey Blake fouls out."

He switched the order of the outs to fit the haiku rules, but you get the idea.

It reminded me of a series of dog haikus I saw somewhere a few years ago. So I thought I'd post his entry here to see if anyone can add some good ones to the thread. Any Tribe fan poets out there want to follow up?

Need to vent frustration after KC series

Travis17 — Thu, 11 May 2006 12:20:11 -0000

I'm fairly new to this site, so I must first say I love what I'm reading! Everyone seems very knowledgeable on all topics - Tribe, minor league teams, MLB, etc... I'll be checking in often!

Now, time to vent...

Throughout the off-season, I tried to have a positive outlook on the way things were going. Trust Shapiro. Be patient. Look at the big picture. I liked the fact that they were studying what went wrong last year down the stretch and the why they were so bad in close games. And while I was concerned about the acquisitions and the inability/refusal to spend money to help the team now, I tried to quell those concerns by remaining confident in the front office. So what if we let Howry and Millwood walk? They don't fit in our financial plans. So what if all we added were a backup 1B and 2nd/3rd-tier starting pitchers? All is well! The relievers that we signed haven't piched well (if at all) in recent years? No problem! We traded Riske, Rhodes, and Crisp for a stud minor leaguer and a setup man with a questionable arm? Remain calm!

During the first few weeks, of course, all was well. But here we are, 35 games into the season, and it's almost like 2005 all over again. So what happened in the offseason? What was all the patience and trust about? I'll tell you what - NOTHING! It was exactly like it looked on paper. We have a worse bullpen and a worse starting rotation than last year. THey still can't field. They still can't throw out baserunners. They still make stupid baserunning mistakes. Thank goodness the hitters picked up where they left off or we'd be totally buried in the standings. As it stands now, we're only one game better than last year's April/May debacle!

I know we have a good farm system, but I'm tired of waiting for the future. The prospects don't always produce. I'm tired of seeing teams like Florida, Arizona and Anaheim reach the World Series, win it, then fall into oblivion again. I'm tired of "getting close". I'm tired of "contending". I'm tired of plans, and faith and excuses. And I'm tired of cash poor owners who insist that they are spending money by locking up players long-term instead of spending to fill weaknesses to win NOW! I'm tired of it all!