Note: This should be a fanshot, or a comment.  Or a even gamethread comment.

The probability of the Cleveland Indians winning the World Series in 2011 is less than 80%.  But I still think we'll see the Front Office sign a major league patch or two or three to help that team along.  I'm not talking about the total NRI gamble - we'll see several of those at every position. 

I'm talking about signing players to a Branyan, Grudz, Pavano type contract.  The favorite, of course, is the one year with a team option, but those are hard to come by.  More likely we'll see a simple 1 or 2 year contract.  And these are guys, like Branyan, who we could hopefully trade mid-season next year.

I just wanted to rank the priority of the different positions.  Here's my take:

1.  OF - Highest priority.  We've got exactly 3 guys at the major league level that are (or might be) legitimate starters.  Michael Brantley is still young and unproven; Grady Sizemore is coming off of microfracture surgery.  It looks like all 3 will spend time on the DL this season.  Shelley Duncan/Trevor Crowe - Hell/No.  Wegz is set back by his injury.  So there's a clear spot for someone of Branyan/Grudz quality.  Maybe it will even be Austin Kearns himself.  (Or Coco Crisp.  Or Jody Gerut.  I'm not familiar with any of the other names on the list.)

2.  SP - It made a huge difference to drop Pavano in the middle/end of the rotation.  Of course, with a pitcher, you're even more likely to be gambling on an injury recovery that could nothing.  Let guys like Carlos Carrasco, Josh Tomlin, Jeanmar Gomez, David Huff battle over one fewer spot.

 Big drop off...

3.  C - Can't count this out if Carlos Santana is anything less than fully recovered.  Add another Redmond to backup Marson for a while.  And maybe if Santana is recoved, we don't want Marson to be a full time backup yet.

4.  Corner IF - Could easily go with the status quo.  Decide on Andy Marte/Jayson Nix/Jared Goedert, and let the other(s) backup.  Duncan is also a reserve option at 1b.  But I could see the FO deciding to just put Ty Wigginton or Melvin Mora or Eric Chavez there.  It's what they did with Branyan.

5. RP - Every bullpen ever has room for another quality arm, but we've got a lot of arms here.  Most likely we just audition a bunch of NRIs, as proven pen guys are too expensive and possibly imaginary.

6.  MI - I really don't think this happens.  Just seems unnecessary to the extreme with Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Donald, Luis Valbuena, Nix. 

Following the Indians' minor league hitters this year has been fun.  The pitchers have been less fun.  We all know that this is an exercise in attrition, but it would be nice if at least one arm or two would make a big jump forward.  We know the vast majority will be lost; we're just searching for the right two or three.  (So, yeah, I'm going to this image again)

via cyncity.typepad.com

I had some time today, and thought I would take a moment to see how our pitching "prospects" are doing.  This isn't a ranking, it's just a bookkeeping exercise.  I just wanted to see everyone's line in one place.

I'm taking Sickels' list from back in January ("But the pitching. . .wow, there is a lot of depth in pitching") and checking on each guy.  (oh yeah, I added one guy - Price.  There are other guys who could be on here based on their performance this year, and perhaps I'll put them in the comments.  But I really think Price should have been on there in January, and it's my post).

I have divided the players into 4 broad categories (good, neutral, bad, and injured).  I probably could've have just combined the last two.  A couple of things jumped out - first, we don't have as many horrible/injured performances as I thought.  Just lots of guys in the neutral category.  Second, our "good" performances really aren't great, aside from Gardner.  There's no doubt that each pitcher's placement below reflects some of my own expectations for the guy.

The order of players in each category is not important -- just roughly from highest to lowest level.  I also left off major league stats and stat lines of less than a handful of innings.  I just typed these in, so let me know if there are any errors.  I've been fighting with the spacing for a while, and am giving up.  And hey, if you only want to see the good, stay above the jump!

EXCELLENT

Mitch Talbot - 26

You know this guy.

 

Hector Ambriz - 26

Columbus  8.0 IP, 9 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 15 K, 1.12

Obviously, he’s in Cleveland now and doing just OK.  Sure seems like he should be getting more strikeouts.  I think he’ll stay on the roster for the rest of the year.

 

 

Jess Todd – 24

Columbus  28.2 IP, 29 H, 4 HR, 11 BB, 30 K, 3.45

Stevens – Meloan – Todd.   We have an awful awful pen, and here’s a guy we acquired by trade, who is doing pretty well in the upper minors.  Maybe we should try him.  Or did we see something, after the trade, that suggests that he just will not translate?  Are those 20 IP that he got last year (and the punishment that came along with them) the end of the story? 

 

 

Alex White - 21

Kinston  44.0 IP, 32 H, 4 HR, 19 BB, 41 K, 2.86
Akron     30.7 IP, 14 H, 3 HR, 13 BB, 19 K, 1.47

Eastern League hitters are tougher.  But this is good progress.

 

 

Joe Gardner – 22

Lake County    25.0 IP, 17 H, 2 HR, 11 BB, 38 K, 3.24
Kinston             45.1 IP, 26 H, 1 HR, 17 BB, 40 K, 1.79

Maybe the only guy on this list with any kind of positive breakout.  Not that he was an unknown.  He lost his crazy K numbers at Kinston, but guys still can’t get hits off of him.  He’ll damage Chisenhall beyond repair someday.

 

 

TJ McFarland (L) - 21

Kinston     66.7 IP, 57 H, 4 HR, 13 BB, 43 K, 2.16

He was appearing on the minor league ERA leaderboard for a while.  Another big groundball guy, obviously.  He was a 4th round pick.  Let’s move him up in a month and see what happens.

 

 

TJ House – 20

Kinston      65.0 IP, 65 H, 4 HR, 31 BB, 59 K, 3.32.

That line might be short of dominant, but it’s good.  Fellow draftee Trey Haley, on the other hand, still can’t find the strike zone.

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I realized last night that I no longer need ESPN in my life.   I'm done with it, certainly for the near future.

I get better, more specific baseball coverage from MLB, both online and on tv.  The analysis is better, the access to highlights quicker.

I have no interest in what happens in basketball or hockey at this point, though I'll hear enough from people around me.  What?  Lakers and Celtics again?  Yippee.

Don't want to read Simmons again, who I grew up on, but who no longer has anything in common with sports fans.  Gammons is gone, Reilly is unnecessary, Stark is trivial.  Law is a weak reflection of the BP guys, and how far can you trust a guy who doesn't think that payroll is an actual advantage. Olney is...well, I like Olney best perhaps...but he's pay anyway. 

Sportscenter is a huge time suck, and besides, we watch the Backyardigans and Curious George around here in the mornings.  If there is some amazing sports highlight now, it'll get passed around online.  If I just need to chill for a half hour, my DVR, like everyone else's, has a huge backlog of shows.

Took it off my blackberry, removed it from my listed TV channels.  Direct link to the fantasy baseball page (point for you, ESPN).  This may need adjustment once real football games are actually shown, but if I'm curious about the Browns or college news during the summer, I'm not going to sit through another discussion of McNabb/Tebow/Favre/Manning for a 20 second piece on Colt McCoy.

I need a little space ESPN, just some time to think things over, but don't hold your breath.  I know we're in the third decade of our relationship, but you just don't do it for me anyone.  I've seen all your tricks. 

What's that?  You want me to stop by and watch a world cup match?  We'll see.  Let me check the Spanish station first.

 

Adam's in Georgia.  What are you going to do?

 

 

1.  Where does DeRo go? 

When Droobs went down (it’s ok, I can talk about it now), I thought we’d see a regular diet of Jhonny at SS and DeRosa at 3rd.  Instead, we’ve seen DeRosa placed all over the field, and now we’ve even seen Valbuena at SS three times. 

                        DeRo               JhP                    Carroll             Buena 

June 3              RF                   SS                    3B                   2B

June 4              DH                  SS                    3B                   2B

June 5              3B                   SS

June 6              RF                   SS                    3B                   2B

June 7              3B                                             2B                   SS                                           

June 9              LF                                           3B                   SS

June 10            LF                   3B                   2B                   SS

June 11            3B                   SS                                            2B

As for Jhonny, well, it’s clear that Wedge isn’t too caught up in Jhonny’s request for stability.  And is there any chance that the team (Wedge? Shapiro?) believes that Valbuena is the better defender than Jhonny at SS? (note: indians.mlb.com got the scoop on me here today.)  Meanwhile, DeRosa has become the SuperSub that we always wanted Blake to be, although Grady’s injury probably has a little to do with that. 

 

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This should be a fanshot.  Actually, I have no idea.  It's not a quote, or link, or video, or photo.

The Indians are coming to Colorado next week, 8 months too late.  I think Adam and I are going to try to go to the Tuesday (June 17) game.  If you are in the area (which means Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, West Texas, or Utah) and want to guy, let us know soon.  DTF, I'm looking your way.

MLB is broadcasting some of the Arizona Fall League games, including the Surprise Rafters today and tomorrow.  So, if you're really wondering what Brad Snyder or Michael Aubrey are up to these days...and if you are, what is wrong with you?

David Huff should be pitching either today or tomorrow, I would think, but I haven't found a page with scheduled starters.  Miller pitched on Saturday, and got hit pretty hard.

And while I admit that watching these games on-line is pretty crazy, the thought of actually sitting with 400 fans on a warm November day in Arizona watching Huff pitch to Cameron Maybin...wow.

Updated. For my own beneift, I guess. This article is almost entirely self-serving, so feel free to ignore.  But hey, it's a diary right?

I'm driving from Boston to Indy, taking a little less than a week.  Here's what I've settled on:

Friday night in Philadelphia.  Phillies v. Mets (with friends)

Saturday night in Pittsburgh.  Pirates v. Nationals (just me)

Sunday in Cleveland.  Indians vs. Rays (with family)

Tuesday night in Detroit.  Tigers vs. Indians (just me)

Obviously, it's a bit of a zig-zag, but you understand.  And when else am I going to get to see the Rays, Pirates, and Nationals in the same week?? I assume I can get a great ticket for the Pittsburgh game.  If you see some dork in the rows behind home plate talking on a cell phone and ferociously waving at the camera, that's me. Actually, it should be a good mix of meaningful and meaningless games.

As I've gotten older, I've found I'm comfortable watching a game in different ways.  I like going with a fun group, even if they are totally unconcerned with the game.  Nor do I mind spending a game answering a string of little questions. ("Those are the uniform numbers of the pitchers.")  I'll also listen to 3 hours of fantasy talk.  And I don't mind going alone, upon which I turn into a Steve Bartman-style baseball nerd. (Although one who would understand the context of a foul ball.)

Also, I'm in a life-long race with my father to see who can reach the most stadiums.  I feel pretty confident about my chances, because, you know, he's 30 years older than me.

You can define the goal in two different ways.  I like to think of it as trying to see a home game for every team.  If so, I'm at 17.  

You can also define it as individual stadiums, which means the goal keeps moving as new stadiums are built.  It also makes me wish I had gotten a chance to see old Tiger Stadium, or the Vet.

I could have been every more aggressive with my schedule, and tried to fit in Baltimore (never been) and Cincy (haven't seen new park).  But that would have required completely blowing off family and friends along the way.

My biggest debate was whether to take a more Northerly route.  This would have allowed me to see the Aeros, Bisons, and Scrappers (hey Beau!), all of whom are on the road in NY and PA.  That would have been great.  I mainly decided against it because of my friend in Philly, and the fact the Blue Jays are out of town.

Of course, if you are going to be at one of these games, let me know.  We can find each other with binoculars and wave from afar.  Except for the Detroit game.  In that case I think we should find each other and make a fort out of souvenirs, programs, car keys, and broken cup holders.  We'll arm ourselves with mini bats.