SB Nation User Blog: peter m

Yanks make CC an offer; can he refuse?

peter m — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:24:22 -0000

Yanks make CC an offer; can he refuse?

ESPN reports that the Yanks have made CC an offer slightly larger than the deal Santana got from the Mets. So... how badly does he want to play in the National League? We're about to find out.

Hoynes scouts the Tribe for 09

peter m — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:30:21 -0000

Hoynes scouts the Tribe for 09

This article appeared in today's (Sunday's) PD. It contains, among other things, an unnamed scout's appraisal of some the younger players on whom the Indians will "count" next year. There's been some good discussion on this site of the limits of scouts' opinions, which are often subjective and are particularly hard to read if you don't know who the guy is, as in this case. But, a couple of things here surprised me a little: the scout is pretty lukewarm about Asdrubal's play at short this year and seems generally critical of his range. Maybe that's a reaction to his being "out of shape," but I wondered if that was actually something that the data bear out. The scout is also more enthusiastic about Zach Jackson than about some of the other Indians young lefties (he seems to like Laffey too). I guess if the comparison is to Scott Lewis and Sowers, that's not too surprising, but many people saw Jackson as just a fill in for this year; the scout suggests he may be a little better than that. I hope he's right!

One thing the scout says that sounds familiar: he advocates playing Victor at first and underlines Garko's limitations.

Shoppach has knee surgery

peter m — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:40:25 -0000

Shoppach has knee surgery

I don't think we've heard about this. It doesn't sound like anything serious (sigh of relief?)

Todd Jones retires

peter m — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:54:46 -0000

Todd Jones retires

Well, I guess Indians fans don't have to worry about a true Borowski replacement for next year. It sounds as if Jones is kind of bitter towards Tigers fans!

Is this good or bad news for the PTBNL?

peter m — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:03:48 -0000

Is this good or bad news for the PTBNL?

More news from Milwaukee -- David Riske is having surgery. Doesn't sound like things are going to well over there -- too bad for us.

Good Garko?

peter m — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:54:17 -0000

Good Garko?

I usually like Castrovince's comments on the Indians home page, but this one struck me as kind of over the top. Garko's "surge" is described glowingly here, with a note that he has OPS'd 808 in August. If he were to sustain that over the full year, that would tie him with Ben Francisco (or is it Fransisco?!) for 5th on the team (after Sizemore, Shoppach, Choo and Peralta). A season-long OPS of 808 would place him 6th among AL 1st baseman, ahead of Lyle Overbay in 7th.

All told, in other words, if this is the "good" Garko, he's not all that good. How can the team upgrade at 1B -- play Martinez there a lot and have Shoppach catch? Or, do we sign a free agent? Or, what?

The Graffanino era begins

peter m — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:33:00 -0000

The Graffanino era begins

The Bisons are activating 35 year old Tony Graffanino for tonight's game. Starting pitcher not yet announced -- could it be Jeff Weaver? A pre-game doo-wop concert is also rumored.

Economics of Losing

peter m — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:13:29 -0000

I was wondering at what point, if any, the Indians' disappointing season becomes an economic concern for the team. Right now, they're averaging 25,787 per game (22nd in the majors). That's about 3000 less than last year's final averages, but still above the levels for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Normally, the Indians could expect attendance to go up in the good weather months of summer and probably hoped for a bump in September if there was a pennant race. Now, it looks as if the pennant race is not going to happen and fans may stay away if the team sits in last place and plays the kind of dull baseball we've been seeing. So, my question is whether people think the economics of this will either force the Indians to shake things up to cut costs and/or to shake things up in order to revive interest in the team?

Going for the hbp record

peter m — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:42:53 -0000

Rather than tie myself in knots trying to decide whether to trade CC and to whom, I decided to amuse myself by doing some calculations regarding the Indians' propensity to get hit by a pitch. Right now, we have been hit 54 times, far and away the most in the majors. At the rate we are going, we will shatter the American league record for a team, currently held by Toronto (1996), who were hit 96 times. We are on pace for 115. The all-time record is held by Boston (NL - Braves?), back in 1898 -- 148. I say go for it! Perhaps we can trade CC for batters who get hit a lot -- among active players, leaders include Jason Kendall, Carlos Delgado, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, David Eckstein and Jeff Kent (surely some of those guys are available)? Coax Craig Biggio out of retirement (who needs Bonds?). Hire Ron Hunt to teach the Indians how to get hit on purpose and get away with it? Fire Wedge and hire Don Baylor? Let's put our heads together and figure out how to get this team into the record books!

Jays fire Gibbons

peter m — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:45:53 -0000

Jays fire Gibbons

I guess Gibbons must like Adam Dunn?