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Right now, Lowe's a 5-6 inning pitcher. Its okay as long as Jimenez and Masterson are working big innings. But I don't know how we plug the hole if he's not in the rotation. There might not be a stretch run if they rest him to get him ready for one.

You're in Chicago ... is there any substance to rumors I've heard that the Cubs might be shopping Matt Garza as part of a package with Soriano? They are sinking in the NL Central, and might be looking to off-load salary - although they would still have to pick up a significant part of Soriano's 19 mil / yr to trade him.

Soriano.....eeeesh, I don't know if I'd want him unless they were offering a Braves-type Lowe deal (we'll pay 85% of his salary to just not be here). And even then, you now are the proud owners of.....Soriano. He's been hot lately, but I don't know how a move to the AL will treat him.

If that's the only way to get Garza.....maybe. What can the Indians offer right now?

I know 42-39 isn't great....but it doesn't matter if it's 39-42. As long as that games back column stays under 4, we're fine. Heck, we're only a few games away from being back in 1st. Just stay close to the AL Central leader and see what happens in Sept. I don't think the Sox are good enough to run away with this thing...and Detroit, they can't seem to get out of their own way.

I think he's gonna get moved. Theo will pull that one off on the last day unless someone comes to him with an offer he can't turn down.

I don't see the Indians wanting to take that salary, for a guy who could get logjammed if Travis Hafner heats up and stays healthy.

If Hafner is out of the equation, it's an easy move. The guy is horrible in the outfield and if you stick him out there with Damon, you're asking for it.

I would like to see the Tribe make a move to get better, but I think it'd be a shock if it was Soriano.

Agreed.

Honestly, if there isn't a good RH bat to go get, I'd like us to dump Cunningham and bring up LaPorta. LaPorta isn't going to get any better at the AAA level. If he's going to make the leap, he needs major league at-bats to continue that development. He can't be much worse than Cunningham at the plate and he can play OF. IMO it's time to see what we might have in LaPorta.

I know I've been fairly vocal about my opinion that we got taken for a ride with LaPorta, but the guy was supposed to be a sure thing and the light hasn't come on for him yet in the 3+ seasons he's been with the Indians. I just don't think it's going to in the foreseeable future. I think he's a AAAA player.

You might be right, but how much of a chance are we really taking by swapping LaPorta for a stiff like Cunningham? ::shrug::

Oh, I don't disagree with that. Just saying I don't expect his development to go much further and for him to become the player many thought we were getting.

Speaking of baseball....the Rangers are playing here in Chicago right now....100 degrees. Sorry, I wouldn't be at that game if you paid me $50 and gave me front row seats.

Go Rangers.

Nope, but I do need to watch "Dude, where's my car?" soon.

It's all about Zoltan in 2012.

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They need to make a run though. They've been treading water all year

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Same deal with the Reds. Once they took over first place it seemed like they let up a little when they should've stepped on the accelerator and tried to put some distance between them and second place.

Very disappointing series in LA when the Dodgers were throwing out a lineup that wasn't much above triple A quality without Kemp and Ethier.

San Diego isn't the place to get it turned around, with the long fences and overall bad luck they have out there. Just please get out of there with a split.

J/C

Good win for the Featherheads last night - nice to see Hafner go deep to make it a 2 run lead for Perez. I guess I need to dog on Tomlin every start, because he pitched great last night. Either that, or rethink what I think of Tomlin. Maybe he's good and I'm FOS. Time will tell, it wouldn't be the first time I was FOS. 2 games back, with a shot at 45-46 W's at the break. I'll take it.

Well, Tomlin certainly knows how to use his pitches to keep batters off-balance. Problem is, because he isn't going to throw it by anybody at this level, his margin for error is much smaller than normal. If he gets behind hitters, he gets into trouble more readily because his fastball is basically a batting practice toss.

So, I wouldn't say that Tomlin sucks. He's usually good for 5 strong innings. However, when we get 6-7 out of him, that's a real bonus. Unfortunately, he has to be REALLY on and hitting his spots to get through seven innings. Too often, it just doesn't work out that way and I think that's a fair knock on his game.

Reds Post:

Its nice to see Latos finally coming around. His last couple starts have been outstanding. With that being said the offense has looked pitiful. Stubbs has really seemed to regress since coming back from injury, cant hit anything right now.

The bullpen is also struggling. They started out the as one of the best in all of baseball but theyve been getting hit around the past few weeks. The Pirates to their credit are on a roll (8-2 last 10 games while Cincy is 4-6).

After the All-Star break we need to look at bringing in another Right-handed power hitting outfielder. If the price isn't too steep I'd make a run at Carlos Quentin. Also haye to say but the irony of the last two games is we've been beaten by guys we gave up. Harang was solid and Volquez only allowed one ER while Alonso has a multi hit game and Grandel leads off the 9th with a double and scores the winning run.

The saddest thing has been the way the Reds are giving away games by making stupid mistakes and not capitalizing on scoring opportunities. The SF game where Billy Hatcher held Ludwick at 3rd in the 9th when he could have easily scored left the game tied with the bases loaded and no outs. We struck out the next two times and the Giants escaped tied only to win it in the bottom of the 9th when Bruce misplays an easy out in right. Then last night we have Heisey on 3rd with only one out and the next two batters strike out and we lose by 1. Frustrating

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The SF game where Billy Hatcher held Ludwick at 3rd in the 9th when he could have easily scored left the game tied with the bases loaded and no outs.

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It's actually Mark Berry on 3rd, Hatcher is at 1st.

Berry is definitely the worst 3rd base coach in the league.

Speaking of Cunningham, the Indians sent down Jason Donald back down to make room for Duncan's return. I like Donald - he can play CF, LF, 2B, SS, and 3B. He also seems to have a major league bat. But Acta opts to keep Cunningham. I don't get it.

In other news, CBS channel 2 in Chicago reports that the Indians were among 6-7 teams scouting Matt Garza in Atlanta. Most of rumors at this point are about the Tigers and Cubs talking.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/07/06/report-tigers-interested-in-garza/

JMO, but as this thread finishes up, I hope the next baseball thread(s) are separate. No offense to Reds, Pirates, and other teams' fans.

Nah, I just prefer separate threads per team. Your point is taken though; its not exactly a hotbed of baseball interest around here. We'll see if that changes if the Indians continue to contend as time goes by. Right now, I don't get the feeling that fans are buying in - heck, I'm not sure I am.

Ugh... You don't expect Cabrerra and Perez to be the reasons you lose a ballgame. Oh well.

Shew, Reds manage to escape the west coast trip with a 6-5 record. I'll take that anytime.

The Pirates are setting a nice pace, hopefully the break cools them down.

I hope so

But the Pirates might be getting serious this year, they're showing interest in Upton & Quentin.

I'm hoping the Reds make a move to upgrade the leadoff position. Get Pierre if the price is right.

Berkman might be back for this next series. Good, no excuses when we beat them with their best.

Two different years, two different teams. I think looking back the youngins' needed the highs and lows of last year for this year. Burnett's addition has done wonderful things for the Pirates rotation on and off the mound (see James McDonald). I'd take Lincoln, Grilli and Hanrahan over any other final 3 bullpen guys. McCutchen has been bat-you-know-what crazy all year, Alvarez is completely better than last year and has hit over .300 for a month, Walker is up above .290 after going crazy for a few weeks, they've got roughly 15 HR's from catchers and first basemen, Marte is on the doorstep in AAA and they're seeming to be engaged in a "Sabathia type" deal.

They scored the most runs in baseball in June. They've scored the most in July so far.

I'm not sure they'll be around 95 wins and fighting for the division on the last day - but this team is night and day better than last year. And, for what it's worth according to Buster Olney, the Reds and Pirates have the easiest two NL second half schedules. Here's to an exciting second half

GO BUCS.

Who would have thought that at the All-Star Break, the Red Sox and Phillies would both be in last place, while the two best records in the National League belong to the Nationals and Pirates?

So you're not surprised with the fact they're below Toronto and Baltimore?

I'm not saying they were as good as the Phillies, but still surprising they're in last.


We did win 90 games last year...

with the injuries that Boston has had, no I'm not surprised you are tied with Toronto so far (thought they'd be around .500 one way or the other).

more surprised at how good Baltimore has been than the Red Sox being .500 w/ those injuries to be honest.

and, you're only 2.5GB of the wild card slot, so it's not like you are reeling (unlike Philly who are 10GB of the WC slot in addition to being last in their division)

Oh, I'm not saying we're out of it, or that I'm in panic mode yet. I'm just saying It's odd to look at the standings and see Boston and Philly at the bottom of their division while Washington and Pittsburgh are at the top.

Does Bryce Harper deserve to be in the all star game?

I'd just like to thank the good people of Kansas City for their booing/cheering of failure that they gave to Cano - that was beautiful.

What's not beautiful... ESPN. Everytime I watch their coverage of something I remember what a joke it's become.

Chris Berman doesn't help.

back..back...back....back...back

So who won?? I didn't watch. Not that I really care, but more for a general conversation point if it ever comes up.

Sloth Fielder.

Indians got a good win over another team in the early wild card hunt. Another good game Masterson against Toronto (I remember the opener).... Perez got the save this time...and Hafner homered. Having him healthy should help the Indians in the second half. Hes already showing albiet in a handful of games.

It was a good win, but the White Sox keep winning so we're still 3 back. Also, don't look now but here come the Tigers, only 1/2 game back of the Indians. Its good we're playing good baseball, but a little discouraging that no ground is being gained. That loss to Tampa last Sunday still stings. The next few weeks could tell the tale of the season, since we have 3 series vs the AL East. We're 8-11 against the East. So, as well as we're playing, we need to take it up another notch to stay in contention.

I wonder if the Cavaliers make a run at Luis Scola, who was amnesty waived by the Rockets?

He's older, but still very effective. He's a big with a nice mid range game. He has 3 years and $21 million left on his contract, but only 2 years are guaranteed.