DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum MLB Playoffs 2012

Great move !

The Tribe basically switched Choo (who would have left anyway) and Swisher and traded Tony Sipp, Jason Donald and Lars Anderson for 3 years of Stubbs, 6 years of Bauer, 5 years of Shaw and 1 year of Albers

Without trading ACab or CPerez. Looking at it this way, it's been a great offseason so far. Another vet SP is needed though....hoping for Marcum, but would settle for Myers or Saunders.

I would look to keep Cabrera now and trade Perez for the best deal...BP depth is insane

As a potential SP, I love the minor league pickup of Kazmir. He's exactly the type of low risk/high reward SP that we have been lucky on, plus he's still actually young.

That would be a strong off-season, given that the Indians had few trade pieces left because of other past trades.

I would love to see us find another pitching reclamation project that we have found so useful in the past.

Yeah, as a player, he's good. As a person, not so much. I've had several interactions with him, none of which were good...all of which were at charity events none the less. He had body guards surrounding him so that other people could not approach him and seemed way less than enthused to actually be there. He even no showed to one event. Steinbrenner ended up showing up and donated a large amount of money because of the inconvenience since Swisher was advertised as being a speaker and brought someone with him that made the crowd forget....Jeter.

It's too bad the indians couldn't make this move a few years ago, when we had hafner and sizemore out eating our payroll. I don't like that we're tied to this guy until he's 36, making 14 mil per, but we really had no choice, considering we're not blowing the team up, as of right now. The Dolans know they have to put fans back in the seats, and I believe this has more to do with that, than anything else.

A lot of the coming season is going to depend on if the new staff can get some of our pitchers put back together again.

I still contend the hiring of Francona lit a fire for whatever reason..Maybe it was a unwritten clause to get him "We promise we will get u some players" Manny was a band-aid on an amputation IMO

we need marcum
swisher was solid (though risky for the price)

The Swisher contract is the kind of thing that can cripple a team like the Indians if he flops. He might produce the first two years, but he will probably start his decline in the last two (or three). Paying $15 million to an unproductive player is brutal for small(ish) market teams.

I don't really understand what the Indians are doing.

They're doing what a lot of other smaller market teams do. Try to sign a few decent pieces in the offseason. If the team flops, try to trade them before the deadline. I imagine that's what the indians are doing, as well as the blue jays, and what the marlins did a year ago. The attendance has to be killing Dolan.

That could be part of it ..... however a 5 year deal is much harder to trade than a 2 or 3 year deal when it comes to a 32 year old player.

I really think that they like Swisher, and view him as a pro's pro, who can be a good influence in the locker room as well as being a leader on the field. I think that the Indians view him as a core player for the next couple of years, then as a DH type after that.

I take back "most" of the bad things I've been thinking about the Dolans, Shapiro, and Antonetti. Clearly they've finally have gotten the message and have been proactive in finding some players these past few weeks. I was a bit disappointed they traded Choo but they would have never re-signed him. Scott Boras...enough said. Swisher replaces Choo's power numbers, not necessarily his defense. I like this signing.

I suspect they're not done. I'm sure Terry Francona has a few more players on his wish list before spring training starts.

I do think that the sale of STO has helped the team by giving them some extra revenue to use towards improving the team. I don't know if it is finalized yet, but they expect to reap $200-$250 million from the sale of the network. That plus removing Hafner and Sizemore's dead $20 million or so in salaries from the books will help a great deal.

You are definitely right on Boras as well. Any mid level team knows that they have a Boras client only until they hit free agency, because he will chase the last penny for his clients. It's all about the money to Boras.

Spot on, Y-Town. I completely forgot about the pending sale of STO to FOX Sports. That makes a big difference as to why the Tribe is willing to make the moves they have made so far.

FTR I hope the Indians do not trade Chris Perez. UNLESS they get the highest yield in return. If they do I believe Vinnie Pestano could realistically do the closer job quite well.

J/C

That leaves starting pitching and DH as needs for 2013. Marcum and Saunders are the two names I'm reading most for SP options. I don't know much about either - any thoughts? At DH, I read in the PD that the Indians are considering an incentive-laden offer to - wait for it - Travis Hafner. Meh, I think he's a shadow of his former self; really more of a contact hitter than power threat. Some posters over on the Indians MB are chattering about Manny Ramirez at DH, because he's reportedly playing well in one of the winter leagues. He's 40 years old, but even at his age and even without the juice, I bet he could roll out of bed in the morning and turn on a 93 MPH fastball. Ramirez is a born hitter; kind of an idiot-savant. I'd consider Manny over Hafner, although either would be better than LaPorta, imo.

I could see a really inexpensive, incentive laden deal for Hafner being a decent option. If he doesn't play, he doesn't get paid.

I don't mean a $5 million deal like Sizemore got last year either. That turned out to be a donation to the Sizemore retirement fund.

If they signed Hafner to a $1 million deal with incentives for hitting .260, 25 HR, and/or 75 RBI, I'd be OK with that. I just don't want to see them give him a deal like Sizemore's, and then get nothing out of him.

J/C

Anyone see the new batting practice ball cap for the Braves? It's worse than Wahoo.

Indians sign Brett Myers to 1-year 7-mil deal with club option.

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2013/01/brett_myers_is_officially_a_cl.html#incart_river

I don't know this guy - somebody clue me. Is it a good signing?

I heard he beat his wife.

seasons beatings

What was the outcome of that? The article was from 2006 saying that he was accused of it, but no resolution.

All I know about the guy is that he was a starter until last year, when he went to the bullpen. The Indians want to put him in the rotation this year.

OK.I just read that his wife requested that any charges against him be dropped. It seems that he did hit her though, in front of witnesses.

I hate it when my teams sign dirtbags.

Not much more criminal than that organizations asking price per seat and putting that team on the field.

I just found that about the wife dropping the charges as well..I kinda sorta remember when that happened

on the field, the Houston Astros gave up on him as a starting pitcher because he had a pretty consistent mid-4 ERA in the NL. THE HOUSTON ASTROS!!!

i am not excited about this signing.

just a spring training invitee..Dont think Tito will want another over the hill batting tee and if hes trying for a bullpen spot hes has some pretty stiff competition

I like this kid!

http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/ind...-mound-1.359509

If we can land some power Francona may be able to lead us somewhere!

Living in Southern California I saw a lot of Bauer when he was in college. He is different, that is for sure. He used to go to the bullpen when the opposing team was hitting to stay warm. And if you get the chance, got to a few games early and watch his long tossing. It is a thing to behold.