DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Should we let Hafner walk?

If it comes down to CC or Hafner, I think it's a no brainer.

Some of the reasons I think we would be better off letting Hafner walk are..

- Better chance of signing CC

- Ryan Garko is ready to be an everyday player. He can come reasonably close to matching Hafners numbers in the DH

- By losing Hafner, Garko is the DH, meaning Victor can play 1st leaving Shoppach as the everyday catcher. Improving our team defense.

- Personally what I think is the biggest issue, Hafner can't play in the field. We are trying to win a world series, what are we going to do with Hafner when we get there? His elbow is terrible and we may have to sit him because he cant play in the field 2 consecutive games, let alone possibly 4 in a WS. We will be forced to sit our best hitter.

I'm not saying to not make an attempt at him, we should try. But i'm definatly against giving him superstar money when we already have a worthy replacment for him, and we have a stud pitcher to retain. We can use our money much wiser than blowing it on Hafner. IMHO

i don't know...

cc is going to demand huge money, and to be honest, why should we give it to him? he can't stay healthy, he's going to want 20 game winner money and he has yet to win 20 games...

the yankees may want hafner, and maybe they're the only team that can really get him (the red sox have papi, so there is no spot for hafner, the white sox have thome) but does hafner want to go to new york?

i mean, i don't see any national league teams going after hafner...

i could see hafner sticking around for less money than people think...

cc is the guy i think walks... pitching is at a premium...

I see the Yankees going after CC big time. They might go after Haf too, esprically if A Rod walks.

hafner and cc thats all we talk about we should be more concerned with signing our best player to a huge deal Casey Blake

C.C. Sabathia is gone in two years, IMO. He'll be in the same free agent class as Johan Santana and Santana will go first and the consolation prize will be Sabathia. He'll get a contract that will exceed what Barry Zito received this offseason. The signing of Westbrook was a sign, combined with the fact that negotiations are continuing with Hafner right now, but are off with Sabathia because of how far apart the two sides are. I fully expect Hafner to resign with the Tribe. The market for him is not that expansive. Even the Yanks will still have relatively large money tied up in the DH spot in Giambi. Hafner is a Midwest guy, and fits in Cleveland. Ortiz got a 4-year. $52 million contract, and that contract would fit Hafner as well, although I don't think it will go that high.

Also, not to you, but rather LeBronJames who made the point that:

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he can't stay healthy, he's going to want 20 game winner money and he has yet to win 20 games...

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Since coming to the majors, C.C. has thrown no less than 180 and no more than 210 innings. He's durable. Plus, he's a lefty, he's young, and he's a power pitcher with no history of arm problems. Last year he finished 3rd in the AL in ERA, and if not for the bullpen would have been close to 20 wins, if not over it. He has just under a .600 winning percentage (exactly at with a win this afternoon) and that has been on some bad teams. Since he came up, two of his six teams have had winning records, yet he's consistently won. People undervalue C.C. here in Cleveland. I'd love for the Indians to find a way to sign him, but I honestly think that he's looking at a 7-year $130-140 million contract, and there is no way that the Indians can afford to keep with that.

i still like to see the indians at least offer him what they can...

maybe he gives us a hometown discount, because we raised him, and because the media stays out of his life, you won't get that in new york...

if the tribe doesn't sign him, they'll desperately need to get a power pitcher who can ace this staff, if they want to compete that is...

Hafner is much cheaper to keep than C.C.

Hafner's a DH and a DH only, which lowers the contract amount he can command.

There's no chance of us holding onto C.C. unless we break the bank. I hope we do, but I highly doubt it'll happen.

There is no way in hell a better chance of signing CC. In case you were asleep during this off-season, pitchers are getting absurd contracts. Especially young lefties. No way in hell CC stays in Cle.

Pronk is an ELITE bat in the lineup. He's clutch, he's hits for power, and he's the face of this franchise right now. There is no worthy replacement on this roster period. It doesn't matter if he can't play the field, he's far too valuable of a bat. Hafner hit 42 bombs and over 100 rbi's last year and missed like what a month of ball? No way in hell Garko can come reasonbly close to matching Pronk. Garko's a good hitter and player but he's no where near Pronks caliber.

Pronk will get paid by the tribe, CC will walk.

I still think you are looking at Westbrook, Lee, Sowers, Carmona, and Miller (maybe Lofgren instead of one of the others) for the foreseeable future as the rotation (through 2010 at least). Honestly, I'd seriously consider trading C.C. this offseason to fill some holes. If you could get a team to offer a RF, a closer, and a prospect, I'd do it in a heartbeat and fill the holes on this team.

Barry Zito....and soon to be Johan (sp?) Santana. Zito is already receiving an extreme contract for a slightly above average pitcher kind of like CC. They can be dominate, but they are not a true #1. CC just won't be affordable (or really worth that money in my mind) for us to keep unless he gives us a generous discount.

Hafner is more valuable to the Tribe than CC since he is an everyday player. When you got guys like Sizemore, Hafner, Martinez, and soon to be Garko....you gotta pitch to one of them which makes this team better.

Another Colon deal would be nice We could use another Sizemore Lee and Phillips All for a guy who won a whopping 1 game last year

Pay the man...both of them.
Keep Hafner,C.C., Sizemore, Marte and Barfield and a couple of our younger pitchers together as long as possible.
If ownership spends the bucks necessary they can duplicate the ticket sales and enthusiasm of the mid to late 90s. I think a world championship will be within reach.

I would love for the indians to keep both but it will cost alot more to keep sabathia. I think the indians will keep hafner and let sabathia walk

I just hope Shapiro and everyone else making the calls keep our best players around and not let them walk like they did in the late 90's/early 2000s'.

Ramirez
Vizquel
Thome
Sexson
Lofton
Giles
and many more....

We've been hurting for years in LF, SS, 1B wiithout these guys... It looks as if we may have our first baseman and shortstop, but LF is still a position which we have no answer for... AND not to mention I was a huge Ramirez fan as a kid and with the exception of Sizemore and Pronk, still my favorite player.

We need to start paying some money. Why give Westbrook 33mil? Yeah depth is nice, but look at our minor league system when it comes to pitching. We could have CC, Sowers, Lee, Miller, Lofgren, Carmona, Laffey, then some more potential stars like both Lewis', Huff, Wright, ect.... Should have saved the money and given it to our power pitcher in Sabathia. I like Westbrook, but come on.
If Sabathia walks who is out power pitcher? who is our ace? Behind Sabathia I don't even think we have a great 2nd pitcher. Our staff will be loaded with good 3's, unless Miller or Lofgren have something to say about that.

We should have paid man ram.

Why? The team needed torn apart, or otherwise having a 20 million dollar Ramirez would have been all that there was in that lineup. Ramirez is a great hitter, atrocious in the outfield and would not have been the type of example I would have wanted for the players coming up. That team actually needed torn apart a year earlier, when they could have got something for Ramirez. Instead, we got a couple division titles in what was the weakest division in baseball and made the rebuild that much harder. That team, at the time, wasn't built to continue the run that they were on. Signing Ramirez to that contract would have killed the franchise. At the time, I wanted it done, but looking back now I see how lucky the Indians were that Manny chose Boston, when such similar contracts were offered.

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maybe he gives us a hometown discount, because we raised him, and because the media stays out of his life, you won't get that in new york...

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That is a myth, no such thing as a hometown discount...ask Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez,

Remember players dont agree on a contract FOR THE MONEY it's a chance to prove something.....YA right heard that song and dance before...

Offer both a fair deal for there numbers, if they dont wanna stay, we need to trade and get value befor ethey leave, Look at what we got for trading Colon, Sizemore, If they dont wanna win a championship in Cleveland let them rot somewhere else, it's not like if they take the Indians deal thier families are gonna starve. Sorry, cant feel bad for money hungry players, no matter what team thier on,.

Hafner is THE BEST, left handed pure hitter in the game.

How can we let him walk?

Get rid of Victor, sign hafner.

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That is a myth, no such thing as a hometown discount...ask Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez,

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Or you could ask some players we went after last year by the names of Brian Giles and Trevor Hoffman. Or how about Westbrook? He would have definately received more money on the open market and he even admitted it however he said he felt comfortable here and felt the deal was fair enough to take.

As for the Colon deal, don't forget about Cliff Lee too, and if we would have kept him...Brandon Phillips.