What are their options?
Baseball Analysts —
... was oozing with potential. He is very close to garnering the “bust” label. Teammate Shin-Soo Choo has been able to do nothing but watch as the Indians have brought in average veteran outfielder after average veteran outfielder ( ...
Opening Day Rosters - Cubs, Indians, Rockies and Giants
Baseball Digest Daily —
Here they are: Official Opening Day rosters for the... Chicago Cubs (from the Cubs media relations department) The Cubs placed left-handed pitcher Scott Eyre on the 15-day disabled list with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to March 23. Additionally, the Cubs optioned outfielder Matt Murton and left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall to Triple-A Iowa. The 2008 Opening Day roster includes 12 pitchers, two catchers, seven infielders and four outfielders. In addition to Eyre, right-handed pitcher Angel Guzman was placed on the 60-day disabled list on March 25 with status post ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction of ...
Baseball Transactions - Sunday
Baseball Digest Daily —
Arizona Good article in the Arizona Republic, yesterday. "As these younger players reach free agency and then get expensive," Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick said, "we won't be forced to lose these good players once they are mature. I wouldn't say that we can be 100 percent successful in that, but we hope to not face the issues that other middle-market clubs face." Attendance at Chase Field will play a big role in that strategy. In the franchise's first six seasons, total attendance never dipped below 2.7 million, surpassing 3 million three times. But it went from 3.1 million in 2003 to 2.5 million in 2004, bottoming out at just over 2 ...
Mariners Foibles
Baseball Analysts —
... entire concept of replacement level, the M's disregarded every player on the planet that wasn't a proven veteran with a long track record of success, essentially ensuring they were going to get a washed-up old timer on his last legs. That guy turned out to be Carl Everett, and his could-see-it-coming-a-mile-away failure both doomed the offense and led to an even more heinous transaction, when the Mariners shipped Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo to Cleveland in separate deals to acquire the DH ...
Trade Speculator - Tribe Talk
The Outsiders Look at the Insides of Baseball —
Mark Shapiro churned out another couple of trades over the weekend and maintains his position as one of the most crafty General Managers in baseball. Unfortunately Shapiro does not maintain that confidence for extended periods of time, and consequently, is left letting quality players leave town for a pittance. Without reflecting upon those players and some questionable free agent signings, which subsequently tarnishes the job Shapiro has done in Cleveland, I will look only at what Shapiro does right. ...
"What Would the Outsider Do" - Kansas City Royals
The Outsiders Look at the Insides of Baseball —
Despite having another active off season, the Royals again failed to take a step forward in the wins column. In fact, according to expected wins, the Royals took a step backwards in 2008. With a young core, and several moves on the free agent market that have worked out, the Royals still hold the keys of promise. One of the things holding the Royals back is lack of starting pitching. The club is thin at the major league level and has very few legitimate candidates coming through the system. Maybe new Royals General Manager Dayton Moore goes out and buys another arm, or he acquires a 4th/5th starter hoping he pans ...
Cutting Corners: Indians seek an advantage on the base paths
Baseball Digest —
Ok. So cutting corners may not have been the best expression to lead off in the title line. It implies cheating or gaining an edge without proper effort. But cutting corners is something that a runner is taught to do when rounding bases. They are to “cut” the inside corner of the bag and get a solid push off to keep in stride while making their move to the next base.
This is a basic skill learned by runners as young as Little League, but the Indians have sought out to do just these sorts of things – except more advanced obviously – in Spring Training to continue their goal of improving overall team baserunning.
As a team who ...
Let’s Play Ball Already
Baseball Digest —
One year ago today, the major league baseball season was already underway. The Indians had just defeated the Chicago White Sox 10-8 in a crazy afternoon that was highlighted by Franklin Gutierrez’ 3-run HR in a seven run second inning against Chicago ace Mark Buehrle, and then Casey Blake’s 3-run triple in the bottom of the eighth inning to score the go-ahead runs. The Indians looked primed to be defending their AL Central title, but we already know how that story turned out.
Now as we sit one year later on March 31, the Indians again are projected to be among the elite teams in the Central Division, but we will not begin ...
Seamheads 2009 American League Central Preview
Seamheads.com —
The AL Central just might be the most competitive division in baseball. Any one of the five teams has an argument to why they can win, and all five also have arguments to why they may not. See who we project to make it to October.
2009 Projected Standings ...
American League Central Preview
Baseball Digest —
If you have never been to Seamheads.com, I recommend you visit there - especially if you are a fan of baseball history. The site has been growing by leaps and bounds with it’s outstanding group of writers, headed up by site creator Michael Lynch and numerous other published authors. I am still a part of this site as a contributor, though in a much lesser role than last year when I wrote a weekly fantasy baseball column, but I have just recently taken part in their MLB preview. We split it up into divisional previews, of which now four out of the six have been published. You can read each of them by following the links.
NL East ...
Series Preview: Indians @ Rangers 4/6-4/9
Baseball Digest —
Texas Rangers fans must think that Cliff Lee is crazy. The past two starts that Lee has made at the Ballpark in Arlington have been emotional to say the least.
Go back two years to July 21, 2007. Lee was in the midst of the horrendous season that eventually had him sent back to Triple-A. He was frustrated beyond belief, and to make matters even more frustrating, Lee was “broken-batted” to death by the White Sox in his prior start, giving up seven runs on nine hits (only one extra base hit, a double) in 5.1 innings. He was coming into Texas at 5-6 with a 5.67 ERA.
That night, the Rangers were honoring Sammy Sosa for hitting ...
Wahoo Wakeup: Tribe Welcomes in Toronto for Home Opener
Baseball Digest —
Game #4 – Friday, 4:05 ET
Toronto Blue Jays (3-1) at Cleveland Indians (0-3)
Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Radio: WTAM
TV: WKYC-TV3
It has been a long time coming. Since the end of last season, numerous Indians players have been on the road around the world preparing for the 2009 season. Guys like Jhonny Peralta and Fausto Carmona spent time in the Dominican Winter League, and more recently Mark DeRosa, Shin-Soo Cho and Rafael Perez were a part of the World Baseball Classic. Plus there was an extended Spring Training in a new home in Arizona, and a stressful first series at the ...
Cleveland’s Ugliness Continues
Baseball Digest —
It was to be a grand day at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. The Indians were at home ready to kick off another summer of baseball at Progressive Field as they were playing the Toronto Blue Jays in front of a pumped sell-out crowd of 42,473.
And it looked like that was going to be the case after the Indians jumped on the Blue Jays starter Scott Richmond with two quick runs in the first inning on a Travis Hafner laser beam double off of the right field fence. And for added measure Hafner again hit a bomb off of Richmond in the third inning into the Jays bullpen to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. The Indians looked comfortable, and ...
Wahoo Wakeup: One Year Too Late
Baseball Digest —
Game #5 – Saturday, 1:05 ET
Toronto Blue Jays (4-1) at Cleveland Indians (0-4)
Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Radio: WTAM
TV: STO
Today at Progressive Field fans will get to view something special - two Cy Young award winners battling it out on the same hill. What makes it even more special is the fact that each of today’s pitchers, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, finished #1 & #2 in the award voting just last season, but never faced each other in their quest to win the prestigious award.
Some argue that Roy Halladay was snubbed by BBWAA voters in the voting because of the ...
David Price's Debut
Baseball Analysts —
... with inside fastballs and finished him off with a hard slider inside. Price finished the inning by testing Shin-Soo Choo with fastballs up in the zone, and on 2-2 Price threw a heater over the heart of the plate that Choo took for a called strike three. ...
Choo Batting Cleanup
East Windup Chronicle —
Don’t see an article about a player solidifying his position in the middle of the order everyday, but that’s just what the Dong-A Ilbo is talking about here. I don’t follow the Indians very closely, so I wasn’t all that aware of this.
The uncredited article also offers this background on the cleanup spot:
When a national team is formed, the player selected to hit fourth draws major interest. The cleanup hitter is considered a problem solver and must have the ability and star power that the position requires.
Grand. At this point you’re probably ...
I, Claudia’s: Some idle thoughts from an idle fellow
The Hardball Times —
... Shin-Soo Choo is legitimately awesome! He's currently at 4.7 WAR, good for 25th among qualified players. And he's 14th in wRC with 109.8. That puts him right between ...
