Sunday, July 31, 2011
Pretty Girl 08.01.11 - Aviva Farber
Only A Sure Thing Is A Sure Thing
While the sensation of having the Tribe bringing on talent instead of fire-selling it away certainly warms the cockles of my heart, I cringe to wonder what this trade might reap. When the organization traded away CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, each coming off of a Cy Young season, their dominance had already inspired some to predict Hall of Fame futures. While I understand that this is, by all means putting, the cart before the horse, it seems much more likely that Jimenez will slot with Ernie Broglio and Doyle Alexander and it will be Drew Pomeranz that is spoken of alongside Lou Brock and John Smoltz. Don't know who the first two are? Exactly. Hell, even it is not Pom, it could be White or Gardner. Think about that as you marvel at how similar Ubaldo is to one Fausto Carmona. Wonder why he has such tantalizing option years the first time that he walks six and lasts 10 outs.
If this team had been one or two players short of making a serious run at a pennant, then, as a mid-market team, this is the sort of trade that reality necessitates. Sadly, the 2011 Indians, now sitting a single game over .500 and with 23 wins in their past 60 games, are not that team. Even if young talent, incisive moves and pure dumb luck conspire to produce a playoff appearance, it will be brief. Is a token ALDS appearance worth bending over backwards for the team we should have swept in 2007?
I understand that murderer's row redux does not equal a world championship, but betting the farm on a guy that is, at best, a coin flip is a great way to preclude playing for one for yet another decade.
All of that being said, I do very much hope that I am exactly wrong.
Cheers
C'mon This Is Basic Stuff
That being said, I cannot believe that either the PD or Cleveland.com allowed this piece to see the light of day. Here is the gist of the author's position: with Josh Hamilton the Rangers play (as of 07.22) .661 ball, without him .421. Both Ian Kinsler and Adrian Beltre have a higher WAR than Hamilton. Thus, WAR is a silly "new-fangled" statistic that provides no useful information.
I could take innumerable stances against this contention. How about "WAR accounts for games played, rather than games not played, especially those lost after breaking your arm trying to score from third on a pop out to between home and third. Maybe WAR rewards those who do not make god awful stupid decisions. You would need to take a WAR/G average to build in games missed due to injury." Or "Look at the top 10 in career WAR (Ruth, Bonds, Cobb, Mays, Cy Young, Aaron, Walter Johnson, Wagner, Speaker, Clemens) and tell me that it does a poor job of ranking players. Of the top 63 in career WAR, all of them are either in the Hall of Fame, definitely will be in the Hall of Fame (think Maddux), or have been caught up in the steroid scandal. If you want to allow a couple of 19th century guys and Peter Edward Rose, then it covers the top 83." I could take issue with this entirely subjective and unsupported statement --
"And maybe it doesn't matter that Hamilton continues to drive in runs at a lofty pace; is such a feared hitter that the batters around him get better pitches to hit; is an outstanding base-runner; has excellent range in the outfield and a great throwing arm; plays hard almost to a fault; is integral to the Rangers' excellent camaraderie and chemistry, etc."
Thankfully, I do not need to make any of those arguments. All I need to do is simply point out one of the most basic logical theorems: CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION!!!!! Did I put enough emphasis on that? Am I going to waste my time digging into the myriad of reasons that Rangers did not perform well during those 38 games? Absolutely not. The pure fact is that just because Texas plays 200 points lower without Hamilton does not mean it was because Hamilton was not in the lineup. For instance, the Cardinals had a higher slugging percentage when Albert Pujols was on the DL. Weird. That is because there are an incalculable amount of variables at play. Hey, my Indians are 0-5 this season when I watch the game at a bar. Thus, obviously, the place at which I watch the game has a direct negative influence on the Tribe's ability to win. Right? Right?
If the author wants to express his deep and abiding man-crush on Josh Hamilton or continue to live in an antiquated fantasy world where batting average is still the premier statistic, I'm cool with that, but it is simply deplorable that a respected media outlet would print the ramble. The author closes his piece as follows --
"Maybe Hamilton's "Wins Above Replacement" is so far off the charts it's simply invisible."
Maybe Mike Pettica's understanding of baseball is so minuscule it's simply non-existent and the only reason that he is still being paid is that he has 40 years of experience. (Nice assumed "that" and contracted "it's", you hack.)
Cheers.
Lessons of 1995
The thing about pitching prospects is they tend to not pan out. Pom and White are being described as two front of the rotation guys, but the chances are very good one of those guys is going to be a flop. And the one that succeeds is going to eat up a lot of his MLB service time perfecting his craft. Remember Cliff Lee wasn't even on the 2007 playoff rotation. And CC was mediocre for most of his time under the Indians control.
If you look at the deal in that light, getting 2 and a half years of Ubaldo is a great deal. Its a big assumption, but if his weak stats this year were due to an injury that really is behind him, he is a major addition to an already strong rotation. The tribe will get 2.5 years of a top notch pitcher. The reality of pitching prospects is that we probably weren't going to get 2.5 years of good pitching out of Pom and White, espically not in this window that has opened up to control the central.
Another aspect here is that Ubaldo came with a cheap contract. This trade didn't suck up scarce payroll dollars, and maybe they'll be able to make a run at some free agents this off season.
Fans I've talked to wanted a bat. But hitting didn't get it done for us in the 1990's. Ublaldo, Masterson, Tomlin, Carrasco, Carmona. That's a pretty good rotation. And we still have more in Columbus. With just a little bit of hitting out of the guys we already have this team can win the division.
If you look at the deal in that light, getting 2 and a half years of Ubaldo is a great deal. Its a big assumption, but if his weak stats this year were due to an injury that really is behind him, he is a major addition to an already strong rotation. The tribe will get 2.5 years of a top notch pitcher. The reality of pitching prospects is that we probably weren't going to get 2.5 years of good pitching out of Pom and White, espically not in this window that has opened up to control the central.
Another aspect here is that Ubaldo came with a cheap contract. This trade didn't suck up scarce payroll dollars, and maybe they'll be able to make a run at some free agents this off season.
Fans I've talked to wanted a bat. But hitting didn't get it done for us in the 1990's. Ublaldo, Masterson, Tomlin, Carrasco, Carmona. That's a pretty good rotation. And we still have more in Columbus. With just a little bit of hitting out of the guys we already have this team can win the division.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Pretty Girl 07.31.11 - Gina Carano
Indians Acquire Ubaldo Jimenez
"I didn't pitch well early because of my thumb and groin (hip flexor) injury. I didn't build up my arm strength in spring, so I didn't have my velocity or breaking ball. That's why I struggled. Right now, I feel like I can dominate again.''
His velocity has begun to rise, though it is still not back to the level of 2010. If you would like some good news, in 2011 Jimenez is 3-4 with a 2.83 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP away from the the hitters' haven of Coors Field. His 2010 road numbers were equally impressive (10-6, 2.63, 1.08 WHIP).
While McBride is a throw away and we have been listening to the ballad of Alex White all summer long, Pomeranz is a huge piece to give away. Recently listed as the 14th best prospect in the Baseball America mid-season rankings, Pom cannot be officially traded until the one year anniversary of his signing date (08.16). Thus, he is currently listed as a PTBNL in the deal. Just to be clear, the Tribe has given up their pre-season #2 (White), #4 (Pomeranz) & #9 (Gardner) prospects. This had better work out.
Let us cross our fingers that the physical on Jimenez comes back clean. The Rockies have refused all askers the opportunity to examine Ubaldo before completion of a trade.
Cheers.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Pretty Girl 07.28.11 - Vanessa Branch
Pretty Girl Update! - Ariana Grande
g
Maybe men won the battle of the sexes when 17 year old chicks started getting soaking wet on Nickelodeon.
Maybe men won the battle of the sexes when 17 year old chicks started getting soaking wet on Nickelodeon.
Indians Acquire Kosuke Fukudome
The Indians will pay just $775k of the $4.83mil remaining on Fukudome's $13.5mil salary for 2011. The 34-year old outfielder will waive his no-trade clause in exchange for as yet undetermined "perks." His contract includes an odd clause that the controlling team must sign him to an extension by 11.14.11 or release him into the free agent pool.
One would expect Kosuke to play his natural RF until Shin-Soo Choo returns. Ezequiel Carrera moves to the bench, with Michael Brantley moving back to center and the platoon switching to left. The odd man out is Travis Buck, who has been DFA'ed to create space for Fukudome on both the 40 and 25-man rosters. What a shame. After his monster spring, I honestly expected Buck to be of great help.
Cheers.
Pretty Girl Update! - Kristin Cavallari's Back On the Market
I'm on way, Kristin. I'll make it all better.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
To Err Is Human?
I've stated before that the key to co-existing is to accept the idiosyncrasies of our fellows as they accept ours. In practice, this is an outstanding method, yet, in the philosophical context human endeavor, it is simply a the coach and the bag of potato chips. Whether the other person (friend, parent, wife, whatever) doesn't return messages, fails to fulfill commitments, cannot make use of logic or runs his mouth when he's had a few, allowing these tendencies to continue just encourages each of us to expect less of everyone. As I grew, I held myself to very high standards and applied the same standard to those around me. These days, having experienced so much disappointment from those around me, I find myself unable to hold myself to any level of excellence whatsoever. With each forgiveness that I gave, each flaw that I shrugged off, I became less and less worthwhile. Now, I forgive everything. Bobby won't give me a straight answer to any question? That's fine. He has other redeeming qualities. That's something that I would never do, but I have other imperfections. It doesn't matter. It all balances out in the end. The boundaries have become indistinct. If, when I get up in the morning, I don't do what I am supposed to, don't contribute in the ways that I am expected to, I don't hold it against myself. I feel no guilt. It's just part of the human condition. Whatever I do is ok. I'm not killing anyone or mistreating a child, so who the fuck cares? How do I make myself care about any of this shit? I'd like to sit here and reject everything about the world around me. A wise man once told me to stop whining about the unwashed masses around me, suggesting that I do something about them instead. Unfortunately, I can't talk to them. We do not speak the same language. I cannot lead them, they desire slovenly idiocy for their respect. I cannot ignore them, they permeate every instant of my life. I cannot serve them, they don't deserve it and I am simply too tired to want to. There are plenty of morons to do that. Does this mean they won? Sure, fine, take it. I'm going to play a different game. We'll see how that goes. As of right now, I am letting go. If anyone out there needs me to do anything, let me know. I can do pretty much anything. Except care about petty, banal bullshit.
Maybe Kurt said it best...
Cheers
Maybe Kurt said it best...
Cheers
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Pretty Girl 07.27.11 - Dilshad Vadsaria
A Quest Called Tribe
It is difficult to chastise the guy whose solo home run accounted for exactly all of the Indians' runs scored, but, yes, I am going to do that. I am sick of Matt LaPorta, utterly disgusted with him. Yeah, Matty's first home run since June 2nd was great, it gave us hope, but it does not forgive his other 3 at-bats. In the second inning, with a man on, he popped out to short on a 3-1 pitch, not putting anything vaguely resembling a good swing on the ball. With two on in the 4th, he flied out to center. The STO boys tried to make it sound as if LaPorta (.238) had come up just short of a home run. The ball did not even reach the track. Then, the ninth, oh mon dieu, the ninth. I was poised to write the complete antithesis of this paragraph, highlighted by the sentence "Every time I am about to completely give up on Matt LaPorta, he does something that compels me to give him another chance." While it was a great at-bat to work the count full, Amy Winehouse could have put a better swing on the 3-2 pitch. To compound the problem, Matt put himself so badly out of position with his attempt that he was doubled up at first. C'mon man!
Do you thing I am done ranting on this one? Not. Even. Close. It may be that Manny Acta is outstanding at bringing young talent along, at transitioning them into successful big league pros. What he is rarely proficient at is making in-game decisions. Sure, there were a few well-played situations earlier in the year, particularly involving the squeeze play, but, over the past month, Manny has hurt more than he has helped. Tonight was one of the worst, as he made not one, but two unconscionable calls. First and worst came in the third inning. With Jason Kipnis on third, Ezequiel Carrera on first and Michael Brantley at the dish with one out, Acta chose NOT to put Carrera in motion. Let me be perfectly clear, Zeke is fast (35/39 SB's at Columbus). The only tool that propelled him into the big leagues was his speed. Kipnis, who does have above average speed (9 AAA 3B), is smart on the base paths (12/13 AAA SB's). On the first pitch to Brantley, you put on the take (the lineup took pitch 1 all night anyway) and send Carrera. Hmmm, what might happen? A) Jeff Mathis holds the ball and you have two runners in scoring position. B) He throws through and Kipnis comes home with the game's first run against a guy with a 1.84 ERA. C) Maybe Zeke is even safe and the inning rolls right along. What is the worst case scenario? I guess it is that one of the middle infielders cuts the ball and gets Kip at home. That would take two great throws in quick succession plus the intelligence and awareness to make the return play. Unforgivable. Even if I could give Acta the benefit of the doubt for that blunder (which I cannot), he gaffed again in the all-important top of 7. He asked Josh Tomlin, who had thrown just 18 pitches out of the zone to that point, to throw four wide to Howie Kendrick. Although, I get the logic, Mark Trumbo had looked clueless in his first two AB's, the decision to break the rhythm of a man who had allowed 3 base runners all night is just plain stupid. Sure, the pitch selection to Trumbo could have been better. Still, let the your horse do his job, do not take the ball out his hand and give him time to think about what is going on around him. If Acta cannot recognize that this something that one absolutely cannot do, especially to a young pitcher, perhaps he is not as good at player development as some would have us think.
I feel a bit better now. Allow me to give Josh Tomlin his props. In a game where the pressure to be perfect must have been immense, Josh (11-5, 4.01) showed up for the challenge. Pitching a full 8 innings for the first time this season, and only the second of his career, he threw first pitch strikes to 25 of 28 hitters (including the IBB) and delivered five 1-2-3 innings. Tomlin has said recently that his cutter had been flat of late and somewhat difficult to control. It did not show tonight. That may have been because he threw more curveballs than normal, which worked well for the most part, until, sadly, he left one up against Trumbo. This was a great outing from Tomlin and what did he get, what did we get? A loss. Thanks, Manny and thank you, Matt LaPorta.
Enough.
Here's to not having to decide whether to watch the game tomorrow. It is not televised. ;-j
Cheers.
Clip Joint Perfection
This was Gemano's first win of the season at any level. Since joining the Clippers' rotation on July 6, he has not only limited opponents to a .196 batting average, but he has not walked a batter over 26 innings.
The sluggish Columbus offense put up all three of their runs early in support of Justin, with Tim Fedroff driving in a pair and Cord Phelps (.294) adding the third. Fedroff (.277) and Paul Phillips (.233) each had 3 hits.
In case any of you are wondering, I beat literally everyone with this report, including STO and the official Clippers twitter feed. Nice.
We are going to let this one stand on its own tonight.
Cheers
Clip Joint Not Playin the Hits
 |
| Mitch Talbot |
Last night's only run came on Beau Mills' first AAA hit/RBI/long ball, in the 8th inning. Corey Kluber (4-7, 6.05) delivered a typical performance (5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) in taking the loss and CC Lee (4-1, 1.99 overall) allowed his first AAA run. Mitch Talbot, though, showed up with an excellent outing. Talbot (0-1, 3.07) pitched the last 2.2 innings scoreless, while allowing 2 hits and a walk. As mentioned previously, I do expect that we will see Mitch back with the big club in August out of the 'pen.
Sunday featured absolutely nothing worth mentioning, as the Clips mustered but 2 hits. Saturday, at least, saw an impressive outing from LHP Nick Hagadone (5-2, 2.75 overall) as he threw 2 perfect frames featuring three strikeouts. Nick Has settled in now and he will make the trip to the NC should a trade deadline deal involve Tony Sipp or Rafael Perez. Zach McAllister started that game and it might be that he is feeling somewhat of a hangover after David Huff got the call for last week's double header and the subsequent rotation spot. McAllister was passable (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), but has not lately been nearly as sharp as he was early in the season. His last 4 starts have seen an 0-1 record with a 4.13 ERA and a .298 OBA. Zach remains 8-3 with a 3.11, even though he has won just once since May 20th. He, too, is a possible chip in a coming deal.
Columbus hit .141 (13-for-92) as a team over the last three games. This is what happens when an organization calls up all of the talent to the bigs and does not make the corresponding moves deeper in the system.
Other Minor Points of Interest --
It seems as if Adam Miller (1-3, 5.45 overall) has hit a wall in Akron. Last night, Miller took the loss after giving up 5 earned on 5 hits and 2 walks in an inning and a third. He has now thrown 34.2 innings this season, the most he has pitched since 2007. In the last 8.2 of those innings, he has allowed 11 runs (12.07 ERA) on 13 hits (.362 OBA). I would not be surprised to see Adam hit the DL soon with a "tired arm."
Drew Pomeranz started for the Aeros yesterday and lasted just 4.1 due to a strict pitch count. Pom (3-3, 1.98 overall) surrendered 2 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 6 K's. Drew's numbers have been remarkably similar between High-A Kinston and his current stop with his OBA (.202 vs .200), BB/9 (3.74 vs 3.86), and K/9 (11.10 vs 10.93) almost identical. He still needs to stretch himself beyond 5 innings (91 IP in 18 starts), but, otherwise, Pomeranz is right on track. Oh, he will not be traded. Write it down.
The recently promoted Felix Sterling made an outstanding first appearance for the Lake Country Captains. Sterling earned the W in Sunday's 6-1 victory. Felix (3-3, 3.62 overall) allowed 3 hits and 3 walks, while fanning 2. Still just 18, expect Sterling to make waves at the A+/AA level next season.
RHP Jake Sisco, the Tribe's 2011 3rd round pick, got shelled in the AZL. Sisco (0-2, 2.95) allowed 4 earned on 4 hits, 2 walk and 2 punch outs as he got tagged with loss #2. It was Jake's first poor outing as a professional. He came into the game with a 1.42 ERA and .246 OBA.
Despite allowing a run, friend of the blog Tyler Tufts picked up his 4th AA save on Sunday. Ty (4-1, 2.05, 7 SV overall) has compiled all four of those saves over the past month as he has taken on a more prominent role out of the Rough Riders bullpen. According to sources familiar with the situation, the organization has finally taken notice of Tyler, a 32nd round pick in 2008. While the Rangers have a bevy of relief talent in the high minors, he was supposedly told that, if he continues to produce for Frisco, he could very well skip AAA and go straight to the bigs. As much as I hope this is true, the promotion of a AA relief pitcher to the majors, when he is not on the 40-man roster, is highly unlikely.
Cheers.
Pretty Girl Update! - Taylor Momsen
Monday, July 25, 2011
A Quest Called Tribe
While the walk-off was a joy, it was far from the only story tonight. How about Fausto Carmona? Whatever they did to Fausto over the break, can we please bag it and give him a intravenous feed? Carmona before the break (4-10, 5.78, 1.41 WHIP) versus after (1-0, 1.50, 1.17 WHIP) is like beef tenderloin after Dinty Moore. Again, he seemed to be talking to himself (tonight amidst a torrent of his own perspiration). I would like to believe that this is a method of slowing the game down for a guy who is fanatically emotional. Regardless, he produced tonight (6 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K) and if he can pitch similarly down the stretch, the Indians chances are much improved.
I fondly recall the days of Vinnie Pestano being nothing but nasty. Such has not been the case recently. Since July 2nd (the day he was the de facto closer and converted his first MLB save) Pestano has posted a 9.82 ERA and allowed opponents a .925 OPS. He seems to be struggling with his control. While his pitches continue to show the same filthy movement as in the season's first 3 months, their location has become erratic as he has left far too many over the fat part of the plate. Vinnie has just 43 innings of major league baseball under his belt, he will learn consistency. Joe Smith is a great example as he has put up numbers far exceeding expectation based not on better stuff, but on improved command. Wouldn't it have been nice if he had been able to pitch 2 innings?
Alex White pitched a simulated game this afternoon, throwing his full compliment of pitches. White experienced some mild soreness in his injured finger following the outing, but that is to be expected with an injury of this kind. Earlier today, it was announced that White would pitch "multiple innings" out of the bullpen upon his return. The rational is that after sitting on the shelf for 10 weeks, the time needed to build his arm strength back to a starter's endurance would preclude him from being of any help in the playoff run. If Alex's arm feels good tomorrow, he will likely begin a rehab assignment next week.
Combine White's status with the news that Mitch Talbot will also be working out of the 'pen following his own rehab stint and I deem it exceptionally likely that one of the Bullpen Mafia departs as part of a trade deadline deal. For those of you wondering, possible targets for the Tribe include starters Aaron Harang and Hiroki Kuroda and outfielders Ryan Ludwick and BJ Upton. Personally, I am hoping for Upton. Maybe we can unload Matt LaPorta on someone. He sucks.
Here's to not seeing Danny Haren against the Indians until after the apocalypse.
Cheers.
Move Over Pat Venditte
Cheers.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Pretty Girl 07.25.11 - Gemma Arterton
A Quest Called Tribe
Alex White threw a forty pitch bullpen session on Friday that included splitters and sliders. It was the first time he had thrown breaking pitches off of a mound since his May injury. White reported that his finger felt great and his arm felt even better. Although he is not expected to begin a rehab assignment for at least a week, he will throw a simulated game tomorrow that will go a long way to determining his readiness therefor.
Am I the only one that has noticed the steady decline of Travis Hafner's batting average over the past two weeks? In his last 12 games Pronk (.313) is batting a meek .200 (9-for-45) with two extra base hits (2B, HR). While he has managed to drive in 5 runs and maintain a scorching .429 average with runners in scoring position, his RBI today came when Asdrubal Cabrera scored from first on a single. Paging Enos Slaughter.
And wasn't it a real kick in the crotch that the game ended on a stellar defensive play by Omar Vizquel?
Here's to me keeping my dinner down while thinking about this one.
Cheers.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
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