So many Tribe fans are angry, frustrated, and have given up. I am not one to throw in the towel and am willing to weather the storm a little while longer. As I watched the Rays get shut down by Danks and the Chisox, the lead was extended to six games.
I am of the belief that the Tribe has the necessary framework of talent to play much better fundamental baseball. The framework includes individuals who have proven to know how to hit at the big league level in the past.....Sizemore, Peralta, Hafner, Martinez, Blake are all much better then they are showing. Fraklin, Francisco, Choo, Cabrera, and Aubrey all have to find a certain rhthym that included playing fundamental offense.
The bullpen needs to settle down. Raffy B, Raffy L, Masa need to take the reigns and settle things.
Quick Note: It will be exciting to see how the Tribe handles not only Andy Marte over the season, but Adam Miller. Like Papelbon, its time to bring him up here in late August or September and let him pitch one inning at a time. Let's assume in 2008, if he pitches again, it should solely be limited to the pen. AFL can be used to stretch his arm out and see how the finger reacts. Spring training next year, he should be made the closer, if he someday is transitioned into the rotation, great (Wainwright Plan).
Peace
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
All things being equal
Tribe is 16-9 over the last 25 games. Still, the cockroaches can complain about hitting, individual performances, and lack of a dominant record. If anyone tries to point out optimism or point to other teams with similar problems, the roaches attack the poster with accusations of using other failures to cover up inequities of the Tribe.
I am not 100% certain, but I believe that the Tribe is only 3 games or so away from the best record in the A.L. The Tribe is beating teams with the best Starting Pitching in the league. Tribe is beating teams that historically give them problems...Oakland (except for late last year when Embree was struggling at closer and starters were injured), New York, Boston, and Anaheim.
Now, I can't wait for the Tribe to head to some warmer weather, get away from Jacobs field and get the early batting practice. Should be fun to allow the Tribe a respite from the cold damp weather and fans groans.
Should be fun to see where the Tribe is in the standings in a month or so.
Onto the topic of off-season acquisitions...how good was it to pay attention to the pen and get Kobe and Julio in here. Having Mastny in the minors for a call up rather then havi to go to Mujica and Bauer.
How about not dealing Cliff Lee, Aaron Laffey, or Jeremy Sower?
How about picking up the options on Borowski and Byrd. Borowski has yet to pay dividends, but Joe gives the Tribe an option at Closer, set-up man (like in Tampa), mop-up, or trade bait later on.
How about picking up Fultz and dropping him and picking up Breslow, who could be a decent reliever if he's not overexposed and used in mop up roles....he is not as good as Bettencourt and Perez, not Kobe, Lewis, or Julio, but he's better then Fultz, Mastny, and Mujica.
Now, we've survived the lack of offensive production and have survived not having a "off-season" bat picked up. We now have enough time to get a look at Francisco and Choo over the next 4-6 weeks.
We have a chance to offer Barfield an opportunity at redemption. We have a chance for Laffey to garner major league innings...don't ever overlook the "investment in innings" that a team has to make in a pitcher.
Sowers is returning to his once promising form which is nice to see.
Garko, Hafner, Peralta, Victor, Grady, and Blake need to hit at their 2007 averages to get a true barometer of the offense.
Jumpin around a bit here...but its a 40 game mark post...I guess.
Peace
I am not 100% certain, but I believe that the Tribe is only 3 games or so away from the best record in the A.L. The Tribe is beating teams with the best Starting Pitching in the league. Tribe is beating teams that historically give them problems...Oakland (except for late last year when Embree was struggling at closer and starters were injured), New York, Boston, and Anaheim.
Now, I can't wait for the Tribe to head to some warmer weather, get away from Jacobs field and get the early batting practice. Should be fun to allow the Tribe a respite from the cold damp weather and fans groans.
Should be fun to see where the Tribe is in the standings in a month or so.
Onto the topic of off-season acquisitions...how good was it to pay attention to the pen and get Kobe and Julio in here. Having Mastny in the minors for a call up rather then havi to go to Mujica and Bauer.
How about not dealing Cliff Lee, Aaron Laffey, or Jeremy Sower?
How about picking up the options on Borowski and Byrd. Borowski has yet to pay dividends, but Joe gives the Tribe an option at Closer, set-up man (like in Tampa), mop-up, or trade bait later on.
How about picking up Fultz and dropping him and picking up Breslow, who could be a decent reliever if he's not overexposed and used in mop up roles....he is not as good as Bettencourt and Perez, not Kobe, Lewis, or Julio, but he's better then Fultz, Mastny, and Mujica.
Now, we've survived the lack of offensive production and have survived not having a "off-season" bat picked up. We now have enough time to get a look at Francisco and Choo over the next 4-6 weeks.
We have a chance to offer Barfield an opportunity at redemption. We have a chance for Laffey to garner major league innings...don't ever overlook the "investment in innings" that a team has to make in a pitcher.
Sowers is returning to his once promising form which is nice to see.
Garko, Hafner, Peralta, Victor, Grady, and Blake need to hit at their 2007 averages to get a true barometer of the offense.
Jumpin around a bit here...but its a 40 game mark post...I guess.
Peace
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Improvement
Last year the Tribe did not pull away in the division, nor did they have the electric hot streak to capture the fans enthusiasm. This year, we are seeing the same type of play over the last 19 games. The Tribe record en over the last 19 games is 11-8. This includes a series win over the Yankees, a series split with the Yankees, and a 2-game sweep at the hand of the Royals.
This is pretty much the way it was last season. This year, we have to overcome the poor offense, remember chicks dig the long ball. The Tribe has made one move this year, the dealing of J-Mike to the Pirates and recalling Ben Francisco. Typical of the Tribe, do moves in baby steps for fear of upsetting the apple cargt.
We all seem to be scratching our heads as to why Marte isn't get his shot...but I am sure they are going to give him more time over the next month or so. What is the down side to playing Marte more often? The upside is having the manueverablity to use Blake as a utility outfielder/infielder.
The key to the Tribes offense though is not Blake, Marte, or Asdrubal. Grady has to become the dynamic guy that he once was. He has to get his average back around .300 and start producing extra base hits. Victor has to drive the ball and start showing some power. Garko has to be more consistent, lets hope his annual 0-25 streak is over and he can pickup where he was last year when he began to show more power. We can't overlook the importance of getting Travis Hafner back on track. Some would like to say Hafner has lost it, I am one who believes that he will find it....to look at others that have struggled mightily in recent memory, look to A-Rod post-season 2006 and Giambi start of season 2006.
Well, Toronto is up next for the Tribe, time to put sexy back in baseball and start a long winning streak to capture the fans emotions as the Celtics end the Cavs season and Browns training camp is still a few months off in the distance.
Peace
This is pretty much the way it was last season. This year, we have to overcome the poor offense, remember chicks dig the long ball. The Tribe has made one move this year, the dealing of J-Mike to the Pirates and recalling Ben Francisco. Typical of the Tribe, do moves in baby steps for fear of upsetting the apple cargt.
We all seem to be scratching our heads as to why Marte isn't get his shot...but I am sure they are going to give him more time over the next month or so. What is the down side to playing Marte more often? The upside is having the manueverablity to use Blake as a utility outfielder/infielder.
The key to the Tribes offense though is not Blake, Marte, or Asdrubal. Grady has to become the dynamic guy that he once was. He has to get his average back around .300 and start producing extra base hits. Victor has to drive the ball and start showing some power. Garko has to be more consistent, lets hope his annual 0-25 streak is over and he can pickup where he was last year when he began to show more power. We can't overlook the importance of getting Travis Hafner back on track. Some would like to say Hafner has lost it, I am one who believes that he will find it....to look at others that have struggled mightily in recent memory, look to A-Rod post-season 2006 and Giambi start of season 2006.
Well, Toronto is up next for the Tribe, time to put sexy back in baseball and start a long winning streak to capture the fans emotions as the Celtics end the Cavs season and Browns training camp is still a few months off in the distance.
Peace
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Two in a row?
Time for the Tribe to get the ship moving in the positive direction offensively. The Tribe was 5-10 at one point, and now is 15-17, which means they've played 10-7 ball over the last 17. Let's hope that the Tribe has managed to go 15-17 during what will be there worst stretch of the season.
It is interesting to look at the Tribes record versus what I call the "momentum busters of 07" These are teams that Tribe had diffulty with in 07:
Los Angeles Angels 5-5
Oakland A's 5-4
New York Yankees0-6
Boston Red Sox 2-4
Thats a record of 12-19 or so I believe. Even without the Yankees in there, the team is 12-13 against the remaining three teams. Not a horrible record but for a team that won 96 games it kind of shows a struggle.
This season Tribe has met the Yankees 5 times thus far, Boston twice, Anaheim 3 times, and Oakland 6 times. Tribe again has struggled against that group.
Hopefully, we are getting our struggles out early.
Peace
It is interesting to look at the Tribes record versus what I call the "momentum busters of 07" These are teams that Tribe had diffulty with in 07:
Los Angeles Angels 5-5
Oakland A's 5-4
New York Yankees0-6
Boston Red Sox 2-4
Thats a record of 12-19 or so I believe. Even without the Yankees in there, the team is 12-13 against the remaining three teams. Not a horrible record but for a team that won 96 games it kind of shows a struggle.
This season Tribe has met the Yankees 5 times thus far, Boston twice, Anaheim 3 times, and Oakland 6 times. Tribe again has struggled against that group.
Hopefully, we are getting our struggles out early.
Peace
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Today the day?
Well, here we go to New York...the site of last years 3 game sweep, including a heart wrenching loss with two outs in the ninth. Well, this time there is no A-Rod in the lineup and the Yankee dominance of the Tribe may have been temporarily suspended after last years post-season defeat and early season split at Progressive Field.
It will be interesting to see if the Tribe comes out and plays with some passion and energy. Coming off an off day, a new look lineup (Marte better be in), and a wee bit of desperation should be evident.
I am still a little befuddled that the shakeup to the team was only one move. Francisco for J-Mike. I was thinking that we should've put a reliever like Mastny down and brought up Andy Gonzalez or Aaron Herr or Josh Barfield. Give the Tribe added flexibility at the end of the game in terms of speed, defensive manueverablity, etc. If the Tribe has to go to their pen and need a pitcher, we can always go down and recall Sowers (who should be eligible soon) or another roster pitcher.
I would like a team that is struggling offensively to have more hitters available then relievers. Hell, Tribe could bring up Torregas and let him sit, give Victor some time at DH or 1b and give Shoppach some time. Victor may need extended time out from behind home plate to properly heal the hamstring and regain his power.
Peace
It will be interesting to see if the Tribe comes out and plays with some passion and energy. Coming off an off day, a new look lineup (Marte better be in), and a wee bit of desperation should be evident.
I am still a little befuddled that the shakeup to the team was only one move. Francisco for J-Mike. I was thinking that we should've put a reliever like Mastny down and brought up Andy Gonzalez or Aaron Herr or Josh Barfield. Give the Tribe added flexibility at the end of the game in terms of speed, defensive manueverablity, etc. If the Tribe has to go to their pen and need a pitcher, we can always go down and recall Sowers (who should be eligible soon) or another roster pitcher.
I would like a team that is struggling offensively to have more hitters available then relievers. Hell, Tribe could bring up Torregas and let him sit, give Victor some time at DH or 1b and give Shoppach some time. Victor may need extended time out from behind home plate to properly heal the hamstring and regain his power.
Peace
Monday, May 5, 2008
What a day?
Well, the forum has had all the cockroaches from last year who were silenced as the Tribe ran away to 96 wins and the accolades were coming to Wedge and Shapiro. Now, we have the disappointing beginning to the 2008 season and those roaches are having a great time. Its like the lights are off and the roaches are scurrying around having a blast. Someone needs to flip the light switch on and get the roaches scurrying to for cover. Roaches will never go away, just stay in hiding.....the Orkin man would be a World Series Ring.
Peace
Peace
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