Crisp-for-Marte: The Re-Redux

So, this story just keeps getting better and better. Apparently, because Guillermo Mota's shoulder looked sketchy, the Tribe has asked Boston for *another* player. This one, while still technically a "prospect," has the potential to help the Indians this year. This would make the deal a little easier for me to swallow, in truth.

Boston is balking at this deal, which makes me think that if it happens, it can't be all bad. They'd be giving us three of the top young players in their organization for Coco Crisp. THAT sounds like a trade worth making, especially when one of them (Manny Delcarmen) could help us this season. Plus, it means that with this deal and then the impending deal with the Phillies, we're now swapping players straight up: back-up catcher for back-up catcher, middle relievers for middle relievers, and outfield for outfield. We then get Marte on top of everything. If he pans out like Lars thinks he will, seems like the Tribe wins on this deal, and basically a comparable team takes the field this year to the one that won 93 games last year. I can live with that.

Don't get me wrong: I still don't think I want these deals to go down, but if they do, I could live with it in THIS format better than I could when it was just Marte and Mota that we would be getting (in addition to Michaels, of course).


New Lost last night. Have to say that it left me a bit disappointed. I found it to grind any momentum that the show built (from last week's revelation of Zeke to Jack wanting to plan an army) to a screaching halt. So, you're telling me that all of this stuff happened, and Jack is too busy chatting it up with Ana Lucia about whether or not he's "hitting" Kate to even mention anything about his plans for an army, or the fact that they now have made contact with at least one faction of "Others?" No, instead we get some Charlie backstory time, and a teaser of Sun being kidnapped.

I guess I just didn't like being teased. It's like in the Simpsons, when Poochie made his debut on the Itchy and Scratchy show... they were driving down a road to a fireworks factory, and the signs kept telling of its impending arrival. Then they stop and pick up Poochie and he does his awful, awful thing. Milhouse exclaims, "When are they going to get to the fireworks factory?!?"

Indeed, Milhouse. When are we going to get to that fireworks factory, Lost?

No! Not 'Nice Guy Eddie' Too!

I can't believe Chris Penn died. He was only 40. While not the picture of health given his weight and what-not, this is still somewhat surprising.

Who can forget the image of him learning to "dance" from Kevin Bacon in Footloose, or, quite simply,

If you fucking beat this prick long enough, he'll tell you he started the goddamn Chicago fire, now that don't necessarily make it fucking so!

Hopefully we don't come to find out it was drugs. Selah.

Bob McKenzie: "Take off, eh! He's signin' my jersey!"

Is it me, or does Jhonny Peralta have a gigantic head?

At any rate, the Tribe press junket here in Columbus was fun. Got my jersey signed by Peralta, Ryan Garko, and Fernando Cabrera. For $5 to charity, I'd say it was money well spent.

And, incidentally, he's laughing because I asked him a stupid question.

More on Coco Crisp-for-Andy Marte

Some good debate happening in my comments section, which isn't something I ever thought I'd see on this blog. Wow!

For me, regardless of what Marte does on the field, I think Kokotan's statement sums up why I was/am so pissed about this potential trade:

"So we are planning on taking that final step in 2007 or will Marte need 77 games followed by a year in the minors to adjust (like jhonny) meaning we are planning for 08 or 09? After a season with 90 some wins? What players are we going to have to dump for salary reasons next year so we can plan for 2008? Unless this team plans on keeping some of its good players then they aren't going to compete every year, they will always be planning on next year."

And, while Marte's numbers may track well, unless the Boston GM is pulling a "Giles for Rincon" trade because they feel like CF/leadoff is that huge a deal to their offense, I'm skeptical that someone this good could be traded twice in the same off-season without a red-flag being there. And now on top of Crisp, we have to give up two MORE major-league (or at least AAAA) players to get this kid, when all he was worth to them was Edgar Renteria, who they were obviously so enamored with that they traded him and are willing to replace him with Alex Gonzalez.

In addition, the fact that we're not actually strengthening our bullpen now (if Riske--for Marte--and then Rhodes--for Michaels--go, only to be replaced by Mota, who *might* be injured), when it was the one area of a 93-win team to already take a huge hit in free-agency, I have to question exactly what the fuck Shapiro is doing if he claims he's not taking a step backward and planning for the future.

Fernando Cabrera for a whole year will be nice, but he doesn't replace both of your set-up men. Matt Miller *might* be back to pre-injury form, but he's been nothing if not inconsistent his entire Indians tenure. Mota *could* be good, but his numbers last year were abysmal when compared with his 2004 numbers. And, leaving a bullpen with only one lefthander (Scott Sauerbeck, who CANNOT get right handed hitters out) is not a smart thing. We tried that in 2004, and it was an awful experiment (Scott Stewart anyone?).


I guess I just can't believe the balls Shapiro has. After all the heat he took in 2002 for trading Colon and then to tell everyone, "Wait until 2005. You'll see," to have the balls now after 2005 to pull that shit again...

What do you do for an encore? Do you, like, anally rape my mother while pouring sugar in my gas tank?

Bitter much?

I guess I should be "proud" that a team from my division is going to the Super Bowl, but fuck that. Really. I know this is going to be entirely sour grapes on my part, but Fuck the Steelers. Seriously. In the pooper, if need be.

I'm so tired of the Steelers. Of Jerome Bettis. Of Fucking Big Ben. Of Bill Cowher's chin. I hate the Steelers so much I actually rooted for the Broncos this weekend! And that's saying something.

Now, I know that deep down, the Steelers are a well-run organization with great fans. They're the one team that didn't vote for Art Modell's plan to move the Browns. They wore patches for the Browns fans when we lost our team. They've done everything to reignite the Browns/Steelers rivalry (including pounding the shit out of us ad nauseum). They run a clean organization. You don't tend to hear about their players on police blotters.

That said, fuck them. Go Seattle.


And while we're on the subject of sports things that really piss me off, the Indians are trading one of their most popular players and an important cog in their young, potent lineup for a prospect. To Boston, of all teams (probably the one team in MLB that I hate more than the Yankees). For a prospect. A prospect. A prospect!

I've had some time to digest this, and despite the optimism of my Tribe colleague Lars, I still am not really happy about this move. And I'll endeavor to tell you why (and then wait for the comments from Lars that explain to all of you why I'm full of shit):

To me, the Indians from 2002-2005 had run a top-notch organization. They laid a plan in 2002 for the 2005-2006 time-frame. They set it up back in June and July of 2002 so that the future would be bright.

And now that the bright future is actually here (93-69, missing a playoff spot by 2 games in '05), they're taking a step backward to plan for the future again. To me, they apparently have no idea how to ride any momentum. They complained that they couldn't spend money until the fans came back. They put a great product on the field, and now the fans are coming back.

So, to reward the fans, they subject them to 162 games of Casey Motherfucking Blake in right field, and a possible platoon of Todd Fucking Hollandsworth and A Guy Who Likes to Get Into Fist-Fights with Cops (see link at bottom) in left field, all the while losing their .300 hitting #2 hitter, *JUST* on the prospect of a 22-year-old third baseman who *might* help them NEXT YEAR (i.e., IN 2007!).

Marte, 22, is the key to the deal for the Indians. They don't consider him a finished player and he'll probably open the season at Class AAA Buffalo. Aaron Boone is expected to open the season at third after the Indians picked up his 2006 option last year. Boone has a mutual option for 2007.

The Indians have a big hole at third base in the organization. They not only believe Marte can fill that hole, but that he could eventually be the right-handed, middle-of-the-order power hitter they've been unable to acquire over the past two years.

Marte hit .275 (107-for-389) with 20 homers and 74 RBI last season for Class AAA Richmond. He played 24 games for the Braves and hit .140 (8-for-57) with no homers and four RBI. (emphasis/itals mine)

Am I crazy, or are those numbers not all that great for "top-10 prospect" material at AAA-ball? And, not only are we sacrificing a .300 hitter in Crisp out of the 2006 lineup, but we still have to put up with Blake and Boone for another year.

I understand that the Tribe is making this deal contingent upon getting Jason Michaels from Philadelphia to fill Crisp's spot in the outfield, and that Andy Marte is ranked as one of the top-10 prospects in baseball, but come on. Alex Escobar (seriously, click the link and look at the gaudy MLB career numbers, including 301 total at-bats!) was once ranked as one of the top-10 prospects in baseball, too.

Furthermore, the pitcher we'd be getting from Boston is apparently worth so little to a free-agency-depleted bullpen that he's going to be turned around for Mr. Cinderella Man Cop Fighter with no recourse. And on top of that, we ALSO have to give Boston two minor league players??

So, to recap, we're going to trade a 26-year-old GOOD fielding outfielder with speed who hits .300 in the #2 hole behind Franchise McSizemore and in front of one of the best 3-6 lineups in baseball, BUT he's not worth more than a 22-year-old guy who hits .275 in AAA and a pitcher who is so worthless that we're going to turn him around for a career-fourth-outfielder who gets into fights with cops and may or may not have to platoon with an over-the-hill-possibly-never-was Todd Hollandsworth, AND we have to give up two minor league players just to get another minor leaguer from Boston? Am I missing something here?

I know Shapiro has made a lot of great trades over the past 3-4 years, and for that I should give him the benefit of the doubt (after all, he did get Crisp back in 2002 for Chuck "Please, Tawny, stop hitting me with your shoe and climb back onto David Coverdale's hood" Finley). But, this one leaves me scratching my head a little bit.

If it goes down, the 2006 Tribe better hit coming out of the gate MUCH better than the 2005 team did the first two months of last year, AND the 2007 Tribe had better run away and hide with the division.

Lest I get into a boxing stance and wrestle someone to the ground.

Interesting Baseball HoF Fallout and/or Maurice Carthon is a Dumb-ass

Just got finished reading a great, great article by Bob Ryan on Albert Belle and his chances for the Hall of Fame. Any concerned Cleveland sports fans that happen to read this blog should check it out.


Also just read a great column by Terry Pluto in the ABJ about Maurice Carthon and his loose lips. Good luck with that, ass.

Alright, alright: count me in, too

From others, I have read of this "Game of Four" business. Here goes nothin':

• 4 jobs you've had in your life: Dance Cotillion Drummer, Grocery Packer, Contract Coordinator for a copier company, and Media Editor for a college textbook publisher


• 4 movies you could watch over and over: Shawshenk Redemption, The Godfather, Office Space, Dazed and Confused


• 4 places you've lived: Wooster OH, Vermilion OH (sort of), Alliance OH, Columbus and/or Dublin OH


• 4 TV shows you love to watch: Simpsons, The Daily Show, Lost, Grey's Anatomy (this list promises to grow in potential once our DVR is installed on Thursday)


• 4 places you've been on vacation: Fort Collins (and skiing in the Rockies) CO, Ocho Rios Jamaica, Baltimore MD, Lake Placid NY


• 4 websites you visit daily: Cleveland.com, CNN.com, my band's discussion forum, ESPN.com


• 4 of your favorite foods: pizza, wings from Winking Lizard, shrimp cocktail, cheese and many things made/associated with it (a total cop-out, I know)


• 4 places you'd rather be: a beach with my wife, a Cleveland-team professional sporting event, skiing down a large mountain, at an amazing concert


• 4 albums you can't live without: Dave Matthews Band: Listener Supported, Sigur Ròs: ( ), Tool: Lateralus, Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump


• 4 people tagged next: like four people actually read this!

Vacation: Over

So, I was on vacation for a couple of weeks, and unlike many of my more dedicated colleagues in the blog-o-sphere, I chose not to do diddly shit on my blog while gone. Chalk part of that up due to travel, and part of it up due to laziness and enjoying time off with my wife.

At any rate, here I am. Back at work. Ugh. To update you:

• The band took some time off. We played our two shows December 14th-15th, and did really well. The Little Brother's show was off the fucking charts. We actually drew enough people to make money... at a big club. So much so, they have asked us back again on Wednesday, February 1st. We managed to get them to make that show a bit earlier in the evening, hopefully making it that much easier to get more asses on barstools. We're kicking off our 2006 with a show this Friday night at Scarlet and Grey Cafe, with some new material on top of it all. Hopefully it will be a good winter/spring for us and we can get some meathooks into some OSU kids before they leave.


• The Browns finished up at 6-10, which actually was a pleasant surprise. I went on record with my tailgating friends at 5-11, so they showed me what time it is. With John Collins being fired as president, and a full off-season from the new GM and head coach to come, not to mention getting Kellen Winslow and hopefully Braylon Edwards back, the Browns should be above .500 for the 2006 season. Which means, of course, that they will be 4-12 when it's all said and done with all of their playmakers on IR.


• The Tribe signed a bunch of scrubs. Just like they do every year. We shall see.


• We're getting our digital cable, DVR, and HD channels on Thursday. My next blog entry may be from a hospital bed after I pass out. Call me crazy, but I'm looking forward the most to Discovery HD Theater. I dig that nature-show shit, and to see it in 46 inches of high definition promises to be super sweet. Oh, and the NFL playoffs and March Madness in HD won't be too shabby either.


• Bill O'Reilly is a big, lying, splotchy lunatic. No big shocker there.


• Tom DeLay is out at House Majority Leader. About fucking time.


• This man will most likely doom us all.


• And now, for a truly un-Christian moment, of which I am ashamed (but not ashamed enough NOT to print it). Just die, already. Sorry about that.

I think that covers it for now. Thanks for hanging in, any and all of you that stuck around through my prolonged absence.