INDIANS-7/26/02

LATEST TEAM INFO:

The Indians have now made three big moves in just under three weeks with the July 11th firing of former Manager Charlie Manual and Friday’s trade of Chuck Finley to the Cardinals. General Manager Mark Shapiro, unwilling to fulfill Manual’s request to remain with the Indians beyond this season, fired Manual in the best interests of both the Indians and the former manager.

His replacement, Interim Manager Joel Skinner, was previously a manager in the Indians minor leagues, and ranked amongst the top managerial prospects in baseball. Skinner served as the third base coach for Cleveland throughout the 2001 and 2002 seasons before his promotion to manager. Shapiro says Skinner will hold the interim tag for the remainder of this season and will be given a chance to produce results for a team riddled with young talent. Skinner is the leading candidate to retain the managerial position past this season, but he will have some competition, namely Terry Francona, Buddy Bell, and Eddie Murray, none of which are particularly appealing to the ears of Indians fans.

Forced to manage young prospects intertwined with a few older veterans, Manual did the best job he could. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough. Manual was highly regarded as one of the best men in baseball, and it was this very trait that led to his firing. Friends with many players, Manual was unable to enforce his role as a man of authority in the Indians’ clubhouse. Players would laugh and joke around with Manual, and treated him as more of a fellow teammate than a manager. Skinner should be more of a figure of authority, and most baseball observers see Skinner as the best man for the Cleveland managerial spot.

Finley was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder/first-baseman Luis Garcia and a player to be named. Garcia, 23, was hitting .266 with 12 home runs at Class AA, but was hitting over .300 with 8 home runs over the last month and a half. Garcia could hit .270-.280 with 30 home runs annually in the majors, and was ranked the top positional prospect in the Cardinals organization. There is a list of four undisclosed players from whom the Indians will select the player to be named.

Finley was rumored to have five potential suitors interested in obtaining his services. Cincinnati, San Francisco, Boston, and St. Louis were four of the teams interested in Finley, and Shapiro did not disclose the fifth team. That number was dwindled down to three teams on Thursday and two teams on Friday, from whom Shapiro selected St. Louis as the best fit.

On a sadder note, Indians assistant trainer Jimmy Warfield passed away late last week. Warfield, who died of a brain hemorrhage, was rushed to the hospital after collapsing in the Indians’ locker room. Highly regarded as one of the best men in baseball, Warfield will be remembered by a patch worn on all Indians uniforms.

LOCAL PERSPECTIVE:

The Colon trade had both attendance and fan morale at it’s lowest point since the mid-nineties, but the Manual firing puts a whole new spin on fan perspective. Fed up with the dismal play of their home team, Indians fans felt it was time for a change. Many fans grew impatient with Manual’s numerous managerial mistakes, and these mistakes took their toll day after day on Tribe fans. Fans rejoiced when they heard Manual had been fired, and most were ecstatic upon news of the naming of Skinner as interim manager.

Perhaps the rejuvenation of fans will provide a new outlook for fans on the rebuilding process. Shapiro is well aware that the next few years will provide a foundation of “core fans”, whom will support the team in both good times and bad. This group of fans has spiked after the firing of Manual, but another blockbuster trade may dwindle that number to an all-time low. Criticism of Shapiro is plentiful, and most is undeserved. Shapiro has not only cut payroll, as ordered by owner Larry Dolan, but he has also provided the core prospects necessary for such a rebuilding process. Many fans, unaware of the potential of such prospects, have fueled heavy criticism of Shapiro. Few Indians fans are optimistic on the outlook of such trades, namely the Alomar and Colon deals, but they may soon grow in number upon the arrival of the highly-regarded prospects acquired in these trades.

RUMOR MILL

Many baseball observers suspected that Jim Thome would be the first veteran to be traded, and the Manual firing fueled such speculation even further. Manual was a second father to Thome, and his firing was more devastating to Thome than any other player in the Indians clubhouse. Boston is unable to supply the Indians with the prospects necessary to acquire Thome, and getting a third team involved in a deal for Thome may be too high of a price to pay. The leading candidate to land Thome is Atlanta, whom could offer a package of highly regarded shortstop prospect Wilson Betemit, along with pitchers Jung Bong and Matt Belisle. Betemit has watched his stock fall with a poor season, Bong has been compared to a young Tom Glavine, and Belisle was one of baseball’s better pitching prospects before missing last season due to injuries. Such a deal would surely benefit the Indians, although the price may be too steep for Atlanta. The latest rumor is that Thome has been asked to waive his no-trade clause, but it is unclear to which team he was asked to waive the clause for.

Omar Vizquel is a candidate to get traded to the Braves, whom could send either Wes Helms or Damian Moss to Cleveland. It’s unlikely Cleveland would accept either player, as both are overrated. Helms is a solid backup who could hit 20 home runs, but nothing more. Moss allows way too many walks and is unlikely to maintain his current level of success. It would take prospects in order for the Indians to give up Vizquel.

Any other player not in the Indians’ plan for 2005 will be marketed to other teams. The most likely candidate to be traded is Thome, although any veteran is at risk for a possible trade. Some names being thrown around as possible trade bait include Paul Shuey, Ricardo Rincon, and Ellis Burks.

ON THE FARM

As last week’s report recognized the prospects who have played well to this point of the season, this week’s report shall recognize those prospects who are underachieving. In cases where no prospects are underachieving, the player who is yielding the least productivity is mentioned.

At Class AAA Buffalo, SS Zach Sorensen has been a disappointment. At one time projected to be the shortstop of the future, Sorensen has failed to develop as the Indians planned. Through 75 games, Sorensen was batting .254 with 5 home runs and 17 RBI. Sorensen is close to losing prospect status altogether.

Roy Smith was once a promising side-armed relief candidate, but has struggled this season. Smith, who is 4-3 with a 4.93 ERA, has been inconsistent and has lost control of his pitches at time. The bright spot to Smith’s season is his 36 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched, which offer a glimpse of hope for the future.

At Class AA Akron, 3B Troy Cameron was once a promising young slugger for the Atlanta Braves. Since being acquired in the John Rocker trade, Cameron has yet to yield results. He is hitting just .221 with 3 home runs and 22 RBI, and has shown horrendous strike-zone judgment. If he doesn’t soon turn things around, Cameron could soon be out of baseball.

Matt White was once a decent candidate to crack the big league club, but has suffered numerous setbacks in his climb to the big leagues. White, who is 4-2 with a 5.02 ERA, has been easy to hit and is unable to take control of opposing batters. White no longer retains prospect status and is not likely to make the big league club.

At Class A Kinston, OF Tyler Minges was once a promising but raw outfield prospect. Now Minges is stuck in Class A and isn’t producing. Minges is hitting .235 with 8 home runs and 32 RBI. He has stolen 4 bases, but has been caught stealing 7 times. It is unlikely that Minges will advance unless he provides increased production, which is possible due to decent plate discipline.

The underachieving pitcher award goes to RP Matt Wade, due to lack of underachieving prospects. Wade, who is 1-0 with an 11.12 ERA, has a 2.30 WHIP and has struggled to maintain control of his pitches. Wade hasn’t pitched much this season, but will need to turn things around in order to remain with Kinston.

At Class A Columbus, SS Ivan Ochoa was a potential replacement for a possible shortstop vacancy in a few years. Ochoa has failed to produce, however, and has fallen behind other shortstop prospects in the organization. He is hitting .185 with 32 stolen bases, but strikes out too much. Ochoa is still young, though, and will still have a chance to turn his talent into production in future seasons.

Jake Dittler is a decent prospect, but the young starter has failed to produce in the first half of the season. He will be given every chance to succeed, although he has fallen behind the other pitching prospects currently at Columbus. Dittler, who is 3-6 with a 5.23 ERA, will need to work on his control in order to succeed in the big leagues, but has the potential to strike out plenty of opposing batters.

INJURIES:

Jim Thome-1B Status: Ailing

Thome has been resting his ailing back, but remains in much pain. He has continued to hit well over the past few weeks, but may soon suffer decreased production due to his injury. He may not be in Cleveland much longer, but his ailing back may hurt his trade value.

Bob Wickman-RP Status: DL

Wickman was placed on the 15-day DL due to soreness in his forearm, which has limited his effectiveness as of late. Expect Paul Shuey to get the majority of the save opportunities in Wickman's absence.

Travis Fryman-3B Status: DL

Fryman was placed on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his right shoulder. He hasn't played well this season, and may retire at the end of this year. Bill Selby and Earl Snyder will get the majority of playing time at third in Fryman's absence.

QUICK VIEW:

ADD:

Ellis Burks-OF: He is hitting .316 with 6 home runs and 14 RBI over the past month. He may be headed to Oakland, where he would play mainly DH.

Ricky Gutierrez-2B: Gutierrez is hitting .368 with 2 home runs and 12 RBI over the past month. Expect a productive second half from Gutierrez, who will be forced to showcase his talent to skeptical Indians fans.

DROP:

Ryan Drese-SP: Drese should be a future regular in the Indians rotation, but the future is not now. He is just 1-3 with an 8.75 ERA in his last 5 starts. The only bright spot are his 20 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched.

Einar Diaz-C: Hitting just .186 with 1 RBI over last 20 games. He may lose playing time to Eddie Perez, who is hitting a healthy .375 over the past month.

TRADE:

Omar Vizquel-SS: Vizquel is nursing an injured left shoulder, and his numbers are suffering as a result. Don’t expect Vizquel to duplicate his first-half numbers, as he should produce much like previous seasons for the remainder of this year.