Wedge Fires Luis Isaac...Awww; PEAVY AVAILABLE?!

"It was a tough decision I had to make," Wedge said.

Luis Isaac.. 62 Years old, Bullpen coach since 1993.. He's served with the Indians organization in some capacity longer than some of us have been alive.

44 Years... Yes.. 44 Years

That's most of his life and like a little more than double my entire life.. As CastroTurf eloquently put it, four more years than Wedge has been alive!

Anyway, we say good bye to Luis Isaac. One of my favorites.. I'm not sure what was the driving force behind this decision.. It wasn't totally his fault for the bullpen's collapse, was it?!

No it wasn't, Wedge said this was more about what the Tribe needed, not what Isaac didn't bring to the table. WHAT?!

Showing a rare sign of open displeasure was Castrovince on his blog.. After reading it, I'm going to echo it..

I mean.. Why isn't Shelton the one being fired.. it was HIS OFFENSE that was so pour, even WITH Hafner and Martinez healthy.. Why isn't HE the one being fired for the regressions of players Franklin Gutierrez and Asdrubal Cabrera..

Point is.. I don't think I would have fired Shelton.. Which means I CERTAINLY wouldn't have fired Luis Isaac.

This is RIDICULOUS!

I'll really miss Luis.. He was a fun guy to listen to, even though he was hard to understand. He'd always share his Roberto Clemente story on Roberto Clemente day on the radio.. Always a great listen.

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In other news as we look towards the off-season.. JAKE PEAVY IS AVAILABLE?!

Dear lord...

The haul would be huge, one that I don't think we are ready to make, but Peavy would make us go nuts. Like I said though, large haul, we just restocked our farm system.. Peavy is under contract for not just next year but 2010, but that just makes the price even bigger.

MLBTR took a look at our roster for their Offseason Outlook series.

Wondering why Ben Francisco was ommitted from the discussion. He is a starter as of right now in the outfield, Gutierrez would be the odd man out and Dellucci IDEALY would be realeased, but we don't know how that will work out...

Take a look at what Wedge said

"We're going to look at everything -- closer, second base, our corner positions [first and third base, left and right field], rotation and bullpen," said Wedge. "We're not going to be able to cover it all, but we're going to take a look."

I think that's a comment that prompted MLBTR to suggest first baseman like Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder.. Highly unlikely.. If this team adds a corner infielder, it will be a third baseman.. They would be really boneheaded to add someone like Adam LaRoche to this team.. We have Ryan Garko, we have Victor Martinez, Matt LaPorta can play first (and probably should). This team needs a third baseman..

It might not be there, but they need to try and if not they need to get a few people in here to compete.

A name mentioned is Freddy Garcia and I'd be very open to that possibility.. I think any "reclaimation" project of sorts that would want an incentive laden deal is IDEAL for us, both at the starting spot and the closers position.

Here are some Wedge quotes btw..

On Travis Hafner: "I'm confident we'll have a championship middle-of-order bat next year. Does that mean 2006? Not necessarily. Does that mean 2007? I think he's going to be better than that."

On Jensen Lewis and Closing: "We want to go out and get a closer so we have two options at that spot. Jensen Lewis did a good job for us on a short-term basis. I don't know how we're going to do it. I know we're going to try. We'll put our plan together. Check out what's on the free agent list. If someone has a closer, they're not going to give up on him. That's why I'm not discounting what Jensen did."

This leads me to believe Jensen Lewis will compete for the job and be the go-to option if that name they bring in (if they bring one in ) were to fail.

On Jhonny Peralta to Third: "It's not working off of Jhonny. It's working off of what's available and what's the best fit for us. At some point, I do feel Jhonny is going to end up at third base and Asdrubal will be at shortstop."

WOW.. I didn't expect that to come out of his mouth at all.. Jhonny is destined for third, because of his body, his numbers and Asdrubal's potential.. If that's the case, make the move now and don't wait until Wes Hodges is here.. DO IT NOW Damnit...

On the Bullpen Spots: "The sure things are Rafael Betancourt, Jensen Lewis, Masa Kobayashi and Rafael Perez."

Agreed..

On the Rotation: "Reyes was more impressive than anybody that came over [in trades]. I think Laffey will come back and have a good year. ... Jackson and Lewis caught our attention. We have to iron it out when we get to spring training. A big part of that will be whether or not we acquire anybody this winter. ... Sowers is in that mix too. So is David Huff."

I'm going to say that would be fair.. Laffey seems to be his favorite, as is mine.. Interestingly enough he barely mentioned Jeremy Sowers..

On David Dellucci: "As of right now, he'll be back."

Discouraging Part of that Quote: He'll Be Back..

Encouraging Part of that Quotel As of right now...

WOOHOO theres a hope.

On the Catching Situation: "To have both of them competing at catcher, one of them being able to play first base and both of them being able to DH, I like that. If someone blows our doors off [in a trade offer], we'll have to look, but right now they're both coming to spring training on this ballclub."

So.. that tells you were they stand on the Shoppach trade.. It would have to be BIG for them to even listen.. I do believe it would also have to include PIECES that will help us THIS YEAR.. Not prospects only..

On Josh Barfield: "It's hard to lock him in for the second base job. But he will come to camp and compete for a job."

Fair enough, but if Peralta moves, he has to be the favorite provided we don't pick anyone up..