WHAT'S THE NEWS
Would you release someone who's hitting .319 with 10 home runs and 44 RBI at the Triple-A level?
Neither would I, but it appears as if the Indians are going to make a move with Andy Marte rather soon with Wes Hodges returning to Triple-A rather soon.
Now third base isn't the only position he can be fit in at, and with Hodges still coming back from an injury, he can get time there. He could also play first, do some DHing and play the outfield if need be. But guess what?
Stephen Head is healthy, Jordan Brown, Matt LaPorta, and Michael Brantley are all still here, and Trevor Crowe is now in the mix. Even though Michael Aubrey is gone, that's six guys for five spots or something like that.
So really, with Marte already having the shot at the big leagues, and the Indians hope with him pretty much exhausted, he's not a high priority.
The answer is to rid themselves of Marte. He probably won't get called up, but it would be nice to do so and see if he's really a changed man. There just isn't room up there though either. You can't release a guy who's putting up those numbers though, someone out there could want them, couldn't they?
This isn't two days before the season or anything, when rosters are finalized and you don't even have to add him to the 40 man if you trade him either. So someone HAS to want him, right?
His value is as high as it has ever been in years. It isn't the super-prospect value he came to the Indians with, but it's something more than, no one willing to even take a shot with him on waivers.
So Marte's time is running out, but I hope it at least nets us something. I'd hate to just flat out release the guy now that he's showing some good stuff.
I tweeted the congratulations to the five Aeros named to the Eastern League All-Star team yesterday, but let's formally do so now. The fans selected Beau Mills and Hector Rondon to represent the EL and then Nick Weglarz, Carlos Santana, and Vinnie Pestano were added as well. Congrats to all five, they deserve it.
I should tweet things like that more often, because it produced the nicknames of "Big Bad Beau" and "Vinnie the Gangster" for Mills and Pestano. Add them to the list.
COLUMBUS
That's seven in a row for the Clippers and the not the good kind. The Clips lost to Toledo in large part to a six run inning by the Mud Hens.
Chuck Lofgren has pretty much only had one bad start, make that two. He went five innings and gave up eight earned off six hits and four walks. Not good at all. Kobayashi pitched and he gave up three in just one inning.
Thank god for Frank Herrmann who went three innings with just an unearned run.
Andy Marte celebrated his IL POTW honors with a 4-4 night, knocking in two runs with a home run and two doubles. As we talked about earlier, Marte's time with the orginization might be over, which really bites.
Jordan Brown also homered and had two hits. He and Marte have pretty much been the rock-solids as far as the offense goes from the start.
AKRON
The Aeros and Baysox were schedule to play a double header, but I don't know if you know this, there was a lot of rain in certain places yesterday. We didn't get much, if any at all here in Akron, but everything was soaked and it was raining when I woke up this morning. Now they aren't in Akron, but chances are if Ohio is getting rain, so is some of the East Coast.
Anyway that was rather odd and off-topic, but the Aeros lost to Bowie in that seven inning game.
Bowie scored a run in each of the first three innings and the Aeros did their damage in one inning by scoring two runs. Jose Constanza doubled twice and scored once. Cristo Arnal had the lone RBI.
Ryan Edell started and gave up all those runs, but only two of them earned. He gave up seven hits and one walk in the 5.2 innings he worked.
KINSTON
Kinston blew it big time with a three run lead going into the seventh inning. The Pelicans tied it up in the eighth, took it to extras, and scored a run in the tenth inning to beat the K-Tribe.
Ron Rivas, Roman Pena, and Adam Davis all knocked in runs for Kinston.
And with his first Kinston home run it was none other than...
! Ole Sheldon also had another hit and scored and knocked in two runs.
Phelps, Chisenhall, and Montero all had two walks in this one. Lots of baserunners for Kinston, probably should have scored more.
Mike McGuire got the start and he didn't do too bad. He went four innings, giving up two runs off three hits, but he did walk three.
Bryce Stowell gave up two runs in three innings to start the blown game and Santo Frias finished things off with the other run. He pitched a scoreless ninth though. Jonathan Holt took the loss but gave up the unearned run. Holt got one out, gave up a double, then got another out and then Ron Rivas committed an error. A hit scores the run and the K-Tribe lose.
LAKE COUNTY
Weird... The Captains lost to the Power of West Virginia 5-4. They scored all their runs in one inning, as did the Power. So we had big innings and that was it.
Wes Hodges had two hits and a double in the DH role as he played the entire game, but just as the DH. Run production done by Donnie Webb, Chris Nash, and Mark Thompson who all knocked in runs. Webb scored one, as did Hodges, Walter Diaz, and Adam Abraham.
Great start by TJ House who went five scoreless, giving up just five hits and striking out one.
The minute he left the game though, boom. Recently called-up Kaimi Mead made his Lake County debut and was shelled for that five run inning. It came off just two hits, but one was a three-run home run as he walked three.
MAHONING VALLEY
If you've been keeping track, not one single Indians team has one yet. Mahoning Valley wouldn't change that.
Chun-Hsiu Chen had two of the six hits, but the lone run came off a home run by John Allman.
A nice outing for Brett Brach though as he goes five innings, gave up one run off three hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Austin Adams took the loss, even though he turned in three solid innings. He did give up the solo home run that put Williamsport ahead.
ARIZONA LEAGUE
If you think the AZL team would provide some relief, you'd be wrong. The Cubs crushed the Indians 13-3.
Roberto Perez had a good day, with three hits and one of the three runs batted in for the AZL Tribe. But every pitcher gave up a run.
Kirk Wetmore gave up a run for every inning he pitched, four. Franklin Soto and Vidal Nuno gave up on earned each in their innings. Just not good all around.
DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Don't usually go down this far, but let's see if this organizational sweep is official.
Yes it is!! The DSL Cubs also put the cramp on the DSL Indians with a extra innings win.
It's the end of the month though, so let's use this point to update on things going on down there. We'll take a look every two weeks from now on.
Giovanny Urshela leads the club with 22 RBI and is tied with three others with one home run and he's also tied with two others with seven doubles.
Joly Fermin has played in 21 games and leads the team in Average with .368. Alex Monsalve, the regular catcher is hitting .318 with 13 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Ramon Cespedes is one of the most used relievers and he's gone 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 24 innings pitched. That's more than everyone else minus Harold Guerrero, who's started six games. Guerrero is carrying a 2.59 ERA one of the best on the team with regular innings.
Carlos Del Carmen has pitched in 19 innings and is carrying a team-best 2.33 ERA.
Original Story:
http://www.thetribedaily.com/2009/07/...
Would you release someone who's hitting .319 with 10 home runs and 44 RBI at the Triple-A level?
Neither would I, but it appears as if the Indians are going to make a move with Andy Marte rather soon with Wes Hodges returning to Triple-A rather soon.
Now third base isn't the only position he can be fit in at, and with Hodges still coming back from an injury, he can get time there. He could also play first, do some DHing and play the outfield if need be. But guess what?
Stephen Head is healthy, Jordan Brown, Matt LaPorta, and Michael Brantley are all still here, and Trevor Crowe is now in the mix. Even though Michael Aubrey is gone, that's six guys for five spots or something like that.
So really, with Marte already having the shot at the big leagues, and the Indians hope with him pretty much exhausted, he's not a high priority.
The answer is to rid themselves of Marte. He probably won't get called up, but it would be nice to do so and see if he's really a changed man. There just isn't room up there though either. You can't release a guy who's putting up those numbers though, someone out there could want them, couldn't they?
This isn't two days before the season or anything, when rosters are finalized and you don't even have to add him to the 40 man if you trade him either. So someone HAS to want him, right?
His value is as high as it has ever been in years. It isn't the super-prospect value he came to the Indians with, but it's something more than, no one willing to even take a shot with him on waivers.
So Marte's time is running out, but I hope it at least nets us something. I'd hate to just flat out release the guy now that he's showing some good stuff.
I tweeted the congratulations to the five Aeros named to the Eastern League All-Star team yesterday, but let's formally do so now. The fans selected Beau Mills and Hector Rondon to represent the EL and then Nick Weglarz, Carlos Santana, and Vinnie Pestano were added as well. Congrats to all five, they deserve it.
I should tweet things like that more often, because it produced the nicknames of "Big Bad Beau" and "Vinnie the Gangster" for Mills and Pestano. Add them to the list.
COLUMBUS
That's seven in a row for the Clippers and the not the good kind. The Clips lost to Toledo in large part to a six run inning by the Mud Hens.
Chuck Lofgren has pretty much only had one bad start, make that two. He went five innings and gave up eight earned off six hits and four walks. Not good at all. Kobayashi pitched and he gave up three in just one inning.
Thank god for Frank Herrmann who went three innings with just an unearned run.
Andy Marte celebrated his IL POTW honors with a 4-4 night, knocking in two runs with a home run and two doubles. As we talked about earlier, Marte's time with the orginization might be over, which really bites.
Jordan Brown also homered and had two hits. He and Marte have pretty much been the rock-solids as far as the offense goes from the start.
AKRON
The Aeros and Baysox were schedule to play a double header, but I don't know if you know this, there was a lot of rain in certain places yesterday. We didn't get much, if any at all here in Akron, but everything was soaked and it was raining when I woke up this morning. Now they aren't in Akron, but chances are if Ohio is getting rain, so is some of the East Coast.
Anyway that was rather odd and off-topic, but the Aeros lost to Bowie in that seven inning game.
Bowie scored a run in each of the first three innings and the Aeros did their damage in one inning by scoring two runs. Jose Constanza doubled twice and scored once. Cristo Arnal had the lone RBI.
Ryan Edell started and gave up all those runs, but only two of them earned. He gave up seven hits and one walk in the 5.2 innings he worked.
KINSTON
Kinston blew it big time with a three run lead going into the seventh inning. The Pelicans tied it up in the eighth, took it to extras, and scored a run in the tenth inning to beat the K-Tribe.
Ron Rivas, Roman Pena, and Adam Davis all knocked in runs for Kinston.
And with his first Kinston home run it was none other than...
! Ole Sheldon also had another hit and scored and knocked in two runs.Phelps, Chisenhall, and Montero all had two walks in this one. Lots of baserunners for Kinston, probably should have scored more.
Mike McGuire got the start and he didn't do too bad. He went four innings, giving up two runs off three hits, but he did walk three.
Bryce Stowell gave up two runs in three innings to start the blown game and Santo Frias finished things off with the other run. He pitched a scoreless ninth though. Jonathan Holt took the loss but gave up the unearned run. Holt got one out, gave up a double, then got another out and then Ron Rivas committed an error. A hit scores the run and the K-Tribe lose.
LAKE COUNTY
Weird... The Captains lost to the Power of West Virginia 5-4. They scored all their runs in one inning, as did the Power. So we had big innings and that was it.
Wes Hodges had two hits and a double in the DH role as he played the entire game, but just as the DH. Run production done by Donnie Webb, Chris Nash, and Mark Thompson who all knocked in runs. Webb scored one, as did Hodges, Walter Diaz, and Adam Abraham.
Great start by TJ House who went five scoreless, giving up just five hits and striking out one.
The minute he left the game though, boom. Recently called-up Kaimi Mead made his Lake County debut and was shelled for that five run inning. It came off just two hits, but one was a three-run home run as he walked three.
MAHONING VALLEY
If you've been keeping track, not one single Indians team has one yet. Mahoning Valley wouldn't change that.
Chun-Hsiu Chen had two of the six hits, but the lone run came off a home run by John Allman.
A nice outing for Brett Brach though as he goes five innings, gave up one run off three hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Austin Adams took the loss, even though he turned in three solid innings. He did give up the solo home run that put Williamsport ahead.
ARIZONA LEAGUE
If you think the AZL team would provide some relief, you'd be wrong. The Cubs crushed the Indians 13-3.
Roberto Perez had a good day, with three hits and one of the three runs batted in for the AZL Tribe. But every pitcher gave up a run.
Kirk Wetmore gave up a run for every inning he pitched, four. Franklin Soto and Vidal Nuno gave up on earned each in their innings. Just not good all around.
DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Don't usually go down this far, but let's see if this organizational sweep is official.
Yes it is!! The DSL Cubs also put the cramp on the DSL Indians with a extra innings win.
It's the end of the month though, so let's use this point to update on things going on down there. We'll take a look every two weeks from now on.
Giovanny Urshela leads the club with 22 RBI and is tied with three others with one home run and he's also tied with two others with seven doubles.
Joly Fermin has played in 21 games and leads the team in Average with .368. Alex Monsalve, the regular catcher is hitting .318 with 13 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Ramon Cespedes is one of the most used relievers and he's gone 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 24 innings pitched. That's more than everyone else minus Harold Guerrero, who's started six games. Guerrero is carrying a 2.59 ERA one of the best on the team with regular innings.
Carlos Del Carmen has pitched in 19 innings and is carrying a team-best 2.33 ERA.
Original Story:
http://www.thetribedaily.com/2009/07/...
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July 01, 2009
