Morning Update: No you got hope, so do we

I didn't realize this until I was going to bed and watching the highlights on ESPN.

But that stupid balk from Veras knocked in an extra run. We had totally scrapped together one run that would have tied it had Veras not been stupid.

"He almost pitched his way out of it, but he really put us and himself in a tough situation by walking those first two guys," Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

"I was trying to catch the sign [from Toregas]," Veras said. "I reached into my glove to get the ball and I shook. It was a balk."

What a dummy... I hate balks. If you balk, I hit you.

Wedge came away as impressed as I did with Justin Masterson. Masterson will continue to work in the bullpen until he's ready to start, but he doesn't mind doing whatever the Indians want him to do. They do want him working on a change-up though, which he will continue to do.

"Very impressive," Wedge said. "Great composure, great stuff, great mound presence."

"It sounds great," said Masterson, who worked three scoreless innings Saturday night in relief of Jeremy Sowers. "I've done both over the last couple of years. In the minors I started.

"It will be nice. It's a challenge I'm excited about."

Carl Willis unveiled the plan for Masterson. The Mastard said there are good things about starting and relief pitching, but he just wants to help the team.

"We're going to bring him out of the bullpen to start with and use him in kind of a scheduled rotation out of the bullpen, with some side sessions in between," pitching coach Carl Willis said. "There was actually one game where he threw 112 pitches. We have to be careful to take our time to build him back up. But because of the frequency he'll be pitching, it shouldn't take long."

Jeremy Sowers? Meh.. He had like one quote, let's talk about the rookie who got his first hit, Wyatt Toregas.

"My legs were shaking, and I couldn't even feel myself at the plate," Toregas said of that experience. "Somehow, I got a hit. I don't know how I did it."

Toregas will play some... According to Wedge, which isn't good news for Andy Marte considering he'll play Gimenez at first and then it's just a mess, okay? I wanna see more of Toregas too, but not at the expense of the precious time we have with Marte.

Wedge came away impressed with Toregas from spring training and wants to see more of him. I like Toregas' defense and his under-the-radarness... So, we'll see.. I also like Chris Gimenez too.

There is a lot more than the stats from the other night when it comes to Fausto Carmona's start.

If you remember, one of the reasons we speculated that Fausto Carmona wasn't as good as he was in 2007 was because of the fact he didn't have Victor Martinez regularly catching him.

Well now the day Martinez gets traded, Fausto is making his first start back with the Tribe.

Eric Wedge said all things considered, Fausto looked good in the situation.

I'd have to agree... I can't imagine what was on his mind with one of his better friends on the team traded. As AC noted in his latest blog entry, the Indians are trying to reinvent Fausto and make him more of a pitcher. That is why this is going to be a long process.

On that note... A big crowd for Victor Martinez Bobblehead/Hall of Fame Night. 31,000 plus according to both Castrovince and the CPD. Looks like it will probably be the biggest crowd the rest of the year.

And speaking of Hall of Fame night.

It was about the foursome inducted, Bill Veeck, Wes Ferrell, Dick Jacobs and Sandy Alomar.

But really, this night was centered around Sandy Alomar Jr.

A day after the Indians traded the heart and soul of their organization, they inducted the former keeper of that position into their personal Hall of Fame.

With the other three that were inducted no longer with us, it was Sandy's night. I'm sure on a night after the Indians made a move that had 75% of their fan-base ready to rip out their owner's insides, a few people were excited about Dick Jacobs and the reminder of the past, but this was about Sandy.

"I'm not here because of stats," Alomar said. "I'm here because I love to win. If you go by stats, there are many guys that should be here [ahead of me]. But I'm happy, and I feel honored that they reward players that come to play and to win ballgames."

Sandy won't get into the Baseball Hall of Fame, because really when it comes down to it, those are about overall numbers. But the Indians Hall of Fame isn't about numbers as so much what it really means to play the game.

That's why a guy like Victor Martinez will one day be in it.

That's why we celebrate Sandy Alomar.. Because he loved to play the game, and he loved to play the game for the Cleveland Indians. He was damn good at it too, but that isn't even part of it.

"My focus was on the postseason," Alomar said. "I was born to win and all those wins and all those postseason games, it was very gratifying to play in two World Series."

Sandy might have deflected the attention at some points as noted in the numerous articles about the night. But it was all about him if you ask me. A guy like Sandy may not want it, but he deserves one night to be about him.

Jensen Lewis was called up yesterday and I noted how Wedge totally snubbed him in favor of that loser Jose Veras.

Apparently, according to AC, Lewis "is still not where he needs to be" despite not allowing a run over 18 plus innings in Columbus. Riiiiiiiiight.

And as AC notes, Winston Abreu was suspended for as many games as he appeared in for the Indians. What a mega-failure that was. Mark Shapiro still hasn't explained himself on that one.

Well it's Sunday, which means Hoynes has a new mailbag and the CPD has an opinion piece. Bud Shaw sounds off on the trades. What else would he do?

What continues to baffle me is the constant insistence of fans saying the Indians didn't get any of the Phillies top three prospects.

JA Happ is not a prospect people, he's graduated from that and even if he didn't he isn't top three. If we are going of last year's BA rankings, they got two. If we are going off updates ones, many believe Knapp is right up there with Drabek.

Never mind, there are some smart part people out there.

Hey, Hoynsie: The Indians have acquired Chris Perez (in the majors), Jesse Todd (should be there soon), Jason Donald (scouts from Arizona Fall League said he could be ready this season even though he's been injured), Lou Marson (.300-hitting catcher that can handle a staff), Carlos Carrasco (Phillies' No.l preseason prospect, who would have been in the big leagues if not for J.A. Happ's big year) along with others. Fans continue to complain about not getting major-league ready talent, but there are five guys right there. Do people really think that having Cliff Lee and Rafael Betancourt next year would make the Indians contenders? -- Joe Winnfield, Columbus.

Thank you...

Bud Shaw's article is interesting. He mentions something I forgot. Jayson Stark, I believe, named the Indians as a winner at the deadline and as Shaw points out with a quote, some AL executive told ESPN that the Indians are going to be really good in 2012.

I'll probably be graduating from college by then, Man....

Whatever... Let's finish this.

Jake Westbrook will pitch for Akron on Tuesday. I'm thinking of catching that game with no work the next day. The Indians want him to throw 50 pitches or three innings.

Finally an interesting note here from Hoynes. In fact this entire article is mildly interesting.

Drabek was never in the deal -- the Phillies wouldn't give him up for Roy Halladay either -- but the Indians could have had Taylor or Brown. They said no because they have outfielders and it would have been at the expense of Knapp or Marson. The Indians wouldn't have made the deal without Knapp, who some in the organization value more than Drabek.

I'm glad they didn't take Taylor if it would have cost them Knapp. It should also be reassuring to some of you out there that some like Knapp better than Drabek. Like I said, you just don't know with prospects. People could just be dead wrong about the Indians not getting anything in this deal.

And now this part.

Martinez and Lee were the subject of trade rumors for weeks. When they found out, it was hardly a surprise. Lee couldn't wait to join the Phillies. Martinez wore sunglasses so reporters couldn't see his tears.

Interesting isn't it? I love what Cliff Lee did here, but that doesn't surprise me. I mean, I'm sure Hoynes is a little bit on the exaggerating side, but it doesn't surprise me that Cliff doesn't feel the same emotion that Victor did, hell no one did. But still, Lee probably isn't too heartbroken about the fact that he got traded.