http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/51 Recent articles about Rafael Betancourt en-us A quality start by 31-year old Matt Ginter, where the righty allowed seven hits in six innings was all for naught. Granted, one of the hits was a home run by catcher (and .211-hitting) Jeff Mathis. However, the Indians provided two runs of support on seven hits. And that, folks, rarely gets the job done. The K's continued to roll in for the Angels, as 10 Indians went down on strikes. We struck out 11 times in the previous game, bringing our total to 21 with only four bases on balls. Not a great ratio by any means. Especially when you leave nine guys on base. Good news for the Tribe is that the bullpen joined Ginter in a solid night of pitching. Rafael Betancourt and Ricardo Rincon combined for two innings of one-hit ball. It just so happens that Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez combined for two innings of no-hit ball with four strikeouts. Showoffs. I'd like to take a second to question one thing: the ninth inning. With the bottom of the order coming to bat, Eric Wedge attempted to become the chessmaster. With the .217 average of Franklin Gutierrez coming to bat, Wedge decided to pinch-hit. Who did he send up to the plate? The .225-hitting David Dellucci. Result: Strikeout. Though recording two hits on the night, Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out to Rodriguez on the mound. Two down. Grady Sizemore walked, bringing Jamey Carroll (.270) to the plate - who was quickly swapped for Ryan Garko (.236, .194 in July). Garko proceeded to strike out swinging, thus ending the game. Am I missing something here? Carroll is batting .292 over the last 37 games. Granted, he has nary a home run, but are we looking for a long-ball at this point? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. At that point, it was like trying to build a house with toothpicks - I get that. What I don't get is taking the bat out of the hands of one of our better on-base guys (.348, 3rd on the team) for a guy that is slumping for an entire season. So, what say ye? Please fill me in… Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:22:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294344 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294344 The Indians brass, led by Mark Shapiro, Chris Antonelli and Eric Wedge met in Minneapolis today to discuss immediate and future changes to the Tribe lineup. As previously noted here at Tribe Report, the Indians will immediately address the bullpen. The first move will be Joe Borowski's removal as Tribe closer. It's not known whether or not he will be moved out of the roll and into the pen, or if he will be outright released. It's believed that the Indians are in the midst of trying to trade him, and won't announce anything in regards to where Borowski ends up until the official moves are made before tomorrow night's ballgame against the Twins. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:52:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285625 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285625 I'm heading to Cleveland for a long weekend in an hour or so. Contrary to what you may think, I have not been invited to participate in the big pow-wow being planned for today by the Tribe brass. Tribe manager Eric Wedge and his coaches will be meeting, and Wedge will also participate in a conference call with GM Mark Shapiro and other tie-wearing types. Wedge of course is in Minnesota while the front office is - in the front office, back in Cleveland. This is supposed to be a wide-ranging meeting to discuss where to go from here on the player front. First up will be the bullpen. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports the entire pen may be in for a shakeup - starting with the closer role. But, Castrovince reports, the closer spot is not the only one under scrutiny. "Other changes might come simply in the way Wedge uses his relievers. He wants to back off Masa Kobayashi, Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez a bit, as all three rank among the league leaders in appearances. -Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com." Revamping of the bullpen would mean more work for Edward Mujica, Rick Bauer and Tom Mastny. It could also mean the recall of Jensen Lewis and Brian Slocum. Slocum has a 0.69 ERA in seven appearances since being converted to a reliever at Buffalo. Wedge tells MLB.com he likes what he sees from Slocum. "He's coming on strong. He's always had a good arm. I think the move to the bullpen will help him out. His performance has been high on the radar." And, MLB.com reports, Jensen Lewis' return may be near, according to Wedge. "I don't want to put a timetable on [Lewis' return]. But he's starting to show some consistency and his arm strength is better. He's starting to locate the ball." I have no problem with any of this. It is time for experimentation. What I do have a problem with is Wedge's refusal to use these guys earlier. It has been his pattern to use just the top three or so guys - heavily - while letting the rest of the relievers rot in the pen. The impression is Mujica, Mastny and Bauer suck. When they get in the games it sure seems that way. They may in fact suck. Or could it be that it's difficult to pitch when you come in once every nine days and try to pitch three innings in a game that your team is already losing? It's pretty difficult to stay sharp that way. Wedge has always done a horrible job of keeping everyone fresh and useful in the pen. Bauer was an effective closer in Buffalo. If he were to be used like a closer (an inning a day in 4 or 5 out of every 7 days) might he pitch like a closer, or at least something resembling a closer? Maybe now is the time to find out. Kobayashi doesn't seem to be the answer. Overall he seems to have been effective, but he blows up nearly as often as Borowski. The only difference is his blowups come as three-run seventh innings that put the game out of reach, rather than ninth-inning blowups that end ballgames. Borowski's disasters - as numerous as they are - stab you in the heart and are more easily remembered. Tom Mastny - out of desperation - closed games toward the end of 2006 and did a decent job. I don't think he's closer material, but if he pitches regularly in spots that matter in the 7th or 8th inning, he is likely to be more consistent than he has been in the past. Maybe Jensen Lewis was sent to Buffalo to boost his fastball because he is the fallback position at closer. Just a thought. And it certainly is a thought worth taking a look at. The last two months must be about giving some of these other arms a chance, just to see of they are of any real use to the team for next year. They can't be any worse. Of course today's meeting will not stop at the bullpen. The organization will undoubtedly be discussing names they know are available for CC Sabathia. The names that Shapiro has actually discussed with other GM's, not necessarily the names we've seen all over the papers and the blogosphere. There would, I would guess, be some discussion about an infield realignment, with Asrubal Cabrera coming up to play shortstop and Jhonny Peralta moving to third. That is pure speculation on my part, but I know I would not only discuss it, but do it. Then you have some idea if Peralta can actually play the position when making plans for next year. Failing a move of Peralta to 3B, I'd put Andy Marte there for the rest of the year and let him make or break his opportunity. Either move would displace Casey Blake, but that is not a problem. Blake is probably being sought by more than a few teams and could very easily be gone soon. If not, he should get the bulk of the time at DH unless and until Travis Hafner gets back. He can also play 1B and the outfield, as you know, so he wouldn't be hurting for ABs. Since I wasn't invited to today's meeting, those are my thoughts. I was in Cleveland on my annual summer visit on the day of the big Robbie Alomar deal and the Carlos Baerga deal before that. Just happenstance. Could lightning strike a third time? Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:48:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285517 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285517 Tribe GM Mark Shapiro says the Indians will wait as long as they can before pulling the 'abort-mission' button. And he says and if the time comes to make 'next-year' trades, we'll be seeing the Tribe reload rather than rebuild. As for this year, if he determines the division title is still a realistic goal when the trading season heats up, his main concern is the bullpen. Those are the main points to take away from an in-game interview with Rick Manning and Matt Underwood on SportsTime Ohio on Saturday night. Those interviews are often more revealing than you'd expect, as Shapiro is about as forthcoming as a GM can be in a situation like that and Manning seems to ask the right questions. "At no time this year have I thought or will I think about a rebuilding," Shapiro said in response to a question from Underwood. "It's just a question of do you take certain guys who are in the last year of deals. Do you look at, can we bolster next year's club?" Translation: If the time comes when we don't think we can win this year, we will look only to trade people we may lose to free agency (CC Sabathia, Paul Byrd), or anyone we consider dead wood for next year. And how do you decide when to fish and when to cut bait? Shapiro says you have to ask yourself a few questions and answer them honestly. "It's a mixture of your emotional side and your subjective feelings, but also to objectively ask, Is the team good enough? Is someone in the Central too good to catch? Are we a championship caliber team?" Which way is he leaning right now? "Our feeling is we've got some guys that are coming back – (Victor) Martinez and (Travis) Hafner, (Fausto) Carmona – that can bolster this club so we're going to be very careful about when we make that decision." Translation: We really don't know yet. If the current roster can hang close for a while yet, we just may still keep this team together and go for it. Complicating the decision, Shapiro says, is the fact that teams are becoming less and less likely to give up what the Tribe would want for Sabathia - young major leaguers, or major-league-ready players who will make next year's team better. "I can tell you that in general the Bartolo Colon's trades just don't get made anymore. ... The going price today for any player is less," Shapiro says. "There's a greater reality across the board in all markets, not just the small and mid markets, that young talent is not only cost effective, but that balance in terms of having the veteran players and the young players is a more effective way to win." He points to the Boston Red Sox as the prime example of a successful mix of vets and up-and-comers. And should the Tribe decide to be a buyer instead of a seller as the trade deadline approaches, Shapiro says it's the bullpen that is his biggest worry. "That's a bigger issue than our offense. You see the offense every minute of the game so you feel that more frequently and when the offense struggles nothing feels worse, nothing feels less energetic than a team that's not hitting. But the reality is that even when we lead in games we're going to have to turn it over to the bullpen at some point." Shapiro says Raffy Perez and Masa Kobayashi - and Joe Borowski since his return from the DL - are the only three guys in the pen coming close to expectations. And so what to do there? "We need to get Raffy Betancourt back to being what he can be. We need to get a few other guys to step up and we even need to get Perez even closer to what he was last year." And says Shapiro, the injury bug has bitten the bullpen, if indirectly. "Adam Miller, Brian Slocum have taken themselves out of it because of injuries. We're going to have to continue to look for guys." To be sure. --- Hafner update: MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports Hafner is not ready to go out on a rehab assignment as it was expected he might as the Tribe heads out of town and out west this week. The report says they'll take another look at the DH when they return home May 23. During the TV interview Saturday night, Manning asked Shapiro if the Tribe might be targeting the All-Star break (July 18) as a time for Pronk's return. Shapiro says he's still hoping it will be sooner than that. He also said he's hopeful Fausto Carmona will be back in the Tribe's rotation by the end of this month. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:55:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278277 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278277 While the "LeCharles Bentley is Back" post went by the wayside, we can officially welcome back the return of closer Joe Borowski. While Scot Elarton, Rick Bauer and Rafael Betancourt combined for five innings of one-hit ball, including five strikeouts, JoBo came in for the ninth inning and promptly allowed the following: - C. Gomez singled to shortstop - C. Gomez stole second - A. Casilla singled to right center, C. Gomez scored - A. Casilla stole second - J. Mauer flied out to deep left center, A. Casilla to third - J. Morneau doubled to deep left, A. Casilla scored 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors. Not a good day at the office. Minnesota's Joe Nathan then came in for the Twins and promptly showed the Indians what a real closer looks like. Flyout, strikeout, single, ground out, game over. Good news for Borowski is that his inning wasn't even the worst of the game - it just so happened to be the one that put the game out of reach. The worst inning goes to Paul Byrd who allowed five earned runs in the third inning thanks to a bunt single (again, Carlos Gomez) followed by two doubles and a home run. That stung. I'm fully on board with the sentiments shared by Jon Steiner over at Bugs and Cranks. My feelings regarding Carlos Gomez have been well-documented, and Sir Steiner has entered his name into the ring of obsession. Gomez is a real leadoff hitter and sets the table better than anyone else in the American League. Keep your Curtis Granderson. Give me Carlos Gomez. It's worth mentioning that Victor Martinez left the game with what's being called an inflamed right elbow. Add that to the list of things that will keep him without a home run for the foreseeable future. We'll see what the MRI says, likely today. The rubber match will be in the hands of your current American League Rookie of the Month in Aaron Laffey. He's coming off of a month that saw him win three games and sport an ERA of 0.79. He's been eating up innings as good as anyone, and should be able to at least give our bats a quality start. Whether they reciprocate or not remains to be seen. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:36:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277216 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277216 Joe Borowski makes his return to the Cleveland bullpen, and Salomon Torres has taken control of the situation in Milwaukee. Old stand-bys Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, and Mariano Rivera are proving they still have it and John Smotlz could be poised to make his return as well. All that plus more in this week's Closer Report. Thu, 29 May 2008 15:19:18 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/272173 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/272173 Both Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez have blown saves in the last week. Check out their masterful work. Thu, 29 May 2008 10:08:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/272072 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/272072 Some are taking solace in the fact that the Tribe has scored 13 runs in the last two games. In fact they've scored 31 in the past six games, four of which they lost. Yes the hitting seems to slowly be pulling out of its season-long futility, though there's still lots of convincing to do on that one. Take today for instance. The game is on the line. The Tribe is down a run with one out and runners on second and third. Bottom of the ninth. Hitters No.3 and No. 4 due up. Two infield popups later (technically one was caught in short, short left) - ballgame over. These are games the Tribe won against the White Sox last year, and against the Tigers, and against pretty much everyone else. They're the games the White Sox are winning this year, at least lately and against the Tribe. Last year's infallible one, Raffie Betancourt, has been anything but that this year, coming in in the seventh and promptly blowing yet another lead. There's no way to sugarcoat it, Betancourt has been awful this year. He, and the rest of the bullpen, are another key reason the Tribe's not winning the games they used to win. Things just don't seem to be in sync this year. Not all the cylinders are hitting on the same night. Or at least it is rare when the do. While we're busy pointing fingers, it is necessary to point out that the winning three-run rally by the Sox in the seventh started on a booted ground ball by Andy Marte (who booted another one an inning later but didn't get charged with an error). Marte doubled off the wall last night and laid down a nice bunt. He singled today, and stole the first base of his career. But he just looks so damned shaky in the field and at the plate. I don't fault the idea of playing the youngster, and in fact applaud it, but I just don't think he's got the stomach to make it in the bigs. At the very least it seems he will never regain the confidence he needs to let his talent shine through here in Cleveland. If Marte plays more regularly it should become clear he was a mistake and the Tribe should cut their losses on him. And while we are on the topic of front-office mistakes, for the second time in this young season the Tribe has tried to hide an injury to a key player and hope he can play through it. Instead, the players in question have underperformed miserably and the team has paid the price. After a miserable early season outing it became obvious the Tribe could no longer hide the physical problems closer Joe Borowski was having. They started way back in spring training, but instead of shutting him down in mid-March, they had to do it during the season - after he blew a few ballgames that counted. And now we find the situation is similar with Travis Hafner. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports the cortisone shot Hafner got was the second of the season and that the Tribe was - and still is - trying to squeeze performance out of damaged goods. Pronk revealed that this is the second time this season he's received such an injection. He received the other before the Indians opened a three-game series in Minnesota on April 18. Hafner missed the first game of that series. The shoulder has given Pronk problems since the middle of March. Hafner said he had an MRI exam that revealed no structural damage.- Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com The Tribe is hoping the cortisone shot will allow Hafner to rejoin the lineup Friday, but what is to be gained by trying to force performance out of the ailing and struggling Hafner? He and the team would be better served to if Hafner were to take some DL time to rest, and maybe get some rehab ABs in the minors, where he might be able to get himself on track. Wed, 28 May 2008 21:10:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271936 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271936 You know, I'm not sure where this is going so I'm just going to start writing and see where it takes me. First of all, let me start with this - the Tribe is 15-9 in the last 24 games, so they're doing something right. While I'm still in a positive mood, I don't think we can give Masa Kobayashi the thumbs-down just yet. Not after one blown save, no matter how spectacularly it was blown. Having said that, the Tribe has lost two straight and the fan in me has some venting to do as result. It's been nearly a week since Jhonny Peralta was inserted into the No. 2 hole in the batting order. That's nearly a week too long. He's 6-24 batting second, with 1 walk and 7 k's. The guy's on-base percentage so far this year is under .300 for God sakes. Just what about Peralta's skill set at the plate says No. 2 hitter to Eric Wedge? If there's anyone on this club who is the antithesis of the No. 2 guy - the slap-at-the-ball, move-the-runner-over type of hitter - it's Peralta. When all is said and done at year-end he gets his 20 dingers and hits a little over .250 but he piles up his numbers in short bursts of offense in between long stretches of offensive ineptitude. I didn't see today's game, but from what I'm reading about it, and from what I've seen over the past several seasons, Peralta's clearly not in there for his defense. Or his hustle. If the Indians are going to rely even more heavily on pitching to win this year, it's time to consider making a change at SS. Asdrubal Cabrera/Jamey Carroll is clearly a better option than Peralta/Cabrera. And in addition to what Carroll brings to the table defensively, he clearly is a better option in the No. 2 hole than Peralta. And then there's David Dellucci. He deserves some props for being one of the few bats to make any noise early on in the last homestand. But he is 1 for his last 14. Someone should let the manager know that Dellucci has cooled off. Get him the hell out of the number three hole. Ben Francisco - hitting. Ryan Garko - hitting. As long as we're going to throw a different batting order out there every night (and believe me I understand Wedge is simply trying to find something that works), the manager ought to move the guys up who are hitting and move down the ones who aren't, no? Call me crazy. Which brings us to the biggest question of the night. Does the Tribe have closer on the staff? Borowski's due back in a week or so. But was his awful start injury-related? Or has he lost what little he had left that allowed him to wriggle his way through last season? I think Borowski will come back as the closer - for about 10 days, assuming the Tribe is ahead in a few games and he gets some more save chances to blow. In other words, I think Borowski is toast and that will become obvious quickly. Raffie Betancourt? The knock is he can pitch in the eighth but not the ninth. Frankly I think it is more problematic than that. Betancourt has been inconsistent since Opening Day. Relievers have up years and down years - usually related to how many appearances they made the year before. I'm not sure Raffie Right is going to be as dependable in either role this season as he has been in the last couple. Which leaves us with Kobayashi. Masa got off to a slow start while getting adjusted to his new country, his new team and the major leagues. He has pitched well of late though, this afternoon notwithstanding. He's shown he can do the job, having been one of the top closers in Japan. While I'm not convinced he's the answer, I think Kobayashi is the Tribe's best bet for now. Having said that I would suggest the Tribe consider taking a page from the Yankees playbook (as much as it kills me to say that). The pitcher with the best stuff in their organization is not in their rotation. He's not even their closer. He pitches in the eighth inning. Of course I'm talking about Joba Chamberlain. If I'm the Indians, I'm giving serious thought right now to shortening up Adam Miller and getting him ready to pitch out of the pen. And like the White Sox did with Bobby Jenks in 2005, I'd move Miller along quickly and hope he's ready to pitch the back end of games by the time the Tribe heads into the stretch. If not, I think the Indians will have to roll the dice with Kobayashi. Sat, 17 May 2008 21:43:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268164 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/268164 The Tampa Bay (Don't Call Us Devil) Rays just got finished beating up on the Yankees taking the series 3-to-1. The win keeps Tampa a full game ahead in first place, and dropped New York into last in the AL East. So is this a changing of the guard? Several young pitchers made terrific starts including Chad Billingsley, Mike Pelfrey, and Aaron Laffey, and Jose Valverde continues his May dominance. Fri, 16 May 2008 13:57:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267700 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267700 Les gives his opinion on who should close out games for the Tribe…his answer may surprise you. Fri, 16 May 2008 12:50:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267662 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267662 Cliff Lee may be making a mockery of the American League, but maybe even more surprising is the dominance Edinson Volquez is having in the National League. Find out how Volquez is dominating plus more bullpen madness and Tampa Bay in first-place? Wed, 14 May 2008 03:23:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266728 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266728 There are new closer situations in St.Louis and Milwaukee, and a pitcher in Philadelphia returns to the ranks of the elite. Get the lowdown on all the bullpen situations including new middle reliever rankings in this week's edition of the AccuScore Closer Report. Tue, 13 May 2008 17:17:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266582 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266582 Cliff Lee is masterful and Asdrubal Cabrera turns an unassisted triple play. WFNY has the breakdown. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:24:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266451 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266451 If you had told me before the Indians' final regular season series ever at Yankees Stadium that the Tribe would take two out of three, I'm quite sure I would have taken that deal. With two games in the bag heading into this afternoon I tried to tell myself that a win today would be the "eating it too" part of that cliche' about the cake. Even as I sat down to write this post I was going to go with the Meatloaf angle - you know, 'two out of three aint bad.' But frankly, if the one loss comes at the end of the series, than two out of three sucks. Especially against the Yankees. Do you have any idea how much mileage I would have gotten at the office out of a three-game sweep? And wouldn't it feel a whole lot better if the Tribe was sitting at .500 instead of two games under, even though it doesn't make a damn bit of difference at this juncture? After the first two or three innings today you could tell that some of those flyballs the Yankees were hitting off of Paul Byrd were eventually going to leave the park. It was just a question of how many and how full the bases would be at the time. As it turns out, three of them made it out of the yard, good for four runs. Not a great outing for Byrd but the kind of game you know will come up fairly frequently with an old-goat fifth starter who uses nothing but his head and the tips of his fingers to stay in the game. The real problem today, as always, is you have to be able to expect more than three runs out of your offense. Unfortunately, three seems to be about all we're gonna see out of this group. I liked the idea of seeing Ben Francisco and Franklin Gutierrez in the same outfield. But at this point - at least while he's hot - David Dellucci should play too. I have no problem with Dellucci DHing a few more times until he cools off. Right now Travis Hafner is a seemingly irretrievable mess. So what is there to lose by keeping him on the bench? I'm not say give up on him, but a week off might not hurt. Ryan Garko is nearly as hopeless right now as Hafner. Frankly I would like to have seen Andy Marte in there again today, with Blake at 1B if you really feel the need to have him in there. I've said it before, I'm not a believer in Marte but while the team is hitting this poorly you might as well take a couple of weeks to see if he's got anything. He had a hit last night, and a fly out to the deepest part of Yankee Stadium. So I'm not sure Eric Wedge did much for his confidence by pinch-hitting Hafner for him with a three run lead and the bases loaded in the ninth. It wasn't a max-pressure spot and a hit there might have lifted him up a little. Today Marte found himself back on the bench. If they are not going to use the guy, they might as well pull the plug on him. Why waste the roster spot? Which brings me to my next point. Why are Tom Mastny, Jorge Julio and Crag Breslow on this team? In the FIFTH inning Wedge had Jensen Lewis up throwing. Was he really going to use him that early? Especially with Raffie Left pitching two nights in a row already in the series? You can't make it through an entire season using three or four relievers. You have to expand beyond the Raffies, Lewis and Masa Kobayashi. At least if you want them to be able to pitch beyond the All-Star break. Julio did get in today for the last inning with the Tribe down three. Wedge has to either show a little more faith in the middle-inning guys or he's got to farm them out and bring someone in who he does have confidence in. I realize with this team every run counts, but you just can't keep throwing the same guys out there day after day as early as the fifth or sixth inning. Not if you want them around in September. Thu, 08 May 2008 16:56:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264947 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264947