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February 7, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
With winter imposing its snowy will on the North Coast over the weekend and now knee deep into 14 hours of Super Bowl pre-game coverage, time to bring Paulie C back in for his regular Lazy Sunday piece here on the site. It's been another slow news week in terms of Indians coverage, with the biggest "story" of the week was Grady Sizemore addressing reporters for the first time to discuss the "coffee cup" incident that occurred earlier in the off-season. Paulie hits on Grady and his contract status, points out some incredibly irresponsible journalism, and addresses the notion that the Indians simply don't have any money to spend on the free agency market.
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February 6, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
The starting rotation. Unquestionably the linchpin for the 2010 Cleveland Indians campaign and the reason that most are predicting a "transitional year" (to be charitable) for the club that occupies the confines at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. It's the one topic, the one area of the team getting the most discussion as we get set to head into spring training, and for good reason. It's a huge question mark. Enter Paulie Cousineau. Today he unleases the first installment of a multiple part piece looking at the rotation, breaking it all down for our readers in a way only Paulie can.
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February 5, 2010 - By Jesse Lamovsky
The game was as dramatic as a Game Seven should be. With rookie phenom Jaret Wright shutting down Florida's offense, the Indians crept ahead 2-0 in the third on a Tony Fernandez single. Wright sustained the shutout until the seventh, when Bobby Bonilla's leadoff home run cut the Cleveland lead to 2-1. Wright, Mike Jackson and Brian Anderson nursed the slim lead through the seventh and eighth, putting the Indians three outs from the crown. The Indians put men on first and third with one out in the top of the ninth but failed to score an insurance run, putting the smallest of margins in the uncertain right hand of Jose Mesa. We all know how that turned out. In Jesse's latest, he wonders what if ... Jose Mesa HAD saved Game Seven of the 1997 World Series?
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February 3, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
Tony's countdown of his Top 50 prospects in the Indians farm system marches forward today as Tony profiles his second batch of players, #45-#41 in his rankings. Included in today's lot is the player we recieved in the Kelly Shoppach trade, an outfielder the Indians took high in this year's draft out of Ole Miss, the team's second round pick in the 2006 draft, and a couple more live arms coming off big minor league seasons in 2009. Stay with us all winter as Tony profiles all of the Indians most promising minor league players and educates us on the guys that will be the future of the organization.
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January 31, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
It's Sunday morning, which means it's Lazy Sunday time here on the site with Paulie Cousineau. In today's piece, Paul is all over the board as more Indians news starts to emerge as we move closer to pitchers and catchers reporting in three weeks. He hits on the slew of Indians prospect rankings lists that are starting to come out, the "layers of arms" in the Tribe farm system, the moves made this off-season by other small to mid-market teams, AL Central win total projections for 2010, the absurdity of Paul Hoynes' column this morning, and his recent guest host stint on "All Bets Are Off".
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January 26, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
It's that time once again Tribe fans. For Tony Lastoria's countdown of the top prospects in the Cleveland Indians organization. Tony will be counting them down in groups of five about once a week until the middle of spring training, culminating with the release of his 2010 Indians Top 100 Prospects & More book. Today, Tony gets the ball rolling with prospects #50-#46, which includes a former first round pick of the team back in 2005, and the son of a very accomplished MLB outfielder with the Red Sox back in the late eighties. Enjoy!
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January 24, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
As 50 degree weather inexplicably makes its way to the North Coast on a January morning as we get ready for the NFL conference championship games, let's get rolling right into a Lazy Sunday, starting off with Paul's take on a piece from Yahoo's Jeff Passan on why he thinks the Indians find themselves where they do. In today's piece, Paul also takes a look back at the Indians performance this past decade as it compares to our division foes, hindsight on the Cliff Lee trade, and some very intriguing developments on the Cleveland microbrewery front.
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January 23, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
Since the only pertinent topics of conversation on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario these days consist of the traits a back-up catcher brings to the table and how the Indians are adept at avoiding arbitration, let's cast the gaze back to the disparity in MLB that was touched on (OK, more than touched on) right after the new year. Prompted by Peter Gammons' superb article that appears at MLB.com (his new home, in case you didn't know), Paul thought it was worthwhile to take a couple of snippets from the piece and relate it to what's now been on his mind for the better part of three weeks. New daddy Paulie C continues the discussion on competitive balance in baseball in his latest piece for us.
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January 21, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
Thanks to a series of trades over the course of the last two years, Indians GM Mark Shapiro has restocked the Tribe's farm system to the point where it is now widely considered one of the five best systems in all of baseball. Over the course of the next several weeks leading into spring training and most of March, Tony Lastoria will once again be unveiling his Indians Top 50 Prospect list with a countdown in groups of five on this site. Starting this weekend we will kick it off with #50-46 and continue that way until we reach #5-1 in the middle of March. It's an annual feature our readers have come to know and love, and Tony previews it for us this morning.
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January 20, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
This past Monday, the Indians made a trade, sending 22-year old third base prospect Jesus Brito to the Pirates for 27-year old infielder Brian Bixler. Bixler was immediately added to the 40 man roster, and is expected to compete with Mark Grudzielanek and Jason Donald for the utility infielder role in spring training. Many fans had a hard time understanding this deal, as Brito is still very young, and is coming off a season where he hit .353 at Mahoning Valley. And he was dealt for a 27 year old with little upside. Enter Tony Lastoria to help us make sense of this, and give us what he feels was the Indians perspective in doing it.
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January 18, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
With really nothing happening on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario all off-season, Paulie C thought that the lull presented a nice opportunity to tackle a mild obsession of his - uniforms and, more notably, uniforms worn by the Cleveland Indians. Through the years, the Indians have always struggled to find the balance between history and freshness as, unlike most franchises, the Indians' uniforms have undergone monumental changes with no one singular aspect remaining the same as fonts, color schemes, and even the Chief has seen major adjustments from era to era and year to year. Paul talks about it in his latest piece for us.
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January 17, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
The only real news coming off of The Reservation this week is a couple of largely insignificant veteran signings that potentially fill out the Indians' 2010 bench, as the Tribe inked utility infielder Mark Grudzielanek and catcher Mike Redmond to minor deals. In today's Lazy Sunday piece, Paulie talks about what the Redmond signing means for Carlos Santana and Lou Marason, the Indians current catching situation, the Marlins being forced to spend by MLB, and the free agent activity this offseason from all of the Indians AL Central division rivals.
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Successful poker players may lose many small pots and still be totally happy, for their goal is to win the occasional big ones. The same thinking comes naturally in football. When the "Browns are in a fourth down, "moving all in", in the meaning of going for it, is worthwhile only if the odds for success are good enough. In most other cases, it’s probably wiser to just "fold" the hand, as in punting the ball away. In the same way, winning or losing a single yard means nothing as long as they manage to get a first down.
January 12, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
Indians left-handed pitching prospect Eric Berger could be going places.Being a part of a military family, the 23-year old Berger has already been all over the world. His father Mitch Berger is a squadron commander currently stationed in Germany, and he has been out to visit his father in other places in the past like Korea, Alaska, Kansas and many others. One place Berger has never been though is the major leagues. It is his focus at the moment and something he has worked hard to get to throughout his amateur and now professional pitching career. Tony talked to him about that journey as the basis for his latest piece for us.
January 11, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
Since Paulie C's Sunday was not "Lazy" in any sense of the word (what with the 1:30 AM delivery of a new baby boy, the ensuing maelstrom of activity, and the subsequent visitors that accompany the birth of a child), we'll roll out slowly into a late Lazy Monday, as Paul put some stuff together while he was still waiting to make the trip to Fairview for the delivery. Paul hits on the dynamic signings of rock stars Austin Kearns and Shelley "don't call me Sandy" Duncan, he talks about Kelly Shoppach's new deal and the Indians catching situation, and continues to express disbelief at the acquisition of Mitch Talbot. Congrads on the new boy Paulie!!!
January 8, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
One of the biggest strengths in the Cleveland Indians farm system is the depth of talent they have in the outfield.They have high ceiling big league caliber players such as Nick Weglarz and Michael Brantley, and also have others like Jordan Brown and Trevor Crowe who look to be solid complementary big leaguers in the making. One of the more interesting outfield prospects who emerged after a very good season last year is Donnie Webb. Tony sat down to talk with him this past week.
January 7, 2010 - By Tony Lastoria
We are about eight weeks from the start of minor league spring training in early March. By now almost every player in the Indians system is well into their offseason workout programs and has already begun preparations for the 2010 season. For second baseman Jason Kipnis, it's all about preparing himself to handle the daily grind of his first full season. Taken in the 2nd round of the 2009 Draft out of Arizona State University, he only played in 29 games last year with short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley, but even still it was an eye opener for him on how much of a struggle it can be to play baseball professionally every day. Tony had a chance to speak with him this week.
January 6, 2010 - By Paul Cousineau
Paulie C has been sitting around the house for the holidays waiting for the call to action on the birth of his second child. I got one of those e-mails I love getting from him. It said "Been working on a 4,000 word thesis on the current state of baseball ... what is wrong and how it could possibly be fixed". Anyone that has been reading Paulie these last three years on the site knows why that e-mail is exciting to me. And anyone that watched Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia face off in game one of the World Series as members of the Phillies and Yankees knows how frustrating the current economic state of the game is for fans like us in cities like Cleveland.
December 29, 2009 - By Erik Cassano
The final year of the first decade of the 21st Century was, once again, devoid of world championships for Cleveland's teams. But even without trophies or rings, there was still plenty to remember from the sports year 2009 in Cleveland. From the good (anything involving LeBron James or Josh Cribbs) to the bad (another Tribe fire sale) to the ugly (Braylon Edwards slugging a friend of LeBron's, then getting traded) it was another eventful sports year on the North Coast. Erik Cassano has been counting down the top ten biggest Cleveland sports stories of 2009, and today, brings us his #4 moment.
December 27, 2009 - By Paul Cousineau
With Paulie C's hands cramping from two days of putting together PlayMobil police cars and pirate ships (which apparently requires an advanced degree in engineering) let's roll right into a Lazy Sunday as Baby Watch 2009 continues and as his pleas to induce before the end of the calendar year (for the tax deduction obviously) continue to fall on deaf ears. In this edition, Paul hits on bad free agent signings, the lack of big bats in the AL Central, and other tidbits from the world of Indians baseball.
December 22, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
On Monday the Indians completed the Kelly Shoppach trade with the Tampa Bay Rays which was originally made on December 1st. As part of the original agreement to trade Shoppach to the Rays, the Rays (not the Indians) had until 11:59 p.m. on December 20th to make a choice from a list of two players and they ended up deciding to send right-hander Mitch Talbot to the Indians. In Tony's latest, he tells Indians fans about Talbot, the Indians mindset on him, and how he may fit into the 2010 plans of the big league club.
December 20, 2009 - By Paul Cousineau
With only four shopping days left before the arrival of one Baby and with things that need to be done before the arrival of another baby, let's roll right into a Lazy Sunday where The Reservation remains quiet, but that certainly doesn't mean that we're hurting for topics to dissect. Paulie C this week takes a look at the questionable return the Indians and Phillies got for Cliff Lee, Travis Hafner, Carlos Carrasco, and his recent appearance on "More Sports with Les Levine". Happy Sunday Cleveland fans ... stay warm.
December 19, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
Monmouth University is located just off the Atlantic Ocean coastline in upper New Jersey, about an hour east of Philadelphia and an hour south of New York City. For a small school lacking much college baseball prestige and so far out of the way, it is another example that baseball talent can be found almost anywhere. The Indians did just that by selecting right-handed pitcher Brett Brach in the 10th round of this year's draft out of Monmouth. Tony had a chance to sit down with Brach this week to talk with him about his first year in the Indians organization.
December 16, 2009 - By Paul Cousineau
While North Coast is busy trying to make sense of Mike Holmgren and why a Miami Dolphins jet was seen at Burke Lakefront Airport on Tuesday morning, a little trade went down in MLB with a particular Arkansan that you may remember...middle name of Phifer. With the BIG trade (step aside, Granderson) finally consummated, let's bring in Paulie "soon to be a father of two" Cousineau to shoot off some quick tomahawks on what it took to get Lee to the Pacific Northwest, among other topics.
December 15, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
The Indians removed three players from their 40-man roster late Saturday night, as they non-tendered right-handed pitchers Anthony Reyes and Jose Veras and also removed right-handed pitcher Adam Miller from the 40-man roster. In less than 24 hours, Reyes and Miller were back in the organization as they were resigned to minor league deals on Sunday. While the moves themselves don't come as a shock, the timing of them is certainly interesting. The moves have been unsettling for some fans as they try to understand the timing of the moves and who they decided to keep rostered and not roster. Enter Tony Lastoria to make sense of it all for us ...
December 13, 2009 - By Paul Cousineau
With a very pregnant wife and the in-laws in town, credit Paulie "The Good Soldier" Cousineau for even cranking out a Lazy Sunday column for our readers today. Bully for us though ... as there is a lot of post-Winter Meetings and post-Rule 5 draft info to sort through, which Paul does for us. Who is Rule 5 draftee Hector Ambriz? Can he help us? Should we be mad about losing Chuck Lofgren? What does Paul think about Charlie Nagy rejoining the organization? And the Detroit Tigers recent sell-off? He tells us in his latest Lazy Sunday piece.
December 11, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
For the first time in a long time the Cleveland Indians were participants and not just spectators in the Rule 5 Draft. They awoke from their seven year Rule 5 slumber yesterday to take not only a player in the Major League portion, but they also snatched up outfielder another player later on in the Triple-A phase of the draft as well. The big pickup in the Major League phase was 25-year old right-handed pitcher Hector Ambriz who is an interesting arm they were able to scoop up out of the Arizona Diamondbacks system. Tony tells us all about him in his latest.
December 9, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
The Indians have built up an impressive amount of depth in the pitching ranks at Triple-A and Double-A. But with so many options at their disposal, sometimes a player or two can slip through the cracks because they don't have anything in their arsenal which stands out or they lack any eye-popping numbers. One of those players who often gets overlooked in the Indians system and sort of lost in a deep sea of average to above average pitching is left-hander Ryan Edell. Tony Lastoria had a chance to speak with him this week.
December 9, 2009 - By Paul Cousineau
In honor of the Winter Meetings being in Indiana, let's give a nod to the second best sports movie based in Indiana (and if you have to ask why it's only #2, I'm going to have to see your Fan ID) while we release some tomahawks during a week in which we're all feeling like "Cutters" while all the rich kids (and Italian cyclists) enjoy their fun toys. Paulie talks about the Indians (in)activity at the Winter Meetings, and hits on Adorable Jamey Carroll, Jon Nunnally, and who the player to be named later in the Kelly Shoppach trade may be.
December 9, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
We are on the eve of the 2009 Rule 5 Draft which will take place at the conclusion of the Winter Meetings tomorrow out in Indianapolis, IN. Looking at how things stand right now, it looks like if the Indians lose anyone it will be a pitcher or two. There are a lot of solid arms available, though very little as far as upside goes. There are only but two or three position players who may get any consideration, if even that. With that in mind, lets bring in Tony to take a last minute look at the ten players in the Indians system who could draw the most interest.
December 7, 2009 - By Tony Lastoria
It was a move that was planned almost from the day right-hander Steven Wright was drafted by the Indians in the second round of the 2006 Draft. Coming out of college at the University of Hawaii, Wright was a high profile pitching prospect set to go in the first few rounds of the draft with a dominating fastball and slider but questionable off-speed pitches.As a result, Wright has always projected as more of a reliever than as a starter, and a few weeks into the 2009 season the Indians finally made the move where they converted him from a starter to a reliever. Tony talked to him about it this week.