Did We Offer Anything for Artest?
July 31, 2008Byrd to Yankees, Rockies?
July 31, 2008WFNY readers have been playing GM for the Cavaliers since the playoffs ended. Well Tribe fans, the ‘off-season’ has come early for this year’s team. So we want your help. We will take a look at the Indians roster and determine who we should try and trade, who deserves an extension, and who we should simply ‘let it ride’. Shin-Soo Choo, Franklin Gutierrez, Ryan Garko , Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta’s fates have been voted on, now it’s time for Carroll…
What to do with all these second basemen? Let’s focus on each one individually.
Contract Information–
Finally, this section is relevant. The Indians have an option on Carroll for ’09 at $2.5 million. Jamey is in his seventh season, and would become an unrestricted free agent if the Indians declined his option.
Stats–
The ’06 and ’07 seasons were in Colorado.
Year |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
TB |
BB |
SO |
SB |
OBP |
SLG |
AVG |
2006 | 136 | 463 | 84 | 139 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 187 | 56 | 66 | 10 | .377 | .404 | .300 |
2007 | 108 | 227 | 45 | 51 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 68 | 28 | 34 | 6 | .317 | .300 | .225 |
2008 | 73 | 228 | 38 | 63 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 79 | 20 | 39 | 6 | .352 | .346 | .276 |
Carroll does not bring all-star numbers to the table with his bat. He does raise his average in ‘pressure’ situations however. With runners in scoring positions he is hitting .288. With RISP and 2 out he is hitting .292. What Carroll does bring to the game is consistent defense. His career fielding percentage is .987, and he has never made more than 5 errors in a season. He is 34 years old however, and shouldn’t be viewed as a long-term option.
Waiting in the Wings–
Much like the outfield, there are a number of players that could take over the second base job, but they all are missing at least one part of the total package. With Jamey you sacrifice some offense. If the Tribe were able to find it somewhere else that wouldn’t be a problem. Asdrubal Cabrera and Josh Barfield are the other 2 players in the mix, and both should be ready to step into the role if the Tribe didn’t pick up Carroll’s option. With Blake gone however, Carroll is the closest thing we have to a utility player, and might be worth keeping regardless of who gets the starting job. $2.5 million isn’t much of a hit.
So what say you WFNY readers? Do you want to see the Tribe keep Carroll around next year? Have you seen enough and want the Tribe to let him walk in the off-season? It’s up to you!
15 Comments
Carroll’s defense is spot on, he’s batting over .270-which in this ballclub .270 gets you the #2 spot in the batting order, and he’s the only one on the team with more than 5 stolen bases besides Grady. I guess it really comes down to how bad Cabrera is at the plate for the rest of this year, (aka mr .199).
Or… maybe i’m way off here… but put Cabrera at SS, Carroll at 2B, and move Garko to DH. Keep Francisco in left, sizemore in CF, and … dellucci in right.
Whoops – forgot to add putting Peralta at 1b.
I vote to keep Carroll, there are much worse players on this team i’d rather see get the axe than Jamey.
I voted to keep him. He’s scrappy and seems to be a player that fans could relate to. Do I think he should be our starting 2B? Not exactly, but he’s an excellent utility guy. But similar to the rest of our team, he’s starting.
Peralta at first? Never.
Peralta at third? Maybe.
For $2.5M and only one year, it’s a no-brainer to me to keep him around. Great utility guy, and besides the stats you mention he’s one of the few guys who can actually get a servicable sac bunt down on this team. For some reason, that’s always been one of my crazy pet peeves… not that it matters, since Wedge wouldn’t sac bunt even with the leadoff man on second in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth with someone about to light his grandmother on fire…
The Tribe made the mistake of committing too many resources to Peralta too early, and Carroll is a cheap insurance policy against doing that again with Barfield or AstroCab, IMHO.
DP: Do you think that Peralta’s current salary of around $6mm is too much? Just curious…
Not too much necessarily; just that they basically rewarded a good 4-month stretch in 2005 with a multi-year deal, and he hasn’t seemed nearly as motivated to play since then. Whether it’s because the lineup has never really again approached that August/September 2005 level, I can’t say. Perhaps it was a poor choice of words, but that was what I meant.
I don’t see why Carroll shouldn’t be around next year, unless it means we have to make a move on Barfield or Cabrera…
Despite lack of power, he seems to be more reliable offensively, not to mention the obvious defensive reliability, than either of the other two current options. And he’s comfortable with the utility role if that’s how he’s put to use, should Cabrera or Barfield really step things up. For the low price, there is no good reason to not keep him.
Don’t look now, but could that be Sal Fasano leading the Indians again with a .320 average?
I’m surprised the Yankees didn’t trade for Fasano and settled for that Pudge guy instead. What’s up with that?
Perhaps they didn’t know that Fasano was still in the league…
I don’t really see a place for Carroll beyond this year — I would much rather see us try to sign Casey Blake as a utility infielder (and backup in case of injuries).
Keep Him-45
Let him Walk-7
i know this isn’t the place to do this, but i want to change my vote on garko and say that we should have traded him, or should do so in the offseason. looking at shoppach’s number thus far, he and victor have had about the same number of at bats (within 10) and shop’s offensive numbers are much better than vic. now that being said, i’m aware that vic was battling some injuries, but if the 60 games that shop has started are any indication of what he could do full time, it’s time to get vic to first base full time. i think we all would agree that shop is a far superior defensive catcher, and it would be the best move for the team long term. vic would stay far more healthy at first, and let’s face it, vic is the captain of this team and we need him on the field all the time…
and is it just me, or does shop seem A LOT more durable, just saying…
Peralta is a 3rd baseman, he’s big slow, good hands, strong arm, and a power hitter. Asdrubal could be the next Omar Vizquel at short, and we’re wasting time with Peralta there. Opening day next year our lineup should look similar to this:
C: Kelly Shoppach
1B: Victor Martinez
2B: Orlando Hudson
3B: Jhonny Peralta
SS: A-Cab
LF: Trevor Crowe
CF: Grady
RF: Ben Francisco
DH: Healthy Pronk
We keep Carroll as the utility infielder and Choo as the 4th outfielder (DFA Dellucci). That team has a solid mix of power speed and average. Hudson should be our offensive signing this season. With Dempster or Oliver Perez as a starting pitcher. We have the money.