Transactions: Jamario Moon Hurt, Tribe Signs Two
January 5, 2010The 5-Hole: Blue Jackets News and Notes – 1/5/10
January 5, 2010““I never heard of half of these guys, and the ones I have heard of are way past their primes.” “Most of these guys never had a prime.” – Fake Tribe GM Charlie Donovan from Major League
The Indians made their first foray into the free agent market! Wahoo! That’s right folks, your Erie Warriors have signed two veterans to minor league deals; one time top prospect OF Austin Kearns and 4A special 1B/OF Shelley Duncan.
Before you jump down my throat with the “how is this post-worthy” talk, you have to take a deep breath and realize that this is what we are these days. They aren’t going to be bringing in anyone of consequence in a year that they are expected to be in full rebuilding mode. As if any more proof was needed, it is no secret that ownership would love to deal closer Kerry Wood and his $10 million contract. If they were trying to contend, trading their closer would obviously not even be on the radar screen.
Now onto the players. Kearns was once one of the top power prospects in baseball when he was with Cincinnati. The Reds were overloaded with Outfield prospects that they held too long – between Adam Dunn, Wily Mo Pena, and Kearns. Throw in the signing of Ken Griffey Jr, and Kearns never got in a groove in Cincinnati.
Injuries were what really derailed his career. He comes to Cleveland after three and a half years in Washington, so new manager Manny Acta knows him well. His best year came in 2006, when he hit a career high 24 homers and drove in 86 runs in 150 games with the Reds and the Nationals. Look for him to be insurance as a corner OF/DH type. Kearns will go to Goodyear trying to win the fourth OF job from speedy Trevor Crowe, but that seems unlikely. I fully expect that he will start the season in Columbus.
Duncan on the other hand is a Yankee-organization castoff who never seemed to stick. Like Kearns, he is a right-handed power stick that is probably a long-shot to make any real impact with the big club. At 30, Duncan probably should have made it by now if he was good enough, hence the 4A tag. He has played in parts of the last three seasons with the Yankees, but was stuck behind the likes of Mark Teixiera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, etc etc.
Shelley is also known as an enforcer who loves the mix it up. Look up any Yankee brawl over the last three years and Duncan was right there in the mix. He could see time at first base if Matt LaPorta isn’t ready after offseason hip surgery. After all, the 30 year old Duncan is coming off a season in which he was named the AAA International League MVP after hitting 30 home runs and driving in 99 runs in 123 games.
I know, hardly like signing Chone Figgins or Jason Bay, but as a wise man once said, it is what it is.
7 Comments
MLB should just contract to the New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, and Philidelphia markets.
These aren’t bad signings. What I like is that they were signed to minor league deals. The last thing the Indians need in a rebuilding year is to block the progress of younger players with the likes of Trot Nixon or David Delucci. These guys provide depth without taking time from LaPorta, Brantley, etc.
These are awful signing if we were at team looking to contend (see Delluci, David). However, as we are not these are not awful contracts that will take up any playing time for any of our prospects and so long as we’re looking at guys like that on a minor league contract level then I don’t have a problem with these names being on the Indians.
If we’re going to “rebuild” then just go young all the way. No veteran bench guy or old 4th OF. Crowe needs to be up and rotate mostly with Brantley. LaPorta needs to play 95% at 1st, if not then have Jordan Brown or Marte playing there.
If he makes the big league roster, Duncan could challenge Hafner for biggest meathead on the team. He would also challenge Wally Szczerbiak for most high fives given by a Cleveland athlete.
The Dolan ownership is such a joke that “Major League” references are about all you can have to smile about with this franchise.
One wonders if Manny Acta was at his job at the tire store when Shappy called.
“Manny, how would you like to manage the Indians this year?”
“Ohhhhhhh, I don’t know. Can you hold on a second? I got a guy on the other line about some whitewalls.”
[…] Remember back in early January, when most teams had signed their big ticket free agents, or were at least attempting to do so? Well the Indians were bargain hunting as usual. They announced two additions on the same day – Austin Kearns and Shelley Duncan. […]