The Truth About The Cavs and Free Agency
July 3, 2009Indians Take On Oakland This Weekend
July 3, 2009Even in their worst of times in the 70’s and 80’s, we never saw this kind of fluctuation on the Indians roster when it came to the bullpen. Sure, we have seen bad bullpens in our day, I mean who can forget the infamous 1988 “Bullpen From Hell” featuring the likes of Don Gordon, Brad Havens, Jeff Dedmon, Chris Codiroli, and Dan Schatzeder pitching in front of closer Doug Jones “PTL.” (he used to sign all autographs with “PTL” at the end, as in “praise the Lord.”
What about the 2004 group that ruined that season by May 15th? You remember the infamous eighth inning duo of Jose Jimenez and Scott Stewart, don’t you? Those two literally came to the mound with gas cans in tow. You know things are bad when Rick White makes 59 appearances and David Riske makes 72.
But in reality, the ’09 group may not only be the worst of them all, but clearly has all other beat in regards to turnover and failed expectations. On opening day, new closer Kerry Wood looked like the final piece to the bullpen puzzle at the back end – a strikeout machine who could bail himself out of any trouble with his 98 mph fastball.
Things were supposed to set up this way: Rafael Perez, hailed by many as the best left-handed reliever in the game) and Jensen Lewis, coming off a stellar August and September, would man the eighth inning. Rafael Betancourt would be there for the seventh to help. Newly acquired side-winder Joe Smith was brought in as a righty specialist to give hitters “a different look.” Masa Kobayashi would pitch in mop up/middle relief, with Zach Jackson hanging on as the long man.
So much for the best laid plans. Perez has completely lost his way and sports and ERA over nine. He has been sent back and forth to Columbus for fine tuning that really hasn’t worked out. Lewis (5.08 ERA) has been nearly as bad as Perez and somehow managed to stick around in various roles up until being shipped down I-71 last week. It was long overdue. Betancourt (3.71 ERA) was having a decent enough season before ripping his groin and heading to the DL a month ago.
Smith (4.18 ERA in 18 games) hasn’t been healthy or consistent. In fact, he hasn’t shown us anything to speak of. Masa (8.38 ERA) is still Masa – he only made the opening day roster because of his guaranteed contract. He was so awful that he was sent down and hasn’t sniffed a recall, despite the bullpen struggles up here. The Zach Attack (9.35 ERA) has been back and forth on the I-71 shuttle and at one point was moved into the rotation, where he flamed out after just one shot.
In between, we’ve seen it all.
Manager Eric Wedge has tried numerous options for the eighth inning. We’ve seen epic meltdows from the likes of the now departed Luis Vizcaino (5.40 ERA) and Greg Aquino (4.50 ERA). Old man Matt Herges (3.55 ERA) was good for about a month, but them remembered he was Matt Herges. Tony Sipp (3.09 ERA) has tried his best, but his arm isn’t fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. Aaron Laffey (3.93 ERA) was pulled from the rotation out of necessity and actually was doing an excellent job of fortifying the bridge to Wood, until he was shelved for a month with an oblique injury. He is now headed back to being what he should be, a starter.
Then there were the middle men. Such stalwarts as Tomo Ohka, Rich Rundles, Vinnie Chulk, and Mike Gosling. It was just plain ugly.
Today, on July 3rd, the Indians bullpen has a complete makeover. 32-year old Winston Abreu has been brought in from Tampa Bay for failed AAA reliever Jon Meloan. He is expected to be added to the roster before tonight’s game. He joins the newly acquired Chris Perez and Jose Veras as the freshest faces through the revolving door. Herges, Sipp, Smith, and Raffy Perez are still getting regular work, while Gosling is nothing more than a journeyman who will most likely be gone sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the $10 million spent on Kerry Wood looks foolish considering he never gets save opportunities. His last three have been disastrous – the two blown saves in Chicago and the near monumental choke job in Pittsburgh.
You want to know why the Indians have the worst record in the American League? All you have to do is read what I just wrote above. I’ve been critical of Eric Wedge over the past couple of weeks, but he isn’t the one who assembled this group of misfits. That, my friends, is on GM Mark Shapiro.
thanks to thetribedaily.com for the excellent photo
12 Comments
It was awful to watch, but it sure made for a good laugh when the Tribe would call to the bullpen and someone would say, “they are making a Riske move here”…….this year’s pen doesn’t even bring the funny
Finally! Finally! A Shapiro alert!! Better late than never. Wedge is Wedge……..the bullesye should be squarely on Shapiro. If you or anyone heard Steve Stone speak with Bruce Drennan a few days ago……incredible, Stoney NAILED it. Get that tape if you can. It’s all about what has happened (or hasn’t) from an organizational standpoint (aka an embarrassment of a farm system, player development………….look at that before you start looking at the minutia that’s on the major league field).
By the way, Chris Antonetti and the rest of the Shapiro team are cookies from the same cutter…….if any of them becomes GM it’s another long decade.
I would agree that the problems start at the top of the organization (particularly Shapiro’s performance), and that the problem is a system-wide one. However, I don’t think the final product, the one people are paying to see, can be reasonably considered “minutia”. Sure, it’s not JUST the players on the field or the manager in the dugout, but they shouldn’t be free from criticism/fan frustration.
Criticize as you wish B-bo, that wasn’t my point. I think Wedge is abysmal, his coaching staff a joke, and plenty of on-field issues, plenty. But……if you want to fix this you need to realize and focus on who is accountable for all of that nonsense………and also review player drafting, development, FA signings…….it all points to MARK SHAPIRO and his group of sychophants.
If this is any consolation (and its probably not), I was at the Clippers game last night and Brian Grening pitched 3 innings on limited pitch count, had 5 strikeouts, and allowed 1 hit and 2 walks (and the 2 walks were after his arm probably got cold after a very loooong wait in the first).
TD-can you get and “post” the tape from Bruce Drennan’s interview a few days ago with Steve Stone? I suggest that would make GREAT listening for many of these readers.
Shapiro has Wedge so “wedged” to his hip that he can’t breath without the other inhaling. That is a combo that the Dolan’s better wake up to fast, or another 10 years and loads of debt await. And I’m not confident that good ole’ Larry even gets it-he so fawns over Shapiro.
At the end of this miserable season Wedge and Shapiro will be sent packing. Mark’s refusal to do what has to be done (even if you like Wedge, this season is so bad that some heads have to roll in response. If they had done it, perhaps we’d be looking like the Rockies right now and not like the Nationals) signaled the end of his tenure. Loyalty is one thing, but this ridiculous. Right now they’re playing like they’re moving the team to Miami. Is Dolan married to an ex-stripper? I just want answers.
we are stuck in Major League 2 right now……Pronk as the power hitter who can’t hit for power….Carmona as the power pitcher who can’t pitch for power…..we even have the asian RF. we just need Sizemore to start openly mocking Lofton (best part of that movie was Epps openly making fun of Snipes throughout…)
you can put it on whomever you like, but as mr. miyagi once told daniel-san, “no bad student, only bad teacher.” ya’ll know more about it than i do, i live out here in podunk denver, but it seems to me that ALL these guys have major league talent/stuff, and it is the responsibility of coaches and managers to get these guys to prefer pitching to just hucking the ball in there…and yes, in the end, it falls on who does the hiring and development. but as i once heard rollie fingers say, “throwing is from the neck down. pitching is from the neck up.” somebody needs to explain to these motherscratchers that they are major leaguers…and somebody has to teach these guys how to pitch, not just throw. maybe it IS the coaching.. . after all, remember the playoffs two years ago when cc and carmona went in the tank? maybe our pitchers are misMANAGED. ..ah, hell, who cares, anyway? roll away the dew, baby, roll away the dew
[…] named Kerry Wood staying on the roster from opening day through the break. I had written about this last week and essentially in every recap the day after bullpen implosions throughout the first half. To […]