Is there an All-Star backup for Shin-Soo Choo with the Indians?
All-Star Mitch Talbot? He doesn't yet qualify as a likely choice from the Indians, but he's headed in the right direction, says Paul Hoynes.Hey, Hoynsie: I know it's early, but at this rate are we a Shin-Soo Choo injury away from seeing Jhonnny Peralta in the All-Star Game? Please tell us there is another alternative as this may be right up there with watching Jose Mesa close out the World Series or Fausto Carmona/CC Sabathia close out the Red Sox in the 2007 ALCS. -- Steve Cornelius, Avon Lake
Hey, Steve: I can sense you have a lot of anger. My suggestion is deep breathing exercises whenever the Indians are mentioned in conversation.
If Choo doesn't make the All-Star Game, how about Mitch Talbot?
Hey, Hoynsie: What's worse, listening to Wedgespeak or Actaspeak? -- Robert Driscoll, Parma
Hey, Robert: All managers speak the same language, they just say it in different ways.
Acta is probably a better quote – "Life is tough. Get a helmet with double ear flaps" -- but Wedge always got his point across. You just had to listen.
Hey, Hoynsie: I heard during a game last week one of the announcers say "Bart Swain (director of media relations) has just popped in and given us a note." Then they reported Jhonny Peralta's home run was the first by a Tribe right-handed batter at Progressive Field this year! Is that really something the Indians want to promote, considering it was May 20? -- Jim Bratton, Kirtland
Hey, Jim: Like sailors say, "any port in a storm."
Hey, Hoynsie: What do you expect the front office to do to make the team more exciting so that we might be induced to pay to watch? -- Kenny Thomas, Cleveland
Hey, Kenny: Exciting? You mean Luis Valbuena hitting .144 near the end of May doesn't make you want to become a season-ticket holder?
Hey, Hoynsie: If the Dolans gave Mark Shapiro $20 million to spend, do you think he would sign Keith Hernandez for two years? -- Larry Willey, South Euclid
Hey, Larry: First somebody would have to wake up Hernandez in the Mets' broadcast booth to see if his career-ending calf injury was healed from the last time he held up the Indians.
Hey, Hoynsie: I noticed that Alex White is starting in the minor leagues. I thought he was drafted to be a back-end bullpen man? Is Trevor Crowe young enough to revisit second base to plug that leak? -- Raymond Wright, Cleveland
Hey, Raymond: White, just promoted to Class AA Akron, is starting and pitching well. There's still a chance the Indians could move White to the pen, but they wanted to give him a chance to refine his pitches by starting.
If White continues to pitch well as a starter, I imagine the Indians would keep him in that role since one of their needs is quality starting pitching.
Whatever hole you're talking about at second base will not be filled by Crowe. That idea did not work so well.
A fan wonders if military service looks better to Shin-Soo Choo than a 60-win Indians team ... clearly demonstrating the fan's lack of a real sense of humor.Hey, Hoynsie: You think Shin-Soo Choo might realize where this team is headed and at the All-Star break he joins the Korean Army to meet his military obligation? After all, what else is left to go wrong with this team? -- Joe Eversole, Pelham, Ala.
Hey, Joe: Now that would be a heckuva story. Still, I think playing big-league baseball, no matter how bad your team, is a day at the beach compared to staring across the 38th Parallel into North Korea.
Hey, Hoynsie: In recent rebuilding efforts by the Tribe, while the losses often piled up, there was visceral evidence of enough young talent that was maturing into major league players. Certainly you never want to rush to judgment on young players, but what is concerning about the current rebuilding effort is the dearth of successful evidence these current prospects have exhibited over the past several months.
The real concern is that the underlying cause of this is twofold; (1) poor drafting and (2) in this economic climate teams have coveted their young talent like never before and the Indians' basket of prospects for recent deals did not carry the same pedigree as years prior.
Are we headed for a renaissance of bad baseball in this city, the likes of which we haven't seen since the 70s and 80s? -- Leslie Marchak, Sagamore Hills
Hey, Leslie: I've answered a lot of questions over the years, but I think you're the first person to use the word visceral.
As to the Indians' plunge into darkness, all I can say is that I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Still to think the franchise is going to revisit the ashes of the 1970s and 1980s is probably an overreaction.
Hey, Hoynsie: I read the following quote from Blue Jays President Paul Beeston on why his club has trouble drawing fans. "It's not the fans, it's us. We came off a bad season. We reduced our payroll. We traded our No. 1 star and we said, 'Come on out and watch us.'"
How come we never hear any refreshing and honest statements like this one from the Indians' front office? Do you think if we did, the fans might not be so angry at the owner and management? -- Bob Thompson, Canton
Hey, Bob: It's nice to hear candid remarks from team ownership. Still, bad baseball is bad baseball.
The Blue Jays hit home runs, lots of them, and have been better than expected this year following the trade of ace Roy Halladay. What exactly do the Indians do well except lose?
It's going to take more than a few clever quotes to close the gulf between the Indians and their disgruntled fan base. It's going to take legitimate big-league talent and consistent winning baseball on a season-by-season basis.
If the Indians do that, the front office doesn't have to say a word.
Hey, Hoynsie: What's Andy Marte's status and is there any schedule for his return? I gather that going on the disabled list for "non-baseball" reasons means confidential personal problems. Seems like when he played, the Tribe won, more often than not. -- Mark Weber, Eflano, N.C.
Hey, Mark: Marte went on the disabled list with an infected ingrown hair on his abdomen. It required a surgical procedure. The Indians said it was not serious and that he should return after his 15-day stay on the disabled list.
Hey, Hoynsie: Why is Trevor Crowe up here instead of Michael Brantley? The last time I checked we didn't trade a Cy Young award winner for Crowe. -- Angelo Costanzo, Cleveland
Hey, Angelo: Crowe was the Indians' No.1 pick in 2005. Brantley was taken in the seventh round of the 2005 draft by Milwaukee.
The Indians said because of the uncertainty of Grady Sizemore's injury they didn't want to move Brantley from Class AAA Columbus, where he's playing every day. Whether you buy that or not, they want him to start driving the ball more and use his speed to push the game once he gets on base.
Crowe had a good spring training and impressed manager Manny Acta. He believes Crowe, in some form, will be a part of the future and wants to give him a chance to play every day. It's about time they find out just what kind of player Crowe is.
Hey, Hoynsie: Has Mild Manny Acta ever been run from a major-league ballgame? -- Wayne Smith, Wattsburg, Pa.
Hey, Wayne: As far as I can find, Acta was ejected twice as manager of the Nationals. He does not believe that kicking dirt and screaming at umpires helps his team win games. For the most part, I have to agree.
-- Hoynsie