The Indians, with their patchwork roster, played solid baseball against some winning teams for a while. But, they've now lost 19 of the last 28 games.
Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is one of the few Indians who seems set as a productive major leaguer.Cleveland, Ohio -- The intrigue generated a few weeks ago by the Cleveland Indians' patchwork roster of youngsters and journeymen has dulled.
After playing a month of solid baseball against a string of winning teams, the Indians have lost 19 of their last 28 games to dip to 50-74.
Tonight at Progressive Field, the Indians begin a nine-game homestand with the opener of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox will visit for three-game sets, too.
Maybe, watching marginal veterans try to establish themselves as consistent producers, and younger players try to secure big league careers, will become a little more fun again.
One of the positions the Indians want to solidify prior to next season is third base. Plain Dealer Indians beat writer Paul Hoynes writes about the Tribe's situation at the hot corner.
MLB.com previews tonight's game. Indians right-hander Fausto Carmona (11-11, 4.14) and Athletics lefty Gio Gonzalez (10-8, 3.39) will be the starting pitchers.
Dollars for draftees
Cleveland, unfortunately, is not a magnet for free agents, and there are few certainties in the trade market, even when only veterans are involved. The Indians have tried to rebuild by dealing veterans -- including some stars on the verge of free agency -- for, mostly, minor leaguers, and through the June draft.
The PD's Paul Hoynes chronicled on Sunday how the Tribe has beefed up its spending on the amateur draft. He's not the only one who has noticed. Anthony Castrovince writes about the Indians' emphasis on the draft for MLB.com:
Last week, the Indians, in signing their top four picks in the waning hours before the deadline, completed a spending spree on signing bonuses that totaled $9.38 million. It was the fourth-highest total in the game, behind that of the Nationals ($11.93 million, $6.25 million of which went to No. 1 overall pick Bryce Harper), Pirates ($11.9 million) and Blue Jays ($11.59 million).
"Obviously," said scouting director Brad Grant, "we showed we were very aggressive this year."
This was hardly an isolated incident. Rather, it was the next step forward in a growing trend, in Cleveland and in the game at large.
Consider that over the last three years, the Indians, according to Baseball America, ranked sixth among all MLB teams in signing bonus money allotted to Draft picks, with a total of $21.31 million. As the team's Major League payroll has shrunk drastically, its Draft budget is increasing exponentially.
Carlos Carrasco coming along
One of the players the Indians acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies organization in the Cliff Lee trade last July 29 was pitcher Carlos Carrasco.
Carrasco struggled in five starts with the Indians late last season, and the 23-year-old right-hander was erratic through much of this season with the Class AAA Columbus Clippers.
Carrasco, though, has pitched well of late, including after a brief absence with a minor forearm problem. He is 10-6 with a 3.77 ERA, and has allowed just one home run in his last 56 1/3 innings. Tony Lastoria writes about Carrasco for IndiansProspectInsider.com:
He’s been at his best, and looks to be about ready to attack major league hitters on a consistent basis. In his first three starts back there were some concerns as his velocity was only at 89-91 MPH as compared to the 93-96 MPH it had been at all year prior to the injury setback, but in his outing (on Sunday) he was consistently in the low 90s and was often touching 93-94 MPH. It looks like he has regained the confidence to let it loose with his fastball, where with the impeccable command he has shown of late should only help. On top of that he is pitching a lot more with his curveball, which as been a big reason he has been so effective of late.
Wait and see
The Indians traded Cy Young Award-winning pitchers CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, respectively, and all-star catcher Victor Martinez a year ago.
For the News-Herald and Lorain Morning Journal, Jim Ingraham comments on the short- and long-term (potentially) effects of the deals.
They've managed to replenish their farm system. But to do so they had to spend two years stripping the major-league roster.
Which is why they are where they are.
Prospect-heavy, major-league destitute.
The Indians put themselves where they are by trading three impact, core players in exchange for prospects who weren't going to be ready to make an impact at the major-league level for two, three, maybe even four years down the road (hello, Jason Knapp and Nick Hagadone).
Around the horn
Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal writes about infielder Jayson Nix.
On MLB.com, Anthony Castrovince answers questions from Indians fans.
About what you would expect from the ESPN.com team power rankings.