The Sunday Drive with the trading of Cliff Lee, the return of Jake Westbrook and the Cavs

Just in case you live under a rock, 'Trade Cliff Lee' rumors have begun circulating once again, thanks to an article by CBSsports.com.  This isn't anything new in the Indians community, since we have been talking about this very thing for the better part of the past two seasons.  Now, the perfect storm is in the air.

1. The Indians are 6-12 so far this year, in a division that many had predicted them to win.  They may still, but you know what a record like 6-12 can do to a franchise frantic to win.  You either start shaking things up, or start shutting things down.


2. Cliff Lee is struggling, leading many to say that he's far from a #1 starter.  He certainly will command #1 starter money when he becomes a free agent.  That's not until the end of next season, by the way.  That said, the "TCL" crew is saying that management doesn't want him at a hefty price, so sayanara.


3.  There isn't much to talk about with this team, because they have seemed to disappear.  Not only are they losing, but they are horrifically boring to watch.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm okay with boring...when you're winning.

Just to lay this to rest, the Indians aren't getting set to trade Lee.  Now, if a team threw a package of players similar to the CC Sabathia deal at the Indians, then the rumor becomes reality.

Why dealing Cliff Lee has been on my mind for two years,
Would I deal Lee if I were Mark Shapiro?  Yeah, it's true
that I've been a supporter of dealing the lefty for the past two
seasons, including during and after his Cy Young award year.  That
said, dealing him now would be a major PR mistake for the Indians, if
the rumors proved to be true.  The Indians starters are absolutely
horrid thus far.  Fausto Carmona barely resembles his 2007-self, and
seems to fight with every pitch.  Anthony Reyes scares the hell out of
me.  I keep picturing Dave Dravecky, or that House episode that had the
pitcher who's arm literally flew off during a pitch.  I'm a fan of
Reyes, but it's a bit like a train wreck.  Carl Pavano is a waste of
money, even if he made the league minimum.  He may have a moment or two
where you think it's all going to be fine, then you open your eyes, and
realize he hasn't been good since the Red Sox were still fighting the
curse, and that year was really his only good year.  Aaron Laffey is
the lone bright spot, but I've never been on the Laffey bandwagon. 
That he's the only current starter that has my attention says a lot
about this rotation.



So dealing Lee leaves the Indians with what for starters?  Is Laffey
then the #1?  Is Fausto Carmona moved to #1?  Is that the smart move
with him hovering on either breaking down, or breaking away?  Would the
Indians get a #1 for Lee?  Why would a team do that, if they need a
starter?  In other words, dealing Lee right now is vastly different
than dealing Sabathia.



First off, there isn't a Lee behind Lee, as their was behind Sabathia. 
Second off, Lee is scheduled to make only $9 million next season.  It
would make more sense to ride it out a bit longer.  Of course, the only
negative is that Lee won't have the season he had last year, and will
certainly command less on the market next year, than this year.



Still, that's not a reason to give up on the season yet.



So, no, I wouldn't deal him, and I actually thought I was going to say yes when I pondered this post.



I'm actually beginning to think that Jake Westbrook is the cog that may make or break the Indians season.  According to Terry Pluto, Westbrook is planning on throwing his first simulated game on May 12th.  If all goes well, he'll follow that up with three or four minor league starts.

If Westbrook does come back, and can somehow manage to be even a close facsimile of the guy that we saw at the beginning of last season, then the starters could right themselves.  Lee would remain the #1, Westbrook would be the #2, Carmona would be #3, Laffey would be #4, and either Reyes or Huff would be #5.  Personally, I could care a less about the #'s, but am okay with five of those six guys.  The only problem is that this rotation really reminds me of the Orel Hershiser, Dennis Martinez, Charles Nagy-led rotations of the 90's, that had a bunch of solid, middle-of-the-order guys, but no take charge guy.  I hate things that are cyclical.

I'm still not ready to give Westbrook the green light in June though (as though I had a say in it).  In all seriousness, how many pitchers rush back from something like Tommy John, and blew out their arms, or had major setbacks.  Why come back in June, if you can be even more healthy in July.  We also all know that getting your velocity back after the TJ surgery can take nearly two years.  We'll see, but it does always worry me when I hear that a pitcher is ahead of schedule with this surgery.

Props have to go out to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  I've heard some grumbling about how the Cavs haven't slammed the Pistons in games #2 and #3.  Trust me, they have.  This team is pretty special.  Will they win the title?  That's up to the basketball gods, not me.  I do like the attitude the team brings behind LeBron.  They are going to be tough to beat.  Make sure you check out Amar and his crew over at Cavalier Attitude for playoff coverage.  Back in the day, I used to write over there, and they really do a tremendous job covering the best team in the NBA.

95,722 showed up for tOSU's spring game today, breaking Nick Saban's record last season in his first springer for Alabama.  Terrelle Pryor threw two 40+ TD passes in the game.  Football...already? 

This weeks SoG award for Tribe blog of the week goes out to Tony Lastoria and his crew over at Indians Prospect Insider.  For those that aren't familiar with Tony's past work, I began following his work at The Cleveland Fan, writing a weekly column entitled 'Minor League Happenings."  He then took his work a step further by opening up a blog based soley on the Indians' Minor League system.  What I thought might be a site updated a couple of times a week, it turned out to be updated daily, an more often than not, multiple times.

TL's work isn't heresay either.  Nearly every post is 'from the source,' and nine times out of ten, dead on.  This isn't a site that begs, borrows and steals from other websites.  Tony is outsourcing the writing as well, and has acquired a solid staff of writers that continue to provide multiple daily postings.

Tony also puts out a yearly Top 100 Prospects book that you can purchase, and posts updating scouting reports on nearly every Tribe prospect worth a hill of beans.  It's not only the cream of the crop as far as minor league sites go for the Indians, but is likely one of the best, IF NOT THE best minor league site in the entire league.  Check it out for yourself, if you haven't already.

Have a fantastic final week of April, and don't forget to check the rearviewmirror for the Indians offense.  It's way back there with their defense...somewhere.

Oh, and is it me, or do you feel like trading down. 

The Sunday Drive with 22-4, hope for the starters, and THE DIATRIBE

There truly haven't been many better weekends to be a Tribe fan than this one. The Indians have walked into New York City and just blitzed the Yankees as they opened up their new, $1.5 billion dollar dalliance into the ridiculous. Who would have thought that the opening day blitz was just a welcome mat to the massacre that was produced yesterday, when the Indians poured a can of 22-runs on the hapless Yankees pitching staff. Sure, the Indians lost 6-5 to the Yankees in the midst of the two blowouts, but talk about maximum effort to beat a team. The Yankees were forced to hit five home runs to score those six runs.

Today's game is still just icing on the cake for me. On the hill is Carl Pavano, who has been vilified in New York City as the potential anti-christ. The boos that he has received this weekend have been nothing short of spectacular. Even better has been Pavano's handling of the situation. He seems to be taking a sardonic pleasure in it, as have his teammates, who have been razzing him relentlessly about it. My favorite comment from Pavano came the day after the opening festivity-Pavano-boo-fest, courtesy of indians.com writer, Anthony Castrovince's blog, Castro Turf:

Carl Pavano had a little press conference in the dugout this morning. He talked about that "ovation" he received yesterday and joked that he might need a riot squad with him to walk the streets of this city. The highlight came when Yankees GM Brian Cashman approached Pavano to say hello, and Pavano asked him, "Were you one of the ones booing me yesterday?" Cashman replied, "I was booing in the seventh inning."

I don't know what to expect from the former Yankees pitcher today, but if he manages to beat the Yankees in New York, talk about your icing. Either way, The 40-ish (37 and counting) runs that the Indians put up against the Yankees won't be forgotten any time soon.

More on the Yankees new $1.5 million band box, the starters, the offense, and The Diatribe, after the jump...

Raise your hand if you have spent at least an hour laughing about the joke of a stadium the Yankees are stuck with for the near future. It truly is a beautiful park, if you can afford to go to a game. Of course, if you gave any idiot $1.5 million dollars, that idiot could build a beautiful park. What's been amusing to me about the whole expenditure is how that figure is tossed around as though it's been earned. I can't count on all my appendages how many times I've heard, "The Yankees 85 years has earned them this stadium." I'm sorry, isn't it a baseball stadium?

What I found most amusing (discounting the Saturday beat-down) were all the empty seats in the lower decks. I suppose you could make a case on Friday, with it being an afternoon game, that people were working. Of course, the opening series for the Yankees new stadium SHOULD bring in the people, right? So either Yankees' fans weren't interested in the game (doubtful), or couldn't afford the tickets (likely). And what was the excuse when the same thing happened on Saturday? It's just another case of ownership not taking into account the real people that actually come to games. Gone are the days when a father and son can just walk into a game and find an affordable seat somewhere close to the action. What a joke.

On top of that, when you actually look at the field of play, the Yankees could have a very interesting season in Year 1. I know that both the Yankees and the Indians have outstanding offenses, but what I've witnessed, in April mind you, is pretty far beyond just the offenses. In the three games played there thusfar, there have been 17 home runs hit. Now fast forward to the summer, when balls carry better. Yeah, I know, the Yankees better give Dave Kingman a call. It will be interesting to see how pitchers like CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett handle this new stadium, and how the balls seem to carry better.

I'm not all that surprised that the starters are struggling, are you? Everything that I've read about the Indians since the end of last season predicted the ailments we're seeing now with the front five. Most predicted that Lee would be more of a battler this year, than the Cy Young ace we saw last season. Most predicted that Carmona was more of a battler than he was for that one brilliant season, now more than a year past. Most predicted that Pavano would likely pitch like a roller coaster ride. Most predicted that Anthony Reyes is a stubborn pitcher, who has a wind up that will ultimately shred his shoulder and his elbow. If he would ever just learn to pitch. Most predicted that David Huff would be the #5...oh wait...Scott Lewis...Aaron Laffey...you get my point.

Huff looks to be warming up a bit in AAA, and I'll make a wager that he shows up on this roster before June. I'm hoping that Laffey finally puts it all together. I'm hoping that Reyes will finally start to pitch, and stop trying to throw the ball through steel. I'm hoping that Jake Westbrook comes back healthy. I'm just hoping that the starters don't destroy an already struggling bullpen. So far, it hasn't been good for many pitchers, starters or relievers. Something has to give though, or this offense will be wasted.

Terry Pluto threw up a nice piece today, but I'm going to focus on what he said about Michael Brantley.

Michael Brantley was hitting .290, but minor-league director Ross
Atkins said Brantley "has hit the ball as hard as anyone" for the
Clippers. The team's leadoff man, Brantley also had five walks in 31
official plate appearances. "It's one quality at-bat after another for
Brantley," raved Atkins.

Matt LaPorta is a given in this lineup at some point over the next 12 months, but I truly think that Brantley is the guy that will make the Indians lineup go from being something above average, to something special. I keep thinking about this kid with a near .400 OBP at the top of the lineup, in front of Sizemore, Hafner, Choo, Martinez, Peralta, DeRosa, Cabrera...you get my point. Add LaPorta or Crowe or whoever you want...but wow, what a difference a kid like Brantley could make.

Finally, every week I plan on talking up a Tribe blog that stands out above the rest. It's not going to be equal opportunity posting either, but blogs that actually do stand out to us here at Sons of Geronimo. So the first weekly SoG award for blog of the week goes out to Paul Cousineau over at The Diatribe. What I like the most about the blog is that PC is a fan, and that's what comes out in his posts. It's not about posting every day, or posting after every game. It's about posting when he has something to say about something that's happened (10-2 or 22-4), someone that's said something, or his normal "Lazy Sunday" posts which combine all of the above. I've never been a big SABR guy, but the diatribe throws up some SABR-metrics that aren't trying to smack you in the face.

Paul and Tony Lastoria from Indians Prospect Insider, also have a weekly Blog Talk Radio show every Thursday Night at 9:30, usually with multiple minor league guests, as well as Tribe Talk. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can do so RIGHT HERE, at Blog Talk Radio's The Cleveland Fan Live.

Here's to the Cleveland Cavaliers, for going up 1-0 on the New Jersey Nets yesterday. Aren't they supposed to beat the Wizards in the first round anyways, then have the rest of the NBA whine that the only reason why they won is because of injuries? Speaking of which, Kevin Garnett is out for the playoffs, and the Celtics lost in overtime to the Bulls and that Rose kid from Memphis. Boy, they aren't trying to make this kid the next big thing, are they? It's a long series Chicago, and I wouldn't get to used to winning.

With all that said, have a fantastic week of baseball everybody...

and don't forget to check your rearviewwindow for the Yankees' home opener. If you look close enough, you'll see it crying, a lot.