Wedge angered by split

Ray Russell wrote:

Let's see the Blue Jays lead off the 10th with two left handed hitters, and Wedgie brings in his closer a right hander. Why not Perez a leftie? Was Wedgie sleeping at the wheel?

He sure was sleeping at the wheel.( Note to Wedge ) When the game is tied it is not a save situation. We have seen Rafe right save his last 2 games sitting them down in order. A tie game is an ENTIRELY different mindset that somebody needs to explain to Wedge! Meanwhile who is in charge of stepping on Jo Bo's arm to keep him on the DL?

Wedge did the same thing with Borowski last year. He'd bring him in for a non-save situation and he'd lose the game. Wedge has a habit of always over managing his pitching staff.

But the big problem is offense. Wedge needs to find a way to get Hafner going and stop playing call-ups from Buffalo that can't hit.

Yesterdays second game will make a great trivia question. "When was the last time (before yesterday) the defense executed a triple play and the starting pitcher delivered 9 scoreless innings and the team lost"?

9 scorless innings from your starter an unassissted triple play and you loose. this is no playoff team yet.

There was an article at the Indians' official website a few days ago about how the Indians couldn't make any deals in the offseason because the asking prices were too high. That might or might not be true, because no examples were provided. What I'd like to know, now that it has become crystal clear that the Tribe, as currently populated, will not be a serious contender for postseason play, is how is the coming offseason likely to be any different in that respect. Will the asking prices still be excessive? Does it feel good sitting on your hands? And, if you can't make a trade, how will you get better by some other means?

Jon wrote:

Wedge needs to find a way to get Hafner going...

Send him down to Buffalo. It did wonders for Cliff Lee.

Tribe Fan wrote:

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Send him down to Buffalo. It did wonders for Cliff Lee.

Hafner is out of options and cannot be sent down.

Tribe Fan wrote:

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Send him down to Buffalo. It did wonders for Cliff Lee.

For the last time to you uneducated and unkowledgable people, he can not go down to the minors without clearing waivers. And I would bet about 10 teams would be claiming him off waivers at the same time. That is not an option with Hafner right now, so get over and shut your mouth

rufus wrote:

9 scorless innings from your starter an unassissted triple play and you loose. this is no playoff team yet.

Well well well its my good buddy the forecaster Rufus again. Tell me Rufus how did Cliff Lee manage to pitch more than 5 1/3 innings again???? You DO realize he has yet to give an earned run since your brilliant prediction two starts ago! Please do us a favor and forecast the offense wont score again this year so we can all rest easy. At least we now know the Indians will be in playoffs.

The hate is amazing here. Let's look at the big picture. They have now won 3 of the last 4 and 5 of the last 7, as well as won 2-3 series in a row. Sounds like a pretty good team to me. If they kept taking 2 of 3 and 3 of 4 in series for the rest of the season they would most certainly be in line for a postseason spot.
The Indians are not the most exciting team in baseball right now, but they are winning more than their share of games. They are also, what, 0.5 games out of first.
And I have to say that it's right for Wedge to be hacked off at the end of that day. Maybe it will start to motivate them to use their heads more when they are at the plate.

Ken Blessinger wrote:

There was an article at the Indians' official website a few days ago about how the Indians couldn't make any deals in the offseason because the asking prices were too high. That might or might not be true, because no examples were provided. What I'd like to know, now that it has become crystal clear that the Tribe, as currently populated, will not be a serious contender for postseason play, is how is the coming offseason likely to be any different in that respect. Will the asking prices still be excessive? Does it feel good sitting on your hands? And, if you can't make a trade, how will you get better by some other means?

Get with it Ken! You are smarter than that! With the starting pitching this team has they will contend. Did you ever watch the Dodgers in the 60's with Koufax and Drysdale? I am real disappointed you have joined the boohoo club and always thought you knew the game is about much more than hitting. Obviously you had me fooled.

I'd like to see Wedge give Hafner a good week off. There's plenty of depth in the infield to fill the DH spot for a few games.

ramon wrote:

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Get with it Ken! You are smarter than that! With the starting pitching this team has they will contend. Did you ever watch the Dodgers in the 60's with Koufax and Drysdale? I am real disappointed you have joined the boohoo club and always thought you knew the game is about much more than hitting. Obviously you had me fooled.

Ramon, it isn't helpful for you to make draconian judgments about what fellow posters have to say. They are merely statements of opinion, just as yours are. What I was expressing indirectly was my skepticism about the front office's inactivity of the past offseason. Shapiro obviously thought the team had enough fire power with the players that were coming back. In that respect, he was wrong. Now, the Indians' official online site, which is basically a source of self-serving propaganda and old news, trumpets the wisdom of his inactivity, based on alleged reasons that are never verified by any kind of real-world evidence. That kind of story can be told in that way for any year one might choose and the paying customers are left with a team that is abysmally boring to watch and no recourse but to stop attending the games.

jon, great line about marte. probably can be applied to other players also.

Finished wrote:

Yes Wedge did not hit the ball well enough in game two or get enough hits.
What is it with fans that are so ignorant about baseball they blame the umpire or the manager for every loss?
The triple play was great. But in reality it was a good play, nothing more unless there are 2 men on and their manager is playing small ball and puts the runners in motion. Nobody on base or the runners just stay at their bases and it is a fairly routine catch of a line drive. More about the situation than the play Cabrera made being that special.
Shapiro has very few options available to him to improve the hitting. Primarily he has to sit on his hands and wait for hitters to hit. The only other player you could DFA and then dump is Dellucci and he is one of the few hitters producing a little.
The other players you could move are players with options. Garko, Cabrera and Francisco could be sent to Buffalo. But for whatever reason no one is screaming for Wedge and Shapiro to send Garko and Asbrundal down, when they both probably should be back in AAA until they can hit.
No one in their right mind would do something with Grady, Peralta or Hafner. Victor is our top hitter and Blake our top rbi guy.
So for now you just have to sit on your hands and be happy our pitching is good enough to keep us near the top of the division until we get some hitters to turn it around.

Great points! But I am not convinced about Hafner. He's been struggling for over a year. If he doesn't get it into gear quick, they need to send him down. At his pace he'll be lucky to have 80 RBI's and that' not enough to produce a pennant.

Chad wrote:

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For the last time to you uneducated and unkowledgable people, he can not go down to the minors without clearing waivers. And I would bet about 10 teams would be claiming him off waivers at the same time. That is not an option with Hafner right now, so get over and shut your mouth

With his contract, don't bet on it!!

jmacleve wrote:

Yeah, we lost, but Wedgie was no class on brushing off Cabrera's accomplishment. Turkey.

Something sinister from Wedge here that I've been concerned about since...oh, about Aug 18 last year when I saw the Tribe play the Rays. ACab was just up, got his first start and the rest was history, winning 20 of 24, blowing past the Tigers for the Division, blah, blah, blah. What I saw that first start was an exhuberence at being on the field that no one else on this team brings. Watching on TV, you don't see the bounce in the step, fun loving and good natured attitude this guy radiates when they take infield between innings. He shouts out to the outfielders, gestures with Martinez, etc., things I've only seen (in the Wedge era) with Omar and Brandon Phillips. Ominous.

Forget about the triple play (so true, it's so rare because the situation is so rare), Cabrera made more flat-out stunning plays at SS in game 2 of this series than Peralta has made since Omar left. Look up Omar's BA at 22, look at what this can do with his glove and the only conclusion any GM could make is sign him for as long as you possibly can and tell the manager to put him on the field every day.

This past winter's FA market was the worst in several years, all the important hot-stove moves involved trades. Reportedly, everyone the Indians talked to about anybody wanted ACab in the deal. Shapiro knows what he's got, so I'm not surprised Wedge seems to be publicly marginalizing or alienating him now.

Frank Robentino wrote:

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With his contract, don't bet on it!!

Yep, the truly patient GM would wait until Kenny Williams lets go of Thome's or Konerko's contract.

WOW, you guys are idiots. Bring back Mike Hargrove!? Wedge is alienating Asdrubal Cabrera? The offense is Wedge's fault? Send our best defensive infielder to AAA? Are all of you on crack?

I havent seen this much horse manure since Hargrove got the blame for the Boston series meltdown, which eventually cost him his job. Memo to morons: WEDGE ISNT STEPPING INTO THE BATTER'S BOX. Nothing like a bunch of fair-weather Indians fans wanting to dismantle an entire team after a slow start.

Our pitching is the best in baseball, and these guys will hit sooner rather than later. The signs are there. All this whining and undermining the manager is just disgusting. You're like a bunch of 12 year olds.

the tribe is built for the playoofs but can they get there with anemic offense