» Fausto Carmona

Some Cross Referencing here – According to Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse via MLB Trade Rumors (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/), the Mets are talking trade with the Cleveland Indians. The talk surrounds Mark Derosa/infield-outfield. I think he can be valuable at ss/2b/1b/of. However, he’s batting only .255 with a .322 obp. Like MLB Trade rumors says, and it’s as obvious as it gets, the Indians will want the entire 4+ million off the books. I don’t have a problem with that, I just don’t want to give up any top notch talent or even a 2nd tier prospect…Unless of course we can also land a SP, such as Cliff Lee or more probable, Fausto Carmona in the deal. Then i’d give up 2 or 3 2nd teir prospects – Brad Holt or Jon Niese (sp) + Reese Havens or Wilmer Flores (ss) + maybe a Carlos Guzman (of). MLB Trade Rumors previously said that the Indians may be tired of waiting for Fausto Carmona to regain his dominance (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/05/is-cleveland-losing-patience-with-fausto-carmona.html). I think we have a few more sp that will be considered a little bit more talented than Niese in another year or two, and in my opinion, Fausto Carmona + Mark Derosa will help us this year a lot more than Jon Niese. Derosa can plug in at ss until Reyes is back, 1b along with Daniel Murphy until Delgado is back, and OF in place of Church/Sheffield/Murphy. He can even plug in at 3b when Wright needs a break. And oh yeah, he can plug in at 2b when Castillo needs a break/get hurt – especially now that Alex Cora is also hurt. I think Derosa is a no brainer if he comes cheap enough – I just hope we can get Cliff Lee/Fausto Carmona as well (obviously we’d have to add Fernando Martinez/of + another SP prospect for Lee if the Indians don’t think they’ll be in the race). Ideally, we can somehow land Victor Martinez/c-1b, but I won’t get out of hand.

Well Carlos Delgado will have surgery and be out until around the All-Star break. Possible replacements that may possibly arrise via trade are Aubrey Huff/Orioles; Nick Johnson/Nationals; Victor Martinez/Indians; and maybe even Jorge Cantu/Florida if any of these guys are or become available. I can see all these teams saying they need 2 of the Mets top  prospects, and I honeslty don’t think any of them except Victor Martinez warrant them, however, I would be willing to trade both if we can also land a SP in the deal ala Cliff Lee or Fausto Carmona (even though he hasn’t been great) from Cleveland; and Jeremy Guthrie (even though he hasn’t been great) from Baltimore. I doubt the Indians are willing to trade Victor Martinez and or Cliff Lee/Fausto Carmona so soon, but if so I would be willing to trade Fernando Martinez(of), Jon Niese(sp), Reese Havens or Wilmer Flores(ss) for BOTH Victor Martinez and Fausto Carmona or Aubrey Huff and Jeremy Guthrie, potentially. I think at catcher and 1b, Victor Martinez would be a dream fit, but Huff/Johnson would be less attractive becasue then what do we do when Delgado is back? I guess Huff could play LF again which moves Murphy to RF and then Church and Sheffield become unhappy or Murphy loses playing time which I would thoroughly disagree with. I guess Nick Johnson/Washington can come quite cheap since they also have Adam Dunn and a sundry of outfielders. I just strongly want to emphasize if we trade for a 1b then we should attempt to land a SP along with them if we rid of our top prospect(s). Agreed?

Some other random suggestions/potential candidates:

Russel Branyan/1b, Jose Lopez/2b, Erik Bedard/sp – Mariners… I think something could work here

Adrian Gonzalez/1b, Jake Peavy/sp – Padres… I wish something could work here

Jermaine Dye/of – White Sox (Move Murphy to 1b)…He’s solid but we really need a SP also

Matt Holliday/of – Athletics (Move Murphy to 1b)…May require way too much for thus far subpar performance

Helton/Atkins/1b – Rockies… Hmm, maybe Helton Could come cheap other than money cost?

All these guys are probably tradable minus Adrian Gonzalez, but they have a top notch 1b prospect.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I want to apologize for not updating in about a week. Between battling the flu, working and preparing for a final in my management class, I just could not find the time to update. Hopefully we wont have anymore weeks like this past one so I can get back to talking about what I love, the Indians.

There have been many times this off season I have been asked how do I think the Indians will do in the 2009 season. I am going with a different approach to that question this year. Instead of saying “Oh the Indians are going to win the AL Central” or “they are going to end up in this place or that place”, I am going with “The Indians have the potential of being a good team this year”. My biggest concern is not the bullpen, which is surprising, its the starting rotation.

1. Cliff Lee – “the Ring Leader” - The 2008 Cy Young Award winner only deserves to win the title of the ring leader for the 2009 season. Some people are saying that Lee’s 2008 season was a fluke only because of the down season in 2007. When looking at his career stats, however, it proves that Lee is a consistant pitcher. Since becoming a starter for the Indians in 2004, Lee has had 4 seasons of 10+ wins, 2 of th0se season being 15+ wins. Is it possible for Lee to have another year like the 08 season, yes. Unfortunately, his Spring Training stats aren’t supporting the idea of Lee for the Cy in 2009.  In only 2 games, Lee is 0-1 with an 11.25 ERA. In 4 innings pitched, he’s given up 8 hits, allowed 6 runs and struck out 3. Lets just hope that Lee gets back to his regular season form before he makes the 1st start of the season.

2. Fausto Carmona – “The Wild Child”  – After a disappointing 2008, mainly caused by injuries, fans are expecting Carmona to bounce back. However, you never know which Fausto you are going to get at the beginning of the season. Remember the 2006 season when Carmona was a starter and in the bullpen. In 2006 Carmona had a 1-10 record. Then a new light was shined down on Tribe fans in 2007 when Carmona had a 19-8 record and a 3.06 ERA. Carmona threw some of his best stuff in 07 and with the Indians 1,2 starters Sabathia and Carmona, the Indians could easily have been unbeatable. After facing a hip injury in 2008 and nursing the hip for most of the year,  Carmona had an 8-7 recordn with a 5.44 ERA. As the trend shows, Carmona should be unstoppable. With his most recent Spring Traning start, Carmona only gave up 1 run in 4 innings pitched.

3.  Carl Pavano – “The New Guy”  – Pavano is set to prove himself with the Indians in the 09 season. Before joining the Indians in the offseason, Pavano had 3 disappointing seasons with the Yankees with his ERA each season being over .400. Pavano has not had a great season since 2004 when he was with the Marlins, when he had an 18-8 record and a 3.00 ERA. Luckily for the Indians, Pavano was not an expensive addition and if, for some reason Pavano were to continue to repeat his below average season, it wont be financially costly for the Indians. In 3 games pitched so far this spring training, Pavano has a 0-0 record with a 7.71 ERA with 8 hits, 6 runs and 2 strikeouts in a total of 7 innings pitched.

4. Anthony Reyes – “The Starting Rookie” – Even though his stats do not consider him to be a rookie, he will be with an Indians, if he chosen to be the 4th starter. In 6 games in the 08 season, Reyes put up some impressive numbers before going down in September with soreness in his throwing arm. He had a 2-1 record with a very low 1.83. In 31 innings pitched, he allowed 7 runs and struck out 15. The Indians are hoping that Reyes comes out of spring training showing now soreness so he can be the 4th starter in this rotation. So far this spring traning, Reyes is proving the point that he should be in the starting rotation. He has not given up an earned run in 5 innings pitched in 2 games. He has given up 3 hits and has struck out 5.

The 5th position is still up in the air, but it appears that Aaron Laffey is in the front running for the final position. Even though this spring training Laffey has a 1-2 record and a 7.00 ERA. Another canidate for the 5th position is Zach Jackson. Jackson had a short stint with the Indians at the end of the 2008 season and so far this spring training, Jackson 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA.

In other pitching news, Westbrook threw off of a mound for the first time since having tommy john surgery in the 2008 season. Westbrook has been plagued with injury in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Westbrook has stated that he is happy to be back to pitching and the fact that his pitches were not conisistant. He was just happy to be back out there.