It's Tribe Time | A Cleveland Indians Franchise

[Vinsane]

First Year Player Draft 2009

AP - Cleveland, OH - After a day of disappointment, the Indians fans could at least take a little joy in knowing that new, young talent, will be joining the ranks of the Indians soon. Today was the first year players draft and the Indians snagged a couple of needs and picks from the draft to accommodate their roster, we'll take a look now at the players.

In the first round the Indians selected Bertram Roark, Roark a Right Fielder will add depth to the position that needs a couple more men on the chart, with the departure of Shin-Soo Choo and not getting a right fielder in return the Indians will once again look to their farm system to raise talent like Roark.

In the second round the Indians selected an All-American player with All-Star potential. Starting Pitcher Omer Hinds was selected by the Tribe. At 18 years old Omer has a lot of talent that can be translated into wins for the Tribe. The Indians are best at raising pitchers through their farm system. This player will add a lot of hype to an already strong pitching farm for the Tribe. Only time will tell if he lives up to his All-Star potential.

The Indians selected Catcher Irvin Lowry in the third round, Irvin is an excellent base runner with speed. With an aging Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach's health issues Irvin Lowry could be a key piece in keeping this team afloat in the years to come. One knock against him is his below average power and contact, something that will need to be worked on in the minors.

With the fourth round the Indians addressed one of their aging positions in 3B. With this pick they selected twenty year old Gregg Chavez, Chavez brings nothing but depth to the team as he doesn't stand out in any one area, he however is very clutch, which is a good sign for a Organization that lacks that from time to time.

The Indians went back to the catcher position with their fifth and final pick, they scooped up Chad Goodrich, a 19 year old prospect. Chad has great durability according to scouts and can stay healthy. This translates into plenty of starts, and that leads to improvement. Chad will be a project catcher for the Tribe but should produce well in the minors.

Time will tell for these selections, the Indians look forward to making contract agreements with them soon, we'll keep you updated.

[The Messenger]

Nice writeup on the draft.

[mfbmike]

Yeah, it does. About halfway through the season or whatever. Then you have time to sign them or some shit.

[Vinsane]

Carmona, Peralta, Deliver!


Peralta's gets it done with his third triple of the season.

AP - Minneapolis, MN - When a homer doesn't get it done, a triple will. The Indians lost a game to the White Sox with their upsetting performance a day ago. Today, they gained that game back with a Sox loss. Setting up the two AL Central Rivals to meet each other for the second time this season, making the AL Central, the Sox to lose. The Indians made good on Fausto's claim on "getting it done" with a 7-6 victory. Kerry Wood recorded his 20th save, only after making it interesting giving up two runs in the ninth.

"I got it done today, scary, but got it done." Said Wood. With the season going the way it is Wood could be a challenger for the save record of 63 set a year ago by Francisco Rodriguez. "I'm not out here for me, I didn't sign onto a team to play baseball for me." This is often the response given by Cleveland players that migrate here, knowing that in Cleveland, there are no stars. "If, and only if I'm within reach will I worry about it. Right now I'm focused on getting the job done so we can get the Central lead, not a record for myself."

The Tribe will be given that chance in their next series, a three gamer against the White Sox in Chicago. This of course will follow a three gamer with Kansas City before Inter-league play dominates the rest of the month, the Indians have tough teams coming up ahead and gaining the lead now would beneift them the most heading into mid-June.

Lineup:

CF Francisco 1-5 |
RF Pena 2-5 | 2K
1B Garko 2-5 | 1K
C Martinez 3-5 |
LF Willingham 2-4 |
1B Johnson 2-4 |
3B DeRosa 1-4 | 1K
SS Peralta 1-4 | 2K
2B Cabrera 1-4 |

Batting:

2B: R. Garko (10), M. DeRosa (20), W. Pena 2 (6), J. Barfield (1)
3B: J. Peralta
RBI: V. Martinez (27), N. Johnson 2 (26), J. Peralta 2 (35), M. DeRosa 2 (29)

Pitching:

Carmona (W, 7-1) | 6.0IP | 7H | 4R | 4ER | 5SO | 2.69 ERA |
Perez (H, 5) | 2.0IP | 4.20 ERA |
Wood (S, 20) | 1.0IP | 3H | 2R | 2ER | 2.78 ERA |



Lineup:

RF Span 1-4 |
DH Buscher 2-4 |
C Mauer 0-4 | 2K
1B Morneau 1-4 | 1K
3B Crede 1-4 |
LF Young 2-4 | 1K
CF Cuddyer 1-4 |
2B Casilla 1-2 | 1K
PR-2B Harris 1-2 |
SS Punto 0-3 |

Batting:

2B: J. Morneau (9)
HR: M. Cuddyer (5)
RBI: B. Buscher (14), B. Harris (7), M. Cuddyer 4 (22)
HBP: N. Punto
GIDP: D. Span, J. Morneau

Fielding:

E: N. Punto (5)

Base Running:

SB: D. Span (17)

Pitching:

Perkins (L, 5-5) | 6.0IP | 10H | 5R | 5ER | 4SO | 5.55 ERA |
Guerrier | 3.0IP | 5H | 2R | 2ER | 2SO | 2.13 ERA |

Player of the Game:


V. Martinez

3 for 5 - RBI, 3 Singles

Next Game:
June 5th, 2009

(31-25) @ (33-22)

[Vinsane]

does the game actually have a draft?

June 3rd is the draft day, first year players only, 5 rounds.

Yeah, it does. About halfway through the season or whatever. Then you have time to sign them or some shit.

You have until the end of the regular season to ink your kids to a contract.

that's cool 2k doesn't do that right?

One more reason to get the show :2thumbs:

[The Messenger]

Damn man you're rolling. Pena looks good besides the strikeouts. I may pick him up in my Padres chise as he's still relatively young (27) and the Nats released him.

[Vinsane]

Series Preview:

(31-25) @ (33-22)

Chicago leads the series 2-1.

Division Standings:

Probable Starters:

Game 1:

C. Lee (5-2, 4.85 ERA)| M. Buehrle (6-3, 3.54 ERA)

Game 2:
C. Pavano (2-2, 5.37 ERA)| J. Danks (4-2, 4.84 ERA)

Game 3:

J. Westbrook (1-1, 4.50 ERA)| D. J. Carrasco (1-2, 5.40 ERA)


Key Bank's "Keys to Succes"

1.) Play Smart - The Indians need to not commit errors, throwing mistakes, or take swings at bad pitches. They will need their A++ game if they want to win this series, especially with it being in Chicago. The South Siders have felt pressure from The Indians for the better part of the start to June, putting them away in a three game series will alleviate that pressure.

2.) Focus - With the lead within grasp the Indians can walk away with a .5 game lead if they were to sweep the Sox, what they need to do is at least focus on a 2-1 series win, the Sox take on Detroit in a four game series after that, if Detroit can give them just a little trouble the Indians will have no problem in gaining that game back from the White Sox.

3.) Avoid Pressure - Stay away from the Media, don't read the papers, go into the series like first wasn't on the line. Think about going in and winning a series nothing else. If the Indians can do this, they can be looking at an AL Central lead with the Royals coming to town before hosting Inter-League play.

[Vinsane]

one more reason to get a ps3 lol....nice win, did wood give up a two run homer?

No, Wood gave up two runs off of base hits, if I wrote that it's a mistake. A three run homer was blasted by Cuddyer, ed: facing carmona.

Damn man you're rolling. Pena looks good besides the strikeouts. I may pick him up in my Padres chise as he's still relatively young (27) and the Nats released him.

Thanks, I get in at least a series a day and taking my wife to work this morning I had a little time to jump on the sticks right away. I think I'm pausing here to take care of some stuff around the house, and Pena is a decent pick up, he'll be a bench guy for me when Grady returns though.

[Vinsane]

white sox offense is tough

They've charged, beating everybody. This team started off fourth place at the end of April. Tigers have been slipping, I slid into second in the division.

[Yawkey Way]

i<3 this chise.

'nuff said.

[Vinsane]

When David Met Goliath


Home of the 2008 Central Division Champs.

AP - Chicago, IL - Eric Wedge picked the wrong time to try a new formula, the Indians new line-up needs more retooling than the old one. Wedge has taken criticism from other media about his management decisions with the Indians. And with a few players needing a day off he decided, now was a good time.

No David, you don't need a new pair of shoes, you need to produce some runs. The Indians have been an evolving team over the course of the season, being bad in areas, being good in areas, being bad once good in areas... You get the picture. They're struggling to find their identity. Cleveland needs to decide if they're contender or pretender, and they need to do it against the AL Central Leading White Sox.

"A season can be based solely on how you do against the leaders. If you play like a mediocre team, you get a mediocre record." Commented Eric Wedge. "We've got to put runs on the board when playing teams with this line-up, we have to face them like they were the Yankees. We have to step up with bats or we're not going to be calling ourselves Central Leaders anytime soon." Added Victor Martinez.

Perhaps it was the rough start from Cliff Lee? Lee got rocked for seven runs, off of seven hits, in two, just two, innings of work. Said Lee, "Nothing was there tonight, nothing. I can't explain it, can't defend it, certainly can't apologize for it." Well someone needs to start answering back, the Indians need these wins. They continue the series tomorrow with Carl Pavano on the mound.

Lineup:

2B Cabrera 0-5 | 1K
CF Francisco 3-5 | 1K
RF DeRosa 1-5 |
C Martinez 1-4 | 1K
DH Johnson 1-4 |
1B Carroll 2-4 |
LF Pena 1-4 | 1K
SS Peralta 1-4 | 1K
3B Barfield 2-4 |

Batting:

2B: B. Francisco 2 (13), J. Barfield (2), J. Carroll (7)
RBI: J. Peralta (36), M. DeRosa 2 (31), J. Barfield (3)
GIDP: N. Johnson

Pitching:

Lee (L, 5-3) | 2.0IP | 7H | 7R | 7ER | 4SO | 5.60 ERA |
Smith | 3.0IP | 2H | 2SO | 2.30 ERA |
Chulk | 2.0IP | 4H | 2R | 2ER | 1SO | 5.52 ERA |
Betancourt | 1.0IP | 1SO | 3.50 ERA |



Lineup:

CF Owens 3-5 |
C Pierzynski 1-4 | 1K
SS Ramirez 2-3 | 1K
LF Quentin 1-4 | 1K
3B Fields 2-4 |
1B Betemit 1-4 | 1K
RF Wise 1-4 | 1K
2B Getz 1-4 | 3K
DH Anderson 1-4 |

Batting:

2B: C. Quentin (11), A. Pierzynski (4), J. Fields (7), W. Betemit (12)
HR: J. Fields (10)
RBI: J. Owens (11), A. Ramirez (31), C. Quentin (35), A. Pierzynski 2 (26), J. Fields 4 (31)
SF: A. Ramirez

Fielding:

E: A. Ramirez (9), C. Getz 2 (4)

Base Running:

SB:

Pitching:

Buehrle (W, 7-3) | 7.1IP | 11H | 5R | 2ER | 2SO | 3.44 ERA |
Dotel | 1.2IP | 1H | 3SO | 3.42 ERA |

Player of the Game:


J. Fields

2 for 4 - HR, Double

Next Game:
June 6th, 2009

(31-26) @ (34-22)

[Vinsane]

Reason For Concern?


Shoppach, Lee, are they still keys to the puzzle?

AP - Cleveland, OH - As the Indians turn the page to another day in baseball, they recieved word from team doctors that Kelly Shoppach's recovery time will need to be bumped, from 1-6 days, to 1-2 weeks. An unfortunate set back in Shoppach's rehab has the catcher sitting the bench even longer than expected. Also, he is running out of DL days for his first 60 day stint.

Another concern that has arose in the last twenty-four hours is the state of Cliff Lee. Lee has struggled in his last few starts, and perhaps the AL Cy Young winner is finally out of gas? As the number two man on the team Lee has faltered from his hot start to the season, it seems as though the Indians did the right thing in demoting him from the "ace" position.

The Indians lack of energy is showing early in the summer, without the cool months guys tire faster, need subs and need to get days off more frequently. While the Indians would love to accomidate these players, they are finding it harder to do so with guys like Shoppach and Sizemore on the DL, therefore taking up two spots on the roster that could be set for subs, instead, it leaves the bench depleted.

Many wonder if the Indians would move Lee? Or if anyone would want to deal with the Tribe after their shenanigans they pulled with Washington just weeks ago. Ironic now that we look back on that trade to find the Indians with a struggling starter, ones whose woes could easily be fixed in the form of Pedro Martinez. It raises concern with fans if the Indians are in fact a contender for the AL Central title as they have been unable to produce this season.

Then there are the fans that know this is Tribe baseball. They suffered last season with a depleted bench while key members of the organization were on the DL, one of those guys being leading all-star vote getter at catcher, Victor Martinez. While the Indians continue to work through the injuries try to remember that this is a club that a season ago struggled to find .400 ball let alone, be above .500 in June with the injuries. So this ball club has obviously learned how to deal.

While we wait for Grady, and Kelly, while we worry for the health and production of our main man, Cliff Lee. Don't forget that we're far from done on this season, plenty of dramatic baseball left to play. Questions will be answered, new questions will arise and we will continue to round the bases.

[T.Dot]

reat article Vinsane, hopefully Shoppach is back soon to provide some O for you.
Win the next two games versus the Sox because then you'll be only a half game out of first.

[MRN]

Damn, hell of a win over the White Trash.

[Houston]

A little late to the party but count me in.