Major League Revisited: Fictional Indians, 2018 onward...

[Alloutwar]

NOTE: my games are all played using BM 2007, using entirely fictional players. I prefer using fictional players to not experience disatisfaction with inaccurate player results, or cheating the system by trading for or drafting future stars.

I also use a set of 'house rules' to keep fair play in order; revenue sharing, hiding Peak ratings; never adjusting ratings; and keeping 'cheap trades' to a minimum (trading injured players to the AI, or boatloads of crappy players for the good ones).


Cleveland Indians 2018
Major League: Revisted

http://www.doormatsandmore.com/TeamRugsAndMats/MLB/CleavlandIndians/ClevelandIndians-TeamMat-Starter-2.jpg
A continuation/offshoot of
Fictional 2014 Pirates: From Worst to...? (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=160821)


Delanty Joins Indians Front Office
ESPN.com

After unprecedented success in Arizona, and after completely restocking the Pittsburgh organization - making them a profitable team with the lowest payroll, while still making the playoffs - phenom General Manager Mark Delanty has been given a special advisory position with the Cleveland Indians, who finished dead last in the AL in 2017.

Delanty is looking forward to the challenge. He has cited three main factors in his accepting the Cleveland position:
1) Working with the challenges of a struggling team
2) The chance to work with a higher payroll and larger fanbase than Pittsburgh
3) The ability to utilize the DH.

House Rules (carried over from Fictional 2014 Pirates: From Worst to...? (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=160821))
- All games played using Baseball Mogul 2007, with entirely fictional players.
- Peak ratings are hidden.
- Max of 2 trades per month; no trades after July 31st deadline.
- Trades must make sense for both sides. No unbalanced, 7-for-1 deals.
- Rule V draft manually conducted at end of each season for losing record teams.
- May force-trade blocked AAA players or bench players that deserve a starting spot during off-season, to facilitate parity and realism ONLY.

Mods used for gameplay:
- Jeff Olsen's fictional rookie photos (http://files.simcentral.net/what/Baseball_Mogul/Baseball_Mogul_2k4/Extras/Photos)
- Mizerak's Negotiator app (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=193674)
- Mizerak's Rule V draft app (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=194121)
- JayC's spreadsheet for Revenue Sharing (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=150152) is used at the end of each season (after the WS, but before Arb)

Additional Cleveland rules:
- No trades with my former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates (or any 3-way deal involving them). Max of 1 trade with Arizona (whose farm system is overloaded from my 06-13 dynasty there).
- Payroll ceiling is $56mil for 2018, and will increase or decrease yearly according to revenue. Cleveland is willing to spend to field a competitive team.
- May sign # of FA's (during off-season) equal to number of players that walk to FA. Negotiator app must be utilized.
- Max of 6 trades first year (max of 18 total players coming/going). Up to 2 trades at Winter Meetings, up to 2 trades in July. This includes ALL trades, and will prevent me from trading my way into a boatload of cheap prospects (which is what I usually use to dominate).


Indians lineup and pitching when Delanty joins the front office:[CENTER]

[Alloutwar]

Immediate concerns:


Pitching was horrible, especially Starters
Starting SS, CF walking to Free Agency


2017 Retirees at end of season:

Colin Meyer, who went 0-10 last year. Still rated decently, just...wow.

And Dusty Wilson, minor-leaguer that never was. Woohoo, $327k saved!

[Alloutwar]

Free Agents Departing:
SS Matt Walcott - defensive star, superb gloveman, very good bat. Doesn't like Cleveland, and wants a raise over his $5mil. My payroll limits are severe, so he walks.
CF Tracy Walker - was playing in the Independent Leagues until Cleveland took the gamble and signed him - and wow, good batting stats. But now he wants to test the market. Can't re-sign him.
SP Alex Samno - despite being rated 68, Samno had the lowest ERA of Cleveland's starters last year at 4.04. He wants $1.55mil, but I will let him wait until December, maybe January. That price will come down. Samno is a career Cleveland pitcher, and at 36, should be able to give us a bit more. Samno loves Cleveland and wants to stay, so this is just the waiting game before I try to negotiate.

Arbitration Cases:
3B Mike Marischall - a great defensive 3B. Though not much with the bat, he hit .350 in very limited appearances after coming to Cleveland. So, let's keep him at a relatively small price.
SS James Bryant - great fielder, and good speed, but useless at the plate. But Bryant is 26, and I need SS depth with Walcott departing.
OF Shawn Ryan - goes from the ML Minimum to $5.3mil. Ryan is the best outfielder on the club, and probably the best all-around player. A slugger that can field well, we can't let him escape.
INF Sandy English - traded from the Pirates last year, English is a sparkplug player with lots of speed, but not much else. He may be dealt, especially if Bryant fulfills the speed infielder bench role.
P Steve Rochford - despite being used in relief, Rochford actually has the stamina to join the rotation. Given how horribly the rotation performed last year, and that one retired and one is a FA, he will be given a shot - for $1.8mil, we need more innings out of this guy.
RP Alan MacLulich - this LOOGY isn't anything too special, but I need to retain all the talent I can.

The bullpen is one of the few strengths on this team - we have 4 good hitters, and a very nice bullpen, but otherwise this is a salvation project.

Contract Negotiations:
SP Simon Parsons - the losing Lefty is being retained at $2.25mil, a decrease from his $3mil base last year. Parsons is decent, and deserves a #4-5 spot on a normal team; on the Indians, he projects as #3. So sad. 3 years is quite a commitment, but we don't have a lot of options.
CL Miguel Arambola - a rarity - a good closer, and he wants to stay with us, for relatively cheap! He has spent his career in Cleveland, and we resign him for 4 years at $3.1mil per. Arambola solidifies our bullpen at the top, and is a popular figure in Cleveland.

Screeny:

[Alloutwar]

Quick changes made:

Lineup/Fielding:
OF Shawn Ryan will be moved from RF to CF. I have successfully lobbied the Indians management to review Ryan's range and fielding, and shown them that he can play up the middle - allowing Jeremy Aves or Tim Olson to get in the lineup in RF.

We are carrying 3 catchers:
Ricardo Battista - offensive threat, but poor behind the plate. (Most likely the reason why all starter ERAs were so inflated)
Myron Gooden - 27, mainly defensive, but still learning. Probably my main backstop.
Dave Miller - 35, good defensive, but aging.

Battista will start behind the plate with one pitcher regularly, but otherwise will play first or DH. Gooden will start for 3 pitchers, leaving Miller to work with one.

Prospects Chad Nagy and Omar Valdespino can both hit, but neither can particularly field. If no one is doing the job in a 1B/DH role, these guys might get some playing time this season.

Starting Pitching:

Steve Rochford will be stretched out in Spring Training as a starter, something he hasn't done in a few years.

The rest of the rotation is questionable - when your ace is 7-15, you are on thin ice.

Bullpen:
This actually looks decent. The main glaring weakness is Joe Devalois, rated 66, in my mopup role. He's getting paid $2.5mil, that's the only reason I have him. Hopefully Alex Samno can be re-signed to take that spot.

Everything else - closer, LOOGY, flame-throwing Dominicans...all looks good.

So onto the Free Agent period and Winter Meetings, with a pretty bad team. Below is my post-negotiation fielding/pitching rosters.

Also included is the salaries - pretty low, considering. Ken Dogman is our slugging second baseman at ~$9mil, and from there everyone is relatively affordable.

Also pasted in, for a laugh, is the Indians 2017 records, budget, and Pythag, which we underperformed. Sad. My payroll limit is $56mil per management, so I have $12mil of wiggle room if necessary. That will most likely be 4 low-reward FAs, hopefully including Alex Samno.

[Alloutwar]

This segment will give some in-depth looks at each position and the options present. Stolen from filihok's excellent Nationals dynasty (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=185602)- the way he looks at each position is a solid model.

At the end we will look at Free Agents and potential acquisitions - given the Indians' horrible record, and our payroll limitations, I can either get 1 big name, or 3-4 smaller impact guys.
Catchers:

Roster P Player Name Age Overall Years Salary
IND C/1B Battista, Ricardo 30 82 2 $2.7mil
IND C Gooden, Myron 27 75 Arb '18 $327,000
IND C Miller, Dave 35 73 1 $950,000
(AAA) C Willoughby, Russ 25 69 Arb '20 $26,000
As stated above, Battista is the best hitter, but poor handling (58) and fielding (67). He will serve as a DH/1B capacity. Myron Gooden will be my everyday catcher, will Miller serving as backup.

First Base:

Roster P Player Name Age Overall Years Salary
IND C/1B Battista, Ricardo 30 82 2 $2.7mil
IND 1B/3B Wigton, David 28 84 Arb '18 $327,000
(AAA) 1B Valdespino, Omar 23 78 Arb '20 $26,000
I have no real First Baseman; Wigton played there for much of last year. Both Battista and Wigton have first base ratings of 65ish; Valdespino actually has a better rating at 72. He will definitely get a chance to show his stuff this season.

Second Base:

Roster P Player Name Age Overall Years Salary
IND 2B Dogman, Ken 29 90 1 $8.8mil
IND 2B/SS Wille, Edward 25 77 Arb '20 $327,000
IND IF Bryant, James 28 77 1 $500,000
IND IF English, Sandy 30 73 1 $550,000
(AAA) 2B Wightman, Chris 29 71 Arb '20 $26,000
Ken Dogman is the Indians' best bat, and despite his fielding being somewhat suspect, he figures to be our everyday starter at 2B. Wille and Bryant will be fighting for the shortstop position, but neither are the complete package. English will be a pinch runner - his defense (69) is even worse than Dogmans (77).

Shortstop:

Roster P Player Name Age Overall Years Salary
IND 2B/SS Wille, Edward 25 77 Arb '20 $327,000
IND IF Bryant, James 28 77 1 $500,000

My weakest position; with the departure of Walcott, I have only Wille and Bryant as options. Wille has ok contact and eye (75), and great speed (87). Bryant has poor hitting, power, and eye, but is a better shortstop (93) than Wille (87).

I have no options at AAA, and my AA SS is not worth mentioning. I will look to the FA market for at least an insurance option.

Third Base:

Roster P Player Name Age Overall Years Salary
IND 3B Marischall, Mike 32 78 1 $950,000
IND 1B/3B Wigton, David 28 84 Arb '18 $327,000
IND 3B Slaugh, Keith 30 76 Arb '19 $327,000
(AAA) 3B Virella, Giovanni 28 71 Arb '20 $26,000
Third base, remarkably, is where the Indians have a lot of depth. Keeping Marischall through arb because of his great defense (94), despite his bat being just average. Wigton is a great hitter (92 contact, 88 eye), but just adequate on defense (72) - he will spend his time at DH or 1B. Slaugh is a great mix, with batting slightly better than Marischall, and defense at 82 - but he hit a raw .200 last year in 380 at-bats. I might be able to package my AAA or AA 3B in a deal for SS depth.

Outfield:

Roster P Player Name Age Overall Years Salary
IND RF/CF Ryan, Shawn 28 87 1 $3.9mil
IND LF Frederickson, Tim 35 81 1 $6.5mil
IND RF Aves, Jeremy 27 73 Arb '19 $327,000
IND RF/LF Olsen, Tim 25 75 Arb '19 $327,000
(AAA) LF/DH Nagy, Chad 21 80 Arb '20 $26,000
(AAA) CF Tobon, Albert 27 69 Arb '19 $26,000
Moving Shawn Ryan to Center lets me get another bat into right - Jeremy Aves or Tim Olsen. Olsen is an average all around player - fields, hits OK, good eye (80). Aves is poor in the field, but a decent bat (81 contact). Tim Frederickson is pretty stable in Left, hitting .310 lifetime with decent defense (73).
Chad Nagy has a tremendous eye (96) and great power (87), but his contact is just OK, and he can't field at all. If he can get a bit better in the fielding or contact division, we won't be able to keep him in AAA.

Free Agents:

Shortstop option, preferably solid/experienced/cheap

- Matt Walcott was our star SS, and the hometown Ohio boy, but wants $5.7mil
- Zachary Reagan would like to live in Cleveland, and wants $3.4mil/year. Great contact, good speed.
- Santos Gamaliel is a dark horse candidate; though 36, he can still play SS.
Center fielder, preferably solid/experienced/cheap

- Nomar Sunniga, but he is looking for a better Org, shot at the WS
- Brian McAtasney - mainly defense, but Ohio is his hometown.

[Alloutwar]

More analysis, this time of pitching. And more copying of Filihok!
Starters:

Role Player Name P Age Overall Years Salary
Starter#1 Ashcraft, Aloysius SP 31 81 2 $3.6mil
Starter#2 Fernandy, Santos SP 25 76 Arb '18 $327,000
Starter#3 Rochford, Steve SP 29 80 1 $1.8mil
Starter#4 Parsons, Simon SP 33 79 3 $2.25mil
Starter#5 Vialla, Gianluca SP 29 71 Arb '19 $327,000
Long Man Devalois, Joe SP 34 66 1 $2.1mil
(AAA) Kudlick, Bud SP 23 76 Arb '20 $26,000
(AAA) Barrientos, Enrique SP 30 70 Arb '19 $26,000
A quick breakdown:
Aloysius Ashcraft is a good righty, but not an ace. At 31 his pitches are dropping off, and his health is 63.
Santos Fernandy is a young workhorse (91 endurance), but low movement (61) and again poor health (63). But he gets strikeouts.
Steve Rochford - giving him a chance in the rotation, instead of the bullpen. He has some endurance (59) and great control (95), so starting is definitely do-able. But health is again an issue (65).
Simon Parsons - the wily lefty should improve from his 7-10 mark last year, but with 64 movement and coming off a hip injury that caused him to miss 6 weeks, he may have issues.
Gianluca Vialla is on the DL for 123 more days - he only made 9 starts last year before crashing and burning with a knee issue. He has even worse movement (51) and almost no stuff.
Devalois and Kudlick could possibly earn the 5th starter spot if anyone underperforms (hah) or goes down to injury.
Enrique Barrientos is the last option right now, going 5-10 last year with an ERA north of 6.4. He's our depth option if we have 3 injuries, which is scary.

Relievers:

Role Player Name P Age Overall Years Salary
Closer Arambola, Miguel RP 29 82 4 $3.1mil
Lefty MacLulich, Alan RP 29 82 1 $1.6mil
Setup Santoy, Carlos RP 26 81 Arb '19 $327,000
Short Ardila, Rafael RP 26 84 1 $1.1mil
Middle Doty, Dave RP 31 77 Arb '18 $327,000
(AAA) Komanovsky, Dave RP 23 76 Arb '20 $26,000
(AAA) Tarin, Manuel RP 27 73 Arb '20 $26,000
(AAA) Simonetta, Jeremy RP 27 71 Arb '20 $26,000
(AAA) Whiteside, Joe RP 25 71 Arb '19 $26,000
(AAA) Brimble, Brian RP 26 71 Arb '20 $26,000
(AAA) Margarin, Luis RP 23 70 Arb '20 $26,000

The bullpen is, sadly enough, one of my strengths - none of these guys put up stellar numbers last year, and Arambola did blow 9 saves, converting only 24. ERAs ranged from 4.34 - 6.71. Again, a catcher with better handling will correct that, probably by a run or more. ::Shakes fist at Baseball Mogul engine::

The rest of the crew is as good as can be expected - Doty can do middle innings OK, Ardila is great but hasn't put it all together. Santoy has the stuff, and is indestructible (92 health), but had a horrible year (4-10, 5.56 ERA), and MacLulich has had a decent time - he could swing into setup duties if necessary.

In the minors, most everything is filler; but Luis Margarin has 90 power. With development, he could be a good bullpen arm. Dave Komanovsky will try AAA this year as well - he's been stuck in A-ball too long.

Free Agent needs:

Starter Depth

Alex Samno (69) - I will keep him on the radar - most likely he can return to take a 5th starter/mop-up role.

Alex Samno wants a contract of one year.
His agent will negotiate up to 2 times.
Oscar Latorro (61) is a good name - fading at 36, but a big name and great fit (A). He is wanting $1.2mil, so I will wait.

Oscar Latorro wants a contract of one year.
His agent will negotiate up to 5 times.
Eric Ganey (48) - long time Independent leaguer, no MLB experience. Signed for $50k.
Luis Sanchez (66) - another Independent Leaguer, $50k and he is signed.
also looking at Alfredo Barba (65), who spent last year in AA and has never cracked an MLB squad. But he won't negotiate yet.


Some sad, cheap depth signings just to fill out the minor leagues in case of injuries.

[filihok]

Hey. I'm going to try and follow along on this. I tried to follow your Pirates dynasty but I have a hard time with fictional players dynasties because it is hard to get interested in a league where you only know 1/30th of the players...

I have one request. Would it be possible for you to make a chart of average ratings for starting players in your league. In 2018 using 2K7 I have a hard time knowing just how good/bad a 81 rated Tim Fredrickson is

[Alloutwar]

Thanks for the feedback Fili - doing a complete graph is a bit tedious, so that might be out for now. However, these two screenshots should help.
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The first is MLB Leaders, giving you an idea of what the top producers are doing in average, RBIs, homers, and Wins. The second is the standings in the AL East, including overall ratings for lineup, rotation, and bench.

26386

When I started simming in 2006, there was pretty quickly a flood of good pitching draftees, due to a oddball default in the rookies.ini file. I corrected this, and now things are better - the average player is maybe 79-81 somewhere. Hitters have always been stable - there's one 97 (3B Brian Hoad, this league's ARod), and other than that most teams are lucky to have one 90 in the lineup, maybe one in the rotation. The Yankees and other top teams (Braves, D-Backs, Sox) of course stickpile 4-8 90+ rated players.

You can see there are a lot of players clustered in that 40+ homer category - seems bit abnormal, but no 50-60 HR guys. A pitcher rated 79-80 could find work in this league (but not on a top tier team). It seems pretty consistent with reality, IMO anyway.

The worst teams have some starters 71-79 overall (like my Indians team). You will find the oddball player in the 60's on the bench now and then, usually due to injury or pre-FA signing. Again, similar to reality; it works pretty well.


Albert Thiessen was ths Indians' director of amateur scouting. He had held the position for four relatively uninteresting years. He had worked with management on draft picks, future strategies, and some interesting overseas and international projects.

Never before, however, had he been put on the spot like he was now.

"Pitching", Mark Delanty was saying. "I need to know who you have out there as pitching options." General Manager Tim Dowdy sat across from him, behind his desk, biting his lip. Delanty was sitting on the desk, by the window, looking through scouting reports.

Thiessen stuttered. "You-you're talking free agents, or ex-players -?"

"I'm talking anything," Delanty said. "We're dealing with the worst rotation in the majors - and that's when we're healthy. I've spent the last two weeks pouring over our farm system and I gotta tell you, I'm not impressed."

Theissen got the hint. That was directed at him.

Delanty had no real power - his position didn't let him do the hiring and firing - but the whole front office was abuzz with his presence. Delanty was making recommendations. And the recommendations were being taken, every one of them. One recommendation from Delanty, and Thiessen's relatively easy job of taking in ballgames across the globe would be gone.

"After Bud Kudlick, there's no viable major league starting at triple-A," Delanty was saying. "Barrientos is not a fallback option anyone wants to see used. Joe Devalois - heck, odds are good he hangs 'em up this year. I'm looking at stretching a relievers into starters just to make ends meet. You following me, Al?"

Albert Thiessen nodded.

"Well, Caleb Kelly made some starts -" Tim Dowdy interjected.

"Don't want to hear it," Delanty dismissed him. "0 and 5, ERA over 8. Not gonna cut it. Aside from this 19-year old in rookie-ball, you - we - have nothing to fall back on." He looked up from his paperwork and looked Dowdy in the eyes. "The most dangerous thing you can do, is not learn from last year. This team, those guys on the field, those fans in the stands...they deserve better. They deserve us, doing all we can, everyday, to make this better."

Dowdy fell silent.

"So," Delanty said, turning back to Thiessen, "what I need you to do, is recommend guys that can fill the gap while we rebuild this farm system. Guys that we don't have to worry about. Guys that are cheap. Guys hungry for a shot. Independent leagues, Japanese, Mexican leagues. I'm talking depth, that's all."

Thiessen searched his memory. Steve, JJ, Emilio - these three covered most of the independent leagues. He hadn't taken any of that seriously in years. JJ was selling him on Tracy Walker last year, and they pushed Dowdy to pick him up from the Rangers...but pitching...

Delanty was waiting.

"I'm not sure anyone in the independent leagues even ranks up to Kelly's level, according to our -"

"Stop," Delanty said. "How does Jose Hernaadez rank? You know, kid from Cuba?" Thiessen couldn't place the name. He flicked down to his palm PC. Delanty went right on: "We called that kid up in '14, and got him right out of Winthrop, and he came in and did well. No experience - but wins. Sub-4 ERA. You follow me?"

Technically, it was one win. And they kept him in the minors except for just over 9 innings of relief - which, miraculously, went well. But Delanty used it to drive things home. Thiessen was pressured, and would soon start coughing up names.

"Okay," Albert said. "We've got eyes on a few guys. Might be the depth you're looking for. Nothing great, but maybe a chance. I saw a few starts by this fella - Alfredo Barba - tall kid out of the Dominican. Dumped by the Yankees last year - but had a fantastic run for the Gary Railcats in the Northern league."

"Okay, let's pick him up. Next?" Delanty was motioning Thiessen for more.

Thiessen was reading emails from JJ on him palm PC. He could feel his brow was damp; Barba was a lucky shot, just some games he attended as an excuse in Indiana, while visiting a flame from his college ball days. Now there were two good reasons for that trip. "Okay, Luis Sanchez", he continued. "27, out of the Dominican, you remember him from the WBC in 2015. He really put it together last year, picked up 16 wins across the leagues. His circle change is MLB-caliber, and he's crafty."

Delanty nodded. Dowdy was typing, trying to keep up.

"Only other one is Eric Ganey - hits 93, long time independent league guy, had a great stint in Japan last year. Looked primed for a contract, but fell apart something awful in Cuba, 1 and 11 record. Don't think his stuff will stand up in the bigs, but...he's depth."

"Yes," Delanty said. "Get them all in the fold. Minor league contracts. They fight for a long-man spot at best, unless things go horrible." He smiled. "But if they do go horrible, at least we have some expendables to throw out there. And we make some dreams come true." He turned and paced back towards the window. "Pick up that second baseman too, Villalobes, that the Cubs released. He's got some promise - knees heal at 23. We'll have him stealing bases by the All-Star break."

Thiessen nodded nervously. Dowdy began dialing Barba's agent on his speakerphone.


Here are my Free Agent Signings thus far, all minor league deals:
SP Alfredo Barba - independent league, some promise, but terrible movement.
SP Luis Sanchez - more well-rounded, but terrible overall.

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SP Eric Ganey - decent endurance and control, but still atrocious movement.
2B Elvis Villalobes - a depth option. At 23, he was released due to injury - but could still mature into something.

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[Alloutwar]

We signed three of the above Independent Leaguers immediately on November 9th - two to one-year minor league deals, Elvis Villalobes to a 2-year minor league deal. Alfredo Barba took a bit more time, holding out until Nov. 26th - and demanding a 2-year deal, $100k per. Everyone else was just happy to join pro ball.

I've kept lines open with free agents Alex Samno and Oscar Latorro, but demands are still too high; they know I'm interested. Another cheap CF option I was looking at, Brian McAtasney, informs us he is not interested in playing for Cleveland. So I begin to prepare for the Winter Meetings.

I watch all FA signings by the AI teams, and undo a bunch of senseless moves - teams signing multiple LF or CF'ers. I force the Cardinals to sign 40-year-old CF superstar Brett Weir, still hitting .272 with 23 homers last year. As a side note, his son, Alex Weir, is a 21-year old draftee out of Florida this year.

For the Indians, we turn our attention to improving our club through trades. I have my eye on a starter stuck in the Mets minor league system, and some great prospects in the Texas and White Sox organizations.


Winter Meetings, 2017

First few days are a bust here in the Winter Meetings - negotiations with Samno can't get off the ground, and Latorro is courting other teams. Word here is that he will be signing with the Orioles for a 1-year deal. Teams continue their signings, and I keep in touch with SS Matt Walcott - he does hold some appreciation for his hometown team, but is sick of losing. And we haven't put together anything better than what gave us 61-101 last year.

In more bad news, I am finding that we lack any real trade bait - other teams aren't interested at all in most of the minor league system. We have maybe 4-5 position prospects, and maybe 2-3 pitching. The Rangers enter into some talks, but after a day, it's apparent that we have nothing they really want.

The White Sox are momentarily engaged, but have qualms about dealing within the division. Talks never even get going.

Other teams are even worse - apparently the news about me coming over to Cleveland and my tendency to improve drastically via trade has most GMs scared off from working with me at all. Without trades, and with some severe limits on what I can get via the FA market, improving this club is going to be slow and tremendously painful.

One possible trading partner is the Mets; they have completely realigned their starting rotation, signing 3 starters, giving them some intense depth. Their bullpen, however, is a little more wanting - the Mets have a decent closer, but he is walking after this season. They are interested in my RP prospect, 23-year-old Dave Komanovsky (76), who projects as a setup/closer. We, on the other hand, desperately need promising starters; their 26-year-old Eric Metherall (84) got 5 starts for them last year, going 1-3 with a 6.04 ERA. This kid is abnormal - 5'8", 150 lbs, yet he's got a 92mph fastball, a nasty two-seamer and a knuckleball. For the Mets, he's an insurance option that fizzled; but for us, he's a possible savior.
http://www.emptyorchard.com/E_Metherall.PNG
We work out a trade, with my AAA 3B Giovanni Virella (28, rated 71) and $1mil going over, and their CF Samuel Unzueta (28, rated 74) coming back. Virella is a decent all-around 3B backup; Unzueta is a defensive replacement most likely, and will sit in AAA or be my bench defensive OF. First trade of the Winter Meetings, and first real improvement to my club; but it came at the cost of our highest-rated relief prospect. Argh.

I also engage the Braves, looking at their 24-year-old starter Kevin Mucciaccio (80). But again, I have little or nothing to offer. They are okay with swapping starters for Bud Kudlick, since they're about equal and Kudlick is a year younger, but that doesn't get me anywhere. So I make no moves until the Rule 5 Draft.

Metherall is slotted in as our 5th starter, bumping Gianluca Vialla (71) to the bullpen, and Joe Devalois (66) to the minors.

Rule V Draft:

The bottom 10 teams will get their pick of one player, in the minors on a minor league contract, age 26 or greater, from one of the top 10 teams, provided that player gets a sport on their 25-man roster.


Teams eligible for a pick (bottom 10 standings):
1. Tampa Bay (55 wins)
2. Cleveland (61 wins)
3. Milwaukee (62 wins)
4. San Francisco (63 wins)
5. Minnesota (65 wins)
6. San Diego (66 wins)
7. Philadelphia (68 wins)
8. Cincinnati (70 wins)
9. Oakland (71 wins)
10. Washington (72 wins)

Teams affected:
1. Arizona (118 wins)
2. New York [AL] (117 wins)
3. Atlanta (107 wins)
4. Pittsburgh (99 wins)
5. Detroit (96 wins)
6. California (96 wins)
7. Chicago [AL] (94 wins)

Teams selecting a pick start at the top, searching each team until they find a match that will stay on their roster.

Tampa Bay selects SS Gabriel Auguilar (80)from NYY.
Cleveland selects RF Marcello Velde (78) from ARI.
Milwaukee selects SP Lou Earle (85) from PIT.
San Francisco selects 2B Lee Lesher (77) from ATL.
Minnesota selects RP Reagan Sanderson (82) from NYY.
San Diego selects RP Ivan Moterossa (87) from ARI.
Philadelphia selects RP Steve Wade (81) from ATL.
Cincinatti selects 1B Chad Usher (80) from CHW.
Oakland selects RP Daniel Lee (81) from PIT.
Washington selects RP Skip Cawley (83) from ARI.


A few teams I just couldn't find a suitable pick, or guarantee that they would stay on the 25-man. Best I could do.

The rest of the meetings are a bust - no more trades, no signings for Cleveland. We depart with our new starting pitcher, and a RF prospect plucked from the overloaded Arizona system.

[filihok]

Couple of smart moves: Villalobes and a reliever for a starter (Metherall) always makes sense.

Don't know anything about Velde, but that looks like a decent starter picked right after him (Earle)

[Alloutwar]

Yah - I realized I didn't post a picture last night, was too drawn into the Rule V / FA monitoring I was doing. I'm really trying to push parity a lot more in the league this off-season - I've done decently with revenue-sharing, but still, with three 100+ game winners and so many terrible losers, and those 100-game winners having guys 84-87 sitting untouched in AAA, there's more I need to do. So I'm being much more aggressive this year.

On Villalobes, the only downside is that I have to either negotiate or Arb with him each year now, since he was a FA signing and not a draftee. Wish that got fixed. Most likely he'll be demanding $500k as soon as his rating hits 70, so he will be expensive if he pans out.

Here's Velde:
26396

Looks like one of those AAAA guys, lots of homers racked up during a lifetime in the minors. But he's got a cannon for an arm, and if you look back, my RF options (after moving Shawn Ryan to center) were nothing great - that Jeremy Aves kid can't play the OF at all (62 defense), and was only in for his bat (which Velde does just as well). So he is on the team, and currently vying for the starting RF job.

I think my off-scouting had Velde rated higher. If I were going all-out, I would have picked Lou Earle for my team; but I've already replaced 2 starters in my rotation, through conversion and trade and signed 3 dubious Ind. league starters. If I got another 84+ starter making the minimum, I'd have made success a bit too easy...and I prefer to struggle for a year or two. I'd actually like to use some of these 66-71 rated guys, see how they pan out. BM Masochism?

Milwaukee's rotation was just pitiful though. Lots of AA-level guys in there too young, so Earle fit them better than me. Arizona and NYY still have lots of talent in their AAA systems though (heck, so does Pittsburgh after all I did with them), so there's more for the "redistribution" if need be. In the meantime I'm monitoring to make sure all the Rule V Draftees are on their respective 25-man rosters (only Lee Lesher isn't, and that's just poor AI).

The Metherall-Komanovsky deal looks great right now, but I have the feeling Komanovsky had a pretty high cieling, by the trade value I got for him. The Mets are banking on him being a sure thing probably next year. My scouting is decent here in Cleveland, but without peaks, I just don't know. And that's great.

Tried negotiating with Free Agents SS Matt Walcott (85) and 3B Edmund Ferriera (83), but neither want to work with me. So December ends, and we move on to 2018 with our current lineup.


Matt Walcott does not want to negotiate right now.
You can try again tomorrow.


Free Agents I am currrently tracking/incessantly calling:
SS Matt Walcott (85) - was on the Indians last 4 years, hometown Ohio boy
3B Edmund Ferriera (83) - slick fielder and .280 hitter with 20 homers, this guy is a nomad
SP Alex Samno (69) - coming down to Earth, asking $1.2mil now
SP Oscar Latorro (61) [now in talks with the Nationals on a 1-year deal]

[FloydtheBarber]

Looking great! Will follow of course

[Alloutwar]

Re FtB: thanks man! Hope to keep it going strong. Can't wait till games actually start - but all this prep is worth it.

26408

With their first pick in the 2018 draft, the Cleveland Indians selected Mark Vanzetti, a tremendous shortstop out of Miami State. Vanzetti has great speed, and is already an MLB-quality infielder with the glove. A year or two of development time in the minors, and he could really make an impact.

Other picks
#2: C Trey Dearing, age 21, 67 overall - great fielding already, eye of 74.
#3: CF Marquitz Vanegas, age 19, 53 overall - outfielder with great fielding (100) and good speed.
#4: 1B Joe Kennedy, (22, 52 overall) big slugger out of Arkansas. Great power (74) and eye (76).
#5: SP Sam MacGlashan, (22, 48 overall) - good endurance and control (80, 82), we'll see if he develops.
#6: RF Yancy Cuthill (21, 49 overall) out of Tampa. Just a gamble.

Free Agent Signings:

After a long negotiation, SP Alex Samno, who led our rotation with a 4.04 ERA last year, is back in the fold. Cleveland has a press conference on New Years Day, 2018, to announce it. Samno signs to a $1.15mil contract.
26409

A few weeks later, SP Oscar Latorro, a longtime All-Star with the Yankees, agrees to terms with the Indians. The Cy Young award winner is a 5-time All Star, with a Gold Glove and 2 Championship rings, to go with his lifetime 204-88 record. He will make $1mil, with options for 2019-2020.

The signing is announced at a press conference January 20th.
26410

Both starters are not immediately given spots in the rotation; Cleveland plans to watch during Spring Training to see who is best suited for starting roles. Samno was the long man in the Cleveland bullpen for nearly ten years, so he is fine with this; Latorro is a bit more demanding in that regard, so we'll probably fit him in the rotation if at all possible (he still hits 89mph).

26411

This sets up some interesting battles, as we now have 5 MLB-quality starters (76+, including one RP-to-SP conversion in progress), 5 older starters anxious for a shot at the rotation before retiring, 1 prospect in AAA, and 3 oddball Independent league signees. I think we finally have enough pitching depth.

From here until the start of the season, it's now just persuing Walcott (SS FA) and Ferriera (3B FA), and deciding who gets the starting jobs during Spring Training. This is looking exciting!

[FloydtheBarber]

Whoa, lots of low movement ratings. And Samano's peripherals look scary. I predict lots of HR's allowed. But it will be an interesting project!

[Alloutwar]

Yah - that's one thing I'm noticing - a lot of pitchers' movement ratings plumment pretty far. That takes their overall down too.

But the pitcher can still succeed, especially with good Control - I had a few old-timers I signed on the cheap in my Pirates dynasty, and they did pretty well. This Alex Samno guy was 7-7 last year with a 4.04 ERA - despite his atrocious movement. So this will be a good experiment to see what they can do.

So a quick review of my starting pitching for the Cleveland Indians going into 2018, ordered by Overall (according to my poor scouting)


Player Name Age Years Salary Health Overall End Con Pow Mov MPH
Metherall, Eric 26 Arb '20 $327,000 85 84 66 81 80 81 90 - 92
Ashcraft, Aloysius 31 2 $3,600,000 63 81 82 77 78 75 88 - 90
Rochford, Steve 29 1 $1,800,000 65 80 59 95 75 80 88 - 90
Parsons, Simon 33 3 $2,250,000 75 79 83 78 80 64 90 - 92
Kudlick, Bud 23 Arb '20 $26,000 69 76 52 79 78 71 92 - 94
Fernandy, Santos 25 Arb '18 $327,000 62 76 91 90 82 61 92 - 94
Vialla, Gianluca 29 Arb '19 $26,000 71 71 83 75 79 51 90 - 92
Barrientos, Enrique 30 Arb '19 $26,000 82 70 92 76 79 54 94 - 96
Samno, Alex 36 1 $1,150,000 62 69 80 92 64 64 80 - 82
Kelling, Caleb 25 Arb '20 $18,000 76 68 81 76 77 57 92 - 94
Sanchez, Luis 27 1 $50,000 78 66 60 68 69 68 87 - 89
Devalois, Joe 34 1 $2,100,000 52 66 82 75 77 50 90 - 92
Barba, Alfredo 27 2 $100,000 82 65 61 76 75 55 88 - 90
Latorro, Oscar 36 1 $1,000,000 64 61 90 73 75 48 87 - 89
Ganey, Eric 27 1 $50,000 77 48 79 77 73 44 91 - 93



Definitely on roster club:
Eric Metherall - highest rated, and at 26, has to get the chance to start. Only if he blows it repeatedly will he be sent down.
Aloysius Ashcrat - ace, or something like it
Santos Fernandy - co-ace, or our sad equivalent
Simon Parsons - lefty or long man
Steve Rochford - stretched into starter, but could be long man.

Fighting for chance, or injury depth:
Alex Samno (notice pitch speed - 80mph!! Sinker must be GOOD!) - at $1.15mil, need to get him in there
Oscar Latorro - promised him a chance at starting, fan favorite status, and $1mil contract.
Gianluca Vialla
Bud Kudlick (prospect, AAA)
Luis Sanchez (ind league signing)
Alfredo Barba (ind league signing)
Enrique Barrientos

Hope it doesn't come to this:
Joe Devalois (would love to get some value out of his $2mil contract though, NO appearances last year!!)
Caleb Kelling (prospect, AA)
Eric Ganey (ind league signing)

I almost think I got too much depth - everyone was cheap, but when looking at the health scores, it's probable that 10+ guys could get starts this year. Also, none of the depth options are particularly good - so I'm playing lottery style - buy 10 tickets, maybe one or two wins something. :D

And wow, everyone's movement bites. 2 above 75. Ouch.


Delanty Holds Court with Media
Discusses signings, draft
by Scott Fendis, ESPN.com

Q: What is your goal for this year's Indians team?

A few things - I don't want to shoot for a specific number or wins or anything. Our goals are to field a competitive team, enhance the farm system, and continue to give Cleveland fans reason to cheer on their team. This year we will try many new things - approaches, lineups, positions, starters - we will find a winning combination, that's the goal.

Q: Will draftee shortstop Mark Vanzetti play in the majors this year?

That depends on a few things - first and foremost, Vanzetti's work in the minors. He's a great talent, but very few players make it to the big leagues their first year in pro ball. We have a solid team today, and we won't be rushing Vanzetti to a premature debut.

Q: Will SS Matt Walcott be returning to the team? Would it be a short deal until Vanzetti is ready to take over full time?

We have been in negotiations with Matt and his agent, and are very serious about bringing him back to Cleveland. Matt's a great player and we'd like to have him back; but we do have other options if he decides to not return. As for Vanzetti - his career is just beginning; there's no telling when he'll be ready for the majors, or if it will be as a shortstop.

Q: Are there any other free agents the Indians are still pursuing?

We will always have our eyes open for ways to improve our team. At this point we are looking good on the pitching side, but there are a few position players we are still having talks with. Don;t be surprised if we add one or two more names before Opening Day.

Q: [Starting pitcher] Oscar Latorro will not be a Yankee for the first time in a decade. Will he be a starter? #5?

Way too early to tell - we are going to see a lot of pitchers in Spring Training, and be able to guage who is ready for what roles much better after a few weeks. For now, Latorro is in great shape and ready to take the ball; he'll certainly have as much opportunity here as he could ask for.

Q: Have their been any concerns about your duties to the Pirates organization going unfulfilled while you perform these advisory duties for Cleveland?

Not at all - I've been involved with the Pirates' draft selections and offseason negotations. They also have extremely talented assistant GMs in Jacob Marson and Greg Allen - Pittsburgh fans could feel secure knowing those two are backing me up and helping on all day-to-day functions.

[Alloutwar]

3B Edmund Ferriera signed with Detroit and will be their starting 3B this season. That leaves me no good 3B Free Agent options, so we'll proceed into the season with what we have at the hot corner.

Shortstop is still an option, though - as of the first week of February, SS Matt Walcott (85) is still unsigned. I use the negotiator app everyday - apparently he is not interested in returning to Cleveland.

There is another shortstop on the market still - SS Scott Garey, age 31, overall of 90 (!!), at least according to my scouts (+-5). I run the negotiator app, calling his agent over and over, doing everything I can to prove our interest. Finally, a crack in the glass in early Feb:


Scott Garey wants a contract of 4 years.
His agent will negotiate up to 3 times.

Garey is a two-time Gold Glover, All-star in 2016 as well. His lifetime average is .316, and he plays a mean shortstop. At 31, he wants four years though...and I have some decent options at 25ish now, and a phenom we just drafted. Hmm.

Being that Cleveland was so horrible last year, we agree to make it a two-year deal with an option for the third. That way Garey comes up for Free Agency again at 33/34.

26447

The fact that Garey, rated 90, went unsigned into February speaks to the unbalanced issues in this league. Being able to grab a player of that caliber so late, when his demands have shrunk so far, is pretty silly.

Still, Cleveland is one of the best fits for him - our shortstop was going to be a 77 otherwise, and only Toronto (76) would have a lower-rated starter. Still, I hope this trade doesn't make things too easy.

Either way, I'm done with free agents. One 90 guy is more than I intended to have.

Walcott eventually goes to Toronto for their starting SS job (comm. mode, force signing).

[filihok]

Scott Garey wants a contract of 4 years.
His agent will negotiate up to 3 times.

we agree to make it a two-year deal with an option for the third. That way Garey comes up for Free Agency again at 33/34.


The way I thought the Negotiator app worked is that if a guy 'wants a contract of 4 years' then you have to sign him to a contract for 4 years.

There is a 'up to 4 years' option that shows from time to time

It's ok, I cheated with Joe Mauer once too (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showpost.php?p=1260967&postcount=539)

[Alloutwar]

Yah, I figured. But I absolutely don't want to sign a 90-rated guy for 4 years at $4mil - this guy should be getting $7-10mil, at least Julio Lugo money (ha ha). So I'll explain the cheat by way of game balance. :) Yours wasn't really a cheat - just slight misunderstanding: you were closer than I am.

I also just couldn't envision him wanting to go to Cleveland (a losing team for the last ump-teen years) on a whim, AND stay for 4 years. At this point, I'm likely to undo the signing and send him to Boston instead; Boston is starting a 79-rated SS, and Garey is a hometown Boston guy. He might change things around for them, make them a more serious team.

I'm just trying to replace my 85-rated SS, and shore up my weakest position by some cheap means, besides going with my 77-ish replacement player. But playing by Mizerak's app's rules, my previous guy is NOT goingto re-sign; somehow, after 10 tries, this guy gave it a shot.

I don't know what to do, I don't like this at all. The way this fictional universe is, around Feb/March, even into April/May, I can find free agents totally worth signing and scoop them up - 79+ guys that should be on a team. Meanwhile the White Sox have signed 7 FA catchers, and Atlanta has signed 6 Right Fielders - and thats just what got past my monitoring of the Transaction screen. Arrrgh.

I will most likely undo this move, do one last FA rebalancing act per-team, make a lot of forced signings until I'm happy with the teams - and THEN start Spring Training. Argh, the work involved in one of these games to make it work. Fili, I don't know how you got to 44 pages of dynasty, but man that is a tremendous amount of effort you've put in.

[filihok]

That makes sense. I didn't notice how low his salary was.

Something I've thought about doing, but I don't know if it'd work, is to raise salary demands as each month passes.

This game can be very trying at times


Fili, I don't know how you got to 44 pages of dynasty,


a tremendous amount of effort

I get discouraged and think I should quit it but...I always come back.

Looking forward to the upcoming season

[Alloutwar]

I am keeping Scott Garey. I don't like having a 90-rated player so cheap, but I really worked this offseason to force-sign good players on all teams that needed them, and to rebalance things; other teams are going to be good. With my horrendous pitching, I'm going to need all the help I can get just to avoid 100 losses.

So! spring training happens.


SP Bud Kudlick (AAA) learns the Curveball from Rafael Ardila
SP Eric Ganey (A) learns the Change from Rafael Ardila.
SP Luis Sanchez (AAA) gets an Improved Fastball.

Man, that Rafael Ardila is quite a teacher, at all of 26 years old! Interesting.

Injuries:
Mar 14th, 2018: closer Miguel Arambola will miss three weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Looks like Dave Doty will be assured a bullpen spot.

Taking spring training into account, I decide on my rotation:
#1: Aloysius Ashcraft - despite a 1-2, with 4.21 ERA in ST.
#2: Santos Fernandy - the 25 year old star last year went 2-1, 4.02 ERA. His ratings dropped off horribly though - he is now listed as a 62 overall, with 46 movement rating. Hmmm...
#3: lefty Simon Parsons - sparkling 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in ST.
#4: Oscar Latorro - a poor 5.97 ERA, 0 and 2 in 5 starts...but I promised him a chance. Argh.
#5: Eric Metherall - Trade pickup from the Mets - rated too good to demote. Will get a shot, despite a 5.09 ERA and 0-2 in 5 starts as well...argh. On the bubble.

Steve Rochford amasses a 10.23 ERA , going 0-3 in 5 starts, but his endurance raises to 65, which is all I wanted. He goes into long man duty.
Gianluca Vialla, last years constant DL resident, impressed with a 2-1, 3.44 ERA in 5 starts. He earns a spot in the bullpen, and is first in line for a rotation chance.
Alex Samno went 0-4, 6.11 ERA. That $1.15mil in salary will sit in AAA to get tuned up, and will be a depth option. Argh.
SP Joe Devalois went 2-1 with a decent 4.13 ERA, so he's on the radar as well.
AA SP Caleb Kelling also went 1-0 with a 2.75 ERA in 3 starts. Interesting.

26494

I played through a few games, and will just summarize quickly:

Game 1: White Sox 9, Indians 4
Ashcraft blows up in the 5th, adn the White Sox walk all over us. 3B Mike Marischall is the only bright spot, hitting a homer and a double.

Game 2: Indians 6, White Sox 5
Santos Fernandy gets a nice win, 1 ER thru 6, as Scott Garey gets three hits, driving in 2. The bullpen implodes for 4 runs, but Rafael Ardila nails down the final two outs for the save.

Game 3: White Sox 3, Indians 1
Simon Parsons had a good game going, but I left him in one batter too long, as he gives up the winning 2-run homer on a bad location pitch.

White Sox take the first series of the season, as the Indians go 1-2 in the windy city.

[FloydtheBarber]

I see this getting scary fast. That pitching staff es no bueno. Though the bullpen looks semi decent.

[Alloutwar]

Note: for simplicity I went back and renamed one player Alfredo, instead of Gianluca, because I had two Gianlucas on my pitching staff. The game uses it as a spanish first name for fictional players far too commonly...

Re FtB: Right you are. Low movement, low overall, and my god, wait till you see these guys in action. It's nail-biting.

Our second series is against the Rangers, which despite a horrible record, are actually a pretty formidable team. They have capable pitchers, and a few FA signings I forced them to make really shored up their lineup as well. This will be a rough test of the back end of the Indians rotation, and could be the first step towards someone losing their rotation spot - or earning their spot and silencing the critics.

Game 1: veteran Oscar Latorro (61) at Bruno Aripez (83)
Scary that the Ranger's #4 starter is rated 83. ouch.

This game goes phenominally well for Latorro...for two innings of no-hit ball. In the 3rd, Latorro, staked to a 2-0 lead, managed to walk three runners, but miraculously escaped a bases-loaded jam unscathed. In the 4th, he crumbled, to the tune of 5 ER and making no outs.


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
O. Latorro 3.0 4 6 1 5 5 2 76 15.00
S. Rochford 5.0 2 0 0 0 0 1 44 4.26
TOTALS 8.0 6 6 1 5 5 3 120

2B Ken Dogman collects his second homer of the year. Steve Rochford gives a strong 5-inning performance in relief, but the Rangers take the game, 5-4.

"Things broke down out there," Oscar Lattora told reporters after the game. "It was a rough inning, I lost control, but stayed on top. In the fourth I just couldn't get anyone out. I'm gonna get down with our coaches and video and break down how to fix it for next time."

Game 2: Trade pickup Eric Metherall (83) get his first start, vs 33-year old Dane Venables (77), the Ranger's weakest starter.
LF Tim Frederickson homers, but Metherall is hit for 7 runs in 3.2 innings. Yuck.


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Metherall 3.2 9 1 1 7 7 1 74 17.18
G. Vialla 4.1 4 3 0 2 2 4 80 4.70
TOTALS 8.0 13 4 1 9 9 5 154

It comes down to the wire, and the long man Gianluca Vialla actually takes the loss. Rangers win 9-8.

Game 3: Back to the top, ace Aloysius Ashcroft versus Rangers ace Martin Park (79). Ashcraft goes 6 strong, 1 ER, and SS Scott Garey continues his hot hitting, with 2 RBI. Rafael Ardila allows a run, but nails down the save for his second in Miguel Arambola's absence. Indians win 3-2.

Rangers win series, 2-1.
Indians record on season : 2-4

--------------------------------------

Next up is a three game set against the Mariners. The Mariners should be easy pickings - just OK rotation, and a sub-par lineup for the AL.

Game 1: Mariners SP Max Caldaiuria (80, 0-1) takes on our #2, Santos Fernandy (1-0). Scouts continue to tell me Fernandy has lost his edge and could be a liability; I'll let the scoreboard tell me if they're right.

DH/3B Dage Wigton homers, and Fernandy dominates, as the Indians win 4-1.
CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 8.2 6 2 1 1 1 9 114 1.23
C. Santoy 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.00
TOTALS 9.0 6 2 1 1 1 9 121

WP: S. Fernandy (2-0)
SV: C. Santoy (1)

Injury update: Closer Miguel Arambola is activated and returns to the bullpen. Reliever Dave Doty (77), who did not see game action, is optioned to AAA.

Game 2: Mariners lefty Jay Noble (74, 0-1) takes on our #3 lefty, Simon Parsons (0-1).

Good managing wins this one, as we stack our lineup against lefties and hit Noble hard. Parsons is taken out after 5.2 innings, allowing one run. RF Tim Olsen triples, and our bullpen is phenominal, as 3 pitchers go 3.1IP with no hits and only one walk. Arambola gets his first save of the season in a perfect 9th. Indians win 4-1.

Game 3: Mariners righty Steven Barbera (33, overall 73) makes his first appearance of the year due to injury. He will face a hopefully rested Oscar Latorro. I will use this game to rest a few starters.

Our offense comes out swinging, landing us a 3-0 lead in the first inning. That lasts for a while, until Latorro gives it all back in the 5th - walking in a run with the bases loaded, and giving up another 2-run single. His control is an issue, as is how hittable he is - but he is good at getting out of trouble in most innings.

Carlos Santoy comes in for the 6th, and walks the bases loaded, but escapes unharmed. RF Marcello Verde hits a homer, finally showing his power stroke; Shawn Ryan comes off the bench for a key RBI, making it 5-3. Lefty Alan MacLulich remains near unhittable, tossing two scoreless. Miguel Arambola loads the bases and allows a run in a shaky 9th for the save. Indians win 5-4.

Indians Sweep Series, season record 5-4.

__________---________________________________---

The key at this point has been our bullpen; 5 saves from three different relievers. Two guys who have yet to be scored upon. Two stable long men keeping us in the game.

Weakness has been starting pitching; Santos has been phenominal, and Parsons great, but the back of the rotation is in serious jeopardy at this rate. Both #4 and #5 starters are in question.

26571

Also, credit belongs to some hitters, specifically SS Scott Garey hitting a robust .395 in the leadoff spot, and LF Tim Frederickson with 2 homers and 10 RBIs. A few players are exercising that eye as well, with 4 + 5 walks each.

[Alloutwar]

Our next game against the White Sox, Metherall again gets hit hard - his two seamer is flying out of the park every inning. But a surprise comes along:


Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians
April 15, 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
White Sox (CHW) 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 9 1
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 4 2 6 0 x 12 16 0

CHICAGO ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
B. Torgersen (SS) 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .244
H. Donahue (2B) 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .271
D. Macgoun (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .368
M. Michael (DH) 4 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 .268
O. Correa (RF) 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .286
S. Avery (1B) 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 .250
H. Clark (3B) 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 0 .306
J. Harding (CF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265
J. Bernard (C) 4 1 0 1 1 1 2 0 .412
TOTALS 36 9 2 5 3 5 6 0

2B: D. Macgoun (5), O. Correa 2 (3)
HR: J. Bernard (5), H. Clark (2), M. Michael (3)

CHICAGO ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
T. Stringer 5.0 7 3 0 4 4 4 106 7.20
W. Gratton 1.0 3 1 0 2 2 2 29 10.38
J. Verdon 0.2 4 2 1 6 6 2 33 10.13
A. Siseros 1.1 2 0 0 0 0 1 20 15.00
TOTALS 8.0 16 6 1 12 12 9 188

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 6 2 0 1 0 0 3 0 .386
D. Wigton (3B) 3 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 .300
K. Slaugh (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
K. Dogman (P) 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 .343
M. Marischall (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
S. Ryan (RF) 4 2 1 2 1 2 1 0 .250
T. Fredrickson (DH) 4 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 .184
R. Battista (1B) 3 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 .231
T. Olsen (LF) 5 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 .320
M. Gooden (C) 4 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 .321
E. Wille (2B) 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .167
S. Unzueta (CF) 5 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 .273
TOTALS 39 16 6 12 1 12 9 0

2B: T. Olsen (3)
3B: T. Fredrickson (2)
HR: S. Ryan (1)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Metherall 5.0 6 1 3 5 5 3 77 12.46
S. Rochford 4.0 3 1 0 0 0 3 50 2.61
TOTALS 9.0 9 2 3 5 5 6 127

WP: S. Rochford (1-0)
LP: W. Gratton (0-1)

Temperature: 39F
Wind: 8 MPH (out to center)
Attendance: 24,137
Time: 3:26


HOLY OFFENSE!! Man, even a poor-to-average AL lineup can just go nuts! And I had Ken Dogman on the bench for this game...wow!

Steve Rochford just pitched himself into our starting rotation, taking Metherall's spot; he goes 4 strong innings to earn the win as our offense puts on a CLINIC at home!! Metherall may be optioned to AAA to refine his technique, or moved to a bullpen role. Most likely, he will go to AAA and RP Dave Doty will rejoin the club. The Mets aren't enjoying their half of the trade yet, at least - RP Dave Komanovsky is getting knock around a bit in AA still.

Injuries:
Apr 15, 2018: SP Oscar Latorro will miss two weeks with a strained knee. Clubhouse rumores say this has led to fatigue and control issues. Dave Doty is called up to the bullpen to take his roster spot; Gianluca Vialla takes the #5 spot in the rotation for now, and Metherall moves to the bullpen.

New rotation:
1) Aloysius Ashcrat
2) Santos Fernandy
3) L Simon Parsons
4) Steve Rochford
5) Gianluca Vialla

Let's see how the second half of April goes.


"Any time a player comes over from the NL, it's a slight adjustment," pitching coach Dave Engbert said. "Eric's got good stuff, and that knuckler is a fantastic weapon - it will just take some time to put it all together. We have all the confidence in him."

Metherall has given up 4 homers in two appearances; he gave up only 6 homers all of last season.

[FloydtheBarber]

Nice to see the bats coming out, gotta like the 6 base on balls in that game. Metherall has been pretty disappointing though

[Alloutwar]

A quick overview of our characters, from the front office to reporters. You will see a combination of news articles from online, Blogs, and old fashion papers. You will also see written narratives interspersed within the dynasty, as a nod to the more narrative CatKnight/PoC dynasty type.

Cast of Characters:
Indians front office/team:
special advisor (and main character): Mark Delanty
Owner: Dane Evans
GM: Tim Dowdy
Manager: Freddi Guitierrez
Pitching Coach: Dave Engbert

scouting:
director: Albert Thiessen
assistant dir: JJ Gallagher
amatuer: Steve Raines
international: Emilio Carpe

News and reports:
ESPN.Com/Baseball Times: Scott Fendis
Indians local blogger/MLB beatwriter: Trevor Stockton
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Skip Mathers (upbeat, pro-Indians)
Cleveland Sun News: Art Crenshaw (harsh columnist)
Player entries/MLBlog: Marcello Velde (RF obtained through Rule V draft)



Interview with Tim Dowdy
MLB.com's Trevor Stockton interviews Indians GM

I recently got the opportunity to ask longtime GM Tim Dowdy about some key issues in Cleveland.

TS: How has the arrival of Mark Delanty as special advisor affected the ballclub?
Dowdy: Delanty is a remarkably focused and tenacious presence. He is not satisfied with good or even great; he's constantly turning things over, exploring options, thinking ahead. He's all about building relationships with players, prospects - like setting up that MLBlog account with Marcello Velde, a guy he's known for a while. It brings a new dimension to our front office team.

TS: When will Alex Samno make his debut? Is he back in pitching shape? Oscar Latorro and Eric Metherall have been hit hard so far this season. How serious is Latorro's knee issue? Will Metherall see time in the minors?
Dowdy: Samno is in AAA, making starts, getting his work in. He'll get the call soon enough - later this month, early May maybe. We really appreciate the versatility he's given us over the years, in the bullpen or spot starts, and last year he really took the starter job and ran with it, gutting it out for the year when we needed it. That's the gritty type of player we need more of.

Latorro is a fighter, and he'll be ready as soon as humanly possible. He's disappointed with how things have gone, but happy that there was a medical reason. He'll be pushing his way back in a few weeks.

Metherall, this kid's a player. He wants to succeed. We told him at the outset, hey, we're gonna give a lot of things a try. After our 1-2-3 guys, the back end of the rotation may go through lots of changes this year. That's fine - lots of guys will get opportunities; our job is to find who will best help us win. We've got a lot of stong arms in Cleveland, and we're confident someone will emerge for those back spots.

TS: How are you liking your bullpen this season, with Arambola being signed to a long-term deal, and Ardila, MacLulich, and Santoy firing your late innings?
Dowdy: You know what, that bullpen is really our strength right now. Any of those four guys could be shutting down batters in the 9th - you saw Santoy, even Ardila get a few saves while Arambola was out. We've had our struggles the past few years, but this bullpen group is really something special. We want to keep these guys together and contributing for a long time.

TS: Any thought to resigning second baseman Ken Dogman this season? And how is Ricardo Battista adapting to his 1B/DH role?
Dowdy: We love Kenny, he loves being here - were going to do everything we can to keep him around. Ricardo misses calling the game, now and then, but when you have guys like Dave Miller and Myron Gooden on the roster, and Bautista can play a great first base - then you get him out there.

TS: Thanks so much for your time!





Delanty's New Approach: Jump the Gun
by Art Crenshaw, Cleveland Sun News

Mark Delanty is know for wheeling and dealing, trading players every few months, swapping out entire teams and cashing in on prospects. But not in Cleveland; somehow, most likely due to other GMs wisening up, Delanty has had impact on only one deal since arriving at the Indians front office. That deal brought in starter Eric Metherall, a kid that has a great future in the majors.

Like all other first time starters - from the lowliest #5 starter all the way to the Hall of Famers - Metherall got knocked around in his first few starts this year. The Indians came back in both games, saving him from a loss, but his ERA is still a ballooned double-digit number. Not a big deal, though - two starts is a small sample to be making any big decisions on.

Unfortunately, Delanty doesn't feel that way. He wants to push his pet project, converting Steve Rochford into a full-time starter. So the Indians move Metherall to the bullpen, and insert Rochford, who had a 10.23 ERA (!) in 5 Spring Training starts. Metherall, instead of getting the time to get some experience under his belt and take his knocks, will instead be handled with kid gloves. Meanwhile, the Indians will throw out starters with half the stuff, guys like Gianluca Vialla, who barely belongs in an MLB squad.

All the press has labelled this as a 'quest' to find the right mix for the #4 and #5 slots in the rotation. Delanty certainly worked to acquire options - he had some independent-league rejects all over the AAA and AA systems. The depth is a good protective measure, in case of injury; but in Metherall's case, you're just holding the kid back. Let him work it out, take his knocks, and by the end of the year you won't have a functional #5 guy; you'll have a top-of-the-rotation guy who has worked out the kinks.


I'm not even the GM - if anything, I'm the shadow GM of this team! Why do I still get poo'd on by the press? :confused:

[Alloutwar]

With taking the first game of the White Sox Series, the Indians were 6-4 on the season. Not remarkable, but much better than their 1-4 start to the sesason ; we have a 5-game winning streak!

So we play two more against the White Sox:

Apr 16: Aloysius Ashcraft makes his third start. He gives up 2 earned over 5.2, and Alan MacLulich steps in to pick up the win as the Indians score 4 in the bottom on the 6th! Marcello Velde hits a two run shot, and Mike Marischall scores 2 runs with 2 RBIs. Indians 7-4 on season.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
White Sox (CHW) 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 14 2
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 x 6 8 2

Apr 17th: we go for a sweep of the White Sox, revenge for losing our home opener and first season series. Santos Fernandy goes for his third win - and again, despite scouting fears, he performs well, but is denied as the game goes into extras.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
White Sox (CHW) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 0
Indians (CLE) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 1

S. Fernandy 8.1 7 3 0 2 2 3 117 1.57
A. MacLulich 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 0.00
M. Arambola 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 18 2.25
TOTALS 11.0 7 3 0 2 2 5 156

Marcello Velde hits his second homer in as many games, but Tim Olsen comes through with the walk-off single. Indians sweep, 8-4 on season.
____________________________________________________________

Apr 18th: as we are about to start a two-game series against the Twins, we send #3 starter Simon Parsons to the hill. Parsons lasts 7.2IP, giving up 2 runs and is in line for the win; but for the first time, bullpen lefty Alan MacLulich implodes for three runs, costing Parsons the win. MacLulich then gets the win, as Ken Dogman and Shawn Ryan both homer. Indians win, 6-5. Indians are 9-4 on the season.

Apr 19th:
Injury:
After the game, team doctors announce that Shawn Ryan has a knee ligament issue that will cause him to miss the next four weeks. RF/DH Jeremy Aves, (age 27, overall 72) is called up from Triple-A to take his roster spot.

In the same roster move, 2B Edward Wille is optioned to AAA, and veteran speedster 2B Sandy English is called up.

Jeremy Aves makes his presence known immediately; he goes 4-for-4 as the Indians put on an offensive clinic, winning 9-1. Steve Rochford, getting his first start as our #4 option while Oscar Latorro is on the DL, pitchines 7 innings, 1 ER. Alex Samno pitches the final two frames, no runs. Indians win, 9-1, to go up 10-4 on the season!! Injuns now have a nine game winning streak!

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 .371
D. Wigton (1B) 4 1 1 1 1 2 2 0 .311
K. Dogman (2B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .314
S. English (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T. Fredrickson (LF) 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 .180
T. Olsen (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .379
R. Battista (DH) 4 2 1 2 1 2 1 0 .231
J. Aves (RF) 4 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 1.000
M. Marischall (3B) 3 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 .237
K. Slaugh (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .100
M. Velde (CF) 4 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 .239
M. Gooden (C) 4 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 .343
D. Miller (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 38 14 4 9 3 9 9 1
___________________________________________________
Apr 20-21st: this two-game series against Detroit is a wake-up call. In game one, we try our Gianluca Vialla as our #5 starter. He goes 3.2 innings allowing 4 runs, as the Indians lost 6-2.

The next game is the most unbelievable gut-wrenching I can recently recall in Baseball Mogul:


Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
April 21, 2018
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 2 0 1 0 2 3 0 4 0 12 18 0
Tigers (DET) 0 1 0 7 3 0 0 0 2 13 11 1

TOP OF THE FIRST
Lawrence Lustig takes the mound for the Tigers.
Dave Wigton popped up foul down the third base line. <--->
Ken Dogman doubled in the left field gap. <-2->
Tim Fredrickson singled down the left field line, scoring a run. <--1>
Tim Fredrickson went for an extra base and reached second. <-2->
Ricardo Battista popped up to the first baseman in foul ground. <-2->
Tim Fredrickson stole third. <3-->
Jeremy Aves singled to left, scoring a run. <--1>
Mike Marischall singled to center, advancing the runner to third. <3-1>
Marcello Velde flied out to left. <3-1>
2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the first, Cleveland leads 2 to 0.

<omitted>

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND
Steve Vanness singled to center. <--1>
Todd Judkins singled to left. <-21>
Edmund Ferreira flied out to right. <-21>
Steve Vanness tagged up and reached third. <3-1>
Ken Riendeau flied out to right. <3-1>
Steve Vanness tagged up and reached home, scoring a run. <--1>
Iwazumi Sakai singled to left field, advancing the runner to third. <3-1>
Ephraim Gilera struck out. <3-1>
1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the second, Detroit trails 2 to 1.

TOP OF THE THIRD
Ken Dogman homered over the center field fence. <--->
Tim Fredrickson grounded to short. <--->
Ricardo Battista flied out to right field. <--->
Jeremy Aves popped up foul down the first base line. <--->
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
In the middle of the third, Cleveland leads 3 to 1.

<omitted>

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Steve Vanness grounded back to the pitcher. <--->
Todd Judkins walked. <--1>
Edmund Ferreira walked. <-21>
Ken Riendeau struck out. <-21>
Iwazumi Sakai walked. <321>
Ephraim Gilera walked, scoring a run. <321>
Geraldo Cheno singled into the right field corner for two RBIs. <3-1>
Sal Taber walked. <321>
Leon Longoria homered around the foul pole in left for a grand slam. <--->
Eric Metherall came in to pitch for the Indians. <--->
Steve Vanness grounded to short. <--->
7 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 0 left on base.
At the end of the fourth, Detroit leads 8 to 3.

TOP OF THE FIFTH
Dave Wigton popped up to short. <--->
Ken Dogman homered over the left field fence. <--->
Tim Fredrickson flied out to center. <--->
Ricardo Battista homered over the right field fence. <--->
Jeremy Aves singled up the middle. <--1>
Mike Marischall was hit by a pitch. <-21>
Marcello Velde flied out to center. <-21>
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the fifth, Cleveland trails 8 to 5.

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
Todd Judkins walked. <--1>
Edmund Ferreira homered over the left field fence for two RBIs. <--->
Ken Riendeau struck out. <--->
Iwazumi Sakai singled up the middle. <--1>
Ephraim Gilera flied out to center field. <--1>
Geraldo Cheno tripled down the left field line, scoring a run. <3-->
Sal Taber walked. <3-1>
Leon Longoria popped up to second. <3-1>
3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the fifth, Detroit leads 11 to 5.

TOP OF THE SIXTH
Nat Sturtevant came in to pitch for the Tigers. <--->
Myron Gooden grounded to the third baseman. <--->
Sandy English singled to right. <--1>
Dave Wigton popped up to second. <--1>
Ken Dogman singled back through the middle. <-21>
Tim Fredrickson singled down the first base line, scoring a run. <3-1>
Ricardo Battista walked. <321>
Jeremy Aves singled down the left field line for two RBIs. <-21>
Mike Marischall popped up to short. <-21>
3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
In the middle of the sixth, Cleveland trails 11 to 8.

<omitted>

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Dave Wigton grounded to short. <--->
Ken Dogman grounded to the second baseman. <--->
Tim Fredrickson hit an infield single to second. <--1>
Ricardo Battista singled through the hole. <-21>
Jeremy Aves homered over the right field fence for three RBIs. <--->
Mike Marischall homered over the left field fence. <--->
Dustan Pope came in to pitch for the Tigers. <--->
Samuel Unzueta reached second on a fielding error by the left fielder. <-2->
Dave Miller flied out to center. <-2->
4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, Cleveland leads 12 to 11.

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
Scott Garey came in to play First Base. <--->
James Bryant came in to play Second Base. <--->
Tim Olsen came in to play Left Field. <--->
Sal Taber struck out. <--->
Albert Cassas walked. <--1>
Rafael Ardila came in to pitch for the Indians. <--1>
Steve Vanness popped up to the shortstop. <--1>
Todd Judkins singled to right, advancing the runner to third. <3-1>
Edmund Ferreira struck out. <3-1>
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the eighth, Detroit trails 12 to 11.

<omitted>

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
Miguel Arambola came in to pitch for the Indians. <--->
Ken Riendeau walked. <--1>
Iwazumi Sakai struck out. <--1>
Ephraim Gilera struck out. <--1>
Geraldo Cheno homered into the right field bleachers for two RBIs. <--->

TIGERS WIN: 13-12


The most offensively oh-my-god game that I have seen. We wrestle back from a blowout inning, and tie it - go ahead - bring in the closer - and poof, a walk-off homer loss.

Tigers take the 2-game series. Indians are 10-6 on the season.

[Alloutwar]

Apr 22nd: Number two starter Santos Fernandy continues his dominance, beating the Royals handily for his third win.

Indians improve to 11-6 on the season, tied for first place with the White Sox.
26675

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 7.0 7 0 2 2 2 5 85 1.80
C. Santoy 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 26 0.00
TOTALS 9.0 8 0 2 2 2 6 111
_______________________________________________________


Albert Theissen, director of scouting, and GM Tim Dowdy met with Mark Delanty on April 22nd to review their pitching so far, and see what changes if any would be required.


Player Name P Age Overall Starts W L ERA IP K BB H HR SV BS QS OBA
Ashcraft, Aloysius SP 31 82 4 1 1 7.20 20.0 16 11 27 3 0 0 1 .307
Fernandy, Santos SP 25 61 4 3 0 1.80 30.0 18 5 27 3 0 0 4 .237
Parsons, Simon SP 33 79 3 1 1 2.79 19.1 16 5 17 2 0 0 2 .224
Rochford, Steve SP 29 86 1 2 0 2.08 17.1 10 5 13 1 0 0 1 .203
Samno, Alex SP 36 68 0 0 0 3.18 5.2 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 .190
Vialla, Gianluca SP 29 71 1 0 2 6.35 11.1 7 9 18 2 0 0 0 .367
Metherall, Eric SP 26 83 2 0 0 10.95 12.1 7 5 19 5 0 0 0 .339
Arambola, Miguel RP 29 81 0 1 1 4.76 5.2 6 2 4 1 4 1 0 .182
Ardila, Rafael RP 26 83 0 0 0 2.70 3.1 3 2 4 1 2 0 0 .267
Santoy, Carlos RP 26 81 0 1 0 0.00 7.2 4 3 3 0 2 0 0 .125
MacLulich, Alan RP 29 81 0 2 0 3.12 8.2 5 2 6 1 0 0 0 .188
Latorro, Oscar (DL) SP 36 61 2 0 1 9.00 8.0 6 9 10 1 0 0 0 .294
Doty, Dave (AAA) RP 31 77 0 0 0 54.00 0.1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 .750

AAA
Player Name P Age Overall Starts W L ERA IP K BB H HR SV BS QS OBA
Barrientos, Enrique SP 30 70 5 1 2 4.19 34.1 20 12 39 3 0 0 2 .285
Devalois, Joe SP 34 67 4 2 2 3.04 26.2 14 6 28 1 0 0 2 .269
Kudlick, Bud SP 23 76 3 0 0 2.08 17.1 12 1 19 2 0 0 0 .271
Tarin, Manuel RP 27 72 1 1 1 3.38 18.2 10 6 15 2 0 0 0 .217
Simonetta, Jeremy RP 27 71 0 0 0 7.36 11.0 12 7 17 2 1 2 0 .340
Whiteside, Joe RP 25 71 0 0 0 3.12 17.1 5 13 11 0 7 1 0 .190
Margarin, Luis RP 23 70 0 0 0 4.91 14.2 9 6 15 1 5 1 0 .254
Brimble, Brian RP 26 71 1 0 1 2.25 16.0 8 7 11 1 0 0 0 .196
Doty, Dave RP 31 77 0 0 2 10.50 6.0 9 1 13 1 0 0 0 .419

AA
Player Name P Age Overall Starts W L ERA IP K BB H HR SV BS QS OBA
Kelling, Caleb SP 25 68 2 0 0 2.45 14.2 7 3 10 2 0 0 2 .196
Sanchez, Luis SP 27 67 1 0 2 9.17 17.2 8 3 25 8 0 0 0 .329
Trudeau, Keith RP 27 68 4 0 2 6.59 13.2 6 5 21 2 0 0 0 .339
Delworth, Dominic RP 28 67 0 0 0 3.65 12.1 10 6 13 2 3 0 0 .271

A
Player Name P Age Overall Starts W L ERA IP K BB H HR SV BS QS OBA
Ganey, Eric SP 27 49 1 1 0 0.00 8.2 5 0 4 0 0 0 1 .148
Aaronson, Curt RP 24 65 0 0 0 3.75 12.0 4 3 10 1 3 0 0 .227
Barba, Alfredo SP 27 65 2 0 2 6.75 18.2 11 4 24 4 0 0 0 .308
Lubaczewski, Ralph RP 24 47 0 0 0 1.32 13.2 8 10 13 2 6 1 0 .245

R
Player Name P Age Overall Starts W L ERA IP K BB H HR SV BS QS OBA
Burgos, Chico SP 19 49 1 1 0 3.18 5.2 2 1 6 0 0 0 1 .261
MacGlashan, Sam SP 22 49 2 0 1 6.00 12.0 6 2 18 3 0 0 1 .340
Davis, Adam SP 23 47 1 1 1 5.63 8.0 7 6 10 0 0 0 0 .303
Miller, Jim RP 22 49 0 1 0 6.23 4.1 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 .278
Coury, Mark RP 23 46 0 0 0 6.23 4.1 3 3 6 1 0 1 0 .316





"Okay, let's start at the top and work down," Delanty said. "Ashcraft is really a question mark at this point. He's struggled mightily. We've watched him walk in a lot of runs. Looking at his past, he's an injury risk...and a career line of 77-98, ERA of 4.84...this guy's a back of the rotation option. And right now he's barely that."

Dowdy spoke up first. "We know he's a #3 at best. He hasn't had a winning record since 2013. But when you don't have a #1 or #2..."

"Fine," Delanty said. "We'll keep him in the rotation until a better option presents itself. I'm not convinced he's the best we can do, but we'll give him a chance to right the ship. Now - on to Santos Fernandy. Here, we have a guy dominating the opposition - throwing up zeroes. Three wins, should be leading the league with 4. Thiessen, you still saying something's wrong?"

Albert Thiessen furrowed his brow. "His pitches aren't moving like they should be. Hitters will catch on. I think he needs work to get back to MLB-quality."

Dowdy jumped in right away. "Have you seen his starts?" he asked Thiessen. "He's the most dominant pitcher we have - matching him up with Miller has been genius!"

Delanty smiled. Dowdy showered him with praise, followed his moves with true admiration. Most likely one of the two men in front of him would be gone from the Indians payroll soon - possibly both. They must know, he thought. They must be feeling it. "For now we'll just see what the numbers show us. He's been consistent and dominant, and without him we'd most likely be .500 at best. Now, on to Parsons..."

"He's doing the job," Thiessen said. "A strong, stable #3 guy. Nothing that needs to change there."

Delanty nodded. "So #4 starter - Steve Rochford. Looks like he might be taking to the role. Those long appearances out of the bullpen, picking up where Metherall belw up, he showed us he was ready. 2.08 ERA, I think he deserves the #4 start for a month or so." Everyone nodded.

"Now, #5 starter, that's the question. Latorro is on the DL, and I'm not sure we want him in this role when he returns. Gianluca Vialla, Metherall - both these guys have gotten hit hard. So I'm proposing we put Alex Samno in, possible long term." Again, more nodding. "Samno has impressive numbers from last year, and he's showed solid stuff out of the bullpen."

"What about Dave Doty?" Thiessen asked.

"Doty can't even keep his ERA in single digits in AAA," Delanty answered. "We had him up for one appearance, and he allowed what, 2 runs in a third of an inning? We'll keep him on the radar if we have injuries, but no need to keep him on the majors. Metherall, Vialla, even Latorro are better in a long-man role."

"Okay, lets look at the minors," Dowdy started. "We have some guys really performing well in AAA - Whiteside, Kudlick, Devalois, Brimble. Joe Devalois is the only one we're paying - and at $2.5mil, we should get something out of him."

"I am really hoping he retires," Delanty said. "If he's going to put up numbers...well, you're right, might as well get him joining the big club ASAP. We could delay Metherall's arb clock with more time in AAA."

"Right," Dowdy said. "We need another bullpen arm, and if shaking Metherall around would hurt his development, we should throw Devalois in there. He deserves a last shot before we give up entirely." Thiessen looked nervous, but remained silent. Dowdy continued: "We're paying Latorro, Samno, and Devalois - along with Ashcraft and Parsons - so we should get the most out of them."

"We can try," Delanty said. "But let's not try to get our money's worth on a sinking ship. Now, on to AA - I see Caleb Kelling putting things together, doing well in his two starts. How do we feel about bumping him up to triple-A?" Shrugs. "Okay, we'll do that then. Curt Aaronson is doing well in A-ball, and Ralph Lubaczewski and Chico Burgos
also need to move up - to AA and A, respectively. Now - let's look at the independent ball guys we grabbed."

Thiessen spoke up. "Eric Ganey is the only one making strides - he's unscored on in A-ball. We should push him, have him take Kelling's spot in AA." Nods of agreement. Alfredo Barba hasn't had the same success. Luis Sanchez is getting rocked in AA - can't make it out of the fourth usually."

"Thats fine," Delanty said. "I think we have some great options. If we have another few injuries, Kudlick or Kelling could get an emergency start. If Ganey makes strides and wants to make a run, that's fine too. Enrique Barrientos has been quietly decent in AAA, so let's keep him on the radar as well."

________________________________________________________________________________ _____

SP Alex Samno moved to #5 spot in rotation - SP Gianluca Vialla goes to bullpen
SP Joe Devalois moved to bullpen from AAA - SP Eric Metherall optioned to AAA

[Alloutwar]

Apr 23rd: we squeek out a win, 4-3, lefty Simon Parsons is now 2-1.

Apr 24th: Marcello Velde hits 2 HRs, 5 RBIs. #4 starter Steve Rochford goes 6 scoreless before allowing a solo shot. Tried to get Devalois a side session, but he got hit hard, and Arambola had to come in for the save.


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Rochford 8.0 5 2 1 2 2 7 96 2.13
J. Devalois 0.1 3 0 0 1 1 0 18 27.00
M. Arambola 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 3.68
TOTALS 9.0 8 2 1 3 3 8 123


Apr 26th: after an off-day, we send out Alex Samno for his first start of 2018. The Tigers first two batters each hit solo shots. Wow. But Samno battled back to go 6 innings, 3 runs, for a quality start. We tied it up at 3, and it stretched into a 14-inning affair as our relievers each contributed 2 innings. Finally Carlos Santoy was hit for two runs, and we lost. There were some epic offensive failures in this one, as Tim Fredrickson went 0-for-7, and Dave Wigton 0-for-6 with a walk. Mike Marischall went 1-for-6 with 3 strikeouts. I've gotten lots of trade offers for him, oddly enough.

Apr 27th: hoping Ashcraft could bounce back, we give him an early 4-0 cushion with some timely hitting and a Fredrickson homer. I try to give him the opportunity for a quality start, but a 2-run homer in the 6th prompts his exit. Santoy does okay, and then up 6-3, I figure it is time to bring in a long man. since I had 4 relievers go multi-innings yesterday, my choices are Vialla and Devalois...both shakey. I choose Vialla, and he promptly gives up 3 runs, making it a 6-6 tie.

Devalois does one better by giving up 3 runs more in the 9th; we try a comeback, but lose 9-8. This is pointing to desperately needing one more solid arm in the bullpen; I can't have 4 good and 2 terrible.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Tigers (DET) 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 3 9 13 1
Indians (CLE) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 13 0

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
A. Ashcraft 5.0 5 4 1 3 3 5 103 6.84
C. Santoy 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 1.74
G. Vialla 1.0 4 1 0 3 3 1 36 7.82
J. Devalois 2.0 4 2 0 3 3 2 41 15.43
TOTALS 9.0 13 7 1 9 9 9 190

Pirates are 13-8 on the season, second in the AL Central.

Injury:
1B/3B Dave Wigton will miss two weeks with a knee injury. 1B Omar Valdespino will be called up from AAA to take his roster spot.

Apr 28th: Tigers sweep the series on bob Macilrevie's 3-hit CG shutout. Santos Fernandy was finally hit hard, giving up 4 runs in two innings. Tigers win 4-0. Indians are now 13-9.

Apr 29th: Parsons strikes out the first four batters on his way to a solid outing. He again gives up a homer in the 6th to tie it, but Tim Fredrickson rides to the rescue with a 3-run shot for the winner. Indians win , 6-3, and are 14-9 on the young season.

Apr 30th: in our last game of the month, Ken Dogman and Tim Fredrickson both hit massive homers in the 3rd for a 5-0 lead. Steve Rochford immediately gives back 3 on a homer to Vern Howison, the slugging Twins DH. Alan MacLulich gives up a hit parade including a two-run shot to put the Twins ahead 6-5. Carlos Santoy is mostly effective, but gives up another solo shot; Twins take it 7-5.

*****
OFFENSE THOUGHTS
*****
It's our big contracts that are underperforming. Guys that will be headed out after this year, or that we're stuck with through next year. I'm talking these guys that can't field well, and aren't hitting well. My main chip to cash in for fielding prospects, or pitching help, is:


Ricardo Battista (.234/.347/.375) - $2.7mil thru next year
Tim Fredrickson (.233/.277/.500) - $6.5mil this year

I think we can offload Battista - he's our 3rd string catcher, and we have better options in AAA for both DH (Nagy) or 1B (Valdespino).
Fredrickson is a deadline move if we throw in the towel - we have Marcello Velde, Tim Olsen, Jeremy Aves, and Shawn Ryan to man the outfield/DH spots.

*****

ESPN.COM - Scott Fendis
Battista to Rays, Nats?
26785

Rumors surface that Indians management has been looking into trading catcher/DH Ricardo Battista. Since Mark Delanty came on board, Battista has been used in a DH/1B role only, and his hitting has not reacted well. He is hitting .234 with two homers and 12 RBI. Lately, the Indians have benched him in favor of Jeremy Aves in the DH position, which has been paying dividends.

There are some concerns about Battista's abilities behind the plate, which have led the Indians to avoid using Battista there. Battista would love to get back to catching. He is currently contracted through next year. The Indians would most likely move him for immediate pitching help, or for prospects to rebuild.

Sources have him headed to Tampa Bay for reliever Adam Palm. Palm is 26 years old, an ERA of 5.44 in 32 MLB games. Gianluca Vialla may be included, netting Ray Brown from Tampa Bay.

He could alternately be pursued by the Washington Nationals, who could offer starting pitching depth, like Mario Montarbo or Eduardo Parada. The Nationals may offer reliever prospects to outbid the Rays for Battista's bat, returning him to the catcher role.

[Alloutwar]

*******
"April isn't even in the books yet," GM Tom Dowdy was saying, "and you want us to start shipping out major pieces of our lineup?"

Dowdy was referring to Ricardo Battista, the slugging catcher that Mark Delanty had quietly been shopping around to prospective buyers to gauge interest. Owner Dane Evans wasn't exactly enthralled with the move either, at least according to Dowdy.

"Major piece?" Delanty asked. "Battista? He of the .234 average? He who can play a bad first, and a worse catcher?"

Dowdy frowned. He was attached to Battista; he had traded for him from the White Sox in mid-2016, and was intensely proud of giving him a shot as a starting catcher. "It's 24 games in. He's slumping. You're talking about a guy with 26 homers and 82 RBIs last year. We need to give him time to get his swing back."

Delanty shook his head. "We've got him signed through this year and next. Freddi's benching him right now, because he can't hit anything. We have better hitters already, in Nagy and Valdespino - and Valdespino can play a better first base, for crying out loud!"

Delanty went on. "Nagy is a lefty, and is godlike with plate discipline - he has 28 walks in AAA this year. Twenty-EIGHT. The entire team - bench and all - has barely 70 for us."

Dowdy frowned more. He knew Delanty liked Chad Nagy - after all, it was a Pirates-Indians trade that landed the talented hitter in their system. "But contact hitting - I know he's hitting near .300, but that's not going to happen in the majors. And he can't field at all - so he'd be a full time DH."

"Yes," Delanty said. "Full time DH, hitting homers and walking all over the place. And cheap, too!"

"Two things," Dowdy said. "First, what would you do with Jeremy Aves? DH him against lefties?" Delanty nodded. "Find, but we'd still need to get him in right against righties. And then, there's the fan backlash. Battista is a popular guy - and happy here, too! Dane Evans doesn't want to recreate what you had in Pittsburgh, when you started dealing away anyone making over the minimum - the Pirates fanbase was deci..."

Dowdy trailed off as Delanty's stare went cold. Calculating. Dowdy was being sized up, and felt a chill run down his spine. Suddenly he wasn't looking at a coworker, a confidant...but an executioner.

"Pittsburgh's doing pretty well this year," Delanty said frostily. "Probably going to win the division, make the playoffs third time in four years." His teeth glinted brightly as he smiled. "When was the last time your team made it to the playoffs, Tom?"

There was a knock at the door. Indians owner Dane Evans stepped inside. He was a tall man, late 50's, gray hair receding slowly. He was a quiet, confident man. "What are we arguing about?" he asked smiling. He looked at Dowdy, his expression showing relief, and Delanty, relaxed but wary.

"Battista," Dowdy said. "We have some good pieces of our lineup, like Battista, Frederickson...and Mark here is shopping them around."

"Ah, yes, so I've heard," Evans said. "Well, are these players...untouchable?" He looked slyly at the two of them. "I think both are happy here, both are useful. But if the right deal comes along, we have to be open minded." Dowdy arched an eyebrow. "No one should be untouchable," Evans continued. "Some guys like Shawn Ryan, even this new first baseman - Valdespino - these guys don't want to play here. They aren't happy, doing anything for the community, etc. I say, if something comes along that you can both agree with make us better, we go for it."

Delanty suppressed a half-smile. He had given Evans a lot of data, mainly on defense, how guys like Battista were a liability on the field. Looks like he had read some of it.

"This offseason might be pricey - lots of arbitration, free agents - we gotta save where we can if we want to keep guys like Dogman in Cleveland. I trust that you two will find the best path for this team's future." Evans patted each of them on the shoulder and turned to go. "I'm off to a golf game," he said waving. "Let me know how things go."

*****

May 1st: SP Alex Samno (0-0, 3.86 ERA) makes his second start in the #5 slot, against an 0-2 Mike Todd of the Twins. The Twins have a weak lineup, and Todd has an ERA over 11, not making it out of the 5th in his last two starts. The Twins have two starters on the DL - perfect time to strike! I am pretty confident, so I use Battista as catcher to rest Gooden.

Samno gives up hits - lots of them - but double plays in the first two frames help. Dogman hits a homer for an early lead. A two-run shot by the Twins 3B George Roberts puts them ahead 2-1. Tim Fredrickson hits a 3-run shot in the 6th to retake the lead. Samno gets a quality start, 6 IP, 3 runs - and we take a 4-3 lead into the 9th. Closer Miguel Arambola comes in, and WALKS THREE BATTERS! Through a botched bunt, we get to two outs - and then a 3-run single in the bottom of the ninth seals it. Twins 6, Indians 4, another blown save.

Injury:
After the game, Alex Samno is diagnosed with a shoulder separation and will miss three weeks. Great...another gap in the rotation.

Oscar Latorro will return to take his 5th starter spot, again, coming back off a knee aggravation. Sigh.

May 3rd: Aloysius Ashcraft takes on the weak Royals. A solo shot, two run homer, and various bad pitches land us in a 4-0 hole.

Our bullpen has a meltdown, mainly Carlos Santoy, and we lose horribly 8-0. Ricardo Battista has 3 strikeouts. Bad game.

May 4th: Santos Fernandy takes on the same Royals. I am praying for a stopper. We have a three-game losing streak against Twins and Royals, both weak teams. I throw out the regular lineup, minus injuries to Dave Wigton and Shawn Ryan still.

The game is an absolute thriller:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 1 7 12 0
Royals (KCR) 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 6 10 1

Fernandy allows three solo shots, 4 runs total, and MacLulich another 2. We battle back for 4 in the 6th, and later manage to tie it on an improbable blown save, including a solo shot by 3B Mike Marischall (who was hitting .027 against righties coming in). We tie it up, Rafael Ardilla gets us through the ninth and into extras.

Top of the 10th, a walk, pinch runner (Sandy English) steals second, and a timely double to score the go-ahead run, again by Mike Marischall (!!). Ardilla comes back out, taking a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the 10th...and here's what happens:


BOTTOM OF THE TENTH
James Bryant came in to play First Base. <--->
Samuel Unzueta came in to play Left Field. <--->
Marc Woodham was hit by a pitch. <--1>
Cory Decker walked. <-21>
Rafael Ardila threw a wild pitch. <32->
Jayson Elwyn walked. <321>
Miguel Arambola came in to pitch for the Indians. <321>
Derek Hindmarsh popped up to second. <321>
Adam Benitez struck out. <321>
Elvis Trevino pinch hit for Manuel Blector. <321>
Elvis Trevino flied out to left. <321>

INDIANS WIN: 7-6

After blowing a save horribly just a few days ago, Arambola comes in with the bases loaded and gets three straight outs, preserving an almost impossible save. Priceless. Indians improve to 15-12 on the season.

Trade:
The White Sox offered AA starter Samuel Vargas for our starter Gianluca Vialla. Vargas is 25, 79 overall, some decent stats but no experience. Vialla can be a decent 5th starter option, but will hit arb next year, is 29, and has peaked. This is a no-brainer for me. However, my scouting is suspect (+-7), and Vargas is 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA in AA this year. But with Kudlick, Metherall, and Kelling, he is another minor league starter prospect I can call on.


From ESPN.com:
The trade - between the first and second place AL Central teams - is a rare intra-division deal, but it works for both sides. The White Sox have been absolutely decimated with starting pitching injuries - at this point the have an unbelievable 6 starters on the DL. Vialla takes an immediate rotation spot for them, and has some success at the major league level. The Indians had recently demoted him to AAA in favor of reliever Dave Doty. Vialla was 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA in 5 appearances for Cleveland this season.

Vargas still has potential, and though Chicago clearly thinks it will not materialize, Cleveland was willing to take the gamble. Cleveland is stacked with starting options, although many of them are back of the rotation guys.

Cleveland and Chicago have a history of working out deals mid-season, such as the one that brought catcher Ricard Battista to the Indians in 2016.

26856

[filihok]

May 1st: A three-run single? Did that really happen? Odd

Definite no-brainer of a trade. You'd think the White Sox would have tried Vargas in the rotation...

[Alloutwar]

Ah - good catch, sorry, it was a double.

And it suffered from the same bug that NAtty recently pointed out in your dynasty; the walk-off multi-run hit that shouldn't have counted:


In the middle of the ninth, Cleveland leads 4 to 3.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
Miguel Arambola came in to pitch for the Indians. <--->
Myron Gooden came in to play Catcher. <--->
James Bryant came in to play First Base. <--->
Juan Espindola walked. <--1>
Mark Mintz walked. <-21>
Manuel Terraboa laid down a sacrifice bunt to third. <32->
Jeff Horenburg popped up to third. <32->
Aaron Maslen walked. <321>
Corey Gibson pinch hit for Jeremiah Urrutiz. <321>
Corey Gibson doubled down the left field line for three RBIs. <-2->

TWINS WIN: 6-4

The tying run sure, winning run definitely. But that 6th run, bottom of the 9th? that's just insult to injury. Mean, mean Baseball Mogul engine!

Regarding the trade - yah, that's a no brainer for me - but that's because to my scouts, Vargas is about ready to start. For the White Sox (with six starters on the DL), he's an unproven thing; Vialla can take a rotation spot all season and give a 'replacement level' performance. He can eat up innings, and is more proven after parts of 5 seasons and all. I wouldn't do it, but Chicago is in a crazy bad place with starters. Here's their transaction screen - I've never seen injuries hit 6 starters on a team in the first month like this:

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26861

To me, it was questionable, and being in the same division made it worse; but they offered it to me, and I could possibly explain it given their situation. I think they will regret it, but who knows - Vialla may end up shutting us out two or three time this year, in which case I would look stupid.

[Alloutwar]

Some progress into May:

May 5th - we outslug the Royals, winning the series handily. Simon Parsons pitches a good game for his 4th win. Ken Dogman was an offense machine, going 4-for-5.



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 3 0 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 9 17 1
Royals (KCR) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 5 8 0

2B: T. Fredrickson (4), J. Bryant (2)
3B: K. Dogman (2), J. Aves (2)
HR: R. Battista (3), K. Dogman (8), T. Olsen (1)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Parsons 6.0 5 1 0 2 1 5 87 2.95
D. Doty 2.1 3 1 1 3 3 2 31 16.88
R. Ardila 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0.71
TOTALS 9.0 8 2 1 5 4 8 125

WP: S. Parsons (4-1)

Injury:
1B Omar Valdespino has a hip injury that will sideline him for a few days. We send him back to AAA, and bring Dave Wigton back - but he will require another 3 days as well to recover. Ricardo Battista and some others will take some time at first base.

May 6th: Marcello Velde hits an inside-the-park homer, and drives in 4 runs, as we take the first game against the Blue Jays, 5-3.

Injury:
LF Tim Fredrickson will miss 12 days after stretching his ankle running out a grounder. With he and Shawn Ryan both unavailable, Tim Olsen, Marcello Velde, and Samuel Unzueta will man the outfield.

*****

MLBlog of Marcello Velde:

Cleveland! Wow! Who would have thought?

When I was drafted at 17 by the Diamondbacks out of Puerto Rico, everyone had high hopes for me. As the years went by and the slow climb up the minors in the Arizona system took its toll, I have to admit, there were some dark spots. To toil for seven years and have it look like you'll never make it...that's a tough feeling.

Last year, I finally got a shot in Arizona, playing half a season, mainly filling for injuries. Things started to come together. But before long, I was back in AAA to finish out the season, and then more free agent signings by the Diamondbacks looked like my chance had come and gone. When Cleveland took me in the Rule 5 draft, it was so exciting - I would get a shot, see what I can do. They liked my arm, the power stroke, and they wanted to help me develop.

Here I am, starting in right field, and 6 homers in April has people talking, wondering where I came from. What an awesome feeling. Playing for the Indians is exciting - lots of good guys on this club, a lot I can learn here. I hope you fans are coming to the ballpark, and to our charity events this season. There's a lot of good we can do together, on and off the field.

See you at the ballpark!
26944
*****

May 7th: 5th starter Oscar Latorro, in his first start back, taking over for Alex Samno. Let's see what he can do.

He squeezes out of a tough 1st innings, and goes 7, allowing 3 runs, for his best outing. But the Jays hit two solo shots off of the fantastic Rafael Ardilla, and lead 5-3; their closer, Phil Cote, blows 100mph fastballs past us for a save.

Injury:
immediately after the game, starter Oscar Latorro is again diagnosed with an injury, this time a foot fracture. He is out for 12 days. Argh! Can't any of the 36+ aged guys keep healthy for more than 2 starts?? Enrique Barrientos will get his first shot at the 5th starter spot, and Eric Metherall is recalled from AAA as well. Dave Doty goes back to AAA.

May 8th: back to the top, as "ace" with a 6+ ERA Aloysius Ashcraft again attempts to find his groove, in the rubber march of our 3-game toronto series. Ashcroft is brilliant, scattering siz hits in six shutout innings. Eric Metherall pitches impressively in relief, until the 3-run homer with 2 outs in the 9th. Miguel Arambola comes on for the same, as the Indians take the final game 5-3.

Trade Offer:
NY Yankees offer Lf Gil Romaguera and minor league 3B Ric Merrit for RP Dave Doty. I will have to think about that. Doty is demoted to AAA, and lefty Joe Whiteside is promoted.

May 9th: We tangle with the Red Sox for the first time, as Santos Fernandey (3-1) takes on Blake Owens (3-1). Fernandy has another bad outing, giving up 4 runs on 2 homers over 5 innings, as we lose to the Sox 6-3. Indians are 4-4 on the month, 18-14 on the year.

May 10th: second game against the Sox, as lefty Simon Parsons takes on Jorge Callazo (2-1, 3.20 ERA). We start off scoring early, but the Sox swing back, and soon had a 5-2 lead. We score in the 8th and 9th, and lefty RP Joe Whiteside makes a scoreless debut, but we lose 5-4.

May 11th: we send out Steve Rochford (3-0) to avoid the sweep. The Sox send out former young phenom Ron Shirley (3-1). Ken Dogman hits two homers, and Rochford goes 7 IP, 2 ER. Then Alan MacLulich comes in and has a meltdown, giving up 5 runs in 1/3rd of an inning. Sox win 7-2, and complete the sweep, to leave us at 18-16, barely over .500. :mad:

Pitching Stats through May:

Last First Team IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Arambola Miguel CLE 13.1 4.05 14 0 1 2 10 13 5 8.1
Ardila Rafael CLE 15.1 1.76 15 0 2 1 2 11 5 8.8
AshcraftAloysius CLE 37.1 5.54 7 7 2 2 0 28 18 15.43
Devalois Joe CLE 3.1 10.8 3 0 0 1 0 2 2 27
Doty Dave CLE 2.2 16.88 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 23.63
Fernandy Santos CLE 44.2 3.43 7 7 3 2 0 27 10 11.69
Latorro Oscar CLE 15 6.6 3 3 0 1 0 12 9 17.4
MacLulich Alan CLE 17 7.94 15 0 2 2 0 11 5 15.88
Metherall Eric CLE 15 10.8 4 2 0 0 0 8 7 17.4
Parsons Simon CLE 44.2 3.43 7 7 4 2 0 36 11 9.47
Rochford Steve CLE 42.2 2.95 8 5 3 0 0 29 11 10.34
Samno Alex CLE 18 4 4 2 0 0 0 4 3 10.5
Santoy Carlos CLE 19 3.32 15 0 1 1 2 10 5 8.53
Whiteside Joe CLE 1.2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5.4


Hitting stats:

Last First G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Aves Jeremy 21 0.341 82 28 6 2 1 9 13 0 0 12 11 0.5 0.413
Battista Ricardo 27 0.24 96 23 4 1 3 14 23 2 0 14 15 0.396 0.336
Bryant James 10 0.364 11 4 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0.545 0.417
Dogman Ken 34 0.362 138 50 9 2 11 8 23 0 0 25 29 0.696 0.403
Doty Dave 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
English Sandy 10 0.25 16 4 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 4 0 0.25 0.294
Fredrickson Tim 28 0.269 104 28 4 4 6 10 20 3 3 18 32 0.558 0.328
Garey Scott 33 0.317 139 44 6 0 0 11 26 7 1 20 8 0.36 0.364
Gooden Myron 27 0.277 94 26 6 1 0 9 15 0 0 12 4 0.362 0.343
Marischall Mike 29 0.228 92 21 3 0 3 9 21 2 1 10 10 0.359 0.308
Miller Dave 11 0.167 24 4 2 0 0 1 5 0 0 1 3 0.25 0.2
Olsen Tim 29 0.267 86 23 7 1 1 11 10 2 0 14 11 0.407 0.351
Ryan Shawn 13 0.277 47 13 0 0 2 3 13 1 0 5 9 0.404 0.358
Slaugh Keith 6 0.1 10 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0.1 0.1
Unzueta Samuel 20 0.25 40 10 2 0 0 0 7 2 0 3 3 0.3 0.25
Valdespino Omar 10 0.263 38 10 1 0 0 3 15 0 0 2 4 0.289 0.31
Velde Marcello33 0.198 121 24 4 1 7 3 27 2 0 15 21 0.421 0.216
Wigton Dave 23 0.235 85 20 1 0 2 12 14 1 0 13 6 0.318 0.343
Wille Edward 7 0.167 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.167 0.286

[Alloutwar]

In another nod to Filihok and those as thorough as him => AROUND THE LEAGUE:

26945

*****

May 12th: after a 3-game sweep at the hands of the deadly Red Sox, the Yankees come to Cleveland. Their ace James Fritts takes the mound..and for us, its 5th starter called up from AAA, Enrique Barrientos. This does not bode well - Barrientos is really a fill in, although he has been decent in the minors.

26947

Barrientos guts it out for 6+ innings, striking out 8, giving up 4 runs. Our bullpen gives up 2 more, and we lose 6-3. Tim Olsen hits a long homer, going 3 for 5. Wigton, Valdespino, and Velde were all 0-fer on the day. Velde had three strikeouts - his line for the season now a pathetic .192/.209/.408. If not for two starting outfielders being injured, and his being a Rule V guy, I would send him down to the minors...sigh.

After the game, I learn that Aloysius Ashcraft suffered some concussion on his motorcycle and can't start tomorrow. Santos Fernandy also comes up lame, and will be out for 5 days with a sore heel. This means I will need a spot starter...options are:



Joe Devalois - age 34, overall 67, 2-2 with a 3.04 ERA in AAA this year. 10.80 ERA in the bigs.
Eric Metherall - 26, overall 82, 2-2 with a 4.84 ETA in AAA. Also a 10.80 ERA in 4 big league games this season.
Bud Kudlick - 23, 3.24 ERA in 8.1 AAA innings. Best numbers, but small sample, and poor endurance for a starter (52).
Samuel Vargas - 25, 2-3 with a 3.55 ERA, recent acquisition from ChiSox.


Whoever it will be will most likely be sacrificial lamb against the Yanks. But which one...Kudlick has earned it, but low endurance will only tax my bullpen more. Hmmm...

[filihok]

Your batting stats remind me of a classic song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He82NBjJqf8) from way back in the day. Dude is hitting. Maybe it's time to move him for some more pieces.


It's got to be Metherall for the start. My prediction, he pitches well enough to earn his permanent promotion into the rotation.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Dogman, eh?

I'll be the one in the front row, you can't miss me - I'm wearing the dog mask, complete with a cape and tight-fitting spandex suit with a dogbone on the chest.

[Alloutwar]

Re Fili + PoC: Indeed, Dogman's at-bat music is 'Who Let the Dog's Out', at least when playing at home, after he's had a hit. He's not a big fan, but the crowd gets a laugh.

26998

That is an odd name, isn't it? A 'DogMan' super hero outfit would certainly be a hit with some fans, but I'll try to get him to stay here past this year before committing to marketing around him. He's a heck of a hitter, but can't play second all that well, and his eye and speed leave some to be desired. Fantastic 3B, DH or Of'er though...if he stays past this year, we might convert his position.

*****
May 13th, 2018. 10:14am.

Indians manager Freddi Guitierrez made his way down the hall, headed for Tim Dowdy's office. They had a few urgent issues to discuss - namely, spot starters, their outfield situation, and their current spiral down to a .500 records (or lower). Guitierrez wasn't worried about his job, despite the horrendous record (147 - 212) since he came on board in 2016. Freddi was a player's manager, and everyone was very comfortable with him. He had just never had pitching or depth to really pull off anything better than 4th place - but that could change. He liked these younger arms, trying out Rochford in the rotation. He wished Delanty would have listened to him and left Jeremy Aves on the club after Spring Training - but they all knew now. Maybe Mark would listen next time Freddi made a recommendation.

He opened the door, and Delanty and Dowdy were waiting for him. "Gentlemen," Guitierrez said, "que pasa?"

"How's Fernandy?" Dowdy asked first. "Will this be a DL stint, or something minor?"

"It's minor," Freddi said. "Just a sore heel. There's a small chance it could be a bone spur, but it doesn't look like it at this point. He just can't land on his left foot hard, which means pitching is out for today, tomorrow. But he should be good to go in four or five days."

Dowdy's brow furrowed. "Okay, so one start. We could just bypass him with the offday next Monday the 16th. But then there's Ashcraft...what happened there? I'm hearing concussion?"

"Again, minor," Guitierrez explained. "He took a dive riding his bike, tumbled a bit. He wasn't going fast."

"Was he drunk?" Dowdy asked. "We both know he's -"

"He was sober," Guitierrez said. "Just an accident. Anyway, it's all precautionary - bright lights and all. He shouldn't go today, but we can put him out there tomorrow. Doctors confirmed it."

Delanty spoke up for the first time. "Okay, so we have three more games with the Yankees. Parsons said he is ready to go for tonight, if we need him, on three days' rest. Ashcraft could go tomorrow. We'd still need someone for Sunday, and neither Rochford nor Fernandy will be ready. And Barrientos just lost last night. So, whatever way we're looking at it this is a spot start." Delanty looked at the whiteboard with the minor league roster. "I really don't want to start Parsons tonight. He's a trooper, but three day's rest is a stretch, even for him. I say we bring up someone, today, and give the other two an extra day."

Dowdy looked at Guitierrez. "Sounds like we could use a bit of breathing room," he said. "So, who gets the call? Do we give Metherall another chance?"

"I'm not sure," Delanty said. Alex Samno was still injured, and Oscar Latorro hadn't even begun rehabbing. Metherall was probably the best, but he hadn't performed well. He was scheduled to start for AAA today, for their noon game in Georgia. By now he had started preparing - getting him on a cramped flight to Cleveland and then stretched out for a 7pm game was going to be tough. Bud Kudlick was scheduled to start tomorrow, and hadn't pitched since May 9th. He had also been rocking AAA to the tune of a 1.99 ERA. "I kind of like Kudlick for this start," he finally said. "He's certainly been dominant in triple-A. What so you think, Freddi?"

Guitierrez shook his head. "Two concerns," he said. "One, Bud doesn't have the gas to go deep. He's 5, 6 innings tops. You put him out against Yankee batters, and they'll have him worn down in the third. That isn't good for my bullpen." Delanty nodded thoughtfully. "Second, Bud's been working on a third pitch, his curve - but right now he's fastball-splitter, and that's the problem. Two pitches will not fool the Yankees for long."

Delanty smiled. He liked Freddi. He wanted to say that this would just be a sacrifice, really - they weren't going to beat the Yankees tonight. But even so, Freddi was right - better to have someone take 6 innings, then collapse after 3. "Okay, great points. So we eliminate Kudlick - let's consider Samuel Vargas. On a small roll in AA, more endurance that Kudlick, a bit better breaking pitches."

"Better break, maybe, but he needs to refine his control," Freddi said. "He walks too many, and his fastball still needs more life for him to compete at this level. I don't think he'd do us much better than Kudlick."

Delanty didn't like this. Options were narrowing - have Metherall start two games in the same day, or go to Joe Devalois and start praying. "Metherall is on track to throw today in Gwinnett. I know he's a knuckler, but...we can't cancel him at this point. He's going to start that game. So...it's either go with Devalois, or call up someone like Eric Ganey."

Dowdy squinted. "What would you recommend, Freddi?"

Freddi leaned back against the door. "Joe wants to start," he said. He's in the bullpen, and he can't get into a groove out there. He would really benefit from the shot." Delanty and Dowdy exchanged a nervous look. "Bring someone in to back him up," Freddi said. "Metherall, Kudlick, whatever. But let Joe have the start. Give him one chance. He hasn't pitched in 10 days, and he never even threw a pitch last year. He's also got four pitches, and the ability to hit his spots when he needs to."

Joe Devalois hadn't started a major league game since the end of 2016, when he became an injury magnet. It was spring training in 2017 when he landed on his wrist and broke it, ending his season before it began. At this point, his earning even $2.1mil was laughable, something of an albatross around Dowdy's neck.

Freddi looked at his new front office team. "He's 34," he said. "He's come this far. The fans like him. One shot, against a tough team - he wants it."

Delanty saw no reason not to grant Freddi's request. If Devalois imploded, then he could feel better giving him his release in a few weeks. If he succeeded, he would get his confidence back, maybe contribute something for his $2mil salary. "Okay Freddi, we'll do things your way." Dowdy threw him a shocked glance. "Let's get Kudlick up there for the long relief role, in case it doesn't work out. Sound good to you, Tom?"

Dowdy nodded slowly. "Seems fine to me. Scary, but fine. We'll make the call to Gwinnet and get Kudlick up for tonight." He turned back to Freddi. "Now, about this outfield situation..."

*****

May 13th: Indians spot-starter Joe Devalois, with a 28-40 lifetime record, and 4.92 lifetime ERA, takes on the #2 Yankees starter Shawn Borghini, 125-35 lifetime with a dominant 2.89 ERA. Borghini led the AL with 19 wins last year, and was division series MVP.

Devalois DELIVERS! Allowing 1 first-inning run, then looking solid after that - after two KEY double-plays, he holds the Yankees to one run on 6 hits thru 6 innings!! Quality start!! After smashing Borghini around in the 5th, we take a 3-1 lead into the 7th. Devalois continues, working a perfect 7th!! Ken Dogman cracks a 2-run shot, to make it 5-1!!


New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians
May 13, 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Yankees (NYY) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 8 0
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 x 5 11 0

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .318
T. Olsen (LF) 4 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .295
J. Aves (RF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .330
S. English (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .235
K. Dogman (2B) 4 1 0 1 1 2 2 0 .363
R. Battista (DH) 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .230
D. Wigton (3B) 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .239
M. Marischall (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .226
O. Valdespino (1B) 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .244
J. Bryant (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333
M. Gooden (C) 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 .297
M. Velde (CF) 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .195
S. Unzueta (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .244
TOTALS 34 11 2 5 1 5 7 0

2B: D. Wigton 2 (3), O. Valdespino (2), T. Olsen (8)
HR: K. Dogman (12)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. Devalois 7.2 8 2 0 2 2 2 123 4.91
A. MacLulich 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 17 7.50
M. Arambola 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 3.95
TOTALS 9.0 8 2 0 2 2 5 145

WP: J. Devalois (1-1)
LP: S. Borghini (4-3)

[Alloutwar]

FYI - I was pretty intent on using Metherall, but when I looked at his Game Log, he had already pitched that day (the 13th!) and gotten a win in AAA (even though he showed as fully rested). I guess I had forgotten that minor league stats are generated at the beginning of a day. Anyway, having him make an MLB start the same day he made a AAA start already seemed ridiculous, so I sort of explained that away using plot. Looks like we'll have to wait to see Metherall's next chance at the rotation.

Worked out great anyway though! I've noticed that an aged, experience pitcher can do some things his ratings/overall don't show, whereas young guys can underachieve for 1-2 years of playing time. That weighs in when I sign lots of older pitching talent.

*****

Guitierrez was waiting for Devalois in the clubhouse. He was smiling wide. "You did it, man. A win, over the Yankees no less."

Devalois smiled back. "They thought I was done, didn't they?"

"Damn right," Freddi said. "I had to beat them over the head, but they gave you a shot. Now you own it. Good job."

Devalois patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks Freddi. I mean it. I haven't felt this alive in...well, two years."

"No problem," Freddi said. "I'm gonna pencil you in to go again in five days. Rest up. Don't let those reporters tear you apart."

*****

The reporters were at his locker. He couldn't remember the last time there were so many - at least, not for a win.

"Joe, you were terrific out there. Did the chance to start get you back in your groove?"

"Well, it was definitely more what I'm used to. Bullpen life doesn't really suit me - going through my normal motions, having the ball from the start of the game...yeah, it makes a difference."

"Joe - are you going to stay in the rotation?"

"Not my call. I hope that my efforts show what I can do, as a starter, but I just throw the ball. You'll have to talk to the guys upstairs."

"How's it feel to beat Shawn Borghini?" and on it went.

*****

May 14th: Aloysius Ashcraft takes the hill for the first time since his motorcycle accident. Going up against the Yankees, it's almost a foregone conclusion - lefty Todd Padbury pitches a complete game shutout, and we lose 3-0. Indians are 5-8 in May.

May 15th: The Yankees finale of the 4 game series - we won the Devalois gem, but other than that I have little hope. Today Simon Parsons goes up against struggling Joe Gould (1-1). Jeremy Aves and Marcello Velde both hit solo shots, and Parsons only allows one run on 6.2IP to get the win. Indians take it 3-1 to split the series at two games a piece. Indians 6-8 in May.

-----

May 17th: after the off day, we open a three game set against the Blue Jays. We open this one up early, smacking 5 runs off of Jays starter Terrance Ingall.Scott Garey gets 3 hits, and Mike Marischall again does well off a lefty, with 2 hits, a walk, and 2 RBI. Steve Rochford is shakey, giving up 4 runs in 6 IP, but still ekes out the win to go 4-0; Indians win 6-5. Miguel Arambola gets his 12th save.

May 18th: second game against the Jays, and Joe Devalois gets his second start. He gives up 2 runs on 9 hits in 6.1 innings, but Ken Dogman and Samuel Unzueta both knock in 2 runs, and we take the Jays out 6-2. Alan MacLulich works multiple innings for his third straight game, reliably so. Indians are 8-8 on the month.

May 19th: we go for the sweep, sending out Ashcraft and crossing our fingers. He goes 5.2IP, giving up 5 earned for another bad outing. But homers by Marcello Velde and a recently back-from-the-DL Dave Wigton tie it at 6. Our bullpen does the job, and we take the game 8-6 in the ninth, sweeping the Jays. Indians improve to 9-8.

*****

"We have a backlog," Dowdy was saying. "Oscar Latorro is recovered and ready to go, but now Devalois is in the 5th starter spot. Do we take Devalois out, before he implodes? Or try to convince Latorro to go to the bullpen? And then there's Samno, he's on track to be ready again next week."

Delanty thought for a moment. Usually, these situations sorted themselves out. Three older pitchers, all with health concerns and declining stuff. Latorro, Devalois, Samno. If one of them was alive and pitching, he'd be happy. If only one of them was needed, he'd be happier.

"Devalois is taking to his role. Second good start, and second win - he's doing better than Ashcraft. I say keep him where he is, get what we can out of him. Put Latorro on the roster, but let's hold off on assigning roles just yet. Fernandy still hasn't pitched on that heel, Ashcraft has been poor since his concussion. Let's just have Latorro primed and ready."

Dowdy frowned. "We have a lot of pitching, you know. We could move one of them to somewhere that wants them."

"We already moved Vialla," Delanty said. "Barrientos is not a great insurance policy. Let's hang tight, and go over it again next week."

Dowdy grunted.

*****
INTERLEAGUE PLAY BEGINS

May 20th: lefty Simon Parsons (5-2) takes on the weak Astros - but our offense sputters, and Parsons gives up 3 runs for a 3-1 loss. Indians drop to 9-9 on the month, 23-19 on the season.

Injury:
After the game, starter Steve Rochford (4-0, 3.33 ERA) is out with a broken hip. An unbelievable injury for a 29 year old, Rochford's injury takes him out for virtually the rest of the season. Our only starter without a loss, and an emerging force in the rotation, this loss devastates our plans on the season.

27033

Without our #3 starter gone, Oscar Latorro will be moved into the rotation. Dave Doty is recalled from AAA to take a bullpen spot.

And we were just talking about having too much pitching. hah. :(

[Alloutwar]

May 21st: Santos Fernandy had a no-hitter through 3, but a single in the 4th ruined in. Meanwhile we break out, as Ricardo Battista gets a start at 1B, hitting a 3-run shot in the 1st. Ken Dogman gets a day off, and James Bryant fills in admirably at 2nd, going 3-for-4. A solo shot in the 8th was the only blemish as we take it 6-1. Fernandy goes 8 innings, 1 run, 3 hits. dominant.

May 22nd: OF Shawn Ryan returns to the lineup. 1B Omar Valdespino is optioned back to AAA - he was hitting .179 with no homers. Looks like he may not be ready to face major league pitching.

Shawn Ryan homers in his first at-bat back. AND his second. Making up for lost time?!? Catcher Myron Gooden follows suit with a 2-run blast of his own, as we go up 5-1. Oscar Latorro is tagged for 2 more runs, making it 5-3, and then Carlos Santoy comes on for 2+ innings. He is hit for back-to-back solo shots to tie it at 5 and blow Latorro's win. We hang on, and then explode for a 9-5 win.

-----

May 24th: we open a series with the always dangerous Angels. Joe Devalois gets his 3rd start, and can't get out of the 5th, walking and allowing all kinds of hits, and 5 runs. We attempt a valiant effort, but end up with a 6-4 loss. We are second place in the AL central, and the wild card race.

May 25th: Alosyius Ashcraft will again go in the second game, taking on an 0-1 lefty, Chuck Hathway for the Angels. Alex Samno will return from the DL to a bullpen spot, which again demotes Dave Doty back to AAA without seeing any action. Doty is really a sad case at 31, constantly being shipped back to AAA every few days, seeing no playing time.

Shawn Ryan starts the game by homering AGAIN in the first, a 2 run shot! We score a few more, but Ashcraft is absolutely killed in the second, giving up 5 runs. He makes an early exit, tied 5-5, and Samno comes on. He gives us four innings, but allows three solo shots - Angles DH Bob Dietrich hits two homers. Ryan goes 3-4, and we make it a fight, but we lose in the 9th, 9-8.

May 26th: a battle of lefties as Angels phenom Haruhisa Tsuji (4-0) takes on our own Simon Parsons. Parsons is decked right away for 3 runs before he retires anyone, and is wild. Eventually we take him out when its 6-0, and Enrique Barrientos allows 3 more over 3+ innings. In the 7th I rest my regulars, as the Angels sweep us, taking the game 9-3. Our only bright spot was a 3-run blast by Tim Olsen.

*****

"That was a bad sweep," Dowdy said.

"Is there a good kind of sweep?" Delanty asked, smiling. Dowdy glared at him. "Okay, well let's look at our weak spots, see what else we can shore up to put a better product on the field. I'm talking, first base."

Dowdy sighed. "Valdespino isn't ready, he's shown that pretty obviously this year. No homers, poor contact against major league pitching. So we can agree triple-A is best for him this year."

"Yes, that seems so - Thiessen agrees another year to season, possibly two before he could take first base full time. So, that means we can keep on with this Battista/Wigton platoon at first, neither of which are currently doing especially well, or we can look to the market. Do you remember Geoff Elliot?"

Dowdy blinked. "Yah, gold glover, back with you in Pittsburgh. Good power too. He's available?"

"We still talk," Delanty said. "He's 38, not playing anywhere, but he is better at first that anyone we have. Had good average and slugging numbers last year. Might be a good cheap stopgap."

"Who would we DFA?" Dowdy asked. "Velde is a Rule V, so it's Sandy English or Dave Miller. English is a minor-league contract..."

"And he's playing very little. Both of them are. But Miller's more necessary." Dowdy nodded. "I'll put in a call to Elliot, see how he feels about coming out of retirement. I think he can still contribute."

"Speaking of contribute," Dowdy said, "James Bryant is doing very well at the plate. We might want to get him more starts. You wanted to DH Dogman, right?"

Delanty winced. "DH, outfield, third, anything less central. He's something of a liability at second. We'll discuss is more later, but sure, Bryant can play second if Dogman DHs. Now, about pitching depth..."

Dowdy raised an eyebrow. "Latorro and Devalois are in the rotation, Samno and Barrientos are long men, and then we have the young guys...you want more?"

"Gabriel Delahoya isn't signed, and it's May." Delahoya want 13-6 last year for the Angels. "He's a veteran arm, another guy we could try out - remember, none of these guys are particularly healthy."

"He's not going to come to Cleveland," Dowdy said. "At 38? He's probably go for a ring, but that's it. We can try if you want, but I don't think more old pitchers is going to put os over the top."

*****



Indians talking with free agent 1B Geoff Elliot
Former Pirates, Mets star still good with the glove and the bat
Scott Fendis, ESPN.com

Sources from the Indians front office confirm they have begun negotiating with veteran first baseman Geoff Elliot. Elliot previously played for Mark Delanty on the 2014-2015 Pirates teams. He is known as a very capable defensive first baseman, and can occasionally support offensively; he hit ten homers in limited playing time with the Mets last season, slugging .625.

27169


Geoff Elliot wants a contract of one year.
His agent will negotiate up to 3 times.

Gabriel Delahoya wants a contract of one year.
His agent will negotiate ONCE.
27168
-----

May 27th: after being swept by the Angels, and losing 4 of our last 6, it's time to take on the Rangers. First matchup is stopper Santos Fernandy (4-2) against Rangers righty Bruno Aripez (6-1). RF Jeremy Aves makes his return to the majors - meaning Samuel Unzueta returns to AAA - but Aves gets a hit in his first at bat. These guys come roaring back!

We needed Fernandy to go deep, after our last two starter meltdowns, which had depleted our bullpen. He comes through, with 9 strong innings of 1-run, 10-strikeout ball. He is the man right now!

27167

Indians are 26-22 on the season, tied with the emerging Tigers for 2nd place in the AL central, 3rd place in the Wild Card.

[filihok]

[B][U] We are second place in the AL central, and the wild card race.

It's May and you're talking about the wild card race (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-eavMSBnk)?

DeLahoya and Elliot look like a good players. This is where Mogul really needs minor league contracts. IRL these guy would be at least playing for someone's AAA team.

[OldYankFan]

This is where Mogul really needs minor league contracts. IRL these guy would be at least playing for someone's AAA team.

Too True. That always bothers me.


Allout- Loved the "is there a good sweep" line

[T 980]

Too True. That always bothers me.


Allout- Loved the "is there a good sweep" line

We can only hope at this point.


Great Dynasty by the way. I love it so far.

[Alloutwar]

Re Fili: awesome link, I had never seen that. Yah, I will mention the Wild Card when I'm still in the top 3, but that should be going away soon. :( Soon I'll be reminiscing about when any of the races mattered...

Re T980 + OYF: Thanks oodles, glad this is being read. I'm giving it my all!

*****


Geoff Elliot signs with Indians
Scott Fendis, ESPN.com
$750k, pro-rated this season, with club option for $825k next season.

Elliot, with 2 Gold gloves and 3 100-RBI seasons, brings an experienced, stable glove to first base for the Indians. Elliot may not be an everyday starter, but will give the Indians some flexibility, and another solid bat against righties.
-----

May 28th: Second game against the Rangers doesn't go so well. First inning is good, with doubles by Shawn Ryan, Tim Fredrickson, and Jeremy Aves for 3 runs total. But Oscar Latorro gives it right back, 2 in the first and 2 in the 2nd. He throws a few wild pitches later, so he leaves after the 4th, and we lose the game 5-3. Geoff Elliot makes an impact, of sorts - went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts, but had a terrific defensive play that saved a few runs.

May 29th: 5th starter Joe Devalois (2-2, 5.48 ERA) will go for his third win against Rangers righty Denny Maygar (2-2, 4.11 ERA). Maygar has stepped up as a solid 5th starter, as the rangers ace and #2 were hit with injuries. Devalois is hit in the 2nd for 2 runs, but manages to hit 93mph with his heat, striking out the side in the 4th. We strike the rangers and Maygar for 5 runs in the 4th, add another in the 5th, leading 6-2. Devalois gives most of it back, walking in some runs in the 5th, but Geoff Elliot homers in the 6th, and we are up 8-5. Tim Fredrickson goes 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Then, with a 9-6 lead, we hand it off to Miguel Arambola, our closer - who promptly gives up 2 runs.


In the middle of the ninth, Cleveland leads 9 to 6.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
Miguel Arambola came in to pitch for the Indians. <--->
Sean Howitt singled up the middle. <--1>
Sean Howitt took second on defensive indifference. <-2->
Nelson Arambulla singled down the first base line, scoring a run. <--1>
Travis Teague pinch hit for Alfredo Talasman. <--1>
Travis Teague flied out to center field. <--1>
Nelson Arambulla took second on defensive indifference. <-2->
Russ Dewall hit an infield single to third. <3-1>
Zachary Reagan singled over the first baseman, scoring a run. <3-1>
Aaron Fairchild walked. <321>
James Carrell singled up the middle, scoring a run. <321>
Carlos Santoy came in to pitch for the Indians. <321>
Rick Christensen reached first on a fielding error by the third baseman - a run scored. <321>

RANGERS WIN: 10-9

Devalois' third win is blown, and the Rangers take the series. We are 12-14 on the month. Arambola allowed 4 runs in 1/3rd of an inning. At this point, despite Arambola's 13 saves, we are looking at Rafael Ardilla and his 1.04 ERA as our potential closer.

-----

May 31th: After the off-day, we head back home to Cleveland to face the Orioles. Alosyius Ashcraft (2-3) will take on lefty Bret McVeagh (overall 80, 0-1). McVeagh is 23, just called up to make his first start, and was effective, going 6.2 innings with 2 ERs. Baltimore is the current Wild Card leader, at 31-19, and their pitching really is superb. If we are to beat them, we must shut down their offense.

Ashcraft has a great start, at first - no runs through 4 innings, but goes into his normal funk in the 5th, walking the bases loaded, and somehow forgetting how to pitch. He goes 6.1 innings, 3 ER, and we take a tie into the 9th. they score 2 runs off of Alan MacLulich, and the Orioles take the opener 5-3.

Indians are on a 3-game losing streak. Indians go 12-15 in a disappointing May, and are 26-25 on the season. Cleveland is 2 games back, 3rd place in the AL Central, and 4th place in the Wild Card.

*****

May stats:
Batting:

Last First G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Bryant James 21 0.387 31 12 4 0 0 2 5 0 0 6 5 0.516 0.429
Garey Scott 50 0.350 203 71 10 0 0 17 33 12 2 31 13 0.399 0.402
Aves Jeremy 31 0.342 114 39 10 2 2 14 18 1 0 16 17 0.518 0.419
Dogman Ken 50 0.332 202 67 14 2 12 11 31 0 0 30 39 0.599 0.370
Ryan Shawn 21 0.300 80 24 4 0 5 6 16 3 0 13 15 0.538 0.371
Fredrickson Tim 38 0.281 139 39 8 4 6 12 31 3 3 24 37 0.525 0.333
Gooden Myron 40 0.281 135 38 9 1 1 11 18 0 0 16 9 0.385 0.336
Olsen Tim 43 0.275 131 36 8 1 3 14 14 2 0 21 18 0.420 0.345
Valdespino Omar 18 0.250 60 15 3 0 0 4 20 0 0 5 5 0.300 0.309
Wigton Dave 38 0.245 139 34 6 0 3 17 21 1 0 17 9 0.353 0.340
Battista Ricardo 41 0.237 135 32 4 1 4 19 40 2 0 19 23 0.370 0.333
Unzueta Samuel 29 0.233 60 14 2 1 0 1 14 3 0 6 7 0.300 0.246
Elliott Geoff 3 0.231 13 3 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 2 2 0.462 0.231
Velde Marcello50 0.222 171 38 6 1 9 5 37 3 0 25 26 0.427 0.243
Marischall Mike 42 0.217 120 26 4 0 3 12 31 2 1 11 15 0.325 0.296
English Sandy 20 0.172 29 5 1 0 0 2 4 2 0 4 1 0.207 0.219
Wille Edward 7 0.167 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.167 0.286
Miller Dave 14 0.129 31 4 2 0 0 3 5 0 0 3 4 0.194 0.206
Slaugh Keith 6 0.100 10 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0.100 0.100



Pitching:

Last First IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Parsons Simon 61.1 3.82 10 10 5 4 0 46 22 10.71
Fernandy Santos 60.2 2.82 9 9 5 2 0 43 13 10.53
Ashcraft Aloysius58.1 6.02 11 11 2 3 0 43 29 15.27
Rochford Steve 48.2 3.33 9 6 4 0 0 32 13 10.36
MacLulich Alan 32.0 5.63 25 0 2 3 0 23 11 12.66
Santoy Carlos 31.1 4.02 24 0 2 1 2 18 9 9.77
Devalois Joe 26.1 6.15 7 4 2 2 0 22 12 18.11
Ardila Rafael 26.1 1.03 24 0 2 1 2 18 7 8.20
Latorro Oscar 24.2 6.57 5 5 0 2 0 20 17 17.88
Samno Alex 22.0 4.50 5 2 0 1 0 6 4 11.05
Arambola Miguel 18.1 4.91 20 0 2 3 13 14 10 12.27
Metherall Eric 15.0 10.80 4 2 0 0 0 8 7 17.40
Barrientos Enrique 8.2 5.19 2 1 0 1 0 12 4 16.62
Doty Dave 2.2 16.88 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 23.63
Whiteside Joe 1.2 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5.40

*****

Down on the Farm

Eric Metherall appears to be refining his technique in AAA. Will post minor league stats shortly.

[filihok]

I see Elliott already has a HR. Good Get GM.

I can also see that you haven't switched over to Miz' BSP. I highly recommend it. It has LOTS of fun stuff

[JamesMogul]

aw dang. someone should make a "Major League" mogul dynasty with guys from the movie

[Alloutwar]

Fili: Yah, I will d/l and begin using Miz's app soon. I guess it works off of all the box scores in the output folder, right? I don't know that I create one for every game. But all the tools and analysis look good in your Nats one - I should be incorporating it by the 4th or 5th page of this thread. I just have to test with BM07, after all. :)

jpz: sorry man, that would be a cool idea - I just named it that because the Indians are so poor, in the cellar, and it's a bunch of no-names in an alternate universe. I could've gone with Wild Thing and co, but they only really name like 6 players (catcher, 3B, CF, LF, old guy starter, and Vaughan), so it would be hard to keep things going. I'd have to incorporate the sequels just to make the roster work, and who wants that?

*****
Minor League Stats through May:

Pitching:

Last First Level IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Barrientos Enrique AAA 48.2 3.70 7 7 2 2 0 30 17 12.39
Brimble Brian AAA 45.0 2.60 14 2 3 2 0 23 14 10.60
Devalois Joe AAA 26.2 3.04 4 4 2 2 0 14 6 11.48
Doty Dave AAA 29.1 3.68 8 2 2 2 0 19 7 12.27
Kelling Caleb AAA 58.0 4.97 9 9 3 3 0 35 12 11.95
Kudlick Bud AAA 40.2 2.21 9 6 2 0 0 25 16 11.29
Margarin Luis AAA 42.1 4.68 25 0 0 0 11 33 19 12.12
Metherall Eric AAA 39.2 3.18 7 5 4 2 0 31 16 10.44
Samno Alex AAA 34.0 3.97 5 5 2 1 0 9 5 10.59
Simonetta Jeremy AAA 38.0 5.21 19 2 0 0 3 27 14 13.26
Tarin Manuel AAA 44.2 4.23 21 3 2 3 2 33 19 13.10
Whiteside Joe AAA 47.0 3.06 31 0 1 0 9 31 30 11.49
Aaronson Curt AA 32.1 2.51 19 0 0 1 7 28 14 10.58
Delworth Dominic AA 35.2 3.28 24 0 0 0 9 23 20 13.88
Ganey Eric AA 43.0 4.81 7 7 2 4 0 24 14 13.40
*Ganey Eric A 8.2 0.00 1 1 1 0 0 5 0 4.15
*Ganey Eric R 13.0 2.77 2 2 1 1 0 6 3 10.38
Kelling Caleb AA 14.2 2.45 2 2 0 0 0 7 3 7.98
Sanchez Luis AA 54.0 6.83 12 7 1 3 0 24 23 15.17
Trudeau Keith AA 39.1 5.03 11 8 1 3 0 17 13 15.33
Vargas Samuel AA 63.1 3.27 12 10 3 3 0 31 29 12.65
Aaronson Curt A 12.0 3.75 7 0 0 0 3 4 3 9.75
Barba Alfredo A 52.2 2.91 10 7 2 2 0 22 13 9.74
Burgos Chico A 30.0 5.10 6 3 2 1 0 14 19 15.60
*Burgos Chico R 5.2 3.18 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 11.12
Lubaczewski Ralph A 37.0 2.43 27 0 0 0 10 15 14 12.89
Coury Mark R 11.2 3.86 7 1 1 0 0 7 7 15.43
Davis Adam R 34.1 3.41 7 4 4 1 0 19 13 11.01
MacGlashan Sam R 43.1 4.57 7 7 2 3 0 17 11 13.71
Miller Jim R 18.1 1.96 7 0 3 0 1 7 10 10.31


Joe Whiteside, Bud Kudlick and Eric Metherall are all on the major-league radar.
Alfredo Barba promoted from A to AA-ball.
Jim Miller promoted from R to A-ball.


Selected hitting:

Last First Level Pos G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Nagy Chad AAA LF 54 0.350 183 64 14 0 13 55 39 2 0 48 56 0.639 0.496
Valdespino Omar AAA 1B 34 0.346 130 45 10 1 15 16 31 0 0 35 34 0.785 0.412
Wille Edward AAA 2B 40 0.315 146 46 10 1 4 18 35 9 1 29 30 0.479 0.394
Adams Chad AA 1B 49 0.302 189 57 17 1 7 26 49 0 0 35 41 0.513 0.391
Horvath James AA 3B 15 0.345 58 20 3 0 3 3 13 0 0 13 15 0.552 0.371
Southwell Tommy AA LF 51 0.312 186 58 17 3 4 29 52 1 2 31 34 0.500 0.404
Weinberg Todd AA CF 52 0.303 195 59 13 0 0 13 12 12 5 30 30 0.369 0.362
White Damian AA C 49 0.290 169 49 13 0 0 21 44 2 0 28 25 0.367 0.375
Wightman Chris AA 2B 42 0.321 162 52 13 1 0 11 25 10 3 31 26 0.414 0.371
Stanton Corey A 1B 46 0.301 163 49 9 0 6 21 42 1 2 28 34 0.466 0.372
Vanzetti Marc A SS 47 0.241 174 42 13 0 2 10 19 3 2 22 21 0.351 0.286
Wright Todd A 2B 50 0.272 180 49 10 1 2 11 32 0 1 28 25 0.372 0.330
Vanegas Marquitz R CF 24 0.310 84 26 2 3 1 10 23 6 1 14 12 0.440 0.388
Villalobes Elvis R 2B 11 0.447 38 17 3 0 2 6 14 1 0 12 11 0.684 0.523


At just 21, Chad Nagy is making an impressive case; we won't be able to keep him in AAA for long. Valdespino had a month in the bigs and couldn't translate his AAA number to success; Edward Wille is also on the radar, should I need middle infield help.

Elvis Villalobes was stuck in Rookie ball just rehabbing, but he has been bounced from A to AA since. But with Chris Wightman and Todd Wright, I have a significant backlog of second basemen and may look to make a trade. Center Field, Left Field and 1B/3B seem to have significant depth.

[filihok]

Is Chad Charles' Kid?

http://www.franksfieldofdreams.com/autographs/nagycharles.jpg

The years almost work out

If you can post your .mog I'd like to take a look at a few things, especially talent distribution in your league

[Alloutwar]

Re Fili: Chad was born in 1996, so it could work. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the real-life players - 100% fictional, alternate universe. But it is funny that so many major-league last names get reused. I've taken to renaming players in the draftee class myself, especially when I see tons of Nomars and Gianlucas. No JDs or JPs or JTs though, that's the next thing I'm renaming.

Per your request: 27193. If anyone wants to look, comment, suggest a move, or point out a change I should make to an AI team (or trade I should force), please do!

*****

June 1st: Simon Parsons (5-4) goes up against the young Orioles phenom Gordon Lorton. Parsons is strong, going 3 innings before allowing a hit - then walks the bases loaded in the 5th with no outs. He escapes only allowing one run. Meanwhile our offense explodes, as James Bryant gets an inside the park homer. Jeremy Aves has a good day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a homer and a walk. Parsons goes 7 IP, 8 Ks, ER. Mike Marischall continues his tear, hitting a two-run shot to bring us up 14-1 in the 7th - time to start bringing in the backups. Alex Samno gets a chance to pitch, allowing 2 runs in 2 innings of work, as we take it 14-3.

June 2nd: stopper Santos Fernandy takes on Erick McMillan, a lefty with a 2-4 record with the Orioles. We seem to have the edge in this rubber match. James Bryant continues his amazingly hot streak, getting an RBI in the first inning. He's batting about .480 in the last 10 games. Fernandy gives up a run in the 3rd to tie it 1-1. Shawn Ryan hits a monster blast to take the lead back, 4-1 in the bottom of the 3rd. We leave Fernandy in too long tho, as he gives up a solo homer in the 7th, and then a two-run shot in the 8th. Tied at 4-4, we got to Rafael Ardilla, who walks two and allows a hit to load the bases - but somehow escapes with the 4-4 tie intact. The Orioles reliever Matt Vafiadis keeps us scoreless through 4 - man he has good stuff! Alan MacLulich gives up 2 runs in the 9th, and we lose 6-4.


2B: M. Marischall (5), M. Gooden (11), J. Bryant (5)
HR: S. Ryan (6)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 7.1 9 2 2 4 4 6 120 3.04
R. Ardila 0.2 1 2 0 0 0 1 25 1.00
A. MacLulich 1.0 3 0 0 2 2 0 13 6.00
TOTALS 9.0 13 4 2 6 6 7 158

WP: M. Vafiadis (4-2)
LP: A. MacLulich (2-4)
SV: P. McClenaghan (19)

*****

June 3rd: The Angels are in town, and we hope to take some revenge for the last sweep. Unfortunately, our rotation lines up as Latorro-Devalois-Ashcraft. Samno hasn't looked like he could do better than any of them, so far, either. In game one, our 0-2 lefty Oscar Latorro will take on righty Todd Palmer, of the 6-1 record. It starts off about as expected - the Angels bat around, scoring 6 runs, and Latorro is out of the game, only recording one out.

Enrique Barrientos does well in relief, 8 Ks over 7+ innings. Surprisingly we come back against Palmer, tagging him for 7 runs in the 4th to take the lead. Arambola comes in in the 9th for the save, and we take the opener 8-6. Barrientos gets the win, and lowers his ERA to 2.76. We have to consider him for a rotation spot given his last few performances.


CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 5 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .367
K. Dogman (2B) 5 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 .329
S. Ryan (CF) 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 .304
D. Wigton (3B) 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .245
M. Marischall (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237
T. Fredrickson (DH) 5 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .297
J. Aves (RF) 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .344
M. Velde (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .217
T. Olsen (LF) 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 .274
M. Gooden (C) 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 .290
R. Battista (1B) 4 2 0 2 0 2 1 0 .243
TOTALS 38 16 4 8 1 8 3 0

2B: R. Battista (5), S. Garey (11), T. Fredrickson (9)
3B: R. Battista (2)
HR: K. Dogman (13)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
O. Latorro 0.1 6 1 0 6 5 0 33 8.28
E. Barrientos 7.2 3 1 0 0 0 8 104 2.76
M. Arambola 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 17 4.66
TOTALS 9.0 9 2 0 6 5 9 154

WP: E. Barrientos (1-1)
LP: T. Palmer (6-2)
SV: M. Arambola (14)

[filihok]

BM 2007 you say? I might have to blow the dust off of mine.

I started doing a little snooping around in your league, made some of my standard charts and was knocked the **** off of my chair.

The graph on the bottom is absolutely amazing. If you've been reading this thread (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?p=1385547), you'll know what I mean.

I started to do all kinds of fun stuff, but then remembered that it was your game ;) So, I just posted the average ratings for Major League players at each position. (12 seasons in and the average is still in the 70's. Amazing!)

I'll try and look over KC and Milwaukee and see if I can help them out, because they are really bad.

You haven't done any Rule V Drafts to this point have you?

PS the BSP works just fine on your 2007. Scott Garey has a 25 game hitting streak-jinx

[Alloutwar]

Holy wow! Thanks oodles, Fili! Miz's BSP is definitely on my radar now.

So you are saying that the fictional league I am running has stayed relatively stable, with core players averaging high 70's (exactly what I would think is correct/good), in BM07? Whereas fictional leagues run into the future in other games spiral out of control, using BM08-09-10? I knew whenever I tried 08 and 09 that things looked to get wonky fast.

I have run several Rule V drafts already, yes. I began the game managing Arizona from 06-2013, then moved to the Pirates in 2014-current, and also grabbed hold of the Indians (and started this masterpiece) at the end of the 2017 season. Rule V drafts and force-trades were put in to effect a balance, from 2014 on, but they were mostly halfhearted. This offseason (winter 2017) I really took to micro-managing, vetoing trades, undoing signings, and force-signing, Rule V'ing, and force-trading where it made sense. I was pretty proud of the results. :)

I also lowered the rookies.ini settings, because from 2006-2010 the pitchers coming into the league were ridiculously good by default. Somewhere in the 2010's I lowered position players, too, because a lot of guys seemed to have 90's peaks, more than should have.

Together, all this has created a decent league, where I can manage the Pirates or (maybe even) Indians to a decent .500 record, even after finishing last. I have fallen in love with my fictional universe...it's the only one I ever want to play!

If you want to make changes and post the mog, I'll use that one going forward - as long as the changes don't break BM07.

Garey with a 25-game hit streak - i knew $4mil was too cheap for his talent. Ah well.

[filihok]

Do you trust me to make changes?

I do have 2007, so I can open it up in that so there's no chance for any cross contamination.

Or I can just suggest changes, or I can just but completely out.

[Alloutwar]

I have no problem with you making changes, sure. I can stave off any gameplay until you upload a new folder. I put a decent amount of work into rebalancing power, both in revenue sharing and Rule V / forced trades, but if you feel you can affect some positive change, I'm all for it. I've seen your work, and I have been impressed.

You can leave my Indians squad as-is though. Pirates could definitely stand to lose a few players, specifically the age 25+ guys in AAA that could blossom with another team. NYY, Arizona, and the Pirates are typically the most stocked teams.

Just give me a summary or some ideas as to what you did/plan to do. I typically don't modify individual players, and if I make trades I try to have them make sense for all sides. But I'm not above 'gifting' a player for the sake of fairness.

[Alloutwar]

Albert Thiessen was sweating again. He was sitting in Dowdy's office, facing his GM. Delanty was laying on a desk nearby, throwing a ball at the ceiling. Manager Freddi Guittierrez leaned against the wall nearby.

"Albert," Dowdy began. "We're facing a lot of pressure on this Latorro signing. Evans isn't happy, and the critics are tearing us apart. This guy was an all-star pitcher last year. We signed him thinking he was capable of at least competing...what's the verdict today?"

Thiessen took a deep breath. "He's fallen off. Way off. In the last month everything has deteriorated - control, breaking stuff, everything. At this point, AAA hitters would tear him up."

Dowdy was disgusted. "Is this his knee again, something that could work out with time?"

"No," Thiessen said, shaking his head. "He's done."

Dowdy swore under his breath. He looked at Guittierrez. "Want him in your bullpen?"

Freddi shrugged. "He's a great guy to have around. He'd love to contribute something - he knows the score. We can give him a shot, but..."

"One, two outings tops," Delanty interrupted. "Then we'll have to cut him loose. Make room for someone younger." Dowdy and Thiessen looked at him. "Unless we get hit by another injury to a starter, we have no earthly reason to keep him around. Heck, even if we did, we have better options in double-A." He stopped throwing the ball and turned to Thiessen. "Time to take our lumps, cut our losses." There was something hard in his eyes. Thiessen fought hard to avoid swallowing, but couldn't help himself.

"Take him out of the rotation, now" Dowdy said. "Barrientos, Samno - make it work, Freddi. Boot Latorro to the bullpen until we figure out what to do."

"Aye, captain," Guittierez said, turning towards the door.

*****

June 4th: righty Joe Devalois again takes the hill, this time against young Angels righty Sam Robinson. Robinson has control, but is not impressive otherwise. He just had his first MLB start, an 8-inning 1-run gem for a win. We start off by putting two on, and Tim Fredrickson drives in two in the first, and steals as well. We keep the pressure on, scoring in the 2nd and 3rd as well, giving Devalois a 5-0 cushion. He gives back 2 in the 4th, but otherwise is stellar for a win.


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. Devalois 7.1 8 2 0 2 2 1 120 5.35
A. MacLulich 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 20 5.71
TOTALS 9.0 8 2 0 2 2 3 140

James Bryant got a start at first, and scored two runs, continuing his hot streak. He smacked two hits to bring his average to .439 on the season.

June 5th: Angels lefty ace Haruhisa Tsuji (5-0) comes to Cleveland, facing Aloysius Ashcraft (2-3). This one is a toughy - I'd love to sweep, but more than likely we don't have a shot at cracking Tsuji. I stack the lineup with regulars and hot bats, though, since the 6th is an off-day. Ashcraft explodes as expected, giving up 4 runs in the 2nd. We fight back for 3, with a Ken Dogman homer. Then we score 3 more - 2 on another Mike Marischall homer, to go up 6-4. Alan MacLulich is hit hard, giving up a 3-run shot, so we are down again, 7-6, and Ashcraft's win is blown. Geoff Elliot makes it a tie game with a long solo shot, and we're 7-7 in the 7th. That lasts until the 11th, when we run out of pitchers and put in Oscar Latorro. He gives up 3 runs, and we're down 10-7 - we attempt a valiant comeback, but lose 10-9.

Indians are 29-26 on the season, and 3-2 in June.

*****


Latorro All Out of Gas
Art Crenshaw, Cleveland Sun News

During the offseason, Cleveland management saw fit to sign an aging star pitcher. Oscar Latorro was a 200-game winner, age 36, coming off a disappointing 8-4 season. Tom Dowdy, along with new consultant Mark Delanty, watched Latorro throw, and despite other teams passing on what looked like a dead arm, they made an offer and brought him on board - AND promised him a starting spot.

Since Latorro was given that starting spot, he's been less than stellar. As a matter of fact, let me throw some numbers at you to show just how bad he is.

20 - the number of strikeouts he had pitched in his 6 starts, 25 innings. Enrique Barrientos has that same number in just 3 appearances - just 1 start.

20, again - the number of walks so far. Latorro had barely twice that in 170 innings last year.

.347 - opponents batting average against Latorro. That's facing some mediocre talent, too, and they're hitting like all-stars.

9.00 - Latorro's ERA, almost 3 runs higher than anyone else on the staff.

1 - the number of quality starts out of Latorro so far this year.

Latorro looks like he has nothing left. His fastball is topping out at 89mph, and his breaking pitches aren't fooling anyone. It's about time that the Indians realize that this experiment was a failure, and put Latorro out to pasture. The Yankees knew it at the end of last season, and other teams like the Nationals figured it out after seeing him pitch. Yet again, our front office is behind the times; come on boys, time to play catchup.

[CatKnight]

I may have to find my old setup for BM 07.

In my own story I'm starting to have real doubts about how BM10 is building fictional players. They seem to think they're playing deadball, and there are far, far too many pitchers in the draft.

[filihok]

http://www.eteamz.com/NW45Baseball/images/AABU013~Houston-Astros-Team-Logo-Photofile-Posters.jpg

The Houston Astros might have solved their third base woes today. I can't remember the last time Houston had a decent third baseman. But, remember, my memory about this type of thing isn't that good.

I do know that that isn't this year. I also know that it wasn't last year. Those two years they tried Ross Finch at the hot corner. Finch was a good player 4 YEARS AGO!!! Luckily, for the Astros-not necessarily for him, he got broke his elbow eight games into the season. Unluckily, they had to replace him with Brian Zoger. Brian Zoger? He doesn't even sound like he'd be a good baseball player. When was the last time he was good? His freshman high school baseball team?

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr321/NatsDynasty/AOW/2018/ZogerFinch.png

Well, things are looking up for the Astros. They recently promoted Brian Woolgrove to the big league club. Woolgrove was a third round pick back in 2013 out of Danville HS in Danville Illinois.

Houston, as they are wont to do, F'd this all up at first. They tried to make him a second baseman. Barbara Streisand's lazy eye has more range than Woolgrove at second. Needless to say, it didn't work out. But he has good reflexes and, much more importantly, can swing the bat a little bit. Now he's a third baseman.

More than that, he's a starting third baseman for a major league baseball team. That team is the Houston Astros, but it's a start.

He's not going to win any Gold Gloves at third, but at 22 and learning the position, he's much better player than Zoger and Finch at this point.


http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr321/NatsDynasty/AOW/2018/WoolGrove2B.png

[filihok]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a324/stalsy2310/Heroes/milwaukee-brewers-logo.jpg


Is there something in the water?

The other day I wrote about an unexpectedly smart decision (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showpost.php?p=1386982&postcount=54) by the Houston Astros when they moved Brian Woolgrove to 3B.

Now, today, another equally thoughtful move by the Milwaukee Brewers. In an effort to get their best players on to the field the Brew Crew have announced that they intend to start using 2B Kent Dalrymple in center field.

Dalrymple has been the Brewers' starting second baseman the last three years, and last played the outfield full time in high school but, by all accounts, Dalrymple is an exceptional athlete whose speed and athleticism make him a perfect fit for centerfield.

His teammates say that one of their favorite games is trying to get balls past Dalrymple while he's shagging balls during batting practice.

"The coaches hate it, but the guy goes full bore out there. He only knows one way to play any game...that's to win" said Brewer first baseman Ken Trueman

"He's like a Labrador Retriever," says right fielder Pete Dilley. "You hit a ball, he chases it down and stands their panting waiting for the next one"

The move makes way for prospect Sandy Tuchman to take over at 2B.

Tuchman is a Dalrymple clone. He plays a passable second base, hits for a good average with little power, and flies around the bases.

The Astros are a long way from competing against a loaded Pirates team, but smart moves like this will hasten their arrival at that day

[FloydtheBarber]

WHOA What is with Dalrymple's Base stealing!?!?! :eek:!!!

[Alloutwar]

*****
INTERLEAGUE PLAY
*****

June 7th, 2018: After the off-day, the Indians squad travels to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers in Interleague play. We start things off with a rested Santos Fernandy (5-2, 2.96 ERA), taking on Dodgers lefty Vinne Riley (2-2, 4.89 ERA). It goes as a pitchers duel for a few innings, with Fernandy cracking first by allowing a run in the 4th. In the 6th, however, we come back against Riley big time - SEVEN RUNS, including a Ken Dogman blast, a Shawn Ryan 2-run shot, and Mike Marischall again hitting 2 RBIs against a lefty. Fernandy has 1st and 3rd with no outs in the 6th, but a strikeout and key DP gets him out. In the 7th we leave him in too long, as he walks in a run and then gives up a GRAND SLAM. The 7-1 lead disappears, and it is 7-6. Santoy works the 8th, and Arambola a perfect 9th for the save.

Win: Santos Fernandy improves to 6-2
Save: Arambola gets his 15th
Notes: Even with no DH, we can still crank out the offense.
James Bryant played first and contributed two hits, again with the hot bat.
Mike Marischall was made to platoon against lefties - although I actually used him in the outfield this game.

Injury:
After the game, Carlos Santoy expresses some discomfort in his ankle, leading the doctors to diagnose an ankle ligament strain. Out of necessity, we put him on the DL for 15 days. Lefty Joe Whiteside will return to the major league roster - he has a 3.02 ERA in 50+ innings of AAA ball.

June 8th: lefty Simon Parsons (6-4, 3.56 ERA) takes on Trevor Butler (1-1, 5.74 ERA) in our second game against the Dodgers. I put James Bryant in the lineup again, this time at third. Parsons begins horribly, with a walk, hit batsman, and single, in that order, allowing 2 runs. Bryant leads off the 3rd with a triple, scoring, reaffirming my trust. Parsons got a hit in his first at-bat of the year, and Shawn Ryan drives in two, as we take the lead 4-2. Parsons allows two more runs and we are down 5-4, but we tie it up on a Scott Garey single, and then go ahead 8-5 on a Fredrickson 3-run shot. Alex Samno comes in in the 4th, with us up 9-5.

Samno lets it get close, 9-8, before Ardilla clears up his mess. We go to Arambola in the 8th, up 9-8, and he allows two solo home runs to let the Dodgers up 10-9, a lead they hold on to. Ridiculous. Arambola has blown 4 saves, and is 15/19 in save situations, around a 79% mark.

June 9th: Enrique Barrientos gets his second start, his first since earning a win in relief of Oscar Latorro. He will face righty Geoff Percival of the Dodgers (3-3, 3.65 ERA) as we try to take the rubber match of the series. We bat around in the first inning, scoring 6 runs and knocking Percival out of the game with 2 outs. Barrientos just has to allow less than 6 runs for an easy win; he does one better, going 8 innings with 2 ER, as we win 8-2 and take the series 2-1.


*****

"Two out of three from the Dodgers - almost a sweep!" GM Tom Dowdy exclaimed. "Barrientos, hah! Looks like he is finally putting it alll together."

"I honestly didn't think he'd perform this well," Albert Thiessen said. "Before this year, it looked like he was triple-A at best, maybe a depth option. But here he is, winning games for us." Thiessen grinned. "Yet another good move by us, coming to fruition this year."

Dowdy grunted. "Ain't that the truth. And you know the media will give the credit to Delanty, since he came onboard right as this all came together. But his moves - Latorro, Samno, even converting Rochford to a starter - all seem to be iffy. Let's make sure ownership knows Delanty didn't do anything substantial."

"Well, he did bring on Scott Garey," Thiessen admitted. "And he picked Velde in the Rule V...I guess that's mixed so far. Maybe a few more..."

The door opened, and Mark Delanty entered the room, pocket PC in hand. "Gentlemen," he said, smiling. "You're early!" Thiessen forced a half-smile. Dowdy turned towards his dual screen. "Glad to see it though. We have a few issues to discuss. We have some guys that are tearing the cover off the ball. and we need to keep them in the lineup. I'm talking James Bryant, Jeremy Aves. These guys are winning games for us." Delanty lit up the projector, and connected wirelessly to his pocket PC.

"Then, we have another group of guys," he continued. "Our AAA guys that need to come up. Chad Nagy. Edward Wille. Even Valdespino. These guys are tearing it up down on the farm, and we can't hold them back much longer. Now - a roster of 25 guys, plus 2 or 3 more we need to throw in - that is a problem! But, we have a few potential solutions!"

Three names shot onto the wall:

Tim Fredrickson
Ken Dogman
Ricardo Battista

Dowdy sighed audibly. Thiessen pursed his lip.

"These guys are making money. They are getting older. And at this point, their playing is suspect. Fredrickson is out worst outfielder, at $6.5mil. Dogman, our worst defensive infielder, at $9 mil. And Battista, our worst catcher, at $2.5mil. Battista and Fredrickson are platooning down there for playing time. Dogman is tearing everything up, and Fredrickson is putting up good stats too. Bottom line - they are at a good value point to sell. Free up extra money, AND make room for the guys comnig up. Win-win." Delanty waited for a response.

Dowdy sighed heavily. "Mark, look - we've been over this. This isn't a small market team. We don't have to shed these guys. Fredrickson is contributing all kinds of runs - leading in RBIs. Dogman is our cleanup hitter, main power threat. Battista - well, he's slumping, but you gotta admit he gets on base. We don't need to dump them simply because they are making decent money."

"But they're in the way," Delanty explained. "Fredrickson is gone after this year -"

"He could re-sign," Thiessen offered. "He likes playing here just fine -"

"Doesn't matter," Delanty said. "We don't need him. Outfield of Olsen, Ryan, Velde. DH of Aves. Then you put Nagy in the mix, or Unzueta for defense - there's literally no place for Fredrickson. And no reason to pay $7mil of Indians money on him."

"We're contending!" Dowdy countered. "How could we shop out a bat like Fredrickson when we've got a winning record? You're not making sense!"

Delanty closed his eyes and tried to remain calm. "He's got trade value right now, but at 35, with poor defense, we would only be able to DH him. And with Aves and Nagy - not to mention Battista - we have no room for a DH. He makes $6.5mil and wants more next year. Older guy, high contract, declining capabilities, plus up-and-coming talent that needs to hit our roster...even if you have no financial concerns, why would we hold on to him?"

"Experience!" Dowdy exclaimed. "Team chemistry! A known commodity, putting up good numbers. If we dealt him and ran with Nagy, who knows what we get? At 21, is he ready to take over that 5th spot in the lineup? Omar Valdespino just showed us, success in triple-A does NOT equate to the bigs! If we get an injury, and we fall out of contention, how will that look?"

Delanty furrowed his brow. It would look like we made the best move. It would look like we shed payroll and improved our defense. It would look pretty damn smart, which would be relatively new to this front office. If these guys were so hung up on Fredrickson, how was he going to convince them to shed Dogman's payroll? Ditch a league-leading hitter and save $9mil - not likely.

"Listen," Thiessen said, "why don't we explore extension talks with Fredrickson and get a determination one way or the other? Then we'll know what we'd be looking at, and if we can keep him around next year."

Delanty stared at him. "Fredrickson will want a raise. Especially if he's leading our team in RBIs. He'll claim he brings experience and fan popularity and a veteran presence, and all these other bull**** intangibles. He'll want 8 or 9 mil for taking up a roster spot when someone could be doing it better."

Dowdy wasn't budging. "Maybe you should stick to the pitching side of things, Mark," he offered. "Divvy things up like we talked about back in November. Our offense is doing well - we've taken some of your advice, with Shawn Ryan moving to center, and Battista not catching anymore - and signing Elliot and Garey. Maybe it's time you took our advice, too."

Took my advice, Delanty thought. More like I made the deals while you stared blankly. This arrangement wasn't working out - but why push? Why was he driven to reduce payroll? Maybe it wasn't necessary. Or maybe he could start with a smaller fish, like Battista. Still, the thought of holding on to Fredrickson and letting him walk, getting nothing, just ate at his mind. This was so much easier when I was in control. Alone at the top. "Let's see what Fredrickson wants for an...extension," Delanty managed. Extension made him shudder. "Then we can have a firm grasp on what we want in our outfield and DH spots next year." He disconnected his handheld and walked to the door.

"What a cheap ****," Dowdy said after the door had closed. "You'd think he was writing the checks."

*****

[filihok]

RE FTB:He got nailed a bunch of times.


I just wanted to give a quick update to a couple of players that I mentioned earlier in the week.

First Sandy Tuchman of the Milwaukee Brewers (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showpost.php?p=1387420&postcount=55). Sandy replaces Kent Dalrymple, who moved to CF, at second base. Tuchman has reached base in each game he has started since becoming the starter

And Brian Woolgrove of the Houston Astros (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showpost.php?p=1386982&postcount=54). Brian charged out of the gate with 2 home runs and 7 RBI in his first 8 major league games.

I thought both of these moves would pay off for their teams and, so far, they have.

[Alloutwar]

Gabriel Delahoya chose to retire, instead of joining a team seeking his services.

On the Indians front, Miguel Arambola is temporarily moved from the closer's job. Arambola signed a 4-year deal, at $3.1mil per year, to stay in the Cleveland bullpen; but with 4 blown saves and an ERA near 5 - and with Rafael Ardilla with a sparkling 1.14 ERA - it's in the club's best interest to give Ardilla the pressure spots. Arambola goes on record saying he is just happy to be with the team and contribute, and looks forward to some better outings in the near future.

27379

*****

June 10th: Indians travel to San Diego as Joe Devalois (3-2) takes on Rob Cryer (4-1, 2.93 ERA). This is a battle of 5th starters, but Cryer has been impressive, leading the Padres in wins, 2nd in ERA. To win, we'll have to shut down their offense. Devalois immediately allows a leadoff double, scoring a run for the Padres. Devalois implodes completely in the 3rd, walking in two runs, loading the bases, and allowing 6 runs before we take him out. Latorro comes in to take his place, as we are down 7-0 in the 4th. By the end of the 4th its 10-1 and this is a laugher.

It gets even worse, as Joe Whiteside allows 3 runs, and Miguel Arambola allows 4!! Padres are ahead 17-4. Alex Samno comes on, on short rest, allowing 4 more runs: 21-4. We score 7 runs in the 7th, and make it a close match (ha ha), 21-11. We got demolished. I'm thinking Battista behind the plate was to blame.


HR: R. Battista (5), T. Fredrickson (8)

June 11th: Aloysius Ashcraft (2-3) takes on ace Trevor Parrish (3-0). Ashcraft is his normal self, holding the Padres scoreless with 6 Ks through 3, and then promptly giving up 4 runs. We lose 5-2, as Trevor Parrish holds our bats quiet.

June 12th: we cross our fingers and send stopper Santos Fernandy (6-2, 3.50 ERA) out against Sam Burdett (1-6). This game we have to win. And we start in good order, putting 3 on with an error - and after a sac fly by Aves, Dave Wigton hits a three-run shot. Indians have a 4-0 lead before Santos even throws a pitch. Soon Santos allows a 2-run shot, and it's tighter at 5-3.

Miguel Arambola pitches 2 innings, a perfect 7th and 8th. He is much more comfortable in these low-pressure situations - no wildness or walks. Rafael Ardilla nails down the save, his first since moving to the closer role.

Indians are 32-30 on the season, 6-5 in June. 3rd place, 3 games back in AL Central.

*****
BOX SCORE PARSER
*****
I managed to finally create all my box scores and take advantage of this tool: Thanks Mizerak!!



Team Streaks:
Winning Streak: 9 (April 10, 2018 - April 19, 2018)
Losing Streak: 4 (May 9, 2018 - May 12, 2018)

Team Highs - Offense:
Runs: 14 - June 1, 2018 (BAL 3 at CLE 14)
Hits: 19 - June 1, 2018 (BAL 3 at CLE 14)
Walks: 9 - April 24, 2018 (KCR 3 at CLE 7)
Strikeouts: 14 - April 29, 2018 (CLE 6 at MIN 3)
Homers: 5 - April 21, 2018 (CLE 12 at DET 13)
Steals: 3 - June 4, 2018 (CAL 2 at CLE 6)
Runs/Inning: 7 - 4th, June 3, 2018 (CAL 6 at CLE 8)

Team Highs - Defense:
Errors: 3 - April 26, 2018 (DET 5 at CLE 3)
Runs: 21 - June 10, 2018 (CLE 11 at SDP 21)
Hits: 24 - June 10, 2018 (CLE 11 at SDP 21)
Earned Runs: 20 - June 10, 2018 (CLE 11 at SDP 21)
Walks: 10 - April 21, 2018 (CLE 12 at DET 13)
Strikeouts: 12 - June 5, 2018 (CAL 10 at CLE 9)
Homers: 4 - May 4, 2018 (CLE 7 at KCR 6)
Innings Pitched: 14.0 - April 26, 2018 (DET 5 at CLE 3)

Player Streaks:
Current Hit Streak: 11 - S. Ryan
Team-High Hit Streak: 16 - S. Garey (May 6, 2018 - May 22, 2018)
Team-High HR Streak: 3 - T. Fredrickson (April 29, 2018 - May 1, 2018), M. Velde (April 14, 2018 - April 17, 2018)
Team-High Quality Start Streak: 4 - S. Fernandy (April 6, 2018 - April 22, 2018), S. Parsons (April 18, 2018 - May 5, 2018)
Team-High Win Streak: 4 - S. Fernandy (May 21, 2018 - June 12, 2018), S. Rochford (April 15, 2018 - May 17, 2018),
S. Parsons (April 13, 2018 - May 5, 2018)
Hits/Game: 4 - S. Garey (April 10, 2018; June 1, 2018), T. Fredrickson (May 29, 2018),
K. Dogman (April 21, 2018; May 5, 2018; May 8, 2018), J. Aves (April 19, 2018; April 21, 2018)
HR/Game: 2 - K. Dogman (April 21, 2018; May 11, 2018), S. Ryan (May 22, 2018), M. Marischall (June 1, 2018), M. Velde (April 24, 2018)
RBI/Game: 6 - J. Aves (April 21, 2018)
Runs/Game: 4 - K. Dogman (April 21, 2018)
SB/Game: 2 - S. Garey (May 20, 2018)
Strikeouts/Game: 10 - S. Fernandy (May 27, 2018)
Multihit Games: 28 - S. Garey, S. Garey


*****

Delanty sat in Dane Evans' office. Evans puffed on a cigar absently. He had been going on about his divorce, which had then led into talk about his mistress, and how great of a cook she was. Delanty guessed that her culinary skill was not top on the list of qualities Evans admired, judging by the curves she possessed. "So what do you think?" Evans seemed to ask no one in particular. He stared out the window at the empty ballfield.

Delanty cleared his throat. "I think there are some tough moves that need to be made. Tough choices, things that might hurt short term, but really improve us down the line. Things your front office isn't comfortable with doing."

Evans squinted into the stands, puffing again. Delanty tried not to cough; his eyes were already red from the smoke. "That Ryan kid," Evans began, chewing the cigar end. "'Bout time we get rid of him, right?"

Delanty blinked. "No...no, I don't think so. He's a good fielder, 5-tool player. We still have control of him for two more years. Even at the money he's making, he's well worth it. We should only move him if we can't contend for any of the next three years - maybe next year, more likely 2020 would be a time to shop him around."

Evans kept squinting, looking at his outfield. "I don't like him," he said. "I see him walk right out after games...no talking to the media, no signing anything. No head for the business side of things...face time, you know?" He let out a long sigh. "These guys get too big for their britches. Youth today...they just don't appreciate where they are."

"Well, we can combat that," Delanty said. "Shawn Ryan's a bit of a loner, quiet, professional. We spin that as showing his focus, determination. Other guys can do the charity work - no one has a team full of saints. Heck, Ashcraft was in the bottle for a whole season, wasn't he?"

Evans chuckled. "Helluva thing, guy like that having AA be his initials. Like he was destined to end up there." He laughed again. "So you're talking our free agent guys. Ken Dogman, Tim Fredrickson."

"Right."

"Both of them are important. Good hitters. Lots of jerseys get sold with their names. Dogman's really become a household name around here."

Delanty thought of the bleacher guys, shouting Who Let The Dog Out! from right field with every hit. There was even some crackpot who would show up in a super-hero outfit, as DogMan, a huge basset hound with a big K-9 as his jersey number. "I think we can keep Dogman around," he said. "He's done well here, and for $10, $11mil he would stick. Our problem is, what to do with him - James Bryant and Edward Wille are coming up, and play a much better second. With Chad Nagy already pegged as DH, we'd have to move Dogman to third, or corner outfield."

Evans was still looking out, this time to left field. He seemed to be trying to conjure an image of Dogman patrolling left. "So Fredrickson heads out, and Dogman takes his place in left, or somewhere. We end up...saving money."

"Right," Delanty said. "If we shed Fredrickson's payroll soon, we make up for the few mil we spent on pitching and Geoff Elliot."

"What about his bat?" Evans turned to face him now. "Fredrickson gets a lot of RBIs. He's a force in there."

Delanty waved it off. "You've seen my studies - RBIs are subjective. Put anyone in the 5-hole, they'll have some RBIs. Have you seen James Bryant hitting yet this season? He's so good, we've been playing him at first, third - anywhere. That kid's a tremendous fielder, and his bat has come around in a big way. We put him at second base, our infield is locked down. He can't do what Fredrickson can - yet - but he's on his way."

Evans nodded. "Doesn't sound too bad, Mark. We could part with Fredrickson, for the right price. But then we're holding onto Battista. And everyone else, for now. What are we looking for, anyway?"

Salary relief, better defense? "Promising pitching, mainly. We've got depth all around the infield, some outfield and catching. Our real weakness is pitching, both now and future. And as you've seen," Delanty said, "pitching can make a real winner."

Evans nodded. "Work with Dowdy to get it done if we need to. But get some name back, something big. I don't want to deal with any negative press about shipping off something for nothing."

[filihok]

Arambola is a problem.

Demotion = Ouch. My shin hurts. I don't think I can play today. He said all the right things but I don't know that I would trust him

[Alloutwar]

It's now into the second week of June, and this is a perfect time to pause and look back at our moves, our players, and the surprises we have encountered. It's good to take stock of the team, before determining if we are in fact contending for the AL Central this year, or should look to become sellers and rebuild. I've signed 4 free agents, and made two trades that netted young starters; I have a max of 4 trades left, totalling 10 players, so it's down to 6-7 weeks to make some moves.

It's also a great time to use Mizerak's Box Score Parser, even more! :D

Let's start off with the Cleveland pitching:



Pitching Stats GP GS REC SV ERA IP H R ER HR BB K DICE WHIP PIT RUNSUP QUAL

A. MacLulich 31 0 2-4 1 5.72 39.1 43 25 25 4 15 29 3.99 1.47 673
R. Ardila 30 0 2-1 3 1.14 31.2 22 5 4 3 10 23 3.73 1.01 486
C. Santoy 26 0 2-1 2 3.74 33.2 27 15 14 4 11 18 4.46 1.13 526
M. Arambola 26 0 2-4 15 5.47 26.1 24 16 16 4 12 22 4.67 1.37 446
A. Ashcraft 13 13 2-4 0 6.19 68.1 83 49 47 9 32 55 4.51 1.68 1251 5.2 4
S. Fernandy 12 12 7-2 0 3.57 80.2 84 33 32 14 19 54 4.62 1.28 1221 4.5 7
S. Parsons 12 12 6-4 0 4.04 71.1 63 33 32 8 27 57 4.00 1.26 1214 5.3 8
S. Rochford 9 6 4-0 0 3.33 48.2 43 18 18 6 13 32 4.09 1.15 635 5.7 3
J. Devalois 9 6 3-3 0 6.56 35.2 56 27 26 1 17 24 3.45 2.05 694 6.8 3
O. Latorro 8 6 0-3 0 9.32 28.0 45 30 29 2 20 22 4.50 2.32 543 5.3 1
A. Samno 8 2 0-1 0 5.59 29.0 40 19 18 6 8 11 5.76 1.66 383 3.5 2
G. Vialla 5 1 0-2 0 7.82 12.2 23 11 11 2 11 8 6.39 2.68 289 2.0 0
E. Metherall 4 2 0-0 0 10.80 15.0 22 18 18 6 7 8 8.53 1.93 248 10.0 0
E. Barrientos 4 2 2-1 0 2.59 24.1 23 9 7 2 7 24 2.96 1.23 404 5.5 1
D. Doty 2 0 0-0 0 16.88 2.2 6 5 5 1 1 3 6.75 2.63 39
J. Whiteside 2 0 0-0 0 11.57 2.1 1 3 3 0 2 1 4.71 1.29 51
Pitching Totals: 62 62 32-30 21 4.99 549.2 605 316 305 72 212 391 4.44 1.49 9103 5.4 29


SP 1: Aloysius Ashcraft (81 ovr). Salary: $3.6mil. 4 Quality starts; ERA over 6. Ashcraft has been healthy, but even less effective than last year. He's more like a 4th/5th starter than an ace. If Metherall or Vargas were ready, I would take him out of the rotation; but I'm just too broken to do anything like that, so we'll keep trotting him out there.

SP 2: Santos Fernandy (63 ovr). $327k. Fernandy, despite scout's warnings, has been a mainstay, leading in wins, innings and K's. His pitches are hittable, with 14 homers, but I'm thinking he can work things out this season and improve even more. Fernandy has been discussing an extension, at a bargain price of $550k, which we're about to pick up.

SP 3: Simon Parsons (79 ovr). $2.25mil. The lefty has been stable and effective - a reason we're still competing at all. Leading the team in quality starts, DICE, and WHIP, he's a solid #3. We're holding onto him.

SP 4: Enrique Barrientos (70 ovr), $327k. In his second attempt, Barrientos fought his way into the rotation, and 2-1 with a 2.59 ERA and 24 Ks is a good start. After showing dominance in AAA, he's definitely earned some role on the team, whether 4th/5th starter or long man.

SP 5: Joe Devalois (66 ovr), $2.1mil. I used to think getting anything our of Devalois would be impossible, but he's been an ok #5, with 3 wins so far, but an ERA over Ashcraft's. Being in a contract year at 34, and a huge injury risk, he could be dealt if we look to be out of it; otherwise, we're happy he contributed at all.

SP: Steve Rochford (DL, 86) $1.8mil. Our 4-0 star to start April, Rochford's injury really hit us hard. This converted reliever was on schedule for a breakout year, his first in the rotation. Hopefully next year will work out better.

*Free Agent Signing*
SP Alex Samno (46 ovr), $1.15mil. Samno's skills have apparently deteriorated to where starting may not be an option. He's a backup starter if necessary, but it looks like this gamble will not pay off.

*Free Agent Signing*
SP Oscar Latorro (51 ovr), $1.0mil. Even worse than Samno is Latorro, 0-3 with an ERA over 9. Latorro hasn't had a single outing without giving up a run; he is due to either retire or be released, as soon as another bullpen arm is available to take his spot.

RP Carlos Santoy (83 ovr), $327k. Santoy, currently on the DL for 10 more days, has been effective, 3.74 ERA with two saves. Can't ask much more for a short reliever.

RP Miguel Arambola (83 ovr), $3.1mil/4 yrs. Arambola has struggled mightily, posting 15 saves despite atrocious numbers. He was moved from the closer role to make room for Ardilla, who is thriving this year. Hopefully he can do better as a 7th/8th inning setup arm, or get his form back together, since he is here long-term.

RP Rafael Ardila (90 ovr), $1.1mil. Ardilla has been on fire this year, only allowing 4 runs (3 of those homers). He has also taken a leadership role in the bullpen, teaching pitches, stepping up as closer, and keeping all his latino 'pen-mates happy.

RP Alan MacLulich (82 ovr), $1.6mil. Our resident LOOGY has struggled this year, ERA over 5.7, 2-4 record. We do lean on him a lot - he leads the team in appearances - but we need a real improvement over the reason of the season to retain him next offseason.

Acquired via Trade
SP Eric Metherall (84 ovr), $327k. Metherall disappointed in his attempts at starting, but has been working diligently in AAA. His AAA numbers are 4-3, 3.04 ERA. He might get another shot at starting soon, and will definitely get a shot when rosters expand in September.

****Traded to White Sox*****
SP Gianluca Vialla (69 ovr), $327k. Traded when Chicago was desperate for starting help, Vialla went 2-0 in 5 starts with the White Sox - including a dominant 8-inning, 3 run effort, and a 7 innings 2 run effort. However, his other 3 starts were less stellar; his last start he was hit for 8 runs in 1.2 IP, causing him to be demoted to AAA. The player we got in return, Samuel Vargas, has moved from AA to AAA, posting an ERA just over 3, looking ready to contribute soon. Good trade overall.

[Alloutwar]

Batting Stats AVG/OBP/SLG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS wOBA GIDP RC/27 HBP

S. Garey .363/.407/.418 61 58 256 40 93 14 0 0 18 19 39 14 0 .371 0 1.73 0
K. Dogman .333/.364/.591 61 60 252 40 84 16 2 15 50 12 39 0 0 .404 0 2.01 0
M. Velde .206/.229/.392 61 49 199 28 41 8 1 9 31 6 46 3 0 .264 0 0.68 0
T. Olsen .267/.345/.393 52 37 150 24 40 8 1 3 19 18 17 3 0 .330 0 0.78 0
M. Marischall .236/.295/.396 51 34 144 16 34 5 0 6 23 12 37 2 0 .303 0 0.63 0
M. Gooden .273/.332/.366 51 48 172 21 47 11 1 1 14 15 26 0 0 .313 0 0.77 0
T. Fredrickson .304/.353/.556 48 42 171 33 52 11 4 8 46 13 36 4 0 .386 0 1.27 0
R. Battista .252/.335/.411 48 39 151 23 38 5 2 5 26 19 43 2 0 .330 0 0.78 0
D. Wigton .259/.332/.386 48 44 166 21 43 7 1 4 18 18 25 1 0 .320 0 0.79 0
J. Aves .342/.411/.521 41 40 146 23 50 13 2 3 24 17 23 2 0 .406 0 1.17 0
J. Bryant .467/.484/.700 30 14 60 16 28 9 1 1 11 2 12 0 0 .507 0 0.75 0
S. Ryan .298/.365/.561 29 28 114 22 34 5 2 7 24 12 21 3 0 .394 0 0.89 0
S. Unzueta .233/.246/.300 28 14 60 6 14 2 1 0 7 1 14 3 0 .240 0 0.18 0
S. English .172/.226/.207 20 6 29 4 5 1 0 0 1 2 4 2 0 .203 0 0.06 0
O. Valdespino .250/.297/.300 18 18 60 5 15 3 0 0 5 4 20 0 0 .272 0 0.20 0
D. Miller .129/.206/.194 13 8 31 3 4 2 0 0 4 3 5 0 0 .189 0 0.05 0
G. Elliott .225/.311/.425 11 10 40 6 9 2 0 2 6 5 10 0 0 .322 0 0.20 0
E. Wille .167/.286/.167 7 1 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .231 0 0.01 0
K. Slaugh .100/.100/.100 6 2 10 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .090 0 0.00 0
S. Parsons 1.000/1.000/1.000 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .900 0 0.04 0
Batting Totals: .284/.337/.441 62 62 2231 333 634 122 18 64 329 179 423 39 0 .340 0 0



Outfield

Tim Fredrickson (LF/DH, 81 ovr, age 35, $6.5mil/2018) - the aging lefty has seen a speed decrease, which has affected his fielding; but his bat is better if anything. 8 homers, hitting .304, and 46 RBIs, he is a force at the plate. He is in a contract year and really wants to play for a contender; re-signing will be tough. Would be the first trade if we fall out of contention.

Shawn Ryan (CF, 87 ovr, age 28, $3.9mil [arb elig]) - missing over four weeks now with a ligament issue, and then being beset by smaller issues, Ryan is having a tough year. But in limited playing time, he's been phenominal, with 7 homers and a .298 average. We hold Ryan for two more arb years, and thank goodness.

***Rule V Draft Selection***
Marcello Velde (RF, ovr 79, age 26, $327k) - power has been there, 9 homers and 31 RBIs, but contact has been a problem - just .206, and 46 strikeouts. Olsen and Aves have begun to creep in and take playing time away.

Tim Olsen (RF/LF, ovr 74, age 25, $327k) - good fielding and a good eye are Olsen's tools, but he's been decently impressive at the plate. Good 4th string outfielder and defensive replacement, good all-around OF.

Jeremy Aves (RF/DH, ovr 75, age 27, $327k) - I started Aves off in AAA this year, and when he got called up after 18 games, he made an impression. Hitting at a .342 clip, and leading in OBP, and taking a ton of walks, this guy is having a breakout offensive season. Too bad his fielding is terrible.

-----
Infield

***Free Agent Signing***
Scott Garey (SS, ovr 90, age 31, $4.1mil/2 yrs) - I still can't believe this guy was available for $4mil. He has been incredible - leading us in games played, average, stolen bases, even walks. Hit streaks have been intense.

Ken Dogman (2B, ovr 90, age 28, $8.8mil/2018) - in his walk year, Dogman has kept up the torrid pace, leading our team in homers with 15 so far. He's hitting .333 and splugging .591, and the 50 RBI looks good - on pace for 40 HR, 140 RBIs. Dogman loves it here and wants to stay; but with declining defense, we'd have to move him to third or OF.

Dave Wigton (3B/1B, 83 ovr, age 28, $327k) - though he got a shot at both first and third, Wigton appears to have regressed from his breakout .296/17 HR season last year. Despite hugely high ratings in contact and eye, he can't seem to break out, losing time at both corners.

Mike Marischall (3B, ovr 78, age 32, $950k) - a bargain price, this great fielder has only hit .236 as expected - but a startling 6 homers - and hitting .324 against lefties. Currently getting all starts against lefties, and coming in defensively.

***Free Agent Signing***
Geoff Elliot (1B, ovr 73, age 38, $750k) - Elliot has been a solid defender at first, and added some pop, though nothing to judge him by yet.

James Bryant (IF, ovr 77, age 28, $500k) - Bryant has been surprising with the bat, currently hitting .467 in 60 at-bats. Slugging .700 with his first MLB homer, Bryant is almost hitting too well to bench. He's versatile, playing all around the infield, and is a dynamite defender up the middle.

Ricardo Battista (1B/C/DH, ovr 82, age 30, $2.7mil/2 yrs) - only playing in 10 games as catcher, and not adequate at first, Battista has fallen off this year as well. Down from .280 to .252, and from a high of 26 homers down to just 5. He's still walking, so he's in the mix, platooning.

Myron Gooden (C, ovr 77, age 27, $327k) - in his first full campaign, Gooden is proving up to the task, hitting .273 with decent peripherals. He is mainly in there for pitcher handling and defense - Gooden is happy to be catcher of the future and handle the staff.

Dave Miller (C, ovr 72, age 35, $950k/2018) - our third string catcher is pretty useless, a decent defensive catcher behind Gooden, but even less on offense. Miller is a career Indian, playing here over 10 years, which is the only reason he hasn't been traded; lots of loyal fans and front office staff.

Top prospects:
Chad Nagy (LF/DH, ovr 83, age 21, hitting .348 with 17 HR in AAA)
Omar Valdespino (1B, ovr 78, age 23, hitting .374 with 21 HR in AAA)
Edward Wille (2B, ovr 77, age 25, hitting .326 with 10 steals)
Todd Weinberg (CF, ovr 68, age 23, hitting .313 with 15 SB in AA)

[FloydtheBarber]

I'd put Nagy in the majors. Possibly Omar and Wille as well.

[Alloutwar]

FtB - not an issue right now, Nagy is injured for 15 more days. He'll see time either when we trade an outfielder, or during September - but he'll get some at-bats this year. The kid's eye and power are both 90, and at 21, that's something special. I just wish he could connect better, or field some position halfway decently. He's listed as Left Fielder, but he's barely a 58 defensively there.

27399

*****
INTERLEAGUE PLAY CONTINUES: ROCKIES VISIT CLEVELAND
*****

June 14th: Im feeling good with Simon Parsons going in, but he allows 5 runs before I know it, and we're down 5-0 in the 5th. Dale Tackett for the Rockies is going strong and shutting down our offense - until a solo Fredrickson homer, and an RBI by Scott Garey. We bring in Oscar Latorro again in relief, who surprisingly is almost decent....for two innings. Soon its wild pitch and hits, walks, etc. Latorro goes 2.2 IP, 4 runs, 3 Ks, and suddenly its 9-2. Alex Samno later allow 6 runs including a grand slam, to make it a crushing 15-2 loss.

Injury
RF Tim Olsen suffers an ankle stress fracture, and will miss at least 18 days. To the DL he goes! CF Samuel Unzueta will come up to the bigs.

Roster Moves
After the game, LHP Oscar Latorro is Designated for Assignment. Joe Whiteside is optioned to AAA.
Dave Doty and RHP Bud Kudlick are called up to the bullpen.


DFA'D
27400


June 15th: in a hope to rebound against the Rockies trouncing we just took, we send 2-1 Enrique Barrientos to the hill. He faces the 4-6 Ivan Vinueza. Catcher Myron Gooden needs a day off again, so Ricardo Battista gets the start at catcher (shudder). Can't be worse than yesterday. The pair notches a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play to end the first, so maybe this will go well. Fredrickson scores in the first on a Dogman double. Battista throws out another runner in the 3rd - quite an arm on him. In the bottom of the 3rd, Garey and Fredrickson get on for Dogman...who crushes a 3-run shot. 4-nothing Indians!

Barrientos is solid through 5, with 6 Ks and scattering 3 hits. He allows a run in each of the 6th and 7th innings, so we take a 4-2 lead into the 8th. Lefty Alan MacLulich wipes away the 8th with two K's: newly ordained closer Rafael Ardila is shakey in the 9th, giving up a run and letting the tying run get to third before recording the save. Barrientos earns his third consecutive win...not bad for a #4 starter.

Injury
Aloysius Ashcraft apparently got into an altercation at a bar, and ending up hitting a wall, fracturing his wrist. He will miss about a month (27 days). Losing a starter bites - but he wasn't really performing anyway.

Ashcraft's trip to the DL will mean a callup for Eric Metherall. It will also likely result in counseling and AA. Metherall and Kudlick, along with Samno, are all on the roster, so the first one to nail down a start will win it.



June 16th: I pray with all my might that Joe Devalois might come through. I have 3 pitchers on the DL and two old guys that can't throw worth a damn; Devalois was smacked around horribly, 7 runs in 2 innings in his last start - so a return to marginal effectiveness would be appreciated in the rubber match. The matchup isn't bad, as Kevin Waits (1-7) goes for the Rockies. OF Shawn Ryan will also make his return after missing 5 days with various nagging injuries.

Devalois gives up a run in each of the first 3, including a first homerun for a rookie, Ira Nall, a jewish kid from Oregon who has no power (62). Nall gets two more RBIs off Devalois in the 4th, knocking him out as we are down 5-1. This paves the way for Bud Kudlick's first 2018 appearance, and the kid does well enough. Not quite enough, though, as we lose 5-3.


2B: R. Battista (6)
3B: S. Garey (1)
HR: M. Gooden (2)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. Devalois 3.2 7 2 1 5 5 4 75 7.09
B. Kudlick 4.0 4 1 0 0 0 7 63 0.00
M. Arambola 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 23 5.20

*****

Indians June record: 7-7
2018 record: 33-32

We slip to 4th place in the AL Central, only ahead of Kansas City. It's only a 4 game spread from the top, but still, I feel that this is the beginning of the end for this season's hopes.

[Alloutwar]

Cleveland GM Tom Dowdy stood, fists clenched, staring at his owner. "What do you mean, Dane? Am I the GM, or not?"

Evans had put his cigar down earlier, but thought about picking it up now. "Tom...you've been the GM for four seasons. What have we finished? 5th, 4th, 4th, 5th. You've been in charge this year, and here we are in 4th place again. Last year we lost 101 games, Tom. Worst record in twenty years."

Dowdy fumed - he hated hearing this. He felt like a dog, having his face smeared in his own excremeent. Not my fault, he thought. The league, the farm, the scouts -

"You have made some good moves though," Evans went on. "Good trades, some good signings, all that. It hasn't been all bad, which is why you're still here." Evans leaned forward. "Listen, when we brought Mark in, the goal was to get his insight, figure out how he did so well in Pittsburgh, when they were scraping bottom like we were. The man has ideas, for making moves - and at this point, not making moves doesn't look like an option."

"Yes, Dane, we've been through this." Dowdy said through clenched teeth. "Delanty came on board to help with pitching. He got Samno back, signed Latorro, and dealt away a great relief prospect for this Metherall kid, who's done nothing. He also converted Rochford to a starter, by the way, which ended his season after 6 games. And you want this guy to have more of a say?"

Evans stared right through him. "What are you so afraid of, Tom? Is there a new place below last that I haven't heard about?"

Dowdy's eyes shot open. "We've been building for a run!" he exclaimed. "We have a solid foundation, Fernandy and Ardila and Arambola and Parsons...that was all me! Dogman and Fredrickson and Ryan, and now Nagy coming up - those were my moves, Dane! For christ's sake! I've built this..." Dowdy was overcome and couldn't go on.

"I know, Tom. That's why you're still on board. But I can't just go letting things stay the same - those fans deserve a real run at the top. And money can only go so far - we can't compete with the Yankees. We need to make smart moves, some gambles. That's why I need you two to work together. Either find a way to make it work, or I will."

Dowdy's shoulders sank.

*****
27409

Pitching coach Dave Engbert was smiling wide. "You feel okay?," he asked starter Enrique Barrientos. "You looked dynamite out there yesterday."

"I'm good, yah," Barrientos smiled back through a thick Cuban accent. "Dey chase dee slider a lot. I keep working on dee curb."

Curve, Engbert thought. "Yes, curve looked good. Mix in the foshball now and then, keep them guessing. We'll keep getting wins if you fool 'em like you have been!" He slapped Barrientos on the shoulder and walked past. What a sonofagun, he thought to himself. He was gonna be released after last season, but the goofball works and works, deals with a trip to AAA, and sure enough it clicks. He smiled. Who'd have thought, putting it all together at thirty. Late bloomer.

Engbert saw Miguel Arambola at his locker putting on his cleats, but walked by him. Arambola was fairly superstitious, and had two scoreless outings in a row - no need to talk about things. He was under a long term contract, but knew that he needed to put up better numbers. Ever since Gianluca Vialla had been traded, Arambola hadn't been the same. The two grew up together in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico - gone to school together, been scouted together, and signed together for the Indians. They had never been seperated until this year. Engbert shook his head. The suits making these decisions probably never took that into account, he thought. What a sad, impersonal business this had become.

Rafael Ardila was getting ready for a throwing session, and Engbert hurried to catch up to him. He had collected two saves in a row now as the new closer, but he'd allowed a run twice in his past three outings - something that had been rare in this phenominal season. Engbert knew that hitters were sitting on his change, and thought Ardila's motions could take a closer look. Cubans are doing well this season, he thought absently. Cubans great, a Venezuelan doing good, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans tanking. Latino juggling, full time job. If not for a manager like Guittierrez, the language barrier might have been more of a problem than opposing hitters.

*****
27410

Aloysius Ashcraft sat, dejected, in the trainer's room. Manager Freddi Guittierrez stared at the floor, lips pursed. The new suit, Delanty, was appraising him curiously. He wasn't a suit at all, actually - shorts and a plain red polo shirt. He didn't seem to be giving the fatherly disapproval glare that Ashcraft was expecting, either. He just seemed...curious.

"Had to be your right hand?" Freddi asked. "The one you throw with. The one that's throwing a ball, every fifth day, and earning your paycheck?"

Ashcraft grunted. "It's also the one I punch with."

"You know you're suspended without pay for this," Freddi said. "We thought this was over with, done. Didn't going to group help, at all?"

Ashcraft said nothing. He rolled his eyes and looked at another part of the floor.

Delanty spoke up. "Actually, this helps us out quite a bit." The other two looked at him. The trainer, who was affixing bandages on Ashcraft's right hand, looked up in surprise as well. "I mean, not only do we save about a month's pay - about half a mil - but we also have a reason to take you out of the rotation. Put someone in that might give a damn." Ashcraft's mouth dropped open.

Guittierrez couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who the hell talks to players like this? "Mark, shut up. You're talking bull, this isn't the time."

"Are you kidding? This guy doesn't take his role seriously. Falling off a bike, fighting at bars - real professional we have here. There are guys chomping at the bit to replace him, and probably do a better job."

Ashcraft stood up. "Hey, a**hole, I don't know what you're deal is, but I play hard!"

"You punch walls hard, that's all I've seen," Delanty shot back. "I've seen teenagers with more poise on the mound. You don't care, you don't try, and it's hurting this team every five days. If you're not gonna take this seriously, then by all means, drink yourself into oblivion. There's a stadium full of fans that would appreciate it."

Ashcraft swore and stepped towards Delanty, swinging a distorted right hook, but Guittierrez restrained him. "Get out, pendejo," he said. Delanty shook his head, disgusted, and walked out.

*****

AROUND THE LEAGUE
27411

[CatKnight]

You have some nice interactions going on here. I can see the affection you have for your league and how it's developing. Bravo!

[Alloutwar]

CatKnight: Thanks! High praise from a writer like you. I'm trying to incorporate more storyline into these, instead of the straighter stats...give definition to the team, conflict, and some humor. I've learned a lot from you!

*****

June 17th - Santos Fernandy has had 4 wins in his last 5 starts, and is 7-2 with a 3.57 ERA. We will take on the Reds at home, after losing 2 of 3 to the Rockies. The Red send their ace, Mark Hatanka, 7-3 with a 3.12 ERA. He has a rough first 2 innings, allowing a run in each, but we score 5 off Hatanka, knocking him out by the 3rd. We stay up 5-2 until the 6th, when Fernandy gives up 3 runs and the lead. Dave Doty gets a spot in a tie game, but gives up 2, and we lose 7-5. Rockies closer Connor Grimes fires 104mph fastballs. We are now 33-33, .500 on the season.

Trade offers: Colorado Rockies propose a trade of SP Paul King for Aves or Marischall. Colorado is looking to offload talent since they are last place.

June 18th: lefty Simon Parsons will try the Rockies on for size, against Tom Ryan (1-2). Parsons allows a run in the first - the Rockies' left fielder, Chico Perez, is always on base, stealing and finding a way home. But Ken Dogman hits a 2-run shot in the 3rd, and we're up 2-1. Parsons is looking dominant, retiring the side in order in the 5th and 6th - but in the 7th they tie it 2-2. Marischall and Battista both get on base in the 9th, and Samuel Unzueta hits a walk-off single. Arambola gets the win.

Injury:
Enrique Barrientos suffers a foot stress fracture during his side session and will miss 17 days. I swear, this is getting like wack-a-mole. Our adjusted rotation will lineup as:
Santos Fernandy
Simon Parsons
Eric Metheral
Bud Kudlick
Joe Devalois

Joe Whiteside is called up again from AAA.

June 19th: Reds righty Mitch Reese (3-6) will take on Eric Metherall, who is fighting for a rotation spot, with Ashcraft and Barrientos both out. CF Shawn Ryan will miss this game with a tender hammy. Metherall is a different pitcher than what we saw earlier this year - he goes 8 strong innings, allowing 2 runs. Our offense is held to 4 hits, though, and we lose 2-1.

*****

Guittierrez and Dowdy were both looking at Mark Delanty. "Well?" Dowdy said. "Care to explain yourself? Apparently you saw fit to verbally assault a mainstay of our rotation, and there's been some rumblings from his representatives since."

"I don't see a negative here," Delanty began. "Ashcraft has been terrible this year, and doesn't care. If he stays on the DL - and even better, doesn't take up pay - we can only improve."

"You're wrong," Guittierrez said. "He can contribute. He's a good pitcher. Antagonizing him because of his problems is not constructive."

"He's not a good pitcher right now," Delanty said. "And it's costing us games. We can coddle him and try to work with him, make exceptions for bad behavior, or we can let him know he's expendable. He's obviously bored - if my tirade fires him up, and he goes out and performs, awesome. If not - well, you saw Metherall's start yesterday."

Dowdy's brows were furrowed. "You did this...purposefully?"

"Of course! Ashcraft has been a spoiled brat here for years. If he hates me, well then he finally cares, and might show some improvement."

Guittierrez shook his head. "Good cop bad cop? You don't think I need to be let in on that, if you're gonna play games with my guys?"

"Guittierrez, you're a great player's manager - and that works wonders," Delanty said. "I'm going to be the bad guy when necessary. That's fine with me. I'm not out to win friends, just ballgames."

Dowdy looked at him incredulously. Delanty was known for being close to ballplayers - the link with Blake Garlock was legendary. "Got something against drinkers?" Dowdy probed.

"I got something against expensive losers," Delanty said. "But for the record, every drink is a choice. Disease my ***." He stood up. "Anyway, we have a crumbling rotation to try to tape together. So who wants to work?"

*****

We head to Kansas City for a 3-game series with the Royals. We are treading water at .500, 34-34 on the season, 5 games back of Detroit for the AL Central lead.

June 20th: Bud Kudlick will get his first major league start. He will face Jerry Branham (3-2, 4.30 ERA), the de-facto Royals ace. The Royals are a pathetic 22-47 this year, so this should be easy pickings. Sure enough, we have 3 runs on 9 hits by the 3rd. Kudlick starts off with two 1-2-3 innings, and he is dominant, pitching the first Indians complete game shutout this year.



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 2 0 1 0 5 0 1 0 0 9 19 0
Royals (KCR) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 6 3 0 1 1 2 1 0 .372
T. Fredrickson (LF) 6 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .317
S. Ryan (CF) 4 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 .317
K. Dogman (2B) 5 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 .327
J. Aves (DH) 5 3 0 1 0 2 1 1 .328
D. Wigton (3B) 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 .246
M. Gooden (C) 5 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 .276
G. Elliott (1B) 5 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 .193
M. Velde (RF) 5 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .204
TOTALS 45 19 3 9 1 9 10 1

2B: K. Dogman (17), M. Velde (9), T. Fredrickson (14)
HR: S. Garey (1)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
B. Kudlick 9.0 4 1 0 0 0 6 131 0.00
TOTALS 9.0 4 1 0 0 0 6 131

WP: B. Kudlick (1-0)
LP: J. Branham (3-3)


27418

June 21st: Righty Joe Devalois (3-4) will take on Alan Hornback (1-6), in what should be another trouncing of the anemic Royals. Instead we barely manage any offense, and Devalois allows 3 runs (two earned) in 5 innings, and we take a 3-3 tie into the bottom of the 9th. Miguel Arambola gets two outs, but can't get out of the inning, putting tow on. A fly ball to center should have sent us into extras - but Shawn Ryan allows a critical error and the Royals walk off, 4-3.

We lost to the Royals. Two errors from the outfield, one by Fredrickson in left, and then Ryan's in center. Not a good showing.

June 22nd: in the rubber match, Santos Fernandy will go again, this time against Raphael Archulata (4-7). Our offense explodes in this one, as we go up 12-4 in the 7th. Fernandy only lasts 5 innings, but enough to get the win, as Dogman goes 3 for 5, with Aves and Fredrickson both homering. Doty and Samno both allow some runs, so Ardila gets an easy save as we win 12-9.

After the game, reliever Carlos Santoy rejoins the roster. Dave Doty, after yet another shakey outing, returns to AAA.

[Alloutwar]

Indians beat reporter Trevor Stockton interviews SP Bud Kudlick
Indians.com

27429

TS: Bud, congratulations on your 2018 debut, and on getting the long-awaited call up to the majors this year. You've had two outings, both scoreless - and though the first opened some eyes, the second really had the team buzzing. What was the feeling like at the end of the game?

Bud Kudlick: Well, I'm typically not the kind of guy to go deep into games - I usually get pulled after 5 or 6 innings, so having [manager] Freddi [Guittierrez]'s confidence that late in the game was really a boost. Kansas City is a great lineup and some talented guys, so I feel lucky to have put together a game like that. But, lots of celebrating in the clubhouse, lots of razzing now that I finally 'done good'.

TS: What do you think is contributing to your success? Thirteen scoreless innings to start the season is pretty impressive.

BK: Well, I've worked hard in AAA. This year, with all the rotation moves and signings, you know it's gonna be tougher to crack the squad, so I had to work hard. Focus on a good third pitch, keeping the ball down more. [Catcher] Myron Gooden calls a great game, too - he should get the credit as well.

TS: Complete game shutouts are rare in the AL, and pretty rare for the Indians this year. How would you explain it?

BK: Luck, a lot of luck. Good game calling, and some balls that stayed in the park. I'm also something of a new arm - it might be a while until everyone has me scouted and has video to study.

TS: So are you ready to go out every fifth day and put up zeroes like you did the other day?

BK: [laughing] I'm just happy to be up here and contributing, in whatever role. I'd like to try to duplicate my results, but we'll see how it goes.

TS: Thanks Bud, and good luck!

-----

27430

Center Fielder Albert Tobon was the kind of player Cleveland had no need for, after the acquisition of Samuel Unzueta from the Mets last off-season. Unzueta was a great defender, and had already gotten some key hits, although his bat was enough to get him sent back down to AAA recently. Albert Tobon, on the other hand, didn't stand out with the bat or the glove, and at 27, his chance to make an impact was gone.

Rather than allow duplicate CFs in AAA, with another in Todd Weinberg pressing upward in AA, Mark Delanty emailed his fellow GMs that Tobon was available on the trading block. He didn't expect much back - maybe a low-level prospect, from someone desperate for outfield depth. After about 3 hours, out of the three pings he had gotten, one of them was interesting. Very interesting.

He picked up the phone and called Bob Henley, GM of the New York Yankees. "Lombrana?," Delanty asked. "You're entertaining offers?"
Henley chuckled softly. "Sure we are, Mark, good to hear from you. As you know, we've been hit hard over the years with the revenue sharing. We're in a pickle right now with the lulxury tax. Lombrana's been bumped to triple-A, but at $2.4mil pro-rated, he might help out your rotation."

Just about anyone breathing would have helped out the rotation, with the 3 injured starters and one DFA they had on the books. "Tobon will give you salary relief, and a solid backup plan in center," Delanty wheeled. "We can take on the last year of Lombrana, straight up." Delanty knew they would most likely cut Tobon within a few weeks - even with all-star Keith Armitage on the DL, the Yankees had 3 or 4 solid center fielders on the roster. Tobon, the unsuspecting Venezuelan, was a pawn.

Delanty was looking over the Yankees pitching staff on his screen - how could they afford to have Lombrana in AAA? Sure enough, the Yankees were loaded, and with expensive options:


Name Ovr Salary
Fritts, James 94 $17.5mil
Borghini, Shawn 93 $13.7mil
Nilsen, Mitch 75 $5.8mil
Padbury, Todd 88 $5.7mil
Sumner, Hollis 81 $5.3mil
Lacy, Brian 86 $2.6mil
Gould, Joe 72 $327k


And all that was before their best prospect Aaron Smiley, or their young phenom, 21-year-old Jaymie Berry. The Yankees were clearly overloaded with starters - maybe the Indians were the harmless candidate for the salary dump.

"Good, good. Let me run it by our scouts. Most likely both these guys will be off our rosters at the end of the year, but in the meantime, my bottom line looks better. And you might get over .500! Hah!" Henley hung up the phone.

Fat jerk, Delanty thought. Smart, though. We should've known Latorro was done for. Let's hope Lombrana still has a shadow of what I saw ten years ago. In 2007, Raul Lombrana was the up and coming ace of the Diamondbacks' rotation. That team won the World Series, and Mark Delanty always figured Lombrana would go on to be an ace on a big market team. Instead, he signed as a 6th starter with the bloated Yankees, barely getting a chance to pitch, much less ascend to stardom. On the other hand, his left arm had been preserved, somewhat.

27431

-----


Ashcraft's agent says pitcher Abused by FO
Christy Harrington, Ohio Reporter

Cleveland starter Aloysius Ashcraft, recently sent to the Disabled List with a strained wrist, says his front office has verbally abused him and made him feel unwelcome on his own team. Ashcraft's very public struggles against alcoholism have been endearing and uplifting to the Cleveland fans for many years; despite his setback, which he claims was caused by his poor performance this season, Ashcraft says he is committed to living up to his contract, and pitching at a high level for this season and next.
His agent, Leonard Haines, said that his client loves the city and the fans, but would be open to a trade if the Cleveland management team refuses to treat him fairly.

Ashcraft is currently suspended without pay after fracturing his right wrist in an altercation uptown on June 15th. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Cleveland's front office had no comment on this story, saying only that they prefer to keep player disciplinary issues private.

-----


Indians Acquire Raul Lombrana
ESPN.com's Scott Fendis

An insider has career triple-A centerfielder Albert Tobon headed to the Yanks, in return for the 37 year old lefty in his contract year. Lombrano was optioned to AAA for the Yankees, but he projects to take over a 5th starter position on the Indians' squad. On the surface, just a swap of minor-leaguers; but Lombrana has shown flashes of dominance that could make the AL Central race tighter than expected. A two-time all star and three-time World Series Champion, Lambrano brings a culture of winning along with him.

The last Yankee lefty the Indians picked up, Oscar Latorro, put on a devastating showing on the mound this year. Designated for Assignment on June 15th, Latorro has gone unclaimed, and may be outrighted to triple-A or simply released. No clubs are believed to have interest in picking up his contract.

-----

Tribe Tries Luck with Another Old Yankee lefty
Art Crenshaw, Cleveland Sun News

Learn from your mistakes, my dad always told me. It's the only way we improve. Otherwise, you might just repeat a bad mistake. A mistake, such as spending on an old, washed-up lefty that was cast off by the Yankees. Why don't more parents teach this to their kids?

The Cleveland front office has chosen to obtain another expensive arm, another once-effective guy in his late 30's that is being overpaid. Apparently not content to build for the future, the front office is instead making ill-advised moves to attempt to remain in contention, which they are quickly drifting out of. After some impressive performances by our younger pitchers, we again show that we are not ready for success, preferring to obtain an older veteran and throw him into the mix.

Let's hope this one doesn't blow up as bad as Latorro, who is still technically awaiting assignment, but actually just awaiting the bus to retirement.

[Alloutwar]

Indians sign Marseilles for Depth
Righty signs minor league contract for $700k pro-rated - ESPN.com
27471

Marseilles brings experience to the Indians organization, though his ability to contribute at the major league level is in doubt.

The Indians have been pressured into making several moves, as they have 3 starters on the DL, and another recently Designated for Assignment. Other potential options, both young and old, have failed to perform adequately; the Indians are clinging to a .500 record.

Indians management is much more active in collecting pitching options this year, mainly due to the presence of consultant Mark Delanty.



-------

Indians head to Arizona, for more InterLeague play. With the tough competition, and loss of the DH, we don't hold out much hope.

June 24th: after an off day, Simon Parsons goes against the AL West leading Diamonbacks - and performs admirably, 2 runs over 6 IP. We take a 2-2 tie into the bottom of the 9th, where Alan MacLulich allows a run for his 5th loss this season. Indians lose game one, back to .500 at 36-36.

June 25th: Eric Metherall with another start, but is taken out after 4 innings (why, AI manager? Why??) and 3 runs. He gets the loss anyway, as Devalois and MacLulich combine to implode terribly for a 12-3 loss.

Indians drop under .500, at 36-37.


June 26th: rookie Bud Kudlick (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will go against Ben Baker (5-5). LF Tim Fredrickson and 3B Dave Wigton will both miss this game, and the next 5; Fredrickson is nursing a knee, and Wigton his foot. Also, Ken Dogman needs a day off, despite the off day on the 23rd. This is going to be a tough game to win. :(

Indeed, we are slaughtered, 8-2, as Kudlick lasts only 3 innings. The Diamonbacks hit 4 homers. Alex Samno takes a few innings, but is hit hard; starter Santos Fernandy gets two innings in as his side session. Shawn Ryan hits his 9th homer.

What could be worse that a sweep, you ask? Well, how about adding injury to insult?

Injury:
After the game, long man Alex Samno is diagnosed with a wrist stress fracture, and will miss five weeks.

Dave Doty will be promoted, again, from AAA. Trading for another starter seems very wise, with Kudlick being knocked around and now Samno on the DL.

*****

Bullpen Troubles: MacLulich
Art Crenshaw, Cleveland Sun News

Alan MacLulich has been an up-and-down sort of pitcher. Some years, like 2016, he is dominant, with an ERA under 3. Other years, he can't get his ERA under 6. 2018 appears to be one of the latter.

In a season where the closer is demoted after signing a long-term contract, and other bullpen arms have proven to be unreliable, MacLulich has the opportunity to step up and become a team leader; instead, he has faltered just about every other appearance, sporting personal highs in ERAs and losses.

Everyone can have down years, but MacLulich will need to figure out his mechanical or psychological issues, and get back to being a good pitcher. Otherwise, he might find himself without a contract next season.
27470

------

Indians head to Detroit, and take on the Tigers.

Tigers currently lead the AL Central, 43-31.

June 27th: Lefty Raul Lombrana, recent trade acquisition from the Yankees, will get his first start with the Indians, taking on Detroit. Their ace Bob Macilrevie is 9-0 on the season. We hit him hard, going up 4-1 in the second. Lombrana allows 2 runs over 6 IP, and is line for the win - until Carlos Santoy allows 2 homers, making it a tie ballgame. The Tigers go to their closer, Dustan Pope, who is just about unhittable (2.43 ERA). MacLulich pitches around a leadoff triple in the bottom of the 9th, and we go to extras.

Check out the recap below...the game goes to a tremendous battle bullpens, stretching out to TWENTY INNINGS...including stellar performances by Miguel Arambola, Dave Doty, and finally Joe Devalois, who gets the win - thanks to a solo home run by Marcello Velde. Incredible game!!!


Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
June 27, 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 R H E
Indians (CLE) 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 16 1
Tigers (DET) 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 16 2

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 9 3 0 1 0 2 2 0 .352
J. Aves (LF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .313
M. Velde (P) 5 2 0 1 1 1 2 0 .197
S. Ryan (CF) 7 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 .316
K. Dogman (DH) 8 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 .327
G. Elliott (1B) 9 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .203
J. Bryant (2B) 8 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .381
M. Gooden (C) 8 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 .273
M. Marischall (3B) 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .244
S. English (RF) 7 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 .184
TOTALS 72 16 5 5 1 5 13 0

2B: S. Garey (16), G. Elliott (4), S. English (3), M. Gooden (13)
HR: M. Velde (10)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
R. Lombrana 6.0 5 3 0 2 2 5 101 8.22
C. Santoy 1.1 2 2 2 2 2 1 32 4.11
A. MacLulich 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 1 31 5.79
R. Ardila 2.0 2 1 0 0 0 1 26 1.26
M. Arambola 3.0 1 1 0 0 0 2 43 4.10
D. Doty 3.2 2 3 0 0 0 3 56 8.18
J. Devalois 2.1 2 1 0 0 0 1 29 6.66
TOTALS 20.0 16 11 2 4 4 14 318

DETROIT ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
E. Gilera (2B) 10 3 0 0 0 0 3 1 .290
S. Taber (1B) 8 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 .253
G. Cheno (SS) 6 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 .294
L. Longoria (LF) 6 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 .228
S. Vanness (C) 5 2 0 1 1 1 3 0 .317
T. Binkley (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .252
B. Catcott (P) 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250
J. Withrow (P) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .216
T. Weisman (RF) 9 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .197
B. Brooks (DH) 9 4 0 1 1 1 1 0 .244
A. Paris (3B) 5 0 3 1 0 1 2 1 .231
I. Sakai (CF) 7 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .306
TOTALS 70 16 11 4 2 3 14 2

2B: G. Cheno (18), T. Weisman (3), B. Brooks (3)
3B: G. Cheno (4), I. Sakai (5)
HR: S. Vanness (17), B. Brooks (3)

DETROIT ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
B. Macilrevie 4.0 6 1 0 4 4 0 49 2.73
A. Cuyun 4.0 3 0 0 0 0 3 50 4.76
D. Pope 1.2 1 1 0 0 0 1 28 2.40
K. Robinson 1.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 18 1.99
N. Sturtevant 3.0 2 0 0 0 0 4 31 4.02
Z. Spano 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 3.86
P. Slattery 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 4 52 3.47
B. Grootens 2.0 1 3 1 1 1 0 38 4.03
TOTALS 20.0 16 5 1 5 5 13 276

WP: J. Devalois (4-4)
LP: B. Grootens (2-4)

Attendance: 33,365
Time: 6:11

[FloydtheBarber]

Wow what a game! And with only one sub haha

[Alloutwar]

"Lombrana looked good yesterday," Tom Dowdy was saying. "It sure must be nice to have a few extra mil to throw around on arms, eh?"

Mark Delanty offered a tight smile. "We were real lucky to get Lombrana. The Yankees were desperate, and we got him at the right time. We'll see how he does in the rotation, but shouldn't rule him out for coming back."

"What's the rotation looking like for next year?" Dowdy asked. "Rochford, Fernandy, Parsons, Metherall, Ashcraft?"

Delanty hesitated. "Too soon to tell. Fernandy and Parsons, yes. Rochford, pretty sure. Metherall, Kudlick, Ashcraft, anyone else - all possibilities."

Dowdy mulled it over. "So where does Marseilles fit? I see we have a mutual option for next season, $800k?"

"Just depth, possible long man. We just need a definite arm - with injuries and some older guys, you've seen how this year shaped up. Yesterday's stellar performance aside, this bullpen crew has been shakey. Arambola and MacLulich, bad year for both of them."

"How about Latorro?" Dowdy asked. "He accepted a AAA assignment, started pitching down there?"

"Yah, sadly enough. No one claimed him, and he opted to stick around. Apparently, with Samno's injury, he's thinking he could get called back up. But with Lombrana and Marseilles, and Enrique Barrientos coming back, I don't think there's much hope of that. Maybe his $1mil salary will yield a return in coaching our triple-A arms." Delanty thought a moment, looking down at his rotation plots on his palm PC. "What do you think of Kudlick? Two stellar outings, one shellacking. Want to save him for September, or keep him in the rotation?"

Dowdy thought a moment. Delanty was asking his opinion, so he wanted to offer a good one. "We should wait until Barrientos has a start or two under his belt. Keep Kudlick around until then, for depth - or another 20-inning extravaganza." Dowdys eyes narrowed. "But honestly, Mark - it's about time we stop finding stopgap older arms. Metherall, Kudlick, Rochford, Vargas, and later Caleb Kelling. A few other guys we've talked about. Combine them with Valdespino and Nagy, and it could mean a winning record next year. I think we have to get things in order for a real push - even if that means trading someone like Fredrickson."

Delanty looked up from his PC. "I do believe, Tom, that we can agree on something."

*****

We definitely needed that huge extra-inning win, because the rest of the Tigers series didn't go so hot.

June 29th, 2018: Mainstay Santos Fernandy is knocked around hard, giving up 6 runs in just 2 innings. A Ken Dogman homer and 3 RBIs from Jeremy Aves let us tie it up, but in the 10th Carlos Santoy allows a walk-off two run homer.

June 30th: the Tigers series ends with a loss, as the usually effective Simon Parsons also succumbs to the Detroit offense, lasting only 4.1 innings. Tigers win 9-5.

The newly acquired Daniel Marseilles makes his first appearance, replacing the injured Alex Samno, allowing 2 runs in 2 IP.

The Indians post a disappointing 11-15 mark in June, and are fading fast from the AL central.

*****

Alex Samno stood at his locker a long time. It was clean now, save for his jersey hanging, his number 61 in his home whites.

The trainer had given him at least five weeks to rest the wrist, and a slow program of rehabbing. It was now the end of June, so he'd miss July entirely, maybe get back for mid-August. By then, the Indians would most likely be out of the playoff race. And he wasn't helping anyway - an ERA over 7, he hadn't been able to hold down a starter job, or even perform well out of the bullpen.

The Indians were great for chasing him over the offseason, getting him back in the fold, giving him a chance to keep playing. But his body was getting older, and travelling was taking its toll. He had never missed his own bed, his wife's warm body beside him so much. Part of him thought about going home, resting, and then coming back refreshed - but what for? He knew his stuff was gone. The Indians weren't going to make the playoffs - and if they did, he was more of a burden than an asset.

Samno shut his locker door. It was time to let his manager know he would be retiring.

27747

*****


Ashcraft to Texas deal gaining steam
ESPN.com

In the recent days since Aloysius Ashcraft's harsh statement about the Cleveland front office, word has been quietly growing that Ashcraft could find himself dealt to another team.

The Texas Rangers have emerged as a suitor, currently in 2nd place in the AL West, as rotator cuff surgery on their young phenom Matt Cady, as well as a slew of other starter injuries, has left them with dwindling stable rotation options.

The Indians are not expected to get much value in return, given Ashcraft's past personal issues, his poor performance this year (2-4, 6.19 ERA in 68.1 IP), and being that he is owed $3.6mil next season. Current reports have pegged two or three arms as potentially going to Cleveland:
SP Hugh Thirtle (age 28, ovr 76) [20 games total MLB experience in 2016-2017]
RP Alex Chavez (age 29, ovr 78) [2 games total MLB experience this year]
Clay Michalek (age 26, ovr 80) [rookie]

SP Matthew Reindl (age 29, ovr 79, sal $1.9mil) has also been named in some reports, perhaps as a salary equalizer. Reindl has mostly seen work out of the bullpen over the last 4 years for Texas, and is in the last year of his injury-plagued contract.

Analysts feel that sweeping all three would be a minor coup for the Indians - although Ashcraft has become a popular figure, playing his whole 11-year career in Cleveland, and his departure might end up weakening their fanbase. A deal still appears to be looming for another Indians star, whether it is Tim Fredrickson or even Ken Dogman.

Ashcraft is currently in a rehab stint for the Single-A Lake County Captians after fracturing his right hand on June 15th; he hopes to return to the major league rotation in the next two weeks.

[CatKnight]

Great as always, AOW!

[Alloutwar]

Re CatKnight: Thanks again man - glad I can take a month off from this and still get right back into it. Seeing you keep up the good work has urged me on.

-------------------------

We begin a new series at home against the Texas Rangers, hoping to start off July on a better note. Unfortunately, the Rangers are solid, and not happy to oblidge.

July 1st: Eric Metherall has another rocky start, his second straight, going 5+ innings allowing 4 runs. Lefty Alan MacLulich has a meltdown to the tune of 4 more runs, and the Rangers take the opener 9-7.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Rangers (TEX) 2 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 0 9 10 1
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 1 4 0 2 0 0 7 11 0

HR: K. Dogman (19), M. Marischall (8), G. Elliott (3)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Metherall 5.0 5 3 2 4 4 5 83 7.59
A. MacLulich 1.2 3 3 1 4 4 0 45 5.92
M. Arambola 2.0 2 0 1 1 1 2 25 3.95
C. Santoy 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 4.42
TOTALS 9.0 10 6 4 9 9 8 157

After the game, MacLulich complains of a sore tricep, and will miss 3-5 days.

July 2nd: Bud Kudlick goes again, and wow, he keeps on dazzling. 7 innings of pure, beautiful pitching, and the Indians take a 5-3 lead into the 9th.

What happens next...well, there are no words.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Rangers (TEX) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 10 13 9 2
Indians (CLE) 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 1


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
B. Kudlick 7.0 1 3 0 2 2 5 99 2.35
C. Santoy 1.0 1 0 1 1 1 1 14 4.54
R. Ardila 0.1 4 2 0 6 6 0 31 2.75
D. Doty 0.2 3 1 1 4 4 0 23 10.80
TOTALS 9.0 9 6 2 13 13 6 167


In case you cannot believe your eyes, that's TEN RUNS. My closer imploded - nay, the ENTIRE BULLPEN imploded - not only failing to protect a 2-run lead, but failing to keep the scoring to SINGLE DIGITS.

Have to tip your hat to Texas for not giving up. They saw an opportunity, and snuck their whole families across the plate. Disgusting. We wasted Kudlick's gem - and when he's the only guy tossing them, that's inexcusable.

July 3rd: Raul Lombrana tapped to go today, and again he turns in a solid outing in the 5th starter role. Our offense sputters, but finally comes through, as Shawn Ryan delivers the clutch walk-off single.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Rangers (TEX) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 10 1
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 4 12 0

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 5 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 .353
J. Aves (LF) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .309
S. Ryan (CF) 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .304
K. Dogman (2B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .319
T. Fredrickson (DH) 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .311
R. Battista (C) 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .273
D. Wigton (3B) 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .240
M. Velde (RF) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .190
G. Elliott (1B) 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .220
S. English (P) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .184
TOTALS 36 12 3 4 0 4 7 1

2B: R. Battista (7), S. Garey (17), G. Elliott (5), J. Aves 2 (19), T. Fredrickson (16)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
R. Lombrana 7.0 7 1 1 2 2 4 108 6.45
C. Santoy 1.0 2 2 0 1 1 0 35 4.66
M. Arambola 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 16 3.86
TOTALS 9.0 10 3 1 3 3 5 159

We take one of three, and then wait to take on the Mariners for the second series of July. Let's hope that series goes a bit better.

*****

27749

For 3 of...

27750

"So what do we think of this?" Delanty asked.

Scouting director Albert Thiessen's stare was blank; he was hoping Delanty would pass over him, which he quickly did. Manager Freddi Guittierrez had his eyebrows furrowed, and his arms crossed, indicating he was not at peace with it. General Manager Tom Dowdy was doing his 'Thinker' impression. Clearly, this was not an immediate hit.

"Well," Dowdy began, "It looks like we give up a usually solid starter, admittedly with some issues, signed through next year...for some chances...none of them that solid." Dowdy turned to Delanty. "I thought we talked about picking up more mediocre arms, Mark. Is this about improving the club, or just ditching Ashcraft?"

Aren't those the same? Delanty thought. "It's about admitting that he's a back-end guy at best, and cashing out while he's worth something. I know fans are loyal to the guy - great - but he's a mess, he's not performing, and we need to wring every ounce." Delanty turned to the manager. "Freddi, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about not having Aloysius in the rotation, and how scared that makes me," he said quickly.

"He's not in your rotation now," Delanty countered. "He's working his wrist out in Akron, in double-A." Guittierrez frowned knowingly. "I'm just saying," Delanty said, "We have to be thankful that someone, somewhere, is offering anything for this guy. He's has one winning season, what, his whole career. Guys playing their whole career in one city is great, but is it for the best?" Delanty saw that he was making a dent, even if a tiny one. "Thiessen," he said, changing gears, "what about the returns on this one?"

Thiessen looked at the screen appraisingly. "Reindl can be a force at times, when he is healthy. It looks like the Rangers don't want to put up with his health issues anymore...and unless Reindl likes it here, he'll look for a deal with high upside in the offseason.

"Chavez is a late bloomer, with great control, not much else. He's athletic and might be a solid reliever at this point, or a quad-A arm.

"Michalek still has some room to improve, but as is he's quad-A. Thirtle is a fifth starter or mopup if you were desperate. He doesn't outclass anyone starting for us today."

Delanty had to actually stifle a gasp after hearing that analysis. Thiessen did homework. Wow.

Dowdy was shaking his head. "I see where you're going, Mark, and there's a chance this will improve us, but let's give Ashcraft a shot at the rotation when he's done rehabbing. Then we could look at this again."

"But that's after the break - the Rangers might pull this deal. Even worse, Ashcraft could keep on being as bad as he is and convince them -"

"Two starts, Mark. I think Freddi would agree that we owe him that."

[Alloutwar]

So the team sticks around Cleveland for an extended home stretch, with the Mariners coming to town for 3 games, then the Tigers after that for 4 games. Then it's the All-Star break, and a last chance for us to review shipping out Ashcraft and/or Tim Fredrickson. I think we've convinced management about Fredrickson, but Ashcraft will be a harder sell. Damn all this loyalty!

Anyway, on to the series.

July 4th: Santos Fernandy turns in a solid 6-inning outing, and our offense puts us up to start with, but again we cannot hold on. Another extra-innings loss.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Mariners (SEA) 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 7 17 0
Indians (CLE) 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 1

2B: S. Garey (18), T. Fredrickson (17)
3B: T. Fredrickson (6)
HR: K. Dogman (20), J. Aves (5)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 6.0 9 1 0 4 3 3 100 4.53
C. Santoy 1.2 2 1 0 1 1 1 22 4.69
M. Arambola 2.0 4 0 0 2 2 1 39 4.09
R. Ardila 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 2.72
TOTALS 10.0 17 2 0 7 6 5 174

LP: M. Arambola (4-6)

July 5th: with lefty Simon Parsons going, my current #2 starter, I have hopes for this one - and indeed, a brilliant performance by Parsons as we make this a much better game.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Mariners (SEA) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 x 4 10 0

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Parsons 8.0 3 3 0 1 1 7 130 4.19
R. Ardila 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 2.65
TOTALS 9.0 4 3 0 1 1 8 147

WP: S. Parsons (7-6)
LP: P. Mefford (3-6)
SV: R. Ardila (6)

July 6th: Eric Metherall gets the start - and the kid is still on the bubble, 0-2 with an ERA north of 7 in limited starts. But here, he earns the win, although mainly due to an offensive blast.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Mariners (SEA) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 5 7 0
Indians (CLE) 3 1 1 3 0 1 0 1 x 10 16 0

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 .349
T. Fredrickson (LF) 4 2 1 3 1 1 0 0 .311
S. Ryan (CF) 4 3 1 3 0 1 1 0 .311
K. Dogman (2B) 5 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 .319
R. Battista (1B) 5 3 0 1 1 4 1 0 .284
D. Wigton (3B) 5 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .245
J. Aves (DH) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .310
J. Bryant (RF) 4 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 .337
M. Gooden (C) 4 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .280
TOTALS 39 16 3 10 3 10 6 0

2B: K. Dogman (22), S. Ryan (7)
HR: R. Battista (7), T. Fredrickson (11), J. Bryant (2)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Metherall 7.1 6 2 2 5 5 6 113 7.32
C. Santoy 1.2 1 0 0 0 0 1 26 4.50
TOTALS 9.0 7 2 2 5 5 7 139

WP: E. Metherall (1-2)
LP: R. Shepardson (4-6)

Metherall is still giving up homeruns, but the team continues to support him; Metherall leads the team with a ridiculous 8.0 average run support. (Thanks again, Mizerak's Box Score Parser!) It's the only reason Metherall isn't more like 0-5.

------

Shopping a Left Fielder/DH

27777

Albert Thiessen and Tom Dowdy sat, patiently waiting, while the video conference loaded. Tim Fredrickson's agent, Jake Tremley, was scheduled to have a conference with them regarding his representative's wishes - both for a contract, his happiness in Cleveland, and where he would like to be traded if he were traded.

Typically, the parent club wouldn't take into account a player's wishes - but Fredrickson was a special case. He came up through the Cleveland system back in the earl 2000's, before being traded and heading to the playoffs with the California Angels several times. In 2015, Tom Dowdy's first year at the helm, Fredrickson came home to Cleveland as a free agent bat.

Now, at 35, Fredrickson's health and fielding were in decline. He still had the bat though - good eye, some power - on another team, he'd be primed for a DH role. But Cleveland...well, they had enough DHs.

The doors opened and Mark Delanty quickly strode in, palm PC glowing in his hand. "Sorry," he said, grabbing a seat nearby. "Pittsburgh just worked out a deal for Chattaway, needed my approval. All set now."

Dowdy's eyebrows were raised, but he said nothing. Man, he thought. How good is your farm system when you can deal away star players every year and still make the playoffs?

The screen came to life, and Jake Tremley's visage appeared, projected onto the wall from above. "Gentlemen," he said smiling, "you rang? We are here to discuss a possible extension for my main man?"

Dowdy slowly nodded. "As one possibility," he said. "If he would consider a deal significantly lower than what he has now."

Tremley closed his eyes and shook his head. "So, so wrong. Who is second on your team in RBIs and homers, Tom? Right behind the $9 mil guy is your lovable, loyal left fielder. Tim took a hometown discount to come back to Cleveland, and he's performed well. Since then, he's become the face of your franchise - maybe you've seen the marketing reports? I believe his jersey outsells Dogman's still. Albert, you know what I'm talking about."

Thiessen looked at Dowdy and nodded. "He's a popular figure, sure. But everyone hits a decline, and Fredrickson's hitting his. He'd be great as a DH, but as a fielder, he's a liability."

"Stop, stop that," Tremley said. "Fredrickson's not going to DH, he can still play left field fine - look at your UZR metrics, Thiessen. He's still got much better range than your quad-A Jeremy Aves guy - and if you're thinking about bringing up that kid Nagy, good god, now there's a liability in the field. He's more apt to catch a - "

"Jake," Dowdy said. "We want to be fair to Tim. What does he want?"

Tremley looked to the cieling. "Three years. Guaranteed. Raise for cost of living. That's all." He looked back at the Cleveland team. "My man doesn't think too large. Heart of gold, I tell you."

Dowdy took a long breath. "We're not going to do that. We have too many good options in the outfield and at DH, and we need that money to improve pitching. You've seen our pitching...you know what I'm talking about."

Tremley pursed his lip hard. "So you're shipping him off?"

"Where does he want to go? The Angels are out, they're stacked in the outfield."

"Tom...if you absolutely must send him packing - give him a shot somewhere. My man wants a ring. He's been in the playoffs four times, and has nothing to show for it."

Dowdy appraised him. "Well, the Orioles are atop the AL East right now, hanging by a thread. He could DH or play outfield there. The Yankees are the only other option - with their injuries, he'd probably start in left. Of course, we don't want to help the Yankees..."

"What about NL?" Tremley asked.

Thiessen shook his head. "The value we'd get would be lower, in most cases. Only the Nationals have a hole in the outfield, and it's at center..."

Delanty cleared his throat. "Actually, the Nationals just swapped left fielders with the Pirates - Renwick is out, Stauffer came over. Stauffer can play center - if they're smart, they could put Fredrickson in left, and Stauffer in center."

Dowdy and Thiessen looked at him. Tremley looked lost.

"The Nationals are ahead by only a game, but desperately need offensive help to keep the Braves back. They will make a deal, and they have some fine pieces in their farm that they aren't taking advantage of." Delanty leaned in to Dowdy and Thiessen. "The Nats only have one good Lefty bat. Yankees have four switch hitters and three lefties. Orioles have three lefties and a switch. Nats are where it's at - they'll be all over this."

Dowdy turned back to the vidscreen. "There you have it, Jake. We'd love to keep Tim, and we are appreciative of all that he's given us. But it looks like he will be an Oriole, National or Yankee by the end of this month. We wish him and you the best. Cleveland out."

[Alloutwar]

The Nationals are indeed the most interested suitor for Fredrickson, but negotiations are going to take a few days. We wanted to land a big prospect close to MLB-ready, but Washington isn't giving any up. We may settle for a lesser name and some low-level prospects to fill out our farm system...but for just half a season of an older left fielder, they aren't giving much ($3mil total value).

Still, they need a left-handed bat; they are offering the most; and since we won't be keeping Fredrickson, this makes the best sense for us - he may even help the Nats secure a playoff spot. Giving him a shot at the playoffs is all we can do.

-----

We will wrap up our extended homestand with a 4-game set against the Tigers. Detroit is leading the AL central, 8 games ahead of us - so taking them down a peg would be fantastic. But with their solid lineup, and a rotation including the 10-0 Bob Macilrevie previously of the Diamondbacks, we might have to settle for a split, or something worse.

July 7th: Errors cost us dearly in this one, one by starter Bud Kudlick in the first, and another by LF Tim Fredrickson later in the game. Kudlick unravels quickly, going 3 and 2/3rds allowing 4 runs (1 earned). Shawn Ryan and Marcello Velde both homer, but it's not enough as we drop the opener 7-4.

July 8th: Here's where it looks even worse, with Tigers starter Bob Macilrevie taking a 10-0 record into this start. We counter with our 5th starter, Raul Lombrana, but miraculously we come out swinging. Shawn Ryan homers in his second consecutive game, and Jeremy Aves adds two RBIs - we take the lead late in the game, and Miguel Arambola gets the win as we take it 6-3!! We gave Bob Macilreview his first loss of 2018!

July 9th: bouyed by yesterday's success, and with Santos Fernandy taking the hill, we take the lead early and never look back, beating Lawrence Lustig and the Tigers 7-3. There were 4 Indians homeruns in this one!! And a 2-inning save by MacLulich.


2B: M. Marischall (9)
3B: S. Garey (2)
HR: R. Battista (8), K. Dogman (21), J. Aves (6), T. Fredrickson (12)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 7.0 7 4 2 3 3 5 106 4.49
A. MacLulich 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 20 5.70
TOTALS 9.0 7 4 2 3 3 7 126

July 10th: Left fielder Tim Fredrickson was left off the lineup for this game, and there are rumblings he was traded before the start time. Indeed, Tim Olsen was apparently promoted from AAA, as he is in the lineup starting in Left.

Simon Parsons starts this game, and is uncharacteristically hittable, giving up 6 runs on 3.1 IP. Enrique Barrientos returns from the DL and comes in for long relief, giving up 3 more runs; Joe Devalois follows him, allowing 5 more runs, turning a tight 7-5 game into a 14-8 laugher.

Still, we hit some huge home runs, again!


2B: K. Dogman (23), S. Garey (19)
HR: R. Battista (9), K. Dogman (22), S. Ryan (12)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Parsons 3.1 7 4 1 6 6 1 95 4.57
B. Kudlick 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 13 2.28
E. Barrientos 2.0 4 1 2 3 3 3 34 3.55
J. Devalois 2.0 4 3 2 5 5 2 38 7.28
A. MacLulich 0.2 0 1 0 0 0 2 13 5.63
TOTALS 9.0 16 9 5 14 14 9 193

Shawn Ryan is on a tear, 3 homers in the last 4 games. I don't think he'll make it into the All-Star game after missing so much time due to injuries, but he's really turning it on right now.

So we salvage a split with the AL Central-leading Tigers, and then get ready to relax for the All-Star break. I'd guess that we'd send one or two guys, but one potential all star - Tim Fredrickson - will not be wearing Cleveland colors.

*****


Fredrickson Traded to Nationals
Aging star will bolster Nat's playoff hopes
Skip Crenshaw, Cleveland Plan Dealer

Longtime Indians left fielder Tim Fredrickson was sent to Washington today in a trade. Fredrickson was 35, making $6.5mil in the final year of his contract, and batting .308/.356/.571 with 12 homers and 58 RBIs. Fredrickson originally came up with the Indians in 2006, taking over the left fielder job and average .311 his first four years. Fredrickson returned to the Indians in 2015 for a 4-year deal, after stints with the Padres and Angels.

Coming over from Washington are three pitchers:


Righty reliever Steve Walker (24, overall 75 - no MLB Exp.)
Righty prospect Claudio Torrubia (18, overall 61)
Lefty prospect German Binney (19, 66 overall)

Walker was the #7 rated prospect in Washington's system, holding AA batters to a .230 average and sporting a 2.51 ERA so far this year. Torrubia was a draft pick earlier this year, and has moved up from Rookie ball to A-ball already, sporting 1.4 and 1.3 ERAs in both. Binney is also in single-A, and sporting a 1.59 ERA as well. Both have raw talent, but like all prospects, they could flame out long before reaching the majors.

Outfielder Tim Olsen was called up to replace Fredrickson on the roster. Olsen will serve as a lefty bat and left fielder for the Indians, as he did earlier this season. Olsen is just 25, and with about a year and a half of service time, will be under club control for years to come.

The Indians are currently fourth in the AL Central, 8 games back of the Tigers; this is seen as a cost-cutting move by most, opening up some payroll room for the Indians as they look toward competing next season.




Another One Bites The Dust
Art Crenshaw, Cleveland Sun News

Tim Fredrickson is the kind of classy professional that the Indians have benefitted from. With a team of unproven younger guys, and a rotation that desperately needs stability, Fredrickson was one of those players you could point to - sturdy, consistent, solid.

Dealing him, instead of keeping and resigning him, may have been the right thing for a penny-pinching front office, but not for a team committed to winning. Outfielders hitting .310 don't grow on trees.

During his latest 4-season stint in Cleveland, Fredrickson performed admirably in every way, only hitting the DL three times. Why the front office would be concerned about his durability, when he played 142 games twice the last three seasons, is beyond me. If Fredrickson didn't want to stay, that's most likely because the Indians management couldn't put together any semblance of a winning presence around him - and when you're getting older, and the guys around you have no hope of making the playoffs, you might look forward to contending in another uniform.

We all wish Tim the best, and hope that he finally captures that elusive ring in Washington DC. But what we really wish, is that we had given him a chance to win here in Cleveland, where it all started.

[Alloutwar]

All-Star Game

The Cleveland Indians send TWO representatives to the all-star game this year:

2B : Ken Dogman (CLE) 1,171,249
SS : Scott Garey (CLE) 702,052

We own the middle infield! Nice. The Yankees have no starting fielders in the ASG for the first time in memory. Dogman worked a walk and hit a 3-run homer, the only AL runs in a 4-3 loss to the NL. Garey hit a single and a double - all in all, good showing for our middle infield! Man, Garey is looking like a steal of a signing more and more.

*****

July 14th: We open a 4-game series in Chicago. Aloysius Ashcraft is back from his rehab stint, and despite having possibly better options (Lombrana, Kudlick), I stick him back in the rotation. This is mainly for him to show us if he wants to stay, what he can do, etc. I have only two weeks until the trading deadline, and I'd prefer to ship him off to Texas. So...Kind of rooting for him to do bad.

Thank goodness he succeeds in that regard. We drop an 11-1 blowout as Ashcraft allows 7 runs (4 earned) over 2.2 IP. Lombrana and Devalois both allow some runs in relief. The hometown Chicago crowd goes crazy as we get knocked around all day. Very forgettable game.

Indians: 5-6 in July, 42-46 on the year.

July 15th: starter Eric Metherall will try his hand against the offensive force that is the White Sox - with his homerun rate, this may be a disaster. I will pair him with Ricardo Battista as catcher, just to see how that works.

It ends up being an awesome success - again, we hit hard with Metherall on the mound, scoring 7 runs. Shawn Ryan homers. Metherall pitches a phenominal 8 innings, allowing two runs. Indians win, 7-2. We are now 6-6 in July, and 43 - 46 overall.

July 16th: Enrique Barrientos will get his first start since returning to the club from injury. Barrientos was incredibly effective at starting, and has all the tools - 98mph heat, good slider, etc. Bud Kudlick was moved back to AAA after his last start to make room for Barrientos in the rotation - but Barrientos is still questionable (being rated at 71 ovr), when Raul Lombrana, Kudlick, and even Aloysius Ashcraft now all fighting for rotation spots.

Barrientos is hit hard right away, giving up two hits and a 3-run homer in the first. He settles down a bit, but still allows 5 runs - however, Ken Dogman hits TWO massive homers, and we are up 7-5 when Barrientos leaves. Then Miguel Arambola is left in too long, and it's a tie game at 7-7 - but Battista gets a clutch hit, scoring Shawn Ryan, and Carlos Santoy picks up a win in relief. Indians win, 8-7.

-----

Injury
SP Alfredo Barba, the Independent League signing that has worked his way up through AA to AAA, was diagnosed with severe elbow tendonitis, and will be out the rest of the season. Barba is signed through next year, and has an outside shot of making an appearance in the bigs next year if he comes back strong.

Contracts:
Pitcher Santos Fernandy (age 25, ovr 65) has signed on for a $500k extension through 2019. We buy out his first year of arbitration - a win-win in this case. Scouts continue to think his stuff is lacking, but his 9-2 record and 4.49 ERA continue to make him a very valuable arm for us.

-----

July 17th: newly re-signed Santos Fernandy will take on the White Sox in the finally of this 4-game set. We've won two in a row, and have a chance to take 3 of 4, or settle for the split. The White Sox send righty Joe Halkerston (1-1, 2.45 ERA in 2 appearances); Halkerston has spent most of his time in AAA sent coming over from the Giants last season, so this will most likely be a battle of the bats.

Fernandy allows 2 runs in the first, and 2 more later - the Miguel Arambola comes in and walks the bases laoded, and then walks in a run. Four walks, no outs. I relieve him, but it doesn't go much better. Tim Olsen goes 3 for 5, but the rest of the offense seizes as we lose, 8-3, for a series split.

Indians are 44-47, 7 games back in the AL Central race. We are 7-7, for a .500 mark on the month of July.

*****

"So," Delanty said, trying to suppress a smile. "Are we ready to talk to the Rangers about Ashcraft?"

Tom Dowdy and Albert Thiessen both appeared slightly pained. "Two starts, I said," Dowdy ventured. "We've seen one, let's give him a last chance."

"And if he implodes after two innings and costs us the game again?"

Dowdy looked at him. "Then maybe he'll be happier elsewhere."

Delanty smiled. "Great. Other teams have called about him, I'm sure you're aware. The Rangers aren't the only ones willing to spend $4mil on a chance at him redeeming himself. Streaky guy, but everyone sees the talent is there."

"Maybe you should give him another talking to," Dowdy said. "That seemed to work out real well for him last time."

Delanty shrugged him off. "He's dead weight, Tom. Expensive dead weight. We should be thrilled to be getting offers. Of course, I'll make it seem like they're getting a deal...as much as possible. We'll have to pick up someone like Reindl to make the money work, but I'm all for that."

Dowdy nodded. "If Ashcraft pulls something amazing out, we're meeting back here again. There's still a chance he could anchor our rotation next season - and we should sell high, not low like now."

Delanty paused, then half-nodded. "I think I can squeeze enough out to make this work, even with his poor numbers this year. But I'll keep you both in the loop."

-----

[Alloutwar]

The Indians have several expiring contracts in 2018.

1B Geoff Elliot ($750k, $825k option for 2019) We will most likely leave this on the table.
2B Ken Dogman ($8.8 mil) We will make a hard press to resign Dogman as our biggest star.
3B Mike Marischall ($950k) A great fielder, but with two good 3B options, he is expendable.
2B Sandy English ($550k) Mostly used as a pinch runner, expendable with AAA options.
C Dave Miller ($950k) Our 3rd-string catcher sees almost no action - we may resign him for depth, but most likely not.

Also, some arbitration cases:
OF Shawn Ryan (2nd year)
IF James Bryant (2nd year)

*****

Assuming that we cannot or do not re-sign any of those players, this is what our lineup and fielders will look like in 2019:

C: Myron Gooden
1B: Omar Valdespino
2B: James Bryant
SS: Scott Garey
3B: Dave Wigton
LF: Tim Olsen
CF: Shawn Ryan
RF: Marcello Velde
DH: Chad Nagy

C/1B: Ricardo Battista
IF: Edward Wille
3B: Keith Slaugh
OF/DH: Jeremy Aves
OF: Samuel Unzueta or Todd Weinberg

Any of those possible promotions could definitely make an impact at the major-league level. Now that we've made room for Olsen, I want to see what everyone else could do if given the shot.

*****

Aloysius Ashcraft was alone in the weight room, doing presses for his upper body conditioning. He was slightly sore from working out; it was a feeling he found, oddly, that he missed. The past few days, since his disappointingly short outing, he had been hitting the gym hard. Having the will to pitch wasn't enough; he needed to work for it.

He pushed the bar up over his head a final time, sweat running into his eyes. He was going to pitch in two days. Really pitch. He was going to give it his all. No late nights, no sneaking a drink, no popping any pills. And for the past week or so, he had actually felt halfway decent.

He returned the barbell to its resting position and closed his eyes, breathing heavily. His mind began to hit that peaceful, blank state. Then he heard a voice.

"Working hard, I see." Ashcraft recognized it - that GM advisor with the shorts. Delanty.

"You've got a lot of nerve to be bothering me, clown." He sat up on the bench and looked at the suit. "Player's union was happy to take up the grievance, you know."

"Ah, you assume I give a crap," Delanty said, smiling. "That I care deeply about my job, that I need the money and status. That I have to keep ***-clowns happy to retain my good name in the industry. That sort of thing?"

Ashcraft said nothing.

"Let me tell you something, Aloysius. I'm about being smart. That's my job. And I'm fantastic at it." Delanty moved forward. "You've really sucked at your job. Not just now, but for a long time. Keeping you...well, that isn't smart, is it."

Ashcraft glared. "You really have no personal skills, huh. Some kind of idiot savant, I guess?"

"How about you focus on your job. Are you going to take this seriously, and actually throw like a professional next Tuesday? Or am I better off shipping you out before the Rangers see you go up in flames yet again?"

Ashcraft contemplated grabbing some of the nearby weights and slamming them into Delanty's skull. "I'm here working for a reason. I'm turning things around. For real this time. If another team wants to take me on, and you don't have the guts, that's the way it has to be."

Delanty nodded. "Well, they've made me wait this long, to see if you can turn it around. Gotta say, these guys really give you lots of chances. You're a lucky guy. Odds are, with your track record, that you'll screw it up." He stood up to leave. "You might be able to turn it around, and win some fans back. Or, you may stumble yet again, and find yourself out of the majors soon. It's all up to you. Best of luck."

Delanty walked out. Ashcraft sat thinking for a long time.


*****

July 18th: lefty Simon Parsons takes the hill, starting off a 4-game set with the Twins in Minnesota. He is hit hard, allowing 5 runs in 4.2 IP. The Twins starter, Lawrenson, limits us to 2 runs, as we lose 6-2.

July 19th: Aloysius Ashcraft makes his second start after coming back from wrist surgery. He actually has a no-hitter going for a while...and stretches it into a very, very impressive outing.

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
A. Ashcraft 8.0 6 3 0 1 0 2 123 5.81
R. Ardila 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 14 2.50

WP: A. Ashcraft (3-5)
SV: R. Ardila (9)

Looks like Ashcraft really turned in a solild outing this time out, lowering his ERA below 6 for the first time in months. This will, of course, make the front office a bit more scared about dealing him...but will, at the same time, increase his trade value. Argh, GMing is tough work!

[filihok]

AA's on 'roids

[Alloutwar]

July 20th: the third game of the Twins series goes not-so-well; Eric Metherall turns in a fantastic performance, pitching a complete game, 2-run effort, scattering 8 hits. The bad news is, it's only an 8-inning complete game. The Twin's Todd Brock is on an unprecedented run, and improves to 7-0 with a 2.53 ERA. Promoted to the rotation for the first time at age 30, he has had a renaissance, getting 6 consecutive wins. Sometimes, you can't beat a streak like that.

July 21st: A solid effort by Enrique Barrientos (7.2IP, 4 runs) is nearly wasted, but we rally back in the 9th to tie it 4-4. Miguel Arambola takes over in the 10th, and the Twins single, bunt, and single again to walk off.

Twins take 3 of 4, and Indians morale is at an all-time low for the season.

--------

Dave Engbert hadn't talked much with Mark Delanty, but now he was meeting with both Delanty and manager Freddi Guittierrez. He wasn't sure what it was about - probably the Ashcraft trade rumors that were floating about. Engbert was a happy-go-lucky sort, so he just plopped himself down in a conference chair and waited for Delanty to arrive.

He wasn't waiting long. "Dave, Freddi," Delanty greeted them entering. "This won't take long, just two quick points to go over. First, as you may have surmised, is Aloysius Ashcraft. I want to know your feelings, because he could be gone in a matter of days. So, gut feelings; is he ever going to turn it around, or will it be flashes of brilliance, followed by months of craptastic?"

Engbert blinked. This guy was going a mile a minute.

Guittierrez covered him. "We aren't prophets, mark - everyone fluctuates. Aloysius has a few health concerns, a few psychological concerns, and hasn't made it past anything. You're looking at a guy for a solid 25 starts, mid to high 4's ERA. With our situation, I'm fine with him being here."

Delanty looked at Engbert. "Dave?" he said. "Your thoughts?"

Engbert furrowed his brow in concentration. "The guy's an odd case," he admitted. "Sometimes he loves it here, other times he's miserable. And that's long term, not just since you had your talk with him. Most guys with his talent would put it together and be average or better, but he struggles just to stay average. The pieces are there, but...it's all jumbled up, you know? Change of scenery might be necessary for him to ever figure it out. But either way - I'll continue working with him, or take on someone new."

Delanty nodded. "Thanks, gentlemen. Now, issue number two: Joe Devalois. He has an ERA north of 7, and from what I've seen in video, he's declined - pretty much fell off a cliff. He isn't the same guy he was even a few months ago. We're looking at releasing him, bringing Kudlick up full time. I need your thoughts there."

Guittierrez balked. "Listen, I know he hasn't had stellar numbers, but he's used to starting. Coming in from the 'pen isn't the same - he can't adjust."

"Well, he's not good enough to start," Delanty said. "We have more competition now. We gave him a chance, and he was okay, but eventually faltered. Going 2 or 3 innings and allowing 7 runs won't cut it." Delanty leaned in. "Listen Freddi, I know he's your friend, but with Metherall and Lombrana on board, Joe isn't cracking the rotation again. With Kudlick and Vargas in AAA, he's not coming back this year; he's just harming us. It's best to take our losses, like Latorro at this point."

Engbert looked at Freddi, the well-known player's manager. Freddi was wrestling with his conscience. "He'll understand," Engbert said. "He knows he's not cutting it. He'll take it like a pro."

Delanty nodded appreciatively. "Thanks guys. We'll have Kudlick here probably after the next series with Boston. It will be nice to see what he can do over the next few months, get a rapport going with Gooden."

*******

July 22nd: the dangerous Red Sox are in town for a three game set, and though I am nervous about Santos Fernandy, he soon shows that he can shut down an offense for 6 innings. Our offense, on the other hand, tears into the Sox arms, to the tune of a 9-0 lead. A lead, which sadly, evaporates...


Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians
July 22, 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Red Sox (BOS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 010 0 10 14 0
Indians (CLE) 0 0 3 0 0 6 0 0 2 11 15 2

CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 5 2 1 1 0 2 0 0 .344
J. Aves (DH) 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .300
S. Ryan (CF) 5 2 0 1 0 2 2 0 .309
K. Dogman (2B) 4 3 1 2 1 2 0 0 .327
R. Battista (1B) 5 3 0 1 1 3 1 1 .293
D. Wigton (3B) 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 .231
T. Olsen (LF) 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 .267
M. Gooden (C) 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .270
S. English (P) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .175
M. Velde (RF) 5 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 .206
TOTALS 40 15 5 11 2 11 5 2

2B: R. Battista (10), M. Velde (11), T. Olsen (9)
3B: S. Ryan (3)
HR: R. Battista (10), K. Dogman (25)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 7.2 7 2 0 5 1 5 116 4.39
J. Devalois 0.0 6 0 0 5 0 0 18 7.13
C. Santoy 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 2 15 4.37
TOTALS 9.0 14 2 0 10 1 7 149

WP: C. Santoy (4-2)
LP: M. Say (1-4)

Despite 1B Ricardo Battista's 2 errors causing most of the 10 run debacle, Devalois is about the most frustrating thing. 18 pitches, no outs. 6 straight hits. That isn't a pitcher, it's a tee for chrissake.

******


Joe Devalois Released
Indians righty walks immediate and unconditionally

Joe Devalois, longtime Indians starter who was relegated to a mopup role this year, has been cut by the Cleveland front office. Starter Bud Kudlick will be called up to take Devalois' roster spot before the next game in the Boston series.

Devalois, a rotation mainstay for four seasons, was sidelined in 2017 after arthroscopic wrist surgery. Since coming back to the big leagues in 2018, he had had flashes of success in the rotation, compiling a 4-4 record. However, his bullpen stints were much less successful, leading to a WHIP of 2.25 and a BAA of .367 on the season.

In his last outing, Devalois allowed 5 unearned runs on 6 hits, retiring no one. Though he stated he will be open to offers from teams looking for a starter, most scouts do not believe Devalois is major-league material at this point.

27915

[Alloutwar]

July 23rd: second game of the Red Sox series in Cleveland, and lefty Simon Parsons is up. Right fielder Jeremy Aves leads things off with a 2-run shot, and goes 4-for-5 on the day. Parsons goes 6+ giving up 4 runs for the win, as we take the second game 10-7. Bud Kudlick allows 3 runs in relief, so Rafael Ardilla comes in for the easy 1-2-3 save.


HR: M. Marischall (9), G. Elliott (4), J. Aves (7)

July 24th: Aloysius Ashcraft gets another start before the trade deadline to show his wares. The Rangers continue to press the Indians for a deal, according to the latest ESPN rumors - especially after Ashcraft's last 8-inning gem. This time is almost as stellar, as Ashcraft pitches 7 2/3rds scoreless innings, avoiding trouble and allowing 4 hits and 2 walks. Marcello Velde homers, and Ken Dogman hits 3 doubles and drives in 7 runs!!! He now has 91 RBI on the season - and it's not even August!!! Indians win 10-3.

We sweep the Red Sox, improving our record to 48-50 - almost back to .500. Our offense continues to run rampant, even with the loss of Tim Fredrickson, which makes me think some pitching stability is all we need for a serious run next season. Unfortunately, not all arms will be available...

*******

"Retiring?" Mark Delanty exclaimed, incredulously. "What do you mean, retiring!?"

Jared Hobarth, agent for pitcher Daniel Marseilles, was on the other side of the video conference. "Listen, Mark - Daniel made a mistake. He didn't want to come back to the majors. He's ready to hang it up, and be with his family. Travelling with the International League - it just soured him fast." Hobarth shrugged apologetically. "I'm not sure what else to say - he's tremendously sorry."

Delanty sat back in his chair. First Oscar Latorro flamed out - and despite being DFA'd, he wouldn't leave. Next Alex Samno crashes and retires, leaving him with two less starters than he had planned. But he rebounds, trading for Raul Lombrana, and signing Marseilles from the independent leagues, allowing him enough depth to dump Joe Devalois safely. Or so he thought.

Now, Marseilles was leaving him in the dust - and the writers were going to have a field day with another pitching acquisition blowing up in his face.

"Is this because we promoted Kudlick?" Delanty asked. "Or that we haven't traded Ashcraft yet? The opening will be there, Jason - Marseilles could pitch again for us. We're the worst pitching staff around, I believe - he's not going to get a better chance. And it was a minor league deal! If this is about expectations not being set -"

"Mark, no, it's not that," Hobarth assured him. "Marseilles is a veteran, a pro. He wanted to get back to the show, and you gave him an opportunity. Soon he just grew restless, got frustrated with some bad outings in Buffalo. Believe me, I tried to turn him around - he was definite. It wasn't worth it to him anymore. He'd rather play ball with his sons."

Delanty sighed. Marseilles was just a minor piece - barely a factor. But he was depth, something Delanty had already preached in Pittsburgh. 5 starters in the rotation, and 5 more ready to take their place, all the time. But when the replacements kept slipping through his hands...life became a bit more difficult.

Delanty terminated the video conference, and dialed Eric Ganey's agent. Ganey's contract would be up at the end of the year, and despite just a decent showing in AA, Delanty wanted to make absolutely sure he would stay on next year.



*******


Daniel Marseilles Retires
Informs Cleveland he is no longer interested in pitching

After just one appearance, righty Daniel Marseilles has terminated his contract with the Indians, saying he has chosen to retire. The 36-year-old had one outing against the Tigers, allowing 2 runs in 2 innings. He had originally signed a $700k contract on June 27th, not even a month ago, with an option for 2019.

Seen as a depth signing, Marseilles was supposed to bring a veteran arm to the struggling Cleveland rotation during the stretch run. However, after spending time in both AA and AAA, Marseilles was passed over for promotion to the Indians in favor of Bud Kudlick. Marseilles was with the Buffalo Bisons when he terminated his contract.

Scouts see this as a puzzling move - after spending time in Japan last year, and the independent leagues for most of this season, signing with a major league club was a huge goal for Marseilles. With Cleveland's decimated rotation and need of veteran arms, the two sides seemed like a perfect match. Marseilles has not released an official statement, but his agent did mention that he is looking forward to spending more time with his family, and relaxing away from baseball.

27926



Eric Ganey, Independent league signing to a minor-league contract earlier in the offseason, has had his contract extended through 2019. Ganey is signed for a paltry $50k, with incentives for Major League appearances. Ganey is 5 and 7 with a 4.79 ERA in 15 double-A starts.

[Alloutwar]

July 25th: the Royals come to Cleveland for a 3-game stretch. First up is Eric Metherall, pitching 7 innings, allowing 3 runs as we win 6-4. The Royals commit two errors, and their starter lasts only 3.2 innings. Ken Dogman goes 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Rafael Ardilla gets his 11th save.

July 26th: Enrique Barrientos is hit incredibly hard, giving up 9 runs in 1.2 innings. Raul Lombrana comes on in relief and gives up 1 run over 5 IP. We lose 10-6, and Barrientos is questionable for staying in the rotation, with Lombrana and Kudlick in the wings. Our only bright spot is Jeremy Aves, who hits two homeruns.


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Barrientos 1.2 8 3 1 9 9 2 58 5.64
R. Lombrana 5.0 5 2 0 1 1 8 97 5.79
M. Arambola 1.1 1 1 0 0 0 1 29 4.50
A. MacLulich 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 19 5.04
TOTALS 9.0 15 6 1 10 10 12 203

July 27th: Our offense comes alive in this one, as we take the final game and the series. Santos Fernandy continues his dominance.


CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
S. Garey (SS) 5 3 0 2 0 2 1 0 .355
M. Marischall (3B) 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 .271
K. Dogman (DH) 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .329
S. Ryan (CF) 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 .325
J. Aves (RF) 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 .317
S. English (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .171
J. Bryant (2B) 4 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .317
M. Gooden (C) 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .266
R. Battista (1B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .279
M. Velde (LF) 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .205
T. Olsen (P) 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .264
TOTALS 37 15 3 7 0 7 5 0

2B: K. Dogman (34), J. Aves (21), J. Bryant (12), T. Olsen (10)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Fernandy 8.1 6 4 1 2 2 6 102 4.24
A. MacLulich 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 4.99
TOTALS 9.0 6 4 1 2 2 7 110

*******


Trade Rumors Swirl As Deadline Approaches

The July 31st trade deadline is fast approaching, and several players continue to be mentioned in trade talks - Aloysius Ashcraft, Ricardo Battista, and even second baseman Ken Dogman. Still, the Cleveland front office has been remarkably quiet since the trade of outfielder Tim Fredrickson on July 10th. Aside from releasing a struggling pitcher, and the retirement of another starter, Cleveland has been largely dormant.

The rumor mill, however, has them very active, entertaining offers for second-half resurrectee Ashcraft, most forcefully from the Rangers. They also have them shopping C/1B/DH Ricardo Battista, although those rumors have subsided with Battista's resurgence at the plate. Ken Dogman, the offensive juggernaut, leads the league with 95 RBIs, and is third in homers in his free agency year.

With Mark Delanty on board, the Indians have been cutting costs, but retaining Dogman on a long-term contract is still a good possibility. According to his agent, Dogman loves it in Cleveland, and is open to renegotiating at any time.



*******

July 28th: the dreaded Yankees host us for a 4-game set before the trading deadline. Simon Parsons goes first, and gets hit, as we lose 5-1, getting only 4 hits. 3B Mike Marischall hits a solo homer, his 10th on the season, tying his career high. He is certainly showing power this year - a great platoon third baseman, and a top notch defender, this guy is a class act.

July 29th: second game goes better, with Aloysius Ashcraft taking the mound for possibly the last time in an Indians uniform.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 6 13 0
Yankees (NYY) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 4 5 0

2B: K. Dogman (35), S. English (4)
HR: K. Dogman (26), T. Olsen (4)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
A. Ashcraft 7.1 4 4 0 4 4 5 105 5.27
A. MacLulich 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 4.94
R. Ardila 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2.30
TOTALS 9.0 5 4 0 4 4 5 130

Dogman continues his offensive heat, and Ashcraft gets another win in a gutsy performance. Ashcraft had a no-hitter going through 6 innings, until a bunt single broke it up. Very poor sportsmanship!

July 30th: Eric Metherall goes again, getting hit for 11 hits and 4 runs in 5.2 innings. We only amass 3 hits, with CF Shawn Ryan getting a homerun and a double. Cy young winner James Fritts gets the win as the Yankees take a series advantage 4-3.

*******

I've attached my .mog file from the day of July 31st. I honestly am at an impasse - I can't decide whether to trade Ashcraft, trade Dogman, trade Battista, or trade no one. Ashcraft has been dominant in three straight starts, Dogman absolutely loves it here, and Battista is coming around and making himself a valuable C/1B/DH. The el-cheapo side of me wants to get rid of one of them, to make payroll room...but I like the makeup of the team and am hesitant to change anything.

Anyone have any advice? Would you trade Ashcraft, assuming he will just crash down again?

[MadThespian]

Just finished all 6 pages. Interesting read so far. Sometimes I think taking a bad team and making them good is the best part of the game.

Trade Battista. His only value is his bat. A Jose Morales/Francisco Cabrera type.
Keep Ashcraft and see where the story takes you. Might be interesting.
I think resigning Dogman is a priority.

Just my opinion, worth exactly what ya' paid for it.

[Alloutwar]

Indians Extend Ken Dogman's Contract
Trevor Stockton, mlb.com

Ken Dogman, the current homerun and RBI leader for the Cleveland Indians, has agreed in principal to a 5-year contract that would immediately replace his current contract. Dogman was making $8.8mil/year, and the new terms will immediately increase that to $10.7 mil/year.

Dogman has thrived since he set foot in the city, and Indians management made it a priority to retain his services for the foreseeable future. The deal locks Dogman up through 2022, with a mutual option for 2023.

Dogman is currently hitting .323/.350/.603, with 95 RBI and 26 HRs with over two months left to go. Already the highest-paid Indian, this makes Dogman one of the top 30 salary players in the league, but is still seen as a hometown discount given his offensive value.

Analysts believe Dogman will move, either to third base or a corner outfield spot, possibly as soon as next year. Dogman has made public only that he will do what is best for the team.

28159




Ken Dogman wants a contract of 4 to 5 years.
This demand already includes the current season.
His agent will negotiate up to 4 times.


******

2019 pitching plans, if contracts stay the same:

#1 Santos Fernandy (renewed for $500k)
#2 Simon Parsons
#3 Steve Rochford, assuming arb figures go well
#4 Eric Metherall
#5 Aloysius Ashcraft
Long/bullpen:
Enrique Barrientos
Bud Kudlick
Short bullpen:
Miguel Arambola
Carlos Santoy (arb)
FA or callup (Brimble/Whiteside)
FA or callup (Walker/Kelling)


*****

Freddi Guittierrez, manager of the almost-.500 Cleveland Indians, smiled as he looked at one of his favorite starters. “You’ve done it. You’ve really turned in some solid outings, two straight four-hitters. A win against the Yankees, after 6 perfect innings. You’re making them squirm.”

Ashcraft smiled back. He had great respect for Guittierrez – he knew he had let him down, many of these seasons, bringing his personal issues with him, delivering a sub-par performance, tanking when the team needed him most. Freddi had never given up on him, never replaced him. He had shown infinite patience – moreso than Ashcraft deserved. The jerks upstairs wanted to shed him like a bad disease, but Freddi stood up for him. Now the suits were in a real mess – pull the trigger and send him packing, or keep him around and hope he continues his recent resurgence.

“That Delanty guy…” Ashcraft said. “What’s his deal? He came down to the weight room a few weeks ago…he’s not exactly angry, but he’s a complete prick. It’s like a interrogation every time I talk to him, like he’d trying to get under my skin. What gives?”

Freddi shrugged. “Suits, man. You don’t make it to the top without being some variety of a**hole. Am I right?”

Ashcraft laughed, but still felt uneasy. He had dropped the pills and the drinking. He had kept them dropped. He was working out, practicing, and keeping things very simple. Meetings three times a week. Now he was coming around to step 8 again soon, and he hated that step. Delanty was part of the front office, which Ashcraft had undoubtedly wronged, with the accident, the fights, the lies. But to admit that he owed that guy something, an apology….that wasn’t going to happen. Not easily, anyway.

“Freddi, I’m sorry for all the crap I’ve put you through. You’ve been more of a father to me than I ever had, and –“

“No no no,” Guittierrez stopped him, waving his hand. “None of that gushy business in here. You got something to say, something to do, you do it it out there, on the mound. That’s all I ask.” He looked at his #3 starter seriously. “The guys upstairs may send you off tomorrow for some fresh faces they can feel better about. If so, I’ll be pissed, but you take the opportunity and run with it. You take what you learned here, and make sure you stay on the up-and-up. You hear me?”

Ashcraft nodded. The thought of being traded somewhere other than Cleveland was paralyzing, yet exciting. Maybe a way to break the cycle. But he didn’t need that – he had broken it himself. It just needed to stay broken, for good this time. He was getting too old for this roller-coaster.


*********


Velde Injured - Nagy Gets a Shot
Trevor Stockton, MLB.com

Right fielder Marcello Velde has been diagnosed with a shoulder strain, and will miss approximately a month recovering. The Indians recently traded away starting LF Tim Fredrickson, so this leaves their outfield corps slightly strained. According to manager Freddi Guittierrez, Tim Olsen will remain in left, Shawn Ryan will remain in center, and Jeremy Aves will fill in in right field. This allows the Indians to bring up touted prospect Chad Nagy to replace Velde’s bat in the power department. The two batters are extremely similar, both with great power, but poor contact. Nagy, however, has a supreme eye, and his AAA numbers are tops in the league.

Many Indians fans are excited to finally see Nagy get a shot in the lineup, as the former #1 pick from the 2015 draft has rocketed through the minor leagues. At just 21, three years removed from high school ball, the lefty is seen by most scouts as ready to contribute at the major league level.


************


Delanty's Efforts Full of Sound and Fury
Art Crenshaw, Cleveland Sun News

Last season, the Indians used many starters - but a core rotation of Ashcraft, Fernandy, Parsons, and Barrientos got most of the innings. Alex Samno functioned as a 5th starter.

Then, in the offseason, phenom/savior Mark Delanty came on board in an 'advisory' position, with the stated goal of improving the Cleveland pitching. Lete's do a quick run down of his pitching moves since then:
1) Re-signed Simon Parsons for 3 years
2) Re-signed Miguel Arambola for 4 years
3) Signed Alfredo Barba, Luis Sanchez and Eric Ganey from independent/international leagues (none of whom have seen the majors)
4) Traded our best relief prospect for starter Eric Metherall
5) Re-Signed Alex Samno for 1-year
6) Signed free agent Oscar Latorro for 1 year, plus 2 team options
7) Moved Steve Rochford to the rotation to start the season
8) Traded Gianluca Vialla to CWS for Samuel Vargas
9) Oscar Latorro DFA'd after poor performance
10) Incident with Aloysius Ashcraft resulting in a grievance being filed with the player's union
11) Acquired Raul Lombrana from the Yankees
12) Signed Daniel Marseilles
13) Alex Samno retires
14) Signed Santos Fernandy to 2-year extension
15) Released Joe Devalois
16) Daniel Marseilles retires
17) Eric Ganey's contract extended through next year
18) Independent League signing - Kevein O'Brien, another 'depth' move

Total pitchers signed/acquired: 12
Total DFA'd, released, traded away, or retired: 5

Despite adding an astounding 12 pitchers, the rotation today includes only one new name - Eric Metherall. Ashcraft, Fernandy, Parsons, Barrientos. The bullpen is 80% the same too - Arambola, Ardilla, Santoy, MacLulich, and now Kudlick.

All this makes it look like Delanty really has had little if any impact; the success this year is due to players performing better. Unlike in Pittsburgh, the team doesn't have to change 10 names every season...(cont'd on page 26)

[filihok]

Why the rush to move Dogman to a corner?

I don't remember you having any up-and-coming 2B to push him there.

Last time I looked he was a 81/72/70 defense at 2nd. Now he's a 80/82/71. Giving your scouting +/- 9 if he's in the middle of those then he's a league average fielder, with a great bat.

If you move him to third or left you have to find a second baseman that hits like a third baseman or left-fielder (- any defensive improvement) just to stay even.

[Alloutwar]

Fair enough - thanks for the feedback.

In my mind, Dogman's defense at 2B (rated 77, .975 fpcg) isn't good enough. I have Edward Wille tearing things up in AAA, and he's a speed demon. I also have James Bryant currently fighting for playing time, and he's a plus defender at SS and 2B (93/91) - and he's also tearing the cover off the ball (around .300, if not above), making me want to make room for him. I really, really want a solid defense up the middle. Something is making all my pitchers' ERAs all 4.2 - 5.8, and that just doesn't seem right. I initially thought it was catcher handling, but going with a great handling catcher most of this season hasn't improved anything.

I literally have one arm - Rafael Ardilla - with an ERA under 4, and his is a ridiculously good 2.25. I'm thinking the defense must be to blame for everyone else's inflated numbers.

Dogman's offense makes him valuable at any position, but with poor speed (66), he doesn't fit the 2B mold - he's a Jeff Kent at best. Right now I've got great fielders at the corners, and decent ones in the outfield, but I'm thinking that moving Dogman to a less demanding position in 2019 or 2020 would make sense after a few guys leave to FA.

Do you not think Bryant or Wille is worth giving the 2B position to next season? I can post their info when I get home...

[MadThespian]

I disagree with Filihok.

I think you need better defense @ 2B. Dogman is adequate, but not the solution. If you didn't have Valdespino at 1B, I would say that is the spot. Personally I would use Ken as a swingman, playing everyday, but seeing time at multiple positions (1B-LF-RF-3b-DH & possibly 2B). And if one of the rookies fails or an injury strikes, voila, you have choices.

Good re-signing though & fairly cheap.

[FloydtheBarber]

I don't think you should keep Dogman for the duration of that contract. I'd trade him for some big prospects. I personally rally dislike having players with such bad eye ratings, and you just gave him a fairly large contract.

[MadThespian]

I don't think you should keep Dogman for the duration of that contract. I'd trade him for some big prospects. I personally rally dislike having players with such bad eye ratings, and you just gave him a fairly large contract.

That's 4 1/2 years away, I think it's a little early for the trade rumours to start swirling.:cool:

[Alloutwar]

Thanks for the input, guys.

I had made Dogman a priority to re-sign this year - my other main slugger, CF/RF Shawn Ryan, is in his Arb years, and is much less likely to stay - he's a money-first sort of guy. I can get lots of prospects and youngins' in the future (although at a transactions/per year limit, as stated in my first post, to avoid uber-gaming here). Dogman may not walk a lot, but at 29 his contact and power number are peaking. His OBP may not be the best, but he'll be a homer/RBI machine, and every team needs one of those. (He also recently had some 3-HR games, with 7 to 9 RBIs - how can I let him walk? The fans would have my butt!)

He's also currently the face of my franchise, coming to Cleveland as a FA and being marvelously happy here, and this year ripping things up in the ASG. With Fredrickson traded, I need to make some long-term investment in this team, and Dogman is the perfect slugger for the job. He wants to stay (happiness ~80). Rather than trade away guys like this once they become anywhere near expensive (see my Pirates dynasty, where I was in the playoffs near constantly with a sub-$30mil payroll), I'm doing this one more reaslitically - which for a mid-market team, involves one or two decent contracts now and then.

For the sake of argument, I simmed forward to the end of the year, and Dogman had a monster effort, with 46 HRs and .330 avg. His resigning price, at that point? $19mil. I think this is a bargain, and I fully intend to keep him in the lineup. And with Nagy taking the DH spot for the foreseeable future (since his defense makes Jason Bay look like Curtis Granderson), that means either settling on a 77-rated 2B'er, or moving him to an easier position in favor of a 90's-rated guy.

EDIT: FYI, here are my up-and-coming middle infielders. Bryant is a super-utility guy on the team, but Wille hasn't cracked the squad this year aside for 6 ABs. Both are solid guys.

Wille is more likely to be traded in the off-season in favor of pitching or another position...so maybe Dogman can stay at 2B for a while...we'll see.

[Alloutwar]

From ESPN.com:

The Cleveland Indians ended the month of July without making any additional roster moves. It looked like that was a good choice, as the Indians topped the Yankees 4-2 on July 31st. Enrique Barrientos tossed 7 strong innings for his 4th win, and Rafael Ardilla nailed down his 13th save.

Then, after a day off, August began - and so did a string of what can only be described as humiliating losses. It started with some good pitching performances being spoiled - a 7.2 inning effort by ace Santos Fernandy, where the offense was held scoreless by Tampa Bay. Then Simon Parsons was left in a bit too long, giving up the lead in the 8th. Finally the resurgent Aloysius Ashcraft was also left in too long, after 8 scoreless, to let a 1-1 tie go to extras, where demoted closer Miguel Arambola allowed a walk-off for the sweep.

But that was just the beginning. The Indians returned home for series against the Athletics and Twins, and have committed 7 errors in those 6 games. The Athletics series was close, but still a sweep; the Twins series was just demoralizing, as the Indians were outscored 42 to 15. The final game saw 2 errors, 3 straight wild pitches, and the callup of independent league pitcher Eric Ganey, who at 27 made his major league debut, allowing 7 runs (3 earned) in 2.2 IP.

Moving Bud Kudlick into the rotation made no difference, as the only starter with an ERA under 4 was hit for 4 runs (two homers) in a laborious 49-pitch, two innings effort.

Injury was literally added to insult, when on August 7th LF/DH Chad Nagy was diagnosed with a torn quadricep muscle, meaning a trip to the DL and a replacement in AAA 1B Omar Valdespino. Valdespino, despite hitting .324/.381/.721 in with a AAA-leading 40 homers, has yet to translate that success to the big leagues, where he is hitting .254/.321/.324 with no dingers.

"This is probably a low point for all of us," said normally silent center fielder Shawn Ryan, visibly frustrated after the third straight sweep. "We were having a good year, some things were coming together, and now suddenly we're fourteen games out." Ryan was quick to point out that he was at fault, holding a .160 average the last 9 games while batting 3rd.

The team is definitely beat up, with catcher Myron Gooden and right fielder Jeremy Aves both missing significant playing time lately. With Marcello Velde and now Chad Nagy on the DL for the next month, the offense is missing a significant power threat. Third-string catcher Dave Miller has seen three starts the past two weeks, after accumulating less than 40 at-bats all season. With starter Steve Rochford suffering a season-ending injury after his torrid 4-0 start, some are amazed the Indians clung to .500 four months into the season.

Despite the trading deadline passing, Indians management is not throwing in the towel. The team's front office and scouts continue to track a few starting pitchers, both overseas and in the Independent Leagues to shore up their struggling staff. Ethan Allen, a lefty starter that went undrafted in 2017 and went to the Puerto Rican and Frontier leagues, recently signed a 2-year minor league deal with the club. The Indians are also said to be in discussions with free agent starters Raul Elisondo and Todd Devries.

Most analysts feel that the Indians are simply coming back down to Earth after hovering at .500 for too long. They were on track to win 80 games for the first time since 2013, which would have been a marked improvement from their 101-loss 2017.

[MadThespian]

Ouch, very rough two weeks.

I kind of like that Wille fella. looks like a decent LH bat who can field. Good speed and eye too. Maybe keep him, move Dogman to 3B & trade Wigton? I am huge fan of good D up the middle.

[Alloutwar]

Thanks MadThespian - Wille is potential, but Bryant is a better fielder, and Wille has poor health, AND hates Cleveland. He is more likely trade bait for me.

To distract me from our phenominally bad August (although we finally broke out of it by sweeping the White Sox), I will be posting the top 10 prospects in the current Indians farm system. A few hitters, a few pitchers - just to flesh out some up-and-coming stars, and give the fans something to look forward to in 2019 and beyond.

Indians Top Prospects List
2018

28374

#1: LF Chad Nagy - the trade acquisition from the Pirates in 2017 is still a top hitting prospect, though he has failed to impress in 32 at-bats in the majors so far. His walk total and on-base percentageare impressive, and at 21, he has one of the best eyes in the Indians organization.

#2: SP Chico Burgos - this second-round pick in 2017 has ascended into A-ball, and shows a very high cieling. The large Cuban has great strength and 4 good pitches, and is projected to reach the majors in 2020 or 2021.

#3: SS Marc Vanzetti - The number 2 overal draft pick this year has performed well in single-A, hitting .255/.296/.356. His fielding is still seen as potentially game-changing, and with another two seasons of development he should be ready for the show.

#4: CF Todd Weinberg - the #12 overall pick from 2016 moved to AA-ball this year, and at 23 he is performing superbly, hitting .327 with 28 steals. the speedy center fielder has a questionable arm, and health issues, but otherwise he is ready to take over the center field job very soon.

#5: RP Luis Margarin - moving into a closer role in AAA this season, Margarin has amassed 79 strikeouts and 19 saves to go with his 3.83 ERA - and all that in just his third season of pro ball. Margarin is a lefty reliever, an area the Indians need help with, meaning he is in the mix for a bullpen roster spot in 2019.

28375


#6: SP Sam MacGlashan - A fifth round pick, MacGlashan has surprised everyone by moving up from rookie ball all the way to double-A this season. Sam is 4 and 1 with a 2.68 ERA, and could be a factor for the roster in 2019.

#7: 2B Edward Wille - At 25, Wille is an old prospect - but blocked in the Indians system. Hitting .320/.383/.489 in AAA, Wille has good bat control, good eye, and good speed - and though he's had some defensive issues, he is still a solid second baseman. Wille could play on some teams, and that the Indians haven't made room for him or dealt him reflects poorly on their front office.

#8: CF Marquitz Vanegas - the third-round 2018 pick is also performing well, hitting .307/.400/.470 in rookie league ball. Fielding and speed are already plus, and the Puerto Rican has impressed in his professional game thus far.

#9: 1B Chad Adams - the hometown 2017 draft pick made the jump to AA this season, and is performing well, hitting .322 with 19 homers. The 22-year old seems destined to be the first baseman of the future, leaving the Indians to deal with him or Valdespino. Adams is a hometown talent with a better eye and better upside, and better fielding, all with a year younger.

#10: 1B Omar Valdespino - the slugging Dominican has continued his tear, hitting 40 HR's and 102 RBIs in AAA this season until his callup. Though he has not impressed in his 99 at-bats, at 23 he still has time to adjust.

[Alloutwar]

August absolutely sucked. We went 7 and 20. We were swept 5 times. And not by great teams - Athletics (twice), Mariners, D-Rays...this is about the low point.

Indians are 59-73, 14 games under .500. Last year's team wen't 61-101, so we are looking to improve on that substantially. Maybe .500 was a bit to hope for, but this dreadful fall from mediocrity is depressing.

A look into some August efforts that went into this mess, courtesy of Mizerak's Box Score Parser:

Hitting:



Batting Stats AVG/OBP/SLG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS wOBA GIDP RC/27 HBP

K. Dogman .248/.282/.371 27 26 105 11 26 4 0 3 9 5 23 0 0 .286 0 0.41 0
S. Garey .301/.350/.355 26 21 93 14 28 5 0 0 3 7 21 1 0 .319 0 0.43 0
S. Ryan .215/.270/.402 26 26 107 12 23 6 1 4 14 8 26 0 0 .290 0 0.43 0
T. Olsen .282/.337/.365 24 20 85 10 24 7 0 0 6 7 8 0 0 .315 0 0.39 0
M. Marischall .224/.322/.421 22 21 76 7 17 3 0 4 12 11 28 0 0 .327 0 0.38 0
R. Battista .268/.326/.476 21 21 82 9 22 2 0 5 11 7 24 0 0 .346 0 0.47 0
J. Bryant .231/.265/.292 19 16 65 7 15 1 0 1 4 3 15 1 0 .251 0 0.19 0
M. Gooden .324/.352/.471 19 18 68 7 22 7 0 1 15 3 4 0 0 .358 0 0.42 0
G. Elliott .185/.228/.407 19 15 54 4 10 1 1 3 5 3 10 0 0 .269 0 0.19 0
J. Aves .286/.392/.397 18 18 63 13 18 4 0 1 3 11 6 2 0 .359 0 0.38 0
D. Wigton .235/.328/.314 17 15 51 2 12 1 0 1 7 7 4 0 0 .297 0 0.19 0
S. English .150/.190/.150 13 3 20 2 3 0 0 0 2 1 4 2 0 .163 0 0.03 0
O. Valdespino .196/.260/.370 12 12 46 4 9 0 1 2 7 4 7 0 0 .275 0 0.16 0
C. Nagy .167/.400/.222 6 6 18 0 3 1 0 0 0 7 1 0 0 .323 0 0.06 0
M. Velde .222/.222/.333 5 3 9 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 .238 0 0.03 0
D. Miller .125/.125/.125 3 2 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 .113 0 0.00 0
Batting Totals: .247/.309/.378 27 27 950 104 235 43 3 25 98 84 187 7 0 .304 0 0



Ken Dogman certainly hasn't been on fire since his big contract extension, hitting only 3 homers and batting .249 for August. Ricardo Battista has gone in the other direction, heating up with the bat with 5 homers - but nowhere near the .324 avg posted by catcher Myron Gooden. 2B Mike Marischall, though he continues to bat around .220, now has 14 homers on the season, a career high. The longtime backup is establishing himself in Cleveland as nearly a full-time player, taking the majority of playing time from Wigton with his smooth glove. Marischall has racked up 15 doubles, 14 homers, 50 RBIs, and 29 walks, while posting a .248/.317/.425 line.

Funny thing is, his contact and power ratings are just around par - 71, 76 respectively, 76 eye. Not sure this guy should be belting 14 homers in 322 ABs.

Pitching:



Pitching Stats GP GS REC SV ERA IP H R ER HR BB K DICE WHIP PIT RUNSUP QUAL

C. Santoy 15 0 0-2 0 3.78 16.2 17 7 7 3 6 19 4.14 1.38 280
M. Arambola 15 0 1-1 0 2.28 23.2 12 6 6 1 9 21 2.92 0.89 377
A. MacLulich 14 0 0-0 0 3.26 19.1 13 7 7 2 10 15 4.34 1.19 303
R. Ardila 8 0 0-1 4 4.66 9.2 8 5 5 3 5 4 7.76 1.34 147
S. Fernandy 6 6 1-3 0 4.42 36.2 38 20 18 7 9 31 4.53 1.28 598 3.8 3
S. Parsons 6 6 0-4 0 5.06 37.1 44 21 21 2 12 35 2.79 1.50 646 2.3 4
E. Barrientos 6 2 0-2 0 10.69 16.0 26 20 19 3 6 12 5.06 2.00 297 3.0 0
A. Ashcraft 5 5 0-3 0 4.67 27.0 26 18 14 4 12 22 4.63 1.41 476 3.2 3
E. Metherall 5 5 3-2 0 4.45 28.1 29 16 14 5 10 16 5.22 1.38 449 5.2 3
R. Lombrana 5 1 2-1 0 7.31 16.0 20 13 13 2 9 11 4.94 1.81 318 6.0 0
B. Kudlick 2 2 0-1 0 9.00 7.0 15 7 7 4 2 4 10.14 2.43 141 6.5 0
D. Doty 2 0 0-0 0 3.00 3.0 5 1 1 0 1 0 4.00 2.00 56
E. Ganey 1 0 0-0 0 10.13 2.2 6 7 3 1 2 4 7.13 3.00 67
Pitching Totals: 27 27 7-20 4 4.99 243.1 259 148 135 37 93 194 4.53 1.45 4155 3.8 13


Note Simon Parsons and Aloysius Ashcraft both going winless, and 'ace' Santos Fernandy only racking up one win himself. Parsons actually led with 4 quality starts, and also led in DICE, so he wasn't even pitching badly. Argh.

Eric Metherall and newly-anointed 5th starter Raul Lombrana accounted for 5 of our 7 wins. Enrique Barrientos faltered so badly that he's now the long man - Lombrana will start for the rest of the season.

[Alloutwar]

First off - I want to thank whoever nominated this dynasty for the Dynasty of the Month poll (http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php?t=200553) (and anyone voting in it). I've mainly been lazy, not posting much storyline, and in addition to the normal holiday busy-ness, I was terribly sick for a few days. So seeing any recognition for this effort, especially after a down month, is exciting. To be in the same group asn OldYankFan and Mizerak is truly high honors.

*****

The Angels come to Cleveland for a 4-game series to open the month. We take advantage of September call-ups:

Fielders:
CF Samuel Unzueta (83)
LF Chad Nagy (82)
1B Omar Valdespino (70)
3B Keith Slaugh (75)
CF Todd Weinberg (70)
C Ross Willoughby (70)
2B Elvis Villalobes (70)


Pitchers:
SP Oscar Latorro (52)
SP/RP Steve Walker (83)
SP Caleb Kelling (70)
RP Dave Doty (78)
RP Brian Brimble (75)
SP Samuel Vargas
RP Joe Whiteside

Sept 1st: Alosyius Ashcraft goes 8 innings strong, 1 run on 4 hits, 5 walks. We take a 1-1 tie into extras, and Alan MacLulich tosses 2 scoreless for the win. Ken Dogman bats in both runs, including the walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 10th. Indians win 2-1.

Sept 2nd: Eric Metherall puts in another tip-top outing, going 8 innings allowing 1 run. Rafael Ardilla nails a perfect 9th for his 18th save, and the offense provides, as the Indians win, 4-1. Angels starter Sam Robinson is hit for 4 runs, as Mike Marischall homers and Tim Olsen drives in two.

Sept 3rd: Raul Lombrana comes up lame with a sore rotator cuff - probably from starting for the first time in years. Enrique Barrientos will make the spot start.

We come out swinging against the Angel's weak lefty, Hathway, as Jeremy Aves hits a homer, and we score 5 runs in the 2nd. But Barrientos can't hold it, giving it all back; MacLulich gives up two more, and Carlos Santoy another. Losting 8-6 in the 9th, Marcello Velde belts a solo homer, but it isn't enough. Indians lose, 8-7.

Sept 4th: Cleveland ace Santos Fernandy puts in a stellar performance, scattering 6 hits in a complete game, 108-pitch shutout. Marcello Velde homers for his second consecutive game, and Ricardo Battista homers as well - he is on a tear. Indians win 4-0.

Fernandy is the only pitcher in double-digit wins, with 12 (AL leader has 15). His ERA lowers to 4.06, just outside the top 10 in the AL. Not bad for a guy rated 65 overall by my scouts. :/

*****

28473

Aloysius Ashcraft was back in the trainer's office. The trainer was examining his left ankle, which exhibited some slight swelling. Manager Freddi Guittierrez looked on with concern.

"Has this been bothering you for a while?" Freddi asked.

Ashcraft frowned. "Yes, off and on...but during the side session yesterday it really...something twisted. It hasn't been this bad."

Freddi looked at the trainer. "He's going to miss this start, right?"

The trainer nodded. "No way he lands on this thing 80, 90 times tomorrow."

Ashcraft sighed. After a terrible August, that saw his hopes of turning the season around dashed with 4 straight losses - including a 2-inning, 6-run mess - he was finally in a position to turn it around, dominating the Angels last week. Now, he was going to miss his next turn in the rotation. "Delanty's gonna be pissed," he said to no one in particular.

Freddi's eyebrows shot up. Why did he care about Delanty? "Look Ash, it's no biggy - we got guys that can take a stab. Kelling can step in, he's fully rested after the AAA season ended. Don't take it so hard, just relax and get in shape for your next start."

Ashcraft continued to look at the floor. "I was at .500," he complained. "I've quit everythingm I've been good. Delanty kept me around, didn;t send me packing...and I've been terrible since."

Oh jeez, Guittierrez thought. Please, no, no self-loathing. He motioned for the trainer to leave the room. "Ash, you gotta stop this. Everyone has bad stretches. You had some good outings in August - the whole team fell apart. It happens. It's a new month, and you got a great outing under your belt. Build on that."

Ashcraft stared at his ankle hatefully. "God damnit Freddi, I don't know why the hell I'm here anymore."

Guittierrez sighed.

******

After an off-day, the Royals host the Indians for a 3-game set.

Sept 6th: with Ashcraft's injury, our starter options are limited. Bud Kudlick has been nursing a knee cap issue for 2 weeks. Raul Lombrana has a sore rotator cuff, still. Oscar Latorro is only here because he wasn't claimed when DFA'd..although his tenacity is admirable.

We end up sending Caleb Kelling in on the advice of manager Freddi Guittierrez. Kelling is slammed for 9 runs (7 earned) in 4 innings. Ken Dogman homers, but the Indians lose 9-6.

The real story of the day is Oscar Latorro - though we dismissed him, he actually came on in relief and put in a solid 3 innings. He lowered his ERA by about 2 runs in those 3 innings. Interesting.


CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
C. Kelling 4.0 6 2 3 9 7 1 83 15.75
M. Arambola 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 2 29 3.60
O. Latorro 3.0 3 0 0 0 0 1 41 8.91
TOTALS 8.0 10 3 3 9 7 4 153

Minor injury: lefty reliever Alan MacLulich is suffering through a finger blister, and will miss 4-5 days. Lombrana, Kudlick, Ashcraft, and now MacLulich all with the minor injuries...thank goodness for call-ups.

Sept 7th: lefty Simon Parsons goes for the Indians, and our offense continues their tear, making life easy. Multiple homers, and Ricardo Battista leads the charge with 3 hits (two homers!) and 3 RBIs. Oscar Latorro comes out of the bullpen again, and performs..somewhat. Very interesting - his desire is there.


2B: S. Ryan (20)
HR: R. Battista 2 (18), S. Ryan (19), J. Aves (12)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
S. Parsons 6.1 8 1 0 4 3 5 113 4.85
O. Latorro 2.1 3 2 0 2 2 0 45 8.83
R. Ardila 0.1 1 1 0 0 0 1 16 2.62
TOTALS 9.0 12 4 0 6 5 6 174

WP: S. Parsons (9-13)
LP: R. Archulata (8-12)
SV: R. Ardila (19)


Sept 8th: starter Eric Metherall disrupts his win streak, as his knuckler is out of control (two wild pitches leading to runs), and his two-seamer is battered. He gives up 5 runs in 3.2 innings, and is replaced by Dave Doty. Despite being down 5-0, we rally back, as Dave Wigton breaks out of his season-long power slump with a towering 3-run shot to get us on the board. Marcello Velde enters the game with a key pinch-hit triple, scoring three more. The game gets precarious as Miguel Arambola allows 2 more, but we come away with an Ardilla save (20). Indians win 9-8.

Indians take the series 2-1, and open September with a 5-2 record.

Still only 64-75 on the season, but we have surpassed 2017's win total of 61!!! Victory is mine!

[OldYankFan]

Hey, no need to be modest, you write a very readable, enjoyable and fact filled dynasty. I, for one, should say so more often! Keep it up!

[Alloutwar]

The month of September may have started well for the Indians, but like all things related to this team, gravity soon drags us back down to earth.

Manager Freddi Guittierrez has been trying to get some of the rookies playing time, projected starters for next season like Chad Nagy and Omar Valdespino. But managing their inexperience and ineffectiveness, with getting the most out of guys whose contracts are expiring, can be tough.

----------

Indians at White Sox, 3 game series

Sept 9th: With Raul Lombrana nursing soreness, Enrique Barrientos gets the start - and manages halfway decent, 6.1 IP, 4 runs. But against the White Sox' ace Brent Eckhaus (11-7, 3.60 ERA), we are powerless. The Indians are shutout in Eckhaus' CG gem, managing only 3 hits, while committing one error. White Sox win 4-0.

Sept. 10th: our defacto ace Santos Fernandy will attempt to stop the White Sox bats; he goes 7 IP strong, 2 runs, 5 K's, to lower his ERA to an impressive 4.01. He hands over a 3-2 lead to the bullpen, and Alan MacLulich and Carlos Santoy both allow homers. White Sox Win 4-3.

Sept 11th: Trying to avoid the sweep (how many times have I written that this season??), Indians nation turns it lonely eyes to...Aloysius Ashcrfaft. After 3 straight losses, Ashcraft has been solid in his past 2 no-decisions (6 IP, 2 runs, and 8 IP, 1 run). Today he turns in another, going 8 strong innings, a solo homer and no walks (a real rarity for him!). Chad Nagy hits a pinch-hit homer in the 9th, a 3-run shot, as the Indians win 4-3.


*******

Injury: Sept 10th
3B/1B Dave Wigton will miss two weeks due to a spiked achilles tendon. AAA third baseman Keith Slaugh will take any playing time while rosters are expanded.

Wigton, who posted a robust .296/.376 line last year, has disappointed this year, hitting barely over .200 and losing the starting job to Mike Marischall. Wigton had picked it up as of late, hitting .464 in his last 10 games, including 8 walks; Wigton's eye is a well-known commodity.

*******


Rookie Nagy collects first Homer, RBIs of career
Trevor Stockton, Indians Beat Writer

28601

Rookie Chad Nagy, widely considered the Indians top prospect, collected his first major-league homerun on Sunday - a game winning 3-run shot deep to left center. We caught up with Chad to discuss and congratulate the future star.

TS: Chad - take us to that moment, your first big league homer. What was the feeling?

Chad Nagy: It was just a good at-bat...just finally feeling locked in, after some not-great at-bats up here, everything just clicked. I was confident, waited on the fastball, and hit it out. Rounding the bases was cool, not something I'll forget. And, of course, Shawn Ryan had the whole dugout stay silent when I got back. Typical rookie stuff.

TS: You've had your struggles this year, with injuries, a slow adjustment. Anything improving there, or getting you ready for next year?

CN: Well, the injuries have been annoying, but nothing else that worries me. I've only had a few games, a few at-bats up here, not enough time to get settled in or get my power stroke going. I've had success at the lower levels, and I'm pretty confident I'll do fine once I get in the lineup every day.

TS: Despite those issues, you're still managing to walk a lot, something you're more than known for. Your 8 walks in 39 at-bats alone puts you on-base more than many players. How are you staying so patient?

CN: It's one thing I've always just done, as a matter of plate approach. Know what pitch is coming, where the motion is taking it. If you slow things down and only swing at good pitches, you can work a walk pretty often.

TS: Chad, thanks for your time - and congrats on the first homer, RBIs, and game-winning hit of your career!

CN: Thanks man.



*******

The Indians return home to take on Kansas City for the final time this year. The dreadful Royals (49-93) are the only team below the Indians in the AL central.

Sept. 13th: After an off-day, lefty Simon Parsons (9-13) takes the mound. He goes 6 strong, giving up one homer and 2 runs. Alan MacLulich follows later, giving up another run to the weak Royals. Meanwhile our offense is stifled, striking out 8 times, and scattering 7 hits with only 1 run. Royals win 3-1.

Sept 14th: Knuckler Eric Metherall will take a stab at solving the Royals...and will fail miserably, yanked after 2.2 innings (4 walks, 6 runs, 3 k's). We manage 8 hits and squeeze out 4 runs against the atrocious Royals bullpen, but it's not enough, as the Royals win 6-4.

In another interesting bullpen note, Metherall was replaced by the still-ferociously-trying Oscar Latorro, mainly to save our bullpen arms. Latorro continues to impress, 5.1 scoreless innings, with 4 ks, lowering his ERA to 7.68 on the season. My god, he's almost looking like a AAA pitcher again...we may get some value out of him yet. Heck, this game he should have started!!!

Sept 15th: It all floods out in this offensive bloodbath - after weeks of relative uselessness, our bats come to life. Raul Lombrana returns to duty for the start, allowing 3 runs in the second, but otherwise impressinve over 5 innings. Miguel Arambola takes a dive over his 2 innings, allowing 2 more runs - but our offense carries us, scoring 7 over the first 3 frames. Ricardo Battista homers and gets 3 RBIs, and Ken Dogman goes 4-for-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs as well. Lombrana improves to 4-2 with a 6.17 ERA as the Indians win 10-5.


*******

Indians take their second to last road trip of the 2018 season, taking on the Twins again.

Sept 16th: Santos Fernandy again on the hill. This time is much worse, one of Fernandy's worst on the year: he allows 9 hits, 6 runs, in 1.2 innings. Enrique Barrientos goes the next 6 innings, allowing 3 more runs. We can't figure out wily lefty Matt McCusker, who nothces 11 Ks in his shutout victory. Ken Dogman hits a double, his 41s of the season, two shy of his career high...and that's the only good news, as the Twins win, 9-0.

Sept 17th: in game two, after a horrendous 2-and-5 stretch, Indians nation again turns to Aloysius Ashcraft (6-8, 5+ ERA). The oft-maligned righty takes the team on his shoulders, pitching purely from his heart, and matching Twins righty Todd Brock (12-3, 2.84 ERA) frame for frame, tossing up zeroes. Eventually callup catcher Damian White, in his first major league appearance, gets on base, and Shawn Ryan drives him in, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead; Rafael Ardilla closes it out with a perfect 9th. Indians win 1-0.

Sept 18th: Simon Parsons again goes, and is stronger this time, going 7.1 IP with only 2 runs allowed. Ken Dogma notches another double, but otherwise our offense failed to set its alarm and show up to work. Twins win 2-0.

Twins take series, 2-1.

********

Indians are 8-8 in September, 67-81 on the season. If we win from here on out, we can attain .500 status. Otherwise, 4th in the AL Central is our best bet, with a small chance at 3rd and an unbelievably tiny chance at 2nd. I'd really like to nail down 70-75 wins, to show some marked improvement..but the team is not cooperating. Maybe I should just start Oscar Latorro every game.

AL Central Standings

Minnesota Twins 84-65
Detroit Tigers 77-71
Chicago White Sox 70-79
Cleveland Indians 67-81
Kansas City Royals 52-96

[Alloutwar]

September Stats as of 10/19:

Batting:



Batting Stats AVG/OBP/SLG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS wOBA GIDP RC/27 HBP

S. Garey .169/.234/.220 16 13 59 2 10 1 1 0 4 5 18 1 0 .213 0 0.12 0
S. Ryan .239/.282/.313 16 16 67 6 16 2 0 1 7 4 14 1 0 .268 0 0.22 0
K. Dogman .258/.279/.470 16 16 66 4 17 3 1 3 8 2 12 0 0 .317 0 0.32 0
M. Marischall .204/.283/.315 16 16 54 5 11 3 0 1 2 6 14 1 0 .271 0 0.18 0
M. Velde .250/.289/.472 15 10 36 6 9 2 0 2 11 2 6 0 0 .324 0 0.18 0
J. Bryant .261/.393/.304 14 8 23 3 6 1 0 0 2 5 6 2 0 .334 0 0.12 0
J. Aves .352/.407/.537 14 14 54 12 19 2 1 2 9 5 6 0 0 .409 0 0.44 0
M. Gooden .133/.235/.156 13 13 45 2 6 1 0 0 1 6 11 0 0 .197 0 0.06 0
T. Olsen .167/.250/.222 13 9 36 5 6 2 0 0 3 4 4 0 0 .224 0 0.07 0
R. Battista .342/.405/.658 11 10 38 8 13 0 0 4 10 4 11 0 0 .447 0 0.37 0
G. Elliott .154/.185/.154 10 7 26 1 4 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 .160 0 0.03 0
S. English .500/.600/.500 9 2 8 2 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .504 0 0.09 0
D. Wigton .474/.615/.632 6 6 19 5 9 0 0 1 3 7 1 0 0 .546 0 0.27 0
S. Unzueta .000/.000/.000 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0
C. Nagy .143/.333/.571 6 1 7 1 1 0 0 1 3 2 2 0 0 .377 0 0.05 0
O. Valdespino .200/.200/.200 2 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .180 0 0.01 0
D. Miller .000/.000/.000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0
K. Slaugh .000/.000/.000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0
S. Walker .000/.000/.000 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0
T. Southwell .000/.000/.000 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0
T. Weinberg .000/.000/.000 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0
D. White .333/.333/.333 1 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 0 0.01 0
Batting Totals: .242/.311/.365 16 16 550 64 133 17 3 15 64 55 110 5 0 .302 0 0




Pitching:



Pitching Stats GP GS REC SV ERA IP H R ER HR BB K DICE WHIP PIT RUNSUP QUAL

C. Santoy 7 0 0-1 0 2.57 7.0 7 2 2 1 2 4 4.57 1.29 102
A. MacLulich 5 0 1-1 0 5.68 6.1 5 4 4 2 2 5 6.47 1.11 102
R. Ardila 5 0 0-0 5 0.00 4.1 1 0 0 0 1 3 2.31 0.46 67
M. Arambola 5 0 0-0 0 5.14 7.0 7 4 4 2 4 7 6.43 1.57 114
E. Barrientos 4 2 0-1 0 6.23 17.1 22 12 12 2 11 13 4.90 1.90 308 3.5 0
A. Ashcraft 3 3 2-0 0 0.75 24.0 10 2 2 2 6 13 3.75 0.67 339 2.3 3
E. Metherall 3 3 1-1 0 7.53 14.1 14 12 12 2 8 9 5.23 1.53 244 5.7 1
S. Fernandy 3 3 1-1 0 4.08 17.2 21 8 8 1 7 9 3.91 1.58 266 2.3 2
O. Latorro 3 0 0-0 0 1.69 10.2 11 2 2 0 3 5 2.91 1.31 168
S. Parsons 3 3 1-2 0 3.20 19.2 23 8 7 1 5 12 3.20 1.42 337 3.3 3
S. Walker 2 0 0-0 0 0.00 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.00 1.00 13
C. Kelling 1 1 0-1 0 15.75 4.0 6 9 7 3 2 1 13.75 2.00 83 6.0 0
D. Doty 1 0 1-0 0 3.38 2.2 4 1 1 1 1 3 6.75 1.88 41
R. Lombrana 1 1 1-0 0 5.40 5.0 4 3 3 1 3 3 6.20 1.40 78 10.0 0
Pitching Totals: 16 16 8-8 5 4.09 141.0 136 67 64 18 55 87 4.60 1.35 2262 4.0 9

[Alloutwar]

********

Compiled 2018 Stats:

Batting:



Batting Stats AVG/OBP/SLG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS wOBA GIDP RC/27 HBP

K. Dogman .306/.331/.558 142 139 588 84 180 42 5 32 109 22 100 0 0 .375 0 4.02 0
S. Garey .318/.366/.383 141 124 559 82 178 25 4 1 37 42 106 23 0 .337 0 3.07 0
M. Marischall .245/.310/.413 119 92 368 41 90 17 0 15 52 35 99 3 0 .317 0 1.77 0
M. Gooden .263/.317/.355 115 109 400 45 105 23 1 4 39 32 51 0 0 .301 0 1.67 0
M. Velde .212/.236/.377 112 89 358 46 76 15 1 14 54 11 86 4 0 .262 0 1.20 0
R. Battista .279/.351/.472 109 98 377 55 105 12 2 19 67 42 106 4 0 .358 0 2.34 0
S. Ryan .277/.362/.478 109 108 429 73 119 21 4 19 70 57 84 7 0 .366 0 2.80 0
J. Aves .324/.394/.508 109 107 398 71 129 27 5 12 63 46 50 8 0 .393 0 3.01 0
T. Olsen .260/.331/.365 105 78 323 45 84 20 1 4 31 34 34 4 0 .313 0 1.47 0
D. Wigton .250/.346/.344 96 86 308 30 77 9 1 6 36 45 50 1 0 .316 0 1.36 0
J. Bryant .289/.321/.397 87 58 232 34 67 14 1 3 21 11 52 5 0 .316 0 1.13 0
T. Fredrickson .301/.344/.555 63 55 229 44 69 15 5 11 56 15 44 5 0 .381 0 1.65 0
G. Elliott .218/.256/.373 62 49 193 17 42 7 1 7 19 10 40 0 0 .273 0 0.68 0
S. English .211/.282/.268 59 12 71 13 15 4 0 0 5 7 10 4 0 .255 0 0.22 0
S. Unzueta .233/.246/.300 34 14 60 6 14 2 1 0 7 1 14 3 0 .240 0 0.18 0
O. Valdespino .225/.277/.324 32 31 111 9 25 3 1 2 12 8 29 0 0 .269 0 0.37 0
D. Miller .180/.226/.220 24 13 50 4 9 2 0 0 5 3 10 0 0 .206 0 0.09 0
C. Nagy .154/.327/.256 16 11 39 2 6 1 0 1 3 10 6 0 0 .286 0 0.12 0
E. Wille .167/.286/.167 7 1 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .231 0 0.01 0
D. White .333/.333/.333 1 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 0 0.01 0
Batting Totals: .271/.328/.422 143 143 5136 705 1394 259 33 150 688 432 980 71 0 .329 0 0




Pitching:


Pitching Stats GP GS REC SV ERA IP H R ER HR BB K DICE WHIP PIT RUNSUP QUAL

A. MacLulich 67 0 3-7 2 4.64 87.1 81 45 45 10 36 63 4.28 1.34 1456
C. Santoy 64 0 4-5 2 4.24 74.1 71 36 35 11 26 53 4.55 1.30 1206
M. Arambola 61 0 5-8 15 4.03 80.1 63 36 36 9 38 65 4.26 1.26 1364
R. Ardila 55 0 2-3 21 2.37 57.0 40 16 15 6 21 35 4.25 1.07 883
S. Fernandy 29 28 12-7 0 4.15 178.0 196 90 82 32 53 120 4.88 1.40 2780 4.9 16
S. Parsons 28 28 9-14 0 4.69 167.0 172 90 87 14 64 135 3.62 1.41 2902 4.3 18
A. Ashcraft 25 25 7-8 0 4.41 145.0 142 81 71 16 61 102 4.29 1.40 2495 4.4 12
E. Barrientos 20 10 3-5 0 6.70 86.0 113 67 64 14 34 70 4.67 1.71 1493 4.6 2
E. Metherall 19 17 7-6 0 5.70 102.2 108 69 65 18 41 72 5.07 1.45 1590 5.8 7
J. Devalois 17 8 4-4 0 7.13 53.0 90 49 42 5 29 41 4.32 2.25 1054 6.0 3
R. Lombrana 12 5 3-1 0 5.14 49.0 55 28 28 7 22 40 4.57 1.57 878 6.2 2
O. Latorro 11 6 0-3 0 7.22 38.2 56 32 31 2 23 27 4.06 2.04 711 5.3 1
A. Samno 11 2 0-1 0 6.35 34.0 54 26 24 9 9 15 6.35 1.85 471 3.5 2
B. Kudlick 10 6 1-3 0 4.75 36.0 40 22 19 10 11 31 5.81 1.42 606 5.5 2
S. Rochford 9 6 4-0 0 3.33 48.2 43 18 18 6 13 32 4.09 1.15 635 5.7 3
D. Doty 8 0 1-0 0 8.59 14.2 23 14 14 4 7 10 6.61 2.05 248
G. Vialla 5 1 0-2 0 7.82 12.2 23 11 11 2 11 8 6.39 2.68 289 2.0 0
J. Whiteside 2 0 0-0 0 11.57 2.1 1 3 3 0 2 1 4.71 1.29 51
S. Walker 2 0 0-0 0 0.00 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.00 1.00 13
S. Garey 1 0 0-0 0 0.00 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0
B. Brimble 1 0 0-0 0 6.75 2.2 2 2 2 1 2 0 10.13 1.50 39
D. Marseilles 1 0 0-0 0 9.00 2.0 3 2 2 2 0 2 14.00 1.50 46
E. Ganey 1 0 0-0 0 10.13 2.2 6 7 3 1 2 4 7.13 3.00 67
C. Kelling 1 1 0-1 0 15.75 4.0 6 9 7 3 2 1 13.75 2.00 83 6.0 0
Pitching Totals: 143 143 65-78 40 4.95 1279.0 1389 753 704 182 507 927 4.59 1.48 21360 4.9 68

[filihok]

Out of curiosity what's your pythag and Runs scored and Runs allowed as well as the league average

[Alloutwar]

For Fili:

My squad matches their Pythag perfectly.

28659

League ones to follow below...

*****

The White Sox come to Cleveland for their last series against the Indians this season. The White Sox are just one game ahead of the Indians, 3rd in the AL Central - a sweep by Cleveland, though unlikely, would send the Sox into 4th place.

Sept 19th: 4th starter Eric Metherall (7-7) will fire his knuckler and two-seamer today, trying to pick up his 8th win and break his .500 record. He does much better than that - goes 8 1/3rd innings, scoreless, striking out 7 and scattering 4 hits. Our offense is anemic, but catcher Myron Gooden hits a solo shot in the 2nd, and we never look back. Indians win 1-0.

Sept 20th: lefty Raul Lombrana (2-1), our 5th starter, will make his sixth start of the year for us. The White Sox strike first, scoring 2 in the second, but Jeremy Aves drives in one, and 3B Mike Marischall continues his tear, hitting a 2-run shot to get the 3-2 lead. Shawn Ryan adds another RBI to put us up 4-2, but Lombrana implodes in the 7th, allowing 2 more runs to tie it.

Miguel Arambola comes in from the bullpen in the 7th hoping to preserve the tie, which he does. He gets us to the bottom of the ninth safely, and Mike Marischall again gets on base, this time with a key walk. Ken Dogman, our star bat, comes to the plate, and the result is a one-out blast into the left field bleachers. Indians win 6-4.

Sept 21st: Santos Fernandy hopes to atone for his last, horrid outing, preferably by beating the White Sox and stepping into 3rd place. He works his magic, striking out seven and only allowing 1 (unearned) run, despite 10 baserunners. In the meantime, our offense more than supports him, as four Indians homer in what turns into a rout. Indians win, 9-1, and SWEEP THE SERIES!!

Indians are 70-81, with a TINY chance at a .500 record, and possibly even 2nd place in the AL Central...although preserving 3rd will be tough enough.


******

28660

******

Ken Dogman knew it was a homerun as soon as it left his bat.

The White Sox reliever, Bernie Spencer, only had one true weapon - a fastball, 96 to 98mph. He had thrown a slider first, then had attempted a splitter that went in the dirt. Dogman knew he had to wait on the heat. He was confident he could turn it around, especially if it was high, and Spencer left it just high enough over the plate. Dogman was more than ready - almost ahead of it - and shot it deep into the left field bleachers. 480 feet, the scoreboard said.

Dogman jogged triumphantly around the bases as the team emerged from the dugout, ready to celebrate his walk-off jack. 36 homers on the season, a new career high. 43 doubles, tying his career mark from Arizona. Ken was 29, and he loved playing baseball. Thanks to his new contract, he would be playing in Cleveland for the next 4 years. He was a simple man - didn't really want to chase another ring, and never one to do much public speaking or charity work - certainly not one to brag. But he loved playing baseball, swinging at a ball the same way the greats did. He probably wouldn't break any of the records, not the big ones at least, but he was going to love trying.

The rookie, Todd Weinberg, that pinch-ran for Marischall was there at the plate. His young face shone with excitement - he had just scored the winning run in a major-league game for the first time. As he grabbed Dogman and slammed him on the back, Ken smiled at his enthusiasm. Just wait, kid, he thought to himself. Just wait and see what we can do yet.


******

28664

Mike Marischall was packing up his glove and getting ready to head back to the clubhouse. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face - he had just homered in back-to-back games. 17 homers on the season - SEVENTEEN. He had hit double digits once before - 10, back in 2010, his first full season with the Rangers - but since then, he had been a utility or bench guy. His own hitting ability surprised him. Wow, he thought, The wonders of a full-time job.

His hotshot agent was ecstatic, of course - Marischall had been earning under $1mil his whole career, and at 32, he was finally in line for some actual cash. Mike was inclined to take it, too - the Indians were great to offer him a starting gig, and it had really revamped his career, but he had no illusions about taking a discount. He had delivered, provided value well over his pay rate. Come the offseason, if they weren't willing to pay, he would be playing third somewhere else.

Still, his defense bothered him. 9 errors this year...and he was long known as a superb gloveman at third. He felt his range shrinking, just a bit - some line drives took an extra step to get to. If he was going to cash in and get a big contract, a few years and enough to get his children comfortably through college, it may have to be after this season. Otherwise, the stat nerds might decide he wasn't hot corner material any longer - and that's something he couldn't stand.



*******

Aloysius Ashcraft looked down at the bottles in his hand. One contained small, hexagonal green pills - the ones for his manic-depressive disorder. It was really just a simple anti-depressant, but somehow he had never been diagnosed as manic-depressive before. It made sense - ups and downs, so often. Drinking, then sobriety, then depression leading him back to drinking. This could be the breaks on the roller coaster.

It had been working - since being prescribed in mid-August, the pills had slowly set in. The doctor had said it might take 2 to 3 weeks to really start seeing the effects. And Aloysius had - his last three starts had been stellar. He had been calm, in control...he wasn't sweating as much or scatterbrained on the mound. He had thrown his pitches, went 8 innings each time... allowed one run twice, shutout performance the last time. He was getting better, and he could feel it. He didn't shake off the curve or slider anymore, he went with them, and they were fooling everyone.

The other bottle had orange globular pills, and no label. He hadn't used these in a while, since July at least. With the anti-depressives, maybe he wouldn't need them after all. His start tomorrow against the Twins was going to be big, a repeat of last week's pitchers duel, and with the Indians in the middle of a hot streak. Maybe he could take just one, to keep up on his game...

Ashcraft put the cover on the bottle and tossed it in his bag. No need, he thought. I can take this myself. The tall Pittsburgh native stood and smiled confidently. These guys tomorrow aren't gonna have a clue what hit them.

[Alloutwar]

"We need to talk," Delanty was saying.

Tom Dowdy didn't want to talk to Delanty. The Cleveland owner, Dane Evans, was already making public their declaration of victory, in improving over last year's record, and moving into 3rd place in the AL Central. Next year's team was looking good, and there was buzz about what moves Delanty was planning.

To top it all off, Delanty's other club, the Pirates, were sitting at 101 wins, and looking pretty good for the playoffs. Delanty had a few avenues in which to gloat.

"Mike Marischall," Delanty said. "He's really come into his own here. Not a great batting average, .251, but 17 homers, and still plays great defense. You agree with that?"

Dowdy nodded. "He's certainly shown more pop that we thought he had. Decent at taking a walk too, not horrible OBP despite his low average."

"Right," Delanty said. "And the other guys we have to play third - Slaugh is going to head to minor-league free agency. And Dave Wigton...wow, he dropped off a cliff this year."

Dowdy frowned. Wigton really did flounder this year - 323 at-bats, .245/.347/.334 line, 6 homers, 48 walks. He still had the eye, and got on base, but wasn't hitting - or hitting for power - like a corner infielder needed to. And Wigton was barely passable defensively. He was cheap, but up for arbitration for the first time at 28.

"Wigton has lost the starting job, obviously" Dowdy agreed. "So are you suggesting we consider a long-term deal with Marischall?"

"Well, that's one option," Delanty said thoughtfully. "Our only decent prospect at third base is James Horvath, and at 25 he's not going to improve much more. So we either stick with Marischall, give the job to Wigton or Slaugh, get a free agent, or....we move Dogman over."

Dowdy shuddered. He didn't want to move Dogman over, not to third. Maybe left field. "I'm not sure we have to move him next year, Mark."

"James Bryant." Delanty said it flatly. "Even if we keep him in a utility role, then we have Edward Wille turning 26 next season."

"Wille's gonna be traded," Dowdy said. "Health concerns, not a good clubhouse guy, and really not sure if he can ever crack the squad."

Delanty furrowed his brow. "We're going to need him to prove himself before he can be dealt for much return. And he's a good lefty bat - there aren't many lefty infielders. Our current roster is very short on lefties, which has been burning us all year."

Dowdy's lips curled. "I think you mean, since you dealt Tim Frederickson. You know, that impressive lefty bat."

Delanty paused, letting the burn sink in. Dowdy had been like this for a month now - seemingly even-keel, then darting out with a jab whenever he saw an opportunity. Delanty ignored him. "His agent is looking for 2 to 3 million, just a two year deal. Even if he ends up a backup or utility guy, that isn't bad."

Dowdy considered it. "Okay, after the season," he said. "We have some larger budget issues to work through first." He stepped in the elevator. "And another ten games to play."

********

The Twins come to Cleveland for a four-game set, the last home series for the Indians this year. The Twins have sown up the AL Central, so all we can do is try to inflict some harm and rally the home crowd one last time.

Sept 22nd: Aloysius Ashcraft lives up the hype, going 8 strong innings, allowing 1 run (on a solo homer). He was dominant otherwise, scattering 4 hits and a walk. Jeremy Aves gets 3 hits and an RBI, and the clutch tying run sends us to extras. Mike Marischall comes through with the clutch single, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Indians walk-off, 2-1 win.

Sept 23rd: Simon Parsons is rocked to the tune of 6 runs in 4.2 IP. Enrique Barrientos comes in and unbelievably does worse, giving up 5 runs on 3 homers in 1.1 IP. Dave Doty comes in in relief and throws 3 scoreless. Twins walk all over us, 11-1.

Sept 24th: in almost a repeat, we see starter Eric Metherall struggle mightily against the robust Minnesota offense, giving up 8 runs in just over an inning. Barrientos, Oscar Latorro, and Steve Walker can't do much better, and the Twins total 19 runs against us. We muster some offense ourselves, as Chad Nagy goes 3-for-3 with a walk, and Mike Marischall goes 3-for-5 with a homer. Twins blow us out again, 19-8.

Sept 25th: the Twins come out swinging again, scoring 4 runs in the first inning off of starter Raul Lombrana. But we come back with 5 over the first two innings, as Scott Garey goes 3-for-4 and Shawn Ryan homers and collects 4 RBIs. Our pitchers can't hold the lead though, and we go to extras tied 8 to 8. That's when Myron Gooden gets a key single, and Ken Dogman comes up to bat again. He does what he does best, smashing a homer over the wall, to send the home crowd onto the field in celebration. Indians win, 10-8.

The series is split 2-2.

********

Santos Fernandy: Emerging Star
Trevor Stockton, Indians Beat Writer

28928

Santos Fernandy is a familiar name to Indians fans - a solid arm in the rotation, and sometimes a dominating stopper. But there's more to this emerging starter, who currently leads the team in Wins, innings pitched, starts, and ERA. He is also second in Quality starts and strikeouts, both behind Simon Parsons. But the skinny, quiet Puerto Rican has taken a few twists and turns to get here.

In 2013, Fernandy was taken in the second round of the worldwide amateur draft. The rough 19 year old had impressed in his one year at Georgia Tech, going 12-3 with a 2.40 ERa. After a year in rookie and single-A ball, Fernandy was called up to make 3 starts in 2014, going 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA. The 21-year-old had made an impressive debut, and the big club took notice.

In 2015, the next time he was called up after a month in single-A, he stuck, making 24 starts for the big league club, although posting mediocre results. In 2016 he was a full-time major leaguer, but was hit by several injuries limiting him to 20 starts. In 2017, he finally posted a winning record and a full season, and his physical ability was coming to the collective baseball consciousness. Fernandy was seen as a solid #3 or #4, behind pitchers like Aloysius Ashcraft and Simon Parsons.

This season, with Aschcraft having serious injuries and bad stretches, and Steve Rochford being out for the season, the Indians have depended on Fernandy to be their stopper. Combine this with a drop in velocity (95mph max) and concern by some scouts that Fernandy's frame and stuff were both potential concerns, and it could have equalled a terrible season. Instead, Fernandy has posted his best season to date, and taken the role of Cleveland ace for his own.

In July, Fernandy signed a team-friendly 2-year deal for $500k/year, avoiding arbitration while getting a slight raise this season. Seen as deal favoring the club, Fernandy has been ecstatic as well. "I get to play baseball, and to keep pitching in Cleveland," he said when the deal was signed. "I couldn't be happier."

Fernandy may not be the ace for long, if Ashcraft can have a stable season, or if Rochford returns from injury and can contribute fully. But he's definitely made an impression on Cleveland fans this year - and on opposing batters.

********


MLBlog of Marcello Velde

28929

Well fans, it's been a great season. The Indians have a good record - not a winning one, so not where we'd like, but we showed what we can do, and we'll be a better club next year.

Personally I've hit some great strides - 14 homers, 55 RBIs - but I've had real issues hitting consistently, and avoiding the punchout. This year has been so valuable in experience though, I'm sure I can improve. The club has been really good, still giving me playing time, platooning me with great guys like Jeremy Aves and Tim Olsen.

On a more social note, being with fellow Puerto Ricans like Santos Fernandy, and Miguel Arambola in the bullpen too - it's great for a community feel here. I'm definitely a fan of playing here in Cleveland, and hope I can continue and improve to help out the team.

Ending our last homestand with a walk-off homer...that was amazing. The feeling in the dugout was electric. Ken Dogman is an amazing hitter - he's just so natural, it's truly a sight to behold. He's the type of guy I have learned a lot from this season.

I'll see you out on the field for this last week of games. Thanks to all the Indians fans who came out this year - we'll be back in April ready to rock!

[Alloutwar]

The Indians head to Detroit, for their last series against the Tigers in 2018.

Sept 26th: The story of this one was offense. Shawn Ryan knocks TWO homeruns! Tim Olsen gets a homer, and Geoff Elliot contributes a triple and two RBI. Bud Kudlick starts but gives up 3 home runs; Oscar Latorro gets the ball in the 4th and allows 3 runs, retiring no one. Callup Samuel Vargas does the best, going 3 IP allowing 1 run, and we squeeze out a 8-7 win to take the series opener.

Sept 27th: Alosyius Ashcraft continues to flail, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits in just over 3 innings of work. Latorro and Santoy pick things up, and Shawn Ryan homers yet AGAIN. Myron Gooden contributes a 3 run homer as well, but the Tigers storm back, and we lose 7-5.

Sept 28th: Santos Fernandy, delayed 2 games due to soreness, will start, likely his last of the season. Dave Wigton gets the rare start at first.

Things start well, as Wigton hits a 2-run single in the 2nd, then Dogman and Chad Nagy go back to back with solo shots in the 3rd. Mike Marischall gets two deep doubles, and the Indians win 5-2. Fernandy goes 8 IP, 2 ER, for his 14th win on the season. His ERA drops to 4.03.

Sept 29th: Simon Parsons takes the hill, and we strike again in the 2nd inning with 2 runs. Our team piles on the walks, getting 5 to go with 3 doubles. We are up 5-3 when Parsons implodes, loading the bases with none out in the 6th. Carlos Santoy comes in, inducing an easy grounder, then walks TWO RUNS HOME to tie the game. He gets out of it, and Battista gets a key bases-loaded walk to go ahead 6-5 in the 7th. Rafael Ardila is brilliant in two high-pressure scoreless innings, and Alan MacLulich comes in for the lefty save.

We take the Tigers series 3-1, and are 16-11 on the month. At 75-84, 3rd place in the AL Central is ours, and we move a bit closer to being a .500 team.

Our last series is coming up at Fenway against the tough 89-70 Red Sox.

*******


Sept 30th: Eric Metherall goes against Sox ace Ron Shirley. This goes predictably - Metherall hangs in there, and we have a 2-2 tie game going into the 6th. Metherall gets into trouble, but lefty Alan MacLulich gets a key double play and gets out of the inning. However, he is useless next inning, giving up 3 runs. Miguel Arambola gives up another, and soon its 6-2. Sox win 6-2.

Oct 1st: Santos Fernandy is out with a neck strain for the rest of the season, as is Raul Lombrana. With my pitching staff running fumes, I throw Enrique Barrientos out there one last time.

This game is close, a duel, and its tied 1-1 into the 6th. but that's when we get to the Sox starter for 6 runs. Ken Dogman starts it with a 2 run homer, and then comes around next inning and hits a solo shot. Jeremy Aves and Ricardo Battista both get 3 hits - only Tim Olsen goes hitless, and he went 0-for-5 sadly.

Oscar Latorro closes the game out with a scoreless 2 innings, and Barrientos gets another win to end his season 5-5 with a 6.55 ERA. Indians win 9-3.

Oct 2nd: the rubber game, as Alosyius Ashcraft goes against Boston #3 Gary Sexton. Indians last game of the season, and the Red Sox will rest some starters to tune up for the offseason.

Shawn Ryan starts it with a 2-out triple in the first, and Dogman does his thing, knocking a homer into the bleachers. But Ashcraft is useless on the mound, giving up 5 hits in a row before retiring anyone. Ashcraft can't keep it together, allowing more hits and then a inside the park homerun. Soon it's 6 to 3 - but we fight back, and tie it at 7 in the top of the 7th. Alan MacLulich allows two runs, then Miguel Arambola allows a massive 3-run shot to solidify the Red Sox' win, 12-7.

How fitting that our pitching ruins our last shot at a win - something that happened throughout the entire season. Sigh.

Indians finish the season 76-86, 3rd place in the AL Central division.

Up next: stats, in-depth looks at performances at each position, playoffs, and then the offseason!



****

Hitting stats



Batting Stats AVG/OBP/SLG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS wOBA GIDP RC/27 HBP

K. Dogman .307/.333/.569 155 152 642 92 197 44 5 38 120 25 112 0 0 .380 0 4.50 0
S. Garey .321/.367/.390 153 134 607 88 195 27 6 1 41 44 114 23 0 .340 0 3.39 0
M. Marischall .255/.322/.440 131 104 411 50 105 22 0 18 61 40 113 3 0 .332 0 2.17 0
M. Gooden .269/.321/.376 125 117 431 48 116 27 2 5 46 33 56 0 0 .310 0 1.93 0
M. Velde .214/.236/.374 123 92 374 47 80 16 1 14 55 11 89 4 0 .262 0 1.24 0
S. Ryan .287/.371/.507 122 121 481 84 138 24 5 24 81 64 93 8 0 .380 0 3.41 0
J. Aves .325/.390/.503 122 120 449 74 146 34 5 12 69 48 58 10 0 .389 0 3.35 0
T. Olsen .257/.321/.363 118 86 358 50 92 21 1 5 37 34 37 4 0 .307 0 1.57 0
R. Battista .284/.357/.478 117 105 402 59 114 17 2 19 71 46 110 4 0 .363 0 2.57 0
D. Wigton .246/.344/.336 100 90 321 32 79 9 1 6 38 48 53 1 0 .313 0 1.38 0
J. Bryant .278/.313/.384 96 65 255 36 71 14 2 3 23 13 57 5 0 .308 0 1.17 0
S. English .207/.270/.256 68 13 82 18 17 4 0 0 5 7 11 5 0 .244 0 0.24 0
G. Elliott .222/.258/.377 68 52 207 18 46 7 2 7 23 10 42 0 0 .275 0 0.75 0
T. Fredrickson .301/.344/.555 63 55 229 44 69 15 5 11 56 15 44 5 0 .381 0 1.65 0
S. Unzueta .222/.234/.286 39 14 63 6 14 2 1 0 7 1 16 3 0 .229 0 0.17 0
O. Valdespino .214/.267/.310 37 35 126 9 27 4 1 2 13 9 32 0 0 .259 0 0.39 0
C. Nagy .246/.430/.446 28 21 65 11 16 4 0 3 6 21 9 0 0 .396 0 0.46 0
D. Miller .182/.237/.218 26 14 55 5 10 2 0 0 5 4 10 0 0 .213 0 0.11 0
K. Slaugh .091/.091/.091 8 2 11 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 .082 0 0.00 0
E. Wille .167/.286/.167 7 1 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .231 0 0.01 0
Batting Totals: .274/.331/.430 156 156 5605 777 1536 293 39 168 759 474 1066 75 0 .333 0 0

[Alloutwar]

final pitching stats:



Pitching Stats GP GS REC SV ERA IP H R ER HR BB K DICE WHIP PIT RUNSUP QUAL

C. Santoy 72 0 5-5 4 3.80 83.0 77 36 35 11 31 57 4.47 1.30 1349
A. MacLulich 71 0 3-8 3 4.99 92.0 89 51 51 11 38 65 4.38 1.38 1544
M. Arambola 65 0 7-8 15 4.02 87.1 67 39 39 10 40 67 4.33 1.23 1467
R. Ardila 59 0 3-3 23 2.18 62.0 42 16 15 6 22 39 4.06 1.03 948
S. Fernandy 31 30 14-7 0 3.91 193.1 209 93 84 33 57 133 4.73 1.38 3008 5.0 18
S. Parsons 30 30 9-15 0 4.99 176.2 188 101 98 18 67 146 3.81 1.44 3096 4.2 18
A. Ashcraft 27 27 7-9 0 4.49 156.1 154 88 78 19 65 109 4.43 1.40 2683 4.3 13
E. Barrientos 23 11 4-5 0 6.84 96.0 128 77 73 18 37 78 4.97 1.72 1646 5.0 3
E. Metherall 22 20 8-7 0 5.74 117.2 123 79 75 19 47 83 4.89 1.44 1823 5.5 8
J. Devalois 17 8 4-4 0 7.13 53.0 90 49 42 5 29 41 4.32 2.25 1054 6.0 3
O. Latorro 16 6 0-3 0 7.42 47.1 69 40 39 3 29 31 4.35 2.07 870 5.3 1
R. Lombrana 15 8 3-1 0 5.22 60.1 63 36 35 10 24 47 4.79 1.44 1037 6.9 2
A. Samno 11 2 0-1 0 6.35 34.0 54 26 24 9 9 15 6.35 1.85 471 3.5 2
B. Kudlick 11 6 1-3 0 5.08 39.0 43 25 22 13 11 33 6.49 1.38 652 5.5 2
D. Doty 10 0 1-0 0 6.63 19.0 27 14 14 4 8 13 5.63 1.84 313
S. Rochford 9 6 4-0 0 3.33 48.2 43 18 18 6 13 32 4.09 1.15 635 5.7 3
G. Vialla 5 1 0-2 0 7.82 12.2 23 11 11 2 11 8 6.39 2.68 289 2.0 0
S. Walker 3 0 0-0 0 18.00 2.0 3 4 4 2 4 2 20.00 3.50 46
J. Whiteside 2 0 0-0 0 11.57 2.1 1 3 3 0 2 1 4.71 1.29 51
B. Brimble 1 0 0-0 0 6.75 2.2 2 2 2 1 2 0 10.13 1.50 39
D. Marseilles 1 0 0-0 0 9.00 2.0 3 2 2 2 0 2 14.00 1.50 46
E. Ganey 1 0 0-0 0 10.13 2.2 6 7 3 1 2 4 7.13 3.00 67
C. Kelling 1 1 0-1 0 15.75 4.0 6 9 7 3 2 1 13.75 2.00 83 6.0 0
S. Vargas 1 0 1-0 0 3.00 3.0 2 1 1 0 2 2 3.67 1.33 58
Pitching Totals: 156 156 74-82 45 4.99 1397.0 1512 827 775 206 552 1009 4.66 1.48 23275 5.0 73


For some reason Mizerak's box score parser is missing like 25 games, which is skewing the numbers. From sortable stats:

29309

[Alloutwar]

A quick review of the arms that pitched us to third place, over this improved, and yet ultimately disappointing season.

Starters:
http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/S_Fernandy.PNG

Santos Fernandy - the 25-year old posted his best year yet, defying scouts and analysts. Coming in at 199 innings to lead the team, as well as 14 wins and a 4.03 ERA, his only bad mark was the 36 homeruns he gave up. His movement is still the biggest issue - and despite it, Fernandy was our most dominant starter. Signed for a team-friend $500k next season, Fernandy is a bargain if he comes anywhere close to this year's results.

Fernandy finished in the top ten in the league in wins (5th), stikeouts (8), and ERA (8th). He emerged as our rotation ace this year.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/A_Ashcraft.PNG

Aloysius Ashcraft - the enigmatic but talented righty turned in his norm - and up and down season punctuated by substance issues, personal drama, and just enough effectiveness to keep him on the roster. Though he missed 5 weeks, he still made 28 starts, posting a 7-9 record with a 4.68 ERA - not dominant, but enough for second-best on our lackluster staff.

Ashcraft is coming into his last year of a $3.6mil contract, and could find himself as potential trade bait next season at the deadline, though Cleveland mayhave trouble finding a suitor for his antics.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/S_Parsons.PNG

Simon Parsons - the lefty posted a normal year, going 9-16 with a 4.98 ERA. He led the team with a whopping 155 K's, good for fourth in the AL. He stayed healthy all year, making a team-leading 32 starts, and was a stable, if not always forceful, arm in the rotation. He faltered quite a bit in August and September as the season took its toll - he went 1-7 with a .305 BAA in those two months. He may have been nursing injury or just fatigue - at 33, he is having to work a bit harder.

Parsons is under contract for $2.25mil for the next two seasons, so functioning decently as a 3rd starter is acceptable.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/E_Metherall.PNG

Eric Metherall - the young two-seam/knuckleballer made 10 starts in AAA, and 21 in the bigs. Results were mixed, 8-8 with a 5.51 ERA - but somewhere in July he figured things out, and put in decent showings. He should improve and come back as a solid #4 option next year. Metherall has just over a year of service time, so he shouldn't be eligible for Arbitration until 2020.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/E_Barrientos.PNG

Enrique Barrientos, who split time as a 5th starter (12 starts) and a long man, as well as spending some time in AAA, put up a horrendous 6.55 ERA to go with his 5-5 mark. At 30, Barrientos will become a free agent, and honestly better arms can probably be found on the market. Barrientos has good stamina, and his 96mph heat catches a lot of batters with the strikeout (86 Ks in 103 IP), but he should be a long man/depth option, not a #5.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/O_Latorro.PNG

Oscar Latorro - the free agent bust of the year, Latorro made only 6 starts, posting an ERA near the double-digits before being demoted to the bullpen, and then AAA. His $1mil salary was apparently worth working for, as Latorro pitched 16 starts for AAA before September call-ups meant he was back with the big club. And he came back with a vengeance - in 9 relief appearances, he lowered his ERA from 10 to 7.82, with a few solid, narrowly-escaping-destruction outings. Still, scouts confirm his stuff is all done.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/R_Lombrana.PNG

Raul Lombrana, another ex-Yankee lefty, this one arriving via trade. Lombrana returned to the starting rotation for the first time in eleven years, though he only made 8 starts, appearing 7 times in relief. He went 3-1 with a 5.22 ERA, easily a good 5th starter option, and provided some much-needed starting depth and vigor late in the season.

Lombrana fit in here well, and despite his age (37), we would be open to keeping him around on a one-year deal, to replace the Latorro/Samno tandem we had as 5th starter this year. He's currently looking for $2.35mil, so we'll let him walk and see if his price comes down later on.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/S_Rochford.PNG

Steve Rochford - the forgotten man, this reliever-turned starter was a brilliant 4-0 with a 3.33 ERA when he was lost for the season due to hip injury. Hoping to make a full recovery for 2019, Rochford will go to arbitration again this year, hoping to improve on his $1.8mil salary. Cleveland will most likely retain him.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/B_Kudlick.PNG

Bud Kudlick - promising outing by the 23-year old, as he dominated in AAA, posting a 2.55 ERA. He made 6 fill-in starts for the big club, going 1-3 witha 5.08ERA - but the one win was a complete game shutout gem. Kudlick is definitely on the radar for a starting spot next season.

Overall impressions:
Despite a sub-par 5.05 overall staff ERA, our quality start percentage was an above-average 49.4%. (AL Avg was 44.9%). Fernandy and Parsons give us solid everyday options, and together are an ideal #3 and #4 starter. Ashcraft's issues, Metherall's learning curve, and the group of oldies and failures as our #5 slot really took us to the crapper this season.

2019 outlook:
Next season, due to some of the trades and acquisitions (Walker, Vargas), our staff will be deeper. Look for youngins like Kudlick and Kelling to contribute and Metherall to hit his stride in a full season. If just one or two rookies have a breakout season, we have the rotation to make a serious run. And that's all without Steve Rochford, who was nearly forgotten after his season-ending surgery.


Rotation for 2019, assuming no FA retention/signings:
1) Fernandy
2) Ashcraft
3) Parsons
4) Rochford
5) Metherall
6) Kudlick

Other internal 2019 rotation/depth candidates:
RHP Samuel Vargas (age 25, ovr 75)
RHP Steve Walker (age 24, ovr 81)
LHP Caleb Kelling (age 25, ovr 70)
RHP Alfredo Barba (age 27, ovr 64)

Up next: Bullpen review

[Alloutwar]

Bullpen:

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/M_Arambola.PNG

Miguel Arambola - after being demoted from the closer role - quite a blow after signing a 4-year deal to stay on as closer - Arambola adapted to a middle relief role well, posting a 4.01 ERA in 92 innings. Routinely called upon for two, even three innings, he shined, picking up wins in relief, and avoiding the big inning meltdowns he experienced earlier in the year.

Arambola will go into 2019 as a solid bullpen arm, capable of setup or closing.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/R_Ardila.PNG

Rafael Ardila was tremendous since stepping into the closing role. Posting an almost magical line, Ardilla was the most effective reliever by far: 3-3, 2.23 ERA, 24 SVs, 4 BS. His save conversion rate was 85.7%, 7th best in the league.

An absolute bargain at $1.1mil, Ardila will now be up for free agency for the first time at 26. He is currently asking for north of $6mil, which the Indians are balking at. Ardila's desire to cash in may prevent him from staying in small-market Cleveland.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/A_MacLulich.PNG

Alan MacLulich, our bullpen lefty, started off strong, then ballooned into disaster mid-season, accumulating 9 losses and 6 blown saves. He was our most frequently used reliever, 74 appearances, with a 5.15 ERA, going 3-9 with 3 SVs.

MacLulich is entering free agency, and in our estimation is not worth the $2.3mil he is desiring. Not particularly effective, happy, or popular, there is little reason to retain his services in Cleveland.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/C_Santoy.PNG

Carlos Santoy - our effective setup man, Santoy was right behind MacLulich with 72 appearances. His 3.80 ERA in 83 innings was a success, despite 7 blown saves. He converted 4 and also got 5 wins in relief.

At 26, Santoy is just entering his first year of Arb, and should be retained for $1-$3mil. Barring anothing signing, he and Arambola should handle the bulk of our high-leverage situations next season.

http://www.emptyorchard.com/BM%20pics/Indians/D_Doty.PNG

Dave Doty - the career minor-leaguer racked up 11 appearances, and despite some success, his 6.65 ERA was mostly a failure. The 31-year old will be a free agent, and most likely not heavily pursued. We will keep him on the radar, should he prove to be available and cheap, as he has had flashes of success over his career in Cleveland.

Overall Impressions:
Wow, what a year for Ardila. I really hope we can bring him back, but in reality it's almost impossible. Better to go with young, cheap arms, in our rebuilding/retooling mode. Aside from his breakout, Santoy was good, Arambola came around to OK, and MacLulich was ehh. After that, nothing worthwhile. The bullpen will effectively be an etch-a-sketch this offseason that we will redraw, from some rising talent and maybe a few low-risk, high reward FAs.

*****



2019 Outlook:
Bullpen for 2019, assuming no FA retention/signings:
CL: Carlos Santoy
SU: Miguel Arambola
RHP Brian Brimble (age 26, ovr 75)
LHP Joe Whiteside (age 25, ovr 70)
RHP Steve Walker (age 24, ovr 81)
RHP Bud Kudlick

Even with that pitching roster above - worst case scenario - it really isn't too bad of a net loss. But with injuries, we will shore up the fort with depth options, and maybe one big splash, depending.

Next: hitter/fielder review of 2018

[filihok]

Big season for Metherall next year. He's got the magic season's worth of experience under his belt now.

Ardilla. 6 mils for a guy who's gonna throw 60ish innings. I'd pass. Better ways to spend that money

[Alloutwar]

Re Fili: I'm with you on both points. I love what Ardila did this year, stepping up and dominating, and putting it all together after some shoddy lines past seasons: but with $6mil I could improve the rotation AND the lineup.

Metherall indeed just sort of 'clicked' somewhere in the mid-season - looks like BM does that with a lot of starters. One year of just figuring things out, then wham, they're ratings come through. Not Ashcraft, though - that guy is the most ineffective I've seen for ratings that high.

*****

2018 Lineup Review:

29337

Let's take it from the top!

SS Scott Garey - this late-in-the-offseason acquisition exceeded every expectation. When we couldn't retain Matt Walcott, I just wanted the next best option - but Garey outperformed Walcott easily. Garey's .327 BA was 4th in the AL. His 23 steals were 6th in the AL. Elected to his second all-star team, all I can ask is why anyone let this guy go.

His fielding was also top-notch, easily top 5 to top 10 in the league. Garey is signed through next season, so shortstop is solidified. Garey's popularity is soaring as well, with Garey and Parsons being the most publicly recognizable Indians this season. Garey even outpaced slugger Ken Dogman in that poll!

RF Jeremy Aves - a true offensive weapon, Aves is great with the bat. Despite starting off the year in AAA, he excelled when called up, hitting .317 on the season - 9th best in the AL. He's not a huge homer guy, with 12, but solid contact, doubles power, and a great eye to avoid the K or take the walk.

Aves' biggest weakness is fielding - he made 7 errors in RF, and with poor range, he's just barely a better outfield option than slugger Chad Nagy. He would be best in a 1B/DH role, but his ratings at first are pretty poor too, and we have other options there. The biggest struggle for Aves will be finding a place to play him on the field next season.

CF Shawn Ryan - missing a month due to knee injury, Ryan was otherwise fantastic, posting a .290 avg with 24 homers. He had his valleys, but is still the ideal fielder, and beyond a solid CF. Only 8 steals - and 3 CS - but again that is related to his knee.

Ryan is entering his second year of arbitration at 28, and looks to get a raise from his $3.9mil salary to the $6-$7mil range. Not particularly friendly or attached to Cleveland, Ryan will most likely be dealt at the deadline in 2019 or 2020, whenever CF prospect Todd Weinberg is ready.

2B Ken Dogman - walking only 25 times last year, and striking out 118, Ken Dogman is made to swing for the fences. Setting career highs in doubles (44), homers (41), average (.308), and hits, the iron man played in 161 games, mostly DH'ing against lefties. Re-signed mid season to a 4-year $10.7mil deal, Dogman will be on the Cleveland roster for the foreseeable future.

Fielding, again, is his biggest issue, as 13 errors at 2nd, along with a sub-par range, continue to worry scouts. Opinions are split on whether to move him to 3rd or the OF, or to keep him at second as long as he will hold up. Lefties are another large concern, as he hit them at only a .237 clip this season.

LF/DH Chad Nagy - only getting a taste of the bigs this year - 69 ABs, mostly in September - Nagy did what he was reported to do - walk a ton (21), and get on base (.424 OBP). He also started to show a bit of the pop, knocking 3 homers. Next year should be his first full season, splitting time in LF and at DH. Nagy has almost no range in left, but he has been working on his fielding diligently, and plans to attend the Arizona Fall League to improve more. If he can play left, moving Jeremy Aves to DH, we will be a much better team.

C/1B Ricardo Battista - the longtime backup catcher again thrived in a full season, catching now and then (32 games), and providing some useful pop at 1B and DH. Battista has always been good with the bat, but his catching ability is the issue - he's a good backup, but not everyday material. Splitting time at 1B still allows us to use his assets (.280 avg, 19 homers, 72 RBI) without sacrificing pitching.

Battista is under contract for $2.7mil next season, and depending on our catching depth, could again be trade bait. However, he loves it here, and is a fairly popular figure. The Cuban will give Cleveland a lot to mull over.

OF Tim Olsen - when Tim Frederickson was traded, Olsen was handed the starting LF job, playing in 120 games. His .251 average was unspectacular, and his power numbers lacking as well -his main contribution was solid defense.

Just finishing his 2nd full season, more or less, Olsen is an ideal 4th or 5th OFer, able to play the corners well and center mediocre. He can hit a bit, run well, and has a good eye - but isn't stellar at any. Only 25, he has the ability to improve, hopefully, and will likely stay on the MLB roster for 2019. Hopefully, he will be platooned or 4th OFer, instead of everyday LF.

3B Mike Marischall - after 10 years of plodding in AAA, and only getting to the majors as a backup, Marischall really impressed in his first full season in more than a decade. He walks a fair amount, hits for a sub-par average (.255), and knocked a tremendous 18 homers - easily a career high, and way more than anyone thought. All this while playing gold-glove caliber defense at the hot corner.

At 32, Marischall is arb-eligible, and isn't seeking much ($2-$3mil). Despite one or two internal options, offering arb is a no-brainer here, even if he were backup or platoon only. Marischall also took part in the most community/charity events, with Bryant, Velde, Aves, and Ardila sharing some of the load.

C Myron Gooden - after three years of backup catching duties, at 27, Gooden was ready to take the reins as the starting catcher this season. He hit acceptably well (.267), accumulated a fair amout of doubles, walks, and RBIs, and got some clutch hits when needed.

Gooden's true value, however, is defensive. Gooden's arm is now praised as the best in the game - he threw out an amazing 43% of basestealers, notching a majors-best 38 runners gunned down. All this while calling a good game and providing top-notch defense - rated as 4th best behind the plate in the AL. He had 1 error and 3 passed balls in 1048 innings.

Gooden is arb-eligible for the first time, and seeking $2.3mil. We may agree on a deal to buy out his arb years and keep this kid in-house.

RF Marcello Velde - our Rule 5 Draft pickup played in 129 games, but was not a standout. His .212 average was worst among starters, and despite hitting 14 homers, his .232 OBP eventually moved him to the bench. Velde has one of the best outfield arms in the game (rated 97), and is a solid fielder - but we will need his offense to significantly improve in order to continue to play him next season.

Considering starting pitcher Lou Earle's season with Milwaukee (20 starts, 4.93 ERA as their 5th starter/long man), and our glut of outfielders, our Rule 5 choice might have been less than stellar. But, we'll have to give it another go before declaring it a total failure.

Bench and Role-Players:

INF Dave Wigton - after his 17-homer, .296 average 2017 campaign, Wigton was expected to land the starting 3B or 1B job easy. Instead, he struggled mightily, hitting .240 with 6 homers in 337 ABs (although he did walk 51 times). Mike Marischall took third base, and Wigton was a platoon part-timer.

Eligible for arb and looking for $4mil, Wigton is a non-tender or trade candidate at this point. Cleveland's front office will be busy trying to determine which was the fluke - last year, or this year - before deciding on plans for the 28-year-old.

C Dave Miller - our third-string catcher, switch-hitting Miller was more valuable as a bench coach than anything else. Only accumulating 55 ABs, his .182 average was unspectacular. At 35, Miller will be a FA, and would like to stay on for a $1mil deal. With a few options in AA and AAA, Miller might be headed to another city or retirement as we pinch pennies to improve.

INF James Bryant - splitting time at 2B and SS, and spending a bit of time everywhere else except CF and C, Bryant was a great utility man, showcasing great defense around the field. His .273 avg wasn't too shabby either, and he's proven himself as a capable backup.

Arbitration eligible for the second time, Bryant is asking for around $2mil, which we'll try to lower to keep him around. He may not be the guy to take 2B away from Dogman, but he's a good role-player.

1B Geoff Elliot - the late-May, $750k free agent signing had mixed results, as Elliot knocked in 23 RBI on 7 homers. However, his avg/OBP (.216/.259) left much to be desired. He was the brilliant defender as promised, however, even at 38 showing that good reflexes and a smart glove can equal a .994 fpc. With Omar Valdespino and Chad Adams coming up the ranks, Elliot will become a free agent.


Most other players were minor or role-players, or still-developing prospects.

2019 Projection: - again, assuming no retention of FAs:
SS: Scott Garey
2B: Ken Dogman
3B: Mike Marischall
1B: Ricardo Battista
C: Myron Gooden
RF: Jeremy Aves / Marcello Velde
CF: Shawn Ryan
LF: Chad Nagy/Tim Olsen

Bench:
INF James Bryant
INF Edward Wille (25, ovr 78)
1B Omar Valdespino (23, ovr 79)
OF Tim Olsen
OF Marcello Velde
INF Dave Wigton OR C Russ Willoughby (25, ovr 70)

[Alloutwar]

***After a 6-month hiatus, I am resuming play on this game file. I've been mainly playing MLB Power Pros on the Wii, and some older PC games - but seeing prospects develop in real life gave me a craving for Mogul.

Unfortunately, it meant a LOT of cleanup. I spent several days going through teams, doing the Competitive Balance for manual revenue sharing, signing sensible free agents where the AI was not, and the arduous task of going through each team and releasing any pitchers that had been in the minors 6+ years, weren't on the major league squad, and still had a default pre-arb contract. This led to a TON of free agent pitchers, and forced retirement for the 40-60 overall guys that had been hanging out in the FA pool.

The result is less stockpiles of pre-arb arms, but a few teams with sizeable budget space - mainly Seattle and LAD - scooped up about 15 FA pitchers each on minor-league-ish deals. So, I will try to summarize what happened in Cleveland over the past several months.***

The AL Central did not make much noise in the playoffs, as the Twins were defeated handily by the Yankees. The Yankees then beat the Angels in the ALCS, 4-3, before heading to a World Series against the Dodgers. Yankees win, 4-1, and have their 3rd World Championship in the last 5 years.

The Rawlings Gold Glove awards came out, and we had one winner - catcher Myron Gooden. Gooden had only ONE error in all of 2018, for a .999 fld pct. He had only 3 passed balls, and threw out 43% of would-be base stealers. Gooden is clearly an elite backstop.

On to the Cleveland moves. First, before the Free Agency and Arbitration processes begin, we do some fast house cleaning.


SP Oscar Latorro retires.
1B Geoff Elliot retires.
C Dave Miller retires.
RP Alan MacLulich becomes a free agent.
RP Rafael Ardila becomes a free agent.
SP Raul Lombrana becomes a free agent.
SP Enrique Barrientos opts out of his contract and returns to his native Cuba.

Some roster spots clear, so IF Edward Wille joins the 25-man roster. Barrientos is done in the majors (technically retired), leaving me without a depth starting option. Next is a few contracts:



C Myron Gooden signs a 3-year extension at $2.1mil.
3B Mike Marischall signs a 2-year extenion at $2.15mil.
SP Joe Devalois signs a minor-league contract for $350k.
SP Luis Sanchez signs a minor-league extension for $450k.

Locking up Gooden through arb is a great move. Marischall is also locked up through arb - and our 18-homer, gold glove-worthy third baseman is good either platooning with Wigton, or taking over full time, although his avg leads something to be desired. Luis Sanchez performed well in the minors and is a depth option going forward with our bereft farm system. Devalois is another filler/depth guy - with Barrientos gone, I had to fill out the ranks. Looks terrible in hindsight.

Next, is arbitration cases:



CF Shawn Ryan is awarded a $3.8mil contract for 2019.
IF Dave Wigton is awarded a $3.45mil contract for 2019.
IF Sandy English is awarded a $650k contract for 2019.
IF James Bryant is awarded a $1.85mil contract for 2019.
P Steve Rochford is awarded a $2.15mil contract for 2019.
RP Carlos Santoy is awarded a $1.8mil contract for 2019.


Rochford and Ryan actually lost money on this round of arb hearings. Rochford missed almost the entire 2018 season due to injury, but Ryan only missed a month and put up good numbers. Odd, but I'll take any pennies I can save. Wigton performed terribly last season, but I'm paying him a ton. Still a potential non-tender candidate.

Next up, minor league free agents - as I stated, I cleaned house with pitching staffs, and a few fielders in their late 20's/early 30's that shouldn't be playing for pre-arb contracts.



RP Joe Whiteside became a free agent.
3B Keith Slaugh became a free agent.
3B James Horvath became a free agent.
OF Samuel Unzueta became a free agent.


This necessitates some re-stocking of pitching depth, so a few quick moves:

Free Agent Signings:
Indians sign RP John Stoppard (age 27, ovr 78). We desperately need a bullpen lefty with MacLulich gone, and Stoppard will make $1.05mil for the next two years to be our new LOOGY.

Indians sign righty SP James Innis (age 29, ovr 71). Innis was a tough sign, for $1.3mil on a one-year deal, but he's another depth option should we see injury. He also pitched 33 innings last year (5 starts) with a sparkling 1.91 ERA.

Indians sign SP Brian Queensbury (age 27, ovr 72). Another lefty option, Queensbury can also start (stamina 88). He had an ERA of 7.77 in 10 starts last season for Detroit, so he will go to AAA on a $700k two-year deal.

Indians sign RP Brian Durfee (age 26, ovr 76). Another minor league deal, Durfee will make $750k for two years to be insurance bullpen help. Just a standard righty, Durfee does have success with his fastball/palmball, but only has 6 MLB innings.

Winter Meetings:

With two minor-league third basemen leaving to free agency, we have no 3B options in the minors. We also have 4 catchers in the minors, with 26 year old Russ Willoughby preventing others from moving up. In the winter meetings, we work out a minor 3-team deal:


C Russ Willoughby (age 26, ovr 68) to Phillies
C Mark Thurston (age 21, ovr 64) to Tampa Bay
3B Alex Turner (age 21, ovr 64) to Indians
C Francisco Viruct (age 23, ovr 67) to Indians

We lose two pieces - a decent-hitting catcher almost MLB ready, and a brilliant defensive catcher in Thurston - but we get 3B depth and a catching prospect back. Sort of a lateral move, but at least I have two positions covered instead of just one.

And with that, my first year in the Cleveland organization comes to a close. Our team is stronger, with plenty of depth options, and some nice independent league pickups - but only enough to rise to 3rd in the AL Central from 5th. Next year, as our pitching solidifies, we hope to avoid injury and top a .500 record, perhaps even making the playoffs.


_______________________


2019 draft:

Draft results below.

31785



1st round, #11 overall: IF Tommy Deoca
2nd round, #41 overall: CF Sean Regan
3rd round, #71 overall: LF Stuart Harrison
4th round, #101 overall: 3B Rey Villzon
5th round, #131 overall: RP Chico Avendano
6th round, #161 overall: SP Greg Moore

Tommy Deoca, the first third baseman in the draft, is a highly-touted defensive whiz. He can play all over the diamond already, with near majors-ready hands. He is easily a super-utility player, and his ceiling depends only on his bat.

Sean Regan is also a competent fielder, and has great raw speed and good base running tools. Contact is great, but the power and discipline need to come along a bit.

Stuart Harrison, out of Vanderbilt, is a good all-around prospect. Has the possibility to be a 3 or 4-tool guy.

Rey Villzon is something of a longshot, but the senior at Baylor hit .343 and has the potential to develop power and discipline.

Chico Avendano barely hits 90mph, but his command and amazing curve make him a potential threat with time.

Greg Moore was one of the lowest-rated prospects in the draft, but has potential. At just 22, he has a 97mph fastball, and a 4-pitch selection including a nice knuckle curve. The longball is a problem, as is his command, but with a few years of coaching he may be able to improve. With my need for pitching, I have to take the gamble.

[CatKnight]

Good to have you back!

[MadThespian]

Cool! I look forward to some good readin'.

[Alloutwar]

Starters:



Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Fernandy, Santos SP 26 64 $500,000 1 Starter #1
Rochford, Steve SP 30 82 $2,150,000 1 Starter #2
Parsons, Simon (L) SP 34 78 $2,250,000 2 Starter #3
Ashcraft, Aloysius SP 32 82 $3,600,000 1 Starter #4
Metherall, Eric SP 27 81 $327,000 Arb '21 Starter #5

Kudlick, Bud SP 24 82 $327,000 Arb '22 Middle
Doty, Dave SP 32 78 $327,000 Arb '20 Long
Walker, Steve RP 25 79 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Vargas, Samuel SP 26 75 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Innis, James SP 29 77 $1,300,000 1 (AAA)
Queensbury, Brian (L) SP 27 72 $700,000 2 (AAA)
Kelling, Caleb (L) SP 26 71 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Devalois, Joe SP 35 64 $350,000 1 (AAA)

MacGlashan, Sam SP 23 69 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Burgos, Chico SP 20 71 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Sanchez, Luis SP 28 71 $450,000 1 (AA)
Barba, Alfredo SP 28 65 $100,000 1 (AA)
Davis, Adam (L) SP 24 64 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Ganey, Eric SP 28 60 $50,000 1 (AA)
Allen, Ethan (L) SP 24 60 $50,000 1 (AA)

The main positive to take from the list above is depth: we've handily addressed the main issue present when I came on board the Indians team, and that's having quality arms to call on when injury occurs. In spring we stretched out Dave Doty, giving him stamina of 67 now, which means he can audition for a swing starter position.

Kudlick, Walker and Innis all figure to get auditions this season to see what they can do, depending on how my shakier starters fare.

Trade Candidates:

Steve Rochford, now in his last Arbitration year before Free Agency, could prove a good trade chip if we are sellers and he performs well. Ashcraft is a possibility as well, if anyone is interested.

Relievers:

Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Santoy, Carlos RP 27 83 $1,800,000 1 Closer
Arambola, Miguel RP 30 75 $3,100,000 3 Setup
Stoppard, John (L) RP 27 78 $1,050,000 2 Short
Brimble, Brian RP 27 75 $327,000 Arb '22 Short

Durfee, Brian RP 26 75 $750,000 2 (AAA)
Torrubia, Claudio RP 19 70 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Margarin, Luis (L) RP 24 69 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Jenkins, Nicholas (L) RP 28 67 $50,000 1 (AAA)
Taylor, Peter RP 27 66 $150,000 1 (AAA)

Binney, German (L) RP 20 66 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Celindon, Ephraim RP 26 65 $50,000 1 (AA)
Aaronson, Curt RP 25 65 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Coury, Mark RP 24 62 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)

A few general notes here: mainly lack of lefties. This is a weak spot - John Stoppard was a free agent signing to offset this, but Luis Margarin and German Binney have both had great success in the minors. Luckily the rest of the bullpen is fairly stable, and the emerging starters can take time in the bullpen as well.

Pitching staff heading into 2019 screenshot:

[Francoeurstein]

Ken Dogman = my hero.

[filihok]

Eric Metherall = Staff ace this year

[Alloutwar]

Francoerstein: why the crush on Dogman? Was it the autographed photo he sent you?

http://www.roussimoff.com/Fedor_Jefticheff_Jeftichew_JoJo_the_Russian_Dog_Faced_Man.jpg


filihok: bold prediction, especially with Fernandy as our reigning ace, and Rochford recovered from injury. I think Metherall will end up a solid #2 or #3, but not ace. We shall see!

****

We made one minor signing - SS Santos Gamaliel, who we took a long look at last year (age 37, ovr 77). We get him on a $750k minor-league deal, but he has a good chance of seeing significant playing time. He can still play short, but is above-average offensively in all ways - still has good power, speed, and eye.

Now, on to the analysis!

31812

Catchers:

Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Gooden, Myron C 28 77 $2,100,000 3 C
Battista, Ricardo C 31 82 $2,700,000 1 1B
White, Damian C 24 66 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Dearing, Trey C 22 70 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Viruct, Francisco C 23 67 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)

Myron Gooden is our main backstop, solidifying the position last year and winning a Gold Glove. Battista is our backup, and he will also get time at 1B and DH. Damian White could get some playing time if an injury or trade occurs - he's defied expectations and hit well in AA last year. We'll see how AAA goes for him this year.

Trade Bait:
Ricardo Battista was talked about in trade discussions last year, and this year is the final of his contract. His $2.7mil would be great to clear off the books, but we don't have a great backup/replacement. White may get the shot if the right deal comes along.

First Base:


Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Valdespino, Omar 1B 24 77 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Adams, Chad 1B 23 77 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Kennedy, Joe 1B 23 67 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)
Stanton, Corey 1B 24 47 $10,000 Arb '22 (R)

It's all prospects, all the time. Omar Valdespino will likely spend the majority of the season on the big-league squad. Chad Adams is nearly as good, and this creates a slight logjam issue. Adams is a better defender, and has better contact/eye - but Valdespino has raw power (43 HR in AAA last season).

Trade Bait:
Valdespino could be dealt for the right pieces. His 68 contact and average/poor fielding have us worried, and Adams is a year younger and a hometown Ohio guy.

Second Base:


Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Wille, Edward 2B 26 82 $327,000 Arb '22 2B
Dogman, Ken 2B 30 89 $10,700,000 4 DH
English, Sandy 2B 31 76 $650,000 1 (AAA)
Villalobes, Elvis 2B 24 72 $50,000 1 (AA)
Wright, Todd 2B 22 47 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)
Medori, Frank 2B 20 47 $50,000 2 (R)

Ken Dogman is our team's star, and with his new contract, he is the incumbent at second. But all Spring Training, he will audition at third, first, and the outfield as we decide what to do with him. Meanwhile, we can't keep lefty Edward Wille in the minors any longer - he hit .318 with 11 homers in AAA last year, and brings as good a glove as they get (94).

Sandy English is our pinch-runner and will play in AAA. Villalobes will play in AA, and Todd Wright will try to stay afloat in his 5th year of pro ball at 22.

ShortStop:


Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Garey, Scott SS 32 89 $4,100,000 1 SS
Bryant, James SS 29 77 $1,850,000 1 Bench
Gamaliel, Santos SS 37 77 $750,000 1 Bench
Walker, Spencer SS 23 71 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Vanzetti, Marc SS 22 70 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)

All-star Scott Garey will man shortstop, continuing his leadoff tear. James Bryant tailed off to .273 last season, making him a utility IF'er at this point. Gamaliel will start in AAA, but will play off the bench as needed. Spencer Walker is only depth, and top pick Marc Vanzetti will see how his second year of A-ball suits him.

Trade Bait:
Scott Garey is making $4.1mil and feels the urge to make the postseason. He also wants a huge raise - $10mil right now. With Bryant and Gamaliel, and decent guys in the minors, it would be ideal to trade him - but with a glut of free agents available, there's no market yet. We're hoping for injuries on the big teams before the deadline.



Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Marischall, Mike 3B 33 78 $2,150,000 2 3B
Wigton, Dave 3B 29 83 $3,450,000 1 DH
Turner, Alex 3B 21 61 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Deoca, Tommy 3B 21 69 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)
Villzon, Rey 3B 22 51 $10,000 Arb '22 (R)

Dave Wigton is the big story here - hitting .386 over the spring, he may be back to form after a terrible off-year. If so, he's a great corner infield and DH option. Mike Marischall also requires consideration, with top-notch fielding and surprising power in his full season last year. After that, a few prospects making minor waves, including #11 overall tommy Deoca.

Wigton is under contract for 2020 and 2021 via arb (unless released), and Marischall is now signed for two seasons - no reason to deal either at this point.


Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Nagy, Chad LF 22 82 $327,000 Arb '22 LF
Southwell, Tommy LF 23 72 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Batule, Julio LF 21 61 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)
Harrison, Stuart LF 21 51 $10,000 Arb '22 (R)

Chad Nagy will get his first full season, splitting time in LF and DH. The OBP machine will walk and homer his way into fan's hearts. Tim Olsen and perhaps even Ken Dogman may factor at LF as well.


Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Ryan, Shawn RF 29 86 $3,800,000 1 CF
Weinberg, Todd CF 24 71 $26,000 Arb '22 (AAA)
Vanegas, Marquitz CF 20 67 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Phelan, Lyle CF 24 67 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)
Regan, Sean CF 22 53 $10,000 Arb '22 (R)

Shawn Ryan is a top-notch star, 5-tool player. The .290/.379/.510 line he posted last year, missing 22 games, is enough to earn his $3.9mil salary, and he has one more year of arbitration. Todd Weinberg got a cup of coffee last Sept, and could push his way up - the switch-hitter has a majors-ready glove, and was strong in AA last year (.325 avg).

Trade Bait:
Shawn Ryan could be moved for the right price, if a contender was desperate or his performance drops off for us. With Weinberg about ready for the call-up, it's just a matter of time - this year, offseason, or next year's deadline.


Player Name P Age Overall Salary Years Roster
Velde, Marcello RF 27 82 $327,000 Arb '21 RF
Olsen, Tim RF 26 72 $327,000 Arb '21 Bench
Aves, Jeremy RF 28 75 $327,000 Arb '20 Bench
Faife, Jeremiah RF 23 67 $18,000 Arb '22 (AA)
Rennick, DeShawn RF 22 60 $13,000 Arb '22 (A)

Now here is a position battle. Marcello Velde has a great arm and fields well, and has good power - but can barely connect enough, with a .212 avg last season. Jeremy Aves is an OBP machine with great contact and patience, but can't field well at all. We'll play the streaks to get the best production. Tim Olsen will be on the bench as a 5th OF'er, for his great defense and capable bat.

Not much trade bait here, either that we want to offload or that would bring back much. Velde could be put through waivers if he doesn't show signs of improvement (but his .286 in Spring is slightly encouraging).

[Alloutwar]

Indians at Mariners

April 4th

Santos Fernandy gets the season opener at Seattle. Our ace looked shakey over spring training, with a 5.27 ERA. Sure enough the Mariners tee off, hitting 3 homers, 9 hits and 6 earned runs in Fernandy's 3.2 inning abbreviated start.

Our offense racks up 9 walks, but is otherwise pedestrian as we lose 9-4. Shawn Ryan goes 2 for 2 with 3 walks, scoring two runs to start things off right for his season.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 9 0
Mariners (SEA) 1 3 0 2 1 0 0 2 x 9 14 0

April 5th

We send Steve Rochford out, hoping for better results. Rochford comes through - and is absolutely dominant, allowing no runs, and 6 hits in a complete game shutout. He was so economical - 89 pitches total - that we never even had to sub him out. I think we have an ace!

Our offense was a story of its own, piling up 11 runs - Ryan and Wigton homer, and Wigton goes 3-for-5. He may be back in top form - spring training saw him hitting at a .386 clip. Indians win 11-0.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 11 15 0
Mariners (SEA) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1

April 6th

Lefty Simon Parsons gets his first start of the year, and Ken Dogman starts at third. He immediately is charged with an error in the bottom of the first, leading to runs. Parsons is gone after 4.1 IP with 3 runs, 1 earned.

We come back in the 5th and 6th, scoring 4 to take the lead on Scott Garey's 2-run single. We head to the 9th, but due to poor bullpen management, all we have is long relievers left. Steve Walker enters the game in a save opportunity, and immediately gives up a deep homer. We head to extras, and Dave Doty lasts until the 14th when the Mariners score.

Mariners win 5-4.



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 R H E
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 13 1
Mariners (SEA) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 13 0

*************


White Sox at Indians

April 8th

Hoping for some better luck after an off-day, 4th starter Aloysius Ashcraft attempts to begin his season on a good note. It doesn't work out - in 3 innings he is bashed for 6 runs on 3 homers. We try desperately to keep up, as Ryan, Gooden and Velde all homer, but in the end the Sox hit 6 homers and pounce on our relievers for an easy 14-6 pummelling.

Side note - Steve Walker came into this game and gave up two more homers, 5 runs (3 earned). His ERA is 54.00, in .2 innings. He will be sent down to AAA to work things out.

Another side note - Marcello Velde made a terrible read in right for an error. We've now errored in two games straight.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
White Sox (CHW) 2 1 3 1 0 0 5 2 0 14 14 0
Indians (CLE) 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 6 12 1

April 9th

We accomplished a rare feat today. All three of our outfielders made errors. Shawn Ryan in center, Chad Nagy in left, and usual solid Marcello Velde in right. Nagy has terrible range, but Ryan is average and Velde superb.

Terrible. Three erroring games straight, and now 5 errors in 3 games.

Luckily, Eric Metherall saved the day. He gave up 3 runs (none earned), over 7.1 innings. Meanwhile our offense was useless, with only one run until the bottom of the 8th. Losing 3-1, we exploded as Dogman hit a grand slam, and Mike Marischall (playing first) smoked two homers with 4 RBI. A 10-run 8th led to an easy 11-3 win. Lefty John Stoppard picked up the win in relief.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
White Sox (CHW) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 3 4 0
Indians (CLE) 0 0 1 0 0 0 010 x 11 11 3

April 10th

In the rubber game, we send out 'ace' Santos Fernandy to right his ship. He lasts 4.1 innings this time out, allowing 5 runs (4 earned). Our defense again lapses, as Dave Wigton joins the fun by air mailing a throw for an error. Dave Doty gifts up another terrible error in the 6th, for our 2nd of the game, and 7th in 4 games.

Shawn Ryan and Dave Wigton both get 2 RBIs - Wigton on a towering shot to left - but we lost 6-4.

Indians 2-4 on season.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
White Sox (CHW) 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 6 9 0
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 7 2

*******************

Pitching coach Dave Engbert sat with Mark Delanty, watching silently. Albert Thiessen was pointing to the video of Fernandy's last start, which was being slowed and analyzed with software. "It's his delivery," Thiessen was saying. "See the effort in the fastball? He's tipping his pitches. He's not effective until this is corrected."

Delanty looked at Engbert. "He had some rough stretches last year. Could this be corrected?"

Engbert produced a pained look. "We knew this was an issue last season - frankly it's shocking he performed as well as he did. The fastball's got nothing. Secondary pitches - the sliders can work, but not consistently. I can work with him, but this issue has been around all along. He can't fool hitters long-term."

Delanty sighed. Dave Doty in the rotation? Or Kudlick? He had already hoped to trade awat a starter or two with expiring contracts - Ashcraft, Rochford. Seeing last year's ace get destroyed wasn't a good sign. Steve Walker had been a disaster, folding like a house of cards every time he took the mound - he wasn't ready to start every 5th day in the bigs.

"So what do we do?" he finally said. "Move him to the bullpen?"

"Doty has been good," Engbert offered. "He's 32, never had a start in the bigs. You saw his triple-A numbers last year." Doty had posted a sub-3 ERA in AAA, but a 6.65 in the majors. "Kudlick too, he's willing - endurance is the only question there."

Thiessen shook his head. "I'm not sure if Fernandy will ever come back, but maybe short stints will get him some confidence. Or back to AAA to work on fundamentals - he's only 26, after all. Your call Mark."

Delanty drew a deep breath.



Roster Move:
Santos Fernandy to long relief, Dave Doty to rotation.



**************


Twins at Indians


April 12th

Steve Rochford takes the hill for our home opener, and we aren't letting him do another complete game, since he had such injury issues last year.

You'll never guess - we have a defensive lapse. RF Marcello Velde has his 3rd error on the young season, and we have erred in the field for the 5th consecutive match. Wow.

Rochford pitches through the 6th, giving up 2 runs and in line for the win as we lead 4-2. However, our bullpen has other plans, as closer Carlos Santoy gives up 2 to blow the save. We enter the 10th in a 4-4 tie, but the Twins score an early run. In the bottom of the 10th, Shawn Ryan scores a key run with a line double.

We go into the 11th scored 5-5, and again the Twins score, this time off Bud Kudlick. The Twins try to close it out - and Tim Olsen gets a key pinch-hit single. Marcello Velde comes up and launches a huge homer, for a 7-6 walk off win.



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Twins (MIN) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 6 14 1
Indians (CLE) 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 10 1

****Steve Rochford gets checked out after the game and has a wrist fracture. He will miss a month. Bud Kudlick moves into the rotation. Trade talks with Boston stall. **
Steve Rochford to DL. LHP Luis Margarin is called up and placed in the bullpen.

April 13th

Oh my god. Marcello Velde. Again with an error. 4th error in the 8th game of the season. 6th consecutive game with an error for the Indians.

This game lines up as a mismatch. Lefty ace Aaron McKettrick, traded from the Pirates to the Twins in the offseason, takes the hill. Our lefty countering, Simon Parsons, is significantly less threatening. Nonetheless this turns into a pitcher's duel - McKettrick hold us scoreless, but we squeeze a run across in the 6th to take a 1-0 lead
(Aves drives in Velde on a double). Meanwhile Parsons is brilliant for 7 innings, allowing 2 hits and 3 walks, but no runs on 102 pitches. He guts out a win, as McKettrick's 8 inning effort ends in a loss. Indians win 1-0.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Twins (MIN) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 x 1 3 1

April 14th

Our finale with the Twins is a chance at a sweep. The bad news is, our starter is headcase Aloysius Ashcraft. The Twins pound him for 4 runs in the 2nd, and jump on our relievers for 3 more, as they win 7-1. We manage only one run on Marcello Velde's solo shot. It's Velde's third homer of the young season...almost as many as he has errors.

By the way...the error streak ends.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Twins (MIN) 0 4 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 7 13 1
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 0

Indians are 4-5 on the season.

[filihok]

Luckily, Eric Metherall saved the day. He gave up 3 runs (none earned), over 7.1 innings.

I'm just sayin'

And keep us updated on where Dogman is playing and how he is doing

[MadThespian]

Good to see the Mariners win the series.

Other than that, I'm rooting for ya'.

[Alloutwar]

Indians at Royals

April 15th

We begin a series against the light-hitting Royals, hoping to get back to .500 or better. Eric Metherall takes the hill for us looking for a win. Ken Dogman gets a start at first base.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 8 1
Royals (KCR) 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 7 0

Our erroring ways continue, as CF Shawn Ryan misplays a bloop single (luckily it is harmless). Metherall goes 6 IP, 3 ER for a quality start, and Stoppard, Arambola and Santoy do their job to hold and save.

Ken Dogman homers, a two-run shot in the first.

Apr 16th

Dave Doty starts this one, looking for his first win as well - and he works his way out of some jams to come through. He shows off a very deceptive cutter, in the 91-93mph range, and scatters 7 hits and 3 runs.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 0 0 3 0 2 2 0 0 3 10 15 1
Royals (KCR) 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 12 1

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
D. Doty 6.0 7 1 0 3 3 4 91 3.60

The error streak continues, this time on Jeremy Aves in left. He makes up for it by clobbering a HUGE drive to left for his first homer. Dogman is an animal going 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, again playing first. Wigton HUGE homer to left center as our offense fires on all cylinders.


Injury:
3B Mike Marischall hits the DL with a ruptured cervical disc (68 days). Dave Wigton will get most of the starts at 3rd, with Ken Dogman moving over sometimes as well.

Apr 17th - going for the sweep. Slugfest ensues.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 11 0
Royals (KCR) 3 0 0 5 1 1 7 0 x 17 18 2

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
B. Kudlick 3.2 8 0 2 6 6 2 65 8.76
B. Brimble 1.1 4 0 3 3 3 2 32 10.13
J. Stoppard 1.0 2 2 0 3 3 0 24 4.26
L. Margarin 0.0 2 3 0 5 5 0 20 162.00
S. Fernandy 2.0 2 2 0 0 0 1 43 9.00
TOTALS 8.0 18 7 5 17 17 5 184

Royals get 3 consecutive homers in the 4th. And pick it up right away in the 5th. OMFG. We are slammed 17 to 6. Bud Kudlick gets his @ss handed to him, and our bullpen doesn't help much - except for a resurgent Santos Fernandy. Hmm.

Tim Olsen cashes in on the chance to start in left, going 3-for-4 with a homer. The light-hitting lefty always manages to put on a better show than his ratings would indicate.


Indians at White Sox

Apr 18th

Lefty Simon Parsons is not so stellar this time out, but avoids the loss in an extra innings affair. Ricardo Battista is on fire with a triple and homer.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 7 15 1
White Sox (CHW) 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 2 9 15 1

Dave Wigton tosses a throwing error from 3rd, his 2nd of the year there. 3 Indians have multiple errors just 14 games into the season. Sigh.

White sox win on walk-off 2-run single.

Apr 19th


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Indians (CLE) 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 8 1
White Sox (CHW) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0

Error on LF Tim Olsen! Holy F!!!! Leads to a run in the first.

Catcher Myron Gooden hits a 2-run single to give us the lead in the top of the 2nd.

Aloysius Ashcraft is the story, as he goes 8 dominant with 4 Ks, no earned runs. We win 3-1 to split the quick 2-game set. Carlos Santoy nabs his 4th save.


Tigers at Indians

Apr 20th


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Tigers (DET) 3 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 11 14 3
Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 9 10 1

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Metherall 1.0 5 1 2 7 7 1 36 6.28
S. Fernandy 5.0 4 3 0 2 2 5 101 7.20
B. Brimble 2.2 4 1 0 1 1 0 30 8.38
J. Stoppard 0.1 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 3.68
TOTALS 9.0 14 6 2 10 10 6 182

The Tigers are in town for another quick 2-game set. Metherall starts, and allows a single and a walk in the first before a huge moster homer. Down 3-0.

In the second it starts right up again - hit, HBP, single to load the bases. then a grand slam to the leadoff hitter. Metherall goes 1 inning, 7 ER.
Santos Fernandy takes over, going 5 innings giving up 2 runs.
Surprisingly, we end up making it interesting - despite putting in a few subs to rest our main lineup in the 6th, we score 4 runs on a host of errors in the 8th, and in the bottom of the ninth score 5 more, 4 on a Marcello Velde grand slam. We lose 11-9, but at least we work up.

Marcello Velde, before his grand slam, commits another error, his 5th in RF this season.

Apri 21st

Dave Doty will try to even the score and split a 2-game series.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Tigers (DET) 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 3 0 7 12 0
Indians (CLE) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 10 0

HR: K. Dogman (3), S. Ryan (3)

CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
D. Doty 5.1 8 0 2 4 4 2 85 4.43
S. Walker 1.2 1 0 0 0 0 1 20 10.38
M. Arambola 1.0 3 1 1 3 3 2 28 4.00
C. Santoy 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1.74
TOTALS 9.0 12 1 3 7 7 5 147

Scott Garey gets a leadoff single, Ryan scores him with an inside the park homer, and Dogman homers right behind him. Up 3-0.
Doty loads the bases in the 2nd with none out, but uses that cutter in on lefties to get out of it unscathed. Pressure pitcher. Doty is replaced in the 5th and Steve Walker protects a 5-4 lead.

Miguel Arambola comes in to setup, and instead gifts up 3 runs by wild pitching everything, and then letting a 3-run shot go into the seats. 7-5.

We score one more in the 9th, but end up losing 7-6.

Error streak SNAPS!!

Indians are 7-9 on the young season.

*************


Dave Doty gets the Nod
Trevor Stockton, Indians Beat Writer
31930

After stints in the bullpen, and a seemingly constant ride back to triple-A Buffalo, Dave Doty has finally landed a spot in the major league rotation, something that he's wanted for a long time.

Doty sports a career 4.61 ERA, but last season saw him struggle immensely out of the bullpen in mop-up duty. In only 11 games, teams hit him at a .323 clip, piling up a 6.65 ERA that had him demoted all too often.

This year, after starting Spring in the rotation and earning 3 wins, management gave him another look. Not only did he make the squad, but he was the given the 4th starter slot when Steve Rochford went down to injury.

His two starts so far have been mixed - a solid quality start in Kansas City earned him a win, but a 4-run effort against the Tigers was a no-decision. Doty definitely appears more confident - something he attributes mainly to his improved cutter.

As the Indians attempt to stay competitive, it will be interesting to see if Doty maintains his rotation spot, and what he can do with it for an extended stretch. After seeing the big righty's bright smile in the bullpen for the last few years, it's good to see him get what he has always wanted.



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MLBlog of Marcello Velde
31931

Hello again Tribe fans!

2019 seems like the year for me. All offseason I worked on hitting - sizing up the ball better in the Fall League, and working with coaches and scouts before Spring Training. I think it paid off, as I hit over .280 this Spring, and forced my way onto the team.

I'm still striking out a lot, but have 4 homers already. I'm also trying to walk more, be more patient and wait for a pitch I can connect with.

I usually pride myself on my fielding, but that's been a problem so far - 5 errors so far in April alone! I can't apologize enough - this is not the type of fielder I want to be. A lot of times I know I have the arm to nail a guy going for the extra base, but I can't control the throw and it ends up sailing.

Some results are disappointing this year, but I'm going to shake it off and keep trying to help this club. We have a great group of guys, and we have the right spirit for the game.

Remember, the 30th of April is the Latin festival in downtown Cleveland. Santos Fernandy and I will be there starting at 11am - I'll be holding a batting clinic for the ninos, so bring them down for a fun day!