{"id":1456,"date":"2009-08-02T07:11:31","date_gmt":"2009-08-02T14:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/02\/the-cuyahoga-is-burning-again\/"},"modified":"2009-08-02T16:57:08","modified_gmt":"2009-08-02T23:57:08","slug":"the-cuyahoga-is-burning-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/02\/the-cuyahoga-is-burning-again\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cuyahoga Is Burning Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro started with a few deft strokes, but before it was over Cleveland fans were keeping the women and children indoors at night.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It was a chainsaw massacre and by\u00c2\u00a0time the July trading deadline passed you could hardly identify the remains of\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0Tribe team that almost won it all in 2007.<\/em><\/p>\n

There were predictions that the trade market would be quieted by the highly competitive divisional races, but the exact opposite proved true when the final bell rang on July 31st.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0A depressed economy made sellers of the Indians, Pirates and A’s.\u00c2\u00a0 The rich\u00c2\u00a0got richer and huge bonuses were paid to the big investors–what a surprise.<\/p>\n

Whether Boston, St. Louis\u00c2\u00a0or the Phillies won the deadline sweepstakes will be disputed until the end of Ocotober.\u00c2\u00a0 But no matter who wins the World Series, Cleveland fans took the loss and they are up in arms over the departure of VMart and Cliff Lee.<\/p>\n

Tribe fans\u00c2\u00a0have waited expectantly\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0Martinez, Sizemore\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Lee\u00c2\u00a0to bring home another championship.\u00c2\u00a0 But the number of fans willing to wait has dwindled steadily.\u00c2\u00a0 Attendance at the Jake has gone from over 3 million in 2001 to a projected 1.6 million for 2009.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The weak economy and lower attendance precipated the July\u00c2\u00a0fire sale, but\u00c2\u00a0what is\u00c2\u00a0left now that the\u00c2\u00a0smoke begins to clear?<\/p>\n

Mark Shapiro traded away what was supposed to be the\u00c2\u00a0core of a championship team.\u00c2\u00a0 Ryan Garko, Raphael Betancourt, Ben Francisco, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez were assumed to be the backbone of a pennant winning team.\u00c2\u00a0 And though they went to the American League Championship Series in 2007, even then the Jake was less than half full most nights.\u00c2\u00a0 Only 2.2 million paid to see that team–21st overall.\u00c2\u00a0 So as those players moved into their peak earning years, who was going to pay them?<\/p>\n

Shapiro also traded Mark DeRosa who was brought in last summer to\u00c2\u00a0cement\u00c2\u00a0the Cleveland offense\u00c2\u00a0for a run at the\u00c2\u00a0AL Central in ’08 and ’09.\u00c2\u00a0 The Tribe was competitive in ’08 in a weak division and the gate was respectable.\u00c2\u00a0 But\u00c2\u00a0this season everything has gone up in smoke.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost every\u00c2\u00a0trademark name is gone except Grady Sizemore.<\/p>\n

And for what?\u00c2\u00a0 For all of the impressive talent\u00c2\u00a0traded away, what did Shapiro get?\u00c2\u00a0 Can Cleveland’s talented GM craft\u00c2\u00a0a phoenix\u00c2\u00a0from the ashes and how long will it take?\u00c2\u00a0 Will Cleveland fans still be paying attention if he does?<\/p>\n

The best trade Shapiro\u00c2\u00a0made was the swap of\u00c2\u00a0Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for Chris Perez and Jesse Todd.\u00c2\u00a0 First, DeRosa is the least important of the players shipped off to contenders in the past month.\u00c2\u00a0 He is a 34-year old whose career took a nice jump at age 33, but his salary is at its peak in contrast to\u00c2\u00a0his offensive production, which\u00c2\u00a0is\u00c2\u00a0almost certain to decline.\u00c2\u00a0 Perez and Todd could still be\u00c2\u00a0pitching for the major league minimum\u00c2\u00a0when DeRosa retires.<\/p>\n

The best baseball trades–the ones\u00c2\u00a0that go down as shaping the future for teams–are those that net young top-of-the-rotation starters.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Young pitchers are the coin of the realm in baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 From that perspective Shapiro got back some\u00c2\u00a0gold nuggets for all that he traded away.<\/p>\n

For DeRosa\u00c2\u00a0he got two young righthanders–the Cardinals’ number three and four prospects (Baseball America)–both of whom were high profile\u00c2\u00a0draft picks.\u00c2\u00a0 Perez has stepped into the Cleveland bullpen where he will likely to a fixture for years to come.\u00c2\u00a0 Todd may be even better though it remains to be seen whether he is a closer or starter.\u00c2\u00a0 He has four pitches including a 94 mph fastball and\u00c2\u00a0he is close to major league ready.\u00c2\u00a0 He could be a top of the rotation starter within the next couple of years.<\/p>\n

Shapiro\u00c2\u00a0got DeRosa from the Cubs for three prospects–Stevens, Archer and Gaub–none of whom has the upside of Todd or Perez.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0This one trade was not only relatively painless to Cleveland fans, it is all upside.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0For relatively little they could have the best\u00c2\u00a0one-two punch out of the Tribe bullpen since Julian Tavarez was a 22-year old rookie setting up Jose Mesa.<\/p>\n

It is the trades that followed that are the controversy and will spell Shapiro’s reputation going forward.\u00c2\u00a0 As the July deadline loomed Shapiro sent Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philadelphia for four propsects.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0This trade is the worst.\u00c2\u00a0 In return for a Cy Young-winning pitcher, still in his prime and with playoff experience, the return is far less overwhelming.<\/p>\n

At first glance\u00c2\u00a0Cleveland got\u00c2\u00a0four of the best prospects in the Philadelphia farm system.\u00c2\u00a0 But two of the players have been very disappointing in 2009 and overall this trade raises more quesitons than it answers.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The most highly coveted prizes in the Philadelphia system–Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown–got away.<\/p>\n

Cleveland got Carlos Carrasco who Baseball America rated the second best prospect in the Philadelphia system at the beginning of 2009 on the strength of a strong 2008 season where he jumped to Triple A for six very strong starts.\u00c2\u00a0 This year he has had the same great strikeouts to walks rati0–112\/38 in 114 innings–but has given up too many homers and been generally more hittable than in 2008.<\/p>\n

The other two highly touted prospects, Lou Marson and Jason Donald are not setting the world on fire either.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Donald was labeled “Biggest Disappointment” by BA in its latest assessment of the Philadelphia farm system.\u00c2\u00a0 This trade may look better if Carrasco and Donald rebound.\u00c2\u00a0 They are both young, but this one won’t get the 2010 turnstiles spinning.<\/p>\n

Shapiro did get a\u00c2\u00a0nice young pitcher in Scott Barnes from San Francisco for Ryan Garko.\u00c2\u00a0 And he got another young arm, Connor Graham, for Betancourt.\u00c2\u00a0 But who will play first base now that VMart and DeRosa have been traded away?\u00c2\u00a0 Andy Marte has been tearing up Triple-A, but\u00c2\u00a0counting on Marte to\u00c2\u00a0hit major league pitching has been a loser’s bet so far.<\/p>\n

Shapiro has to count on the return for Victor Martinez to tip the scales back in his\u00c2\u00a0favor.\u00c2\u00a0 Boston, like Philadelphia, did not part with their most highly prized prospects.\u00c2\u00a0 Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden are still scheduled to anchor the Red Sox rotation when Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield are gone.<\/p>\n

But the haul Cleveland got for VMart–Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price-is a respectable one.\u00c2\u00a0 Masterson was one of the highest rated prospects in the Red Sox organization in 2008 and has been very successful both starting and relieving for Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 He will likely slide into the starting rotation for Lee.\u00c2\u00a0 Lee was the ace of the staff and while Masterson is not quite that good, he may develop into a very good number number 3 starter.<\/p>\n

Hagadone is the one who may replace Lee and on him Mark Shapiro’s reputation will rest.\u00c2\u00a0 He was Boston’s first pick in the 2007 draft and like Cliff Lee is a tall left-hander who projects to pitch at the top of the rotation.\u00c2\u00a0 The question is his health.<\/p>\n

Hagadone has just returned from elbow surgery.\u00c2\u00a0 However,\u00c2\u00a0he seems to be picking up where he left off.\u00c2\u00a0 He has been dominating at High-A Greenville, striking out 32 in 25 innings, with a .149 batting average against.\u00c2\u00a0 His innings are being restricted because of his elbow, but he could shoot\u00c2\u00a0quickly through the Tribe’s minor league system in 2010.\u00c2\u00a0 If he does he will\u00c2\u00a0give Tribe fans something to make them forget Cliff Lee–the way Andrew McCutcheon is making Pirates fans forget Nate McLouth.<\/p>\n

Cleveland has joined Pittsburgh and Oakland as small market franchises.\u00c2\u00a0 Shapiro may change that in years to come, but for now he is stuck trying to emulate Billy Beane.\u00c2\u00a0 Beane\u00c2\u00a0has played the July\u00c2\u00a0trading deadline the way Arnold Palmer once played Augusta.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0When the smoke clears in 2010 we will see whether Mark Shapiro is the young genius his reputation once claimed, or just another GM looking for work.<\/p>\n

The Cleveland fans may feel betrayed.\u00c2\u00a0 They may believe that the competitive baseball franchise, once a\u00c2\u00a0symbol of the city’s rebirth, has slipped away.\u00c2\u00a0 But ultimately\u00c2\u00a0they have only themselves to blame.\u00c2\u00a0 If they are lucky–very lucky– GM Mark Shapiro will bail them out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro started with a few deft strokes, but before it was over Cleveland fans were keeping the women and children indoors at night.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It was a chainsaw massacre and by\u00c2\u00a0time the July trading deadline passed you could hardly identify the remains of\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0Tribe team that almost won it all in 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}