With no money to spend and no players to trade, Mark Shapiro is getting ready for the winter meetings...probably scoping out his lounger by the pool....too bad it's in Indianapolis.

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091130&content_id=7730034&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle

Mark got an early start...dumping arbitration eligible Kelly Shoppach for....ugh, nothing ...PTBNL. Actually, the cupboard is not bare. The Tribe still has Grady Sizemore (asking price...a bag of Rawlings RO-As and the rights to the internet pics) ....and they might deal Jhonny Peralta and his $4.6 million salary if they could get a single A pitcher with a sore arm that would help them compete in the Special Olympics. Kerry Wood could be dealt, but the Tribe would probably have to pay part of his salary (Hahaha... what's wrong with THAT picture!)


Patience Mark...as the article says...
"However this plays out for the Indians, it's expected to play out slowly. The club will most likely let the market develop, then hope to swoop in and find some bargains late in the Hot Stove season. "


"swoop in"....
Jesus...how did it come to this?

Like the rainbow icon.

LTrain23 wrote: Like the rainbow icon.

Haha, that was going to be my contribution to the thread as well.

I wonder if thedave from the old huddle is on here...his presence on this topic is needed.

Shapiro and Walt Jocketty can work on their collective tans together.

When it's raining, there is a rainbow somewhere, right?

Certainly a winter of discontent for me.


Scary #'s ...the Tribe took a $16 million hit last year.....
........has $48.5 million tied up in 6 players
Hafner $11 million
Westbrook $11 million
Wood $10 million
Carmona, Sizemore and Peralta...about $5 miilion apiece.

They can't afford to bring back even Jamie Carrol ($2.5 million)...or to sign Omar Vizquel at $1.35 millon.
Lots of former season ticket holders did not renew, which means revenue stream drops even further.

How do you get back?...How do you compete with teams that have huge revenue streams?

When it's raining there is lightning...

The biggest question is how long will Westbrook remain active?
The next question with him is if he throws well what what single A sore arm rookie ball pitcher will the Tribe trade him for?

CANNONBALL!

There's only two ways to get back. 1. Do the best with the players you have and hope you can be competitive with your new manager (unlikely) and 2. Sell the team to someone who has enough money to actually run it. That is all