Ive been working 55 hr weeks and have been absent from here lately. Lets hear your mid-season thoughts.

No doubt they've exceeded the pre-season expectations thus far, at least their W-L record. IMO, an average team that benefited from a great start.

Extremely disappointed in Sizemore and Carmona. Impressed mostly by Brantley and A. Cabrera. Good to see Hafner having a real good year at the plate.

Tomlin too.

What dirt does Kearns have on Acta?

Time to bring up the kids....and get rid of the dead wood...Sizemore, Fausto and Talbot.

Need some pop in the offense ( or underachievers to step up) and another solid starting arm, whether from outside of the organization or the farm. Carmona and that other stiff they have in the rotation don't exactly give the fans the "warm fuzzies."

I honestly thought the pitching would blow outside the Pen. However; Tomlin, Masterson and Carrasco have been very, very solid. Masterson magnificent. Fausto and Talbot can go away at any moment.

The offense, which I figured would be above average and carry us to any kind of wins we would accumulate, has sucked. Big time. Hafner has been amazing, and Asdrubal looks like he may be a top tier SS for the foreseeable future. Choo needs to get it together when he comes back. Everyone is ragging on Santana, and I admit Im just as disappointed with the average a the next guy. But at the same time, the power numbers are there and the walks are fantastic. 4th in the AL. That is more important to me for a youngster as I feel the average will be there in the future. Brantley is really streaky, but I assumed he would be a .290 hitter, so I actually have been a little upset with his offensive play (mostly recently).

Defense, was solid, has sucked recently.

What to do going forward? I really dunno. You gotta strike while the iron is hot, but you also have to realize we are nowhere near Boston or NYY this year so is it really worth making the big trade. Im inclined to send some players for more middle tier guys, but a move MUST be done.

Positive surprises: Carrasco, Raffy Perez, Masterson to some extent (He always had the stuff he was just maddeningly inconsistent last year), Pronk to some extent (he's still had injury troubles and the power numbers aren't overwhelming - only about a 20 double, 25 homer pace averaged over an entire season, but getting on base much more than expected and provides protection in the middle of the order)
Negative surprises: Choo

That's about all I'm surprised with at an individual level. Santana isn't hitting for average, but the power is there and his OBP is still respectable so he hasn't been a bust in my eyes. LaPorta and Carmona are terrible, so no surprises at their performance at all. Didn't expect anything out of Grady either.

Would love to make a move for a power hitting prospect at either 1st or corner outfield. Ideally it would involve trading Sizemore and shifting Brantley to CF. The team as a whole is 29-34 since April, which is about the pace I'd expect them to continue playing and the pace I expected coming into the season. It's a 75 win pace which is about the talent level of the team in my opinion.

Hopefully the start they got out to at least keeps them hanging right in the race until the end, but this clearly isn't a World Series caliber team. Positive progress though. If White can come back healthy, with Pomeranz and others waiting in the wings to go along with Masterson, Carrasco, and Tomlin we could have ourselves a nasty starting staff for at least a few years. I like Chisenhall, have faith in Santana, and expect Choo to turn things around, so I think the pieces are falling into place for this to be a very competitive team in a year or 2.

Footwedge;826685 wrote:Time to bring up the kids....and get rid of the dead wood...Sizemore, Fausto and Talbot.

Why?

Just when you think they are turning a corner, they lose 3 in a row to the blue jays... Fausto and Talbot got to get their heads together or GTFO. Losing Chisenhall is a huge, I thought he made a great addition to the lineup. Grady can add value once in a while, not sure how much better a rookie would do. I would trade him for anything though. What do the Jays want for Bautista? Seriously.

Starting pitching has been better than expected. With 3 out of the 5 guys you can at least expect to be in the game. Masterson has been awesome and should have at least 4 more wins. Tomlin has been good for the most part. He knows how to pitch, because he has to. Carrasco is starting to live up to his expectations, minus his last 2 starts. Too bad White got hurt, because he looked very good. Fausto looked lost and Talbot has location problems. The bull pen has been the strength of the team. Very reliable and has done the job all year for the most part. Perez has been solid, except when put in non-closing situations.

The offense...very disappointing for the most part. Druby and Pronk have been the only 2 that have hit all year. Everyone else has been very inconsistent or has underachieved. Injuries have played a big part in some of this. But they need to turn it around if they want to stay in contention.

Defense has been improved greatly from last year.

I would like to see a move for a power RH bat, and believe we will see some kind of trade for this in the next couple weeks. The line up is predominately LH.

Happy with where they are right now.....didn't expect this coming into the season. I really see them falling back behind the White Sox, Tigers and possibly the Twins however. There are just too many weaknesses and there supposed number 1 starter is garbage(Fausto). It would be great if they can unload Grady and Fausto, but I am worried that if they fall off.....Pronk and his big contract will be the one shipped. I mean....we still have the same crappy ownership.

If you would have told me on March 30th that we could fast forward to the All-Star break and the Tribe would be half a game out of first and 7 games up on the Twins, I would have done it in a heartbeat.

Now given the start and the lead they had accumulated, it has been rather disappointing the last month and a half. Still, a lot of positives going forward. No matter what happens down the stretch, this season is something that can be built on. Maybe they will fall apart, but maybe not. Either way, I don't see this as the opportunity trade prospects and make a big move prior to the deadline. If you do that, you have to be thinking that this is a team ready to make a run at a pennant, which I don't think they are there yet.

The good news: The Tribe are done with the Rays and Yankees and just have a 3 game set vs the Red Sox left. They still play the Tigers 15 times and end the season with 3 vs them. A ton of games vs the stuggling Royals left and a 5 game series vs the Mariners who will continue to slide. I'm not sure if they have another trip out west, but if they do it is only one more time. The schedule sets up well. We said we had to survive the brutal stretch we just finished and I would say we did. Half a game out and a favorable schedule ahead. I'm just along for the ride.

TBone14;827055 wrote: The good news: The Tribe are done with the Rays and Yankees and just have a 3 game set vs the Red Sox left. They still play the Tigers 15 times and end the season with 3 vs them. A ton of games vs the stuggling Royals left and a 5 game series vs the Mariners who will continue to slide. I'm not sure if they have another trip out west, but if they do it is only one more time. The schedule sets up well. We said we had to survive the brutal stretch we just finished and I would say we did. Half a game out and a favorable schedule ahead. I'm just along for the ride.

This makes me feel better about the 2nd half.

We have played the tigers more than 3 times, so we definitely dont play them 15 more times. We are done out west, which is awesome.

Biggest surprise: The team all together. I never would have expected to be in this position. The bullpen is nasty, and the starters for the most part are solid enough (so far). I really hope they start the 2nd half of the season the way they started the first half.

Biggest disappointment: Grady Strikemore and Fausto. I don't understand how Strikemore has become such a joke. I never would have imagined he would be a .225 hitter. It is a complete joke. I hope he can do some soul searching during the break. As for Carmona, he can do some soul searching himself, or at least learn how not to be a mental pussy. Honorable mention: Choo.

Team MVP: I know everyone is expecting me to say Drubby, but honestly I think it is Pronk. This is the Pronk I expected from the beginning of his career. He makes the lineup so much better. If he isn't getting a hit, he is getting walked. Something has clicked for him this first half, I hope he stays healthy and remains this consistent for the 2nd half. Just imagine if Choo was playing to his ability. No pitcher would want to face those 2 back to back.

Overall, I am happy that we have something to look forward to in the 2nd half, but I can't say I am not pissed they gave up a huge division lead in such a quick fashion. If they don't make the playoffs this year, for me personally it will be a disappointment. After being in it so long, I am not looking for any moral "oh we have something to build on" victories. Baseball is a weird sport, this team could easily be fighting for last place next year. This is also the reason why I think it would be dumb to trade any prospects away. Especially with a cheap ass owner in a small market. Just try to do our best with the pieces we have, and keep developing the young talent.

Laley23;827094 wrote:We have played the tigers more than 3 times, so we definitely dont play them 15 more times. We are done out west, which is awesome.

You are correct. Buster Olney tweeted that they played 15 more times and I believed him. He was wrong. It is 12 more.

Aug 9-11
19-21
Sept 5-7
26-28- Final series

Any overpriced right handed power hitting 3B out there they could rent for the rest of the year?

When I said make a trade for a RH bat, I didn't mean we should trade away any of our high prospects. There are a couple guys out there that can be had without that happening. (Francoeur or Ludwik) IMO you have to try to improve the team if possible. One of these 2 would be an improvement. They are a half game out of first at the break, which means they are right in it. This division has never been more winnable. They owe it to the fans to make a move, if they can do it reasonably.

What about the Melkman or BJ Upton?

A name that was brought up on WKNR today that might be more in the Tribe's "range" is Josh Willingham (A's). He has 12 HR's, 44 RBI's & is hitting .241 (not great). He played for Acta and the Tribe probably wouldn't have to get raped in a deal.

I would like upton as he brings speed to the line up. I think with fausto it is his mechanics more than anything. He is a good 2nd half pitcher and I think he can have an excellent 2 nd half. I would still like to pick up wandy rodriguiz from houston.

If it means giving up a major prospect I say "no deal." Would suck to go out and rent a bat, not make the playoffs and then have the guy walk in FA. Or just as bad, get a guy, make the playoffs (losing in the first round), only to build huge expectations for next year only to find out this team was playing out it's ass.

Great idea to start this thread and I have enjoyed reading all the analyses! The comments are very thought provoking.

BRF agrees with those who say basically "who woulda believed we would be where we are at now?".

Both the bull pen and the starting pitching have done a really good job, over all. The offense has struggled but I will agree with those that say how important Pronk is. Just wish he could play the field, too.

I worry about the players who think they will be "under the gun" on being traded. I don't like the karma that brings for the start of the second half.

Now BRF will go out on a limb and say they we should keep Grady. He is still a decent player and important to the team.

And please don't trade Duncan!

ESPN Insider article that discussed 5 possible trades in the AL. Here is the Tribe:

Cleveland Indians trade Nick Weglarz to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Hiroki Kuroda and $2 million

His record looks ugly thanks to the sixth-worst run support in baseball, but Kuroda has put up another solid season, with a 3.06 ERA, 3.66 xFIP and strikeout-to-walk rate of nearly 3-to-1. The 36-year-old's pinpoint control (just over two walks allowed per nine innings for his career) bodes well for his succeeding outside Dodger Stadium, even if he's not top-of-the-rotation material. He doesn't have to be for the Tribe, who have innings concerns with young pitchers like Carlos Carrasco and regression concerns with unlikely success stories like Josh Tomlin, and mostly need a veteran who can offer 12 to 15 starts of slightly above-average performance. Kuroda's making $12 million this year, so the Indians could benefit from the Dodgers sending some cash back.

The 23-year-old Weglarz has struggled with injuries the past two seasons, and his defense is shaky. But he's also a legitimate on-base threat with power, something the Dodgers sorely need. James Loney isn't much better than replacement level and existing prospects like Jerry Sands and Trayvon Robinson are talented, but not sure things. Adding another candidate for the future first base or left field job would be a coup for a team that probably won't do anything more exciting than this for the rest of this season … on the field anyway.

royal_k;827276 wrote:When I said make a trade for a RH bat, I didn't mean we should trade away any of our high prospects. There are a couple guys out there that can be had without that happening. (Francoeur or Ludwik) IMO you have to try to improve the team if possible. One of these 2 would be an improvement. They are a half game out of first at the break, which means they are right in it. This division has never been more winnable. They owe it to the fans to make a move, if they can do it reasonably.

Francoeur and Ludwick would both be good options if we could swing it. I wonder what the Royals would want? Probably more than we are willing to offer.

The Hammer should come cheaper and has always driven in runs. He won't come in and hit .300 for us but with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs he will hit a flyball and get the guy home. A very professional hitter.

And one more thing: I have really enjoyed all the banter on the OC for this first half! Thank you to all of you!