Well, where do I begin? lol Finish the year strong and end the year on a winning note so it leaves fans with hope for the future.


2011 prediction:
The Indians are still a few years away, but they are making the necessary moves to become a force in the future. There are hopes that Grady Sizemore will be back soon enough to where there’s a chance he will be ready by the start of the season. They need him to stay healthy or the Indians are going to be down in the dumps again. They have a good lineup 1-5 (especially Shin-Soo Choo), but the rest of the lineup leaves a lot to be desired. Carlos Santana will be back at catcher after suffering a nasty injury last season. He has plenty of talent and could become a top catcher in the league if he can keep progressing. Matt LaPorta needs to improve greatly this year and the Indians as a whole need to score some more runs and LaPorta has to be instrumental in providing consistent offense. The pitching staff has some nice parts to it, led by Fausto Carmona. The rest of the four starters are young but are extremely talented, especially Justin Masterson and Mitch Talbot. Chris Perez has his moments, but he will be in a battle to keep his job as the closer all season with Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Chad Durbin and Jensen Lewis behind him. All these guys can close, so it will be interesting to see who gets the call in the 9th if Perez struggles.

2011 brought us some of that old Jacob's Field magic back with this team winning games any and every way they could. A lot of thought it was to good to be true, some thought we were going to win the Central. But nevertheless, we hit a pothole, had tons of injuries, and just couldn't recover. This offseason is the most important in the coming years because we NEED to make moves if this team is wanting to go to the dance. I am very excited for this team and how well the young guys played this season just getting thrown into the fire at the end of the year. I think we are in for some special years here to come with our Cleveland Indians.



Your thoughts?

Good bye Faildy Strikemore.

OQB;888959 wrote:There are hopes that Grady Sizemore will be back soon enough to where there’s a chance he will be ready by the start of the season. They need him to stay healthy or the Indians are going to be down in the dumps again.

If the team is depending on Sizemore for ANYTHING, they're not as far along as fans would hope. Even for the bits and pieces of the season that his porcelain body was in one piece, he was a shell of what he used to be back when he looked like a perennial superstar.

Shapiro implied that they'd be bringing Sizemore back. If they do, they'd better restructure that contract. Not doing it would be about as bad in the thievery department as what Hafner is doing to them with his contract. Frankly, I'd rather see them move on.

Well, at the beginning of this year I thought that next season we could have a rotation of Masterson, Tomlin, White, Pomeranz, and either Carrasco/Talbot/Gomez. I was excited about that.

Now White and Pomeranz are gone, Carrasco is out for next season, Talbot was horrible this year, and Tomlin went from a 3.81 era in the 1st half of this season to 5.26 in the 2nd.

David Huff suddenly looks like our 2nd or 3rd best pitcher (depending on which Ubaldo shows up that particular day), and suddenly there is a very real possibility that Fausto will be trotted back out every 5th day AGAIN next year.

Offensively, we need a catcher, DH, 3rd baseman (I'm a supermannahan fan, but you just need more power from the corner spots), and 1 or 2 outfielders.

The bullpen was very good this year, but it's the most unpredictable part of a team from one season to the next.

40-56 since the 30-15 start, a 67.5 win pace. Injuries obviously haven't helped, and I think the real talent of this team lies somewhere between those 2 extremes, but I think several moves would have to be made to see any real steps forward next season. On the bright side though, we'll still be playing in the AL Central.

Mulva;889062 wrote:Well, at the beginning of this year I thought that next season we could have a rotation of Masterson, Tomlin, White, Pomeranz, and either Carrasco/Talbot/Gomez. I was excited about that.

I had to stop reading at this. Not because what you are writing is BS, but because the thought of this still pisses me off. SMH.

I look for the front office to stand pat and tell us "with everyone healthy, we don't need to make a move". Then, I look for the pitching to trail off a little and the team as a whole to finish sub .500

wes_mantooth;889082 wrote:I look for the front office to stand pat and tell us "with everyone healthy, we don't need to make a move". Then, I look for the pitching to trail off a little and the team as a whole to finish sub .500

There is a 99.76435345% chance this is what happens.

a lot of uncertainty going forward. is masterson, carmona, jimenez, huff, gomez/tomlin enough? what about the offense? what do we do sizemore and hafner (hopefully cut ties)?

going to be interesting

wes_mantooth;889082 wrote:I look for the front office to stand pat and tell us "with everyone healthy, we don't need to make a move". Then, I look for the pitching to trail off a little and the team as a whole to finish sub .500

And don't forget to continue the "What If..." promo!

Last season I predicted that we would contend for the AL Central. We did, for the most part. Yes, we've tailed off, but the team has been killed with injuries.

I think they'll be better next year. A nice nucleus of Druby, Kipnis, Brantley, Santana, and maybe Chiz?

I've been done with Grady. If they do bring him back, it better be under new terms and not the guaranteed 9 mill. It should be an incentive based contract with a bonus for playing so many games and reaching certain milestones.

Masterson/Ubaldo/Tomlin/Huff could be a good 4 man rotation. I'm not too worried about Tomlin, as it looks like he's just "fatigued" from his first long stretch in the bigs. He'll be better suited to attack a full season next year. Huff has looked pretty damn good. He's locating offspeed stuff and his fastball is topping out at about 93.

I'd love to see our FO stay true to their words and go out and acquire another bat. I wouldn't mind seeing Fukudome brought back, but another move will be needed.

If they move Santana to 1B, then we need a new catcher. I'd also like to see a corner OF'er that has good power.

I'm willing to give Chiz more time at 3B to see what he's got. I don't need him to hit .300, but I'd like to see the power #'s from him... 20+ homers and 20+ doubles a year... I think that's realistic for him.. Keep the .BA around .270..

hoops23;889693 wrote:Last season I predicted that we would contend for the AL Central. We did, for the most part. Yes, we've tailed off, but the team has been killed with injuries.

I think they'll be better next year. A nice nucleus of Druby, Kipnis, Brantley, Santana, and maybe Chiz?

I've been done with Grady. If they do bring him back, it better be under new terms and not the guaranteed 9 mill. It should be an incentive based contract with a bonus for playing so many games and reaching certain milestones.

Masterson/Ubaldo/Tomlin/Huff could be a good 4 man rotation. I'm not too worried about Tomlin, as it looks like he's just "fatigued" from his first long stretch in the bigs. He'll be better suited to attack a full season next year. Huff has looked pretty damn good. He's locating offspeed stuff and his fastball is topping out at about 93.

I'd love to see our FO stay true to their words and go out and acquire another bat. I wouldn't mind seeing Fukudome brought back, but another move will be needed.

If they move Santana to 1B, then we need a new catcher. I'd also like to see a corner OF'er that has good power.

I'm willing to give Chiz more time at 3B to see what he's got. I don't need him to hit .300, but I'd like to see the power #'s from him... 20+ homers and 20+ doubles a year... I think that's realistic for him.. Keep the .BA around .270..

Nice post! I agree with all of it. Are you suggesting a new backup catcher, or a new catcher to replace Marson?

BRF;889218 wrote:And don't forget to continue the "What If..." promo!

What if....Manny Acta actually got pissed off at a terrible call and got thrown out of the game to show his team he will stick up for them?

Instead of running out to talk to the umpire about his plans after the game and slowly walk off the field like he actually did something.

OQB;889704 wrote:What if....Manny Acta actually got pissed off at a terrible call and got thrown out of the game to show his team he will stick up for them?

Instead of running out to talk to the umpire about his plans after the game and slowly walk off the field like he actually did something.

You got to admit, it's a step above from Butt Wedge blankly staring at the field.

like_that;889802 wrote:You got to admit, it's a step above from Butt Wedge blankly staring at the field.

No doubt

I would not be surprised to see a trade involving Choo or Brantley since we are left heavy in the OF.

like_that;889802 wrote:You got to admit, it's a step above from Butt Wedge blankly twitching at the field.

Fixed.

If the Tribe had struggled all season with the shot of finishing above .500 by this time, I would have been VERY ok with that before the season started. But having that big lead and then the front office response later adds a special sting to it.

I found this Ellis Burks bobblehead in a thrift store today. Took a picture to post here to remind everyone of the good old days.

You're welcome.

If the Tribe had struggled all season with the shot of finishing above .500 by this time, I would have been VERY ok with that before the season started. But having that big lead and then the front office response later adds a special sting to it.

could not have said it better myself.

It cracks me up how much everyone puts importance on the matchup of the hitter/pitcher. Yes it helps to pick up the pitch faster, but these guys are damn professionals and should be able to hit a pitch whether it is from a Lefty or Righty.

^^^That's because it is HUGE....and the statistics bear that out.

bored at work, so I checked mlb.com for the standings....our magic number is 4...lmao. Boy did this season go to shit in a hurry.


http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp?tcid=mm_mlb_standings

What? No Tribe-Rangers thread? Magic number 4. Mantooth's last sentence got it right, imo.

President Mark Shapiro rumored to the Chicago Cubs GM job.....thoughts?

http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2011/09/mlb-rumors-mark-shapiro-intrigued-by-cubs-gm-position/