Glory Days;1578422 wrote:This, a 100mph fastball isn't that mean looking if its straight and flat or you have no off speed pitches that hitters need to worry about. i'd rather see Salazar in the bullpen where he only faces a few batters and doesn't go through the order more than once. last year he was great for 4 or 5 innings, then he started giving up bombs.

I dont want him in the pen, because we simply dont have that luxury with the rotation...

You just gotta see what he has. I hope he developed a secondary fastball and worked on the change and slider (or was it a splitter??) more. He had them, he just wasnt confident throwing them (and honestly, who can blame him? Young guy who was counted on to shut down teams in a pennant race immediately after being called up...).

But, in all honesty, he could be out #1 if he has more ability in the change and if he developed a 2-seam fast ball with some movement. Even if its only slight movement but 5 MPH less it would go a long way. His 99 is a lot tougher when there is the possibility of a 93 in there.

Rumors are that the Tribe has "moved on" in regards to ubaldo... And do not seem to be in on UJ anymore.

Awesome, cant wait to finish 3rd in the AL Central....

Glory Days;1578438 wrote:Awesome, cant wait to finish 3rd in the AL Central....

That's going to happen with or without Ufaildo.

Naaahhh...the Tribe did so well last year because of the depth of the starting rotation. Kluber, ZacMac, Masterson, Tomlin all spent significant time on the DL. UJ was the only stud the whole season.... And there is value in that.

Everybody, except the Indians front office thinks the best deal for everyone involved is for the Tribe to bring UJ back for another year .

Yeah he stayed healthy, but I'm sick of his inconsistency. Basically if he had his fastball working he was good, otherwise he was a bum. Pluto wrote a story about how as his fastabll MPH improved by 2 MPH he became a much better pitcher. Eh I dont know. Never that impressed with him when he was here. We still "won" that trade for him I GUESS, but its more like no one one.

We won the trade. Ubaldo might've been the best pitcher in the AL the last 4 months of the year.

Brantley signed a 4 year extension tonight. Nice.

http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/indians-reach-4-year-deal-with-michael-brantley-021014

iclfan2;1578864 wrote:Brantley signed a 4 year extension tonight. Nice.

http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/indians-reach-4-year-deal-with-michael-brantley-021014

hell yeah!

Nice! Hope he continues to raise that BA.

Glory Days;1578920 wrote:hell yeah!

It's a miracle in this day and age of baseball.

Great deal for both sides....essentially a two year extension beyond his arbitration years, the last being an $11 million Team option for 2018.

Indians win arbitration case with Tomlin.... 2-0. Also signed Aaron Harang to minor league deal.

Fuck Ubaldo...good riddance. Only in baseball can you absolutely suck for for 2 plus years. Yet somehow redeem yourself with 3 good months and command over 15 million a year.

Chances are he will blow again until contract extension talks are in the works. Lazy POS.

Yet somehow redeem yourself with 3 good months and command over 15 million a year.

He won't get anywhere near that.
Lazy? why do you say that?

Ken Rosenthal reporting that Ubaldo is close on a 4/48 contract with the Orioles.

If true, the Dolan's dropped the ball big time as that is a very reasonable contract given the way the market is right now for pitching and what it costs, especially when you are paying for his age 30-33 seasons which are pretty close to a pitcher's prime.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/17/report-orioles-working-to-finalize-deal-with-ubaldo-jimenez/

iclfan2;1578864 wrote:Brantley signed a 4 year extension tonight. Nice.

http://msn.foxsports.com/ohio/story/indians-reach-4-year-deal-with-michael-brantley-021014

Best player on the roster IMHO. He's consistent, versatile and dependable. Well worth the money.

I have to admit that losing out on Ubaldo really irritates me, since his price has dropped into a very reasonable range. It would have been one thing if someone would have come out and dropped a bundle to get him....I wouldn't have wanted them to overspend. But at some point, you have to ask yourself if you are willing to take a reasonable chance to get to post season. You lost your #2 and #5 out of your rotation, and are expecting(dreaming?) that unproven youngsters will fill the roles. Trevor Bauer is still a prospect....Tomlin is coming off arm surgery, and Carrasco has had plenty of opportunity to show he can get major league hitters out consistently, and failed each time. Add to that, the fact that they haven't got Masterson to sign on a dotted line, and their leverage wanes with each passing week.

Multiple sources reporting UJ to the orioles....4yrs/$50 million.

I like that word...."wanes"....very appropriate.

I have to admit that losing out on Ubaldo really irritates me, since his price has dropped into a very reasonable range.

Right there with you.

If someone had stepped up in the off-season and given him the 5/85 type deal he was looking for I would have had zero problem seeing him walk.

4/$50 though for a #2 caliber starter in a market where $10 million doesn't buy you much is the kind of deal the Tribe should have been all over.

The Dolan's need to sell the team if the finance's are such that $12.5 million for a solid starter in his prime is too rich for their blood.

They might as well start shopping Masterson now.

This has the feeling of 2008 all over where coming off a turn around season they stand pat rather than making a push to try and capitalize on last season's momentum.

Bad but unsurprising news on UJ.

In other news...Jake Westbrook has retired. Always liked him.

This has the feeling of 2008 all over where coming off a turn around season they stand pat rather than making a push to try and capitalize on last season's momentum

Thinking the very same thing. This team is moving sideways at best. A Raburn/Murphy platoon in right balanced against the loss of Stubbs' speed is a minimal upgrade. The bullpen additions might offset the losses. The starting rotation is hoping one of three unproven guys steps forward to make up for the two steps backward it took in losing UJ and Kazmir. Hey, but we added depth by picking up Harang while rummaging thru the piles at Goodwill.

We still do not have a legitimate hitter to put in the 4 hole.

Terry Francona is a great manager, but it is going to be a pretty neat trick to win 90 games this year.

Not a lot of moves to inspire confidence for now or the future. Yeah, it's great we locked up Brantley....but we had control for 3 more years anyway.

Hard to believe the Indians would let Jimenez go for 12mil/yr. That's a steal for what he can give ya. The Reds are about to give Bailey 16.5M/yr to be a #2 or #3 starter. Lincecum getting about 17.5M/yr and he's had about a 5.00 ERA over the last two years. Burnett got 16M/yr with similar numbers to Jimenez. Seems like the Tribe and Reds have been equally disappointing this offseason.

I'm not going to be upset at UJ signing for 4/48 until he actually starts performing like he did last year, for Baltimore. That's no sure thing.