Monday, February 13, 2006
A couple days from Spring Training
So here is a look at what the Tribe looks like going into Spring Training.
Starting Pitching: The strong point of this club. Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia our both bona fide Cy Young contenders. Cliff is a proven winner and if CC can hone in his talent for a full season there is no reason he can't rack up 20-24 wins. Jason Westbrook is a strong #3 starter coming off a 15 win season (at the start of the season many wondered if he would stick around to see the end). Paul Byrd is the #4 as he brings a solid veteran that any team would like to have at the bottom of the rotation. Jason Johnson is another free agent pickup from Baltimore and although his career record is lousy he does rack up a lot of innings each year.
Bullpen: Ouch! It was a bad off season for this once solid pen. A Rhodes and Bob Howry are gone. Riske is gone too but I also thought he was a stiff anyway. Wickman returns but how much will he have left? The Tribes brass is hoping to get something out of two former tribe hurlers Danny Graves and Steve Karsay. Graves got booed out of town in Cincy and Karsay has seldom pitched since 2002 and has had a long history of arm problems. We have ussually suspects M Miller, R Bentacourt, and Sauerback rounding out the staff. The tribe thinks they are gonna get something out of this Mota charactor but he is often injured and well past 30. It looks like the tribe bullpen is suspect.
Catcher: We all know Victor Martinez. Hopefully he will start faster this year because the Indians need that bat in the lineup. Backing him up is rookie K Shoppach who came over in the Coco Crisp trade. Shoppach had a great college career but expecting much out of him this year is probably a bad idea. Lets pray that Victor doesn't miss many games this year.
Ok, so the pitchers and catchers repor this week. Check back on the position players in the next couple days. Go Tribe (and take the Browns and Cavs with ya!)
Starting Pitching: The strong point of this club. Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia our both bona fide Cy Young contenders. Cliff is a proven winner and if CC can hone in his talent for a full season there is no reason he can't rack up 20-24 wins. Jason Westbrook is a strong #3 starter coming off a 15 win season (at the start of the season many wondered if he would stick around to see the end). Paul Byrd is the #4 as he brings a solid veteran that any team would like to have at the bottom of the rotation. Jason Johnson is another free agent pickup from Baltimore and although his career record is lousy he does rack up a lot of innings each year.
Bullpen: Ouch! It was a bad off season for this once solid pen. A Rhodes and Bob Howry are gone. Riske is gone too but I also thought he was a stiff anyway. Wickman returns but how much will he have left? The Tribes brass is hoping to get something out of two former tribe hurlers Danny Graves and Steve Karsay. Graves got booed out of town in Cincy and Karsay has seldom pitched since 2002 and has had a long history of arm problems. We have ussually suspects M Miller, R Bentacourt, and Sauerback rounding out the staff. The tribe thinks they are gonna get something out of this Mota charactor but he is often injured and well past 30. It looks like the tribe bullpen is suspect.
Catcher: We all know Victor Martinez. Hopefully he will start faster this year because the Indians need that bat in the lineup. Backing him up is rookie K Shoppach who came over in the Coco Crisp trade. Shoppach had a great college career but expecting much out of him this year is probably a bad idea. Lets pray that Victor doesn't miss many games this year.
Ok, so the pitchers and catchers repor this week. Check back on the position players in the next couple days. Go Tribe (and take the Browns and Cavs with ya!)
# posted by MurphyStreet @ 7:20 AM 
