Prioritizing presumptions
Here we are, less than five days from the non-waiver trade deadline and the big story in Cleveland this evening is whether or not Alex Rodriguez will hit his 600th home run while visiting the north coast.
Call me cynical (or call me an Indians fan), but watching an admitted steroid user hit a home run that will see him surpass no one, seems to me a waste of time.
Perhaps I am jaded by the steroid era and the post-Mitchell Report world we live in, but I am of the belief that A-Rod, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro et al. don’t deserve a spot in Cooperstown, and they don’t deserve my undying devotion.
Today the more important stories include where the prime pitching will be on Sunday, with a class including Roy Oswalt, Javier Vasquez and many others including our own Jake Westbrook. Another story includes the debut of Josh Tomlin tomorrow against these same Yankees, one that I find much more compelling than tracking whether or not A-Roid goes yard.
I hope the Indians can defeat this version of the Bronx Bombers and in doing so, hold off the home run assault of Alex Rodriguez. Westbrook, Tomlin and Carmona should never go down as the Steve Trachsel for this particular home run.
Tomlin to debut Tuesday
Despite my best efforts to stay ahead of the game, I couldn’t put my finger down on who the Tribe would pick for Tuesday’s start.
Contrary to my last post, David Huff, Carlos Carrasco and Jeanmar Gomez will all keep their Clippers hats for the time being. Instead, International League All-Star Josh Tomlin will take the mound in Cleveland against the Yankees on Tuesday.
Tomlin has started 17 games in Columbus this year, posting a record of 8-4 along the way. This season he has strikeout to walk ratio of 2.42; he has allowed on 7.2 hits per nine inning and his ERA is only 2.68 in 107.1 innings of work.
These solid numbers helped propel him over the three competitors, a fact that Manny Acta emphasized after announcing the decision.
“He deserves to be up here and get this start,” Acta said. “He has done nothing but pitch well as long as he’s been in the Minor Leagues.”
In his five year minor league career Tomlin has never had a losing season. The 25-year-old right-hander has gone 51-24 lifetime and kept his ERA at 3.20 during that time span.
AAA pitching making a statement
Friday David Huff earned his fifth victory since being demoted to Columbus on June 22. In that time frame he has not lost and only allowed 14 runs in 35.2 innings, good enough for an ERA of 3.28.
Huff has struck out 26 and only walked nine since joining the Clippers, he is averaging 2.3 walks per nine innings and 6.6 strikeouts. While in the big leagues those numbers were 3.9 and 4.4 respectively.
His peer, Carlos Carrasco has not allowed a home run in his last four starts, or 21.1 innings. In 19 total starts for the Clippers this season, Carrasco is 9-4 with an ERA of 3.98 and a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.56.
Jeanmar Gomez, who last Sunday held the Tigers to two runs through seven innings, has pitched less spectacularly this season in the minors, but has proven his value at the big league level.
These gentlemen are all very important to the Indians in the coming days as the team makes a decision on who will get the start Tuesday against the Yankees in Cleveland.
On Friday Carrasco threw a side session in Columbus, possibly ensuring that he will get the ball on Tuesday, but with Huff available on the same amount of rest and Gomez available with one extra days rest, the decision may not be as simple as it seems.
Aaron Laffey’s fatigued arm has thrown a considerable amount of doubt into the rotation, and whatever the announcement made for Tuesday’s game, it will certainly be interesting.
Kearns ailing value
Left fielder Austin Kearns missed his third straight game on Friday. Manager Manny Acta claims that he is ready to play and has been completing his regularly scheduled workouts after hurting his knee last Saturday.
However, his continued absence from the starting lineup must only be further hampering his trade value for the Indians.
Kearns’ $750,000 contract for this season is most certainly more than half paid out, leaving any prospective trading partner with a minuscule amount left to pay the former Red and National. His injury, combined with his poor numbers since June 13 (.206, one home run, two doubles, .538 OPS), is certainly going to be a turn off to any interested parties come July 31.
Prior to June 13 Kearns was hitting .301, .883 and since the Indians began dealing June 28 (Branyan back to the Mariners), fans must wonder why they did not sell high on Kearns. Hopefully there is still a trading partner for the Indians, the return, though, certainly will be much less than before.
Stark talking Tribe
ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark brought up a few notable Indians in his latest edition of Rumblings & Grumblings today. In his column he discussed starting pitchers that could be dealt prior to the trade deadline, mentioning specifically Fausto Carmona.
The good news is that Stark is reporting Mark Shaprio does not have a carte blanche attitude about his pitching this season as he did the past two.
Teams that have talked to the Indians say they’re taking a much different approach this summer than they did when they were selling off Cy Sabathia and Cy Lee the previous two years. They’ve consistently told everyone who has called they don’t have to move dollars and they don’t have to move either Carmona or Jake Westbrook. So neither is going anywhere unless it’s a deal the Indians consider “compelling.”
In fact, Stark goes on to list Westbrook as the arm the Indians are more willing to deal because of his expiring contract. Carmona, however, would be sold high, opposed to where he was at just ten months ago.
Stark gives the Indians one more week of holding out before getting serious about their starters, but he is entirely certain both starters will not be shipped out.
The other notable Indian in this weeks Rumblings is the one and only Kerry Wood. Because of the (extremely) weak relievers market Stark believes the Tribe has confidence in their ability to move Wood, even if that move comes in August.
Prior to his blister, opponent scouts saw flashes of brilliance from Wood (more than fans saw, I suppose) and because of his high salary the Indians will be able to make a deal beyond the July 31 non-waiver deadline.
So it seems we can expect the Indians to be just as busy this deadline, just not as groundbreaking this year. Put a clock on Wood’s tenure, I can’t wait to party when he leaves town.
