Tribe in '06?
I need to address this:
Has Mark Shapiro been overdosing on stupid pills....or do I just know nothing about baseball?
When the season ended, I thought there was one definite thing that would be happening over the off-season: Ben Broussard would be given his walking papers. I'm a big Broussard fan, but he was so disappointing in August and September that I thought there was no way we could justify keeping him. All the radio sports-talk guys were saying the Indians would be concentrating on acquiring a more consistent power hitter to replace Ben.
January 25, 2006: Indians sign Ben Broussard to a one-year contract.
That's pretty silly if you ask me....and it only gets worse. Three days later they trade an established, young, healthy .300-hitting-outfielder with lots of speed for a couple of prospects and a middle reliever who didn't even pass his physical. What the fuck, man. Now we have another big hole in the outfield, and none of the players we received for Crisp will be able to fill it. So I guess this Andy Marte guy, who I'm sure they're hoping will be the regular third baseman by next season, is supposed to be the next Wade Boggs or something. No, nevermind. There will never be another Wade Boggs. Never. That would make things too much fun.
Coco Crisp was a fan-favorite and a promising player. Perhaps the Indians organization saw his numbers as over-achievement....a fluke of sorts. More likely, though, they just figured it would be smarter to trade away a guy like Crisp before he starts asking for too much money. This is risky, though. It's not like when they got Lee and Sizemore by shelling out Colon to Montreal...they got really lucky on that one. Now they're just pushing their luck.
They also threw away David Riske in the deal. Now Howry, Rhodes and Riske are gone. Not much remains of that great bullpen, and the lineup seems weaker. I'm worried.
On top of this, they also gave up Josh Bard. So now it's clear Einar Diaz will end up the new backup catcher. Blaugh.
So I ask you:
Tribe in '06?
Has Mark Shapiro been overdosing on stupid pills....or do I just know nothing about baseball?
When the season ended, I thought there was one definite thing that would be happening over the off-season: Ben Broussard would be given his walking papers. I'm a big Broussard fan, but he was so disappointing in August and September that I thought there was no way we could justify keeping him. All the radio sports-talk guys were saying the Indians would be concentrating on acquiring a more consistent power hitter to replace Ben.
January 25, 2006: Indians sign Ben Broussard to a one-year contract.
That's pretty silly if you ask me....and it only gets worse. Three days later they trade an established, young, healthy .300-hitting-outfielder with lots of speed for a couple of prospects and a middle reliever who didn't even pass his physical. What the fuck, man. Now we have another big hole in the outfield, and none of the players we received for Crisp will be able to fill it. So I guess this Andy Marte guy, who I'm sure they're hoping will be the regular third baseman by next season, is supposed to be the next Wade Boggs or something. No, nevermind. There will never be another Wade Boggs. Never. That would make things too much fun.
Coco Crisp was a fan-favorite and a promising player. Perhaps the Indians organization saw his numbers as over-achievement....a fluke of sorts. More likely, though, they just figured it would be smarter to trade away a guy like Crisp before he starts asking for too much money. This is risky, though. It's not like when they got Lee and Sizemore by shelling out Colon to Montreal...they got really lucky on that one. Now they're just pushing their luck.
They also threw away David Riske in the deal. Now Howry, Rhodes and Riske are gone. Not much remains of that great bullpen, and the lineup seems weaker. I'm worried.
On top of this, they also gave up Josh Bard. So now it's clear Einar Diaz will end up the new backup catcher. Blaugh.
So I ask you:
Tribe in '06?