Chris Assenheimer: Indians brass says standing pat won’t be an option this offseason
Chris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram
The Indians went with what they had this year, adding little in the offseason to a team that won the Central Division and came a win away from reaching the World Series.
They won’t be making that mistake again — at least they shouldn’t.
Even before injuries struck key personnel this season — Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona — it was clear the Indians would not be contenders.
They couldn’t hit nor pitch out of the bullpen and didn’t start until a furious charge led by a patchwork bunch left them at .500 and in third place in a division they won handily a year before.
Plenty has changed in regard to personnel as we glance toward next season — ace CC Sabathia is probably gone for good — but the Indians’ prospects have stayed the same. Even with their entire roster back healthy next year — save Jake Westbrook (Tommy John surgery) — the Indians don’t have enough to reach their ultimate goal, and they know it.
“I think we have the solid foundation to have a competitive team,” assistant general manager Chris Antonetti said. “But I think there are strategic elements we have to examine to position ourselves to be a championship-caliber team.”
That means adding players from outside the organization.
Antonetti and general manager Mark Shapiro have pegged closer as the club’s most pressing need.
Jensen Lewis did a nice job in the role late this year, but the Indians view him as more of a late-inning setup guy, and are looking for a more seasoned pitcher in the pivotal spot.
“It’s apparent to me that we make an effort to get better in the back end of the bullpen, starting with trying to get an experienced closer that’s been effective,” Shapiro said.
The Angels’ Francisco Rodriguez and the Cubs’ Kerry Wood fit that bill, but are both expected to be priced out of the small-minded Cleveland budget.
After those two, the pickings are somewhat slim, though there is a diamond in the rough — San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman. The Indians took a shot and almost landed him before acquiring Joe Borowski and Keith Foulke prior to the 2007 season. He claimed to be honored.
But he turns 41 on Monday. What’s he got left? He posted his lowest save total (30) and highest ERA (3.77) since 1995 this year.
There are some other good back-end relievers but not many closers on the market. If that’s your top priority, are you going to experiment, when you can already do that with Lewis?
The Indians will also be looking for a position player — preferably one that can hit to assist an offense that sagged at the outset of 2008. It is expected to be an infielder, with the club’s outfield situation stocked with all-star Grady Sizemore, veteran David Dellucci, Franklin Gutierrez, Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo.
“Outfield’s not going to be the most natural addition for us this offseason,” Shapiro said. “But I’ll never limit us. We’re going to impact the club in the most meaningful way we can.”
Run-producing infielders are usually found at the corner spots, where the Indians are considering moving Jhonny Peralta (third base) in 2009 to clear the way for second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera to take over at short.
With Kelly Shoppach emerging as an every-day catcher, Martinez will most likely see more action at first base, where the Indians also employ Ryan Garko.
That means that if Peralta makes the move, the Indians will be looking for a second baseman, with few on the free-agent list standing out. There’s much more talent at shortstop — Orlando Cabrera, Rafael Furcal, Cesar Izturis, Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe. One of those guys could make the switch to second or Asdrubal Cabrera could stay put.
The Indians could also choose to leave Peralta at short and Cabrera at second, while re-signing Casey Blake, who is expected to be on the market, or someone else to play third, though there’s not much out there.
The final piece to the Indians’ offseason puzzle would most likely be a starting pitcher — a veteran to replace Paul Byrd and Sabathia as the leaders of the rotation.
The emergence of young pitchers Anthony Reyes, Zach Jackson and Scott Lewis has strengthened the depth, but the Indians will most likely begin next season with just two of five starters — Cliff Lee and Carmona — that opened this year.
“We feel better about our internal options than we did a few months ago,” Antonetti said. “But that’s not going to hinder us on the free-agent market.”
There are a plethora of veteran starters on the market, including Byrd, who did not make Boston’s Division Series rotation and could return to Cleveland at a reduced rate.
The Indians had money to spend last offseason but chose to pocket it with the notion of not fixing what they viewed as not broken. That doesn’t mean the money is still sitting in the bank collecting interest.
According to Antonetti, the club pumped nearly $10 million into their minor league system this season and anted up a substantial amount to sign Taiwanese pitcher Chen-Chang Lee late in the year.
What’s left?
“We have enough payroll flexibility to hopefully address all of our offseason needs,” Antonetti said.
And not make the same mistake again.
“We need to be creative. We need to stay flexible,” Shapiro said. “But we can’t afford not to stay aggressive. We need to find ways to get better.
“One thing I can assure you is we won’t be complacent.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS
First Basemen
Rich Aurilia, SF
Ben Broussard, NYY
Carlos Delgado, NYM
Nomar Garciaparra, LAD
Jason Giambi, NYY
Wes Helms, PHI
Kevin Millar, BAL
Richie Sexson, NYY
Mark Teixeira, LAA
Frank Thomas, OAK
Daryle Ward, CHC
Second Basemen
Jamey Carroll, CLE
Ray Durham, MIL
Mark Ellis, OAK
Marcus Giles, COL
Mark Grudzielanek, KC
Orlando Hudson, ARZ
Jeff Kent, LAD
Felipe Lopez, STL
D’Angelo Jimenez, STL
Pablo Ozuna, LAD
Nick Punto, MIN
Jose Valentin, NYM
Jose Vidro, SEA
Shortstops
Orlando Cabrera, CWS
Alex Cintron, CWS
Alex Cora, BOS
Craig Counsell, MIL
Adam Everett, MIN
Rafael Furcal, LAD
Cesar Izturis, STL
Ramon Martinez, LAD
Edgar Renteria, DET
Juan Uribe, CWS
Third Basemen
Casey Blake, LAD
Hank Blalock, TEX
Joe Crede, CWS
Chipper Jones, ATL
Corey Koskie, MIL
Greg Norton, TB
Catchers
Rod Barajas, TOR
Henry Blanco, CHC
Johnny Estrada, WAS
Toby Hall, CWS
Adam Melhuse, TEX
Mike Redmond, MIN
Ivan Rodriguez, NYY
David Ross, BOS
Javier Valentin, CIN
Jason Varitek, BOS
Vance Wilson, DET
Gregg Zaun, TOR
Outfielders
Bobby Abreu, NYY
Moises Alou, NYM
Garret Anderson, LAA
Rocco Baldelli, TB
Willie Bloomquist, SEA
Emil Brown, OAK
Pat Burrell, PHI
Endy Chavez, NYM
Carl Crawford, TB
Adam Dunn, ARZ
Jim Edmonds, CHC
Cliff Floyd, TB
Brian Giles, SD
Ken Griffey Jr., CWS
Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
Raul Ibanez, SEA
Jacque Jones, FLA
Mark Kotsay, ATL
Rob Mackowiak, WAS
Kevin Mench, TOR
Jason Michaels, PIT
Craig Monroe, MIN
Jay Payton, BAL
Scott Podsednik, COL
Manny Ramirez, LAD
Juan Rivera, LAA
Rondell White, MIN
Starting Pitchers
Kris Benson, PHI
A.J. Burnett, TOR
Paul Byrd, BOS
Ryan Dempster, CHC
Jon Garland, LAA
Tom Glavine, ATL
Mike Hampton, ATL
Rich Harden, CHC
Orlando Hernandez, NYM
Jason Jennings, TEX
Randy Johnson, ARZ
John Lackey, LAA
Esteban Loaiza, CHW
Braden Looper, STL
Derek Lowe, LAD
Pedro Martinez, NYM
Mike Mussina, NYY
Jamie Moyer, PHI
Mark Mulder, STL
Carl Pavano, NYY
Brad Penny, LAD
Odalis Perez, WAS
Oliver Perez, NYM
Andy Pettitte, NYY
Mark Prior, SD
Horacio Ramirez, CHW
CC Sabathia, MIL
Ben Sheets, MIL
John Smoltz, ATL
Julian Tavarez, ATL
Steve Trachsel, BAL
Brett Tomko, SD
Claudio Vargas, MIL
Randy Wolf, HOU
Relief Pitchers
Jeremy Affeldt, CIN
Tony Armas Jr., PIT
Luis Ayala, WAS
Joe Beimel, LAD
Joe Borowski
Juan Cruz, ARZ
Brendan Donnelly, BOS
Alan Embree, OAK
Scott Eyre, CHC
Kyle Farnsworth, DET
Casey Fossum, DET
Brian Fuentes, COL
Tom Gordon, PHI
LaTroy Hawkins, HOU
Mark Hendrickson, LAD
Trevor Hoffman, SD
Bobby Howry, CHC
Jason Isringhausen, STL
Steve Kline, SF
Brandon Lyon, ARZ
Damaso Marte, NYY
Tom Martin, COL
Julio Mateo, PHI
Guillermo Mota, MIL
Will Ohman, CHC
Hideki Okajima, BOS
Darren Oliver, LAA
John Parrish, SEA
Chris Reitsma, SEA
Dennys Reyes, MIN
Juan Rincon, CLE
Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
Brian Shouse, MIL
Rafael Soriano, ATL
Jorge Sosa, NYM
Mike Stanton, CIN
Salomon Torres, MIL
Derrick Turnbow, MIL
Oscar Villarreal, ATL
David Weathers, CIN
Dan Wheeler, TB
Dave Williams, NYM
Matt Wise, NYM
Jay Witasick, TB
Kerry Wood, CHC
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Filed by Chris Assenheimer | The Chronicle-Telegram October 8th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 5% |
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