Goodbye Ace

The Indians, out of contention since April, finally did the inevitable and made a deadline trade.  Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco are now Phillies and in return the Tribe gets four prospects.  The Phillies did not give the Tribe any of the big time prospects that the Blue Jays were asking for for Roy Halladay though.  One of the players received, Lou Marson, appears to be a move to also trade Victor Martinez.  Hopefully the Indians scouts are making the right choice.  Jason Knapp is apparently a big right handed flame thrower who is currently in single-A ball.  Sounds good until you find out that the guy has already been shut down this year with shoulder fatigue.  Hopefully this is just a product of an innings increase this year and not an Anthony Reyes type deal where the young man can't stay healthy.  Losing Ben Francisco is not a huge loss as the Indians have a plethora of outfielders and Francisco really has not proven he could be an every day starting outfielder. 

In other bright Cleveland news, Braylon Edwards has been placed on the non-football injury list with who knows what kind of injury.  The Browns did manage to sign 2nd round pick Mohamed Massaquoi leaving Brian Robiskie as the only holdout.  The Browns will hopefully start the season with more than one receiver, but lets not hold our breath.  Can't wait for Syndric Steptoe to be our #1.  Awesome.

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Indians Bar

Well, not much has changed.  The Indians are still in last place.  Eric Wedge is still the manager.  Browns start soon.  I can't wait to start gambling.  Go Tribe.

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Sabbatical

With the Cavaliers missing out on the finals and the Indians in last place, I think some time for rest and relaxation is required before the always taxing Browns season begins.  Before I leave, I just have a couple of thoughts.

1.  Is Andy Varajeo delusional?  While I will agree he is a nice player and fits into his role nicely on the Cavs team, does he honestly believe he can make more than $6.2 million next year?  In this economy and with teams cutting payroll and saving money in hopes that the 2010 free agency class I cannot see anyone wanting to write a large check for a lot of years for a role player.  I like Varajeo and think he is a good component, but the pricetag seems too large for the product.

2.  Will Eric Wedge still be managing the Indians when I return stateside at the end of July?  Are the Indians going to blow this version of the Tribe up and start from scratch?  Will the bullpen get someone out this month?  All valid questions.  It seems to me that the Tribe can try one more year with this team and the simplest solution at first is to remove Wedge.  Obviously the bullpen needs to be fixed, but maybe this group of players who the Tribe invested in are not going to win and need to go.  With the exception of Victor Martinez, I think everyone should be on the block and the Indians are going to look for young options and rebuild this thing from scratch.  The question is by the time they rebuild, will Victor be in Yankee pinstripes?

3.  WIll the Browns have a quarterback?  Sorry, will the Browns have a starting quarterback?  I have a feeling this saga is going to go on until the 4th preseason game, divide the locker room and make the whole team more of a disaster than it already is.  Hopefully this is not the case, but regardless looking at the Browns schedule they are at best a 7-9 team, but probably more like 6-10.  We shall see if the ManGenius can turn this around.

All this being said, Clevelanders need a big dose of ethanol to calm that fine tremor caused by all these years of losing.  So as Homer Simpson toasts, "To alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems!"  Let's Go Tribe!

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