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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Sep 27, 2006
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So after having my first entry deleted, I made some *ahem* grammatical corrections and gave it another go.
Alright, let me give you a piece of mind at this current time. First off, screw all that bs about "it's too early." There will be none of that here. First of all, I'd like to say, the recent performances by more than half of our team(Borowski, CC, Blake, Michaels, Gutierrez, Dellucci, Cabrera, etc.) have been absolutely STELLAR . You know what, let me skip some bs and go straight to the main point. Our ownership may possibly be the worst thing to hit Cleveland in years. I'll give SOME credit to Shapiro, he did a great job REBUILDING, but besides that, and resigning Grady, Victor, Haf, and Fausto early, most of his moves have been absolute garbage. He's not a great GM. He's way too afraid too give up on guys and isn't ballsy enough to pull a move if it involves giving up a starter on our club. Look at John Hart. He did what had to be done to win games. If we needed an extra bat, we got it. If we needed to resign a solid contributor, not a guy like Jason Michaels, he did it.
Prime "awful trade" example, Coco to Boston for Shoppach, Marte, and (insert name here). Awful. Granted, Shopp is a good backup and could start most places, but that's exactly what he is. A backup. The bummer for him is Victor is the best catcher in the league and he really won't see much time unless Vic needs a quick rest, or, God help us, gets injured again. Look at our leftfield. I haven't seen a legit Major Leaguer for us out there since Kenny came at the halfway point last year. Michaels is a bag of poop, had one good year in Philly, we thought he could magically do the same here, so we got him. Dellucci is ok sometimes. Key words there are OK and SOMETIMES. OK meaning maybe .275 at best with 8 jacks and 60+ ribbies. Hmmmmm, who could be there instead of the horrible platoon we have? Oh thats right, Coco Crisp. A decent hitter with a fantastic glove who has great speed and hustle.
Besides Shapiro, EVERYTHING and I mean EVERY LITTLE THING wrong with this ballclub lands in the lap of Larry Dolan. He is the cheapest a** owner I've ever seen. We constantly have one of the lowest payrolls year after year, and it is finally beginning to show that you usually can't win like that. As long as he is our owner, we will go nowhere. We got LUCKY last year. And we still blew it. Welcome to Cleveland.
Other things that tick me off:
1)People who are way too passive about our players bad performances and think things will just magically fall into place
2)People who think that because Asdrubal hit well in the last QUARTER of the season, he will be amazing.
3)People who believe that we shouldn't trade CC. Hah.
4)Jason Michaels
5)Larry Dolan, again.
6)LOSING.
7)LOSING IN THE PLAYOFFS.
8)LOSING IN THE WORLD SERIES.
9)Seeing the Browns (Don't get me wrong, I love them too) become a better organization than the Tribe.
10)Watching every goddam Boston team win all the time, then have too listen to these friggan arrogant fans brag about it in our stadums.
11)Listening to Cubs fans complain about not seeing a World Series title. Hey idiots, we haven't seen a title in ANY sport since '64. You've been through the Bulls, Bears, and the White Sox (I don't give a rat's if you hate them, both teams are in the same goddam city).
12)Hidden ESPN prejudice against all Cleveland sports. True fans, you know exactly what I mean.
13)Jose Mesa, still.
14)Joe Borowski, still.
15)Progressive F-ing Insurance. Get out.
16)Slider.
17)Watching Five straight division titles less than twenty years ago and seeing what our team and organization looks like now.
18)People who think they are die-hard Tribe fans because they know a little bit about the team or just like them when they are winning, but say they love them.
19)The Yankees and Red Sox(Fans Included).
20)Pressure to change the primary logo to the "I" instead of the Chief. Listen, I know it looks insulting and what we did to the Native Americans is completely unforgivable, but there is a lot worse racism going on in this world than a little baseball team logo.
21)People who say "Oh, its too early to make any statements about the team"
22)People who think football is America's pastime.
23)People who will read this and think I'm not a true fan. Shove it; if I wasn't, why would I waste my time doing this.
24)Fair-weather fans.
25)Fans who leave Tribe games early, especially when they're up. I don't give a dam if it's cold out, you live in Cleveland, get used to it.
26)Myself, for thinking this will change anything.
Too all those true Tribe fans out there, keep rooting, even if it kills. Baseball is life and this is more than just a game. We will get ours, even if we have to look down from the clouds to see it happen.
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Apr 23, 2007
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Wow! Seriously, you may want to look into getting some Valium. You were obviously very upset when you wrote this and may have been a little hasty and perhaps unfair. Allow me to offer some counter points.
First off, Larry Dolan has stepped up nicely over the past two years. Our payroll in line with our market size. For 2008 we have the 16th largest payroll and are in the 16th largest market. Two of the past 3 years we have won over 90 games with a payroll ranking in the 20's. If you want to blame someone, blame MLB for their revenue sharing program that allows a team to spend 5-6 times more than most other teams. You really think Coco Crisp is the answer in LF? What has he hit since he left, like .260? You praise John Hart, and rightfully so, however, he never won a World Series for us either. As for Shipiro, look at what the other low payroll teams have done in baseball the past 3 years. We could be like the Pirates!
Some of your individually numbered gripes:
1) "Things magically fall into place." It's baseball. It's a long season with many ups and downs. You can't over react too soon or you end up doing things like benching CC.
3) Why trade CC? The Tribe has championship aspirations this year. Trading CC for prospects will NOT help with that goal.
11) Couldn't agree with you more about Cubs fans. I'll take their "misery" anytime.
15) Funny how you are so hostile about the field naming rights which only served to help your "Cheap" owner give you a better product and increase payroll. You can't have it both ways. You're complaining about a low payroll AND about the team increasing revenue. Make up your mind.
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:95
Level:Superstar
Since:Feb 13, 2007
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I think that trade was: Guillermo Mota, Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach for:
Coco Crisp, David Riske and Josh Bard.
The Indians also got Jason Michaels from the Phillies. A hot head who needed to get out of Philadelphia.
I'd always be careful trading with the Red Sox, and Mota was damaged goods and roided up to boot; absolutely horrible. Marte, a dud, and the Sox knew it. Shoppach, a great back up catcher, but the Sox got Bard. I'd say advantage Red Sox in the trade.
Not getting a decent left fielder is a failure for the organization. Crisp and Sizemore together could cover nearly the whole outfield. Crisp has speed on the bases. Dellucci and Michaels together don't even equal Crisp.
I think there is still time to set things right if the Tribe acquires a left fielder somehow.
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:90
Level:All-Star
Since:Jan 6, 2008
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Ok...Some good points. But Shaprio a "bad" GM. Remember, he traded Colon for Sizemore, Lee and Phillips. One of the greatest trades ever. Without Sizemore, Cleveland is not a contender. And if, we had Phillips, we would have one of the best lineups in the league. Now, trading Phillips was a mistake. Even Shapiro admits it. But lets also remember that before the trade, everyone hated Phillips. However, it was puzzling that we traded him when we had no 2B depth. Initially, I liked the Barfield trade. But that has proved to be a bust, which only makes the Phillips trade look worse. Any bad decision. I hated the Marte trade for one simple reason. Before the trade, two teams gave up on him - Atlanta and Boston. No big time talent is traded twice and traded for Crisp.
All GM's make good and bad decisions. Hopefully, they are more right than wrong. Remember a small trade for Hafner. We gave up Drese and that no name catcher.
I think Caberra is a great defender, but I agree, he is at best a backup in the MLB. I would rather see Barfeild back at 2B. I also agree that we should have traded CC before the season simply b/c we will nor resign him even if he had a Cy Young 2008. I thought a trade to LA would have made sense. Plus, I would rather be competitive ever year than trying to win now.
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Sep 27, 2006
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First off, you are completely correct in guessing that I was in a state of anger while writing this. It was shortly after the second straight blown game to Boston, the first of which I was at when Jo Blow blew it......
Second, you make great points about our payroll and how I should complain about the MLB instead of our owner and GM, but I still do think Dolan is very cheap.
Also, I never said that Coco would be "the answer" in left, but I do feel that he would be a better substitute than a useless platoon. He has an equal, if not better bat of late, than both Michaels and Dellucci, plus he adds amazing speed and a ridiculous glove coupled with good outfield awareness.
Next, I never said we should trade C.C. for prospects. Yes, it would be very difficult to get a solid bat for him, we would end up throwing others guys into the trade, but, and this is a big but, if he isn't over .500 before July 31st, I say you send him out. I'm sorry, that's just my opinion, take it or leave it. Who knows, hopefully I'm wrong and the great game he just threw will turn him around, but who knows.
Lastly, I'm sorry if you thought I was contradicting myself on the money issue, but last time I checked, 3.6 mil a YEAR was not that much in the majors. I mean, seriously, that is 20% of ONE YEAR of the contract extension we offered C.C. that he TURNED DOWN. And Santana's deal, 137.5 mil for six years, 3.6 mil is only 15% of one year of that contract which may be comparable to what we would have to offer to C.C. in the future. Really, the city of Cleveland and the fans could probably raise close to 3.6 per year. Well, maybe not, but you get my point. I'm glad that we increased our revenue but honestly, it's not that much.
Anyways, all hostility aside, thank you for your counterpoints. They are much appreciated and I hope to hear from you soon.
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Apr 23, 2007
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No hostility OSU, just counterpoints. You are right about 3.6 mil not being a ton of money in MLB these days, but it does help. With ~80 mil in salaries this year that covers 4.5% of it with one transaction. Pretty smart business IMO.
Anything a small or mid market team can do to raise revenue is important when you are trying to compete with the Sox, Yanks, Tigers, and Angels. It's not one transaction that will give you 80 mil, but it's a bunch of small ones that add up to it.
In a perfect world, they wouldn't have needed to sell the naming rights or have all those ads on the outfield wall that make Progressive Field look like a AAA ball park, but it's either that or you get a 20-40 mil payroll and lose 100 games a season. I'll take the ads and the wins.
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Second Attempt to Share My Thoughts
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Oct 31, 2006
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1. Passivity in April isn't easy, especially coming after last year. I think a lot of us were still in the MUST WIN OR DIE mindframe we were against Boston. We need to relax a bit before the Browns come back, or we'll all be in the hospital with serious hypertension.
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