Friday, July 31, 2009
Cliff Lee to be Replaced By????
First, I suppose I have nothing terribly original to say about the trade of Cliff Lee. Yes, it’s unprecedented that the same team traded consecutive Cy Young award winners half-way through their next seasons. And Yes, it’s clear we had to trade both CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee because we’d never be able to resign them. But, second, why couldn’t we get any Major League-ready players in return for either of them, particulary starting pitching?
Granted, last year Zach Jackson was almost Major League-ready when the Indians got him for Sabathia, but he still appeared in a few minor league games before showing up at Progressive Field. Yet most importantly, he stinks and it’s quite possible that he may never throw another pitch in a Cleveland Indians uniform – and that’s saying a lot that right now the Indians’ starting rotation consists of Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona, Toma Ohka, Carl Pavano, and Jeremy Sowers. Yikes.
So when a GM depletes its roster of front-of-the-rotation arms, that same GM needs to ensure there’s at least someone to take one of their spots on the big league club. But that clearly hasn’t happened and may not. Only Carlos Carrasco, who sports a dreadful 5.00+ ERA at AAA Lehigh Valley, is the only possible replacement for Lee and Sabathia. So as Tribe fans stare at a 2010 rotation of Laffey, Jake Westbrook, Hector Rondon, Carmona, and possibly Carrasco, the same fans are likely to also stare at a team that might get lucky to muster 70 wins.
Granted, last year Zach Jackson was almost Major League-ready when the Indians got him for Sabathia, but he still appeared in a few minor league games before showing up at Progressive Field. Yet most importantly, he stinks and it’s quite possible that he may never throw another pitch in a Cleveland Indians uniform – and that’s saying a lot that right now the Indians’ starting rotation consists of Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona, Toma Ohka, Carl Pavano, and Jeremy Sowers. Yikes.
So when a GM depletes its roster of front-of-the-rotation arms, that same GM needs to ensure there’s at least someone to take one of their spots on the big league club. But that clearly hasn’t happened and may not. Only Carlos Carrasco, who sports a dreadful 5.00+ ERA at AAA Lehigh Valley, is the only possible replacement for Lee and Sabathia. So as Tribe fans stare at a 2010 rotation of Laffey, Jake Westbrook, Hector Rondon, Carmona, and possibly Carrasco, the same fans are likely to also stare at a team that might get lucky to muster 70 wins.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
