TRIBE CENTRAL

The Unofficial Home of the Cleveland Indians

Hart & Co. Should Strike Early On The Trade Front To Put The Tribe Over The Top 

By: Mike Mucci

     Even though this is John Hart's last season at the helm of the Indians there hasn't been a trading deadline John has missed. Last year it was the blockbuster with Milwaukee that netted Bob Wickman, Steve Woodard and Jason Bere, David Segui was acquired from Texas and Wilfredo Cordeo found his way back to Cleveland on the very same evening. Past seasons during Hart's tenure have seen the Indians trade for John Smiley and Ken Hill in hopes of adding a quality arm to put the Indians in position to win it all. With 25% of this 2001 season already behind us, the Indians have emerged as a true contender to win Cleveland's first world championship since 1948.  

    During this season the Indians offense has sustained injuries from Travis Fryman and Kenny Lofton, but they still have managed to emerge as the best hitting team in all of baseball with unexpected contributions coming from Russell Branyan and Marty Cordova On Friday, May 25th the Indians once again found themselves in first place in the AL Central a position they had not known since April 18, 2000. John Hart has done such a phenomenal job of assembling talent, the Indians are now faced with a serious dilemma as they stare in the face some difficult roster moves in the coming weeks. 

    Fryman is ready to return, Lofton is due off the DL, Charles Nagy's rehab will be complete on May 31st, Danys Baez is nearly ready for the bigs, Jake Westbrook, Roy Smith, and David Riske are pitching extremely well at Triple A Buffalo. In addition, Steve Woodard is rehabbing with the Bisons and based on his performances in the pennant race last year deserves to be in the Major Leagues. Willie Blair is second in the International League in ERA and won 15 games a few years ago with Detroit, could help most ML pitching staffs. So what are the Indians going to do? It makes sense for the Indians to acquire another starting pitcher and here is the reason why. World Championships are won with pitching. 

    True, C.C. Sabathia and Jaret Wright in his two starts have shown promise, but they also have demonstrated they can' t be counted on going deep into games or as the scouts say "eat up innings". Charles Nagy is still an unknown as of this writing. This has put a tremendous strain on the bullpen which requires the Indians to carry 12 pitchers. As the Indians go deeper into the schedule, they will need their starters to go at least 6-7 innings and hopefully more or the relief core will be very tired come playoff time. Since the Indians are going for all the marbles this year what quality pitching will be available at the July 31st deadline? 

    John Hart should not be sitting back and allowing other contenders to improve with out the Indians keeping pace. With the roster problems at hand, the Indians are in position to beat other teams to the punch and acquire players, namely another 12-15 game winner a pitcher who is healthy and can eat up innings to add to an already solid rotation. Some of the pitchers who could be available include Pedro Astacio from Colorado, ex- Indian Albie Lopez, John Halama from pitching rich Seattle (they need another bat); maybe the Tribe could pry Rick Helling away from Texas, Jon Leiber a right-handed starter from the Chicago Cubs who need help at third base, the Mets might part with Glendon Rusch who has a huge upside, and possibly Russ Ortiz with the Giants. 

    The two pitchers who might intrigue the Indians the most are Astacio and Lopez. Currently Astacio is 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA in hitter friendly Coors Field, but more importantly his strikeout to walk ratio is 3-1. Pedro who has a live fastball has given up 29 runs in 56 innings as a starter allowing just 49 hits. The Indians might be able to land Astacio by including a young pitcher like Westbrook or even the free agent to be Steve Karsay along with other prospects. Colorado already has two pitching building blocks in Hampton and Denny Neagle and needs depth in their bullpen because presently they are relying on the infamous Kane Davis in one of their relief roles. Lopez a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays also could be had in the right deal. Tampa is rebuilding and looking to cut payroll so pitching prospects, which Cleveland has a lot of throughout their system would get the Devil Ray's attention. 

    How would a rotation of Colon, Lopez, Wright, Sabathia, Finley and Burba look to Tribe fans? You get the picture: the Cleveland Indians would have six quality starters for the World Championship run here in 2001. You can take this to the bank, the Yankees will not go into the playoffs with Ted Lilly as their number five starter and the Red Sox are already inquiring about David Wells. So it really makes sense the Indians acquire more quality pitching between now and July 31st because when we get in the playoffs it will be the little things like moving runners, stealing bases, working the opposing pitchers for good hitting counts, exceptional defense, and excellent pitching is a must to win it all. 

    Remember 1995? The Indians clubbed all of their opponents with power and speed, but in the World Series with the Braves the offense hit a paltry .195 against the talent laden Atlanta pitching staff. Tribe fans, the 2001 season is about winning it all. Pitching and defense remain the name of the game come playoff time. With the upcoming roster moves it just makes sense for John Hart to get even more front line quality pitching for the Tribe. If he does, I really like our chances of going all the way. 

Comments?  E-mail Mike Mucci here.