Why the Cleveland Indians will continue to stink part two

Alright. Here's part two of my blog as promised. I feel the organization's lack of baseball knowledge is preventing the club from reaching its' true potential. Every player has been plagued by levels of inconsistency through their tenure with Cleveland in recent years. Take Fausto Carmona, for instance. He was used in the rotation at in the bullpen in 2006. He went 1-10 with a 5.42 ERA. In his sophomore campaign the following season, he went 19-8 with a 3.08 ERA. He struck out 137 and only walked 61. Things have gone downhill for him ever since. Last year he went 8-7 with a 5.22 ERA. This season, he's been worse as noted by his demotion to the Tribe's rookie league affiliate. He's 2-6 with a 7.42 ERA. Even C.C. Sabathia was somewhat marked by inconsistency. In seven full seasons (not including last year when he was traded at midseason), his ERA was over 4 in four season. Brandon Phillips, was the jewel of the Bartolo Colon in 02, but couldn't hit the ball at all in Cleveland. He moves to Cincinnati, and he all of a sudden figures it out. I don't think so. Cleveland obviously doesn't know how to manage and coach their young talent.

I've heard the team isn't entertaining offers (yet) for Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee. However, if they do decide to rebuild, they must remember their poor decisions in years past. To be fair, John Hart made quite a few lousy trades back in the 90's and early part of this decade, but take these awful deals for example (Note: I vividly remember 95% of these trades and nearly crying when I learned of the trades):

• Acquiring an older Kevin Seitzer from Milwaukee in exchange for Jeromy Burnitz in 1996.
• Trading Steve Kline to Montreal in exchange for Jeff Juden in 1997
• Picking up John Smiley and Jeff Branson from the Reds for Danny Graves, Damian Jackson, Jim Crowell, and Scott Winchester in 1997 (Note: Smiley made only six starts for Cleveland before suffering an arm injury which ended his career)
• Trading Eddie Murray to Baltimore in 1996 for Kent Mercker
• Trading Sean Casey to Cincinnati in 1998 for Dave Burba and Eddie Priest (Priest never pitched an inning for the Tribe)
• "The Trade of All Trades" Trading Marquis Grissom and Jeff Juden to Milwaukee in 1998 for Ben McDonald, Ron Villone, and Mike Fetters. McDonald never pitched for the Indians as his career was cut short due to injury. Mark Watson was ultimately sent in McDonald's place.
• Acquiring Ricardo Rincon from Pittsburgh in 1998 for Brian Giles
• Trading David Bell to Seattle in 1998 for Joey Cora
• Acquiring Ricky Ledee, Jake Westbrook, and Zach Day from the Yankees for David Justice
• Dealing Steve Karsay and Steve Reed to Atlanta for John Rocker and Troy Cameron in 2000 (who never makes it to the majors)
• Trading Richie Sexson, Paul Rigdon, and Kane Davis to the Brewers for Bob Wickman, Jason Bere, and Steve Woodard in 2000
• Acquiring Brian Jenkins (who never makes it to the majors) from the Mets in 2001 for Justin Speier
• Trading Roberto Alomar, Mike Bascik, and Danny Peoples in exchange for Alex Escobar, Billy Traber, Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder, and Matt Lawton in 2001
• Trading Paul Shuey in 2002 to the Dodgers for Terry Mulholland, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Francisco Cruceta
• Dealing Milton Bradley to the Dodgers in 2004 for Franklin Gutierrez and Andrew Brown
• Acquiring Jeriome Robertson from the Astros in 2005 for Luke Scott and Willy Taveras
• Trading Arthur Rhodes to the Phillies for Jason Michaels in 2006
• Trading Kevin Kouzmanoff and Andrew Brown to the Padres for Josh Barfield in 2006
• Trading Brandon Phillips to the Reds for Jeff Stevens in 2006
• Trading Ronnie Belliard to the Cardinals in 2006 for Hector Luna (a former Indians prospect who was picked up the Cards in the Rule 5 Draft)
• Trading Coco Crisp, David Riske, and Josh Bard to the Red Sox for Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach, Guillermo Mota, and cash or a player to be named later
• Acquiring Scott Stewart from the Expos in 2003 for Maicer Izturis and Ryan Church

The key term in several of the trades is "never making it to the majors". These examples give further proof of the organization's incompetence. The Indians also acquired Ryan Ludwick in a deal that sent Ricardo Rodriguez to the Rangers, but Cleveland never gave him a fair shot, and failed to try to help him improve as a player. As a result, he's a star in St. Louis.

Granted, the team has made a few solid trades, but the poor trades heavily outweighs the good trades. Here are a few of the good trades the organization made under Hart and Shapiro in the past 10 plus years:

• Shipping the recently acquired Fetters to Oakland for Steve Karsay in 1998
• Trading Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew to Montreal in 2002 for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Lee Stevens
• Picking up Marquis Grissom and David Justice from Atlanta in 1997 for Kenny Lofton and Alan Embree
• Trading Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese to Texas for Travis Hafner and Aaron Myette in 2002
• Trading Chuck Finley to St. Louis for Luis Garcia and Coco Crisp in 2002 (Garcia, not Crisp, was considered a better player, but he failed to make it to the majors)
• Trading Geronimo Berroa to Detroit in 1998 for Dave Roberts and Tim Worrell
• Trading Jacob Cruz to the Rockies for Jody Gerut and Josh Bard in 2002
• Trading Ben Broussard and Eduardo Perez to Seattle in 2006 in seperate trades that brought Shin Soo-Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera to Cleveland

Can you imagine what kind of team the Indians could have now with the likes of Ludwick, Phillips, Taveras, Scott, Belliard, Kouzmanoff, and Bradley in the lineup. They had the right ideas in the recent trades of about six or seven years ago. However, the Indians dumped the players because in most cases, thought the players would not be meaningful to a franchise. Also, they don't have anyone who knows how to work with the pitchers and hitters. I do know baseball is a game of adjustments and this franchise has no idea how to adjust. Most people think Carmona's struggles are due to his mechanics. Well, if his mechanics are bad, why won't the Indians force him to watch hours of videos and get him in a gym.

Actually, fitness is another problem with this team. It seems as if most of the injuries are of the "minor" variety such as strains and pulls. Jake Westbrook appears to have the most legit injury by far with him missing parts of two seasons with him having Tommy John surgery. Here are the injuries that may or may not be due to poor conditioning:

• Cabrera is on the 15-day DL with a left shoulder joint sprain
• Rafael Betancourt on the 15-day DL with a strained right groin
• Aaron Laffey on the 15-day DL with a strained right oblique muscle

The players lack athleticism by far. The most athletic players by far are probably Mark DeRosa and Grady Sizemore. Although, Sizemore stole 30 bases last year. They lack the Kenny Lofton type of lead-off hitter who could hit .300 plus and swipe 40-50 bases. I like Sizemore's game, but he's not Kenny Lofton. I don't care if he hits 30 plus homers because quite frankly the steroid era has devalued home runs in my eyes. I would much rather see him draw walks and hit over .300. A few years ago, the Indians thought he was a number three hitter. I think he's best suited for the two or three hole. If the organization knew how to actually scout, then they would've had someone who could be a legitimate base threat. In this year's draft, I would love for the team to draft Brint Hardy out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At one point he led the nation in steals. Although I'm not sure if that is the case at this point. Nonetheless, he could provide some much needed athleticism the team needs.

Finally, I'd like to make one last point before I shut up. Why in the heck is the organization forcing guys to become utility guys when they simply don't have the ability. Take Ryan Garko for instance. Over the past few years, announcers have noted his past as a catcher and his stocky build. Why would the Indians try to move someone with little to no athleticism to the outfield. Josh Barfield, who hit .280 as a rookie in 2006 with San Diego and looks like a lost cause with the Indians (see past points for this reason), is moved around to new positions such as third base and center field. Mark DeRosa doesn't have a home. They move him all around the infield and in the corner outfield positions. Jhonny Peralta is playing third occasionally for the team. Victor Martinez plays first base when he's not catching. I would truly advise the organization to find players with athleticism like they had in the 1990's. Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel turned out to be a nice one-two punch at the top of the order. Lofton hitting .300 plus and Vizquel often flirting with .300 and both guys stealing usually a combined 75-80 bases. This provided RBI opportunities for guys like Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, David Justice, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, and Sandy Alomar, Jr.

I know it sounds like I'm blowing a fuse, but I would like for someone to explain to me why the organization made the moves they've made and why they can't develop talent. As I've said before, I've been a fan for over 15 years. I think I've earned the right to be critical of the organization. I'm not a freeloading fan who will only pack the builing when the team's successful. Case in point, the Cavaliers home games this year and the past couple since the team's run to the Finals in 2007. Also, the bandwagon fans who filled up Jacob's Field in 2007. When I tuned in to watch the Indians-Yankees games in the 2007 ALDS, I hadn't seen that many fans in that stadium since the decade of the 1990's ended. I hate to say it, but until some serious shake-ups are made within the organization, Cleveland will continue to stink.