Cleveland Sports Forum

So you are advocating ridiculous contracts ? 4 years at 9 million a year and free agency at the end of the contract.

WoW! I can honestly say I never saw that one coming! Personally, I think the nine million is worth Oakland's risk

Now we get an opportunity to see if Cespedes will be that 5-tool centerfielder that an organization can build their team around. For this organization's sake, I really hope not.

Strange marriage.

Uncle Dennis wrote:Cepedes to Oakland, so much about a big market city.

I thought Orlando Cepeda left Oakland after the 1972 season?

The Indians are taking a shot this year and next. No contracts beyond 2013 but the next two years we have a pretty nice ball club I think.....

Personally, I think the nine million is worth Oakland's risk

Based on what ?

Intuition.

Indians, Garland agree to contract

PrintFacebookTwitterRSSCLEVELAND (AP) -

Jon Garland may give the Cleveland Indians yet another option for their uncertain rotation.

The right-hander, who has won 132 games in the majors for five teams, agreed Monday to a minor league contract with the Indians, who have four starting spots filled but want to add depth and experience. Garland's deal is contingent on him passing a physical in the next week at the Indians' training complex in Goodyear, Ariz.

Garland's 2011 season was cut short by a shoulder injury. He went 1-5 with a 4.33 ERA in just nine starts for the Dodgers before shoulder surgery in July.

As long as he passes his physical, the 32-year-old Garland would get a shot to start for the Indians, who still don't know whether they will have the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona in 2012. Carmona, whose real name according to officials in the Dominican Republic is Roberto Heredia Hernandez, is facing charges of using a false identity in his native country so he could play in the U.S. He was arrested last month and placed on baseball's restricted list.

The Indians have no idea if or when Carmona will be cleared. Also, he could be facing additional penalties if he is permitted to return to the U.S.

The decision to bring in Garland is a low-risk, high-reward move for the Indians, who have four pitchers - Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Masterson, Derek Lowe and Josh Tomlin - projected as starters. The club acquired Kevin Slowey in a trade from Colorado in the days after learning of Carmona's legal troubles, but Garland could be in the mix for the fifth spot with Slowey, David Huff, Zach McAllister and Jeanmar Gomez.

Garland's impressive resume includes two 18-win seasons (2005, 2006) for the Chicago White Sox. He has won at least 12 games seven times and pitched at least 200 innings in six seasons.

Garland won 14 games for the San Diego Padres in 2010. He has also pitched one season for Arizona.

Los Angeles signed Garland to a $5 million, one-year contract before last season. The team declined an $ 8 million option in October.

Garland has a 132-119 record with a 4.32 ERA in 330 starts.

If you want to see some impressive training footage, check out the video from the 6 minute mark.

For a kid supposedly 6'-0"and 210 lbs, some impressive stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9ge8l3jY8

Did Wayne Garland's contract expire yet?

fkreutz wrote:The Indians are taking a shot this year and next. No contracts beyond 2013 but the next two years we have a pretty nice ball club I think.....

Hey Kreutz what are they taking a shot at?

I couldnt even make up how minor league this team acts. Where is Ted Bonda when we need him.

GM Chris Antonetti tells PD Sports Insider that Fausto Carmona is officially Roberto Hernandez
Published: Monday, February 13, 2012, 3:26 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti, with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to Goodyear, Ariz., Monday for the start of spring training, said that he'd ideally like to see center fielder Grady Sizemore play 120 games this summer. He has not played that many games in a season since 2008.

The Indians let Sizemore become a free agent at the end of last season by refusing to exercise his $9 million club option for 2012. Then they re-signed him to one-year, $5 million deal despite his injury history over the last three years.

"It's certainly a risk," Antonetti said Monday on The PD Sports Insider. "Grady hasn't been on the field as much as he'd like the last few years. The thing we saw last year when he came back from the [left knee] microfracture surgery in the early part of the season is that he's still an exceptional offensive player. He played for the better part of a month and looked like the old Grady until he injured his right knee.

"We took a little bit of a gamble that Grady can get back to being healthy. If he can, he has a chance to be one of the better offensive players in the game."

Some of the other subjects Antonetti mentioned:

• The Indians have received official documentation that Fausto Carmona is really Roberto Hernandez Heredia. When and if he rejoins the Indians, he'll be known as Roberto Hernandez.

Hernandez was arrested in January on the front steps of the U.S. Consulate in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was going to apply for a visa to join the Indians this season. Dominican authorities reported then the player's real name and that he's 31 instead of his listed age of 28.

Antonetti was clear that the Indians still want Hernandez on the team. He's signed to a one-year, $7 million contract, but won't get paid until he joins the team in the United States.

• Antonetti would not comment on a report that the Indians have signed veteran right-hander Jon Garland to a minor-league contract. Garland would have to pass a physical after undergoing rotator cuff surgery on his right shoulder last year with the Dodgers.

• He's interested in pursuing a multiyear deal with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, but it takes two to tango. Cabrera avoided arbitration last week by signing a one-year, $4.55 million deal.

• Antonetti believes the Indians can win the AL Central this year if key players can stay healthy and young players make the necessary improvements.

• He feels last year's trade for right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez opened a two-year window for the Indians to contend. Those two years would be 2012 and 2013.

• Antonetti said that he called Matt LaPorta and his agent, Scott Boras, before the signing of first baseman Casey Kotchman was announced. He said LaPorta still has a future with the team.

Along with Jimenez, he feels the rest of the Tribe's top players -- Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Rafael Perez etc. -- are under control for the next two years.

• He called scouts "the life blood" of the Indians organization. The Tribe's front office has a reputation of leaning heavily on sabermetrics. Antonetti said he wants the best of both worlds -- good scouting and good analytical work.

• Antonetti believes new pitching coach Scott Radinsky has a good working knowledge of Jimenez's delivery and will work well with him.

I hate to bring this up, but the article just did. What's the over/under on how many games Grady will play this year until he gets injured again?

iF all that Antonetti is hoping for out of Grady is 120 games, that suggests he's not likely to play that much and sure makes me wonder why they threw all that money at him.

In fact that makes the signing really stupid.

I had assumed Grady would either be playing nearly daily, maybe 135 games, or he'd be a disaster and play 40 before blowing up again. And was February-hopeful that it would be the higher number. Now I think I was being wildly optimistic.

As for Hafner, he's played more than 94 games only 1 of the past 4 seasons and then, in 2010, he managed to appear in 118. What an incredible drag he is on the team. Since he seems to usually play 94 games (that's the total in 2 of the past 4 seasons) maybe we get to see him half the time again this year. But I am guessing 57 games for him.

Is this finally the last year of his contract?