Cleveland Sports Forum

Spring trash talk: Miguel Montero says former teammate Trevor Bauer has a listening problem

By Mike Oz | Big League Stew – 4 hours ago

With spring here, baseball players are getting back in shape, relishing being back on the field, speaking up about offseason controversies and, in some cases, getting in some early jabs.

Today's installment of spring trash talk comes from Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero, who is speaking more freely about hot-shot pitching prospect Trevor Bauer now that he's been shipped to the Cleveland Indians. Basically: Bauer didn't want to listen.

This follows Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants saying the Los Angeles Dodgers "can't buy chemistry." Oh snap!

But back to Montero vs. Bauer (which, sadly, is not a storyline from "24" season 9). Here's what Montero said about the former No. 3 overall draft pick, according to ArizonaSports.com:

"When you get a guy like that and he thinks he's got everything figured out, it's just tough to commence and try to get on the same page with you. Since day one in Spring Training I caught him and he killed me because he threw about 100 pitches the first day," Montero said, adding he told Bauer he should take it a bit slower and work on locating his fastball first before working on his breaking pitches. And he said 'yes', and the next time he threw I saw him doing the same thing. He never wanted to listen. He's got his ways, and it's tough to change it. Good luck to Carlos Santana there."

In Bauer's defense, he's only 22. Being young means sometimes being stubborn too. But Bauer's 6.02 ERA in his first, albiet very short, season, might teach the youngster that he needs to listen to someone. Natural gifts are great, but sometimes they need help adapting to the major league game.

D-Backs manager Kirk Gibson and the club's brass, opting for a more "gritty" team, ultimately decided Bauer wasn't worth the trouble. Perhaps some of the his new Cleveland teammates will get Bauer to listen. We know Nick Swisher is loud and Jason Giambi is more and more managerial these days.

If you're wondering: The Diamondbacks and the Indians play Arizona spring training games against each other March 21 and 22. Circle the dates.

Some general managers have speculated that the Indians would be a fit for Lohse, but ESPN.com's Buster Olney has been told the Indians won't sign him (Twitter link).

Fake left, go right. Lohse on the radar.

So Santana is going to sit when he need a break from behind the plate?

Probably not. If there's a RH pitching, it would make a lot more sense to give Stubbs the day off with Reynolds at 1st and Swisher in RF (where we expected them to be everyday, until yesterday).

Indians' new defense is centered on Michael Bourn
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
on February 13, 2013 at 7:41 AM, updated February 13, 2013 at 7:45 AM





Goodyear, Ariz. – The acquisition of Michael Bourn was greeted with smiles and approval Tuesday morning in the Indians' clubhouse – followed by a furious reshuffling of positions in manager Terry Francona's defense.

Bourn, a two-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner in the National League, will hit leadoff and play center field for the Indians after agreeing to terms on a four-year, $48 million deal Monday night. The deal, contingent on Bourn passing a physical later this week, includes a $12 million option for 2017.

The option will vest if Bourn reaches 550 plate appearances and passes a physical at the end of the 2016 season.

If he doesn't, it becomes a club option.

The deal breaks down this way: $7 million in 2013, $13.5 million in 2014, $13.5 million in 2015 and $14 million in 2016.

This winter, the Dolan family has signed Nick Swisher and Bourn to the two biggest free-agent contracts in club history for a total of $104 million.

This winter, the Indians have signed Bourn, Swisher, Brett Myers and Mark Reynolds to a club-record $117 million in free-agent salaries.

The ripple effect of Bourn’s signing didn’t stop in the outfield. Swisher moved from right field to first base and Reynolds from first base to designated hitter.

General Manager Chris Antonetti and Francona met with all parties Tuesday to tell them where they were going to play. Here’s how they reacted:

Swisher: “I thought I signed up here in the first place to play first base. I’ve been a first baseman my whole career. In our talks with the Indians, that was the game plan coming over here. . . . To be able to pick up Mike, put him in center field and have him cover all that ground . . . that makes our outfield one of the fastest in the league.”

Drew Stubbs, who hasn’t played right field since high school: “My most comfortable position is center, but I understand when they have a chance to get a guy like Michael Bourn, he’s going to play center. Now you have three center fielders in the outfield, and that’s a pretty formidable defense.”

Michael Brantley: “He [Bourn] has speed and is a great defender. I’m just looking forward to being by his side, no matter what side it is.”

Reynolds said DH isn’t his favorite position, but he had no problem making the switch. “Tito’ [Francona] told me I’d be playing some first base and a little third when Lonnie Chisen-

hall needs a day off,” Reynolds said.

It’s still unclear when Bourn will report to Goodyear. The latest ETA is Friday for a physical and a news conference.

The Bourn signing is the latest in a series of off-season moves by Antonetti that have remade the roster and revitalized, if only on paper, an offense that scored the second-fewest runs in the American League last season.

One cautionary note: The outfield of Bourn, Brantley and Stubbs will have to muscle up to hit a combined 30 homers this season. Stubbs hit a career-high 22 homers in 2010 but slipped to 14 last year. Bourn has never hit more than 12 in a season, and Brantley’s career high was seven in 2011.


Cleveland Indians Manager Terry Francona annouces his starting outfield lineup; says when Daisuke Matsuzaka will work out pending physical.
Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona announced his starting outfield lineup after the acquisition of outfielder Michael Bourn, moving Brantley to left, Stubbs to right and Bourn in center, moving Swisher to first base and having Mark Reynolds play first and designated hitter. Francona also announced that Matsukzaka will have a throwing schedule for Wednesdays practice, pending his passing of his physical.
Watch video
What they can do is run. Bourn stole 42 bases last year and scored 96 runs. According to ESPN, Bourn’s 257 stolen bases during the past five years are the most by any player in the big leagues in that span by a whopping 55.

“I like watching him run,” said Myers, who played with Bourn in Philadelphia and Houston. “He gets on base with a single, and it’s going to be a double in a second. He’s that fast.”

Stubbs has 100 steals in the past three years, including 30 last year. Brantley has 35 steals in the past three years.

“What I care about is producing runs,” Francona said. “You may see a little bit of an unconventional [look]. Looking at our team today, speed is going to be one of our assets. It’s going to be one of our ways to score runs. We’re going to try and make use of that.”

The Indians do have power sources in infielders Reynolds, Swisher, Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis.

The Tribe went into the off-season knowing they had to upgrade the outfield. They displayed initial interest in Bourn, but he was way out of their price range. Instead, they pursued Shane Victorino and Swisher, while Bourn’s price dropped because most of the high-profile teams interested in him didn’t want to part with their No. 1 draft pick as compensation.

The Tribe’s No. 1 pick was protected because it finished with one of the 10 worst records in the big leagues last year. They’d already lost their No. 2 pick by signing Swisher, which meant the most they could lose in signing Bourn was a pick between the second and third rounds that came their way through last year’s competitive-balance lottery.

They were in a unique position, and the Dolan family gave Antonetti the green light to go for it.

“It feels like we’re a big-market club,” said closer Chris Perez. “We identified some problems and went out and spent on guys.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

Cleveland Indians' signing of Michael Bourn also a sign to fans that Dolans want to compete: Terry Pluto
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
on February 12, 2013 at 4:08 PM, updated February 12, 2013 at 4:09 PM


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I'm still in shock by the Tribe's latest signing, Michael Bourn to a four-year, $48 million deal.

Who knew? Who knew what was coming when the 2012 season ended 69-93 and another winter of discontent seemed ready to hang over the franchise. Like most fans, I figured the team would take the interim tag away from manager Sandy Alomar and then dig through the baseball bargain bins for more Casey Kotchmans to fill out the lineup.

Then Terry Francona was hired. No knock on Alomar, but Francona is a big-time manager who won two World Series titles in Boston -- that's where baseball is bigger than life and managers often are roasted like marshmallows as the pressure mounts. Alomar has a chance to be a good manager, Francona is one.

Francona insists he had no promises about an expanding budget or a roster upgrade. But it's hard to imagine him coming to Cleveland so he could lose more than 90 games -- as the franchise has done in three of the last four years.

Then it happened. Nick Swisher was signed to a 4-year, $56 million deal. Mark Reynolds ($6 million, one year) and Brett Myers ($7 million, one year) arrived. They paid $3 million to help Shin-Soo Choo deal become a reality, picking up an athletic outfielder in Drew Stubbs and a legitimate pitching prospect in Trevor Bauer.

The biggest shock

Then as spring training opened, Bourn -- a Scott Boras client -- was signed.

Boras is a major reason the Tribe traded Choo, because they knew Boras invariably takes his clients to the free-agent market -- and drives up the price. He had been asking for five years and about $80 million for Bourn. Most "experts" thought that would be the price in this inflated market for a 2-time All-Star, and a 2-time Gold Glove winner in center field.

The Indians offered 4-year deals for Bourn several times in the last few months, but Boras kept saying five years. The Tribe finally worked out the 4-year deal with Boras.


Yes, the Tribe overpaid for Bourn, just as they did for Swisher. Both players probably should have received three-year deals, because Bourn is a speed player who is 30, Swisher is 32. But the Indians would not have signed either without the extra year -- and without committing a guaranteed $104 million for these two guys over the next four seasons.

The Dolan family knew they had to be bold this winter, that they could not return with the same old Indians. They have decided it's time to spend, and they are spending.

Do the signings of Bourn and Swisher mean contention for the Tribe? Not without a comeback from Justin Masterson along with a blast from 2010 for Ubaldo Jimenez and a full recovery from Carlos Carrasco. Or perhaps the sudden rise of Trevor Bauer. Pitching -- especially starting pitching -- is critical to the team's success.

But Bourn makes the Tribe better. He's considered the premier defensive center fielder in baseball. He is a .275 hitter who steals bases. He strikes out way too much (295 times in the last two years). He batted .311 in the first half, but only .225 after the All-Star break. But the guy has talent. His addition may give the Tribe the best defensive outfield in baseball, as he joins Michael Brantley and Drew Stubbs.

That assumes Stubbs isn't traded, which is a possibility. The Indians beat the Mets for Bourn, and it's possible the Mets may pursue Stubbs.

Flaws remain, but hope is renewed

The signing of Bourn gives the Tribe three 2012 center fielders. If Stubbs remains, Swisher goes to first base. Mark Reynolds is the designated hitter. The Indians suddenly have depth in the outfield, which was once their weakest spot.

The payroll is now about $80-85 million, up from $65 million a year ago. The $240 million sale of STO to Fox by the Dolans is paying off. They aren't pocketing all the cash from this and the new national TV deal; instead investing it in players and yes, a manager.

The Indians remain a flawed team. But they have three players who have stolen at least 30 bases in a season -- Jason Kipnis, Stubbs and Bourn. Bourn stole 257 bases in the last five seasons, 55 more than anyone else -- and no Tribe player has more than 80.

Last season, Carlos Santana led the team with 18 homers. Swisher and Reynolds have never hit fewer than 21 in a full big-league season.

Where the Indians had Choo, they now have Swisher. Where there was Johnny Damon/Shelley Duncan, there's now Bourn. Where they had Travis Hafner, they have Reynolds. Where was Casey Kotchman, now is Stubbs.

While these guys don't match up exactly in positions on the field, they have improved at four significant lineup spots.

Just as important, they no longer are a boring, hapless and hopeless team. They are now interesting, one worthy of attention from the fans.

Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said Wednesday that Zach McAllister still has a leg up for one of the final two rotation spots.
Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez and Brett Myers are in place for the first three spots, leaving McAllister, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber and David Huff, Scott Kazmir and Daisuke Matsuzaka fighting it out for the final two. McAllister posted a 4.24 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over 22 starts in 2012 and is only worth monitoring in AL-only fantasy leagues.


Source: Nick Camino on Twitter Feb 13 - 2:08 PM

The Indians actully selling tickets today. What a novel concept- Develop a product someone might want to enjoy and get a revenue stream from it.

Two reports from Wednesday suggest Kyle Lohse isn't any closer to finding a free-agent suitor:

Despite a young, unproven rotation, the Brewers will not pursue Lohse, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday. Although the Brewers' current rotation lacks experience beyond Yovani Gallardo -- Marco Estrada, Wily Peralta, Mike Fiers and Mark Rogers, all competitors for the 2-5 slots in the Brewers rotation, have never started for a full season in the majors. "There's nothing going on," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said, adding the club was done pursuing players outside the orgainzation.

The Red Sox don't feel their injury issues in camp warrant bringing in Lohse, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported Wednesday. A club source told Cafard a hamstring injury to Clay Buchholz and soreness in Felix Doubront's shoulder aren't enough to push them toward Lohse yet.

[This Article preceded the one I just posted, so apparently 2 of these 7 teams are not in the running. Cleveland is not among the other 5, but who knows this winter!]

Monday night’s news that Michael Bourn had agreed to terms with the Indians left Kyle Lohse as the only big name free agent remaining on the market. The 34-year-old righty is still out there, though not because of any defect in his performance. In fact, he’s actually coming off a career year, having set personal bests for Wins Above Replacement (3.9), wins (16), ERA (2.86), innings (211) and walk rate (1.6 per nine) and a near-best for home run rate (0.8 per nine) while cracking the National League’s top 10 in all of those categories. There’s no mistaking him for an ace given his modest 3.90 ERA and 5.6 strikeouts per nine during his five years in St. Louis, but he’s a good midrotation option, particularly if he can maintain the 3.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio of his past two seasons.

Lohse’s problem is that he’s one of the nine players who received a qualifying offer from his old team, which under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement requires the signing team to surrender its first-round draft pick unless it’s one of the top 10. He’s also a Scott Boras client, which means that he’s not just going to give his services away, particularly coming off a four-year, $41 million deal that he finished on such a high note after injuries derailed his first two years. Bourn and Rafael Soriano, the last two big name free agents to sign, are also Boras clients, and they stand as proof that the überagent can pull a rabbit out of a hat even after the groundhog has come out of his hole.

Here’s a quick look at seven teams for whom the addition of Lohse may make some sense, ranked roughly in order from best fit to worst; lower down the list, the cons start to give the pros a run for their money.

Royals: General manager Dayton Moore made waves in December by trading top prospect Wil Myers to Tampa Bay for James Shields in an effort to accelerate Kansas City’s chances at making the playoffs. As I’ve noted before, the problem isn’t so much that Shields isn’t an ace, it’s that none of the pitchers behind him — Ervin Santana, Jeremy Guthrie, Bruce Chen, Wade Davis — bear much resemblance to the type of mid-rotation starters a legitimate contender needs; of that quartet, only Davis had an ERA below 4.76 last year, and he was pitching out of the bullpen.

Lohse would be a significant upgrade over Chen, the man most likely on the bubble given the team’s current investment in him ($4.5 million remaining in the final year of his deal), and because the Royals are slated to pick eighth, they would only have to surrender a second-round pick to sign him. Given the dearth of ready pitching in their organization, a multiyear deal would make sense here, as the team could desperately use the quality innings he provides in bulk. Since 2004, the only KC starters to provide back-to-back seasons of at least 162 innings with ERAs under 4.50 are Zack Greinke (2008-2010) and Gil Meche (2007-2008). Owner and notorious miser David Glass has already squawked about the Royals’ payroll limitations, but given their current state, it’s apparent that it will take far more than $73 million for this team to truly contend. With Santana, Chen and Jeff Francouer coming off the books after the season, freeing up some $24 million, it would make sense to offer a backloaded deal.

Cardinals: The recent news that Chris Carpenter is likely out for the season due to the recurrence of numbness in his right arm is certainly a blow. St. Louis has fared pretty well minus one of its two co-aces in each of the previous two seasons, winning a world championship while Adam Wainwright underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011 and coming within one win of a return to the World Series despite receiving just three regular season and three postseason starts from Carpenter.

That has much to do with Lohse’s work, though he had a 5.45 ERA and just one quality start out of seven in those two postseasons. The Cardinals have the depth to withstand the loss of Carpenter, with prospects Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal and 2012 rookie Joe Kelly all providing reasonable options behind Wainwright, Jake Westbrook, Lance Lynn and Jaime Garcia. Even so, Garcia’s shoulder woes add an additional question mark to the mix. The Cards wouldn’t have to surrender a draft pick to retain Lohse, and they’d be bringing back a pitcher who has rejuvenated his career in their organization.

Nationals: With Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Dan Haren and Ross Detwiler, Washington appears to be well-stocked in its rotation, and in Haren it alread has a pricey one-year rental, à la Edwin Jackson in 2012. Gonzalez’s connection to the Miami Biogenesis mess has created the slim possibility of a suspension for PED use, and while it will take more than just a newspaper report to sideline him for 50 games, the Nats do lack the depth that John Lannan afforded then last year. Having signed Soriano already, the Nationals have shown that they’re serious about fortifying this team for a trip to the World Series, and in adding Lohse, would only be giving up a second-round pick around number 68 overall (the Braves gain the 31st pick with the loss of Bourn).

Rangers: The departures of Ryan Dempster, Roy Oswalt and Scott Feldman, the loss of Colby Lewis until midseason and the failure to land Zack Greinke leave the Rangers with a rotation of Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Alexi Ogando and either Martin Perez or Justin Grimm, both rookies. Holland was hit hard last year (4.67 ERA, 1.6 homers per nine) while Ogando, Perez and Grimm combined for just 13 major league starts.

Lohse would provide another healthy, established righty to pair with Darvish, and he’d give Texas the option to trade the cost-controlled Holland if it wants to open a spot for Lewis or one of the rookies. The Rangers would surrender the 24th pick of the draft, but they’d still have the 29th pick after losing Josh Hamilton to the Angels. That said, with a groundball rate of just 43 percent in each of the past two seasons, Lohse’s flyballing ways could be a rough fit for Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Orioles: The O’s made the playoffs last year despite a rotation that ranked ninth in the league in ERA (4.42) and quality start rate (48 percent), and the biggest move they’ve made this offseason, the signing of Jair Jurrjens — he of the 6.89 ERA — to a $1.5 million deal, is in jeopardy due to ongoing concerns about his right knee. That leaves the team banking heavily that last year’s breakouts by Jason Hammel, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman — who combined for just 50 starts — are all legitimate.

Given that the Orioles had just one pitcher who threw more than 133 2/3 innings in Wei-Yin Chen, Lohse’s ability to provide bulk would be a big help, though the question of how well his flyball tendency would fit into the AL East has to rate as a concern. Additionally, losing the 23rd pick of the draft — a spot that has yielded Jacoby Ellsbury, Phil Hughes and Francouer (as uneven as they may be) as well as pitching prospect Alex Meyer — means giving up a shot at a potentially useful major leaguer.

Red Sox: Boston’s rotation was a disaster last year, ranking 12th in the AL in both ERA (5.19) and quality start rate (44 percent). Among the eight pitchers who made more than one start, only Franklin Morales had an ERA under 4.56, and he made just nine starts. Jon Lester (4.82) and Clay Buchholz (4.56), the team’s top two returning starters, were both subpar, and come into the year with question marks about conditioning and durability. The Red Sox signed Dempster to a two-year deal and will have a much fitter John Lackey back from Tommy John surgery, but that still may not be enough even with the return of former pitching coach John Farrell as manager.

Boston’s first-round pick (No. 7 overall) is protected, so it would only lose a second-rounder at number 45, and having cut payroll from $175 million to around $152 million before pre-arbitration extensions, the team can obviously afford him. That said, as with Dempster, there’s concern about how well Lohse’s stuff will play in the AL East, and he may not want any part of the media circus that Boston has become in the wake of so many recent disappointments.

Brewers: After coming within one win of a trip to the World Series in 2011, the Brewers fell short despite a late run in 2012, but they’ve done very little to enhance their chances this winter. In fact, they’ve slashed payroll from $98.2 million to just over $71 million, not counting pre-arbitration renewals. In the rotation, they’ve lost Shaun Marcum to the Mets, and like the Orioles, they’re betting heavily that the emergences of pitchers who spent less than a full season in their rotation — in this case Marco Estrada, Mike Fiers, Mark Rogers and Wily Peralta, who combined for 60 starts last year — can pick up the slack in a unit where only one pitcher (Yovani Gallardo) exceeded 142 1/3 innings.

Don’t bet on Lohse going to Milwaukee; beyond his poor fit for Miller Park (where he owns a career 6.95 ERA in the admittedly small sample of 44 innings), the Brewers have the sour taste of Jeff Suppan — a former Cardinal midrotation staple with a low strikeout rate who turned into a free agent disaster in Milwaukee — in their mouths. Furthermore, they’d be surrendering the 17th pick by signing Lohse, a spot that has produced Cole Hamels, Brad Lidge and Roy Halladay, among others.

“All the females want to drool”
By Anthony Castrovince/MLB.com
On Twitter: @Castrovince

http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/2013/01/ ... -to-drool/

I’ve got a story up on the main site today about Trevor Bauer, who met with the Cleveland media this week and made a fantastic first impression (you should also read Jordan Bastian’s story here).

Bauer is a fascinating figure, be it because of his importance to this Indians’ organization, his quick descent from highly prized prospect to discarded trade piece in Arizona, his oft-discussed training program, his intellectual approach to the game and the variety and intensity of opinions about him and his skillset. Frankly, it’s all too much to fit into a single story, and I’m certain Bastian will have plenty of Bauer-related content in Spring Training and beyond.

But I wanted to delve just a little bit deeper into one aspect of my interview with Bauer that didn’t get full coverage in the column: The rapping.

Below is the YouTube video for “Diamond in the Rough,” the rap song mentioned in the piece. It was released by Bauer and his friend Connor Garelick, under the name Consummate 4sight, last summer.


It’s not great, right? It actually contains the line, “I’ve got slobber on my feet, ‘cause all the females want to drool.” Not great.

I do, however, find the feelings of detachment Bauer expresses in that song to be interesting, and that’s a theme I explored in the story.

But what about this act of rapping, in and of itself? It is, after all, the nature of our often-dismissive, hyper-critical world to scoff when a guy like Bauer gets involved in an extracurricular pursuit of this nature.

Frankly, though, I love Bauer’s perspective on the matter.

“It’s something I really enjoy doing,” he said. “People can say whatever they want about it. I know I’m not good at it. But maybe one day I’ll make a song where one person gets something out of it that helps them.”

In other words, Bauer knows it’s just a hobby. If you don’t like it, don’t listen. And as he put it, if his hobby was fishing and all he could reel in was a two-inch fish, would anybody rip him for that? Probably not.

As a guy who writes for a living, I can certainly appreciate Bauer’s creativity and the honesty he conveys when he puts pen to paper.

“Writing has always been my way to vent,” he said. “When I’m down, when I’m happy, I write. I like to write. I like the puzzle that words are. My dad wrote two poems a year for my mom — one for Mother’s Day and one for her birthday. I started helping him write the poems, so they came from me and him. And then my sister, who also likes to write books, got into it. It became a family thing.”

The rapping is not a family thing. In fact, Bauer said he only turned to rap by default.

“I can’t sing, I can’t play an instrument, so I was pretty much left with nothing but rap,” he said. “I don’t consider myself a rapper. I’m not that into it. I have no illusions about that. I’m not trying to make a career out of it… There’s a lot that goes into the process. Coming up with lyrics, finding the rhythm, making the beat. I taught myself how to do that from scratch, as well as the actual mixing techniques. How much reverb, how much EQ [equalization], how much compression, how do you make the whole thing fit together?”

Bauer, who studied mechanical engineering at UCLA, is always trying to learn how things fit together and why they work the way they do. It’s something he obviously applies to pitching, and he’s made attempts to pass what he’s learned along to the next generation.

“I’m trying to give young baseball players a resource,” he said. “Someone they can bounce questions off. That’s the reason I have a YouTube channel and a Facebook page. People ask questions, I can make a video for them.”

You can find Bauer’s instructional YouTube channel here. You can find his Facebook page here.

And if “Diamond in the Rough” whet your appetite, Consummate 4sight has several songs on SoundCloud.

~AC

Rafael Perez - R - Twins
Twins signed LHP Rafael Perez to a minor league contract.
Perez underwent left shoulder surgery in September but should be ready for the start of the 2013 season. He owns a cool 3.64 career ERA and a 1.33 career WHIP.

Source: LaVelle E. Neal III on Twitter Feb 14 - 12:08 PM

Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said Thursday that Rafael Perez will audition for the starting rotation.
Perez has never started a game in the major leagues, but he has done it in the minors and the Twins are going to give him a shot to shine in that role this spring. The 30-year-old lefty is already recovered from his September shoulder surgery. He owns a 3.64 career MLB ERA.

Source: Rhett Bollinger on Twitter Feb 14 - 12:28 PM

Bud Shaw:

The Dolans' frugal ways won't be the gripe this season, which puts the onus on GM Chris Antonetti.

The Dolans spent $104 million securing Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. They hired Terry Francona. The Indians now represent this town's best chance to make the playoffs. (Sadly, they might have been the best ticket to the playoffs even before their off-season moves.)

Management has always pointed out in much quieter winters how teams that win the off-season are guaranteed nothing. That holds true now that they're the team winning the off-season in the AL Central. Now we'll see whether they at least win the benefit of the doubt at the box office.

My guess: Not immediately, not in April at least, and only if the lineup infused with Bourn and Swisher out-hits the team's starting pitching problems.

Detroit is still the favorite to win the AL Central, though the excitement generated by the off-season maneuvering isn't predicated on the Indians' returning to favorite status they so often enjoyed in the '90s. It's about seeing ownership taking the lead on repairing a fractured relationship.

The Dolans have made a legitimate attempt.

It's February. People are talking baseball. Lately that hasn't been the case even in August.

HE SAID IT

"It feels like we're a big-market club." -- Chris Perez after the signing of Bourn and other acquisitions.

Translation: Dolans, you're off the hook with your closer. Fans, if you don't show up you're gonna feel like you got the too-close-to-the-stage seat at a comedy club.

• Arizona catcher Miguel Montero went into some detail with an Arizona radio station about how difficult new Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer was to deal with last season.Asked to comment, Bauer told the PD, "I'm glad to live in a country like the U.S. where we can all say what we want and have free speech. I appreciate all the guys who go overseas to fight for that freedom."

If Bauer wants to disprove the perception of him as a highly-intelligent oddball, not sure addressing a pitcher-catcher disagreement with a statement about the Bill of Rights and support for our troops is the best way to squelch that.

• Why do I get the impression that conversations with Bauer could easily go this way:

"Hey, Trevor, what time is it?"

"I have my own thoughts on that subject but if you want to go by the ancient Egyptians it's 9:15."



• Francona says having three centerfielders in the outfield who can run and catch but don't hit for power gives the Indians an "unconventional look."

After 2012, the fact that somebody on the team hits right-handed in 2013 is enough convention to make up for any and all unusual wrinkles.

Terry Francona looking for a spring break from Team USA's Joe Torre: Cleveland Indians Insider

By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
on February 13, 2013 at 6:41 PM, updated February 13, 2013 at 7:43 PM



GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Indians bound for the World Baseball Classic are scheduled to join their countries on March 2.

Relievers Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez will play for Team USA and train at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, spring-training home of the Diamondbacks and Rockies. They will play their WBC games in Phoenix at Chase Field, the D-backs' regular-season home.

Tribe manager Terry Francona, concerned about Pestano and Perez staying sharp, is going to ask Team USA manager Joe Torre if Pestano and Perez can rejoin the Tribe during their training period so they can pitch in at least one Cactus League game.

"I can't imagine that [Team USA] would care ... so they wouldn't have to go a week in the middle of spring training without throwing a game," Francona said Wednesday. "They're only 20 minutes away, so it might work out well, but I've really got to call Joe."

Team USA is playing in Pool D against Canada, Mexico and Italy. Former Tribe manager Mike Hargrove is the hitting coach for Italy.

Other Indians bound for the WBC are catcher Carlos Santana (Dominican Republic) and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (Venezuela). Catcher Yan Gomes was scheduled to play for Brazil, but said earlier this week said that he wasn't going to go because he wanted to concentrate on making the Indians' 25-man roster.

Brazil will play Japan in Japan.

Testing, testing: Michael Bourn, who agreed to a four-year, $28 million contract on Monday, is scheduled to report to Goodyear Thursday for his physical and meet the media on Friday, the day of the first full-squad workout.





Dangerous game: Reliever Joe Smith said he strained an abdominal muscle playing catch before reporting to spring training. He opened the 2011 season on the disabled list with an abdominal strain, but said his recent injury is not as severe.

"I played catch at 65 feet Tuesday and 75 feet [Wednesday]," said Smith. "I think it's going to pretty much a normal spring training for me. I'll play catch again [Thursday] and hopefully throw off the mound late next week."

Prospect Trey Haley, a right-hander who was added to the 40-man roster for the first time in November, has been shut down with shoulder soreness. Francona said he'll miss about a week. Haley was a combined 4-1 with two saves and a 2.33 ERA at the Arizona Rookie League, Class A Carolina and Class AA Akron last year.

Francona is preaching patience to all pitchers during the first few bullpen sessions.

"We don't want anyone trying to make the team on the first day of camp," he said. "I told Rich Hill to slow down today. The ball was coming out of his hand like it was midseason."

Hill, who pitched for Francona in Boston, is in camp as a spring-training invitee.

He's back: Left-hander Edward Paredes joined the Indians on Wednesday after being detained in the Dominican Republic because of an expired passport. Parades, who did not pitch professionally last year, will begin practicing Thursday.

Hot ticket: Tuesday was a good day for the Indians' ticket office. After Bourn's deal was announced Monday, the Indians sold as many season tickets Tuesday as they normally do in a month during the off-season.


Single-game tickets go on sale Feb. 25.

Here’s a quick look at one of the new faces on the Indians’ coaching staff.

Name: Mike Sarbaugh.
Position: First-base coach.
Playing career: Signed as a non-drafted free agent by Milwaukee in 1989. Played six years in pro ball, the last five with the Indians. He was a .265 career hitter in the minors.
Coaching/managing career: He’s been a member of the Indians’ organization since 1990 as a player, coach and manager. Sarbaugh spent the last nine seasons managing in the minors. He won consecutive International League championships in 2010 and 2011 at Class AAA Columbus. Sarbaugh has a 697-511 (.577) overall record and his teams have won seven division titles. Served as bench coach for Sandy Alomar Jr., for the final six games of last season after manager Manny Acta was fired.
Personal: Sarbaugh lives in Shillington, Pa., with his family. He earned a degree in Kinesiology from Lamar University and made his acting debut with a role in Major League 2. 



On Twitter: @hoynsie

Tribe manager Terry Francona, concerned about Pestano and Perez staying sharp, is going to ask Team USA manager Joe Torre if Pestano and Perez can rejoin the Tribe during their training period so they can pitch in at least one Cactus League game.

"I can't imagine that [Team USA] would care ... so they wouldn't have to go a week in the middle of spring training without throwing a game," Francona said Wednesday. "They're only 20 minutes away, so it might work out well, but I've really got to call Joe."

Francona obviously doesn't travel much on valley highways. Anybody that can get from Scottsdale to Goodyear in 20 minutes is using a helicopter.