Foulke to Sign for $5 Million, $2 Million in Incentives

We should do everything we can to get rid of Byrd's contract.  If Mulder or Carmona prove effective.

And re: blake's defense, I'd think Blake would be one of the better defensive 1b in the AL if he were full time there, so the difference between Garko might be very pronounced if Garko hasn't made major strides. I don't know how to evaluate defense but everyone withing the organization, etc seems to think Casey is very, very good especially for an easy position.

Really, who else is gonna drive the ball from the right side on this team? Victor? Shoppach? Barfield? Michaels? And who's gonna come up from Boofalo to fill that role? Francisco? In a late-and-close situation against LHP (and let's forget our division includes the best lefties in the game), I'd rather have Garko up than any of them. Is that worth a few dropped put-outs and some roster inflexibility? I think so.

No offense, but Garko won't get any better at 1B if he sits on the bench; plus, how much better will he get at Buffalo?  I'm not sure playing at Buffalo will help his confidence offensively or defensively.

Like I've said before, Thome wasn't very good when he moved to 1B in 1997, yet he made himself into a capable 1B.  Who's to say that Garko couldn't improve himself, enough to be a solid, competent 1B?  After all, 1B is considered to be one of the easiest defensive positions on the field (compared to the MI or to 3B.)  

Plus, I didn't see where Garko was THAT bad over at 1B.  He might not have made every play that a Gold-Glover would have made, but he hardly embarrassed himself over there in my opinion either.  

Plus, Blake doesn't have much experience over there - just because he's good in the OF doesn't mean he's going to be stellar or Gold-Glove caliber over at 1B either.  And like I've said before, how many teams have a Gold-Glove 1B?  For every St. Louis with an Albert Pujols, there is a Chicago White Sox with Paul Konerko who wins a WS - having an above-average or Gold-Glove caliber 1B is not essential in my opinion to winning a WS.  I'd be more worried about Jhonny Peralta's defense at SS than I would over who is playing 1B.

Plus, who would you rather have long-term - Garko or Blake?  I think it's reasonable to assume that Blake's bat won't get any better, while Garko's has a realistic chance of improving.  Plus, Blake will be 34 in 2007, so his defensive skills and range aren't likely to get any better, and it's possible they could even decline.  Plus, Blake isn't a long-term answer - I doubt he'll be here beyond his current contract, especially with all the notable OF prospects we have coming through the system.  If Blake is still here past 2008, it most likely would be as a back-up/super utility guy, which isn't bad, but not quite a critical piece to future Indians' teams either at this point.

In other words, it's not a slam-dunk in my opinion that Garko should be relegated to the bench or AAA Buffalo in favor of Blake, especially after what he did the last two months of 2006.  It may be a small sample size, but doesn't that at least warrant a chance at a starting job?  I mean, what does he have to do, play Gold-Glove defense at 1B - how many 1B do that in this league today?  

still, I'm not sure it will help Garko long-term, and arguably, Garko is probably more valuable to us long-term than Blake is, both because he is likelier to improve than Blake will, not to mention the fact that he is cheaper and we have very few 1B alternatives in the system at this point - outside of Head, who needs to bounce back from a mediocre to poor 2006 season - Garko might be the best option we have long-term at 1B.  Blake turning 34 this year isn't going to help us long-term at 1B in my opinion, and the chances of us picking up a quality 1B in FA are slim; unless we trade for someone like a Kotchman or a Morales, I don't see who is going to play 1B for us long-term unless Head really turns it around in 2007.