Transactions

by Ryan on Nov 22, 2008 10:55 PM EST in Transactions

Signed IF Andy Cannizaro and C Damaso Espino to minor-league contracts and Invited them to Spring Training

The first free agent signings of the offseason!

Cannizaro finished the 2008 season with the Bisons after being acquired by the Indians from Tampa Bay. The 30-year-old has played mostly shortstop during his professional career, though he's become more of a utility guy as his prospect status wore off. He hit .321/.374/.476 during his short time in Buffalo, but that was in just 84 at-bats: his career minor-league line is .274/.343/.354.

Espino is another re-sign for the Indians; he ended the 2008 season with the Aeros after being acquired from the Kansas City organization in June. He'll be 26 next May, but has shown zero power in the high minors.

Purchased the Contracts of C Carlos Santana, C Chris Giminez, OF Trevor Crowe, RHP Jeff Stevens, and RHP Hector Rondon

As always, the question is who you left off the roster, not who you added. Among the eligibles for next month's Rule 5 Draft are Jordan Brown, Randy Newsom, and Chuck Lofgren.

Brown is probably the best Indians prospect left unprotected, and I think he'll be selected in the Rule 5 Draft despite playing first base the past two seasons and not having the upside potential most clubs look for in Rule 5 picks. I just think some teams with serious offensive needs (the Pirates, for instance) will see him as (almost) free talent that could realistically help their club next season.

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It would sting a little if Brown got claimed, and that lingering knee issue or whatever it was cleared up. There’s probably room for a defensively sound, left-handed backup first baseman on this club, at least next year.

On the other hand, Mike Aubrey.

by fleerdon on Nov 22, 2008 11:38 PM EST reply actions

Personally, I would have rather have kept Brown instead of Crowe. But, it’s a coin flip on which one is actually an impact (if at all) at the ML level.

by Toxicadam on Nov 24, 2008 1:28 PM EST reply actions

Brown might have a better chance of being a solid everyday player, but the chance isn’t good for either of them. As a role player, Crowe is way, way more valuable.

by Jay on Nov 24, 2008 1:50 PM EST up reply actions

Hey Jay-Z. There was a good Hoynsie mailbag for you to tear apart this weekend

by Roger Dorn on Nov 24, 2008 1:32 PM EST reply actions

I’ll give it a look, but it’s a busy week for me.

by Jay on Nov 24, 2008 1:51 PM EST up reply actions

It’s mainly his take on pythagorus that amused me

by Roger Dorn on Nov 24, 2008 2:31 PM EST up reply actions

Just so it’s clear, the object of those pieces isn’t to tear apart what Hoynes wrote, it’s to ignore what Hoynes wrote.

by Jay on Nov 24, 2008 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

In fairness, there’s also this:

Do you think the trade for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips was beginner’s luck for GM Mark Shapiro?

And, RD, I couldn’t find the Pythagoras bit.

by NickFantana on Nov 24, 2008 6:23 PM EST up reply actions

Interesting, that looks like a newer mailbag than what I read. Try this

by Roger Dorn on Nov 24, 2008 7:18 PM EST up reply actions

That Hoynes response is amazing. I’m reproducing it here, for all the lazy Nicks.

Hey, Hoynsie: It seems your exchange with Charlie Manuel after Game 5 of the World Series is getting nationwide coverage. The sports pages of a Chicago newspaper devoted 12 column inches to it. By the way, what are the Pythagorean rankings? Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune wrote that Indians manager Eric Wedge ranked minus-19 and Manuel zero in the Pythagorean rankings for managers. — Jim Halas, South Euclid.

Hey, Jim: They only gave us 12 inches of copy in the Windy City? Did Michael Jordan announce that he was making another comeback on the same day? Talk about underplaying a story.

Baseball statistician Bill James developed a formula several years ago showing the relationship between a team’s winning percentage and its ratio of runs scored to runs allowed. Since it followed the Pythagorean formula, he called it the “Pythagorean winning percentage,” which equals a team’s runs squared divided by the square of its runs plus the square of its runs allowed.

There is a debate as to whether it should be used to measure a manager’s effectiveness.

Pythagorean was a Greek mathematician who developed the theorem for determining the relationship between the lengths of the sides of a triangle.

by NickFantana on Nov 24, 2008 8:53 PM EST up reply actions