Foulke signs

2001 - 79 IP, 4.69 ERA
2002 - 69 IP, 4.19 ERA
2003 - 4 IP, 12.46 ERA
2004 - signed by Indians to a minor league deal

Now I wonder what a sharp guy like you was saying when we signed Howry.  I imagine it was something brilliant like this:

Wonder why we bother with such signings.  It's not a serious attempt to improve.

Howry pitched 1.5 seasons for the Indians with a 2.57 ERA.  He was guaranteed less than $100,000 and eventually paid about $1.1 million.

Betancourt has pitched 4.5 seasons for the Indians with a 2.80 ERA.  He was guaranteed less than $100,000 and has been paid only about $2 million so far.  The Indians also control his rights for another three seasons at bargain rates.

Blake has been an everyday player for the Indians for five entire seasons, with all-around production that is almost exactly average for major league starters.  He has been versatile -- 443 games at 3B, 238 games in RF and 64 games at 1B -- and rather durable, spending only seven weeks on the DL (in 2006) and starting all but two games per month outside of that.  He was guaranteed less than $50,000 and has been about $10 million over those five seasons.  The Indians control his rights for one more season at a reasonable rate.

And that, my friend, is why we bother with signings like this.  It takes work to scout minor league free agents looking for a spot, work to recruit former major leaguers and failed prospects into a non-roster contract, work to rehab or develop them.  The Indians put in the work, for 20 or 30 guys, hoping to dig up three.

But I guess you'd rather they just sign a guy like Carlos Lee for $100 million.  I guess that's the kind of thing you would consider "a serious attempt to improve."

I respect the work, beating the bushes, trusting your scouts, building an organization that's becoming known for rehabbing guys and resuscitating careers.  That is a serious endeavor, as I see it, and I don't see anything particularly serious about writing a big check.