i’m surprised mario hasn’t gotten to this yet.

RE: Sowers and better alternatives, short answer, no, probably not. Long answer, in the organization, presently, only Huff, who’s not a sure shot, and is not going to get added to the roster unless we’re neck and neck for the division. Sowers is at least passable and will probably get better. Elarton has said he intends to be a reliever for the rest of his career because of his shoulder.

RE: The bullpen, there are easier moves to make before they try to find Newsom a roster spot. We’re not at the throw-all-the-minor-leaguers-at-it stage yet.

RE: Marte.

I get that Newsom’s a big time GB pitcher, but you’d like to see a much better K:BB rate regardless. He’s not beating the door down, and he’s not on the 40.

Newsom’s stat lines look sexy, but the reality is that the guy is a sidearmer that has a fastball that tops out at 83 mph. I’m not sure how that plays out in the big leagues. I kind of wish he was the guy who got bumped up to AAA with the Bauer move and took over the closer role for Buffalo.

I hope he’s for real, because he would be a great “change of pace” guy coming out of our pen in the middle innings. But I’m still not a believer yet.

As I said in the game thread last night, I’m giving Sowers a pass on last night. Coming back and pitching after a 2:39 delay is just dumb. And why would we want someone else? Sowers has been doing fantastic at AAA.

Just a wild guess, this guy probably thinks we should get Omar back, too.

I’m going to wait until you actually reply to any of this before I completely pass judgment. It should be noted that this is extremely difficult when your name is “Omarrocks.” He does--did—indeed rock. But when this is the main thing you want the forum world to know about you, so much so that it’s your handle, I’m afraid I’ve already made some ideas about you that may or may not be fair.

Let me be the one to explain any hostility you will or have received: It’s just kind of rude and ignorant to make a Fanpost without having read anything else on the site or even made posts of any kind beforehand.

Everything else re: Sowers and Newsom is already being handled pretty well by the others. As for Marte … sir, you don’t want to travel down this road.

And I commend you for knowing who Newsom is. You’ve far exceeded the average fan already.

Okay, some serious answers.

1. Is there nobody in the minors or on waivers than could fare better than Sowers?

No — it’s very, very unlikely. We’ve seen Sowers make only a few sporadic starts in the majors, but overall, he’s been having a very fine year — he’s just been having it in Buffalo. Sowers has been perhaps the fifth-best starter in all of Triple-A this year — third-lowest ERA — and he is probably better than half the #4 starters in the majors. He doesn’t have the great K rate, but his K/BB is more than solid. He’s a pitch-to-contact guy, so you’ll see wild swings in his ERA from time-to-time — he was very lucky in 2006 and has been rather unlucky in his four big-league starts this year. Given an extended look, it’s highly likely he’ll translate his Triple-A dominance to at least solid performance in the majors.

So are there better guys out there? No. Most teams would kill to be able to slot Sowers in at #5, let alone #7. Take a good luck at other teams’ rotations. Pick out the worst two guys they’ve started in June so far, see how their track records - majors and minors - compare to Sowers. You don’t realize how good we have it.

2. How about Elarton as No. 5 starter, and bring up somebody like Newson (couldn’t hurt to try) for the pen?

I’m sure the Indians are paying close attention to Newsom, but it’s hard to make room on the 40-man roster for another reliever — and they just made room for Bauer, who was about as good in Buffalo as Newsom has been in Akron, so I’m sure you’d agree they made the right move there.

Elarton in the rotation is a fairly terrible idea. He was a very solid choice for #5 guy for us in 2004 and 2005, but have you looked at his performance outside of that? From 2001 through his release from the Rockies in 2004, he started 43 games with a 7.38 ERA. And in 2006 and 2007 with the Royals, he only made 29 starts, 6.59 ERA. His overall numbers as a starter, 2001 to 2007, including the “good times” with the Tribe, are a 5.96 ERA over 124 starts — less than 18 per season, by the way. So there is just very little reason to think he can still cut it as a big-league starter at this point.

3. Also, how long will Marte continue to use up a roster spot? It seems clear that the organization doesn’t have any confidence in him, (not has he done anything to merit any), so why not just cut bait?

Marte will continue to take up a roster spot as long as he’s our only reasonable option for 3B in the event Blake gets hurt, and as long as he’s our only reasonable option for 3B in 2009. He is both of those things at the moment. It is clear the organization (or at least Wedge) believes he’s not the best option right now, but it’s also clear that at least Shapiro thinks he’s a reasonable option for the future — or else he wouldn’t be here.

looks like everyone pretty much cleaned this guys’ kitchen.