Indians re-sign Joe Smith, Jensen Lewis
Via Hoynes twitter — 870K for Joe, 650K for Jensen. They were our only players who conceivably might have been non-tendered.
over 1 year ago
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I’m happy to see it. I don’t get the general dislike toward Joe Smith. I know he has a major wart, but so do most pitchers in a bullpen. Other than Chris Perez, Smith is the best at getting out his same-handed batters. He has an established track record at the major league level of doing it, and he does it with a good K rate and a lot of groundballs. If used correctly, he’s worth his pay.
Some interesting non-tender candidates after today:
C Ronnie Paulino: If the Indians decide Marson needs competition or should start in AAA, Paulino can throw and hits LHP.
C Dioner Navarro: Still young, but three bad years out of the last four. He can throw as well. Some attitude issues here, and I’m not sure as a young guy he’d want to slow behind Carlos Santana.
Edwin Encarnacion: I refuse to label him a 3B. I don’t think the Indians would dare play his glove at 3B, but he can hit, especially LHP. I’m sad to see Jose Lopez traded to the Rockies — he’s a good glove at 3B with some offensive potential as far as non-tenders go.
OF Matt Diaz: The guy can hit LHP, period. Probably stays in the NL, but he’ll get looks from a lot of clubs.
RP: Bobby Jenks: Fastball velocity back, inflated BABIP killed his numbers last year. He’s going to make somebody look smart.
RP Alfredo Aceves: Coming off an injury, won’t be ready by the start of ST, but has been solid from 2008 on, albeit in limited innings last year.
But that was while Paulino was on PED’s.
In the new Geico commercial, Marte sings "Let me be myself" on Wedge's front lawn (with the cavemen).
by V-Mart Shopper on Dec 3, 2010 12:12 AM EST up reply actions
There was also Josh Fields, non-tendered by the Royals. He’s a little Marte-like, in that he’s a former top prospect for several years running (White Sox) who hasn’t made much impact in the big leagues, though he’s probably not the fielder Marte is.
Worth a minor league contract?
by MTF on Dec 3, 2010 9:14 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Sort of like the Beau Mills who made it to the majors before flaming out
by APV on Dec 3, 2010 9:22 AM EST up reply actions
I know it is terrible, but mlbtraderumors actually has a pretty useful sortable list of tender/non-tenders
by APV on Dec 3, 2010 9:23 AM EST up reply actions
They have massively increased the amount of original content they provide since our little spat a couple years ago. At the risk of being totally narcissist, I have to wonder if my critique of his business model didn’t hit close to home.
Not that the content is amazing, but they have made huge steps in the direction of being a real resource, rather than just a stupidity-fueled leech.
by Jay on Dec 3, 2010 9:31 AM EST up reply actions
They have added some nice user friendly features. To some degree i think they have benefited from minimizing their own original editorial content, which was pretty near worthless to begin with.
by APV on Dec 3, 2010 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
Willie Aybar is available. He’s kinda average, but he is versatile on defense and he’s about to hit his prime. He could be a stop-gap at third, with the possibility that he turns into a legitimate part of the club.
I think this bumps the number of players with 2011 contracts up to 5. Antonetti is going to be busy in March.
For the pre-arb 40-man guys, the Indians use a formula based on production to determine what raise above the minimum a player will get. There’s really no room for negotiation there — if they don’t accept it, they get renewed.
With that being said, he will have fun with the Perez duo, Asdrubal, and Choo. Is this the year the Indians finally go to arbitration?
I’m going with “no,” but Choo/Boras makes it a close call.
Boras and the Indians have a solid working relationship, from what we can tell. There have been a lot of oblique mentions about Choo getting a multi-year deal, and that tells me that the Indians think they can get one done with Boras, and if they think that, they think it for a reason.
by Jay on Dec 3, 2010 9:34 AM EST up reply actions
This is nice to read.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Dec 3, 2010 10:21 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Well, hey, it’s not that big of a deal. It means that we’ll exchange the risk of Choo breaking the bank in arbitration for 2012 and/or 2013 for the risk of Choo being injured and/or ineffective for some major part of those seasons. It’s not a game-changer.
by Jay on Dec 3, 2010 1:08 PM EST up reply actions
I think there’s a 50-50 chance they go to arbitration with Choo, given who his agent is. I would think that Choo is looking for a 3-year deal, the Indians want to do a 4 or 5-year deal, but the Indians don’t have the leverage they usually have with pre-arb players. If the Indians don’t budge, Boras would probably be content to go to arbitration.
I don’t see a problem with Rafael Perez. Chris Perez probably gets a multi-year deal. I think Cabrera just gets a one-year deal, assuming they’ll split the difference (assuming the difference isn’t that much).
Won’t be surprised to see CPerez get a deal modeled after Betancourt’s:
08:$2.05M, 09:$3.35M, 10:$5.4M club option
by Jay on Dec 3, 2010 9:43 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t see much reason for the Indians to guarantee a third year for a reliever. We didn’t do it for Betancourt after his otherworldly 2007, and we were right not to do it — and he had a much longer track record at the time than CPerez does now.
by Jay on Dec 4, 2010 4:25 PM EST up reply actions
Can I start the Marquez Smith bandwagon? He’s a veteran Cubs pseudo-prospect who has generally been rated as a plus defender at 3B with a little bit of pop in his bat.
He’s #12 on Goldstein’s Cubs list. The Cubs system is bad but this seems like poor roster management. Have to imagine he’ll go somewhere.
Its his postive reviews as a defender coming up as a prospect that attract me
by APV on Dec 3, 2010 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
Interesting. Decent pop, fielding numbers, and seemingly nice steady progression through the minors. I’d be one for the “why the hell not” bandwagon.
Anything in life is possible, except for skiing through revolving doors.
by MooneysRebellion on Dec 3, 2010 2:07 PM EST up reply actions
And Hoynsie says Nick Punto is talking with the Indians now….that actually might not be a bad move really, pretty solid glove.
"Ok everyone listen up! I've just invited Dave to suck it!"
I’m not much for players whose best offensive attribute is their glove. Punto is NRI material. Anything more, I’m disappointed. A team in Cleveland’s position is better off seeing whether Josh Rodriguez or Jayson Nix or Andy Marte can play 3B full-time, and having it fail miserably, than having Nick Punto play AND play as well as you expect him to play.
As a depth/bench/defensive replacement guy, why not?
Makes more sense in that role than Goedert.
by Jay on Dec 4, 2010 4:26 PM EST up reply actions
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