My Thoughts

We really must assume that this means Garko and possibly Gutz are on the way out, and hopefully for a decent return in the form of a relief pitcher.
While we don't know what Shap. is up to, it is hard to conclude anything but the following:

1. LF anno. 2007 will be Delucci/Michaels (a fine if uninspiring platoon at a reasonable price)
   
2. Gutz can be moved and is decent bait because: a) he's still unproven but teams are dying for CF options, b) Crowe is a year away in the wings, c) neither Gutz nor Crowe were being counted on for 2007, nor would either replace Grady in CF, and d) if necessary, Francisco can be brought up as OF replacement (would Gutz currently give a great deal more than BenFranc?)
   
3. vs. RH the lineup can be (going left to right to first): Delucci/Grady/Choo/Blake), vs. LH the lineup can be: Michaels/Grady/Blake/Vic, with Shoppach behind the plate--and I think they believe this lineup will produce at/above 2006 levels.
   

and finally,
     4. in 2008 one would expect Crowe to be in the OF and Delucci/Choo platooning with someone RH currently in AA/AAA (Goleski, Barton) whom they hope will develop into a viable option. First base will be something to sort out later.

In short: Garko and Gutz gone, closer (Shields or Gonzalez) found.

Good pick up, imo...regardless of any other moves.  With these OPS numbers vs righties....

Peralta - .700
Marte - .685
Barfield - .675

....combined with iffy production from youngsters Choo and Garko, I thought we looked potentially weak vs righties.  Blake is never a sure thing either.  Only 3 good bats for sure vs righties...Pronk/Grady/VMart.  Dellucci gives us another boost, with Michaels or Gutz likely out of the picture.  Michaels may not be worth the salary he'll get to only face lefties.  D.D. could put up great #s batting between Grady and Pronk and will be a nice lefty bat off the bench in PH situations.

Hopefully our young infield will produce better, along with Choo, but signing Dellucci is a smart precautionary move.  He won't make so much that we can't still pay for some pitching.  And when a kid(Crowe/Barton/etc.) is ready, D.D. will still have value as a platooner, bench player, or as a tradeable commodity....more value than Michaels for sure.

Ryan,

The reason that Dellucci had so few at-bats following his 1998 season was a strange wrist injury/condition (something called Kienbock's disease).  There is a nice timeline on his BP Pecota page.

I agree Ryan.  This signing will be best evaluated by the deals that follow.

I'm starting to get excited thinking of what Shapiro is working on behind closed doors. I expect (or maybe hope) it will be big, sort of awesome, and something no one has discussed.

The one thing Shapiro's moves over the last year have consistently done is provide the Indians with both fiscal and on-the-field flexibility.  We have a lot of interchangeable parts now, none of which are either so heinous fiscally or performance wise as to be unmoveable.  In the context of this kind of market, coming from Cleveland's perspective, this is a good thing.  It puts Cleveland into a position where they can exploit or take advantage of opportunities where they arise and aren't confined by specific needs.  As Ryan says, though, the value of flexibility is in what you do with it.  I'm still expecting a big trade involving someone on the 25-man roster and prospects.

Nice summary, Ryan.  I'm actually relieved -- I was confused, thought we'd signed this guy.

I find it interesting that the AP article quotes Dellucci's agent quite prominently as saying the Indians have given Dellucci the starting LF job. I wonder if they actually did that, and isn't that the same thing they told Michaels last season? At any rate, Michaels can't be happy to hear that news. Maybe it doesn't matter what he thinks, but if true, it's probably evidence that Michaels is part of the larger trade many of you have speculated is in the works.

For what it's worth the guys at USS Mariner think it's a good deal, actually calling it the best FA signing thus far this offseason.

Reading stuff like this from envious fans on other boards always makes me happy....it's such a good feeling to know our GM is not just competent, but one of the best, perhaps THE best, in the business.  

Yes, I have a complete man-crush on Shapiro.

I was listening to Kenny Roda (Rhoda?) on the way back from UA today. I really hope that the average Clevelander is not as stupid as that guy. He is complaining about the Dellucci signing "with a guy like Manny on the market." He claims the Indians should trade whatever is necessary to get Manny. Apparently the fact that Manny would cost more than our entire outfield at this point means little to him.

He also bemoaned the Crisp/Marte deal some more. He ranted about how the FO clearly has no faith in Marte if we were trying to sign "a Japanese 3d baseman." It was annoying to hear someone who supposedly is in tune with Cleveland sports complain about that when we were trying to sign him as a LF and he didn't even know the guy's name.

It is idiots like Roda that make being an Indians fan hard sometimes. Sorry to vent all of that... I like this move to an extent. It would be great if Dellucci hit 20+ HR's again but at this time last year I was hoping for the same thing from J-Mike.

just a thought: if the indians move franky back to buffalo and don't deal any of the other outfielders, do you think they'll use a dellucci/michaels platoon in left and a choo/blake platoon in right? that would require (by which i mean facilitate) dumping luna from the 25-man. say what you will: it's one way to approximate having a better outfield, and keeping blake on the roster somewhat lessens the need to carry two utility infielders.

Ooops!  I was just thinking: wasn't it great when we had Ramirez, Belle and Lofton in the outfield.  We just didn't know how great it was.

That picture explains so much, I can't even put it into words.