I assume by "<one of the players received in Marte/Michaels trade>", you mean Marte or Michaels.  Unless you want to try to reacquire Mota.

Also, your dream team has by overtaken by events: Miller, injured again, has been optioned to Buffalo.

Yes to Francisco.

No to Mujica, unless both Fultz and Julio stink it up for the remainder of ST.

You say, "the uncertainty of promising youngsters," I say, "the uncertainty of decent but not great prospects backed up by nobody."

Let's call the whole thing off.

Amplifying your point, Francisco doesn't have an anti-platoon split, he has not shown any significant platoon split.  He probably will at some point, but what's clear so far is that he doesn't struggle against right-handers -- and Michaels kind of does struggle.  This is significant, because it means that if you start Michaels against a lefty, and they bring in a righty, you're either pulling him or more or less giving away the at-bat.  

Let's also keep in mind, the left-vs-left split is by far the most severe across all players, significantly worse than right-vs-right.  The point of a platoon is essentially that while lefties make more productive hitters overall, many  if not most of them need to be protected against lefty pitchers.  A righty bat in theory will not usually need that kind of protection, because if he did, he wouldn't be in the majors -- short of some other valuable skill, like playing CF.

Hell, I've forgotten what point I was thinking about making, but whatever.

How many times last season did we see Fultz called in to get ONE lefty out and end up walking the guy?

Good question -- but why not just answer it?

The answer is ... twice.  That's all it was, twice -- but it was two appearances in a row, and the bases were loaded both times.

But this is cheating of course.  We can't really know how many times he was brought in to face one batter, because what happens to that first batter affects whether Wedge pulls him or not, and often in unpredictable ways.  But here's a few other ways to look at it.

Fultz came into 49 games last season and walked the first batter 6 times.  Out of the other 43 times, he got 37 outs, allowing 3 singles, 2 doubles, 1 homer and a sac fly.  He had a 506 first-batter OPS-against, but on the other hand, 11 runs scored in those plate appearances, so he admittedly was not very timely with his walks.

How was he with bases loaded generally?  Not great.  Facing 11 batters, he walked three (including the two we remember) and gave up two singles, for an 855 OPS.  But not only is this a criminally small sample, it's also not that terrible.   He got the other six guys out and didn't give up any extra-base hits, which obviously is what really kills you with the bases juiced, so you could read the numbers in part as Fultz not giving in to the batter.

Fultz also faced 22 batters with two men on base, and only 5 out of 44 of those runners scored -- 513 OPS in those situations, also damned good.  For six of those batters the score was tied, and he ended the threat 5 times.  The sixth time, he gave up a groundball single up the middle to score a runner from third.  For another six batters the score was within 2 runs, and Fultz allowed one walk and a double, but also got three strikeouts and a groundout.  It ain't bad.

Main thing to remember about Fultz is that his status is no different than it was last year, or than Oldberto's last year, or Borowski's this year or last.  He's only on a one-year deal, he's only making $1.5 million, and if he struggles and/or they have a reasonable replacement for him, they'll DFA him and never look back.

So don't waste your energy worrying about him, he's not a significant problem on this squad.

Hello crazymoloh,

Interesting 25-man roster and assumptions about Miller, Hafner, etc.

Regarding your idea about trading Peralta or moving him to 3B, I could see that as a possibility down the road, but I'm thinking Rodriguez or Goedert might give them that option by establishing themselves at 2B and allowing Cabrera to move to SS.  (By that time, Hodges, or perhaps even Mills will probably be established at 3B if Peralta is not traded.)  I don't suspect that to happen until probably the 2010 season at the earliest.

No offense, but it's going to take more than just a few months or a half-season from Barfield performing like we're expecting him to to even make me randomly think of moving Peralta (either to 3B or to another team) during the 2008 season.  For one thing, Barfield needs to show he can perform well for a whole season in the AL, and chances are, he won't be in the Majors the whole season this season.  In addition, the Indians are poised for a WS run this year; moving Peralta is likely NOT going to help increase our chances of winning a WS this year, the year where we'll still have Sabathia (who probably will not be here next season.)

Therefore, while I think Peralta could be traded or perhaps moved to 3B in the future, it will very likely not happen in 2008, and probably not in 2009 either, as I don't think Barfield will convince the Indians he's the long-term answer at 2B unless he really tears it up this season at AAA and the Majors, and then can tear it up again in 2009 at the ML level for a full season.  If Barfield can do all that, then maybe they might consider moving Peralta to another team or to 3B at that point, and by then (the 2010 season,) Hodges and maybe even Mills could be ready for 3B, thereby increasing the possibility Peralta would be traded and not moved to 3B.  It's also possible, though less likely than Hodges being at 3B, that Rodriguez or Goedert might have established themselves enough to be in the running for the 2B job by that point as well, thereby further negating the chances of Barfield being the Indians' future 2B.

But, certainly trading or moving Peralta from SS in 2008 is very unlikely in my opinion, even if Barfield tears it up for a few months this season at AAA and/or the Majors.

Just my 2 cents - no offense.

I doubt they will be able to trade Michaels/Marte for value.  I imagine they'll keep them both and wait/hope for either results or a good trade possibility.  Francisco will start in AAA (unfairly) and be up by June (so will Choo) as someone is bound to get hurt.  Barfield may spend much time at AAA this year, unless Cabrera is a mirage or there's an infield injury.

I think the only real question about the roster is whether Mastny makes it.  He has had some good outings, some bad; Julio hasn't exactly wowed anyone yet.  But, the Indians may decide to take a look at Julio first, which would mean they'd have to demote Mastny.

I STILL wish they'd get rid of Dellucci, rather than Michaels.  Michaels is a solid fourth outfielder.  Dellucci is a "proven veteran" who will get too many starts and will underproduce, strand runners, and block better players.  If I had one wish, it would be to see him OFF the roster (they sure missed him last year, didn't they!!).