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The money is only spent if you spend it.  If the tribe is looking to add a piece at the end of July it will be because they are in contention.  And if that is the case I would guess that attendance and viewership on STO will both be up and revenue will be on the high side of expectations.  Also, I think at this point both ownership and management (especially) will be eager to take advantage of their good fortune and spend a little extra.  Another way to look it is that they will only have spent an extra $1.5 MM as compared to $4.5MM that point that the $9MM contact would have cost.  And it doesn't seem that the $2MM wasted on JJ last year had detrimental effects on spending this year.

More so than Trot, I think it would fit Hafner, Martinez, or Sabathia more - the reason why is because, they've been Indians for many years (especially CC) - I think that factors into being a leader as well.  Trot may have experience in that regard, but that was in Boston, not here in Cleveland.  

I think more players will look toward those who have been with an organization for a while to be leaders of that team, not necessarily a newcomer.  Trot can lend his experiences, but who do you think of when you think of the Indians - Trot Nixon, or Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, and C.C. Sabathia.  Even Grady Sizemore might be looked more upon as a leader of the Indians than Trot Nixon, just because Grady has been here.  Granted, that might be from a fan's perspective, but the players, both old and new, know who's been with this organization for a while and who hasn't - which group of players would you likely turn to for advice in terms of being a Cleveland Indian.  For baseball knowledge, yes, you might ask Trot some questions, but in terms of being an Indian, how the atmosphere and the clubhouse are, how the teammates react to each other, I would say you'd go to a player who has been an Indian for a few years at least.

I think that is a big key to being a leader on a team - I don't think you can expect a newcomer to become a leader, especially right away.  They can assist with their baseball experience and knowledge, but for a true leader to emerge, in my opinion, it has to be someone who has been on that team for a few years, at least.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Let's give tham another shot and hope that it goes better for us in 2007.

It's as sound a strategy as any...right?

Last week, BP's Kevin Goldstein published his list of the Indians Top Ten prospects.  For each team, in addition to a Top Ten Prospect list, he also ranks all the organization's best talent, majors and minors, who are 25 years old or younger.  Here's what he had to say about the Indians in this regard:

Wowsa. Most of these extra lists have had 1-3 candidates for inclusion, while the Indians added seven, and an eighth, righthander Fausto Carmona, who the club still has strong faith in, would rank 11th.

I don't know how to say it any better than "wowsa" -- and that list didn't even include Hafner, Martinez and Crisp -- three of the best players who have established themselves on Wedge's watch.

The idea that Wedge is weak in this area is equivalent to saying that Pronk can't hit righties.  It's the opposite of "beyond contradiction."  It's "beyond diction" I guess.

These are not the kind of performances that force a team's hand -- unlike, say, Kouzmanoff in 2006.  The following year, he had a 989 OPS, he was promoted July 12 and never looked back.  Slowed a little, yes.  But "blocked" implies that he unequivocally was ready for the majors.  I don't see that in the numbers.

We're your 2007 Indians! We'd be lucky to win the wild card

Tribe baseball: most likely worse overall!

Come out to the Jake, it's more or less a crap shoot!

Or course, they thing is, you're probably right.  By which I mean, the chance that the Indians win the division is less than 50%.  No one in this division is a more than 50% favorite.  When BP put up there playoff odds at the start of 2006, only one team (the A's) was given better than 50% to win their division.  Moreso, only three teams had over a 50% chance of making the playoffs in any way, with the A's topping out at 62%.  This just in:  the Suns probably won't win the NBA title, and the Patriots probably won't win the Super Bowl.

My point is, feel free to keep saying that the Tribe won't win it all, and won't win the division, and won't win the wild card.  You're more likely than not to be patting yourself on the back next year, and gloating on this board.  But we don't care.

I don't see how that's possible. Nixon, if he's healthy, is one of the better right fielders around. The only obvious "downgrade" is Michaels to Dellucci, and that's not going overshadow the infield gains.

This team has the potential to win 85-90 games but that clearly will not be enough to win the division and would be lucky to win the wild card spot.

Why not? There's four pretty good teams in the AL Central, and thanks to the unbalanced schedule, it'll be very difficult for two teams to both win more than 90 games.

I'm having trouble waiting for opening day. Perhaps it is because of the way last season turned out, but this offseason seems unusually long.