Disqus - Friends of MrBlue

Re: A pressing problem: The Browns and the media

Vandals Took The Handles — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:42:37 -0000

The Cleveland sports media is one of the worst in the country in explaining to fans of the teams what is happening in the sports they have teams in, as well as in athletic theories and applications used in those sports. There is a simplistic mindset that pretty much breaks everything down to a popularity contest. The locals cannot call a talk radio program or communicate on a blog by discussing techniques the players/coaches or managers are using. The locals resent players agents, national media outlets, and other areas teams. They cannot talk about other teams with respect as professional competitors, but rather attribute childish names to them such as the Bungles, Squeelers and Ratbirds. This might have been cool in 4th grade, but coming from 40 and 50 year-olds, one has to wonder what exactly is going on.

There is also a rumor monger at the PD that constantly takes one throwaway line out of a press conference, and creates a controversy over it for a few weeks. One could have been reading her columns for the past 10 years, and not known anymore about how the sport is played then they knew when they first started reading it. Most markets with professional teams have articles discussing trends in the sports, and how they're being played differently then they were 3, 5 10 years ago. The Cleveland sports media does not know enough about how the sports are played to write, talk about something like that - they're all calling one another, tweeting out rumors, and appearing on local talk show with their opinions - so the locals are left with popularity contests and name calling.

I do not care for Jimmy Haslem, Joe Banner and/or Mike Lombardi. I would hold onto my wallet with both hands if I was in a room with even a one of them. But I think even they realized in a very short time that dealing with the Cleveland Sports Media is very difficult. If I owned a professional team in the area I would release all information - both written and verbal - on the teams website as well as email all season ticket holders - before I would make a statement to the Cleveland media. No matter what is said, the local media will throw it back in their face.

Led by the high-school dropout that preaches to people on the radio about everything from sports (which he never played) to international finance and politics (which he knows nothing about) - the local media come off as a bunch of salespeople, trying to keep their jobs by stating something controversial, so later they can say "I told you so". There are far too many people covering the 3 pro sports teams in the NE Ohio area. Half the media people would be too many. A situation has developed in St. Louis - a great sports town (the best baseball town in America) - whereby ratings on sports talk programs are plummeting. The NE Ohio market is saturated with sports media people as well. Articles like this are what comes out. It does not have a shelf life for much longer.

Re: Marla Ridenour: Northeast Ohio sports fans love ineptitude, not Indians - Browns - Ohio

Vandals Took The Handles — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 10:50:25 -0000

"In President Mark Shapiro, GM Chris Antonetti and manager Terry Francona, the Indians have the antithesis of the Browns’ Three Stooges (although Haslam is the lone one standing)."

Francona. Sure. But the other 2 guys? Have you seen their trades and drafts?

Frazier? In 2 or 3 years? Try 3 to 5. Maybe. This year the White Sox went into a rebuild. They wanted middle of the order power. Within 4 months they showed up with Avisail Gasrcia (who played with them the last few months of the season) and Jose Abreu - who will be starting for them next season.

Indian fans have been waiting for the farm system for 12 years. No one believes that stuff any more. And please, don't put that on the paying customers.

Re: Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

Vandals Took The Handles — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 21:08:04 -0000

Nice breakdown. But the Pirates long-term plan is based on their still-young players getting better.

They are better leaving powder dry to see what they have and what they need later in the season.

Re: Offseason In Review: Chicago White Sox

Vandals Took The Handles — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:49:36 -0000

Excellent, excellent breakdown!

Quantifying - and putting into perspective - Abrau's contract in the 'Deal Of Note' section was something seldom seen in baseball journalism today. Of course Abrau has to perform. But the "25+ home runs per year, a .340 OBP, and average defense" is something that should be attainable if the man stays relatively healthy and plays home games in the Cell.

Am extremely impressed with what Rich Hahn has done in the 8 or so months since he realized that an accelerated rebuild had to happen, and convinced the owner of it. He based off of his starting pitching and asked his top-tier pitching coach to develop some back-end starters and the bullpen - again, reasonable expectations. Most importantly, he went after a young lead-off guy to set the table (Eaton), and 3 young middle of the order run producers - Abrau, Garcia and Davidson. Genuine lead-off guys that don't just hit foul balls and walk but rather disrupt defenses, and middle of the order run producers are is demand in MLB. Very few are traded, and those that are free agents command astronomical salaries. Hahn did the right thing by getting young payers with those abilities, and using one of MLB's best coaching staffs to assure they reach their potential.

Re: Offseason In Review: Kansas City Royals

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 18:54:57 -0000

Last year Francona got the Indians to the playoffs by propping up Ubaldo and Kazmir. Very seldom did either get to the 7th inning, often leaving around the 5th. Tito did it by having a deep pen. On the other hand, the Indians defense was inconsistent, oftentimes keystone-koppish.

The Royals have the best defense and bullpen in the AL. They can carry a few so-so starters even if all that they can get out of them is 5 innings. It's how MLB is being played today. We should be seeing 26 and 27 man rosters shortly, as calling up fresh pitchers from AAA 2 or 3 times a week is getting old.

Re: Boras: Morales, Drew Willing To Wait Until June To Sign

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:44:14 -0000

Boras is great theatre.....

When his clients sign outrageous contracts from desperate owners/GM's, he talks about the market.

But when the market goes against him, he wants the rules changed.

Sort of a corporate welfare guy.

Re: Jose Iglesias Expected To Miss Most Of 2014

Vandals Took The Handles — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:08:29 -0000

Agreed.

I think the Dombrowski is looking for a trade.

Re: Jose Iglesias Expected To Miss Most Of 2014

Vandals Took The Handles — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 22:50:03 -0000

The Blue Jays #1 pick is protected.

Re: Jose Iglesias Expected To Miss Most Of 2014

Vandals Took The Handles — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 22:52:09 -0000

Almost everything gets blown out of proportion in spring training.

Re: Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians

Vandals Took The Handles — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 21:59:25 -0000

I like the Angels in the West. Rangers might get a WC.

Indians padded their 92 wins against bad teams in 2013.

Against teams with winning records, the Indians were 16 games under .500.

Indians were 30-8 vs. the White Sox and Twins last year. While I don't think those 2 teams turn it around in a year, they are going to be quite a bit more competitive.

When one looks at the signings and notable losses at the top of the article, a lot of good teams are going to have a rash of injuries for the Indians to be a real contender in 2014.

Re: Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians

Vandals Took The Handles — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 22:20:02 -0000

Here are a few things to start.....

1. Ownership and management made a classic statement a few years ago that in the current baseball climate, the Indians could only compete once every 5 years. They have also "blamed" the fans not showing up for not spending money, as opposed to say - looking at the poor production out of their farm system.

2. There does not appear to be a commitment on their part to win. The moves made this past offseason instead of building on 2013's success simply validate to the fans the lack of commitment to winning.

3. In 2013 the Indians went with a flexible walk-up pricing scheme in which sections of affordable seats were not sold at the ticket windows on gameday, forcing people to buy much more expensive seats. Word got out around town and people were afraid to go down to the park and buy walk up tickets - stories of people expecting to pay $40 to see the game and having to pay over $200. The Indians brag about having brought in more revenue in 2013 even though they drew less people than 2012.

4. The fans do not trust the ownership or the front office. The first 3 items are only a partial list of reasons why.

Re: Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians

Vandals Took The Handles — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 22:24:13 -0000

One other thing,

In almost every big series in 2013 against the better teams - the Tigers, Red Sox and Yankees - while the fans got psyched up for them, the Indians were simply did not show up to play.

Under the entire Shapiro era the Indians have constantly showed up small in big games. They have not convinced the fans that they are anything other than a team whose #1 function is to make money every year, and that making the playoffs once every 5 or so years is good enough.

Re: Indians Have Yet To Act On Masterson Extension Offer

Vandals Took The Handles — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 23:00:54 -0000

This makes no sense if you follow the Indians from afar and figure they want to build on 2013 and be a perennial contender.

It makes total sense if one has been watching the Indians under the current ownership and front office operations since the sale of the team.

The objective appears to be to win just enough to keep fans interested enough to show a profit. But the fans have bailed, as every decent ballplayer that passed through was gone for one reason or another - while the team screams "rebuild" every few years.

No reason that Justin Masterson should be any different than Omar Visquel or Victor Martinez - both of whom made it clear that they wanted to stay.

Re: Indians Have Yet To Act On Masterson Extension Offer

Vandals Took The Handles — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:26:51 -0000

The amazing thing about the Indians is that for the past 5 years, they have had a player payroll about 20% higher than the Rays, Pirates and A's. We don't know the budget for the rest of baseball ops, but the ratio appears to be about the same. We look at the results both on the major league roster and on with the legitimate high-level farm system prospects (the Indians always get good pub for their lower level prospects, it's when the guys start to move up that one realizes that CF Trevor Crowe should not have been drafted before Jacoby Ellsbury) show that a lot of "mistakes" have been made. And that's not even talking about the terrible trades. That leaves Indian fans have to put up with "small market" talk (NE Ohio is the size of greater St. Louis) from the ownership and FO as they say they cannot compete on the unfair playing field.

The fanbase or any team in any professional sport needs players on the team that they can identify with. The Rays, A's and Prates can extend their young players in their early free agent years at market rate. The Indians haven't - they just churn ballplayers as MLB top AAAA team. So where is all the money going?

Re: Cardinals Make Pete Kozma Available In Trades

Vandals Took The Handles — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 22:00:55 -0000

Perfect for the Tigers to hold the fort until Iggy gets back.

Solid SS. Far more range than Peralta. Great hands. Seldom boots ball in critical situations.

He's gotten a bad rap.

Re: Cardinals Make Pete Kozma Available In Trades

Vandals Took The Handles — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 22:03:12 -0000

Interesting year for SS'as moving around.

I see Astrubal, Alexi and Rollins all available by the trading deadline. Going to make it hard on Scott to sell Drew - as all of them are cheaper and they too will have no draft pick compensation.

Re: Cardinals Make Pete Kozma Available In Trades

Vandals Took The Handles — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:14:25 -0000

I said - "seldom".

Didn't say he was perfect.

He did quite well defensively in every other playoff game he was in.

Re: Extension Talks Between Masterson, Indians Fall Through

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 08:21:46 -0000

They did the same thing with Omar Visquel and Victor Martinez - both of whom wanted to stay and were willing to take hometown discounts.

Re: Extension Talks Between Masterson, Indians Fall Through

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 08:24:08 -0000

In their defense, the Indians have not gotten money from other MLB teams for 2 or 3 years now. They have been making a profit, and Paul Dolan allegedly even did a presentation to other MLB owners on how teams in "small" markets can make money - which he was quite proud of.

Re: Stephen Drew Would Consider One-Year Deal With Tigers

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 17:17:50 -0000

A little late, no?

Re: Stephen Drew Would Consider One-Year Deal With Tigers

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:32:13 -0000

Not so sure his value will be higher.

A lot of young SS's coming up shortly, and a lot of veterans will be available.

Re: Stephen Drew Would Consider One-Year Deal With Tigers

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:54:06 -0000

Rollins, Astrubal, Hardy and Alexi will all be out there, as will whoever Digi replaces. And there are other young players that come up and replace current SS's.

No, I do not think his value will be higher. The market will be saturated and he'll have to drop his price to be employed.

Re: Extension Talks Between Masterson, Indians Fall Through

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:06:52 -0000

It is a large discount.

Masterson can get a guaranteed AAV for $17 over 5-6 years. If he signs for 2-3 years and gets hurt, he will be losing a tremendous amount of money.

Rule of thumb - you take less years, you get more per year.

Re: Extension Talks Between Masterson, Indians Fall Through

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:10:49 -0000

Aces get $25-plus. Tanaka got $222 as a #2. Masterson is pretty much a tweener - a #2 or 3 pitcher. A $17 AAV for a pitcher in his prime at age 29 and giving up free agent years is not out of line on a short-term contract.

Re: Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

Vandals Took The Handles — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:32:16 -0000

Looking for them to take the weak AL West (Al Central teams are all getting younger and better with the exception of the Indians). I firmly believe that the A's and Rangers are overrated teams.

Yes, they need to remain relatively healthy. But they have so many impact players that they can win the big games.