Cleveland Sports Forum

Just heard that on the radio as well.......

Didn't Marcum pitch a no-hitter for the Mets?

We'll trade an overpaid player we don't want for an overpaid player you don't want. Sounds like a fair trade but what do we do with the guy they don't want?

Could be Jimenez for Swisher.......

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that Ubaldo Jimenez is drawing "moderate" interest on the trade market.
Jimenez held an ugly 4.81 ERA and 1.52 WHIP over 125 1/3 innings in the first year of a four-year, $50 million contract with the Orioles, and it appears they might be ready to go ahead and move on from him. Baltimore will no doubt have to pick up a good chunk of Jimenez's deal in order to move him.


Source: Ken Rosenthal on Twitter

Nov 18 - 11:10 AM

Indians Exploring Nick Swisher Trades
By Steve Adams [November 18, 2014 at 2:51pm CST]

The Indians are exploring a number of trade possibilities, including scenarios in which they could move Nick Swisher and his remaining $30MM for another player with an inflated contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (All Twitter links).

Rosenthal lists names like B.J. Upton ($46.35MM through 2017), Ubaldo Jimenez ($38.75MM through 2017) and Ryan Howard ($60MM through 2016) as examples of other inflated contracts while being careful to note that the Indians aren’t necessarily interested in anyone from that grouping. Other players on bloated contracts include Edwin Jackson ($22MM through 2016), John Danks ($28.5MM through 2016), Cody Ross ($10.5MM through 2015) and Ricky Nolasco ($37MM through 2017), to say nothing of Dodgers outfielders Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier (though that duo is a particularly difficult fit in Cleveland).

Swisher, signed to a four-year, $56MM contract heading into the 2013 season, played well in his inaugural campaign in his home state of Ohio, hitting .246/.321/.423 with 22 homers. However, his offense fell off a cliff in 2014, as he batted just .208/.278/.331 while his strikeout rate soared to a career-worst 27.7 percent and his walk rate dropped to a career-worst nine percent.

As I explained in my Indians Offseason Outlook, Cleveland has a bit of financial flexibility heading into 2015, but that flexibility will be gone by 2016 due to arbitration raises to Corey Kluber, Cody Allen and Carlos Carrasco as well as contractual salary increases to the likes of Jason Kipnis, Yan Gomes, Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley. Moving Swisher or Michael Bourn, who is owed $27.5MM over the next two seasons and has also declined, would alleviate that pressure and give the Indians a much more favorable long-term outlook. One option could be to pay a large chunk of Swisher’s 2014 salary, when the team has more payroll flexibility, while only absorbing a small chunk of his 2015 salary (or do the same with Bourn). By doing so, they could still eat around half of his remaining salary but create more 2016 flexibility to accommodate an increasingly expensive core.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports the Cubs have shown interest in free agent Jonny Gomes.
Bradford said the Cubs are one of five teams having "legitimate interest" in the soon-to-be 34-year-old. The Cubs have also been linked to Nick Swisher, an indication that they're heavily in the market for a veteran corner outfielder. Gomes hit .234/.327/.330 this past season and should be relatively cheap for an interested club. Rusty adds Edwin Jackson would be the target.


Related: Cubs


Source: Rob Bradford on Twitter
Nov 18 - 11:16 PM

If Antonnetti can dump Swisher on the Cubs he might go into the Snooker Hall of Fame.

If we get another inflated contract we would want it for a RH OF, wouldn't we? That's where we have a need to fill a position we through Swisher could play, but he cannot any longer.

Up to five minor leaguers will be added to the winter roster today, and since the 35 man current roster includes duds like Nick Maronde and Scott Barnes and Bryan Price they could add even more, but there aren't that many guys worth protecting. Urshela, Anderson, Armstrong, and Luigi Rodriguez seem likely. Deadline is midnight and not sure why the team doesn't announce this before the last minute.

I have to guess that despite there representations that they have so many good players they don't know who to protect, that the Indians are stalling around waiting to see what better players may be released by other teams who prepare their winter rosters.

So here's the Tribe 40-man roster after five expected additions.

http://indians.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=cle

We should start a new folder called "Waiting for Jesus". He may have the raw power necessary to be our "Savior"!

Cleveland Indians Sunday News and Notes: Indians Acquire Charles Brewer from Arizona Diamondbacks, Designate Scott Barnes for Assignment

Indians News

This hasn't been confirmed by either organization, so take it with a grain of salt:


But then again, if you look at Brewer's Twitter account description, that pretty much confirms the deal.

Brewer had been in the Arizona organization since 2009, when he was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 12th Round of that year's draft. Like Trevor Bauer and Adam Plutko, Brewer pitched for UCLA (Brewer and Bauer were teammates in 2009). Brewer was for a couple years included in Arizona's Top 30 prospects by Baseball America, but his progress has stalled out in the high minors. He did pitch in AAA Reno this past season (with a brief interlude in AA Mobile) and wasn't awful considering Reno's park effects. I'd place him behind McAllister/House/Tomlin on the depth chart, and assuming he has an option left would start the 2015 campaign in Columbus.

Update: the Indians have designated LHP Scott Barnes for Assignment to make room for Brewer.

2012 from John Sickels

17) Charles Brewer, RHP, Grade C+: Lost much of season to broken hand, and easy to overlook with the other live arms in the system. Like Miley, he has a short window of opportunity to establish himself but has a shot at becoming a back-end rotation member or a reliever.