Aftermath

I haven't watched or heard any Tribe games since Shapiro's Fire Sale '09, as I was out of town all weekend. But I did catch some of the Trivisonno show on Friday (hosted on this occasion by Chuck Galeti), just a couple of hours after the Victor Martinez trade was announced. And wow, were there some angry Indians fans. One caller questioned whether Paul Dolan and Mark Shapiro will have the guts to eat out in public in Cleveland. Another was saying how Victor was her favorite player, and now she's going to give away her remaining tickets.

I understand that kind of thinking, but if, as a Cleveland Indians fan, you start picking favorite players and getting upset when they leave, you're going to be disappointed a lot. Does anyone reading this think Grady Sizemore is going to finish his career in Cleveland? No way. He'll be too expensive when his next contract comes up. And we're all rooting for players like Shin-Soo Choo and Fausto Carmona and Jhonny Peralta to become the stars we think they can be. But if they do, they'll also be too expensive to keep.

A lot of people are angry at Dolan and Shapiro for getting rid of probably our two best players in Martinez and Cliff Lee. I admit I hated to see them go too. But the people running the Indians didn't create the Major League Baseball salary structure. It's not their fault the Indians can't make the kind of money that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers can make. And it's not their fault that those teams are allowed to outspend them year after year. I disagreed with trading those guys now instead of next year, but Mark Shapiro is smarter than I am, at least when it comes to running a baseball team. He does it for a living. I could never hope to have all the knowledge he has at his disposal every day. That doesn't mean he's right and I'm wrong, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Don't forget, he did build a team that almost went to the World Series two years ago. If he was smart then, he didn't get stupid in two years, unless he's developed a meth habit that we don't know about.

We did get some fine young talent in those trades, as well as the Garko, Betancourt and DeRosa deals. ESPN.com's Keith Law posted a list on his blog about the 10 best prospects to have changed teams this past week, and four of the 10 are now playing in the Indians farm system. And that doesn't even include Justin Masterson, who's an established major-leaguer. Law has Nick Hagadone ranked second, and believes he might become a fine starter, though it would take time for him to get to that point. He also has good things to say about Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco and Bryan Price.

Right now, it doesn't feel great to be a Cleveland Indians fan. Nobody feels that more keenly than I. But let's give these players a few years to develop. We may someday be glad Mark Shapiro blew up the team in 2009.