Indians struggling, but don't panic

The Indians won last night. That's the good news. Carlos Carrasco and three relievers (particularly Chris Perez) handcuffed a strong Yankees lineup, shutting them out. But of course, the Tribe is still just 5-14 since starting the season 30-15. And it was just their second victory in the last 11 games, and both of those were 1-0 games started by Carrasco. Obviously, Carrasco's recent performance is highly encouraging. The fact that the Indians suddenly can't seem to score any runs, on the other hand, is highly discouraging. They've scored just 22 runs in those 11 games, being shut out three times over that stretch.

But does this mean the Indians are a truly terrible team that somehow managed to get off to a hot start? That seems unlikely. They played like the best team in baseball for a month and a half. When a team plays like the best team in baseball for a week or two, it's often a fluke. But a month and a half?

As we all know, the Tigers have managed to virtually tie the Tribe for first place thanks to this cold snap. And that's who we're playing in a three-game series that starts tonight in Detroit. A mid-June series is never crucial, but this is about as important a series as there can be at this point in the season. If the Indians go in and win this series, it could turn their season around, at least temporarily. But if they leave Detroit in second place, they could continue sliding until they fall into third place or worse.

On the other hand, it's only three games. They could go get swept by the Tigers and then win 12 in a row. This is baseball. You just never know.

Still, it sure would be nice to win two or three games up there this week.

September means debuts

The rosters expand to 40 every Sept. 1, which leads to teams who are out of the race (like the Indians) giving their young prospects a look against major-league competition.

Last night, that meant Carlos Carrasco making his major-league debut on the mound against the Tigers, and Michael Brantley making his major-league debut in left field. Brantley's debut went pretty well. Carrasco's was ... did I mention Brantley?

Carrasco, the first to debut of the four players the Tribe got for Cliff Lee, went just three innings and gave up six runs on nine hits, including three home runs. He walked three and struck out three. His career record is 0-1, and his career ERA stands at 18.00. That's obviously not going to get it done, but debuts can be that way. He's 22 years old, and he went 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA at Columbus after the trade. This kid's got potential, for sure.

Brantley had two hits. His first hit was a solid single the second of which was an infield single that he hustled to beat out. He was solid but not noteworthy in the field, though it should be said that in any individual game, most of the players don't do anything noteworthy on defense. Brantley's career average stands at .500. His on-base percentage is also .500, and his slugging average is .500 as well.

Andy Marte, who went nearly 60 at-bats before hitting his first home run of the season at the major-league level on Aug. 25, hit his fourth last night. Marte, like Carrasco and Brantley, spent most of the season in Columbus, but got called up after the Ryan Garko trade, and is finally starting to show the hitting talent he was reputed to have when they got him. Since Aug. 20, he's hitting .364 with the four dingers and 13 RBIs in 44 at-bats over 12 games. Obviously, we can't expect him to hit like that over the long term, but this is the first time he's produced anything like this, and it's great to see.

Trading away the reigning Cy ... again

In 2008, Cliff Lee had the greatest season by an Indians starter in my lifetime. In 2009, he's been somewhere in the neighborhood of nearly as good, which is a convoluted way to say he's having a fine season. The Indians held an option on him for 2010, when it might take 87 or 88 wins to take the Central Division. So I'm a little bit confused by yesterday's trade. I haven't checked, but I doubt any team has ever traded away the previous year's Cy Young award winner two years in a row. It's depressing. (I know it's only sports, and I mean the word "depressing" in a sports kind of way.)

It was surreal to see Lee and Ben Francisco, who is joining him in Philadelphia, sitting in the dugout during yesterday's loss to the Angels because the trade wasn't official yet. Lee and Francisco both knew they were going, but had to sit in their Indians uniforms and wait for the official word. But they both seemed to be handling it well. Why not? They're probably going to be in the playoffs this year. I don't care much about Francisco; he's a useful player, but outfielders like him practically grow on trees. But a left-hander like Lee doesn't come along very often. I know he was gone after 2010 either way, but ...

All right, let's try to stay objective as we look at what we got for him. We did get four of the Phillies' top 10 prospects, though neither of their top two (according to Baseball America). They are:

• Carlos Carrasco, a 22-year-old right-handed starter who went 6-9 with a 5.18 ERA for the Phillies' AAA team in Lehigh Valley. Those numbers aren't great, but he's still considered a top prospect. Rob Neyer on ESPN.com, whose opinion I greatly respect, says he could be the Indians' best starter as soon as next year.

• Jason Knapp, an 18-year-old fireballer who's struck out 149 batters in 116 1/3 innings as a pro, all at the single-A level or below. He's got a 98-mile-an-hour fastball. Tantalizing, but if a 22-year-old pitcher is a risk, an 18-year-old pitcher is a humongous risk, because there's a lot that can go wrong with a young arm.

• Lou Marson, a 23-year-old catcher who, according to some things I've read, could become Victor Martinez's replacement when Mark Shapiro trades Martinez today or tomorrow. The Indians are a catching-rich organization already, with Wyatt Toregas and Carlos Santana waiting in the wings, but Marson is apparently considered a better prospect than those guys. His .433 OBP was tops in all of AA ball last year, but he's not hitting nearly as well this year, and he has no power.

• Jason Donald, a 24-year-old shortstop who has hit well in the lower levels of the minors, but was hitting .236 with one home run in Lehigh Valley at the time of the trade. I've read that he's below-average defensively.

With the exception of Knapp, everybody the Indians got has regressed this season. Marson is the only one who's played at the major-league level, hitting .235 in 17 games with the Phillies this year, after going 2-for-4 with a home run in a single game as a September call-up in '08.

Sure, one or more of these guys might turn out to be great, but I just don't understand why this trade was made now. Seems to me Shapiro should have held onto Lee for another year, then dealt him if we're out of it again next year. I guess he doesn't plan to contend in 2010 either.