And a young team gets younger

As I'm sure everyone reading this blog already knows, the Indians pulled off a few salary dumps, er, trades over the weekend. It's kind of hard to keep straight everything that happened, so let me try to summarize, editorialize, and perhaps philosophize.

• Jake Westbrook, the Tribe's opening-day starting pitcher, went to the Cardinals in a three-team trade that sent us Corey Luber from the Padres. Luber, 24, a 6-foot-4 righthander, has spent the season in AA, where he was 6-6 with a 3.45 ERA. His stats indicate blazing stuff; he's struck out 136 hitters in just 122 1/3 innings, against 40 walks. That's promising, but it's hard to bet on a AA pitcher ever getting to the level of a Jake Westbrook. But he's obviously much cheaper, and that's the bottom line.

• Austin Kearns, who's been very solid in left field all year, went to the Yankees for a player to be named later and cash. The player the Indians eventually get for Kearns probably won't be of much significance. This was a pure salary dump. I understand why Mark Shapiro made this move, since the Indians aren't going anywhere this year, and since Kearns was on a one-year contract and not particularly likely to stay here beyond this season, but I sure hate it when the Yankees get a good player just because they're rich.

• Kerry Wood, who's had a rocky two years in Cleveland but is certainly a serviceable bullpen arm if he's healthy, went to the Yankees for a player to be named later OR cash. If the Indians get a player, the player probably won't be of much significance. This was a pure salary dump. I understand why Mark Shapiro made this move, since the Indians aren't going anywhere this year, and since Wood was not particularly likely to stay here beyond this season, but I sure hate it when the Yankees get a good player just because they're rich. ... I feel like I've written something very similar before, but I can't remember when or about whom.

These veterans join Russell Branyan and Jhonny Peralta as ex-2010 Indians, and the Tribe didn't get a whole lot for any of them. These Indians are drawing fewer fans than any other team in baseball, and this obviously isn't going to help the gate, even if it does help the bottom line. My dad told me yesterday he thinks Larry Dolan should just sell the Indians already, and I'm starting to think he's right. This team does have a lot of promising young talent, but if they can't afford to keep anybody after they get good, the prospects for the future are grim. They basically have to hope everybody gets it together at exactly the same time, before any of them get enough major league experience to command a large contract.

Being a fan of Cleveland sports has always been somewhat depressing, but as I look at the state my three teams are in right now, it almost makes me want to stop caring. ... Unfortunately for me, I'm not capable of that. So I continue to suffer along with the rest of you, as our teams continue to suck, with no end to the suckiness in sight.

Pavano good, Wood bad

Carl Pavano got off to a rough start last night against the Tigers, but he turned it around with the help of three double plays turned by his defense, one of which was a rare 2-4-5-2 strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out job, and gave up two runs in his eight innings of work. Pavano threw 101 pitches, and he struck out seven and didn't walk anybody, while keeping the ball in the yard, and that's a recipe for success. Pavano left with a 5-2 lead, which should be enough for a major-league closer to handle.

But Kerry Wood came in and walked the leadoff man, Placido Polanco, then gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera to make it a one-run game. He got the next three guys on two fly balls and one ground ball, but man, you hate for your closer to come in and walk the leadoff man with the heart of the order coming up. Wood did record his 12th save of the season, but he threw just seven strikes in 14 pitches, and his ERA now stands at 5.28, which is just plain too high for a closer.

But I don't want to be too negative. Asdrubal Cabrera went 3-for-5 to get his average back up over .300, and fellow former DL denizens Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner each had two hits. Hafner is actually having a pretty decent season (while he's playing, that is), with a .288 average and nine home runs in just 132 at-bats. He's got a .946 OPS, which would be good enough for seventh in the American League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. If he can stay healthy, maybe he can put together an All-Star-caliber season next year, when he'll turn 32.

Tomo Ohka starts today against Justin Verlander in the last game of the first half. It's been a very, very disappointing first half, obviously, but maybe we can end it on a positive note.