Tribe pulls one out

I know that many of you have hardly been paying attention to the Indians lately, and I certainly understand why. We all know it's been a lost season for the Indians, Browns camp has started, the Buckeyes are looking good again, the Cavs have made some big moves, etc., etc. But what a game the Tribe played last night in Baltimore!

Andy Marte is the one getting the headlines today, and not without cause. Marte's been a pretty big bust since he came over here in the Caca Crisp* trade, and that home run he hit off O's closer Jim Johnson was clutch. Marte has been hitting much better lately, and that was his second home run in his last three games, which is great to see.

But I'd like to point to the previous hitter, Matt LaPorta. LaPorta, up with two outs, nobody on base and the Indians trailing by a run, won an epic battle with Johnson. He worked the count full, then fouled off pitch after pitch before finally singling up the middle. (I want to tell you how many pitches LaPorta faced, but unfortunately, I've been unable to find that information, and I didn't count them. But it was a lot.) Without that great effort from LaPorta, the game would have ended right there, and Marte would never have come up to hit that home run.

LaPorta and Marte both spent most of the season in Columbus before the recent flurry of trades created opportunities for them. They were both hitting great down there, but had both struggled in previous major-league opportunities. I don't want to make too much out of a small sample size, but it's nice to see those guys swinging the bat well.

* For the record, I have nothing against Coco Crisp. In fact, I like him. I just think it's funny to call him Caca, much as I think it's funny to call a certain former teammate of his Feces Sabathia. This is my blog, and I can be as infantile as I want.

Clifton and Carsten

If it's time to dip into the mailbag, that means it's time to hear from Jeff Brown:

Cliff Lee is 5-0 with the Phillies with a 0.68 ERA!

This is about as dominant as you can be. So much for the Phillies "settling" for Lee instead of getting Roy Halladay -- even Halladay would be hard-pressed to pitch THIS well, even when he's on a hot streak.

Similarly, C.C. Sabathia went 11-2 with the Brew Crew in 2008 with an ERA of 1.65, 7 complete games and 3 shutouts.

And that was after slowing down a bit toward the end of the season, after he won his first 9 starts.

Steve, this is truly remarkable, and for a change, this is not hyperbole on my part.

There's no exaggeration necessary with these numbers.

So now my question for you -- why did each of them have such a lousy record with the Tribe immediately prior to joining their new teams and absolutely dominating everyone in sight?

First, Lee was far from lousy for the Indians this year. He wasn't as good as he's been for the Phils, but he was pretty darned good. In fact, he was pitching his best ball of the season just before he was traded. True, he was only 7-9, but his ERA was 3.14, and he suffered from poor run support in Cleveland this year. Similarly, if I remember correctly, Sabathia was pitching pretty well just before he got traded last year, after a lousy start. Like Lee, he had a losing pre-trade record (6-8) but with a 3.83 ERA; and the latter number had come way down over the past month or so before he was dealt to Milwaukee. So both men would figure to pitch well after the trades too. Of course, neither could have been expected, based solely on their Indians performances, to dominate as they have/did.

I have a trio of theories. One, the American League is simply a stronger league than the National League, as evidenced by the junior circuit's dominance in interleague play (not to mention All-Star Games) the last few years; therefore, anyone who moves from AL to NL can expect his numbers to improve. Two, Sabathia and Lee both left situations in which they were pitching for nothing but their next contract (and I realize that's an oversimplification, but you see what I'm saying) to situations in which they were/are pitching for October, and presumably responded to the added incentive. Third, there will be some random fluctuation in any player's performance, and I think some of that is in play here.

Still, what Lee has done since that trade has been eye-popping. Few pitchers have a run like that at any time in their career. It must be fun to be Cliff Lee right now.

A new team record ... for the Royals

There's something very bittersweet about seeing a record set against your team. On the one hand, you have to appreciate seeing someone do something nobody's ever done before; on the other hand, every success for one team or individual is a failure for the opponent, and when that opponent is your team, that means your team is failing badly.

Such was the case in last night's game between the Indians and Royals. Zack Greinke has been a monster all season — there's no secret about that. But he had never missed as many bats as he did last night. Greinke went eight strong innings and struck out 15 Indians along the way, setting a new Royals team record for strikeouts in one game. (The record he broke, incidentally, was set 21 years ago by Mark Gubicza. Thought you'd like to know.)

Greinke took advantage of the Tribe's reluctance to swing at curveballs early in the count. And he was putting all his pitches exactly where he wanted them, which meant he had no trouble getting ahead in the count. Then he'd punch them out with sliders and his mid-90s fastball. Some of his off-speed pitches were somewhere in the 60s, and that variability in speed makes for a tough evening for the other team's hitters.

Greinke struck out Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo three times each; Jamey Carroll, Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta twice each; and Jhonny Peralta, Luis Valbuena and Andy Marte once each. Asdrubal Cabrera was the only hitter in the Indians lineup to avoid being whiffed at least once; he drove in the Tribe's second run in the eighth, and then promptly got thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. Marte got a measure of revenge with a home run in the top of the sixth, his first of the season in the bigs. Peralta, for good measure, struck out a second time in the ninth against Robinson Tejeda, giving the Royals staff 16 total for the game.

Greinke is now 12-8 with a 2.43 ERA (tops in the American League) while pitching for a team that's on pace to lose 100 games. The Cy Young discussions tend to favor pitchers who get a lot of wins, and there are six AL pitchers who've won more games than Greinke, but it's not his fault the Royals suck.

Justin Masterson struggled in his fourth start as an Indian, giving up four runs on seven hits, including one home run, and two walks in six innings. He struck out four, which looks laughable next to Greinke's 15. He wasn't awful, but I'd sure hope he'd do better against the worst team in the American League.

And hey, how about that Valbuena?

As soon as the ball came off Luis Valbuena's bat in the bottom of the 11th of last night's game against the Mariners, I knew it was gone. The only question was whether it would stay fair. Of course, it did, giving the Indians a 4-3 walk-off win. It was the first walk-off home run Valbuena had ever hit as a pro, and you could see how excited he was as he tossed aside his helmet between third and home so his jubilant teammates could beat him up once he touched the plate.

Valbuena's long ball was the lead story, but the secondary story was another impressive start from Aaron Laffey. Laffey gave up three runs in the top of the first, and then settled down to put up zeroes the rest of the way. I've said it before, but Laffey is an ace in the making. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find him in the 2010 All-Star Game, and maybe making a run at a Cy Young in a couple of years.

And the bullpen came through too, as Chris Perez, Kerry Wood, Tony Sipp, Joe Smith and Rafael Perez put up four more zeroes to hold the Mariners off long enough for Valbuena to end it. Rafael Perez, in particular, has been pitching much better lately, after getting off to a terrible start this season. He had a couple of bad outings after being recalled from Columbus in early April, but has been rock-solid since then, giving up nothing over his last five outings, and getting the win last night.

Rolling over a bad team

There was a lot to like about the Browns' effort last night against the Detroit Lions, but of course, you have to take it with a grain of salt because the opponent was the first team ever to come off an 0-16 season. Still, it was good to see our guys dominate like that.

Derek Anderson got the start behind center, and did not disappoint. Anderson went 8-for-13 for 130 yards as he led the Browns to a 20-0 first-quarter lead (aided in large part, of course, by Josh Cribbs' 84-yard punt return for a touchdown). He did throw a pick, but was mostly very solid. Brady Quinn got his chance in the second quarter and looked pretty good too, though he only threw five passes, completing three for 29 yards. I'd say the spot is still up for grabs, but Anderson is probably ahead by a nose after this.

And the Browns made a number of big plays. Besides Cribbs' impressive runback, there was the undrafted James Davis' 81-yard TD run at the end of the third quarter, and Eric Wright's interception of first overall pick Matthew Stafford. Stafford telegraphed the pass a bit, but Wright still made a great read on it. And getting back to Davis, I don't know if he's a good bet to make the team, but he sure looked good last night, albeit against the third-string defense for the NFL's worst team.

The Browns take on the Titans this coming Saturday. The quarterback situation is obviously the biggest story line to follow, but I look forward to seeing how everybody does against a real NFL team.

Masterful Masterson?

On the surface, Justin Masterson turned in a pretty darned solid performance last night against an explosive offensive team in the Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Angels. Masterson, acquired in the Victor Martinez trade, went 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one unearned run on three hits. But Masterson only struck out three hitters while walking four. That's way too many walks. Usually, if you do that against a team like LA/A/C, you're going to get burned in the butt. Still, holding the Angels, who had eight .300 hitters in the lineup, to three hits is impressive, so I don't want to be too negative.

The real story last night was the Indians' offense, which has chugged along all season, no matter who is in the lineup. It was looking like a pretty good pitchers' duel until the sixth, when the Tribe hitters blew it wide open. The Indians hit four singles and three doubles in the inning, with a walk for good measure, in the course of batting around and putting a 7 on the board. Even the outs were pretty loud in the inning. Kelly Shoppach's sacrifice fly to deep center was the first out, and Shin-Soo Choo's liner to shortstop was the second and third outs, as Asdrubal Cabrera got doubled off second. Shoppach was the only hitter in the lineup who didn't reach base in the inning. The Tribe wound up putting 11 on the board for the game.

Lifelong Indians fans

Today, we're going to dip into the good ol' mailbag, from our most diligent correspondent, Mr. Jeffrey William Brown of Columbus, Ohio:

If you're feeling anything like I am these days, you are resigned and despondent about being a Cleveland Indians fan.

I mean, we trade away our best players and immediately they rock and roll with their new teams. The latest example: P Carl Pavano, who pitched 7 shutout innings in his first start with the Twinkies.

Also, Cliff Lee. Also, C.C. Sabathia last year, who not only "upped" his game, but pitched the most dominant 2 1/2 months of baseball I've ever seen.

Also, also, also... (and on and on and on).

Where does it end, Steve?

You and I are 38 years old, and let's just say for the sake of argument, we'll live to be around 85 years old.

That leaves us with 47 seasons to hope to see the Indians win the World Series, and realistically we've only got 46, because they already chose to be a last-place team next year.

Really -- and I ask you to be utterly realistic and honest -- do you believe and you and I will live to see a World Series champion in Cleveland?

For the record, Jeff and I were both born in 1971. I'm sure I don't need to remind Of Fair Hooker readers that none of Cleveland's three teams has won a title since the Browns in '64.

Let's keep in mind that these things tend to be cyclical. Two years ago, would you have said the Tampa Bay (not devil) Rays would even get into the playoffs over the next 10 years, much less win an American League pennant? Now look at them. They're not likely to get back in this year, but they're still one of the better teams in the majors, and they are still in contention for a postseason berth.

And look at what are the most pathetic franchises in baseball right now: You've got the Royals, who won a World Series 24 years ago; you've got the Pirates, who won a World Series 30 years ago; and you've got the Nationals, who have been to the playoffs once in their existence (as the Expos in 1981, the year the playoffs were expanded). The Nationals are a bad example, and I hope we can agree the Indians are a better bet than the guys in our nation's capital. The other two of those teams have won titles that I'm old enough to remember. (That '79 World Series is the first one I remember well, and hating Pittsburgh as I did even at age 8, I was rooting hard for Jim Palmer and the Orioles.)

The Dolans are clearly spending less money now than they did in 2007 and 2005, when they gave us a serious contender. The fact that they decided to cut expenditures right now doesn't mean they won't spend again when they think we have a real chance, possibly as soon as 2011 or 2012.

And that's just talking in the short term. Jeff and I will be 60 in 22 years, we'll be 70 in 32 years, and presuming medical science and/or our strong constitutions can keep us alive that long, we'll be 80 in 42 years. I say it's a strong bet the Indians, Cavaliers and Browns ALL win a title in that time. The fact that it hasn't happened in our lifetimes already is a statistical aberration; and all three have had championship-caliber teams that we are old enough to remember well.

So that's my answer. Yes, I believe Jeff and I will both live to see a World Series champion in Cleveland.

Now that the pressure is off ...

The Indians are playing very well right now, using players who have spent large portions of the season in AAA. Since the trade deadline, the Tribe has won six of nine, taking three straight series against Central Division teams, capped off by yesterday's 8-4 win over the White Sox. The stars of that game were David Huff, who opened the season in Columbus; Jamey Carroll, who has been the club's utility infielder all year; and Wyatt Toregas, who would still be in Columbus if not for the Victor Martinez trade.

In an odd way, the Indians' recent run seems to somehow reflect badly on Eric Wedge. I don't know if that makes sense, but think about it: The Tribe got off to a very slow start, as they have almost every year Wedge has been here, and fell out of contention early, even while playing with an $80 million payroll made up of players we were counting on to make us contenders. Now that many of those players are gone and there's no pressure, the players who are left are playing their best ball of the season. Where was this in April and May?

I've heard a lot of people calling for Mark Shapiro's head, and some of the same people are calling for Wedge's. Leaving aside the Shapiro question for now; it's hard to know what a manager's true effect is on a team, but I say somebody else ought to get a shot to get these guys playing well out of the chute next year. As we've said in this spot, it seems like Shapiro's given up on 2010 already, but the reality is, it might not take more than 85 or 86 wins to take this division next year. If these guys can play like this in August 2009, they ought to be able to play like this in April 2010. But I don't think it'll happen with Wedge in the dugout.

Mangini speaks on SportsCenter

Chris Mortensen's tour of NFL training camps for ESPN's SportsCenter took him to the Browns' camp yesterday, and naturally he spoke to Eric Mangini about the quarterback controversy. Mangini basically said he's going to give both Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn every chance to impress him, and that he won't make a snap decision. (Mortensen asked him to bring us "up to snuff" on how the competition is going, which I don't think is quite what he meant to say.)

"At some point, one will make a really strong case that they should be the starter, and at that point, we'll name them," Mangini told Mortensen. "The most important thing to me is not to make a quick decision, it's to make the right decision."

There was no mention of the recent release of Shaun Smith, apparently for being lazy and insubordinate. I have to say I like the way Mangini is running his camp, based on what I've seen. Sure, giving both quarterbacks a fair chance to be the starter isn't exactly brain surgery, but a lot of coaches would have just named a starter by now so they wouldn't have to worry about it. And he's making sure his players know who's boss. It comes to mind that a certain former coach with a Shakespearean name wouldn't have done that.

Laffey wins laugher

We all know the Indians are done for this season, and we all know they've gotten rid of a lot of the players who were on the opening-day roster. But darn it, this team is still fun to watch sometimes.

Aaron Laffey went eight innings — the longest outing of his major-league career — and gave up just one unearned run on six hits, striking out five. Laffey first came up in 2007, so it's easy to forget he's only 24. He's got a bright future, provided he stays healthy.

The offense scored eight runs without leaving the park, with an 11-hit attack led by the top third of the order, Grady Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo. Sizemore and Cabrera had three hits each, Choo added two, and each member of the trio had a double.

And Trevor Crowe, hitting ninth, also had two hits, which is nice to see. When Crowe was sent to Columbus on June 24, he was hitting .169. Since being recalled on July 31, he's hitting .381 in five games, bringing his season average up to .221. Crowe is 25, so his peak years are still to come.

The Indians and Twins play their rubber match today at noon, with Fausto Carmona facing Nick Blackburn. I have to work for a living, so I won't get to see it, but I'd sure like to see Fausto turn in a solid outing.

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.

As expected

I don't have a whole lot of time to write about the Victor Martinez trade, but I will say that once Mark Shapiro decided to trade Cliff Lee, we knew Victor was going too. It wouldn't have made any sense to keep one and not the other of those guys. Shapiro had obviously given up on 2010, and Martinez isn't signed past then. He's obviously trying to stockpile as many young arms as possible. If a few of them pan out, maybe we'll be glad he did it.

The question becomes, what did we get back for Victor? I don't know much about these guys, but quickly:

• Justin Masterson is a 24-year-old right-hander who's pitched pretty well in limited action in the majors, consisting of 15 starts and 52 relief appearances. He's struck out 135 guys and walked 65, in 160 1/3 innings at the major-league level, with a 3.76 ERA over two years in the majors. Those walks are troubling, but he's obviously a bona fide major-leaguer.

• Nick Hagadone, a 23-year-old left-hander who hasn't pitched higher than single-A (and boy howdy, we've added a few of those guys over the past week). He's struck out 77 hitters in 59 professional innings, which is impressive, but he's a long way from the majors.

• Bryan Price, a 22-year-old right-hander who's got a 4.42 career minor-league ERA, in two seasons, with 140 strikeouts against 41 walks. Looks like he's got good stuff. Heck, looks like all these guys have good stuff.

I like this trade a little better than the Lee trade. Time will tell ...

Oh yeah, the Browns

With the Indians having given up not only on this season, but next season too, and the NBA season still months away, perhaps it's time to turn our attention to the Browns, who open training camp tomorrow. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop watching the Indians, even if I should. And I'm sure I'll have something to say about the Victor Martinez trade that is no doubt going to happen sometime in the next eight hours.)

As we all know, the Browns were terrible last season, except for one shining moment in which they dominated the then-defending Super Bowl champion Giants. Romeo Crennel is gone, and Eric Mangini is now calling the shots. Brady Quinn and former Pro Bowler Derek Anderson are still in a quarterback controversy (I think it'll be Quinn, but it makes sense to let them duke it out in the preseason). Braylon Edwards is hurt, Donte Stallworth is suspended indefinitely after killing a man with his car in the offseason, and Kellen Winslow is gone, so who knows who they'll have to throw to. Brian Robiskie just signed, so all the draft picks are in the fold. The o-line is a little bit up in the air, but we know Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach will be there, and first-round pick Alex Mack figures to compete for the center spot. Jamal Lewis turns 30 next month, but he's coming off the first back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons by a Browns running back in a very, very long time.

The defense has a few new parts (C.J. Mosley, Kenyon Coleman, Abram Elam, Eric Barton), and some guys who hope to recover from an injury-plagued 2008 (Robaire Smith, Shaun Smith), but there really aren't any big changes to last year's squad.

Basically, the Browns seem to be hoping that guys stay healthy, young players develop quickly, and Mangini makes a big difference over Crennel. Could happen, I guess. If they go 8-8, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Addendum

Just in case anyone's wondering and hasn't found the answer on their own, yes, this is the first time in major-league history the same team has traded away the defending Cy Young award winner two years in a row. In fact, it's only the fourth time the reigning Cy has been traded away the next season. They are:

• Frank Viola, traded from the Twins to the Mets in 1989
• David Cone, traded from the Royals to the Blue Jays in spring training 1995, then traded again to the Yankees in midseason that year
• CC Sabathia, traded from the Indians to the Brewers in 2008
• Cliff Lee, traded from the Indians to the Phillies in 2009.

Remarkable.

In another bit of Lee-trade-related news, two players who have failed miserably at the big-league level this year will have another chance as a result of Lee and Francisco vacating the roster. Let's hope Fausto Carmona and Trevor Crowe can do a little bit better this time. They could hardly do much worse.

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.

Garko goes; Tribe rolls on

It came as a bit of a surprise that the Indians traded Ryan Garko yesterday. No one had been talking about Garko as possible trade bait. But as usual, it's about salary. Garko is making less than half a million this year, but he's going to be much richer next year, as he is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time. He's hitting .285/11/39 so far this year, which are decent numbers but nothing special for a part-time first baseman who's no wizard with the glove and can't run.

In return, the Tribe got 21-year-old A-ball pitcher Scott Barnes, who went 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 98 innings for the Giants' California League affiliate in San Jose. Those are fine numbers, and Barnes appears to have a lot of upside. But it needs to be said that a 21-year-old pitchers' arms are fragile things, and I just hope Barnes stays healthy.

After the trade was announced, the Tribe brought up Andy Marte, who's been a colossal flame-out so far in several shots at the majors, but was tearing it up for AAA Columbus this year. Marte was hitting .327 with 18 home runs and just 50 strikeouts in 300 plate appearances for the Clippers. He'll take Garko's spot at first base, and I have some hope that he'll actually succeed this time. If he does, the trade will have some positive value, regardless of what Barnes does. So in summary, it's a bit of a risk, but all trades are, and I'm optimistic about this one.

Whether this is Shapiro's last deal before Friday's trading deadline or not, we'll just have to wait and see. I remain hopeful that we can be contenders next year, which should mean he'd have to be blown away to trade Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez. We'll see.

In unrelated news, the Tribe pulled out their fifth straight win last night, after many Northeast Ohioans (myself included) had already gone to bed. The aforementioned Martinez hit a three-run homer off All-Star closer Brian Fuentes in the top of the ninth to make it 7-6, and a Jhonny Peralta solo shot tied a bow on it, to make it 8-6. It was Peralta's fourth hit of the game, as he and Shin-Soo Choo (also with four hits) led an eye-popping 20-hit attack off the Angels' pitchers.

It was a bad start for Carl Pavano, who's had a lot of those lately, as he gave up back-to-back-to-back homers in the second inning on the way to surrendering six runs in six innings, but Jose Veras and Kerry Wood combined to shut out the Angels over the last three frames, and that was huge.

Yes, we're out of the race, and yes, we're losing key pieces left and right as we rebuild. But this team is fun to watch right now.

Domination!

Just when you thought it was time to forget about the Indians and spend the rest of your summer doing crossword puzzles and waiting for football, they go out to Seattle and slug the bejesus out of a pretty decent team in three straight, outscoring them a combined total of 31-6. Baseball's a funny game, isn't it? The Mariners entered the series at 51-44, thinking they were contenders for the AL West crown. The sweep at the hands of our Tribe knocks them back to 7 1/2 games behind the Angels, and four behind the second-place Rangers. And it probably means the M's will be sellers instead of buyers at the trade deadline. That's what the Indians did to them this past weekend. And the Tribe now finds itself back in fourth place, ahead of the slumping Royals.

Here are some fun little observations about the series that just ended:

• The two runs Cliff Lee gave up in the first inning of yesterday's 12-3 blowout were the only two runs surrendered by an Indians starter in the entire series. Lee held them scoreless over the next six innings to pick up his seventh win of the season. He is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA over his last three starts, the previous two of which were complete games.

• Jeremy Sowers, fresh off a stint in Columbus, went seven shutout innings in Saturday's 10-3 whitewashing, his best start of the season. It's been well-chronicled here and many other places that he's been absolutely crushed his third time through the batting order, but not this time, Biff. The Mariners went 1-for-8 with a walk the first time through the order, 3-for-9 the second time through, and 0-for-8 with a walk the third time through. Sowers even retired leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki in Ichiro's fourth trip to the plate before heading for the showers. (And try saying "Sowers showers" five times fast.)

• Aaron Laffey shut out the M's for seven innings in Friday night's 9-0 laugher, giving up three hits and three walks while striking out seven. It was also Laffey's best outing of the year, though it was only his seventh start in the majors, as he's battled injury and spent time in the bullpen. If Laffey can stay healthy going forward, he figures to have a bright future. He's only 24.

• The three starters' combined ERA for the series was a sparkling 0.88. Contrast that with Mariners starters Ryan Rowland-Smith, Erik Bedard and Jason Vargas, who gave up 12 runs in 14 combined innings, for an ERA of 7.71.

• The bullpen ... Well, the relievers didn't have any tight leads to protect, and did well enough with the huge, gaping leads they were given. They combined to give up four runs in six innings in the series, which works out to a 6.00 ERA. Yeah, the bullpen still sticks out like a sore thumb. But at least it was better than Seattle's bullpen, not that that's saying much after this series. (The Indians scored 17 earned runs in 13 innings against the Mariners' relievers, for a series bullpen ERA of 11.77. I sure am glad the Indians' bullpen was better than that.)

• Indians pitchers kept the Mariners' hitters in the yard the entire series, which you just don't see much these days. On the flip side, the Tribe hit 11 home runs in the three games, capped off by the four they hit yesterday, including Jhonny Peralta's grand slam. The Indians also outhit the Mariners by a combined total of 39-20. They dominated this series by any measure you can come up with.

• The Indians have now won four straight, their longest winning streak since May, and their longest road winning streak of the season. The sophisticated computers at coolstandings.com recently gave them a 0.2% chance, or one in 500, to make the playoffs. They now say it's a 0.7% chance, or about one in 150. Still not great odds, but quite an improvement.

Our boys open a three-game set tonight against the first-place Angels. I'd be very surprised if they can keep this kind of streak going, but maybe they can stay hot and finish this road trip strong.

Trading Betancourt? Sure, why not?

A guy that used to be one of the linchpins of the Indians' bullpen got traded yesterday to Colorado for a 24-year-old pitcher who's currently in single-A. Thus have the fortunes of the Tribe bullpen fallen.

Rafael Betancourt had an amazing year in 2007, the year the Indians got within a win of the World Series. He went 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA as the main setup man for closer Joe Borowski, struck out almost nine hitters for every hitter he walked, and gave up just four home runs all year, in 79 1/3 innings. Then last year, he regressed badly along with the rest of the bullpen, posting a 5.07 ERA in 71 innings, striking out about 2 1/2 hitters for each one he walked, and giving up 11 home runs. He's been somewhere in the middle this year, with a 3.52 ERA. His K/BB numbers are even worse than last year, but he's only given up three taters. I think it can be said he's been one of the Indians' better relievers this year, which is kind of like choosing your favorite flavor of Boone's Farm wine.

Regardless, Betancourt was likely to be gone after this year anyway, and it's not like he'd have made the difference between playoffs or no playoffs this year. The Indians had a $5.4 million option on him for next year, but they weren't going to spend that on a reliever who's not even a great setup man anymore. The surprising thing, to me, is that this was Betancourt's seventh year in the majors, all with the Indians. Did you know he'd been around that long? Time flies when you're getting older, I guess.

In return, the Tribe got a 6'7" pitcher named Connor Graham, an Ohio native who played college ball at my alma mater, Miami University, before being drafted in the fifth round in 2007. Baseball America rated him as the Rockies' 12th-best prospect. He was 7-4 with a 3.14 ERA in 16 starts at Modesto of the California League. Pitchers tend to develop later than hitters, but I can't get too excited about a guy who hasn't gotten past A ball yet, at age 24. But hey, his numbers are good, and maybe he'll get to Cleveland in a couple of years and show us something.

Victor, Cliff on the block?

It's no secret to anyone that the Indians aren't going anywhere this year. Just for the heck of it, I checked coolstandings.com this morning, and they predict a final record of 67-95 and give the Tribe a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs. So that's a one-in-500 shot. Ain't gonna happen.*

So the rumor reported last night on ESPN's Baseball Tonight is that Mark Shapiro is shopping Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Both are have club options for 2010. In Lee's case, it's a $9 million option, and in Victor's case, it's a $7 million option. Presuming both are still here and still healthy, there's no doubt the Tribe will pick up those options. The big question is whether Shapiro can sign them past 2010, and the correlary to that question is whether he should.

If Lee is still here in 2010 and has another year like this year (never mind last year), he'll make somewhere around $15 million on the open market. That's not in the Indians' budget for one player. If they did spend that kind of money on him, it would put a serious crimp in their ability to sign other players. I don't see him giving us a hometown discount. So if Shapiro doesn't think we can contend in '10, he should trade him. No, you're not going to get another Cy Young-caliber pitcher for him, but maybe you'll get two or three players with All-Star potential. Of course, if Shapiro hangs on to Lee for another year, and the Indians don't contend next year, he could always trade him then. The return might not be as good, but contending teams are usually willing to pay premium prices for premium talent, even if the player isn't signed past the current year.

Victor's in a different situation. He's a 30-year-old catcher who has begun the transition to first base. It's clear that Kelly Shoppach can't hit enough to be a regular catcher, but the Indians do have some top catching prospects in the high minors (Wyatt Toregas, Carlos Santana). A trade of Martinez will immediately open the door for one of those guys. But regardless, Victor's never going to be able to catch 100 games in a season again. His body will break down. Even if he does stay in Cleveland, he'll probably become a full-time first baseman/designated hitter before long. But Victor is probably more signable for the Indians than Lee is. For one thing, he'll be cheaper, because of the aforementioned, and because he's never accomplished anything as amazing as a Cy Young. For another thing, Victor genuinely seems to want to stay in Cleveland.

My thoughts? I hope Shapiro doesn't trade either one of those guys, and tries to make a serious run at it in 2010. The pieces are pretty much in place; he just needs guys to stay healthy, and he needs to revamp the bullpen. And if things don't go well next year, then trade those guys.

* There are five teams with less chance than the Indians, and the Nationals are the only team at 0.0%. They're expected to finish about 53-109. Now that is a bad team. They also have the distinction of being the only team this year (so far as I know) to send their players out onto the field with the team's name misspelled on the front of their jerseys, as a result of which SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett calls them the "Natinals" every time he talks about them. What a pathetic organization that is. At least we're not them.

Another AL win

Some thoughts I accumulated during the All-Star festivities in St. Louis:

• This was a pretty decent All-Star Game. It looked like it could turn into a slugfest early, but pitching and defense carried the day, as only two runs were scored over the last seven innings. Carl Crawford made the play of the game in the seventh, robbing Brad Hawpe of a home run, and Adam "Not Pac-Man" Jones got the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly after Heath Bell intentionally walked our very own Victor Martinez to pitch to Jones.

• The decision to walk Martinez may seem like a poor one, given that Victor's been ice-cold the last few weeks. But that was more or less irrelevant to the situation, as there was one out and the score was tied with a runner on third. They were just trying to set up the double play.

• The National League still has not won an All-Star Game since 1996. Naturally, you want to know why, and I have some theories. First of all, as Tim McCarver pointed out when President Obama asked him, the AL has the DH, which means more hitters available to pull from when filling out a 33-man All-Star roster. Second, the AL is just plain better than the NL these days, as evidenced by our league's domination in interleague play. Third, and I think most importantly, the NL has two more teams than the AL, which coupled with the requirement that every team must have a representative, means the NL has more mandatory spots to fill on its roster every year. The AL manager has his hands tied a little bit less by being able to select two more "at-large" players. As further evidence that this is a factor, I would point to the fact that the NL dominated All-Star play in the '70s and '80s, when the AL had 14 teams and the NL had 12.

• All that said, I don't think the AL is really this much better. The NL could easily have won this game with a couple of bounces going different ways, and in fact could have won several others over the past 13 years. Each of the last four has been a one-run game. Part of it is just plain luck.

• This is not a political blog, and I don't mean to express a political opinion of the president. But I will say that I'm getting a little bit tired of seeing him on SportsCenter, and I really don't give a rat's petoot which baseball team he roots for or what jacket his wife thinks he looks cute in.

• I always get a kick out of seeing my old friend and Cleveland native Chris Rose on TV. I haven't spoken to him since he became a star, but we were classmates at Miami University, and I always figured he'd do great things with his life. I didn't expect him to be hosting a sports talk show on national cable or being on the field at the All-Star Game, though. Good for you, Chris. (I'm sure he's a regular reader.)

• I always find the home run derby entertaining, and this was a particularly good one, with the battle that emerged between Nelson Cruz and eventual champion Prince Fielder. But it's never as much fun to watch as an actual game. What I'd really like to see is an inside-the-park home run derby. I'd like to see Prince Fielder win that!