A surprising Tribe, in search of saves & a New Orleans spending spree

A surprising Tribe, in search of saves & a New Orleans spending spree

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Contrary to published reports, I can admit when I'm wrong. I don't enjoy it, mostly because it doesn't happen very often, but when I'm wrong I can stand up and take the heat.

And, at least at this point of the young 2002 baseball season, it looks like I was wrong about the Cleveland Indians.

Call it confusion. Call it anger. Call it pessimism. Whatever. But after watching guys like Manny Ramirez, Juan Gonzalez, Kenny Lofton and Sandy Alomar walk via free agency the past couple years while also witnessing the still-painful trade of Robbie Alomar to the Mets last winter, my outlook for the Tribe in 2002 and beyond was bleak. At best. I wrote last December of how I didn't think they'd be able to score runs, how I didn't think they'd keep up with the improving White Sox and Twins in the Central, how I didn't think they'd match up well with the AL's other elite teams.

So of course, the Indians came out this year with a 9-1 record, tops in baseball, scoring 68 runs through their first 10 games with a .377 on-base percentage, numbers that also lead the league.

Had me fooled.

When I wrote my column last December following the Alomar trade, I just couldn't see how they were going to score runs and where those runs would come from. In the true sense of the term, the Tribe's only "big boppers" where first baseman Jim Thome, a lefty slugger who throughout his career has been highly susceptible to drawn-out slumps, and Ellis Burks, a 37-year-old veteran with a history of nagging injuries. Didn't sound very promising to me. And all the talk about "little ball" seemed like wishful thinking -- how can you play little ball with an impatient lineup that piles up strikeouts faster than Phil Mickelson piles up bogies on the back nine of a Major?

But this new-look team has been fabulous through 10 games, just recently finishing off an impressive four-game sweep of the Twins and a three-game dismantling of the lowly Tigers in Detroit. How are they doing it? Patience and timely hitting.

Through Thursday's games, the Tribe had scored 68 runs on just 93 hits, an average of one run on every 1.37 hits, the best ratio in baseball. The Blue Jays, at 1.55, are the closest team while the 0-8 Tigers own a league-worst 3.15 ratio.

One run every 1.37 hits? That's efficiency at its finest. Only Seattle has a higher team average with runners on, and with guys in scoring position the Indians lead baseball with a .345 average.

Even more impressive, though, are the league-high 49 walks and .377 team on-base percentage, numbers that reflect the great starts for Burks and newcomer Matt Lawton, who own a combined .489 OBP with 16 walks and 28 hits in 76 at-bats (.368). Even that human windmill Russell Branyan, who registered an unreal 132 strikeouts versus just 38 walks in 315 at-bats last season, is contributing. Sure, he's only hitting .182 on the year but with already six walks his OBP stands at a nice .357. 

So perhaps I was a little hasty with my analysis last December. I didn't know just how effective Lawton would be in the leadoff spot and I certainly had no idea that new hitting coach Eddie Murray would have this kind of positive, sweeping effect throughout the lineup.

Maybe, just maybe, I was wrong... and to be honest, I hope I was wrong. I hope this revamped team can play like this all year -- right now, the Cleveland Indians look like this year's Seattle Mariners, riding quality pitching, a deep bullpen and consistent plate production to a hot start.

Of course, we're just 10 games into the 2002 season and the Tribe's only played the Angels, Tigers and Twins, but I like what I'm seeing so far.


No relief

All you fantasy leaguers out there know just how hard it can be to find saves throughout the year. Unless you've got someone like Mariano Rivera or Robb Nen on your roster, you'll probably be struggling to compete in the saves category all summer.

Just two weeks into the season, the Marlins and Expos haven't really made things any easier on us. The Marlins shipped Antonio Alfonseca to the Cubs right before the season started to take the place of the injured Tom Gordon, then this past week Montreal traded closer Scott Strickland to the Mets for Bruce Chen and some other throw-ins. The Alfonseca trade didn't affect too many rosters -- unless you had Kyle Farnsworth -- because the 12-fingered wonder will still rack up saves with the Cubbies, but by sending Strickland to the Mets, Montreal turned a potentially solid fantasy closer into a mere middle reliever.

No worries, though, because presumably if you jumped on the remains of both Florida's and Montreal's bullpens fast enough, you'd theoretically be able to snap up the ninth-inning successors before any of your leaguemates, right?

Wrong.

When the Marlins unloaded Alfonseca, hard-throwing Braden Looper was supposed to be the new Fish closer. Instead, the right-hander went 0-2 with two blown saves and a 13.50 ERA in his first four appearances, surrendering seven hits, five walks and four earned runs in just 2.2 innings of work. Because of his struggles, manager Jeff Torborg demoted Looper and named Vladimir Nunez his new closer. But before saving Thursday's 7-5 Florida win, Nunez wasn't much better than Looper, sporting a 5.40 ERA and a .364 average against with eight hits and three walks in five innings pitched.

Things in the Montreal pen aren't any clearer. Matt Herges was supposed to get the nod, but after a miserable spring as the Dodgers' closer-to-be, Herges has continued struggling with his new team, registering a grand total of zero saves with a 5.40 ERA and .391 opposing average. Lefty Graeme Lloyd has notched two saves since Strickland's departure, but he's also already blown an opportunity and his 4.76 ERA ain't exactly closer material.

Adding steals and saves to your fantasy roster during the season can be a maddening ordeal, and the Marlins and Expos are making things even harder for us owners. But then again, exactly how many wins will either team's closer be in line to save this year anyway? I mean, we are, after all, talking about the Fish and 'Spos... .


Cap? What salary cap?

Is there something about Jerome Pathon I don't know, or are the Saints just really that stupid?

Or generous?

New Orleans signed Pathon, the former Indianapolis wide receiver, to a four-year, $10 million deal on Wednesday with a $1 million signing bonus. The Colts, already with Marvin Harrison, Qadry Ismail and Reggie Wayne under contract, apparently tried to top the Saints' offer but Pathon chose the Big Easy.

My question: Why?

Sure, Pathon, at just 26, has loads of potential, but in 2000 he set some rather meager career highs with 646 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 16 games with the Colts. Last season, he sprinted out to a great start, hauling in 24 receptions for 330 yards and two touchdowns in four games before foot problems prematurely ended his 2001 campaign. At just 6-0, 180 pounds, Pathon's not exactly a big target, but for some reason, despite his lack of production and size, the Saints just had to have him and the Colts just couldn't lose him. Even the Vikings got into the bidding war.

I'm confused. Isn't there a salary cap in the NFL? Haven't teams been cutting superstars and potential Hall-of-Famers all offseason to get under that cap? So why spend this kind of cash on someone like Pathon, a guy who's flashed some unquestioned skill for four years but, thanks to inconsistency and injury, has never shown the ability to be much more than a third receiver?


QuickQuote:

"It was boring. Real boring. You see a lot of mistakes you don't want to watch, see how bad we looked. I mean, we didn't really look like NBA players last night."

~Charlotte Hornets point guard Baron Davis after
head coach Paul Silas forced his struggling
team to watch two hours of game film


 

 
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