Ryan

After the first flurry of activity, this period of the offseason tends to be very quiet. Until the next round of GM meetings, when the true Hot Stove season gets started. When agents, GMs, players, and the media all get together, things tend to get done quickly. By then most of the preliminary talks have concluded, and free agents generally have their choices narrowed down to a small number of suitors. In recent years, the arbitration deadline has become an important milestone, because some clubs do not want to give up high picks if they can help it. The Indians don’t really have to worry about offering arbitration to any of their pending free agents, because the only two that were ranked by Elias have been signed (Bob Wickman and Omar Vizquel). Since their record placed them in the bottom half of the league, they won’t have to give up their first round pick if they do sign a Lieber or Clement, but they probably will give up a second round pick if they do sign a decent pitcher.

Besides writing about waiting, I’d like to get something off my chest while there’s nothing else to talk about.

Yesterday the Indians placed Opening Day tickets on sale, and won’t start selling the other single game tickets until after the New Year. Why are they doing this? I think the biggest reason is to encourage season ticket sales. Another reason is to help to sell out Opening Day. If next March Bob DiBiasio is appearing on Spring Training broadcasts pleading for fans to buy Opening Day tickets, there’s something wrong with the fanbase. And I mean that seriously. I understood why people stayed away during the beginning of the season last year; the team was coming off a bad year, and they had just traded away their best player. But now there’s no excuse. The team is coming off a season where they finished two games below .500, and for a brief period of time was a serious contender for the division. Aside from Omar Vizquel (and I’ve beaten that horse to death), the team should bring virtually everyone back.

So why is there so much perceived apathy towards this team? I can think of a couple reasons. One, the Browns and Cavaliers are bigger draws right now. LeBron attracts fans that aren’t necessarily basketball fans, and the Browns, no matter how much ineptitude they show, will still sell out games because of how engrained Browns football is in people throughout this region. Truthfully, the Indians have been the most well-run franchise in Cleveland since they set up shop in Jacobs Field. But facts generally do not attract the non-core fans; perceptions do; this is my second reason. Perception: Since the Browns are in the NFL, they have a good chance of making the playoffs. Perception: LeBron is playing, therefore the Cavaliers are worth watching. Perception: the Indians don’t spend any money, therefore they don’t deserve mine. The Indians don’t have a LeBron James on their roster. They don’t have a history sprinkled with multiple championships. Therefore right now, even though the team posted a higher winning percentage then either the Cavaliers or the Browns last year, they seem to be pretty much forgotten.

I hope I’m wrong about the ticket sales, but even though they made the correct decision letting Vizquel go, they may sell less tickets because of it. Now if the Indians had gone out and loudly signed Armando Benitez to a multi-year contract instead of bringing back rickety old Bob Wickman, people might have said “Yeah, the Indians are spending more money, so I might go down and watch them play.” Again, this is where I bring up the difference between money spent and money spent wisely. Because the attendance was poor last season, the payroll will increase, but not by much. This model hasn’t changed one iota since the team moved to Jacobs Field; the payroll is based largely on attendance. What has changed is the opinion of the team in the eyes of the fans. In 1991, the payroll was extremely low, and nobody really cared, since the team hadn’t made the playoffs since 1954. Now the payroll’s low and everyone cares, mainly because the team has a recent history of success. “Because Dolan won’t spend the money, I won’t go” is a common phrase I hear. Unfortunately, this perpetuates the process into future low payrolls, future fan apathy, and on and on.

How do you turn this around? Change your criteria for supporting a team. Go if the team wins. Stay home if they don’t. It’s as simple as that. I don’t care if the Indians field a team that has a $20M payroll; if they win, show up. If the Indians spend $100M and lose 100 games, then stay home and play golf. Because of the nature of the MLB salary structure, most rebuilding teams have a lot of young talent, which by definition means they won’t cost much. The Indians were the most cost-efficient team in baseball because of this. They spent $833,417 per marginal win, the best in baseball. What does this mean? While the Indians were definitely “cheap,” they also were good. Why reward teams who foolishly spend their money, and punish those who use what they have wisely? That in my opinion is why wins-based attendance is a more fair feedback mechanism than a spending-based model. While spending may lead to better a record, it may also lead to a worse one. Winning more games always leads to a better outcome. Winning more games leads to more attendance, and unless the owner is a crook, a higher payroll. It seems so simple, doesn’t it? I mean, isn’t this basic supply and demand?

Unfortunately, perception is a powerful tool. And because the current perception of the Indians is negative, becuase they aren’t outspending everyone in the division, then attendance will probably be lower than it should be. Larry Dolan, unfortunately, isn’t going to spend money he doesn’t bring in; there isn’t going to be any owner-provided catalyst to bring fans back. The kickstart will have to come from the team itself, and if it does, there’s no excuse for not showing up.

Signed OF Andy Abad and OF Jeff Liefer to minor-league contracts and Invited them to Spring Training

Both are AAAA* players, and will probably spend most of the season with Buffalo.

Abad is an interesting player. He’s only had 18 total at-bats in the majors, yet has posted numbers that should have garnered him more of a shot. He could easily be a fourth outfielder, or a platoon first baseman. I have no idea how good he is defensively, aside from what little time he spent in the majors. I don’t see him getting a shot with the Indians unless there’s a massive amount of injuries. Probably the quickest way to Cleveland is at first base, where Ryan Garko is the only major-league ready 1B in the high minors. Abad has shown real good plate discipline his entire career, and although he’s not much of a home run threat, hit 35 doubles for Pawtucket in 2003.

Jeff Liefer is more of the same; a first baseman/outfielder. You might remember him with the White Sox in the past couple years; he was also part of the package that brought Bartolo Colon to the Sox. Liefer is still living off his 18 home runs in 2001, but at this point in his career he’s properly cast as a AAA slugger. He’s not a good defender at first or in the outfield.

*Refers to players who are good in AAA, but aren’t good enough to play regularly in the majors

Re-signed RHRP Bob Wickman to a one year, $2.75M contract (plus incentives)

Probably the smart thing to do. After Percival signed with Detroit, the Indians were down to realistically three options:

A. Pay Benitez over $20M to be your closer for 3-4 years
B. Bring back Wickman for another season
C. Take a gamble on Dustin Hermanson

I guess you could say that there’s D (Trade for a closer) or E (None of the above), but neither was really an option. In the end, Shapiro chose the safer route, paying just under $3M for a one-year stopgap. Wicky is by no means a great closer, or even a good closer at this stage of his career. What he is is a guy who’s done it before, and he at least gives the Indians a baseline to work off of. For a reasonable price. The Rockies made a pitch for Wickman, but presumably the Indians matched or exceeded the Rockies’ offer. If the Indians’ hadn’t signed Wickman, it would have been Hermanson or guys like Rob Nen or Matt Mantei, who both have even bigger injury questions attached to them.

What this signing also does is make virtually every free agent starter within striking range. The Indians supposedly have about $7M left in their budget to land a starter, and other than Carl Pavano and Pedro Martinez, they can go after anyone that’s out there. The big catch in the second tier of starters is Matt Clement, who the Indians are aggresively courting, but Jon Lieber has also been linked to the organization. I’d go up to 3/24 for Clement and up to 3/18 for Lieber. That’s probably overpaying for both of them, but given what Kris Benson just received from the Mets, those salaries look like the going rate for a #3 starter.

Another interesting route the Indians can go is to maybe trade for some pitching help. Coco Crisp may be at his highest value right now, and there are several teams looking for a center fielder. I’m not suggesting trading Crisp just to trade him, but if you can get a quality starter for Crisp and a prospect, you should think about it. If Belliard is retained, then you move Blake to the outfield, creating a jam between Casey and Crisp, Sizemore, Lawton, and Ludwick. Maybe you can dump Lawton somewhere; there aren’t a lot of outfielders out there, and Matt may start to look nice compared to the free agent options.

Designated IF John McDonald for Assignment

McDonald may actually be dealt before the 10-day period ends. With so many clubs looking for middle infield help, McDonald may, like I said yesterday, be more expensive on the open market, so teams may want to get him before he becomes a free agent. Whoever acquires him theoretically can keep him through 2007, so the Indians may pick up a minor prospect.

The Minnesota Twins signed utility infielder Juan Castro to a two-year, $2M contract last night. Castro is your standard defensive specialist, but Castro is horrendous at the plate, even for a backup infielder. His lifetime batting statistics: .226/.269/.331. And this isn’t due to any sample size error; Castro has impersonated a hitter almost 1600 times in his career.

This leads to John McDonald, who is also a defensive specialist who can’t hit. If Castro is worth a two-year deal, McDonald might be worth at least something. Given that McDonald may well be worth more on the open market than in arbitration given Castro’s deal, this may push teams to go ahead and trade for McDonald rather than to wait for him to become a free agent. Strange times, eh?

Prospects

Baseball America released its list of the Indians’ top ten prospects yesterday. I disagree with a couple placements, including slotting Ryan Garko that low. I understand he doesn’t really have a position, but Garko is the closest of that group to the majors, is the best all-around hitter in the system, and he’s still considered a catcher. There’s no way he’s a better prospect than Aubrey, Miller, or Gutierrez, but placing him behind Snyder and Sowers is a bit too much. I’m also a bit puzzled why Nick Pesco made the list and not Jake Dittler. Jeremy Sowers is probably going to be a nice pitcher, but I’d rather wait and see how he does as a professional before placing him that high. Again, I understand where BA is coming from; they’ve always been about projection and upside, but in my opinion results have to matter at some point. Here’s my ‘shadow’ list:

1. RHP Adam Miller
2. 1B Michael Aubrey
3. OF Franklin Gutierrez
4. C/1B Ryan Garko
5. RHP Fausto Carmona
6. OF Brad Snyder
7. RHP Fernando Cabrera
8. RHP Andrew Brown
9. RHP Jake Dittler
10. LHP Jeremy Sowers

Not a whole lot different than BA’s list, except for swapping out Pesco for Dittler, moving Sowers down, and Garko up. I’m buying into the Miller hype, but I was *this* close to placing Aubrey ahead of him; I really like Aubrey’s total package of defense and offense at first base. The Todd Helton comparisons are probably overblown, but I really think Aubrey will be a very good major league player. If Miller stays healthy, his ceiling is extremely high, but so is the burnout rate for promising young arms. Gutierrez is a pretty solid #3: Alex Escobar’s flameout is really tempering my enthusiasm for Franklin right now, but he’s hitting well in Venezuela thus far.

Just for kicks, here’s my second ten:

11. OF Ryan Goleski
12. RHP Francisco Cruceta
13. RHP Nick Pesco
14. 3B Pat Osborn
15. OF Jason Cooper
16. 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff
17. RHP Justin Hoyman
18. LHP Dan Cevette
19. OF Juan Valdes
20. RHP Tony Sipp

Mostly a lot of decent prospects, with a couple of high-ceiling guys sprinkled in. I still like Pat Osborn, despite his injury problems. Cruceta I probably rated higher than others would, but he’s pretty close to the majors, so the margin of error isn’t as high as with guys like Pesco and Cevette. Valdes is a projection pick, as is Sipp. Both put up real intriguing numbers in short-season ball, and I’ve added them as a kind of heads-up; they may shoot up the list in the next couple years.

While the Indians system may not have as many blue-chippers as in past years, there’s a lot of depth there. I’ve left out guys like Matt Whitney and Mariano Gomez, both of whom were ranked highly before suffering injuries. And unlike in the past couple years, only two players came from other organizations; in fact, Miller, Aubrey, Garko, Snyder, Goleski, Kouzmanoff, and Valdes all came from the 2003 draft; that’s impressive.

After I (finally) complete my major-league profiles, I’ll be concentrating on the prospects; this should start in a couple of weeks.

So do the Indians exist in the minds of the Cleveland sports media? Usually the most juicy articles appear on Sunday mornings, and I figured there’d be a couple rumors regarding free agent signings. I found exactly two articles; one was an editorial lamenting the loss of Omar Vizquel and how baseball has changed from the halcyon days of yesteryear when players played their entire career with one team. I wasn’t alive during the 1950s and 1960s, but I believe there was this thing called the Reserve Clause which allowed clubs complete control over their players. The other was a piece on Corey Smith by Aeros beat writer Stephanie Storm, whose work I really enjoy reading.

But there was absolutely nothing on the Indians and who they are targeting for next season. And it’s not like the Indians are in offseason shutdown mode. This article from Chicago stated that the Indians have been the “most aggresive” organization going after free agent Matt Clement. This is a good sign, especially he mentioned that Cleveland is close to home for him. But not a peep from the local writers was heard on Clement, excluding the usual litany of players the team might be going after. It’s real frustrating that most of the news regarding the Indians’ offseason moves has to be gathered from other cities’ papers.

Going back to the Smith article. Of all the players that have been bandied about as being unworthy of a 40-man roster spot, Smith is the one player that I can’t think of explanation for why he’s still protected. He hasn’t hit, he’s been an error machine at third base all through the minors, and now he’s a bit…shall we say, hesitant to move to the outfield. Smith is a guy I think Farrell really is fighting for, much like he “pounded the table” for Ivan Ochoa last winter. If I had my druthers, Jason Cooper would replace Smith on the roster, given that that now both are outfielders and played at the same level last season. It’s one thing to protect players who have shown themselves worthy; it’s quite another to protect a player solely because he was a first round pick.

After looking over the guys left unprotected, I’ve compiled my list of the most likely players to be picked. Note that this list doesn’t rank them in order the best prospects who were left unprotected.

1. 2B Eider Torres – stole 48 bases in the Carolina League, he only committed 9 errors at second base.
2. 2B Joe Inglett – this year’s Luis Gonzalez; good plate discipline, older prospect
3. LHP Shea Douglas – if he’s healthy, then he’ll be taken
4. 3B Pat Osborn – he played some shortstop in Kinston; if not for his injuries, he may have been protected
5. RHP JD Martin – may be better in a relief role
6. C David Wallace – athletic catcher; may be picked because of the lack of free agent options
7. OF Jason Cooper – one of the sabermetric organizations may take a chance
8. OF Nathan Panther – has the range to play center field
9. RHP Dan Denham – still has upside but no success in high minors
10. LHP Chris Cooper – left-handed

Others I considered: Ben Francisco, Victor Kleine, Lee Gronkiewicz, Keith Ramsey

Exercised the 2005 Option of LHRP Scott Sauerbeck

No monetary amount was disclosed, but I’ll assume it’s below $1M. This looks akin to an NFL “roster bonus,” essentially rewarding Sauerbeck for being healthy.

Re-signed OF Ernie Young to a minor-league contract

Young is a nice player to have around in AAA just in case. At the very least Young will be Buffalo’s cleanup hitter, and help out the Bisons as a quasi-coach.

Signed SS Jose Morban and RHP Steve Watkins to minor-league contracts

Morban was Rule 5ed in 2003 by the Baltimore Orioles, and basically sat on the bench the entire year, accumulating only 71(!) at-bats. Last year Morban presumedly suffered from the lack of playing time upon his return to the minors, where he hit .235 in high-A Frederick and .210 in AA Bowie. With Miguel Tejada locked up for the near future, the Orioles obviously no longer had a need for a shortstop project, so let him walk via minor-league free agency. He’s still 25, but the negatives are obvious; he really wasn’t that good a prospect in the first place, he acquired a year’s worth of rust, and now he’s coming off an awful year in the minors. For every Johan Santana, there’s about 10 Jose Morbans and Luis Uguetos floating around the minors. I’d assume Morban will be plugged in at Kinston or Akron, depending on where there’s a need at shortstop.

As for Watkins, he’s semi-interesting. He put up good numbers both in Mobile and Portland, and got a cup of coffee with the Padres. He’s been used mainly as a starter throughout his professional career, and he could be useful as a swingman at the major-league level. He’s not that old (26), so this move has some upside to it.

Reinstated 3B Aaron Boone, OF Jody Gerut, LHP Jason Stanford, and RHP Kazuhito Tadano from the 60-day Disabled List

Purchased the Contracts of RHSP Fausto Carmona, RHSP Jake Dittler, and OF Franklin Gutierrez

No big surprises here. Carmona, Dittler, and Gutierrez are all legimate top prospects; I’d rank Carmona and Guierrez in the Tribe’s top 5 prospects, and Dittler would be solidly in my top 10. As we’ve seen in the past, the Indians are going to get some prospects plucked in the Rule 5 draft. Guys like Jason Cooper and Pat Osborn are certainly the more high-profile players unprotected, but you have to consider how many Rule 5 prospects are used as middle infielders or backup catchers or relief pitchers. I’d be very surprised if Jason Cooper gets selected; he struggled in AA this season, and isn’t the athletic, toolsy player that tends to be picked. Shea Douglas would be the prototypical Rule 5 pick (left-handed, high strikeout rates), but he injured his shoulder late this year. Eider Torres might be a good bet to be picked; he’s speedy and plays a middle infield position. Obviously Ivan Ochoa can easily be taken and stowed as a backup infielder as well. Pat Osborn may get some attention because he did play some shortstop while at Kinston. A sleeper pick would be Joe Inglett; he’s fairly old for a prospect, but he’s posted fantastic on-base numbers as a second baseman.

This begs the question….why don’t the Indians protect more if they always get hammered in the Rule 5 draft? Because frankly, the club that drafts a player has to jump through a lot of hoops to hold onto him. Of the four players selected from the Indians last year, two were offered back, and two were kept. The year before, three of the four were eventually returned. Of this year’s “class” of eligibles, I’d really only be upset about losing maybe two; Pat Osborn and Jason Cooper. As I said before, Cooper doesn’t fit the profile of a Rule 5 pick; he’s slow, he’s not a good defensive player, and he hasn’t had success at AA or AAA. Osborn hasn’t even seen AA, and has spent a lot of his three years in professional baseball on the disabled list. Dittler, Gutierrez, and Carmona were by far the right choices to protect.

Almost a week into the free agent signing period, there’s signs that whatever fiscal sanity clubs had been exercising has been thrown to the curb.

“Middle class” free agents, who have in past years been reduced to accepting one-year deals or even NRIs, are getting multiple-year contracts reminiscent of 2000 and 2001. The fascinating thing is that these middle class free agents have signed so quickly, even before the top-tier targets at their position. Some of the signings can be explained. The San Francisco Giants have made it team policy to avoid as many high draft picks as possible; instead they siphon the draft pick bonus money to their free agent fund. With Barry Bonds, this strategy is certainly defensible, even though I don’t think it too prudent. The Detroit Tigers have said that in order to turn around their franchise as quick as possible, they would overpay for free agents. Again, it’s a defensible strategy, but not one I agree with. But I don’t have any clue what Washington had in mind signing Vinny Castilla and Cristian Guzman to bad contracts…was it to boost their ticket sales? One of the arguments I hear often regarding disgruntled fans is that if the owner will spend money, they’ll go to games. What they leave out is a small qualifier; the team must also spend that money wisely. Even the New York Yankees (theoretically) have a spending limit; if you’ve blown your budget on players who aren’t worth the salaries they’re receiving, that may be just as big a hurdle as not spending the money in the first place.

Unfortunately for the Indians, the signing of Troy Percival will probably increase the asking price of the remaining free agent closers, most notably Armando Benitez. Last season, the Boston Red Sox signed Keith Foulke, the best closer on the market, to a four year deal worth $24M. Benitez will probably be asking for at least that much, and probably more after seeing what Percival got. For a team with a projected payroll of around $45M, there comes a point where you can’t justify spending that much of your payroll on one guy, especially for a closer, one of the most volatile positions on the roster. If Benitez is in fact priced out of the Indians’ market, the best thing to do in my opinion is to bring back Bob Wickman for another year, and concentrate on getting a starting pitcher. Maybe there may be some opportunities on the trade market; perhaps Matt Lawton’s $7M salary might not look so bad in a year where there aren’t many good free agent outfielders. If the Indians can sucker persuade a club to take on Lawton’s salary, they can move Blake to the outfield, where his defense scares me less, and bring back Ronnie Belliard for another season.

2B Belliard
LF Crisp
CA Martinez
DH Hafner
RF Blake
1B Broussard/Phelps
3B Boone
SS Peralta
CF Sizemore

Assuming no contract extensions, the above lineup will cost the Indians roughly $10M….that may be the lowest in baseball. Although the Indians may have enough young talent to get away with a cheap lineup, there is no young prospect ready to step into the rotation. Sure, the Indians have guys like Jason Davis, Kyle Denney, Kaz Tadano, Jeremy Guthrie, and Francisco Cruceta that are more or less ready for the majors, but haven’t put up good enough numbers in recent seasons to show they are capable of pitching well at the major-league level yet, or at least well enough to give a rotation spot to. And although there are a number arms in the organization that could potentially close someday, a revolving door at closer is just not acceptable for the third year in a row. This is where the balance of need and prudence is so very difficult; do you go ahead and give Armando Benitez a 3 year, $24M contract knowing that there’s a real good possibillity he won’t be worth that much, or do you nickel-and-dime a bullpen and hope that it works out? Thanks to the opening salvos of the free agent market, this balancing act is becoming more and more difficult.

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve placed the Elias free agent rankings under my ‘Links’ heading. By clicking each of the two links, you’ll find the compensation categories players fall into. For example, Omar Vizquel is a Type A free agent, and if the Giants do not sign a free agent with a higher ranking, the Indians will receive both the Giants’ first-round pick but also a “sandwich” pick between the first and second rounds. Likewise, a lot of the free agents the Indians are looking at also rate highly in the rankings. Pay attention closely to whether clubs offer their departing free agents arbitration on December 7; if they don’t then the signing club doesn’t have to give up a draft pick.

1B/DH Pronk – Age 27
2004 Salary: $316, 300
2004 EQA: .337 (1st in AL)
Contract Status: Renewable (AE in 2005)

Hafner failed to finish in the top 10 in the MVP voting, but that wasn’t much of a shock. Full-time DHs don’t usually fare well in MVP voting…well, except for David Ortiz. But that’s a topic for another time and place. Regardless, Hafner was the best hitter in the American League this season; he lead the league in OPS+ and EQA (scroll down a bit). So he didn’t hit 40 home runs. So what? Hafner was third in the league in OBP and fourth in SLG. Folks, that’s a damned good hitter. I may be jumping the gun a bit, but his career path looks eerily similar to Edgar Martinez, who also didn’t accumulate 400 at-bats in a season until he was 27. I’m not saying that Hafner will be the left-handed Edgar Martinez, but that’s who he reminds me of when looking at his overall game. Hafner’s best weapon is his stellar eye; he didn’t look like a quasi-rookie at the plate this season. Pronk is probably always going to be a liability in the field, but in the American League, that’s not a problem.

The biggest question regarding Hafner is not whether he can maintain this kind of production from year to year; like Victor Martinez, his minor-league numbers back up the kind of year he just had. I think injuries, and more specifically, the elbow, is going to be the biggest question mark with Pronk; he missed time in 2003 with a wrist injury, and his 2004 campaign ended early with a sore elbow.

LHSP Cliff Lee – Age 26
2004 Salary: $303,200
2004 VORP: 10.9
Contract Status: Renewable (AE in 2005 or 2006)

Unlike Jason Davis, I’m still bullish on Lee despite the numbers. Lee is what some call a “three true outcomes” pitcher; which means lots of home runs, strikeouts, and walks. A lot of Lee’s problems came after the All-Star Break, when he seemed to lose his control…and the home runs started to pile up. His record does mask how bad he pitched, but I think there’s hope for Lee. His strikeout ratios haven’t dropped, and his stuff is still there. Lee did pitch almost 200 innings last season as the #2 pitcher in the rotation, but now that he’ll be slotted a little lower, he should have less of a workload, and with a full season under his belt, better stamina over the long summer. For the Indians to make the next step, run prevention has to get better, and Cliff Lee should have a lot to say about that.

C Victor Martinez – Age 25
2004 Salary: $304,500
2004 EQA: .285
Contract Status: Renewable (AE in 2005 or 2006)

Ignore the RBIs Martinez had. Instead look at his extra-base hits, his walks, and his strikeouts. All were exemplary for a catcher, and a great sign for years to come. I’ll fully admit that Martinez is not a good defensive catcher; that may change over the course of his career, but still his defense is good enough to allow for him to stay behind the plate. Besides, when you have an offensive weapon at catcher, you don’t move him to a less strategic position on the diamond. Martinez the catcher will be a multiple-time All-Star; Martinez the first baseman will be average. That’s the difference between Martinez and Ben Broussard, and also the reason why the defensive spectrum matters.

What the Indians can do to maximize Martinez’ value is to rest him more often. Josh Bard will help matters some next year, as will Ryan Garko eventually. Catchers, no matter how physically fit they are, tend to wear down in July and August, and Martinez was no exception in 2004.

The same team who gave the Royals a first-round pick as compensation for Michael Tucker may bestow one on the Indians. According to this, the San Francisco Giants are offering Omar Vizquel a three year deal worth $12M. Yes, three years to a shortstop who’ll be 40 at the end of the contract. Vizquel would be crazy not to take the deal, unless Chicago matches it. Of course, if the Giants sign a higher “Type A” free agent, such as Armando Benitez, the Indians will receive a “sandwich” pick and the Giants’ second round pick. The White Sox are probably not out of the running yet, but they’d have to give Vizquel three years guaranteed, and I don’t believe they’d be that stupid.

In other news, Paul Hoynes pretty much cements the fact that the Indians will have $10M to get two pitchers. As I’ve said before, the thinnest market of the two are the closers. Dustin Hermanson keeps getting brought up, but I’d rather go after Benitez first, then go to Wickman; Hermanson would be Plan C.

[EDIT]: According to this, it looks like Vizquel to San Francisco is offical – 3 years, $12.25M. The title of the article is pretty humorous, if you ask me.