Matt and Aaron mentioned the Ryan Garko trade last night, but I'm still thinking about one aspect of it this morning, and that's the fact that the Tribe called up Andy Marte instead of Matt LaPorta to take Garko's spot on the roster. Let's suss that out a bit, shall we?
Matt LaPorta was the centerpiece of the CC Sabathia trade last year, and he's gotten nothing but a courtesy callup so far. For now he's like me: Tearing it up, but largely wasting his time, in Columbus, Ohio while the big old world slowly passes him by. Andy Marte, on the other hand, has had approximately 1,257 chances to make it work in the Major Leagues and has failed every time. Yes, he too is raking in Columbus this year, and yes he stands to be a minor league free agent this winter, but those 1,257 previous chances still weigh heavy on the mind. Could he be the next Carlos Pena? Sure. But I think it far more likely that he's the AAAA player that he's shown himself to be for several years now, and if you have to choose between him and LaPorta, you have to give LaPorta the shot.
Of course the dumbest thing about all of this is that the Indians didn't have to choose between Marte and LaPorta. They forced that choice upon themselves by carrying a 14 man pitching staff.
Let me repeat that.
The Indians have five starting pitchers and nine -- nine! -- relievers on their 25 man roster. Mark Shapiro, in his infinite wisdom, has decided that he wants to give his embattled manager the option of running ten pitchers out in a given game. And that happens so often!
Here's something that doesn't happen so often, but happened last night: Because Garko was traded, Travis Hafner couldn't play (he gets mandatory days off to rest his shoulder or whatever it is on him that doesn't work so good) and Grady Sizemore was sick, the Indians played the entire game against the Angels last night with literally no one available on the bench. If Asdrubal Cabrera went down, Cliff Lee is probably playing short. And who cares? They're trading him anyway!
In light of that, and in light of the fact that you have two guys worthy of a callup to the big leagues, you'd think that the Indians would maybe think about going from the monumentally stupid 14-man pitching staff to a merely idiotic 13 or a somewhat excessive 12. But far be it from me to argue against success.
[cough!] 42-58 [cough!]
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Thanks Craig! Apparently badgering you on comments can get a post up! :)
Now, off to outline for my wills and trusts exam. :(
I fail to see how 9 relievers who can't get anyone out is a better idea than 6 or 7 relievers that can't get anyone out.
Then again, when your bullpen features such rifle arms as Winston Abreu, Mike Gosling, and Jose Veras, it's hard to find someone to demote for Laporta. Imagine how many more games the Indians would be out of the playoff race of not for Tomo Ohka. Where do you squeeze the young position players in?
You might want to do some fact checking before uploading an article.
The Indians only have 13 pitchers on the roster.
Indeed...the 9 starting hitters yesterday + Sizemore + Hafner + Marte = 9 + 3 = 12. Unless they've expanded roster sizes to 26, that means 13 pitchers.
Point taken on the bullpen, though Mark-OH is correct that there are actually 13 pitchers on the roster. But then, you'd think that a six-man bullpen could blow leads just as easily as an eight-man one. As for Marte, while I agree that he's had his chances and might very well be a 4A player, as you bring up this is not an either-or proposition. Theoretically both he and LaPorta could be on the roster.
Not sure what I think of Chris Gimenez, either, speaking of wasted roster space. He can kinda-play almost anywhere, so I'm sure that Wedge loves him, but I'm not really sure that he's worth a roster spot over a legitimate prospect such as LaPorta or, hell, even Trevor Crowe.
OK, since Garko was about to be shipped, he couldn't be played, giving the Tribe essentially a 24-man roster for one night. 13 pitchers and 11 field players, 2 field players unavailable. But setting aside this detail, the point remains unchanged. Going with 5 starters and 8 relievers is ridiculous, playing Gimenez anywhere but catcher is ridiculous, and Shapiro's roster management has definitely been leaving something to be desired.