Dammnn good site....

[The Genius]

http://www.cir.blogspot.com/

[Alex]

And how do we get this forum linked, I see that fanhome is linked.

[Swanny]

You guys just discovered this now??? This is easily the best Indian report and you can get it sent daily to your mailbox. A friend signed me up awhile ago and I enjoy getting it everyday.

[the teacher]

well **** swanny thanks for posting it.

[Alex]

You meant that sarcastically, right? Genius posted the topic.

I recall that forum from a few months back, but I never bookmarked it.

[Alex]

and how do we get THIS forum linked, I see that funhouse is linked?

[Alex]

One of the commments mentioned was that Bartolo's performance against Montreal (and probably his 12-2 mark in interleague play didn't hurt) that convinced Montreal to give us Brandon Phillips...

Do you think Bartolo had a clue that if he pitched really well against Montreal, his reward would be to be traded to them? [img]confused.gif[/img]

[Swanny]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by the teacher:
well **** swanny thanks for posting it.</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry for not posting it teacher. I figured someone like you, being the giddiest Tribe fan I have ever come across would have already known about this site. As I said it is easily the best daily report you can get about the Indians. It is very well researched and written. By the way teacher, I would like to know why you never explain yourself when someone asks you about a certain post of yours? As another poster said to you, your one word answers really don't give any insight or explanation to some of your posts. You know how much I laughed at your "right on track" comment. Going into a full rebuilding mode how can you even make an absurd comment like that for at least another year as we hopefully see some young players develop? I like the Colon trade. I actually think Shapiro did okay here. The fact that Dombrowski was trying to get the same package in return for Weaver is all you need to know if the Tribe did well or not. Mark shapiro is and never will be in the same ballpark as Dave Dombrowski. Let's hope however that this is his first good move of many.

[the teacher]

Swanny.

My posts are often consise, but I don't think they're vague. I don't feel obligated to compose a lengthy explanation every time some schmoe demands one. However, you and I have exchanged enough barbs over the last few months, and you enjoyed my "right on track" assessment so much, that I decided to provide you with a few more grapes for your whinery.

The Tribe rebuilding was right on track when I first made the comment, and it's right on track now. Here's why.

Shapiro inherited a team that was in trouble. It was old. The minors had been largely depleted. Attendance was slipping. Dolan had agreed to one last push in 2001 to get us over the top, and he agreed to deficit spend in order to obtain Juan Gonzalez. People who complain that Dolan is a cheapskate are in denial. We had a $93 million payroll last year, which was fifth overall, I believe. In any case, signing Gonzalez didn't work. We still don't have a ring.

After the 2001 season, management had to choose which road they were going to take. The overly simplistic view is that there were two choices. (1) Continue to throw money at the problem by signing more free agents for another run, or (2) tear the team apart and rebuild. The first option wasn't open to Shapiro, even if he wanted to take it. The owner was not willing to continue to throw millions down a dry hole. Who could blame him? It hadn't worked yet. Keep doing what you're doing and you're likely to keep getting what you're getting. The other approach recognized by the knee jerkers was the "give up" road: Forget about 2002, trade whomever you can for future talent and rebuild.

Shapiro was unwilling to give up on the season before it even started. He also could not not take the easy way out and go on a spending spree. He had to replenish the farm system, and fast. He knew that the Tribe was in a weak division, and that many large player contracts expired after the 2002 season.

What is the best course of action given these facts? I think Shapiro did exactly the right thing: Make a run at the weak Central division, but maintain flexibility should it become obvious that it wasn't working.

The first major decisions that were needed were regarding Gonzalez and Alomar. Shapiro let the oft-injured Gonzalez walk. As it turns out, this was the correct call: Juan has indeed been injured and has all of 5 home runs and 22 RBI's at the midpoint of the season. Then Mark traded Alomar. We can argue 'til there's a big league team in Wadsorth about whether we got the best possible deal, but the facts clearly state that trading Alomar was, once again, exactly the right call. His market value has seriously tanked since the trade. He's hitting .258. He's 34 years old. We traded him at the very peak of his value. This was like selling your tech stocks when the nasdaq was at 4,000. The timing could not have been better. Anyone who does not see this is simply irrational.

To those of you who proudly proclaim that you knew the Tribe would be weaker than they were in previous years, I say this: "Duh." Cut the arrogance, everybody knew it, bub. We had a chance to make a run, but it was a longshot. There were so many question marks at the beginning of the season. What if Fryman had rebounded, Diaz hit more than .220, and Branyan had blossomed? What if Gutierrez was hitting even 20 points under his average of a year ago? What if Bradley hadn't gotten injured, and Escobar, and Lawton?

What Shapiro did that was take a gamble and throw the dice, knowing that there was an outside chance that a few of these question marks went our way and we'd have a run at the division. They didn't (well, Omar did). The cool part of the strategy is that it let us take a shot, and now we can move forward with the full rebuilding process. We didn't lose much by not quitting in April. Was every decision right? No. Ricky G. sucks. Nobody gets 'em all right, but if that's the biggest mistake Mark makes he'll be doing great. Ricky G is not going to make or break this franchise.

We were on track in April and we're right on track now. It's the same track. We took a longshot chance, and now we're putting together a crop of youngsters that could be the envy of baseball. Next year we have a huge amount of dollars leaving the payroll, just in time to start paying the youngsters. Sorry, but Shapiro's plan is working.

[Lima Jack]

BRAVO, TEACHER, BRAVO