You have to understand why some fans are p*ssed off!

[Swanny]

I don't have a problem with the Colon deal. It looks like Shapiro and his staff did their homework on this one. The fact that several other clubs were competing for the same package tells me that the Tribe did okay. Dave Dombowski who is a genius in comparison to Shapiro was willing to deal Weaver for this package which is all I need to know. However you have to understand why some Indians fans are ticked off. We were coming off a pretty nice run of playoff appearances. We had a pretty strong offensive team with Bartola emerging as a true dominant ace as well as some other nicely developing starters. The Jake was sold out for every single game. Things certainly did not look bleak for the Indians organization. However Dolan and Shapiro have decided that the team has to completely rebuild. They feel that if the Tribe is going to be competitive again by 2004 or 2005 the rebuilding has to start now. I'm fine with that. As long as deals like the one for Colon are made I can live with that. As much as I would like to convince myself that I'm over the Alomar deal I still feel we were shortchanged so badly for a future hall of famer. I still believe Shapiro made the first deal that came his way. I have a friend who knows several people in the baseball business and has a couple of buddies who work for a prominent baseball publication. He has been told on more than one occasion that Alex Escobar is NOT a major league calibre player. How about that? I hope that the Colon deal is the start of many good deals from Shapiro where we do get equal return or at least the best package possible. If some of these players are as good as they have been projected to be it will be fun to watch them develop and turn into future big leaguers. All I am saying is that you have to be able to understand a fellow Indians fans frustration as they question the motive and timing of this whole rebuilding project.

[The RotoTribe]

Only time will tell if you are right, but here's another take:
Why couldn't the Tribe rebuild using their own draft choices? If we are talking 2005, the Tribe should have been able to groom several players. Furthermore, the Tribe could trade Finley for two prospects and Ellis Burks for two prospects.

I agree with you about Escobar. Plus his knee injury further dampens his prospects. I'm also not impressed with Bradley. I don't like the way he struck out with the winning run on base the other night. No clutch at all.

Finally, I don't think you can generalize about trading stars for prospects. Sure, it worked out for Seattle when they got rid of Randy Johnson. It didn't work for Pittsburgh(Schilling). The difference with Seattle and Pittsburgh is that both those teams were going to lose their star the next season. It's a **** shoot. There's no guarantee these guys will work out. Barring an injury, Colon's working out was as close as it comes.

[The Genius]

Jesus H., Swanny, I'm getting sick of hearing about Alomar. The bum is hitting .260, and was too lazy to run out DP grounders in the playoffs while making $8 MILLION DOLLARS.
I'm glad to be rid of him. If all we got for him was Traber I'd still be glad. [img]mad.gif[/img]

[Swanny]

I know. It's funny though how I am always accused of bringing up Alomar. About a month or so ago I made it a point to not bring up his name for awhile. Yet still there was post after post from others mentioning his name. Obviously I am not the only one that brings up his name and if anyone wants to dispute that I will gladly spend an entire day going through the archives to bring up every single post that inludes his name. Please don't make me do that. There should be some rule as to how long we can talk about a player after he is no longer an Indian. You won't hear me talking about Giles or Sexson yet there are some that still bring up those names. I have a feeling we'll be talking about Bartola for a very long time. I think it's a sad testament to the shape that the organization is in when fans (no one on this forum is excluded) continue to talk about players who are not with the team anymore as opposed to the ones that are.

[Swanny]

I know. It's funny though how I am always accused of bringing up Alomar. About a month or so ago I made it a point to not bring up his name for awhile. Yet still there was post after post from others mentioning his name. Obviously I am not the only one that brings up his name and if anyone wants to dispute that I will gladly spend an entire day going through the archives to bring up every single post that inludes his name. Please don't make me do that. There should be some rule as to how long we can talk about a player after he is no longer an Indian. You won't hear me talking about Giles or Sexson yet there are some that still bring up those names. I have a feeling we'll be talking about Bartola for a very long time. I think it's a sad testament to the shape that the organization is in when fans (no one on this forum is excluded) continue to talk about players who are not with the team anymore as opposed to the ones that are.

[viper123]

Swanny, normally I like your posts but don't give me this friend of a friend **** . I still agree about the Alomar deal but give this kid Escobar a chance, he was on fire and impressive in spring, he still has a lot of potential to grow into. I think Alomar could have played better here than he is right now but if this is the direction the team had to go, I'm glad to say bye to his hall of fame attitude

Alex- Bradley hasn't bothered me too much, the kid is also young and is taking some growing pains at the major league level. Sure he struck out in the clutch but unlike the crafty veteran Fryman he was swinging not watching a fat pitch right down the middle

[the teacher]

I don't know, Swanny... I think I'd like to see all those Alomar posts.

[The Genius]

<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:
I don't know, Swanny... I think I'd like to see all those Alomar posts.</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

There are plenty of them at Fanhome/Mets. I don't think they are too happy with him and Mo Worse.

[Swanny]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by viper123:
[QB]Swanny, normally I like your posts but don't give me this friend of a friend **** .

Well I am not lying about this. I thought it was quite amusing and I believe it. The fact that my friend was told this by more than one source really makes me believe it. Let's not forget that Escobar came from the Mets organization.

[Ytown Tribe fan]

I'm a Tribe fan of some 40 years, and I'm not pissed off.

I voted for Ricky Gutierrez for the All-Star team, since he truly represents the Tribe this season. As if on cue, All-Star coach Cholly put Ricky back in the lineup, since it is far better to rebuild with a 30-something nobody who once hit 10 homers in Wrigley than with a 20-something defensive wiz who might actually hit someday.

I like what Lawton said, about how, "Colon pitched only every 5 days, while we're out there every day. We are still in this thing." Yeah, well, with Ricky out there every day, we just lost the last shot we had of reaching .500 this year.

Come September (if there IS baseball in September this year), we'll see what Traber and Philips and Lee can do, when we're a comfy 20 games out.

But I'm not pissed.