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Let's grade Mark's moves:
1. Bradley trade: A-
The kid looks good, and may be a star by 2004. Day is a little better than Drew.
2. Alomar trade: B-
The Escobar injury pushes this move down, but it can easily be upgraded when Escobar comes back and wins a job, and/or if Traber can take over for Finley and stay healthy.
3. Ricky G. signing: C
There wasn't a lot available here, so Shapiro just took what he could get. If we get the Ricky of spring training, it goes up to a B.
4. Wohlers signing: D-
This guy may find it, but it better be soon. He looks awful. Why so much money for a suspect?
5. 2001 draft: A
Shapiro ran this draft, and scored big with Martin, Denham, and Foley. How often does a 17 year-old in the Appalacian League make national news? And, he's not even the best one.
6. Manager: A-
No way does Wickman or Thome stay if Charlie was fired. The Tribe isn't going to win the Series this year, so, what the hell.
Charlie does do a great job with the young players. And, if the team misses the playoffs, Shapiro can then usher in the Eddie Murray Era without pissing off the players.
Overall, I give Shapiro a B for his work. He's in a very tough spot here, trying to re-build and still compete at the same time, and reduce budget. Hart drained the system of young hitters, and caused some bad drafts. I can think of a lot worse GMs to have here.
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I give Shapiro an A. He's in a tough spot, trying to retool this team, maintain fan loyalty, and cut payroll. Given the options available I don't know what anyone could have done better.
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Gramen artificiosum odi.
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I honestly have no grade for Shapiro because we won't know how any of the moves pan out until at the end of the season. You forgot his signing of Wickman, getting rid of Rocker for at least a serviceable minor leaguer. For the Alomar trade, how about if Snyder develops?
Anderson signing at 200Gs or 1 million will be worthwhile even if he doesn't start all the time. He is a good defensive replacement for now, especially while cabrera is out.
Wohlers puzzled me especially since it came after the big trade, but at 4 million, it really isn't that big a dip in the pocket book. What oculd we have signed for that much?
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Until the jury hands in a verdict on Escobar-Traber-Bradley and the last two drafts I will give Shapiro an Incomplete.
Signing Wohlers to a two year deal is puzzling to me but with "whirlpool Shueys injury history and Baez's insertion to the rotation it makes sense. Jeff Shaw didn't want to come here so i believe Shapiro is banking on Wohlers having a complete recovery from TJ surgery as Karsay did.
While Anderson was a low risk move i don't want this old stiff getting regular Playing time, it is sickining to hear things like "If Brady hits .250 he will be an asset or whatever. If this is a transition year you play young players such as Bradley and even 26 year old Karim Garcia who could be the lightning in the bottle like Cordova was last season.
Charlie in my view will be gone after this season and replaced by Eddie Murray.
In judging Shapiros overall performance i hold him to the same standard that i have for OSU Coach Jim Tressel, 4-5 yrs to implement his plan, by then we should have a much clearer idea of what we have in the aformentioned players in addition to Corey Smith-Denham-Martin-Herrera-Vic Martinez-etc. and Danyz Baez's move to the rotation.
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I applaud everything he has done except...
Picking up Cholly's option
Signing Anderson
Signing Wolhers.
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srg,
The only way Anderson gets into the lineup is if he proves that he can be a leadoff hitter. Right now it is a debate as to where to put Lawton, and will it be better for Lawton to move to the leadoff spot and move someone else into the 3 hole. Unfortunately, with Fryman struggeling, he is not an option in that hole or the third hole. I guess the lineup might look like this with Anderson playing the 4th OF.
Lawton
Omar
Burks
Thome
Ricky
Branyan
Fryman
Bradley
Diaz
I would rather have Ricky bat sixth since he is totally not the prototypical fifth hitter, but I want to divide Branyan and Thome even more. Right now, Ricky is a better hitter then Fryman so deserves to bat higher.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by the teacher:
I give Shapiro an A. He's in a tough spot, trying to retool this team, maintain fan loyalty, and cut payroll. Given the options available I don't know what anyone could have done better.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
What a surprise you giving Shapiro an A. He could trade the whole team and you would still be telling us what a wonderful job he is doing.
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I listened to Shapiro on Rome the other day and I was actually beginning to believe that maybe in time he is the right man for the job. He certainly sounds intelligent. Then he went on to describe the offer the Mets made for Alomar as "compelling." Now believe me when I say I have moved on since the Alomar trade. But no way on earth was the package that the Indians received for Alomar compelling. If that is his definition of the word I hate to think of who or what he might trade Colon or Thome for.
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Compelling is defined in so many different terms. we traded a HOF player. But he is one of 25 players on the team. We got in return a player who is 3 years younger and nearly his equal offensively, maybe 10 RBIS and 5 HRs over the entire season. We also got an up and coming set up guy in Riggan. He hasn't shown it much this spring, but from his minor league and previous major league track record, he seems to be the real deal.
We also got a possible future All Star OFer in Escobar, potential wise I admit, but still better then anything we have in the farm system, and an almost lock for the 3-4 starter slot in 2003-2004.
So in other words, we detracted from one position, 2B, with the loss of Alomar, but with the way Ricky has been playing, it may not be the biggest downgrade in the world, and we upgraded our outfield for this year, and we probably upgraded the bullpen even more, and upgraded the farm system by a lot. I think that is what Shapiro found compelling. He wanted quantity with some quality, and was willing to give up extreme quality to get it. It is like trading a Mercedes for a bunch of Camrys. If you need the Camrys more because of a bigger family need for quantity, then you give up the Benz.
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When Shapiro said "compelling", he really meant "best offer". Sheffield wasn't the answer, and the Yanks had no pitching to offer. No one else wanted Robbie and his next contract. If all we got was Lawton, Traber, and Riggan, this is a good trade. If Escobar shows up, it's a great trade. The Mets BETTER sign Robbie, or Mets fans will be an angry mob in 2004. Traber was their replacement for Leiter, and Escobar was the only OF prospect. Lawton cost them their #2 starter, and the other pitchers in the rotation were pissed to see Riggan go.
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