I doubt anything Marte does in 2009 will change our plans for Jhonny/Droobs/Valbuena in 2010. If Marte proves himself worthy of a job, I think we'd probably just keep all four guys for those three spots.

Is Garko a free agent after this year?

this worries about me this deal; curious as to what some tribe fans think of garko...how is his D at 1st, he obviously hit big league pitching (any power left), and is the a FA after this year?

seems like a fair trade for both teams, got a lower end top-10 prospect of ours who was having a good year (12-3 ~2.4(?) ERA at single-a)

garko hits more singles than any player his size in history. pretty decent firstbaseman, no power whatsoever.

sounds like he will fit right in then

Is there a better team in baseball at playing themselves out of contention and then being the best team in baseball in the 2nd half?

I wouldn't be surprised if they traded Lee and VMart and still finished around .500.

^^

obv.

tribe up 4-3 in bottom 8th? check

tribe down 7-4 in top 9th? check

tribe down 7-5 with bases loaded and no outs in top 9th? check

tribe loses with tying run on 3rd? check

standard.

Victor Martinez: Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Foul, Foul, Martinez grounded into double play first to shortstop to pitcher, Cabrera scored, Carroll to third, Choo out at second.
Jhonny Peralta: Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Peralta grounded out to shortstop.

lololol

hopefully you at least had to watch that, and not see/hear it second hand.

watching it was special.

WAT

No, I saw a lot of DSFASRFGASDFSD on my Facebook feed. I've been packing and cleaning since I am moving this week.

I guess you guys aren't worried about the "Imminent" trade with the Phillies including Lee?

If contention in 2010 is the plan trading Lee for 3 guys in A ball is kinda wtfbbq.

Correction: Due to a poorly worded report on the story I believed that Carrasco, Donald, and Marson were A ball players. It turns out they are in AAA. Still wtfbbq though.

But Phils apparently scratched Carrasco, Marsen, and Donald today so here we go yay.

OK, more research indicates that this deal eats dicks by the boatload. Marson is yet another freaking catcher, Donald is a 24 year old SS hitting .236 in AAA, and Carrasco has an ERA above 5.

Quick summary of the Phillies prospects:

Knapp: the gem of the group, I think. He's a high ceiling SP who uses a fastball in the mid to high nineties. His K/9 of 11.7 at A ball is impressive, considering he's still 18 years old.

Carrasco: post hype prospect who's still only 22. 2 years ago, he was supposed to be our future #1 starter, but he's stalled a little on the way up, especially this year. The knock on him is composure, and being prone to the big inning. He's been unlucky this year, with an inflated BABIP. His K rate is still good (8.8 at AAA), and remember, he's still only 22.

Marson: 23 year old ML ready catcher who has good plate discipline, minimal power, and a limited ceiling.

Donald: He's had a disappointing year, battling injuries. But he's a middle IF who was blocked in Philly, and was a guy we may have tried at 3B next year. Not a ton of upside, but perhaps will be a solid utility guy. Think Placido Polanco, off the top of my head.

Basically, Shapiro is buying low on a couple of these prospects, like Carrasco and Donald. Knapp is very talented and may be deemed untouchable a year from now, and his development will swing the trade in one direction or another.

Carrasco is probably not a #1 starter - I would imagine his ceiling is #2. Still, he's quite young, and I agree with your assessment.

Knapp is the big prize and you've covered it all.

Who cares about Marson/Donald.

Good trade for both teams.

Carrasco was considered to have huge upside 2 years ago. He was untouchable in years past. Now, he's considered a 2 or 3 if things work out. He still is striking people out, has been healthy, etc. So Shapiro is buying low.

Right, he was untouchable before, but hasn't progressed much (though he has not regressed either). I was mostly agreeing with your assessment of it all - it's a buy-low scenario, but not to the effect that "LOL the Phillies are stupid to sell Carrasco low," because realistically Carrasco hasn't made the leaps forward that would have retained his #1 upside.

If that makes sense.

Yup, I agree.

Here's a writeup by a guy that intensely follows the Phillies minor leagues, and is sort of the source for who's legit in the system. He's a huge homer, so keep that in mind.

ummmmmmm, so who the **** are our starters for next year, the year we were SUPPOSED TO BE CONTENDERS AGAIN??!?!??!?

****.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/200...aded-to-philly

thought you would get one of Brown or Taylor.

We were supposed to contend THIS year, but it didn't work out, so we're "re-tooling" for 2011. Vic is going to get traded before Friday afternoon, and we're going to have a lot of new prospects in the system. I'm sure this is frustrating to some people, but it's the right decision. With us being forced to cut payroll, it makes sense to punt 2010 and grab a ton of young players.

While I realize some people are pissed about the return in the Lee trade, hasn't Shapiro more than earned our trust in trades? Say what you want about his signings and draft choices, but the dude has destroyed in 99% of the deals he's made. What was the last bad trade he made...Coco for Marte and Shoppach? And that wasn't even that bad when you think about it. If he likes Knapp and Carrasco, let's give him the benefit of the doubt; he's proven that he knows his ****.

you're right about everything. you are.

that doesn't make it any more digestible either though..

i just hate giving up on NEXT year too, though in my heart/head, i know that's what needs to happen.

we really have rebuilt the farm system in a month. if we can get another 3-4 guys for vic, as much as i love him, send him too. ****, we got 4 catchers ready to come up.

i love the indians. i mean, really love them. between browns/cavs/michigan/indians, i'd only sell my soul to see one of them win, and it's not even close. i trust in shapiro, for sure.

that said, it just isn't fun knowing we're a 70 win team next year too. it'll be fun to get to know these guys, and this really feels like when we rebuilt the team 15 years ago. at least SOME of these guys are gonna pan out. we'll sign them young to 5-6 year deals, and then lose them at their height. hopefully we get a playoff run or two out of them before then.

*sigh*

new prospects = love.

losing proven guys that we've grown up with = boo.

knowing that this had to happen = boo.

at least they (we) had the balls to do what had to happen, i guess..