There are times in life where you remember exactly where you were the moment something happened. More often than not, that “something” is a big event. For me, July 30, 2011 wasn’t exactly a big event, but rather a day that I will remember because it was my first experience seeing a trade go down right before my eyes. It was one of the biggest trades in recent Indians history and a lot has happened in the two years since.

The scene was Akron, Ohio on a beautiful Saturday night. It takes something very important to take me away from a Saturday night Tribe game, and that’s what was going on in the Rubber City. Drew Pomeranz was scheduled to make his fourth start for the Aeros, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Pomeranz had dominated the Carolina League, posting a 1.87 ERA in 15 starts with 95 strikeouts in 77 innings. That start never took place.

Pomeranz began to go through his pre-start routine, stretching, jogging, and playing some long toss with his catcher. After a brief chat with one of the coaches, Pomeranz ended his pre-start preparation and strolled back to the dugout. A different Akron Aeros player began warming up and it appeared that Pomeranz had been traded. He hugged several teammates in the dugout and sat on the top bench near the end of the dugout, looking rather uncomfortable. The best way to sum it up was that Pomeranz looked “fidgety”.

Working with my first smartphone, I began trying my best to find any information I could on the potential trade. Initially, Pomeranz was just scratched in the event of a possible trade. Shortly thereafter, it had been confirmed that Pomeranz would be the player to be named later in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade with the Colorado Rockies. I don’t remember the rest of the Aeros game. I heard the end of the Indians game on the drive home. Matt LaPorta hit a walk-off three-run homer off of Joakim Soria to push the Indians’ record to 53-51, as they desperately tried to hang on in the AL Central.

Jimenez would inexplicably make his scheduled start for the Rockies that night. He lasted one inning, walking four, giving up four runs on two hits. He threw 45 pitches, 21 were strikes, and left the game shellshocked.

The trade would probably be described as a win for the Indians, mostly because Pomeranz and White have not amounted to anything at the Major League level. Jimenez’s wins above replacement player for the Indians sits at exactly zero, making him a very replaceable commodity. In his 63 starts for the Indians, Jimenez is 21-26 with a 4.95 ERA. In 30 starts with the Rockies, Pomeranz is 4-14 with a 5.40 ERA. In 30 appearances, 27 starts, with the Rockies, White went 4-13 with a 6.30 ERA. Both Pomeranz and White are currently on the disabled list. White, now with the Houston Astros, had to have Tommy John surgery this past March. Joe Gardner and Matt McBride were also part of the deal. Neither guy has had an impact at the Major League level.

Jimenez clearly hasn’t panned out the way the Indians hoped he would. His velocity continued to drop and his margin for error went down along with it, as he has allowed 47 home runs in 354.1 innings, after allowing just 55 in 851 innings in hitter-friendly Coors Field. His strikeout rate dropped and his walk rate spiked. He’s been serviceable at best, while averaging less than six innings per start.

On the surface, the Jimenez trade looks like a win simply because he is actually contributing at the Major League level while Pomeranz and White have been awful and haven’t been able to consistently stay in the big leagues. Where the trade unequivocally failed is that the Indians used two good trade chips to acquire a player whose red flags have come to fruition. The velocity drop was evident in 2011. Jimenez had lost nearly three miles per hour in average fastball velocity from 2010 to 2011. In 2010, it was at 96.1 mph. In 2013, Jimenez’s average fastball sits at 91.4 mph. Not that velocity is everything, but a guy with poor command and control will have a very hard time sitting in the low-90s.

Of late, Jimenez has pitched well in the traditional stats, posting a 7-3 record with a 3.36 ERA since the start of May. In those 88.1 innings, however, Jimenez has allowed 129 baserunners and 11 home runs. Advanced metrics call for significant regression, with a much higher FIP and a very high left on base rate for a pitcher of Jimenez’s caliber. The Indians will no doubt enjoy it while it lasts and the job that Mickey Callaway, Kevin Cash, and Terry Francona have done with Jimenez is impressive. They got through to Jimenez, convincing him that he has to become a pitcher, not just a thrower. He can’t rely on upper-90s stuff anymore to get hitters out. By percentage, Jimenez is throwing the fewest fastballs of his career and the highest number of sliders and changeups this season.

Two years after the trade, we look back and call it a win for the Indians, but only by default. The idea of acquiring a cost-controlled starting pitcher with a team-friendly contract was admirable, and Jimenez’s performance in 2013 has kept the trade from being a major failure. Instead, it’s a minor failure, for failing to truly maximize the assets the Indians gave up.

As I said back on July 31, 2011 about the Jimenez trade, “It is the kind of risk you absolutely have to take in this market. You cannot sit idly by and hope that your prospects come through when you get the chance to get a proven pitcher.” Unfortunately, Jimenez wasn’t nearly as proven as we thought, though the prospects didn’t come through. Knowing what we know now, would you still make the deal again?

It’s two years later and the Indians are in contention with Jimenez playing a big role. It’s certainly not the way Antonetti and his staff envisioned it, but all things considered, it’s not the worst trade in Indians history.

One of the toughest things about writing a weekly column around these parts is that despite time passing by at what seems an accelerating pace, nothing much seems to change. There’s a balancing act if you’re not detailing each and every game between trying to inform and entertain versus often trying to come up with different ways to say that nothing has changed since last week.

Read more...

As much as I would love to see the Indians win the AL Central and topple the Tigers into some shame, let's keep things in perspective. Baltimore is sitting at 58-48, five games out of the AL East. Tampa and Boston seem to be in a war for the division and thus, have a nice hold on a wild card.Don't look now, but after taking it to Texas, the Indians are very much in the hunt for a wild card. You thought the only route to the playoffs was with the AL Central? Well, look again. The Indians are in the thick of things. If they can get to the dance by winning a chance to partake in the Wild Card playoff game, I would take it in a heartbeat.

But, that's getting ahead of things. While the Indians are just a half game back of the Orioles, they can see a division leader really close up ahead of them. And with five straight, they may be getting closer.

Somewhere, Hawk Harrelson is crying. Or, he's just not saying anything, because you know he's just a poor sport.

WHITE SOX - 2 | INDIANS - 2

W: Chris Perez (3-1)

L: Ramon Troncoso (1-3)

[BOXSCORE]

I'm not going to go into it. I mean, it is fun to bring up, but every time he comes up with a big hit, it is worth mentioning.

However, I'm actually kind of annoyed with myself in having to say it again, so I'm not going to say it. I'll just cut to the chase. Jason Giambi doesn't prove his usefulness with just a single walkoff home run.

Read more...

We've talked about magic, being special, being good, among other things. But now, you can say it with me if you need to. The Cleveland Indians are a playoff team. At least, a playoff contending team. If the postseason started today, on August the 2nd, your Tribe would be the second wild card and in the American League postseason.

If that isn't exciting to think about, then you need to go home and wallow in the sorrow of your misery with the Browns. That may have been a really harsh thing to say, but if that is the case, you probably deserve it.

This team is proving that it is for real. Unfortunately the Tigers and Royals are winning just as much as they are. The good news, they're winning regardless. With the Sox dispatched, the Indians get a nice three game series against the Florida Miami Marlins before the "Showdown for First Place" gets underway next week.

The way both teams are playing, that will probably be a showdown and first place will probably be in the balance, because neither team is losing to other teams right now.

WHITE SOX - 1 | INDIANS - 6

W: Justin Masterson (13-7)

L: Chris Sale (6-11)

[BOXSCORE]

As hard as you could try, the big story that has to be jumping out at you on this one is Ryan Raburn, who is really known around these parts as simply Rakin' Raburn. 

Read more...