DiBiasio: "No Guarantees Indians TV Deal Will Be Done By Opening Day"

On the Coco Crisp trade:

The trade has been looked at as a good deal for both teams by people around baseball.  However, he feels the Indians made the Red Sox overpay for what they absolutely needed, which was a replacement for the departed Johnny Damon.  The Indians obtained a good right-handed reliever in Mota who prior to last season was one of the top setup men in baseball, a good catcher in Shoppach with good power and defense, and a can’t miss type prospect in Marte who provided something the organization lacked: a legit 3-4-5 hitter, not to mention at a position (3B) which is tough to fill in the majors.

Dibiasio also clearly stated that the Coco Crisp trade was not a deal to cut salary, and that it was strictly a baseball decision.  The Coco trade gave the Indians some great talent in return, and also did provide some payroll flexibility to make a serious move at the All-Star break if such a player is available.

On Bob Howry:

The Indians chose not to pursue Howry not because of money, but because it was a baseball decision.  At the end of the season, Howry came to the Indians and said he wanted to be a closer and wanted to be paid like one (requested $4 million per season).  The Indians felt he was not a closer, and therefore did not want to pay him at his demands.  DiBiasio also said Howry didn’t start to throw the ball with real velocity until the end of June, and that they look at Fernando Cabrera as a possible option to close games in the next year and a half, if not by the end of this season.

On the White Sox:

DiBiasio felt there is a general feeling in the organization the White Sox could revert back to the dysfunctional family they think the White Sox are, and Ozzie Guillen’s recent comments only enforce that belief.  On paper, he feels the White Sox did some nice things this off-season, but he was quick to note that the Indians lost nine one-run games to the White Sox last year and feels if they can do better in that department they can make up some ground with them.

Situational hitting is something the organization is really stressing after their struggles last year, and is a big reason why they brought in Luis Rivera as a coach.  He made sure to point out that situational hitting does not mean more bunting, as he feels bunting is “not a good thing” until the 8^th or 9^th inning.

On Blake and Boone:

The last 100 games of the year, the organization felt Boone played well.  They knew he would struggle at the outset, although never thought it would take him 3-4 months to shake off the rust.  Going into last season, the Indians felt that adding Boone at 3B and moving Blake to RF was a good move.

The Indians are very interested to see how Boone performs in 2006 since he now is a full season removed from the injury.  On Wedge having tolerance with Blake, Boone and Broussard in 2006, DiBiasio was quick to not that “options dictate whether a manager has patience or not.”  Meaning, there were no options to replace the “Killer B’s” last year, but in 2006 there are now options to turn to.

On Andy Marte:

Boone will be the Indians 3B to open the season provided that he is healthy, regardless of how Boone or Marte perform in Spring Training.  Shapiro feels that Marte needs 100-200 more at bats in AAA to finish him off.

On the movie “Major League”:

DiBiasio was given script approval by Hank Peters for the movie.  All content in the film had to be approved by DiBiasio, and the only thing he had removed from the movie was a comment on Rocky Colavito.  DiBiasio didn’t mention what was removed, but did make reference to Colavito being one of his favorite players.

When asked why the movie was filmed in Milwaukee and not Cleveland, he responded by saying that Milwaukee was not much a union town versus Cleveland, and there was a difference of about $3-5 million to film in Milwaukee instead of Cleveland.

He did share an interesting bit of trivia, in that the Indians actually stopped a Saturday night fireworks night against the Seattle Mariners.  Producers of the movie wanted some shots of the stadium filled with people and with no one on the field, and on that night there were around 70,000 fans in attendance.   The Indians and Mariners agreed to an extended 7^th inning stretch of about 60-80 seconds and all players remained in the dugouts.  All, except for Scott Bailes.  DiBiasio mentioned if you look close enough, you can see Bailes doing jumping jacks in the bullpen, which in old Municipal Stadium was on the field.

On promotions for the 2006 season:

Lots of promotions will be announced in a press conference next Friday February 24^th.  They still will have the half price bleacher tickets in April and May for fans who bring a Pepsi can, and also discounts to fans that use their Giant Eagle card.