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Where Are They Now? - 2007 Cleveland Indians Playoff Team

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Stark

The Winds of Winter
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Pitchers

Rafael Betancourt (age 37) - Betancourt is currently a relief pitcher/closer for the Colorado Rockies, and has been with the team since the Indians traded him in 2009 for Connor Graham.

Joe Borowski (age 41) - Borowski is now a sportscaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks following his retirement from baseball in 2009. His last MLB appearance was with the Tribe in 2008.

Paul Byrd (age 42) - Byrd retired from baseball in 2009, after spending a season and a half with Boston. The Tribe traded Byrd to Boston in 2008 for Mickey Hall.

Fernando Cabrera (age 31) - Cabrera signed a minor-league contract in the offseason with a Spring Training invite with the Los Angeles Angels. Since he left the Tribe in 2007, Cabrera has pitched for the Orioles, Athletics, Red Sox, and Mets.

Fausto Carmona (Roberto Hernandez) (age 32) - Hernandez left the Tribe in the offseason and signed a one year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays where he is likely to compete for a rotation or bullpen spot.

Jason Davis (age 32) - Nobody really knows where Davis went following the 2008 season. It's rumored he is now pitching in Japan.

Aaron Fultz (age 39) - Fultz pitched great for the Tribe in 2007, but following an awful Spring Training in 2008, he was designated for assignment. The Indians were the last team that Fultz pitched in the MLB with. He is now currently the Pitching Coach for the Phillies' A-team, the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Roberto Hernandez (age 48) - The older of the two Roberto Hernandez's retired following a short stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers after the Tribe designated him for assignment. He is one of eleven players in MLB history to appear in over 1,000 games.

Mike Koplove (age 36) - Koplove made his last MLB appearance on September 26, 2007 for the Tribe, and bounced around with a few other minor league clubs before retiring in 2011.

Aaron Laffey (age 27) - Laffey signed a one year deal with the New York Mets in December with an invite to Spring Training. He has bounced around a good amount since he was traded by the Tribe for Matt Lawson. Wish we would of held on to this kid.

Juan Lara (age 32) - Lara was involved in a serious automobile accident on the night of November 24, 2007 in his homeland of the Dominican Republic. His car was struck at an intersection by a motorcycle. Both occupants of the motorcycle were killed instantly, while Lara was taken to a Dominican Republic hospital with life-threatening injuries, including broken ribs, a broken D2 vertebra and possible brain damage. His injuries were considered to be possibly career-ending. Lara was last reported as reporting to Indians Spring Training in 2009, and apparently he is still bouncing around in our minor league system.

Cliff Lee (age 34) - Wish we still had this guy. The 2008 Cy Young Award winner is still a member of the Phillies after we traded him there in 2009 (along with Ben Fransisco) for Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and Jason Knapp.

Jensen Lewis (age 28) - Lewis signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs in the offseason.

Tom Mastny (age 32) - Last update on Mastny says that he is currently pitching with Miami's AAA affiliate after his return to the majors. We originally sold his contract to Japan in 2009.

Matt Miller (age 41) - Miller retired in 2008 after making his last MLB appearance with the Tribe in June, 2007.

Edward Mujica (age 28) - Another guy I really wish we would of hung on to. Mujica is currently a member of the St. Louis Cardinals and tends to be their "Joe Smith" as he works their seventh innings.

Rafael Perez (age 30) - Perez left Cleveland during this past offseason and recently signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins who are looking to convert him into a starter.

CC Sabathia (age 32) - Sabathia is currently the ace of the New York Yankees. We traded him to Milwaukee in 2008 for Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, and two other guys you probably haven't ever heard of. LaPorta was initially the "big piece" we got in the trade, but I think we all know that Brantley is leaps and bounds better. Sabathia needs nine wins this season to crack the 200 plateau. Oh yeah, he's still 300 pounds as well.

Jeremy Sowers (age 29) - Sowers is currently a free agent, and hasn't pitched in the majors since he was on the Tribe in 2009.

Jason Stanford (age 36) - Stanford pitched his entire three year career for the Tribe and was an analyst for SportsTime Ohio. He is now the pitching coach of the Youngstown State University baseball team.

Jake Westbrook (age 35) - Westbrook is currently a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, and has been since we traded him for Corey Kluber in 2010.

Infielders

Victor Martinez (age 34) - V-Mart is currently the DH for the Detroit Tigers. We traded Victor to the Red Sox in 2009 for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price. He is looking to come off of ACL surgery for the Tigers in 2013.

Kelly Shoppach (age 32) - Shoppach recently signed a contract with the Seattle Mariners for the 2013 season. We traded him to the Rays during the 2009 offseason for Mitch Talbot (speaking of which, what happened to him?).

Josh Barfield (age 30) - Barfield pretty much fell off of the face of the earth after last playing for the Tribe in '09. He was last reported as signing a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles in Spring Training, 2012.

Casey Blake (age 39) - One of my favorite Indians of all time, Casey Blake, retired from the MLB on May 8th, 2012. We traded him to the Dodgers in 2008 for Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan, one of the few deals that have worked in our favor recently.

Asdrubal Cabrera (age 27) - One of the few remaining members of the 2007 Playoff team, Asdrubal projects to be the Tribe's Opening Day shortstop for 2013. If you were curious, we traded Eduardo Perez to get A-Cab back in 2006. Pretty good deal.

Ryan Garko (age 32) - Garko was another guy who pretty much fell of the earth the past few years. He recently signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. We traded Garko to the Giants in 2009 for Scott Barnes.

Chris Gomez (age 41) - This is the only guy on this whole list who I cannot remember for the life of me. Anyways, he last played for the Pirates in '08 and officially retired in 2010.

Travis Hafner (age 35) - Another one of my favorite Indians of all-time. We recently declined his club option and he signed a one year deal with the New York Yankees. He'll be wearing #33 after wearing #48 during his nine years as an Indian.

Andy Marte (age 29) - This kid was supposed to be the next big thing. Now he's playing in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Jhonny Peralta (age 30) - Hard to believe baby-faced Peralta is already 30. He's the current shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, uniting him with former teammate Victor Martinez. We traded Peralta in 2010 for Giovanni Soto.

Luis Rivas (age 33) - The backup infielder signed with the Pirates after leaving the Tribe in 2007 and later retired in 2009.

Mike Rouse (age 32) - Nobody really knows where Rouse is these days. He was last seen on the Tribe in 2007, but likely has taken his career .165 average and retired.

Outfielders

Shin-Soo Choo (age 30) - A fan favorite during his time in Cleveland, we sent Choo, Jason Donald, and Jack Hannahan to the Reds during the offseason in a three team deal and received Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers, Bryan Shaw, and Drew Stubbs. Choo projects to be the starting center fielder for the Reds for the 2013 season.

David Dellucci (age 39) - We designated Dellucci for assignment in 2009 and he later signed with the Blue Jays. He retired shortly after. On the bright side, he is married to one of the models on The Price is Right. Corey, I hope you can confirm. :chuckles:

Ben Francisco (age 31) - We sent Ben to the Phillies back in the Cliff Lee deal. He's bounced around with a ton of other teams, but now he's back in Cleveland after signing a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training with his former team in the offseason. Yay?

Franklin Gutiérrez (age 29) - Gutierrez was sent to the Mariners as part of a three team deal in 2009, and is still a member of the club. He won a Gold Glove award in 2010 and projects to be the starting center fielder for the Mariners at the start of the 2013 season. Very underrated, wish we still had him.

Kenny Lofton (age 45) - Who could forget Lofton's comeback with the Tribe where he hit the home run off of Dice-K in the ALCS? The Tribe was fittingly the last team Kenny played for. A six-time all star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and five time stolen base champion, Lofton left quite a legacy with the Tribe. He was inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame on August 7th, 2010. However, he fell short on the official Hall of Fame ballot in 2013, and will not be eligible for reinduction in 2014 and beyond.

Jason Michaels (age 36) - Michaels is currently a free agent, and last played with the Astros in 2011.

Trot Nixon (age 38) - You should of quit in Boston, Trot. After a pitiful year with the Tribe in 2007, Nixon went on to play his final year with the Mets in 2008. He officially retired in March, 2009.

Grady Sizemore (age 30) - It's a damn shame. That's all that can be said. Grady is currently a free agent and out until the All-Star Game at least in 2013. There's a solid chance in my book that he never plays another game in the MLB.
 
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Was at the game where Kenny hit the HR. Crowd was electric from start to finish, but Kenny's HR was the peak. Crowd was going nuts.

Still one my favorite live sports moments.
 
Did you do the research for this, SRStark? If so, great job and old school rep coming your way. If not, please cite the source.
 
Did you do the research for this, SRStark? If so, great job and old school rep coming your way. If not, please cite the source.

I used various things. ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports, some Wikipedia.

EDIT: I wrote all of this. I didn't copy/paste it from somewhere if that is what you are asking.
 
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Just a small thing, but Cliff Lee isn't still with the Phillies after we traded him there. He got traded to Seattle and Texas before returning to the Phillies.

Nice work on all this btw
 
Just a small thing, but Cliff Lee isn't still with the Phillies after we traded him there. He got traded to Seattle and Texas before returning to the Phillies.

Nice work on all this btw

Thanks.

And yeah, I know. I just didn't feel like throwing that in as well when he's on the team he was originally traded to.
 
Gotta love the Shot at the Indians trades

Betancourt was traded because he had an awful 08 and didnt have a bad start in 09 but it wasn't pretty either. not sure why you wish we still had Frankie G, he wouldn't make the MLB Roster this year as more then a 4th OF at best.

looking back the Indians won out on all of those deals but the Lee deal and maybe Sabathia deal but Brantley has been improving every year and is on track to be a .310 hitter this year and .330 next year if his current career path keeps up
 
I can't help but think how much better the Indians would have been the last couple years if we had signed Victor to that contract extension instead of Hafner.
 
Gotta love the Shot at the Indians trades

Betancourt was traded because he had an awful 08 and didnt have a bad start in 09 but it wasn't pretty either. not sure why you wish we still had Frankie G, he wouldn't make the MLB Roster this year as more then a 4th OF at best.

looking back the Indians won out on all of those deals but the Lee deal and maybe Sabathia deal but Brantley has been improving every year and is on track to be a .310 hitter this year and .330 next year if his current career path keeps up

I think I've earned the right to take a shot here and there at the Indians management after over a decade of being a fan.

EDIT: And I only count two intentional shots at trades.
 
BRB, starting a thread "Where Are They Now? 1920 Cleveland Indians World Series Winning Team".

Done. They are all dead. That was fast.
 
I checked the 1920 WS club, and the latest a guy lived until was 1990.

From the 1948 WS club, only Eddie Robinson (92) and Al Rosen (88) are still alive.
 
original post deleted

You're going at a mod with reckless abandon, who is nicely warning you stop rather than throwing a ban hammer on your ass. Not to wise.
 
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You're going at a mod with reckless abandon, who is nicely warning you stop rather than throwing a ban hammer on your ass.

I appreciate your sending out the lifeline, even if it did not arrive in time to prevent a short vacation.

I also deleted some of the needless back and forth that led to it.
 
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Still my favorite season as a fan. I don't really remember the 95 and 97 team real well, so that doesnt count. I remember when we clinched the central winning vs Oakland at home. I remember thinking we had a chance against New York, but never thought we could beat them. When we beat them, I was jumping in my room making weird noises. 3-1 against Boston and we screw it up. I know we would have beaten the Godamn Rockies in the World Series.

I blame Rovers Morning Glory for the Boston debacle. Carmona was scheduled to pitch when we were up 3-1. And earlier that morning, Dumb, from RMG broadcasted on the air that he was having an affair, messing with his mind.
 

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