In Shapiro I trust, and in Vic I will miss

[fudd]

Mark Shapiro has been put in a tough position. When money is tight, you only have one chance to get it right. Small market teams' window of opportunity is small. We had our window in 2007.... we miss it by 1 game. We tried to carry the success over into 2008 and 2009, but the hangover from 2007 still gloomed above our heads. Shapiro was given nothing, yet he managed to assemble a world series calibur team; one that knocked the NY Yankees from the playoffs, and one that almost made it to the world series.


However, we missed our opportunity, and it's time to rebuild. I know a lot of us grew attached to Vic over the years, and rightfully so, but we have to accept the fate of being a small market team in a bad economy. It's not fair that we have to trade away our favorite players year after year, but that's the way it is.


I wanted this thread to be a reminder that Shapiro is not the bad guy. He's been with this team a long time. He was running the minors while John Hart was here, so it's not like we brought some evil outsider in here.


Also, I wanted to say that I will miss you Victor Martinez. You are one of a kind. You've shown me more passion and desire than any other player I've ever seen. I shared tears with you on a chiily October night in 2007, and that is a moment I will never forget. I wish you the best of luck, because you absolutely deserve it.

 

[Silky Smooth]

That's it. Im rocking a VMart avatar until i get sick of it. I freaking miss him.

 

[Spectre]

I'll miss Victor too and I have definite respect for Shapiro's trading ability but in the end, Shapiro will be known for this...

2009
# Ov Name
1 15 Alex White RHP
2 63 Jason Kipnis CF
3 94 Joseph Gardner RHP
4 125 Kyle Bellows 3B
5 155 Austin Adams RHP

2008
# Ov Name
1 29 Lonnie Chisenhall 3B
2 76 Trey Haley P
3 107 Cord Phelps 2B
4 141 David Roberts P
5 171 Zach Putnam P

2007
# Ov Name
1 13 Beau Mills 3B/1B
4 137 T.J. McFarland P
5 167 Jonathan Holt P

2006
# Ov Name
1 39 David Huff P
2 56 Steve Wright P
2 57 Josh Rodriguez 2B
2 69 Wes Hodges 3B
2 75 Matt McBride C
3 101 Adam Davis SS
4 131 Ryan Morris P
5 161 Chris Archer P

2005
# Ov Name
1 14 Trevor Crowe of
1 33 John Drennen of
2 62 Stephen Head 1b
3 94 Nick Weglarz 1b
3 102 Jensen Lewis P
4 124 Jordan Brown 1b
5 154 Kevin Dixon P

2004
# Ov Name
1 6 Jeremy Sowers P
2 47 Justin Hoyman P
3 77 Scott Lewis P
4 107 Chuck Lofgren P
5 137 Mike Butia OF


2003
# Ov Name
1 11 Michael Aubrey 1B
1 18 Brad Snyder OF
1 31 Adam Miller P
2 48 Javier Herrera C
3 78 Ryan Garko C
4 108 Ben Harrison OF
5 138 Juan Valdes OF

2002
# Ov Name
1 22 Jeremy Guthrie P
1 33 Matt Whitney 3B
1 41 Micah Schilling 2B
2 63 Brian Slocum P
2 72 Pat Osborn 3B AA
3 82 Jason Cooper H
3 94 Dan Cevette P
4 124 Fernando Pacheco 1B
5 154 Ben Francisco OF

2001
# Ov Name
1 17 Dan Denham P
1 27 Alan Horne P
1 35 J.D. Martin P
1 43 Mike Conroy OF
2 51 Jake Dittler P
3 97 Nick Moran P
4 127 Travis Foley P
5 157 Marcos Mendoza P

You can count the number of successful major leaguers on one hand.

Woof.

 

[Chris]

The drafts have gotten better although I wasn't a HUGE fan of this year's. I love Lonnie Chisenhall. What's his time table?

 

[elcheato]

The drafts have gotten better although I wasn't a HUGE fan of this year's. I love Lonnie Chisenhall. What's his time table?

Probably 2 years. He'll go into Double A next year I'd bet, then in 2011 he'd be in the big leagues or Triple A and get the call later.

 

[PIP]

Victor is the only guy that has played for this era of Indians that could have played in the last era...

 

[johnnycake44022]

I found it a bit strange when Shapiro was being interviewed during the game tonight that he said that the drop in salary for next year would allow him to be more flexible in signing free agents for next season. I guess I thought this purge signaled a move to drop payroll and play the young talent we have in the minors. I suppose it makes sense (maybe pitching), but I was a bit surprised.

After the pain subsides, I think we will be alright after these trades. Its going to be fun to watch these kids play next year with no expectations. This year and last was just painful, especially with what happened in 2007. They, as a team, never got over that and never would have and really didn't have the talent to win it all.

 

[Chardon]

i <3 you victor. Im ganna miss him. Shapiro... i have no words for him. 10000000000 dollars says he sign anyone that will help us. I have lost trust in him. I dont remember his words correctly but " We are positioning ourselves to be a contender year in and year out from now"

 

[Gunther]

Next year will be rough, but I agree that it will be fun to watch the kids play. No expectations.

I'm a little afraid of the "free agents" that we may be pursuing. Since you can't pay a Cy Young winner at $9M or an All Star, Silver Slugger-winning catcher at $7M, just what type of free agents are we going to be seeing? David Delluci types? If so, don't bother. Let the kids play. The last thing we need is a has-been or never-was free agent class taking playing time away from those we are developing for the future.

Goodbye, Victor. I'm torn, buddy, because I want to see you win a ring, but I hate the friggin' Red Sox. You were a real class act here in Cleveland.

 

[johnnycake44022]

Next year will be rough, but I agree that it will be fun to watch the kids play. No expectations.

I'm a little afraid of the "free agents" that we may be pursuing. Since you can't pay a Cy Young winner at $9M or an All Star, Silver Slugger-winning catcher at $7M, just what type of free agents are we going to be seeing? David Delluci types? If so, don't bother. Let the kids play. The last thing we need is a has-been or never-was free agent class taking playing time away from those we are developing for the future.

Goodbye, Victor. I'm torn, buddy, because I want to see you win a ring, but I hate the friggin' Red Sox. You were a real class act here in Cleveland.

I agree.....save the dollars for a day in which we are competitive. Was a weird comment to me. I will say this, while I expect the team to struggle next year, I would be willing to bet they have a better record next year then they end up with this year.

 

[Gunther]

I will say this, while I expect the team to struggle next year, I would be willing to bet they have a better record next year then they end up with this year.

Ha Ha! I bet you're right! Any time I think I have the game of baseball figured out, I get surprised by something new and unexpected. What a game.

 

[MoFlo]

i <3 you victor. Im ganna miss him. Shapiro... i have no words for him. 10000000000 dollars says he sign anyone that will help us. I have lost trust in him. I dont remember his words correctly but " We are positioning ourselves to be a contender year in and year out from now"

Do you really think that he doesn't want to make this team a contender again?

He's trying to build a Championship caliber team in a small market with cold weather in a bad economy with little revenue coming in..

What the hell do you want him to do?

We were piss poor last year with Lee & Martinez.. we were piss poor this year with Lee & Martinez..

Next year would've netted the same results, as we couldn't have added anybody via Free Agency except depth guys we can afford.. and we would've had basically the same team..

 

[col63onel]

Victor is the only guy that has played for this era of Indians that could have played in the last era...

John Hart, who's "ace" was Charlie Nagy, would beg to differ with respect to C.C. and Cliff.

Also check out Hafner's run from 04-06. Right up their with the bets years Belle, Thome and Ramirez ever had.

 

[fudd]

I hope Carlos Santana is like Victor. I mean on the surface, Santana seems to be a clone of Vic's. Switch hitting catcher with great discipline, hits for average, good power, intelligent hitter. Who knows, maybe he'll helpl fill the void.

 

[Chris]

I hope Carlos Santana is like Victor. I mean on the surface, Santana seems to be a clone of Vic's. Switch hitting catcher with great discipline, hits for average, good power, intelligent hitter. Who knows, maybe he'll helpl fill the void.

From what I hear, Santana has swagger and emotion like Victor did too. He's a guy I'm pretty pumped about and really hope he's a smash hit for us.