Source: Johnny Damon close to signing with Indians.

[Huber.]

I really do not understand the haste to ship Kotchman to the bench. He is the best defensive 1st basemen we have had in years! Fucking hell guys!

Love me some defense. Defense wins championships in baseball.

 

[Stark]

I really do not understand the haste to ship Kotchman to the bench. He is the best defensive 1st basemen we have had in years! Fucking hell guys!

I meant if he keeps going at the pace he is at. If he is batting .167 in the middle of May, I don't want him in the lineup.

 

[I.K.W.T]

I meant if he keeps going at the pace he is at. If he is batting .167 in the middle of May, I don't want him in the lineup.

Our entire team is at .187. Want the entire team to not be in the lineup? Fucking nitpickers.

 

[Huber.]

Our entire team is at .187. Want the entire team to not be in the lineup? Fucking nitpickers.

Yes...well Santana and Droobs can stay and maybe Kipnis but the rest can GTFO at this point.

 

[macbdog]

Probably will see Duncan playing more first base against lefties, and spell Hafner at DH against lefties sometimes.

I'm thinking at least a platoon with Kotchman at 1B against righties, with Duncan playing somewhere everytime a lefty is on the mound. I don't see this cutting back his ABs that much.

 

[Real Deal]

Kotchman is good for 2 things.

1. His glove.

2. Groundball's to the 2nd baseman in a situation where a runner is on 3rd, less than 2 outs.

Point is, bring him in the top of the 7th!

 

[Steve_424]

Kotchman is good for 2 things.

1. His glove.

2. Groundball's to the 2nd baseman in a situation where a runner is on 3rd, less than 2 outs.

Point is, bring him in the top of the 7th!

I don't think Kotchman is a .306 hitter (2011), nor do I think he is a .217 hitter (2010) or a .095 hitter (2012 so far). I think his career average - .266 - is about what we can expect, and what the Indians expect of him. If he is playing excellent defense - and remember, statistically, he is one of the best defensive 1B of all-time - and hits .266, he's worth having in the everyday lineup. Our offensive woes aren't tied to him, they are tied to Cabrera (.217), Choo (.167), Kipnis (.095), and Santana (.211) not producing like they should so far. If those four players don't hit, it doesn't matter if Kotchman bats .400...they Indians aren't going to win.

The addition of Damon allows flexibility for the Indians - every day Aaron Cunningham - a pure bum - would have previously been in the lineup, either Damon or Duncan will now be in his place. Between Hafner's health concerns, Damon's age, and Duncan truly being a part-time quality player, there will be plenty of AB's to go around.

 

[AZ_]

Nope, he's going to ground to second everytime.

Cuz you saw him do it once in the game you were actually watching.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

Nope, he's going to ground to second everytime.

Cuz you saw him do it once in the game you were actually watching.

To be fair, in his last game he literally grounded to second during every at bat except his last one where he flew out to the outfield. I remember someone commenting about it in the game thread and then I kept an eye on it.

 

[macbdog]

FTR, I think Johnny Damon is a washed-up douche bag. I mean, just check out one of the pictures from his site:

Frankly, signing him is the equivalent of several years ago when the team signed Brady Anderson.

Thing is, I think the Tribe knows this, too. What they also know is that they need offense, and this move speaks to how desperate they are to get something going.

 

[Nom]

Nope, he's going to ground to second everytime.

Cuz you saw him do it once in the game you were actually watching.

I get your point - but the dude has 13 groundballs, 4 fly balls and 2 line drives this year. It took like 3-4 games for him to get one out of the infield.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

This potentially means that Brantley will move to the bench when Sizemore gets healbahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, yeah fucking right.

 

[Huber.]

So it's not official....still arguing over $250.

 

[elcheato]

They aren't going to officially sign him until he is ready to play, because it'd be wasting a roster spot while he gets ready for a week.

 

[Huber.]

They aren't going to officially sign him until he is ready to play, because it'd be wasting a roster spot while he gets ready for a week.

Umm no. The Indians haven't officially signed him to a minor league contract yet or officially made any announcement yet that his is all true. He will first be signed to a minor league contract then major league after that but they haven't announced it yet. It's not official.