The Indians have released the minor league spring training schedule, here’s when, where, and who the Clippers will be playing in Arizona:

Friday, March 16^th vs. Nashville (Milwaukee)
Sunday, March 18^th at Round Rock (Texas)
Monday, March 19^th vs. Louisville (Cincinnati)
Tuesday, March 20^th at Albuquerque (Los Angeles NL)
Wednesday, March 21^st vs. Albuquerque (Los Angeles NL)
Friday, March 23^rd at Louisville (Cincinnati)
Sunday, March 25^th vs. Louisville (Cincinnati)
Tuesday, March 27^th at Albuquerque (Los Angeles NL)
Thursday, March 29^th vs. Charlotte (Chicago AL)
Friday, March 30^th at Nashville (Milwaukee)

Home games played in Goodyear, AZ
All games start at 1:00pm Arizona time

Every Monday evening at Huntington Park will be a Sugardale “Dime-A-Dog Night”. Here are those dates:

April 9^th vs. Indianapolis, 6:35pm
April 30^th vs. Pawtucket, 6:35pm
May 21^st vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre, 6:35pm
June 11^th vs. Charlotte, 7:05pm
June 25^th vs. Lehigh Valley, 7:05pm
July 16^th vs. Louisville, 7:05pm
July 30^th vs. Rochester, 7:05pm

* While we’re on the subject of schedules, here is a look at the Huntington Park promotional schedule. Keep checking back as things are being added all the time!

* When the Clippers visit Toledo, the broadcast will be originating from new surroundings. The Mud Hens are renovating the Fifth Third Field press area, to create a club area for fans to view the game from behind home plate. We’ll let you know how it looks when the Clippers arrive in the Glass City on April 21^st .

* Former Clippers catcher Damaso Espino has signed a minor league contract with the White Sox. Espino, 28, played in 2009 and 2010 with Columbus. He’s a career .266 hitter over twelve seasons. Damaso is the cousin of Clippers pitcher Paolo Espino. He actually aided in bringing Paolo’s family to Florida from Panama when the younger Espino was still in high school.

* Carlos Pena signed a one year, $7.5 million deal to return to the Tampa Rays last week. That means the Indians will likely either pursue Casey Kotchman to fill the perceived void at first base or they’ll enter spring training with the options they already have in the organization.

Matt LaPorta is the incumbent, but his struggles have opened the door for someone else to grab the job. Carlos Santana will see some time at first, but not on a regular basis. Shelley Duncan is thought to be another part-time option.

* Are you energetic and available during summer evenings? If so, you should join the Clippers on-field promo team. You’ll get to mingle with mascots Krash and LouSeal, throw t-shirts to the crowd, and serve as judge/referee for the many on-field, between innings, competitions at Huntington Park. Sounds like fun to me! Contact Seth Rhodes at srhoades@clippersbaseball for more info.

* Jorge Posada announced his retirement on Tuesday. I’ve often said if there was a Clippers players version of Mount Rushmore, Posada would be on it. He put together a 17-year big league career, which included five AL All-Star Game appearances. He finished with a .273 average, 275 home runs and 1,065 RBIs in 1,829 games, including five World Championships.

Posada was never thought of as a superstar like Clippers teammates Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, but he served as the glue for some tremendous Yankees clubs. He played three seasons at Cooper Stadium (’94-’96), suiting up for 306 games.

* Thursday night I’ll be serving as the MC for the Wright State University baseball banquet. The keynote speaker is none other than Indians reliever Joe Smith. Smith is a Wright State graduate (just like myself) and he follows former Seattle General Manager Bill Bavasi, Reds manager Dusty Baker,  Reds broadcasters Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley, George Foster, Steve Garvey, and Jim “The Rookie” Morris as featured speakers at the event.

Wright State, a member of the Horizon League, has made two of the last three NCAA Tournaments and three appearances over the last six years.

* Only 72 days until the Clippers open the season against the Louisville Bats. If you haven’t purchased tickets yet, what is wrong with you? Seriously, what’s the problem?

* According to sportsfangraph.com, the Clippers are 10^th among minor league baseball teams in Facebook and Twitter followers. If you haven’t jumped on board yet, check out the “Hometown Heroes” on these many social media platforms:
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Google +
YouTube

Check back for more soon!

I am far from Roger Ebert, but I figured this is a good place to dissect my recent viewing of “Moneyball”, the story of Billy Beane’s 2002 Oakland Athletics.

“Moneyball”, originally released as a book in 2003, focuses on the analytical/sabermetrics approach Beane adopted to get his ’02 squad into the American League playoffs after losing its’ star players (Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen ) to higher bidders in the free agent market.

Beane’s 2001 club won 102 games and earned the AL wild card berth (the most wins ever by a wild card team) before bowing out of the post-season against the Yankees. Knowing that his team couldn’t compete financially, Beane turned to the Bill James book of baseball, hiring Paul DePodesta from Cleveland and re-defining how players are analyzed while putting together a “rag tag” bunch that, at one point, won twenty straight games and claimed the AL West Division Championship.

My random thoughts…

* It’s easy to tell the story is sensationalized quite a bit. As I watched, I wondered how much Beane (or anyone for that matter) stepped in to point out discrepancies from the real story.

* I laughed when Beane visited Cleveland to discuss trades with Indians GM Mark Shapiro. Shapiro’s office was filled with front office members oddly whispering back and forth about each potential trade before giving him their collective decision.

* Former Clippers first baseman Carlos Pena is featured prominently in the film. Oakland manager Art Howe plays Pena at first despite Beane’s plea to start Scott Hatteburg. Eventually, Pena is traded, forcing Hatteburg into the lineup.

* Beane, a former first round draft pick (New York Mets, 1980), has flashbacks to his playing career. Beane is haunted by his status as a failed “can’t miss prospect” and remembers suiting up for the Tidewater/Norfolk Tides and Toledo Mud Hens.

* Some scenes in the film make the Oakland Coliseum look like it has the worst lighting in the history of baseball.

* I was surprised the film included Oakland’s quick exit in the 2002 playoffs, I figured it would end with the clinching of the division title and riding off into the sunset.

* I assume if I’m ever depicted in a film, Brad Pitt will play the role… either him or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

I found a few links regarding “Moneyball” that I found interesting, hopefully you will too…

Mark Shapiro shares his thoughts on Moneyball  (MLB.com)

Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Billy Beane & Michael Lewis talk “Moneyball” with Bob Costas (MLB Network)

Billy Beane Has Given Up on His Own Hollywood Ending (New York Times)

Art Howe Furious with Billy Beane over “Moneyball” (NBC Bay Area)

“Moneyball” review (Rotten Tomatoes)

Moneyball trailer (Apple iTunes)

Talk to you again soon!

RING YOUR BELL!

The Indians and Rockies completed a trade that sent RHP Zach Putnam to Colorado for RHP Kevin Slowey and cash (reportedly $1.25 million).

Slowey, 27, was traded from Minnesota to Colorado in December. He split the 2011 season between Minnesota, Triple-A Rochester, and the disabled list. He made 14 appearances in the bigs, eight starts. Slowey has a career 39-29 major league record with a 4.66 ERA in five seasons. His best season came in 2010 when won a career-best 13 games and posted a 3.99 ERA over 27 starts (three complete games).

His ability to control the strike zone is a major strength; the second round draft pick (2005) carries a 4.70 strikeout-to-walk ratio (third best in the AL since entering the league). He is 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA over four starts at Progressive Field.

The trade for Slowey comes on the heels of Fausto Carmona’s arrest in the Dominican Republic, but Indians GM Chris Antonetti said the Tribe has been courting the right-hander since before the recent developments.

Nonetheless, Slowey it looks like fill the void in the starting rotation and once Carmona’s situation is resolved his performance will dictate the Indians next move. Slowey does have one minor league option year remaining, so he can be moved up and down the system freely.

Putnam, 24, is 16-8 with a 3.83 ERA over 122 minor league appearances. He made his major league debut in September, pitching in eight games and allowing five earned runs in 7.1 innings.

The Clippers are now without Josh Judy, Zach Putnam, and Cory Burns. Some or all of that trio would have probably comprised the back of the bullpen in 2012. Now, Mike Sarbaugh will have to wait and see how things play out in spring training to determine who will be called upon late in games.

Nick Hagadone and Chen-Chang Lee would be the two incumbents that are most likely, assuming they don’t make the Indians roster. Only time will tell.

Enjoy the weekend!

So despite the overall lack of snow, late January is upon us. As a person who is not a fan of basketball, this is one of the worst times of the sporting year. The NHL is sloughing through the largely irrelevant regular season, you can only hear so much about the remaining teams in the NFL play-offs and the games are few. The 2 weeks between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl are interminable. After the Super Bowl, you have several weeks before spring training ramps up and it’s just a wasteland. Were it not for wrestling (the real version) I would be forced to pay more attention to the morass that is the republican primary debates. 

This time of year we need events that give us water-cooler (and message board, are there still message boards?) fodder-enter Roberto Hernandez Heredia.

The pitcher heretofore known as Fausto Carmona was arrested yesterday in the Dominican Republic while applying for a visa under an alleged false identity. Carmona is accused of really being Roberto Hernandez Heredia and may be as old as 31, rather than his purported 28, years of age. The Indians picked up Carmona’s $7 million option for the 2012 season with the assumption of his name, performance and age being real. Without the legal expertise, I would assume it would be within their purview to void the contract and cut ties with him. I don’t know if that’s the way to go or not and it may be irrelevant if Carmona is proved to be Hernandez and is prevented from reentering the United States for a protracted amount of time. If he is barred from returning to the States, the Indians would likely place him on the restricted list and not have to pay him for that period of time.

A scan of the comments section of the Plain Dealer website (why do I subject myself to the comment section of the Plain Dealer website?) reveals the vocal portion of the Indians fan base is insulted and outraged by Carmona/Hernandez actions and are calling for his removal from the Indians future plans. My 1st thought was, would these same fans write these same things if “Fausto Carmona” were just coming off of back-to-back 18-win seasons? My second thought was that who in the world could blame Hernandez for what he did? He certainly compromised moral integrity for a massive worldly benifit, but I don’t think he sold his soul to the devil.

Young ball players from largely impoverished nations who have the ability to alter their lives and the lives of their families in monumental ways may take the chance of getting caught in a lie for the potential reward. I’m not going to look down on them for it. How many of you used a fake ID or tried to lie your way into a bar or alcohol purchase before the age of 21? And that just for a Natty Light buzz! Many of these people live in shacks and face a life of poverty and baseball money is a chance for an immeasurably better life. Lying about your age in a business where age matters is wrong, but it is also as old a tradition (and in a vacuum, as underhanded) in the game of baseball as stealing signs. Maybe this ends justifying the means a slippery slope, but life is full of gray area and this is smack in the middle of it.

Some have equated this rationalization of the year-shaving phenomenon with PED use. Are both cheating? Yes, are they the SAME cheating? No. PED’s change how you are able to play the game; you cheat the game and your competitors. Telling a team scout that you are 16 instead of 18 doesn’t change your abilities, just the perceived value of those abilities in relation to your assumed peer group. Those guys are cheating teams out of signing bonus dollars and if they ultimately succeed, perhaps later contract dollars.

Is a 31-year-old Hernandez not worth $7 million in 2012 based upon his career arc? Baseball Reference lists Jason Schmidt as being a similar player and in his age 31 season (2004) Schmidt made $7.9 million on a contract he was in the middle of. Schmidt pitched far better at 31 than at 28. Randy Wolf made $7.5 at 30 years old in ’07. If Carmona had just signed a long-term deal for big money, the Indians may have thought about trying to void it, but given the current deal, I’d guess it would be unlikely they will try to take any action.

It’s too early to tell what this will do to the Indians 2012 roster, but it would appear likely that Carmona’s rotation spot is up for grabs which means opportunity for guys slated to be Clippers starters: Jeanmar Gomez, David Huff,  Zach McAllister, Scott Barnes and Corey Kluber. If nothing else, there’s a story line for Spring Training that didn’t exist on Wednesday.

More discussion later on how the Minor League signings that took place after the 2012 Clippers previews may affect the Columbus roster in April.

Questions and comments welcome rmitchell@clippersbabeball.com

While my kids are unhappy with the lack of snow we’ve received this winter, I couldn’t be happier. No salt in the driveway, no shoveling my walkway, and no scraping my car windshield until my arms hurt.

The local news stations seem to be dying for some snow. They built the first couple “dustings” of the year up to be actual snow storms. Not the case. I actually saw a woman “stocking up” at the grocery for a snowfall that failed to cover my street!

Having said all this, I figure we will soon get something significant weather-wise. It’s probably time for a trip to the home improvement store to get some snow-fighting supplies because like a hitter in an 0-for-18 slump… we’re due.

Clippings…

* The Indians signed OF Fred Lewis and RHP Jeremy Accardo to minor league contracts with invitations to big league spring training.

Lewis, 31, is a .267 hitter with 91 doubles, 21 triples, 27 home runs and 136 RBI in 517 games with San Francisco, Toronto, and Cincinnati. He hit .230 (42-183) with 7 2B, 3HR & 19RBI in 81 games with the Reds last year.

Accardo, 30, has made 235 major league relief appearances with the Baltimore, Toronto, and San Francisco dating back to 2005. He was the Blue Jays closer in 2007, earning 30 saves. Last season, he split time between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk.

The Indians list of non 40-man roster spring invitations now consists of 17 players:

ACCARDO, Jeremy RHP
ADAMS, Austin, RHP
AMBRIZ, Hector, RHP
LEE, Chen-Chang, RHP
RAY, Chris, RHP
SEDDON, Chris, LHP
STURDEVANT, Tyler, RHP
TEJEDA, Robinson, RHP
CARLIN, Luke, CA
CHEN, Chun, CA
HERNANDEZ, Michel, CA
PAGNOZZI, Matt, CA
LaROCHE, Andy, INF
LOPEZ, Jose, INF
HUFFMAN, Chad, OF
LEWIS, Fred OF
PIE, Felix, OF

* The Indians have come to terms with five of seven arbitration eligible players. Shin-Soo Choo, Justin Masterson, Joe Smith, Chris Perez, and Jack Hannahan all signed one year contracts. Only Asdrubal Cabrera and Rafael Perez remain un-signed and Cleveland has not gone to arbitration with any players since 1991. Arbitration hearings begin in February.

* Paul Phillips has signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. Phillips, 34, played 78 games with the Clippers last season and batted .237. He split time with Luke Carlin for much of the year.

* Michael Aubrey, a former Indians first round draft pick (11^th overall in 2003) has decided to retire. The 29 year-old first baseman, who has suffered through several injuries, played for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals organizations for the last two years. Aubrey hit four homers in a game last year for the Syracuse Chiefs.

* Cleveland Indians pitching coach Scott Radinsky has been rocking with his band Pulley. He is the lead singer for the group and was pictured in this tweet from the Rochester Red Wings at the House of Blues Hollywood. Radinsky was the Clippers pitching coach in 2009, Cleveland’s bullpen coach in ’10 and ’11, and was named pitching coach when Tim Belcher stepped down after last season.

* The Associated Press reported Thursday that Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona was arrested in the Dominican Republic for using a false identity. Reports say that Carmona’s real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia and he is 31 years old instead of 28.

The Indians released this statement:

“We were recently made aware of the situation that occurred today in the Dominican Republic and are currently in the process of gathering information,” said Cleveland Indians GM Chris Antonetti. “We are not prepared to make any additional comment at this time.”

That’s all for now. Keep checking back!

The Indians announced several moves this week, mostly internal items, including the addition of these six (non 40-man) players to major league spring training: RHP Chen-Change Lee, RHP Tyler Sturdevant, OF Chad Huffman, RHP Hector Ambriz, RHP Austin Adams, and CA Chun Chen.

Lee, the organization’s reining “Minor League Pitcher of the Year” was 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA in 44 games between Akron and Columbus. The native of Taiwan average 12.5 strikeouts per nine inning s last year and now ranks as the club’s #4 prospect according to Baseball America.

Sturdevant, a 2009 (27^th round) draft pick out of New Mexico State, split time between Columbus and Akron. He was 7-3 with a 2.65 ERA in 42 relief appearances.

Huffman played all of 2011 with the Clippers, posting a .246 average with 13 HR and 58 RBI. He tied for 4^th in the International League in walks (67) and finished 10^th in doubles (30). He was claimed off waivers from New York at the end of the 2010 season.

Ambriz was a Rule 5 Draft from Arizona in 2009. He missed all of 2011 recovering from Tommy John surgery after posting a 0-2 mark with a 5.59 ERA over 48.1 IP with Cleveland in 2010.

Adams, the club’s 5^th round draft pick in 2009, spent last season with Akron going 11-10 in 26 starts with a 3.77 ERA. He was an Eastern League All-Star and tied for second in wins. Adams is the #8 prospect in the organization according to Baseball America.

Chen, a native of Taiwan, was a free agent pickup in 2007. He spent 2011 with Akron, batting ,262 with 16 HR and 70 RBI. He finished tied for 4^th among Indians minor leaguers in RBI and tied for 6^th in HR.

 * The Tribe have inked three players to minor league contracts: INF Argenis Reyes (re-signed), INF Chin-Lung Hu, and RHP Willy Lebron.

Reyes, 29, is a .288 career minor league hitter over eleven with the Indians, Mets and Red Sox organizations. He’ll enter the 2012 season just 30 hits away from 1,000 for his minor league career.  He played in the bigs for the Mets in 2008 and 2009.

Hu, 27, spent last season in the Mets system, appearing in 22 big league games. He was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo on May 17^th and batted just .161 over 48 games. Hu, a native of Taiwan, is a career .296 hitter in the minors.

Lebron, 31, spent the 2011 campaign with the Kansas City Royals organization. He pitched in 32 games (one start) between Double-A and Triple-A, finishing 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA.  Lebron, a native of the Dominican Republic, is 8-6 with a 3.93 ERA over his career.

 * The Carolina Mudcats are officially in the family, signing a two-year Player Development contract to serve as Cleveland’s Carolina League (Class-A) affiliate. Mudcats ownership purchased the Kinston Indians and moved it Zebulon, NC (20 miles east of Raleigh) to replace the former Carolina club that now resides in Pensacola, FL.

The Indians will travel to Zebulon to play an exhibition game against Carolina on Tuesday, April 3^rd at 2:00pm. It will conclude the spring training/pre-season schedule with Opening Day coming on Thursday, April 5^th against Toronto.

* The Indians have invited the following players to the organization’s “Winter Development Program”: RHP Austin Adams, RHP Rob Bryson, CA Chun Chen, OF Aaron Cunningham, INF Juan Diaz, OF Tim Fedroff, OF Jordan Henry, LHP TJ McFarland, OF Thomas Neal, CA Roberto Perez, and RHP Tyler Sturdevant.

The program, in its’ 15^th year, runs from January 16-27 in Cleveland and Goodyear. The purpose of the program is to acclimate some of the organization’s upper-level prospects to Progressive Field, the city of Cleveland, and the Goodyear facility. The program featuring guest speakers including Team President Mark Shapiro, Manager Manny Acta, Cleveland Cavs GM Chris Grant, Browns Head Coach Pat Shurmur, Terry Francona, Jason Bere, Peter Gammons, St. Ignatius Football Coach Chuck Kyle, and Vanderbilt Baseball Coach Tim Corbin.

* You may notice a new logo on the right side of this blog. Consider that our version of a championship (or participation) banner. We were one of the Top 100 MLBlogs in 2011, checking in at #79 to be exact. I think if we move up a few spots we can qualify for the NCAA Tournament!

* The Indians signed RHP Chris Ray to a minor league contract this week. He’ll get a big league invite to spring training as well. Ray, 30, has a Major League record of 18-19 with a 4.10 ERA and 51 saves in 283 relief appearances with Baltimore, Texas, San Francisco and Seattle (six seasons). The Clippers actually faced Ray in his first career Triple-A appearance (May 31, 2009), he pitched two scoreless innings and earned a save for the Norfolk Tides.

* Former Indians/Clippers pitcher “Mr. Prefect” Justin Germano inked a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox. Germano threw the first perfect game in Clippers history and only the fifth 9-inning perfecto in 127 years of the International League. He left the Clippers in early August to join the Samsung Lions, who went on to win the Korean Baseball Organization championship and the Asia Series.

* The Tribe have hired Adam Everett as Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. Everett, 34, completed his playing career last season after appearing in 34 games for Cleveland. As Special Assistant, Everett will be in uniform during spring training and give infield instruction at both major and minor league camps.

* Indians pitcher Justin Masterson is making an appearance in Cleveland on Friday night, as a broadcaster! He will serve as the color analyst for Cleveland State University as the Vikings take on Butler. My friend, the “Voice of the Vikings” Al Pawlowski will call the play-by-play.

That’s all folks. Have a great weekend!

The Cleveland Indians are continuing their pursuit of a first baseman, but the options may be more limited by the week.  Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder were not realistic targets for the Tribe, and Michael Cuddyer inked a deal with Colorado back in December.

So who is left for the Indians to get?

The two biggest names remaining on the market are Casey Kotchman and Carlos Pena. The Indians have been linked to both in various reports. Tampa Bay has also been in serious talked with both players.

Kotchman, who turns 29 in February, batted .306 with 10 HR and 48 RBI in 146 games last year with the Rays. He’s played eight major league seasons with the Angels, Braves, Red Sox, Mariners, and last season with Tampa. Kotchman is a 6-3, 220 pounds, left-handed hitting former first round draft pick (2001, Angels). He carried a robust .378 on base percentage last season.

Pena, 33, is a former Clippers first baseman (2006 with the Yankees). He is a career .239 hitter over eleven big league seasons. Last year Pena batted .225 (up from .196 in 2010), but delivered 28 HR and 80 RBI. He’s played for the Rangers, A’s, Tigers, Red Sox, Rays, and Cubs.

To compare, Kotchman is a better “on base guy”, but Pena has more “pop” in his bat. Kotchman is a much better fielder (.998 fielding percentage compared to Pena’s .994).

If Cleveland can sign a free agent at first, it means Matt LaPorta likely begins the season with the Clippers with the opportunity to improve his game. If LaPorta is with the Clippers it puts Beau Mills situation up in the air. He could backup LaPorta with plenty of DH opportunities or go back to Double-A.

A signing would also mean Carlos Santana will primarily catch with sporadic chances at first and Shelley Duncan, assuming he makes the roster, will mostly play in the outfield. The Tribe could again be carrying five outfielders when camp breaks.

The Indians, and the fans, are hoping to scoop up a dependable first baseman and add some much needed offense before it’s time to turn on the electricity in Goodyear next month.

Balancing the budget…

It’s possible that the Tribe could get more aggressive in the Kotchman/Pena sweepstakes after arbitration is completed.

Shin-Soo Choo, Chris Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Jack Hannahan, and Justin Masterson are all arbitration eligible and the Indians will be spending more than $20 million on this group. That expense is already going to increase the club’s payroll from last year, so there is question as to whether or not there is room for a free agent addition.

For more on arbitration players, check out this post.

There will be plenty of competition for the Tribe’s 25-man roster when players report to Goodyear, Arizona next month. Anyone given an invitation to major league camp will use the spacious clubhouse and play in Cactus League games at 10,000-seat Goodyear Ballpark. Those not on the list will be relegated to the smaller lockers and will spend their time on the back fields behind the Player Development Complex, with very few eyes watching.

The question will be “Who is on the list?”

The list of non 40-man roster invitees to camp continues to grow with the recent signing of LHP Chris Seddon.

Seddon, 28, spent the last three seasons with the Seattle Mariners organization, pitching mostly with Triple-A Tacoma. Seddon has started 250 of his 266 appearances in the minors, posting a 4.64 ERA. He has pitched in the majors with Florida (2007) and Seattle (2010), totaling 17 games (4 starts). Seddon has a 7.03 ERA in the bigs.

Seddon joins RHP Robinson Tejeda, catchers Luke Carlin, Matt Pagnozzi, Michel Hernandez, infielders Andy LaRoche, Jose Lopez, and outfielder Felix Pie as non-roster invitees to Indians camp. Several others will be added, from inside and outside the organization.

Many of the players that open the season in Columbus will spend some time in major league camp. For younger players, it’s a great opportunity to be around the veterans that know the game at its highest level. For minor league journeymen, it’s another opportunity to get to “The Show”.

Clippings…

* The Indians have re-signed INF Argenis Reyes to a minor league contract. Reyes, 29, has been part of Clippers championships the last two seasons. Reyes was signed originally by Cleveland in 2001 and has bounced around quite a bit. Last season he started in the independent Can-Am League, but was re-signed on July 31st and re-joined Columbus. Reyes has won six championships in the minors, which is why he’s holding up six fingers in the team’s championship photo. Reyes is a versatile player and is great in the clubhouse, which is why Mike Sarbaugh likes him so much. Plus, he’s either really lucky or a proven winner.

* James Quinlan was named the Clippers new athletic trainer, replacing Michael Salazar upon his promotion to Cleveland’s staff. Quinlan has spent the last four seasons as the club’s rehab coordinator.

* More former Clippers have signed contracts for this season: Wil Nieves (Rockies), Ryan Langerhans (Angels), Nick Green (Marlins), R.J. Swindle (Cardinals), Yohan Pino (re-signed with Blue Jays).

* There are 85 days left until Opening Day at Huntington Park! Season tickets, partial plans, mini-plans, and single game tickets are all available. Check out the schedule! 

*Check out the Clippers on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and Tumblr!

The Cleveland Indians made no secret of their pursuit for offense this winter and they are looking everywhere for help. Last month, the Tribe acquired 25 year-old Padres OF Aaron Cunningham for bullpen prospect Cory Burns. The Indians (needing to open a 40-man roster spot for Cunningham) designated reliever Josh Judy for assignment, exposing him to waivers, and he was claimed by Cincinnati. Cleveland is hoping Cunningham, a .231 major league hitter, but .306 minor league hitter, will be a “sleeper addition” that can help the big league club (much like Jack Hannahan). However, the loss of Judy and Burns eliminates some of the organization’s bullpen depth and creates a vacancy in the back of the Clippers ‘pen. It’s no coincidence that Columbus has won championships each of the last two years when blessed with solid closers (Vinnie Pestano in 2010).

Josh Judy, 26, was the Clippers closer for much of last season, saving 23 games in 28 attempts. He struggled early in the season, posting a 6.43 ERA in May, but after raising his delivery point (getting the ball elevated higher than his ear before releasing it) Judy became a very reliable weapon at the back of the Clippers bullpen. He finished with a 2.68 ERA in 38 appearances.

Cory Burns, 24, seemed to be on the fast track to either inheriting the Columbus closer role (if Judy made the major league roster) or wrestling it away from the competition. He set an Akron franchise saves record last season (35 in 37 opportunities) and got an appetizer-sized portion of Triple-A hitters during the Governors’ Cup playoffs. Burns carries a remarkable 2.02 ERA over 130 career minor league games.

Now, the search is on for a new closer. The early candidates include Zach Putnam, C.C. Lee, and Nick Hagadone.

Zach Putnam saved nine games last season and has the “stuff” to pitch in that role. He has often times been in the setup role for Mike Sarbaugh over the last two seasons and despite suffering a few pitfalls, has been solid. The biggest concern surrounding Putnam is his streakiness, he allowed runs in consecutive games on a few different occasions and allowed 15 earned runs over 18 appearances in July and August.

Chen-Chang Lee is the organization’s reigning “Minor League Pitcher of the Year” after posting a stellar 2.27 ERA in 21 games with the Clippers. He did not allow an earned run in his first nine Triple-A appearances and statistically was better late in games (5.40 in 6^th inning, 1.93 in 7^th inning, 1.74 in 8^th inning, and 1.50 in 9^th inning). Lee, however, can’t easily overpower hitters with his fastball and with his lower arm angle delivery, some of the club’s powers-that-be may think he’s better suited for a different role.

Nick Hagadone looks like a closer at 6-5, 230 and throws hard enough to make hitters take notice. The lefty held Triple-A hitter to a .228 average over 48.1 innings and, at times, showed why Cleveland pursued him in the 2009 Victor Martinez trade with Boston. Like all the others on the verge of making a major league roster, he is looking to show the club he’s consistent enough for the big league. Maybe that audition will come in the Triple-A ninth inning role.

The Indians bullpen is currently among the best in baseball, which is why the Aaron Cunningham move was possible for General Manager Chris Antonetti. Like any team, the Indians gave away pieces where they have depth in order to acquire talent in an area that they are lacking. Only time will tell if this move will pay off.

In the meantime, we’ll wait to see who will be the next closer under the lights at Huntington Park.

Talk to you again soon!

I’m back from the holiday break, more than two weeks without a blog entry. I tried to spend that time decompressing and (mostly) managed to avoid Twitter, Facebook, and the television.

It helped that I was either on a beach or underwater…

Now, I’m ready to fire up the blog again and bring you all the baseball news (and nonsense) you’ve become accustomed to reading here…

• The Indian signed 29 year old reliever Robinson Tejeda to a minor league contract with a spring training invite. Tejeda (tuh-HAY-duh), a right-hander, spent the last four seasons with Kansas City. He pitched 31 games for Triple-A Omaha last season, the team Columbus beat in the Triple-A National Championship.

• The Clippers were named the Columbus Underground “Best Sports Team” of 2011. You would be hard pressed to find an organization that has won more awards than the Clippers.

• Toledo, Scranton Wilkes/Barre, and Durham announced that their entire coaching staffs will return for the 2012 season:

Phil Nevin will enter his second season as manager for the Mud Hens. The Hens were 67-77 last year. Nevin, 40, was a #1 draft pick in 1992 (Houston) and played 12 big league seasons.

Dave Miley (former Clippers manager) is one of the most successful skippers in Triple-A baseball. Four seasons in Scranton, four winning seasons. He has two Governors’ Cup Championships on his resume (2001 with Louisville and 2008 with Scranton).

Charlie Montoyo is back for his sixth season with Durham. He carries a 405-314 in five seasons with the Bulls, including five division titles, a Governors’ Cup Championship and a National Championship. Neil Allen (former Clippers coach) will return as his pitching coach.
 

• The Cleveland Indians are returning to the airwaves in Columbus. The Tribe will be heard on WBNS-AM (1460) this season.

• Party suites for the 2012 season are now available at Huntington Park. There are a great way to entertain friends, make new friends, impress the family, or entertain clients!

Lastly, “The Countdown” is officially on: 42 days until pitchers and catchers report to sping training, 90 days until Opening Day!

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!