Special_K19
04-20-2003, 08:05 PM
Posted on Sun, Apr. 20, 2003
Patience part of Tribe's plan
By Terry Pluto
Most fans want to see the kids play -- until they see them play.
Some fans then wonder why they don't play like veterans. Why do they get picked off base? Why do they throw to the wrong base? Why can't they throw strikes? Why do they get rattled?
We're seeing that right now from the Indians.
Some of us keep asking, ``Why do they keep playing like that?''
Because they're kids. Because kids make messes and break things when they play. Because this is what you get when you let kids play.
We should be OK with that.
We should not judge the Tribe by how it plays in the first week of April compared with the last week.
Rather, how does it play in April compared with June? And June compared with September? And are the mistakes increasing or decreasing?
This season really isn't about winning and losing. Rather, it's about learning to play the game the right way and figuring out which players should be a part of the team's future.
That also was what the Cavaliers were supposed to be doing in the past season. But they had poor leadership on the bench and players were allowed to pretty much run wild. The team never learned the basics, such as how to guard the pick-and-roll. The defense at the end of the year was no better than at the start.
The same can't happen with the Indians.
Manager Eric Wedge must insist that his players learn the mental part of the game, that they act as if they were pros. Can Wedge do it? That's something else we'll learn this season because he never has managed in the big leagues.
Here's what the Indians need to do:
• Keep Travis Hafner in the lineup. The guy should hit. He has nothing left to prove at Class AAA. He hammered everything in spring training. It's is imperative that they find out if he can help this power-challenged team.
• Not be surprised if Jason Davis is erratic. At this point a year ago, he was in Class A Kinston, where he lost five-of-six games to start the season. He then found his confidence, and skipped over Class AAA Buffalo to pitch with the Indians in September. He has a great arm and should be a very good starter. If not now, then soon.
• See if Josh Bard will hit and not panic if he struggles. He is a good defensive catcher. The pitchers like him. He gives Victor Martinez time to develop his catching skills at Buffalo.
• Don't be surprised if Brandon Phillips has a slow start at the plate. He has played 65 games in Class AAA. He's only 21. His defense has been surprisingly strong at second base, a new position for him. Besides, the Indians have no one else for second other than John McDonald -- and McDonald can be at third base in the next few weeks.
• Don't worry if Casey Blake flops. He's 29. The Indians found him in a baseball rummage sale. If he does figure it out, that's a bonus. If not, nothing is lost.
• Make sure Billy Traber gets regular work in the bullpen and, eventually, get him some starts. He was 17-5 in the minors last season and he is ready to show what he can do in the big leagues.
• Don't make final judgments on players now, especially the younger ones. Consider the difference in Milton Bradley between last season and this year. When a player is younger than 25, a year makes a huge difference. Bradley will be 25 at the end of May.
TALKIN' TRIBE:
• Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro had a long talk this week with Hafner. The big first baseman is just pressing, wanting to make the most of his opportunity. Shapiro assured him that he'd have a good long look, and just relax. The next night, he hit his first homer.
• Worth remembering is it took Jim Thome three tries over three years to finally stick with the Tribe. It took Albert Belle two years to stick with the Tribe. Brian Giles bounced up and down. So did Richie Sexson. Only Manny Ramirez was an immediate hit from day one in the majors, and he hit only .269 with 17 homers as a rookie in the strike-shortened 1994 season.
• Jeremy Guthrie has been terrific at Class AA Akron, allowing only one run in 14 innings. But Shapiro said the plan is for the right-hander to have at least 10 starts with the Aeros before moving to Buffalo, assuming he continues to pitch well.
• At Akron, Grady Sizemore is hitting .350, and at 19, he's the youngest player in the Class AA Eastern League. The outfielder was part of the Bartolo Colon deal with the Montreal Expos, along with Cliff Lee and Phillips.
• Some fans think Bradley is the biggest surprise this season. Not so, said Shapiro. ``Milton always had great natural ability. It's just a matter of him putting it together. The guy who has really opened eyes is Jake Westbrook.'' The 25-year-old right-hander had elbow surgery in the spring of 2002, and it's now clear his arm never regained its full strength until this season.
• Coco Crisp continues to hit at Buffalo, taking a .389 batting average with 10 walks in nine games into the weekend. Alex Escobar and Ben Broussard are a combined 10-for-59 (.167) with 25 strikeouts.
• The Indians need bullpen help, and Dave Elder should be up from Buffalo soon. He didn't allow a run in spring training, and he has had 6 2/3 scoreless innings with the Bisons. Dave Burba (1.64 earned-run average) also is pitching well, but the front office is trying to decide if he has enough stuff left to consistently help the team in the bullpen.
X X X
TALKIN' BROWNS:
• The Browns need a linebacker, a Ray Lewis-type. They have the 21st pick in the NFL Draft, and guess where Lewis was selected? How about No. 26 in 1996. Problem is, there are only supposed to be two very good linebackers -- Boss Bailey of Georgia and E.J. Henderson of Maryland. Both are supposed to be gone by the time the Browns pick. Mel Kiper of ESPN has Bailey rated No. 25. If that's the case, the Browns will jump at a chance to take him.
• The lack of linebackers in the draft is why the Detroit Lions signed former Browns Earl Holmes and Wali Rainer. It's why the Tampa Bay Bucs picked up Dwayne Rudd, whose signing bonus was a mere $200,000 and a contract of $750,000.
• The Browns continue to talk to Jamir Miller, but insiders continue to insist he'll end up with the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns have a $1.7 million offer on table for linebacker, in terms of a bonus plus a one-year contract. He can earn more with incentives. The Ravers supposedly have offered a $1.5 million bonus plus a first year that can worth another $2 million. Miller had been hoping for at least a $4 million bonus, but his serious Achilles injury has teams worried.
• Former Browns defensive back Corey Fuller will be speaking about his faith at Coleman State Prison in Florida this Easter weekend. Fuller is with the Ravens, where he is set to start at safety.
• Mike Doss of Ohio State has dropped into the second round, according to some NFL types. They are worried about his speed and his reputation of not being a good cover-man. Well, some team will get a terrific strong safety in the second round if they take Doss. This sounds like how some teams backed off Antoine Winfield, who was picked 23rd in 1999 and has become a star with the Bills. At 5-foot-9, the Garfield product was supposed to be too small. Guess again.
X X X
TALKIN' CAVS:
• Cavaliers General Manager Jim Paxson said Darius Miles was the partly the victim of expectations, people believing Miles should play as well as Andre Miller since the two players were in the same trade. But Miles never showed the energy and joy of the game that he often showed with the Los Angeles Clippers, and that has nothing to do with expectations -- just effort.
• Miles will be a free agent at the end of next season. He told Paxson he was ``embarrassed'' about how he played this season. He has every reason to work hard this summer to develop a jump shot and some inside moves. But he also seems to be such a passive kid, a little shocked that the game no longer comes easy. Yes, he has been in the NBA for three years, but it's easy to forget that he's only 21. But that also makes it hard to evaluate how he will play.
• What is the state of the NBA Draft? The top three players are a high school kid from Akron (LeBron James), a freshman from Syracuse (Carmelo Anthony) and a 17-year-old from Yugoslavia (Darko Milicic). Who'd have ever thought it? The Cavs are committed to taking James at No. 1, assuming the pingpong balls bounce right. Not only because he would be a gate attraction, but because the team needs his ballhandling and unselfish passing skills.
• Some NBA types are confused by Michael Jordan criticizing James for only having played against high school kids. Jordan has been in summer pickup games with James against pros from different teams, and he raved to friends how James held his own against such older and experienced players.
• The Cavs are very reluctant to give up on Ricky Davis. His contract pays him only slightly more than the NBA average of $4.2 million. He plays hard, if selfishly. They think a strong coach can reach him, or at least they want to see if it will work.
• Paxson did talk about a lack of defense with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but the question is if the center listened. He agreed and said he wanted to help the team win, but he fell into a lot of bad habits -- not defending and shooting way too often. Paxson was very pleased with the medical report on Z's surgically repaired foot, which is said to be very strong.
• A key to the Cavs next year is Dajuan Wagner fully recovering from his minor knee surgery and staying healthy in training camp. The Cavs believe he can be a big scorer, capable of playing both guard spots. But he also has to break his habit of nearly always driving right, which the defenses figured out after his first month in the NBA.
• What if the Cavs draft fourth or fifth, which is a possibility? Then the players they'll be considering are Texas point guard T.J. Ford, Dwayne Wade of Marquette and Mike Pietrus, a 6-foot-7 athletic wing player from France. If he turns pro, then 6-foot-9 Emerka Okafor of Connecticut also joins this group.
• Some fans have wondered about Mike Dunleavy for the Cavs job. That seems to be a long shot, as Dunleavy struggled in a rebuilding situation in Milwaukee during his last job. The top two for the Cavs are Jeff Van Gundy or Paul Silas, assuming either has an interest in the job.
Patience part of Tribe's plan
By Terry Pluto
Most fans want to see the kids play -- until they see them play.
Some fans then wonder why they don't play like veterans. Why do they get picked off base? Why do they throw to the wrong base? Why can't they throw strikes? Why do they get rattled?
We're seeing that right now from the Indians.
Some of us keep asking, ``Why do they keep playing like that?''
Because they're kids. Because kids make messes and break things when they play. Because this is what you get when you let kids play.
We should be OK with that.
We should not judge the Tribe by how it plays in the first week of April compared with the last week.
Rather, how does it play in April compared with June? And June compared with September? And are the mistakes increasing or decreasing?
This season really isn't about winning and losing. Rather, it's about learning to play the game the right way and figuring out which players should be a part of the team's future.
That also was what the Cavaliers were supposed to be doing in the past season. But they had poor leadership on the bench and players were allowed to pretty much run wild. The team never learned the basics, such as how to guard the pick-and-roll. The defense at the end of the year was no better than at the start.
The same can't happen with the Indians.
Manager Eric Wedge must insist that his players learn the mental part of the game, that they act as if they were pros. Can Wedge do it? That's something else we'll learn this season because he never has managed in the big leagues.
Here's what the Indians need to do:
• Keep Travis Hafner in the lineup. The guy should hit. He has nothing left to prove at Class AAA. He hammered everything in spring training. It's is imperative that they find out if he can help this power-challenged team.
• Not be surprised if Jason Davis is erratic. At this point a year ago, he was in Class A Kinston, where he lost five-of-six games to start the season. He then found his confidence, and skipped over Class AAA Buffalo to pitch with the Indians in September. He has a great arm and should be a very good starter. If not now, then soon.
• See if Josh Bard will hit and not panic if he struggles. He is a good defensive catcher. The pitchers like him. He gives Victor Martinez time to develop his catching skills at Buffalo.
• Don't be surprised if Brandon Phillips has a slow start at the plate. He has played 65 games in Class AAA. He's only 21. His defense has been surprisingly strong at second base, a new position for him. Besides, the Indians have no one else for second other than John McDonald -- and McDonald can be at third base in the next few weeks.
• Don't worry if Casey Blake flops. He's 29. The Indians found him in a baseball rummage sale. If he does figure it out, that's a bonus. If not, nothing is lost.
• Make sure Billy Traber gets regular work in the bullpen and, eventually, get him some starts. He was 17-5 in the minors last season and he is ready to show what he can do in the big leagues.
• Don't make final judgments on players now, especially the younger ones. Consider the difference in Milton Bradley between last season and this year. When a player is younger than 25, a year makes a huge difference. Bradley will be 25 at the end of May.
TALKIN' TRIBE:
• Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro had a long talk this week with Hafner. The big first baseman is just pressing, wanting to make the most of his opportunity. Shapiro assured him that he'd have a good long look, and just relax. The next night, he hit his first homer.
• Worth remembering is it took Jim Thome three tries over three years to finally stick with the Tribe. It took Albert Belle two years to stick with the Tribe. Brian Giles bounced up and down. So did Richie Sexson. Only Manny Ramirez was an immediate hit from day one in the majors, and he hit only .269 with 17 homers as a rookie in the strike-shortened 1994 season.
• Jeremy Guthrie has been terrific at Class AA Akron, allowing only one run in 14 innings. But Shapiro said the plan is for the right-hander to have at least 10 starts with the Aeros before moving to Buffalo, assuming he continues to pitch well.
• At Akron, Grady Sizemore is hitting .350, and at 19, he's the youngest player in the Class AA Eastern League. The outfielder was part of the Bartolo Colon deal with the Montreal Expos, along with Cliff Lee and Phillips.
• Some fans think Bradley is the biggest surprise this season. Not so, said Shapiro. ``Milton always had great natural ability. It's just a matter of him putting it together. The guy who has really opened eyes is Jake Westbrook.'' The 25-year-old right-hander had elbow surgery in the spring of 2002, and it's now clear his arm never regained its full strength until this season.
• Coco Crisp continues to hit at Buffalo, taking a .389 batting average with 10 walks in nine games into the weekend. Alex Escobar and Ben Broussard are a combined 10-for-59 (.167) with 25 strikeouts.
• The Indians need bullpen help, and Dave Elder should be up from Buffalo soon. He didn't allow a run in spring training, and he has had 6 2/3 scoreless innings with the Bisons. Dave Burba (1.64 earned-run average) also is pitching well, but the front office is trying to decide if he has enough stuff left to consistently help the team in the bullpen.
X X X
TALKIN' BROWNS:
• The Browns need a linebacker, a Ray Lewis-type. They have the 21st pick in the NFL Draft, and guess where Lewis was selected? How about No. 26 in 1996. Problem is, there are only supposed to be two very good linebackers -- Boss Bailey of Georgia and E.J. Henderson of Maryland. Both are supposed to be gone by the time the Browns pick. Mel Kiper of ESPN has Bailey rated No. 25. If that's the case, the Browns will jump at a chance to take him.
• The lack of linebackers in the draft is why the Detroit Lions signed former Browns Earl Holmes and Wali Rainer. It's why the Tampa Bay Bucs picked up Dwayne Rudd, whose signing bonus was a mere $200,000 and a contract of $750,000.
• The Browns continue to talk to Jamir Miller, but insiders continue to insist he'll end up with the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns have a $1.7 million offer on table for linebacker, in terms of a bonus plus a one-year contract. He can earn more with incentives. The Ravers supposedly have offered a $1.5 million bonus plus a first year that can worth another $2 million. Miller had been hoping for at least a $4 million bonus, but his serious Achilles injury has teams worried.
• Former Browns defensive back Corey Fuller will be speaking about his faith at Coleman State Prison in Florida this Easter weekend. Fuller is with the Ravens, where he is set to start at safety.
• Mike Doss of Ohio State has dropped into the second round, according to some NFL types. They are worried about his speed and his reputation of not being a good cover-man. Well, some team will get a terrific strong safety in the second round if they take Doss. This sounds like how some teams backed off Antoine Winfield, who was picked 23rd in 1999 and has become a star with the Bills. At 5-foot-9, the Garfield product was supposed to be too small. Guess again.
X X X
TALKIN' CAVS:
• Cavaliers General Manager Jim Paxson said Darius Miles was the partly the victim of expectations, people believing Miles should play as well as Andre Miller since the two players were in the same trade. But Miles never showed the energy and joy of the game that he often showed with the Los Angeles Clippers, and that has nothing to do with expectations -- just effort.
• Miles will be a free agent at the end of next season. He told Paxson he was ``embarrassed'' about how he played this season. He has every reason to work hard this summer to develop a jump shot and some inside moves. But he also seems to be such a passive kid, a little shocked that the game no longer comes easy. Yes, he has been in the NBA for three years, but it's easy to forget that he's only 21. But that also makes it hard to evaluate how he will play.
• What is the state of the NBA Draft? The top three players are a high school kid from Akron (LeBron James), a freshman from Syracuse (Carmelo Anthony) and a 17-year-old from Yugoslavia (Darko Milicic). Who'd have ever thought it? The Cavs are committed to taking James at No. 1, assuming the pingpong balls bounce right. Not only because he would be a gate attraction, but because the team needs his ballhandling and unselfish passing skills.
• Some NBA types are confused by Michael Jordan criticizing James for only having played against high school kids. Jordan has been in summer pickup games with James against pros from different teams, and he raved to friends how James held his own against such older and experienced players.
• The Cavs are very reluctant to give up on Ricky Davis. His contract pays him only slightly more than the NBA average of $4.2 million. He plays hard, if selfishly. They think a strong coach can reach him, or at least they want to see if it will work.
• Paxson did talk about a lack of defense with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but the question is if the center listened. He agreed and said he wanted to help the team win, but he fell into a lot of bad habits -- not defending and shooting way too often. Paxson was very pleased with the medical report on Z's surgically repaired foot, which is said to be very strong.
• A key to the Cavs next year is Dajuan Wagner fully recovering from his minor knee surgery and staying healthy in training camp. The Cavs believe he can be a big scorer, capable of playing both guard spots. But he also has to break his habit of nearly always driving right, which the defenses figured out after his first month in the NBA.
• What if the Cavs draft fourth or fifth, which is a possibility? Then the players they'll be considering are Texas point guard T.J. Ford, Dwayne Wade of Marquette and Mike Pietrus, a 6-foot-7 athletic wing player from France. If he turns pro, then 6-foot-9 Emerka Okafor of Connecticut also joins this group.
• Some fans have wondered about Mike Dunleavy for the Cavs job. That seems to be a long shot, as Dunleavy struggled in a rebuilding situation in Milwaukee during his last job. The top two for the Cavs are Jeff Van Gundy or Paul Silas, assuming either has an interest in the job.