Michaels and Miller sign

[consigliere]

Michaels actually gets a multi-year deal: 2 years, $4.25M with a club option for $2.6M in 2009. Guess he gets a $100K signing bonus, and makes $2M this season and $2.15M in 2008.

Miller signed a 1 year $560K deal.

Both were arbitration deals, to avoid it. For those not aware of how this works, Miller's deal is only for a year, but he is still under the Indians control for 3 years after this season. He was a Super 2.

[Dozen]

I would rather try a rookie than Michaels! Seriously, he sucks.

[furls]

My prayers have been answered, Delucci and Michaels both locked up for a couple of years!

[Big Lu]

My prayers have been answered, Delucci and Michaels both locked up for a couple of years!

Wow! Are these the dudes that will "try" and take us to the next level in the next couple of years? If that's the best the Indians can do, we are in trouble!

Michaels! Seriously, he sucks.

Yes, the dude sucks!

Perhaps the Tribe should change their name to the Cleveland Platoons!

[Dozen]

Top 5 teams my ass

[consigliere]

I'm lukewarm about the Michaels signing. I like Michaels, and think he is a very good 4th OFer and will fit in well with this team in such a role. But, I'm sure Francisco or even Gutierrez could have filled that role this year or at the latest in 2008.

The thing I am the most surprised about is that it was a multi-year deal. If Michaels would have taken a 1 year arby deal, he'd have been a FA next year. The Indians must really like him as a 4th OFer, and they appear deadset on a Michaels/Dellucci platoon in the outfield for the netx 2-3 years.

Which, doesn't leave a whole lot of room for a young outfielder to make this team in the next 3 years. Barring a trade, Sizemore, Dellucci and Michaels are locked into 3 of the 4 OF slots for the next 3 years possibly.

Could that mean that Gutierrez is on his way to Florida?

Oh, and this is definitely a top team in the AL. They have their warts, but so does eveyone else. Who are the Yankees top 5 starters? The Red Sox closer? Who are the Twins starting rotation after Santana?

[pup]

A very good 4th outfielder should have 2 skills. Speed and defense. Michaels has neither.

Michaels took a 2 year deal because nobody else would give him one and Shapiro doesn't care about anything after this year .

[British_Pharaoh]

A very good 4th outfielder should have 2 skills. Speed and defense. Michaels has neither.

Michaels took a 2 year deal because nobody else would give him one and Shapiro doesn't care about anything after this year .

michaels has above average speed and good defence which is why he played all 3 OF positions for the Phillies and he came up with some nifty plays last season

[pup]

average speed

for a three legged dog maybe.

came up with some nifty plays

Sounds like some plays most LFers make easily, but he is a little (gonna be nice here) clumsy.

[British_Pharaoh]

Betancourt and miller are the only ones i was concerned about

[thedirtceo]

Top 5???????? Seriously

Did you forget about the 3 teams in thier division? Oakland, Texas Boston, Toronto, Yankees all better as well............

They have a total of 3 guys who should be pro players o the 25 man roster. CHUBBY CHUBBY Sabathia, Sizemore and Hafner... the rest..........PU

[Dozen]

[consigliere]

Again, show me who has a better collection of offense and starting pitching than the Indians. Their downside may be the manager and bullpen, but compared to every team in the AL, the Indians arguably have the best combined starting staff and offense (when adding both together).

I understand the skepticism. People don't like Dolan, and therefore are turned off by a lot of what the Indians do and will always cast a negative shadow on this team. So, until they win anything, it will be what it is. All that said, this team is one of the better teams in the AL, and if they fail this season to get back to 90 or more wins I will be extremely disappointed.

[Dozen]

Just wait until July, they wont be in the top 10, how long will they give Wedge if they start off slow?

[consigliere]

Just wait until July, they wont be in the top 10, how long will they give Wedge if they start off slow?

If they get off to another slow start and/or have poor performance though July, I believe Wedge will be canned.

Just playing devil's advocate, but why are you so sure they will not be in the top 10 come July?

[Dozen]

The same reason I wagered 100 bux they wouldnt win 80 games last year. They are not that good. And for the 100th time, I hope I am wrong.

[consigliere]

Ok, "they are not that good" is a blanket statement. That's the easy way out. I'd like you to more clearly define why you think they are not that good. Where are the problem spots?

(again, just playing devil's advocate)

[Dozen]

OK, here is what concerns me about the tribe. Defensively at 1b,ss,lf,c. Can Blake put up the stats he did last year? Was Peralta a 1 yr fluke? How long for Marte to hit at the Major league level? I'm hoping todays signing of Nixon somehow eliminates PT for Micheals. Then something HAS to be done about Victor. Throw in the fact that the starters from last year were terrible at holding runners, that spells disaster. For instance, CC couldnt pick off an apple from a tree and he's a lefty! You cannot continue to put your team in bad situations like they did last year. They beat themselves alot in '06 and that directly reflects on their manager. I think our rotation is solid, but if CC or Lee go down were in trouble. I'm not sold on Byrd at all either. The bullpen looks decent on paper. Just too many question marks for me to consider them in the top 5. Maybe the strain of being a Cleveland fan has distorted my outlook.

[consigliere]

Maybe the strain of being a Cleveland fan has distorted my outlook.

You are probably right there.

Seriously though, all valid concerns. And a lot of the same concerns I have.

I do say, though, that if CC or Lee go down it would definitely hurt. But, wouldn't this same thing apply to any team? If the Twins had Santana go down? The White Sox lose Buerhle? The Tigers lose Verlander and Rogers? And heck, the Indians actually have the depth in the rotation to withstand one loss in the rotation as they have two very capable starters in Carmona and Miller ready to take over.

The defensive issues and the holding runners and throwing them out issues still are there. I hope that the addition of Marte and Barfield to the infield will help a lot. Michaels and Delucci are actually average to above average defenders. But, I still am concerned about the defense up the middle with Peralta and Martinez. Everything I have read and heard from scouts and people at BA with inside info from the Indians and other teams seems to imply that the consensus is Peralta and Martinez will bounce back this season defensively. We'll see.

Definitely some concerns. Of course, if we broke down every team, every team has concerns. Just we as Cleveland fans take those concerns to the next level because of how frustrated we are.

[Dozen]

Believe it or not in '97 heading into the bottom of the 9th of game 7, I looked at my wife and told her " Dont celebrate yet, this is still Cleveland". Hard to believe that was nearly a decade ago isnt it?

[consigliere]

Believe it or not in '97 heading into the bottom of the 9th of game 7, I looked at my wife and told her " Dont celebrate yet, this is still Cleveland". Hard to believe that was nearly a decade ago isnt it?

Yes. We are getting old. Fast.

Still feels like yesterday.

By the way, sort of off-topic.....but during the 90s I grew to loathe the Red Sox fans because they were whiny bitches. So much so, that the Red Sox are the team I hate more than any team in any professional sport. More than the Yankees. The Steelers. The Ravens. The White Sox. The Pistons. I just HATE the Red Sox.

That said, all those traits I grew to loathe about the Red Sox fans (the woe is me mentality) are definitely starting to surface with Cleveland fan. This city is frustrated, but no matter what happens in either of the 3 sports, there is always a negative outlook. This is natural of course, but just thought it was interesting that maybe we are the new whiny bitches of the sports world since the Red Sox won their title......