Half-Empty: All's Quiet on the Erie Front

If you are like me, you were hoping to wake up to something, somewhere, somehow, the Tribe answered Detroit's raping of the Marlins this morning with an attempt in some form to fill some holes, which as mentioned yesterday, seem to have gone from minor to gaping with the recent turn of events.

Of course, if you are a realist (aka pessimist), you knew not to get your hopes up.

Predictably, Mark Shapiro put a big damper on your hopes with several responses that sounded eerily similar to last year's reaction to the Gary Sheffield signing. Get ready to yawn.

Here are some examples:

"We fully expected the Tigers to field a contending club"

--Contending? How about championship caliber? How about the best lineup in perhaps all of baseball? How about a team with an outstanding offense, starting pitching, and bullpen. Detroit is doing a lot more than just contending Mark.

"Obviously, [the trade] makes their team better. But we're focused on ourselves and what we can do to field the best team we can."

--The 'best team we can'? Yes Mark...a speedy utility infielder is just the ticket. If we get one of those, you'll definitely see us headlining ESPN and World Series here we come. Imagine the fear around baseball once we get one of those.

"We know our division is going to be good and deep. We know it's going to be a battle. The greatest accomplishment is what you do over 162 games. I would expect Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City and Minnesota will all be better next year."

--Chicago, K.C., and Minnesota? We are back to focusing on those bums? How about N.Y., Boston, Anaheim, and of course, Detroit. Our division? Sheeesh.

"Obviously, people know we have seven starters. I don't view that as a ton of depth, because we don't know who No. 8 would be. We have to feel we'd get considerable value back if we're going to deal one of our starters."

--What? It's not depth because we don't know who No. 8 would be? Did I really just read that? How about Lofgren or Miller? But wait...then we don't know who No.10 would be! And what about our #17 Starting Pitcher? Yeah Mark...you're right...we have no depth. Vomit.

"That's a New York Yankee-esque lineup," Shapiro said. "Fortunately, we've got good pitching."

--I'd say their lineup is not Yankee-esque. It's better. Never mind that their starters are very good and their bullpen is great. We've got Jake, Byrd, and well, only five other guys after that. Don't make me tell you what the combined record of those average joes are. I was hoping for, fortunately, we've got enough depth to respond...but that's right...we don't have any depth.

"We expected them to be good, but we just need to focus on ourselves and putting together the best team possible and our players going out and executing," Shapiro said. "If that happens, we're going to be fine."

--Here we go again with that best team stuff. Yep, Dellucci/Michaels/Choo/Marte/Blake...that is the best we can do. But don't get down folks...imagine if they execute to the best of their ability and each average .269 with 13 HR and 61 RBI. Add a speedy utility guy, and WOW!

Summary

Do I think we should go out and sign someone just for the sake of signing someone? Absolutely not. But do I think we have the depth and pieces to make a serious run at someone out there such as Alex Rios, M.Tehada, D.Haren, J.Bay, F.Sanchez, E. Bedard, B.Roberts, or C.Crawford? Absolutely.

Memo to Mark Shapiro. No one is asking you to sell the farm. I understood why you were reluctant to part with youngsters in previous years, as we were simply not 'there' yet. News flash: We ARE there now. And you DO have depth. In an off season which is witnessing more trades than ever, and you claim that others are very interested in trading...you have the chips lined up for you.

Do not stand pat! It may be apples and oranges, but the Cavs stood pat. How's that working out? At least they have a legitimate excuse thanks to the salary cap and some terrible decisions by Ferry/Paxon. You on the other hand have avoided any major mistakes since the Alomar trade and the Lawton/Ricky G. signings. We've also been told we have some money to spend.

I'll tell you this...if you guys don't sign C.C., expect some major consequences. Your fans are fed up with excuses.

AND ON A SIDE NOTE:

Remove Juan Lara from the 40-man and protect Brian Barton already. I feel bad and everything, but is this a business we are running or not?

Gooooooooooooooo Tribe!

Cheers!