Half-Full: With Bay, No Move was a Good Move

According to mlbtraderumors.com:

Pirates Pulled Out Of Bay To Cleveland Deal

"Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has some new information for us regarding an aborted Jason Bay deal. Kovacevic says the Bucs made a decision through the entire chain of command that Franklin Gutierrez, Kelly Shoppach, Cliff Lee, and a minor league pitcher wasn't enough for Bay and Ronny Paulino.
This situation has been confusing to follow from the start, with plenty of conflicting information floating about. For instance, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes said on Wednesday that Lee and Shoppach were never involved in these talks - the Bucs wanted three to five of the Indians' top prospects. Before that there was that whole business about whether talks had occurred at the Winter Meetings and been revived"

---Gut, Kelly, Lee, and a prospect wasn't enough? You've got to be kidding me. Maybe following the 2006 season, but after a season where Bay hit .247 with 21HR and 84RBI? Sorry Pittsburgh...if you were going to sell, you should have sold when his stock was high.

---Mr. Shapiro, I have been bashing you of late for your inactive off season thus far. However, I must commend you for not making this desperate move to keep pace with Detroit. That is not to say that I wouldn't love for you to make a hard push for Alex Rios or Eric Bedard. But to give the Pirates a potential starting catcher, RF, and pitcher for a player coming off that kind of a season may have been a major coup for Pittsburgh.

FoxSports.com posted this article, which identifies the 10 Biggest Holes for Contenders.

Here is the Tribe's blurb:

Cleveland: Corner outfielder

"Sorry, the idea of flanking Grady Sizemore with a combination of Jason Michaels, Franklin Gutierrez and Jamey Carroll is not one that creates much excitement for the Indians. Left field and right field are spots that need legitimate run production for a team that fancies itself a contender."

---Uhhhh. No kidding. Now The Station Agent is playing outfield too? I certainly hope not. And he forgot about Choo and Francisco. Oh that's right....there is no room for them because we have a dozen players at every position.

Here's some good news...Cliff Lee has a high ceiling!

According to Mets fan, "If the Indians are openly offering Lee as it appears they have been, then maybe Omar should explore him as a possible bottom of the rotation starter. When a player gets shopped this much, sometimes there's a point of no return and the cost isn't as high. Lee Struggled last year but he is a lefty with a high ceiling, Omar should know him better then most as he was in the Expos organization when Omar was the GM."

---Boy, I hope this Mets fan has Omar's ear. Of course, I'm sure he doesn't, but if he did?


Let's hope for some fresh news soon. Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of Roids, Bay, and Detroit talk.

Gooooooooooooooooooo Tribe!

Cheers!