Cleveland

I've always been a thankful Cleveland Indians fan.  Perhaps the feeling is based in being a fan of this baseball team in the dreadful 1970s.  Not a single Tribe team during between 1970 and 1970 finished above fourth place in A.L. East, and only two teams finished above .500.

It's that time of year when the Major League Baseball top prospect lists start pouring in.  Normally, it's just a part of the normal hot stove season for each major league team. 

You know the drill: sign some free agents, make some trades and reevaluate your minor league system.  For the Indians, that drill should be a much simpler proposition thanks to Paul Dolan's recent revelation to Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer:

This week, the Seattle Mariners rebuffed fan demands and shunned fan favorite Bobby Valentine in favor of former Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.    

Times are tough in Cleveland, Ohio nowadays. The local economy, seemingly on the rebound everywhere else, continues to stagnate near the bottom of the national conscience. 

It is the middle of October, and the Indians are left at home watching playoff baseball for the third straight season. The Browns, with their third string rookie quarterback, lost to the Steelers, again—only by 18 points this time.  

It's been a bad year for Cleveland Indians fans.

Most of us Tribe faithful had low expectations when the season began. This was supposed to be a transition year, as the fruits of one of the deepest farm systems in the game got their first taste of the big leagues.

But even if they weren't supposed to be serious contenders, it's hard to see the Indians flailing behind even the Kansas City Royals in the basement of the AL Central without wondering how things went this wrong.

Welcome to the Cleveland Indians Trading Post, a weekly segment meant to help my fellow Tribe fans sort out which of the few familiar faces left on the team won’t be around much longer.

This week’s potential trade bait is Fausto Carmona.

The basics

As the trade deadline begins to inch closer and closer, it becomes more obvious what teams will be buyers and what teams will be sellers.

It is fairly obvious that the Indians will be one of the teams that will be sellers. They are currently 13.5 games out of first place and 16 games under .500 with a 26-42 record.

There has been talk about a few Indians pitchers being moved between now and the trade deadline. Jake Westbrook's name has been mentioned in connection with many teams.

Welcome to the Cleveland Indians Trading Post, a weekly segment meant to help my fellow Tribe fans sort out which of the few familiar faces left on the team won’t be around much longer.

This week’s potential trade bait is Russell Branyan.

The basics

A casual Cleveland Indians fan flipping through the sports section would let his face fall if he noticed Justin Masterson's numbers so far this year.

At 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA, his basic stats are bad enough to make Joe Six-Pack put down his coffee, stare into space, and mumble something about the good old days.

After surrendering seven runs in four innings Sunday against Oakland, even diehard Tribe fan Samantha Bunten was compelled to ask, "What on earth is wrong with Justin Masterson?"

Going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Chicago White Sox' Opening Day crowd was in a frenzy.

The Sox were trailing the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, but that wasn't the story. Twenty-one-year-old Bob Feller had not allowed a hit.

Feller had walked four batters and struck out eight going into the ninth.