Sunday, March 6, 2011

Is Acta honing the Hafner Axe?


Manny Acta announced that Pronk may be one of a dying breed - the "DH-Only" player.  While I agree completely that the days of DH-Only players are numbered, I have to question Acta's motivation for bring such a thing to light.  Hafner has a long and storied history of injury ever since he walked into the Bigs.  I understand that the Indians have to try to keep him playing as much as they can without putting him into a position of hurting himself again.  I would guess that Acta's concern is the lack of playability among the "new, young talent" the Tribe has this year for the role of DH.  Basically, the Tribe has no choice but to use players in as many positions and roles as possible.

I wonder, though, if the message behind the message was a warning to Hafner and Indians fans: Hafner may be in his last season with the Indians (or anywhere, for that matter). 

The article appears here:
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110306&content_id=16841298&notebook_id=16846014&vkey=notebook_cle&c_id=cle

2 comments:

  1. I think he'll be playing somewhere next season, as he's under contract for $13M this season and $13M next year. I'd love to see them trade him, but I can't see any other teams pulling the trigger on that deal. Look how long Vlad and Manny R were out there before signing deals. Not to mention Thome had a better season and signed for $10M less than Pronk for 2011. I think Acta's right, the DH only guys take away some flexibility and just don't have that much value.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Let's just do away with the DH altogether !!

    ReplyDelete