Announced today, the Indians have decided NOT to exercise Grady Sizemore's option, while choosing to keep Fausto Carmona. What seems to be the bane of Tribe fans who are voicing their opinion overwhelming supports the Sizemore decision. What many fans are crying FOUL over is the decision to keep Carmona. Why bother keep Carmona?
Well, with his 7-15 record and abysmal 5.15 ERA, that is the multimillion dollar question. My take on this? They kept him, hoping for a just-above-par performance next season in order to facilitate a trade. Basically, I think the Indians are hoping he can improve enough before the 2012 trade deadline and work out a deal with some sucker. Of course, once Carmona does get traded off, he will become the darling of the MLB, as how things seem to turn out for many of the Indians players lately.
Okay, maybe "darling" is stretching it a bit.
What of Sizemore? I think he should retire from the MLB. Seriously. Take the injuries and head off to a career as a semi-pro player using his "what I used to be" history and help some club boost their numbers.
Of course, I may be in the minority here, but I see Hafner doing the same thing. The Indians cannot simply go one coddling players that used to be killer and who are now just injury-prone has-beens.
What of Thome? Well, evidently he has filed for free agency (along with several other Tribers). While I would love for Thome to get a World Series ring, I think his incredible (though mostly ignored) career should go out on top with this 600+ home runs.
Getting back to the original topic: What do you think? Was keeping Carmona and ditching Sizemore the right thing to do?
Grady's a FA! Sign him Frank Wren! I don't care if he's a lefty! Do it nooooow!
ReplyDeleteIt pains me to say it, but I think they made the right decisions with Grady and Carmona. I think Grady's money would be better spent on a player they can count on to be in the lineup, and for what they're paying Carmona I don't think they would do any better in free agency. Starting pitching is way too expensive, and Carmona, while not the ace they hoped he'd become, is still an affordable 'innings eater'. By the way, what are your thoughts on them getting Derek Lowe? Looks like they've got 2 Carmonas in the rotation now (3 if you want to include the way Ubaldo pitched for them).
ReplyDeleteWell, if the Braves do get him, he'll probably be better than ever and actually bring back the Braves of old... Bwhahaha, sorry, man. Jason, I dunno about Lowe. He's a bit of a loosey goosey for having broken "the Curse" and have been in the league as long as he has been. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe if he can keep his "stuff" together, we might pull out a decent starting rotation. Of course, they ALL need to keep their stuff together - and that seems to be the crux of many of the Tribes' issues.
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