Jason Michaels to be designated for assignment, Ben Francisco to be recalled
The Cleveland Indians will designate left fielder Jason Michaels for assignment before tomorrow night’s game against the New York Yankees. Outfielder Ben Francisco will be recalled from Buffalo to take his place. The Indians will have 10 days to either trade Michaels, outright release him, or if he clears waivers, assign him to AAA Buffalo. Michaels will likely end up released and signed by another team.
Francisco comes to the lineup hoping to help spark an offense that has struggled over the past month. It would be overly optimistic to think that this one move is the final answer for the Indians. Tribe general manager Mark Shapiro said as much after making the announcement today,
“This one transaction is not going to solve all our offensive woes. Jason Michaels was certainly not the primary cause. We just feel it’s time for us, where we can, to start to make some small moves that might help. But the answers to our offensive issues lie within. When you have five to seven guys up and down your lineup struggling, you are not able to make one move or two moves to solve those problems.”
Francisco give the Indians an intriguing player in the lineup, and he’s certainly no stranger to Cleveland. Francisco has played out his minor league career, having had two spectacular seasons in AAA Buffalo. In parts of six seasons in the minors, Francisco has a lifetime .294 average, with an impressive .359 OBP over 587 total games. He has decent power, and even better speed, having stolen 20 or more bases in four of the six seasons. Francisco’s best year at Buffalo was last season, when he led the International League with a .318 average, had 12 homers, 51 RBI and 22 stolen bases in only 95 games. Of course minor league baseball isn’t always a good indication of what a player will end up doing in the majors.
For Cleveland, Francisco has had mixed results. In a brief call-up in 2007, Francisco batted a respectable .274, with three homers and 12 RBI. His OBP was low at .303, striking out 19 times and walking only three times in only 25 games. Francisco caught the eye of many fans this spring when he hit .362, with three homers and nine RBI for the Indians, and easily played both corner outfield positions. That’s the job that Shapiro sees for Francisco as the season progresses,
“…he’s got more power and has the ability to not necessarily be a platoon guy, because his splits have not been left-right splits. He gives Eric [Wedge] the ability to keep Dellucci strong and healthy and protect Franklin Gutierrez as well. He’s a good complement to our outfield, as it exists right now.”
Shapiro also acknowledged beginning to look at the trade market. He did, however, state that to make a deal to improve the club, several players would have to improve their play to swing a deal that might actually have a positive effect.
What’s my take on this deal? I’m glad that Shapiro made a move to shake things up a bit. Francisco isn’t the kind of ballplayer that can carry a team, but the change will offer the Indians a slightly different look. Francisco has a lot of natural ability, good speed, and a solid glove. He’s a similar player to Michaels, with certainly more pop, and better overall defense. There is no doubt that Francisco will also surely bring a bit of optimism, having finally been brought up, likely for good. At the minimum, it will give several players some urgency to start hitting, as Shapiro has finally made an initial move to improve a sputtering offense.
Shin-Soo Choo is next on the radar, and is steadily improving from the Tommy John surgery that cut short his 2007 season. According to Anthony Castrovince, the Indians’ writer at MLB.com,
“Big League Choo is basically on schedule down in extended Spring Training camp after September elbow ligament replacement surgery. He recently began playing in the outfield and was up to about six innings of work per game this past week. Once Choo proves he can handle a nine-inning workload (he’ll get his first chance this week), he’ll be ready for a rehab assignment. It’s likely Choo’s rehab will take place at Triple-A Buffalo. Rehabbing position players can remain with the Minor League clubs for 20 days before the team must make a move. Because he is out of Minor League options, Choo is expected to join the Indians when the rehab is over. It’s looking like early June.”
It should be interesting to see what Shapiro and the Indians will do once Choo returns. Choo has no remaining waivers, and will either have to be called up to the big club, or designated for assignment. Look for the Indians to attempt at moving Andy Marte or David Dellucci to clear room for Choo, or outright release Marte.
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on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 5:42 pm and is filed under Ben Francisco, Eric Wedge, Jason Michaels, Mark Shapiro, Shin-Soo Choo, James Pete, Buffalo Bisons, Andy Marte, David Dellucci, Cleveland Indians, AAA, Tribe Report.
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10 Responses to “Jason Michaels to be designated for assignment, Ben Francisco to be recalled”
May 5th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Always kind of liked Michaels but this is a move that had to be
made. Right now Dellucci is our 3 hitter and if things don’t improve they cannot afford to trade him. As crazy as this may sound it is probably the most opportune time to trade Cliff Lee for a big bat.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
With Choo on schedule to return in a month, would it be too much to ask that we give Marte what may well be his last shot with the Tribe? He can’t do appreciably worse than Blake, either at the plate or (as of late) in the field. Blake leads the team in errors and is barely hitting .200. Even if you’ve already given up on the guy (Marte), he might surprise us and show enough potential to bring something in a trade.
It’s been said before (and by wiser baseball minds than mine), but the ghost of Brandon Phillips still hangs heavy over the current front office of this team. It’s like they’re afraid to play the guy (in case he sucks), and afraid to let him go (in case he doesn’t).
It creates a huge dead spot on our roster to have this guy who never plays and seemingly can’t be moved. Perhaps there have been serious trade talks (not necessarily involving Marte) in the works which have either fallen through or are just not complete yet, or that the decision has already been made to dump Dellucci for Choo when the latter gets healthy and they plan to make the decision on what to do with Marte at that point.
With the way our 6th and 7th starters (Laffey and Sowers) have looked so far, it would not surprise me if there is a blockbuster deal on the horizon involving a certain burly pitcher in exchange for a potent bat, probably as part of a bigger package involving enough players to make Marte’s value to this team down the road still a big question mark. I’m not advocating (nor opposing) this idea, but it may come down to whether this hypothetical “blockbuster trade” involves us getting a proven hitter who plays 3rd Base, a proven hitter who can DH, or a proven hitter at another position. The only way handling the Marte situation this way makes sense is if you feel that the player(s) you add will have such an impact that you could then afford to watch Marte struggle at the plate while you give him a chance to play for several months, or that you figure he’ll be a potentially attractive “throw-in” as part of a larger deal.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
I agree Steve…
Get Marte out of the Wedge doghouse, and give him a shot before you let him go without a shot. Hell, Phillips even got a season in the bigs.
I did mention dealing Lee a week or so ago, since he’s certainly not going to continue at the current level all season. I don’t know that you make a move with Lee involved, unless you have a deal in place for Sabathia…unless Laffey and Sowers can replace Lee and Sabathia. Of course, you have Miller on the horizon as well.
Dellucci is batting third, which is a testament to the Indians sadsack lineup. If he’s our third hitter, it’s hard for me to believe the Indians will ever contend.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
One masher could make all the difference.With the way Akron and Buffalo playing they should be looking to trade CC anyway to restock the system. Granted it is early but how is it possible everything fell apart at all these levels?
May 6th, 2008 at 8:01 am
I’m getting really tired of hearing words like “we need to execute our game plan better and focus on having good at-bats.”
I agree that it’s important to (say) not swing lumberjacks at breaking balls in the dirt, but it would be nice to have a couple of players who don’t have to execute to perfection to get a couple of hits
OK, I’m a little cranky and maybe I’m not getting with the program, but isn’t it likely that Alex Rodriguez can have four pretty crummy at-bats and still reach base twice as often as Casey Blake? That Jimmy Rollins doesn’t need to execute his game plan nearly as precisely as Jamey Carroll?
Ben Francisco’s career OPS– both in the majors and the minors– is within a few points of Jason Michaels’s, so it’s hard to get too excited. What I wouldn’t give for a slob like John Kruk– who could get hits no matter how hung over he was.
Can’t wait until Shin-Soo Choo completes his rehab assignment and “forces our hand.” Andy Marte gets an apple and a road map, and the fans get another player whose bat ought to be donated to Alison Krauss.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Hey, Geoff, have you heard anything about the Indians being interested in Xavier Nady? I read something Ingraham wrote recently that mentioned him as someone that both the Indians and the Mets have been asking about. He’s having an absolute career year (so far) that looks like he’s bordering on unconscious. He’ll probably regress to the mean, but is even that good enough for us to consider sending the Bucs a couple prospects for?
May 6th, 2008 at 8:34 am
And kudos on the Allison Krauss reference…
May 6th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Andruw Jones is probably available . . . that’s the one guy Pronk is outhitting by a mile! Actually, Pronk is on pace to project to 17 HR/94 RBI, not too far off his “down” year of 2007. If those numbers belong to Blake, Gutierrez, Peralta or any other of the Pooperazzi Cast of Clowns we would rejoice. The .200 average is slightly disturbing for whomever it belongs. Regardless, there seems to be a league-wide trend this year of veterans crashing hard and youthful upstarts feeling their oats.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Unless I mis-read, the article suggests that Fransisco is superior defensively to Michaels. My perception is exactly the opposite. One reason Ben has not landed a major league job more quickly is because of questions about his defense whereas Jason is a pretty good defender. In any event, it’s still a good move. I’m hoping that Ben takes advantage of the opportunity and gives the team a spark. Even so, I’m not sure the roster reconstruction effort is complete. I think if a trade that is acceptable presents itself, it will get done. The Pirates would be wise to make room for both McCutchen and Pearce by moving Nady and Bay. This might not happen though until closer to the deadline after unreasonable demands by Huntington have been rebuffed by several suitors.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Francisco, according to the article, is better than Michaels in every way. The only thing he lacks is ML experience. That being the case, I’m betting that Shapiro was hoping Michaels would have at least a decent start and make himself valuable in trade. Not so much. Kiss those coupla mil goodbye, front office. Is Dellucci next? I would doubt it, valuing as they do his locker room contributions… but his on-field contributions are sorely lacking at this juncture. One wonders why you keep a guy on the team that needs to be spelled for health reasons and then, when he does play, doesn’t produce a whole lot. Barry Bonds Dellucci isn’t.
Count me among the Cliff Lee converts, though. He’s saving the season at this point. I wanted him gone this offseason, and I couldn’t be more glad that he remains on the squad. He’s saying all the right things and, more importantly, doing all the right things. All the talking heads that say he can’t go on pitching this way have conveniently forgotten that he finished 4th in Cy Young voting a couple of years ago… I’m crossing my fingers and hoping Cliff’s head stays screwed on tight. This team needs him badly.
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