MVN: Most Valuable Network

The 2008-2009 Cleveland Indians offseason has been a long and silent process so far.  I can't say that I'm at all surprised by the silence of the Indians' front office since that has been the status quo over the past couple of seasons.  No, I'm not complaining,  I get it.  The Indians have to be careful with what they do with their money.  Cleveland is a mid-market team, and once the money is thrown out there, it has to count, or it could set the team back years.  I'm not new to Cleveland Indians' baseball.

Still, there is all that silence.  There's been a bunch of speculation on what positions the Indians may be prioritizing.  Even though Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro have both stated what the Indians need, the talking heads and writers can't help but speculate about the speculation.  It's like have a puzzle in front of you where none of the pieces quite fit, but you still keep trying to jam it together.

After a few hours of trying to force the issue, crazy things start to happen.

That's what must be happening here in Tribe-land, because a couple of relatively far-fetched rumors were hiding under the current over the past 24 hours that have had to come directly from this silent game of cramming puzzle pieces together.

Rafael Furcal has been courted over the last couple of days by the Oakland A's, who brought in the former Braves and Dodgers shortstop to Oakland for some discussions about playing for their team next year.  While this was going on, Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, has reportedly stated that Oakland and San Francisco are hot and heavy for his client, while there remain two other "surprise" teams in the running as well.

The Atlanta Braves are likely to be one of the surprise teams (not really a surprise), while there's some speculation that the Indians could be the other.  Kinzer stated that the peripheral teams in the running for Furcal's service were looking to "...make some moves first."  Are the Indians looking to acquire a closer first, before spending big money on the likes of Furcal or Orlando Hudson? 

It's possible that the Indians would like to lock up a relief pitcher to a moderate deal first, which would then allow them to spend the bulk of the rest of their money on an infielder that could change their lineup.  Ken Rosenthal also speculated that the Indians were in need of a shortstop potentially, while also breathing about Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria.

I really think that Furcal is a natural fit with the Indians, if he can prove to stay healthy.  If he's asking for 10 million a year, he should be a target for the Tribe, at least as much as Hudson.

The other, much more far-fetched Indians' sighting comes from Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.  In an article discussing the likelihood that Jason Varitek may leave the Red Sox, he mentioned several players on several teams that have been offered to the Sox for a deal.  That's when he threw out this tidbit:

..."more teams making their catching options known to the Sox...Other catchers being shopped to the Sox: Brian Schneider (Mets), Miguel Montero (Diamondbacks), John Buck (Royals), Ramon Hernandez (Orioles), Bengie Molina (Giants), Carlos Santana, Kelly Shoppach and even Victor Martinez (Indians), Jesus Flores (Nationals), Kenji Johima and Jeff Clement (Mariners), and Yorvit Torrealba (Rockies)."

I just can't help but think that this guy just grabbed a roster from every major league team, went page by page, and highlighted every catcher from every team that might want to trade a catcher.  The interesting thing about this piece is that the most fraudulent name from the Indians is no doubt Carlos Santana.  I find it intensely hard to believe that the Indians would deal away a player they literally stole from Los Angeles without seeing if this kid is everything he seems to be.  Of course, he could be in the land of sell high as well.  It's not like he was all-everything before the 2008 season.

Then there's the name of Victor Martinez.  Just for the record, I wouldn't trade him, even though I speculated about that very thing three weeks ago.

Silverman is likely throwing darts, and Cleveland had more than one bullseye.  Talk about throwing a hat trick.

At the end of the day, there are a whole bunch of writers and fans that have been sitting in that room staring at each other for far too long without saying anything.  So, watch out, because once they start talking, things are going to get crazy.

Wait, they already did...here we go...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us here at Tribe Report.