MVN: Most Valuable Network

Marte is simply a waste of time at this point.  I don't even care if he ends up on another team and averages 60 homers a year.  It's obvious he won't be doing it as an Indian.  Blame it on Marte, Wedge or Shapiro...it doesn't matter.  He a non-factor.  Carroll is a nice plug-in, but not a regular in any form or fashion.  He can play defensively, but his offense is adequate at best.  Hodges isn't ready yet, and to call him up now would be a mistake.  Perhaps he lights up AAA Columbus and forces a call-up at some point in 2009.  Other than that, look for Hodges to make himself a member of the Indians in 2010.

As far as Peralta goes, I'm not convinced he'll ever be a good third baseman.  No, he's not really a good shortstop either, but to just assume he can make the move to third at the major league level is ridiculous.  To play third, you have to have snap reactions, a fast glove, and a canon for an arm.  No offense to Peralta, but I don't know that he has any of those things.  In my mind, this makes him actually better suited to shortstop.  No, that's not saying he's a good shortstop, but I actually think he'd be a better shortstop than a third baseman.  Of course, that's just me.

Even if the Indians would have made the Peralta shift, the second base options aren't all that thrilling.  The Tribe likely would have looked to a Jamey Carroll or Josh Barfield at second, hoping that left-handed hitter Luis Valbuena would make it up at some point to either take the job, or platoon.  Obviously, that's off the table now as well.

Now, combine that with Michael's assessment that the Indians have not only signed and traded for key componants, but that they've done it at the expense of their division rivals, and you really magnify the improvements.  The Twins aren't as good as the Indians, and really weren't last year.  Still, they are one of those clubs that always seems to get more out of their players than talent would indicate.  DeRosa is the kind of guy that can help expand on that.  As Lou Pinella what DeRose rolled out for the Cubs last year.  Not only do we keep the Twins with a major hole to fill, but we fill a similar need as well.  Same goes for Detroit and Wood.

DeRosa also fits into the lineup quite well, locking in a number two hitter for the Tribe for the first time in several years.  As much as I bang the drum about a lead-off hitter, there's no doubt that the two-hole is the biggest need on this roster, discounting the fact that health is a concern with Hafner and Martinez in the middle of the lineup.  Grady Sizemore is better suited towards the cleanup slot, but he's one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.  Cleveland has rounded up the likes of Peralta, Blake, Crisp, Dellucci and Cabrera in the two slot.  Now, there's nothing wrong with any of the players mentioned other than Dellucci, but none mentioned are the consistent #2 guy that the Indians are looking for.

DeRosa is just that.  His OBP is .357, .371 and .376 over the past three seasons, which is quite a jump from earlier in his career.  He does strike out a lot (over 100 times the past two out of three seasons, and 93 times in the other season), which could pose issues at times with Grady's propensity to K, but when you are rolling out two guys with OBP's over .375 at the top of your lineup, you are going to provide the heart of your order plenty of oppourtunities to drive them in.

The final sprinkle on this frosting is a two-parter.  DeRosa is a one-year option for the Tribe, as opposed to Blake, who was looking at a three-year deal.  With an influx of younger Indians about to burst upon the scene, this is a low risk move.  Of course, the option is always out there to re-sign a guy like DeRosa, who is just the type of guy who will stick around.  If he doesn't, it's likely that the Indians will get a Type-A free agent out of the deal should he sign elsewhere.

That will make up for the loss of prospects in the deal should the Indians choose to let him go, which is my bet.

DeRosa was a nice pickup, just when things were getting quiet.  There's no doubt that Shapiro and Wedge are looking to make an impact with this team in 2009, especially considering the contracts that are coming up at the end of the year.

The Indians have stacked the deck with their bullpen signings this offseason.  We all know the names:  Kerry Wood, Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt, Masa Kobayashi, Joe Smith, John Meloan, Tony Sipp, Rich Rundles, Adam Miller and Zach Jackson.  That's 11 guys deep, and I haven't mentioned some others that could make an impact.

I can't help but think of how good this pen should be, and will likely be.  Lost in the shuffle is the crapshoot that a bullpen really is.  There is so much potential for greatness there.  Wood is nowhere near his ceiling as a closer, entering year #2 of the experiment.  Of course, the flip side is the health issues he's had.  Lewis certainly isn't a lock to continue his lights-out status from the end of last year as he proved...well...last year.  Perez seems to be as close to a lock as we have based on the past two seasons, but Rafael Betancourt has the potential of either being the best in the league, or perhaps the worst.  Joe Smith seems consistent, but he's coming over from the National League.  Who knows what we'll get in a league that has consistently better hitters.  Mentioning any of the rookies at this point is, well, pointless.  Still, the potential for Sipp, Miller and Meloan are as closers, so who knows what we could have.

Is it the nucleus for greatness?  Yes.  Is it a guarantee?  Far from it.

Anthony Reyes really could be an important factor in how good the Indians could be this year.  There aren't many St. Louis fans that are happy he's gone.  A lot has been made of his relationship with St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan.  That certainly was an issue.  But to say that was the only issue for Reyes just isn't stating the facts.

The biggest worry is his delivery.  Much like Kerry Wood, Reyes has a violent delivery that has been hard on his body, and hard to replicate.  Wood was probably not the right comparison when mentioning Reyes.  The better fit is Mark Prior.  Both Prior and Reyes were pitchers in the USC system, where Tom House was their pitching coach.  Both have/had a ton of tension in their wrist, which in turn puts strain on the tendons in the wrist, elbow and shoulder.  Then there is the release.  His follow through just isn't natural.  It almost looks like he stops his follow through.  That combination is a ticking time bomb.

I keep hearing about how sound his mechanics his delivery is from certain scouts and blogs, but if you have eyeballs and watch his delivery, you can see the breakdowns.  Combine that with the elbow and shoulder injuries he's had over the past few years, and you can see where this is heading.

I hope I'm wrong, because if Reyes can maintain what he was in his brief stint for the Tribe in 2008, than this pitching staff could be crazy good.

Finally, I was gone for the past two weeks on a variety of business and family stuff during the holidays.  After Christmas, I found myself in Florida, visiting family.  I had one personal trip to make, and that was one final trip to Winter Haven.

I've always had mixed feelings about the Indians playing there.  It's been nice having family close by, as I've made my way there every spring.  The Indians start in Central Florida wasn't exactly promising.

The Indians were moving to Florida from Arizona in 1993, and Homestead, Florida was ready to welcome them with a brand new, $30 million facility.  Then came Hurricane Andrew, which nearly wiped Homestead of the face of the earth.  They temporarily moved to Winter Haven, and in that first spring training, lost pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews in a horrid boating accident, while Bob Ojeda survived, if you could call it that.  It took him years to recover from the accident mentally, if he ever really did.

Here we were, in Winter Haven, where the Boston Red Sox had called home for so many years, and it never really felt right.

I decided to say goodbye to Winter Haven in my own way.  I located a couple of old jerseys that had remained in the back of the closet for just this sort of occasion.  The #8 jersey of Albert Belle, and the #25 jersey of Jim Thome were going to their final resting place.

More on this later...with pictures.

Have a fantastic week...

...and check the rearviewmirror, for Sheldonn Ocker's credibility.