OK, I admit it. I bought into the hype. We won 93 games last year, this is our year to get back into the playoffs! 7 members of the ESPN staff picked them to win the division this year.

Yeah right. I should have taken a step back and looked at the off season moves. Then I wouldn’t feel so crappy about a season that has been absolutely painful to watch. Let’s break down some of the brilliant moves. And for the record, I’m with everyone else who thinks Larry Dolan should sell the team to someone who actually cares about winning. Someone who will actually spend money on the kind of players it takes to build a championship team.

  • They let Kevin Millwood walk and replaced him in the rotation with Paul Byrd.

    • Nobody in Cleveland expected them to be able to keep Millwood with Larry Dolan paying the bills, but it still hurts to lose the Americal League ERA leader from 2005. Millwood is 10-6 in Texas with an ERA of 4.53 as of when I wrote this article. Paul Byrd, is currently 7-6 with a 4.71 ERA. That’s not terrible, but when you are as close as we were last year you are supposed to take steps FORWARD to get over the hump.

  • For some reason that I can’t even begin to understand they let Bob Howry walk.

    • This guy had an ERA out of the bullpen of 2.47 in 79 appearances, and was just nails down the stretch. Tribe fans will be happy to know that he’s putting up another solid season with the Cubs, one of the few teams with more problems than Cleveland. Who did we get to plug this gap in the bullpen? Guillermo Mota. He’s been an oustanding addition, posting an ERA of 6.21 in 37.2 innings so far this year.

  • They traded Coco Crisp to Boston

    • Another brilliant move. Coco was a key part of the top of the order in 2005, he batted .300 with 16 HR and 69 RBI. Not only did they trade him, they traded him to a team that a lot of people thought would be one of the teams competing for a playoff birth with us in the Boston Red Sox. That makes no sense. In exchange, we got Kelly Shoppach, who is batting a sizzling .231, and the highly touted Ande Marte, who is batting .261 in AAA. I hope he lives up to the hype, but I’m a little worried that he’s already been in 3 farm systems. If he was that good why would 2 teams trade him? Coco Crisp is a solid player, but he’s not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination.

So now, here we are. It’s not even August yet and we are about as far away from meaningful baseball as you can get. Hell, getting back to .500 may be a pipe dream. The fire sale has started, we have already traded Broussard and Wickman. (along with Perez earlier this summer) Go Tribe! I wonder if that guy still hits the drum at every home game. I’m not buying a ticket to find out, that’s for damn sure.

As down as I am about this team, there are some bright spots. Grady Sizemore is an All Star, and is an example of how this game should be played. The sky is the limit for this guy, I hope he stays in an Indians uniform for a long time. Travis Hafner should be an All Star. The fact that he didn’t make it is an absolute joke. Seriously. The guy is batting .304 with 29 HR, 83 RBI and 73 R. He had better numbers than most of the starters on the damn All Star team. Victor Martinez is also a bright spot, at least on offense. Defense is another story though, he really needs to move to first. I could steal second on him, as long as they had oxygen waiting for me when I got there.

There are some guys I hope we can move before the deadline too, now that this season doesn’t mean a damn thing. I’m gonna start with Aaron Boone. He sucks. He has a cement block for a glove and can’t hit. Nothing like a corner infielder hitting .250 with 5 HR at the end of July. OK, enough about him…..I’m about to throw something at my TV. They could also get rid of Belliard. He’s a solid player, but he won’t be here long term, so we might as well get something back for him. Lastly, maybe they could move Jake Westbrook. I don’t think they will be able to keep him long term either, and he would probably have some trade value.

I don’t care if they win another game this year. The only thing I want them to do is lock up Cliff Lee to a long term contract. If we lose him because Dolan is a cheapskate I’m gonna be pissed. But not suprised, that’s the Indians way. Oh well, enough pain and torture for one night.

Thank God for football season.