What should we do to get ready for Choo?

As you already know Shin-Soo Choo should be back in a Tribe uniform as earl as June 1st.  When he comes back he has to be on the 25 man roster because he is out of options.  So someone will have to be sent down or released.  Jason Michaels has already been let go so here are my thoughts on what can be done:

- Send Ben Francisco down (again) because he has options

- Attempt to send Andy Marte back to triple A and hope he clears waivers

- Send down a relief pitcher that still has options: Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez, or Tom Mastny (remember though that Mastny will be sent down anyways when Joe Borowski comes back from the DL)

- Release a relief pitcher: Lefty Craig Breslow or journeyman Jorge Julio

- Release another veteran position player like Michaels: David Dellucci or Casey Blake

- Or make a trade to free up a roster spot

Obviously this is all speculation and I highly doubt the Indians would release another player at this point in the season.  If anything were to happen I firmly believe the Indians would sen Ben Francisco back to Buffalo for the time being or they would make a trade.  But this poll isn't what you think will happen it's what do you want to happen.  So have some fun and vote!

I think Marte may be the odd man out. He's just taking up space. Blake may have a poor history w/ RISP, but he's hitting almost .400 w/ RISP this year.

The thing is, if they get rid of Marte or send down a reliever that will leave us with 5 OF's and may leave us short in the infield or bull pen.

I would hate to send Francisco back down. The guy's had almost 1,000 AB's in triple AAA. He needs to play at the ML level.

Very tough to get rid of Delucci right now with our offensice struggles.

It will be very interesting to see what they end up doing. It would be great if they could make a good trade.

Can they put Andy Marte on the DL when Shin-Soo Choo is ready?  Back spasms or something?

If not, go ahead and send him down to Buffalo.  If another team picks him up, so be it.  If the Indians staff can't get Travis Hafner, Jhonny Peralta, Casey Blake, Asdrubal Cabrera, (and more) going offensively, how in the world are they going to work wonders with Marte?

And by the way, a couple of years ago the Tribe traded Arthur Rhodes for Jason Michaels and Coco Crisp and David Riske for Guillermo Mota and Marte. I think it's safe to say that Mark Shapiro would prefer not to discuss those two deals.

Richyett, we also basically traded Josh Bard for Kelly Shoppach in that deal.  I agree that it was a bad trade for us overall.  Marte is a dud and Guillermo Mota is either suspended or completely out of baseball.

I would be really wary trading with the Red Sox.  I think they are as bad trading partners as another poster, GeronomosSon, thinks the Pirates are.  We don't hear much from him anymore which is disappointing.  What really rankled me about that trade was Mota.  He was damaged goods, and also a heavy steroids user.  I can't imagine the Red Sox didn't know about either.

Anyway, I also agree with your assessment of Marte.  Wedge said he arrived at camp sluggish and out of shape.  That is completely unacceptable for a guy 'on the bubble' trying to make the team.  Of course it is possible he could be good with another team, but the odds are against it.  The odds are always against that sort of thing happening in similar situations.  It's a much more likely scenario that Marte will go down the same road that Mike Rouse went down last year.  Rouse is somewhere in the White Sox farm system now, and is not "another Brandon Phillips".  Neither is Andy Marte.

Instead of waiting til mid-August like we did last year for Rouse, just send Marte down to AAA when Choo is ready like you said.  If we're lucky we'll get a minor league player to be named later like we did for Jason Michaels.

I have a lot to point out but I am not trying to attack anybody, just playing devil's advocate from the baseball as a business perspective.

First off you can complain all you want about Andy Marte/Coco Crisp trade but we did get Kelly Shoppach out of the deal which I think is a big part of our team right now and last season.  And the Red Sox did know that Guillermo Mota was damaged and the Indians did as well but he wasn't a huge part of the deal and the Indians were willing to take the chance because we needed some veteran bullpen help badly in '06.  The Indians really wanted young reliever Manny Delcarmen but Boston wouldn't part with him.

I really think the Indians need to play Marte everyday until Shin-Soo Choo is ready.  Give him every opportunity to perform before they make a major move with him.  It's not like Casey Blake it tearing the cover off the ball (yes I know he is hitting in the clutch so use him as a pinch hitter)and it seems he is having some defensive woes at 3rd right now.  Plus Blake could be an extremely valuable utility player given his ability to play both corner infield and outfield positions.

Everyone keeps talking about the Brandon Phillips incident but let's not forget about Jeremy Guthrie either.  Another kid that was on the bubble with no options.  We have a lot of good pitching and it would be difficult to see where he would fit in with this team now but we let him go for nothing.  Just think what we could have gotten for him after his performance with the Orioles last season.  And can we please stop talking about Mike Rouse, he was never a prospect just a journeyman 4A ballplayer that had some solid defense, that's all, nothing more.

Back to Crisp and Phillips, and even Josh Bard, Ben Broussard, Jody Gerut, and Milton Bradley.  All of these players have one thing in common, for whatever reason Eric Wedge had a problem with all of these players.  If you look in the archives of articles from Sheldon Ocker, Terry Pluto, Paul Hoynes, Justice Hill, and Anthony Castrovince you can find bits and pieces in articles where Wedge makes a statement about his displeasure about there attitude, play, and/or behavior.  And after each of those incidents the player was no longer in a Tribe uniform.

My point being that Wedge has not said anything negative about Marte and there are other potential moves the Tribe could make without losing any players to keep Marte on the roster.

Shin-Soo Choo Update:  Choo reported to Buffalo today and will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday the 14th which means he has to be on the big league squad on Monday, June 2nd. 

Also, surprise move with lefty veteran outfielder Jason Tyner.  We finally get rid of Jason Michaels, call up Ben Francisco and then call up another outfielder.  Interesting move Mr. Shapiro.  I am assuming that Tyner will be sent down when Joe Borowski is healthy or if our bullpen starts to get worked a little more.  You have to love the fact that we have so much pitching depth right now given that our offense is still lacking.