Cleveland Indians @ Bare Baseball - Baseball MLB Blog

Notes: Shapiro pays attention to depth

03/01/2006
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Mark Shapiro doesn't have much interest in watching the likes of Cliff Lee, C.C. Sabathia and Travis Hafner this spring.
The Indians general manager knows what those players are capable of.
Shapiro would rather put the majority of his attention on guys like Franklin Gutierrez, Ryan Garko, Fausto Carmona and Jeremy Sowers -- players who won't break camp with the big league club but who could make an impact with the Tribe further down the line.
"Depth decisions are some of the primary things I'm focusing on," Shapiro said. "They won't matter much on April 2. But on May 13, they could be huge."
The official evaluation period for those on-the-cusp players began with this week's intrasquad games at Chain of Lakes Park. The Indians will open their Grapefruit League schedule Thursday in Kissimmee, against the Astros.
As far as the big league roster is concerned, the Tribe has little competition for roster spots to sort through. The only real question marks are the last bullpen spot (Danny Graves, Steve Karsay, Jason Davis and Andrew Brown are the leading candidates), the backup catcher's job (Kelly Shoppach and Einar Diaz) and the utility infielder's role (Ramon Vazquez and Brandon Phillips).
"We want to set the roster as early as we can," Shapiro said. "This year, the decisions are so few."
One goal of Spring Training will be to have the 25-man roster basically nailed down before the last week of exhibition games, so that the final team will have a chance to gel and bond before heading to Chicago for the April 2 opener.
"We want to improve our readiness and preparedness for April," Shapiro said. "The core of our team is in place. If we feel it's easy, we want to make our decisions sooner."
Classic combatants: With Sabathia officially out of the mix for the World Baseball Classic, the Indians have five players listed as potential participants in the tournament.
Eduardo Perez and Cabrera are confirmed to be representing Puerto Rico, while Rafael Betancourt and Victor Martinez are set to play for Venezuela.
The only question mark is second baseman Ronnie Belliard, who is on a list of 32 players being considered for the Dominican Republic squad. That list must be whittled down to 30 players by noon ET on Thursday.
Belliard is fresh off playing a full season of winter ball, including the Caribbean Series, so one could forgive him if he's a bit tired. But he said the tournament is still something he's interested in.
"It's just like the Caribbean Series," he said. "I've played in that the last four or five years. It feels good when you win and bad when you lose."
Team B goes 2-0: It was another day and another 3-1 victory for Team B in the Indians' intrasquad action Wednesday.
Bob Wickman, held to a pitch count in the low 20s, didn't complete the first inning, as he got into trouble by giving up an RBI single to Team B's Victor Martinez. Shoppach added a two-run double off Jason Stanford for Team B in the fifth.
Ramon Vazquez hit a solo home run off Davis in the fourth inning to give Team A its only run.
Other highlights included a nice scoop of a ball at first base by Travis Hafner, who's looking to put some time in at the position this season.
Phillips was nailed on the left hand by a pitch from Davis after Vazquez's home run. But manager Eric Wedge said the hand checked out fine and did not require X-rays.
Sign 'em up: The Indians agreed to terms on contracts for the 2006 season with 12 more players Wednesday.
The latest batch includes infielders Michael Aubrey, Andy Marte and Garko, outfielders Gutierrez, Brad Snyder and Jason Dubois, right-handers Fernando Cabrera, Carmona, Davis, Ed Mujica and Kaz Tadano and left-hander Rafael Perez.
Five unsigned players remain on the 40-man roster. The deadline for contract renewal is March 11.
Going, going ... gone: The Indians announced that tickets for the April 7 home opener against the Twins have sold out more than a month earlier than in 2005.
This is the 13th consecutive sellout for Opening Day at Jacobs Field since the ballpark opened in 1994.
Single-game tickets for regular-season home games go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. A free open house will be held at the ballpark from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day.
Small-screen star: Popular center fielder Grady Sizemore appeared on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" program Wednesday to discuss the outlook for the Indians this season.
Each portion of the team was given a preseason grade, including a B-plus for the lineup.
"Hopefully we'll get some extra credit and bump that grade up," Sizemore said.
Then things got a little silly, as host Jay Crawford, a Sandusky, Ohio, native, had Sizemore compare the current Indians to the characters in the movie "Major League." Jake Taylor apparently has nothing on the grittiness of Victor Martinez.
Tribe tidbits: The Indians have extended their player development contract with the Class A Kinston Indians of the Carolina League through the 2008 season. ... Right-hander Jake Westbrook will get the start in Thursday's game against the Astros. He'll go up against right-hander Dan Wheeler. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:05 p.m. ET.

Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/

posted by David @ 9:48 AM