October is around the corner, the Indians are not.......

"Highly" touted prospect Chris Gimenez continues to get at-bats over Andy Marte at 1st base. I really can't explain this. Marte has finally been destroying the ball in triple A for a full season. The Indians call him up after trading both Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko, one would think that this clear an apparent path for Marte to play 1st since manager Eric Wedge will not play him at 3rd base. But instead we get to see the likes of Gimenez.

Another blow to Marte:
Matt LaPorta finally got called up because of the injury to OF Trevor Crowe and Wedge stated that LaPorta would get regular playing time and see time at 1st base again pushing Marte to the back of the line.

It would be a shame to see Marte play well for another team, he is still young and has a decent amount of upside but one would never know unless he is given playing time.

What happened to Josh Barfield?????

Roster moves need to be made.

Grady Sizemore can't play centerfield everyday with his nagging elbow injury and surgery is still a very real possibility at this point(and if that's true then he needs to be shut down and operated on now, not at the end of the season). Given Sizemore's status the team needs Ben Francisco to play CF everytime Sizemore is the DH. On these days we get to watch Ryan Garko or Chris Gimenez play the outfield! This is ridiculous that this is still happening. Why is Matt LaPorta still in Columbus when he could be getting regular at-bats. Let Francisco be the fourth outfielder and play only when Sizemore is not in CF. LaPorta can then be the everyday leftfielder.

Bring up Andy Marte as well, Jhonny Peralta is in the same boat as Francisco right now. Given a starting job and doing nothing with it. Time to move on and get some other guys at bats since we are not winning anything.

I also think Josh Barfield should be up here instead of Luis Valbuena. I think it's interesting how much they love Valbuena but hated Brandon Phillips and Marte when they couldn't perform offensively. Why is Valbuena different???

Also, try and trade Carl Pavano. He won't be back next year.

I think Jamey Carroll should be signed for a couple more years instead of dealt. He provides a lot of insurance for a young infield with a lot of question marks. I have a feeling that the Indians are going to have a very weak offseason and pitching will be the main focus. So the position players will be almost what you see now, making Carroll that much more important. Plus he doesn't have an extremely high trade value since he is more of a piece and not an everyday player but one could assume that any National League team would love to have him on their bench.

Luis Valbuena

Luis Valbuena has found himself in the lineup everyday at short and 2nd base. He has never been a regular shortstop, ever. For whatever reason Wedge really likes this kid. The problem is he hasn't hit anything. Wedge says the numbers lie and that Valbuena is putting up good at bats but if your slugging, on base, and batting average are all under .300, along with 30 strikeouts(only 15 hits) in 80 at bats I would like to know how the numbers lie. He doesn't have one good offensive stat. I really think they are doing this just to spite Josh Barfield, who has seen less action than reserve 1st baseman/catcher Chris Gimenez.

Travis Hafner and the Bullpen

Travis Hafner went 3 for 5 last night with a double, a homer, and no strikeouts. The guy looked good, let's hope this continues.

The likes of Greg Aguino, Luis Vizcaino, Matt Herges, and Rafael Perez in 2 and a third innings of relief work last night gave up: 8 earned runs, 6 hits (including 1 homerun), and 6 walks, along with 2 wild pitches. I don't know what else to say about this, the bullpen had been really good lately.......

Out of last place

If you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance, you haven't, the Indians climbed out of the cellar last night and moved ahead of Kansas City into 4th place in the AL Central Division.

If Aaron Laffey, Jake Westbrook, and/or Scott Lewis can return to the rotation by the end of June they might be able to get something going. I don't think they can rely on Tomo Ohka, David Huff, and Jeremy Sowers for the rest of the season. Sowers and Huff continue to show improvement but you can't wait and wait for one of them to break out this far into the season. If the Indians do not continue a steady climb in the AL Central standings prior to the All Star Break any hope will be crushed.

Jhonny Peralta

Peralta was out of the lineup on Sunday and is not in the lineup again tonight, plus we had an off day yesterday. I am wondering if he is hurt. With Asdrubal Cabrera on the DL you would think that JP would be in the lineup everyday at 3rd or short.

Fausto Carmona

Fausto Carmona was terrible again yesterday vs. the Twins. Tomo Ohka came in and ate up innings for a second time behind Carmona. How much longer are the Indians going to let this go on??? It's almost guaranteed that we are going to lose every 5th day. With 106 games left that means we would lose 21 of those games indefinitely.

With Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis, and Jake Westbrook's returns on the horizon the clock will be ticking for Carmona. I wouldn't be surprised if they activate Travis Hafner today and option Carmona to Columbus and let Ohka take his turn in the rotation for the time being given that we currently have 8 relief pitchers.

The rotation should look something like this by mid-July: Cliff Lee, Carl Pavano, Laffey, Westbrook, and S. Lewis/Jeremy Sowers/David Huff.

Only time will tell if these guys are healthy enought to return to the rotation without any setbacks.