Tribe Talk: Shapiro's Frankenstein Of A Team Comes Back To Haunt Him

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Shapiro is responsible for the awful drafts from when he took over until 2007 that have left the minors low on talent, especially in pitching. But he has acknowledged this is a problem and they are re-evaluating how to draft and develop players.

He is also at fault for signing sub-par veteran talent time and time again (partially because of the poor drafting) ever since he struck gold with Bob Howry. That needs to stop this offseason, and he has admitted his faults and said that.

He also is great at acquiring talent from other teams (Hafner, Choo, Cabrera, et al), which has helped stop some of the bleeding. So, I think he deserves a second chance as long as he realizes the team needs a new voice on the field. Eric Wedge's time has come but Shapiro deserves to stay if he realizes this.

2. In all fairness, Shapiro can't really be blamed for the way this season started - no one could have predicted such a disaster. However, it is still Shapiro's job to fix it, and it hasn't been fixed.

The recent Mark DeRosa for Chris Perez trade exemplifies Shapiro's strategy thus far of making small adjustments with the hope of improving the team through fine tuning. Do you think this is a solid strategy, or do you think that a mess this big calls for a big move to fix it?

Now put yourself in Mark Shapiro's place: How big of a move would you be willing to make? Would you trade a high-value player now to get pitching, or would your big move be to start the fire sale?

Dale Thomas: Why can't we blame Shapiro? Hey, if there are seven blown cylinders and three flat tires on this Yugo of a team, then a new spark plug ain't gonna help.

If you allow zero runs in every game, then it only takes a small offense to win. Trade the bats, keep the defense and get good pitching. The problem with this approach is that we have very little to work with. Right now a fire sale would be more like a single match in a strong wind.

This situation is squarely on the shoulders of Shapiro, as he has let the valuable or even semi-valuable guys trickle off to other teams while getting nothing in return. Those players that had some potential and did sign with us have been wasting away under the "Wedge anti-development program."

Samantha Bunten: Shapiro's allergy to making the “big move” is what has sunk this team in the long run. The little, fine tuning moves he makes are the type that should belong to a team which is already performing well and needs to be tweaked to reach its optimal potential—not those of a franchise that is falling apart at the seams.

Shapiro's only big moves of late have been those where his hand was forced (the trade of Sabathia, for example), and those moves were geared toward acquiring prospects for use years down the road.

Bolstering the farm system is always necessary, but moves that serve only the future and not the present aren’t appropriate for a team in the Indians’ current situation. This would be fine if the team was rebuilding, but this is a team that is supposed to be a contender, so acquisitions should be largely geared toward improving the product on the field right now.

Were I in Shapiro's place, I would have been willing to make a pretty serious move to save the season—in May. Now, 2009 has become a season which is not worth trading the future for. Any trade of a major player now would just worsen a team that is already really, really terrible.

The big moves should be made in the offseason, when the Indians can start over and try to put a winner on the field for 2010.

Scott Miles: Any team willing to offer talented young pitching in a trade should be heard. Just in case fans forget, our two through five starters are Carl Pavano, Tomo Ohka, Jeremy Sowers and David Huff. Yikes, yikes, yikes!

I would look to unload Jamey Carroll and Ryan Garko first. I love Carroll but he is not a key piece right now. Garko can drive in runs, but he's never going to be a .300 hitter and he's never going to hit 25-plus HRs.

Players like Carroll and Garko won't yield big returns, but we need as much depth as we can get in the pitching staff. I don't think the team needs a complete overhaul, just more than one or two pitchers whom you can depend on to get outs.

Jeff Smirnoff:

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