Mr. Paul Dolan,
I thank you for your letter attempting to let the Tribe fans know your perspective on this trade and the condition of the Tribe, in general.
To let you know a little about me, I have been an avid fan of the Tribe for over 50 years even though I live in Indiana. I have seen the worst and the best over these years, both from the players, manager, coaches and GM's standpoint. While not an expert, I do have opinions.
From your letter, I think that you have a few misconceptions that you have been believing. I would assume those misconceptions are coming from your General Manager, Mr. Mark Shapiro, or your team manager, Mr. Eric Wedge.
First, in the second paragraph of your letter you stated that "keeping a strong nucleus of the 2007 playoff team intact we had high expectations". First of all you should have looked at the facts that we had one of the worst offensive performances in all of baseball the second half of the year and it continued into the playoffs. Of course it has continued to the present, which encompasses 179 games. Your advisers told you that a David Dellucci/Jason Michaels platoon would be as good as Kenny Lofton and there was no need to upgrade. Your GM also convinced you to keep Andy Marte on the team, taking up a roster spot and with a manager with no intent on playing him. You had to know that your bullpen, especially closer was questionable.
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If I and many other fans could see last winter that we needed some signficant help, why could not your staff have forseen that? This is not just opionion, the statistics clearly proved that out.
Your staff has convinced you that the offensive slump is because of the ballplayers. Wouldn't you think that the batting coach, Derrick Shelton, could be the cause of the entire team slump? Don't you think that the scouting of opposing pitchers, hitting instruction and philosophy would play a big part in an entire team slumping offensively?
Your staff has now convinced you that the poor performance this season is because of the injuries. Mr. Dolan, the Tribe was performing poorly before the injuries really became an issue. Maybe not resigning Mr. Showalter as an advisor had an affect also?
Your staff has convinced you that we can reload with young players from AAA and everything will be fine. Look at what your staff has assembled at Buffalo: Graffiano, Ensberg, Tyner, Linden, Ginter, Weaver, Rincon, Halama, Bauer, Reichert and others. I think that they may have misled you over the last few years about our great prospects and great minor league system. I don't think that our scouting system is as great as you may have been led to believe.
In you last sentence you state, '....decision to trade CC will enhance our ability to put a winning club on the field to make our loyal fans and the entire Cleveland community proud'. My question is when will this occur? 2009, 2010, 2011 or later?
Mr. Dolan, I would ask that you actually look into everything that you are being told. Get yourself some independent baseball advisors to adequately evaluate your staff. Look at all the movement of players over the last three years and tell me moves your staff made, on and off the field, that really worked in our favor.
I know that you are a businessman and most owners want to look at only the bottom line. I hope you take a look at what is really happening. I am convinced that you will soon see your bottom line (attendance) falling to new lows if this staff continues to operate like they have for the last 3 years. While your staff may have you convinced that they are on the right path, most of us faithful Tribe fans know otherwise. Your last request is that you hope to see us at some Tribe games. That will be very questionable.
Thank you for your time. Yes, Go Tribe!
Sincerely,
A Tribe Fan - Bob Salyer
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2 months ago
Good stuff man! Hope you still are a diehard fan after the Sabathia ordeal.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Ben. Yes, I am still a diehard fan even after the Sabathia trade. I have been true blue Tribe fan for over 50 years and I don't plan on changing now. Because I care for the Tribe so much and want them to be successful, I can't sit back and say everything is going great.
I will have to say that the way things have been managed over the last 3 years are about as poor of a job of any GM/Manager in quite a while. I am sure there were worse GM/Managers since the Frankie Lane era and I am hard pressed to think of any off the top of my head.
I just hope they don't do like they did last season and think that all is needed is a few token moves. This collapse was predicted by many Tribe fans before the season started. Remember some of us saying it reminds us of a 2006 replay?
from about 1 month ago
That 2007 season should have ended in a World Series title. It was really too bad to see that collapse (I saw it firsthand being at Miami of Ohio with thousands of Indian hopefuls). I admire your loyalty!
about 1 month ago
Bob, great idea writing a retort letter to Dolan. Very creative. Kudos.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks David. I just felt compelled to respond to Mr. Dolan since he wrote a letter to the fans. I tried to be as unemotional as possible and present facts versus irrational and demeaning comments.
Thanks also for nominating this article as the # 1 article today, I appreciate it.
BOB
about 1 month ago
The Bullpen?! are you kidding me? No one saw this coming.. Say what you want about Borowski, but he outlined the roles of everyone else... After the years Betancourt, Perez and Lewis had.. Did anyone in their right mind think that ALL THREE would fall off like they have? I don't think anyone expected them to be as dominant as they were in 2007, but Betancourt has fallen off the face of the earth. Lewis, I believe just isn't amped up enough to throw his fastball. He's a pressure situation guy in my opinion.. He needs the adrenaline going to throw his fastball. Perez is just inconsistent. Can you honestly 100% say that you saw this complete meltdown coming? I don't think so.. You've made points in the past about the offense, and you've backed it up with stats.. Which is great, I understand your point and I can see where you were coming from.. But here, I don't see it, and I think that if anyone saw this complete meltdown coming(lets not forget we ADDED another arm in the pen too), they should go an play the lottery immediately.
You are way off base in terms of what is going on with Buffalo, in my opinion
Milwaukee does the same sort of tactic the Indians do with their farm system.. They keep a group of guys together over the long run for the most part. They advance at every level together to keep some sort of chemistry between the future players of their franchise.
That's why Akron has all these guys like Wes Hodges and Josh Rodriguez ripping it up, but not advancing quite yet. Now, if a prospects starts to show that the level he is at is no match for him, they'll call the player up of course. Randy Newsome was making quick work of the Double A level so they brought him up to Buffalo.
This is the reason Buffalo is what it is.. Instead of filling Buffalo's holes with their prospects and breaking up the core group of future players at Akron, they fill them with guys like Morgan Ensberg.
Buffalo's team pretty much came unglued when Rafael Perez, Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona, Franklin Gutierrez, Jensen Lewis, and Ben Francisco all got called up.
Wait aren't most of those players I mentioned, for the most part, pretty good? I mean I think its safe to say Carmona has panned out, so has Laffey.. Perez and Lewis are struggling, but they have talent. Gutierrez is scuffling as well, but hes still young, this is only his first full year. Same with Francisco, he's got potential.. right? Is that scouting system really that bad?
If you don't follow the minor league systems, then let me be the first to tell you. You have no idea what is on it's way. Akron is stocked with all sorts of talent. Hodges, Rodriguez, Crowe, pitchers like Martin and Lofgren, and now Matt LaPorta..
Paul Dolan is not being mislead by anyone. This team has talent at every level except Buffalo.. Lake County won the first half and will be in the playoffs.. Kinston and Akron are leading their divisions. This team has talent.. Buffalo is going through a rebuild because of the 2007 year.. Instead of plugging holes with prospects, they are keeping them together and using guys like Jason Tyner.
Please tell me you aren't one of those fans that think trading C.C. was a mistake... Do you honestly think that holding on to him for the rest of the year was a good idea? This team was going no-where, so why not get something for him.. If he really does love Cleveland, he will re-sign with us, but if he doesn't, he will take a 120 million some dollar contract with another team. This move had to be made and LaPorta is probably as close to MLB ready as you can get in a prospect. He's soared through the Milwaukee system and could be here as close as this year.. So yeah this trade can help us as soon as 2009.
Did Shapiro make some bad decisions? Yes.. Dellucci was a bad signing.. Guys make bad signings... Thing is Shapiro isn't willing to invest a lot of money into high priced free-agents.. He'd rather give someone like Dellucci a 2-3 year contract, because he firmly believes he has a talented kid coming up through the system, that will replace Dellucci at the end of that contract, if not before it is up.. If he spent money, and it didn't work, then you'd be out here criticizing him for that. "ohhh you're spending all this money on these free agents and t hey aren't working out." Not only that, it would CRIPPLE a franchise like Cleveland if they did that. This isn't New York, they can't cover up their mistake with another mistake.. If Shapiro makes a big mistake, then he is out of a job and the entire franchise is set back(quite like it was when he took over, after John Hart signed a bunch of washed up has-beens to ridiculous deals).
I hardly doubt Buck Showalter leaving for ESPN is a reason for our struggles. Showalter was an adviser and nothing more.. He wasn't out there managing the team.
You don't want to go out and support the team because of decisions being made by Shapiro? Come on now.. What happened to being a fan no matter what? That's a load of junk.. The people who care about this team, no matter what the situation is, will still be out there no matter what. Why? Because it doesn't matter if the team is in first or last, they support their team because they believe in them. They aren't band wagoners that just come by when the team is winning in the playoffs.
On that note, and this has nothing to do with anything you wrote.. It's just been ticking me off lately.. The attendance last year was PITIFUL. It wasn't till late in the year that they started selling out.. Even when the team was winning it was "whatever...".. As a whole we have a real lousy fan base.. I'm quite shocked we ever sold out 455 straight home games.
from about 1 month ago
Nino, I will try to be as brief but that will be impossible.
First of all, are you telling me that you had no reservations about our bullpen with Borowski as our closer? Yes, I thought our bullpen would be a strength but I as well as most other Tribe fans had real concerns about Borowski closing even though he had 40+ saves the previous year. You had to know that it was questionable that Borowski was going to be able to save games consistently with his arm. You keep saying a complete meltdown, I stated that I as well as most fans knew that we needed more help. You are trying to imply things that I did not say. My comment was "You had to know that your bullpen, especially closer was questionable" and I still stand by that.
Tell me one significant prospect bat (other than a first baseman) that we can call on at Buffalo. And when was the last time that the Tribe called up a hitter from Akron who had not played at AAA first? Yes, we have guys like Hodges & Rodriguez, as well as Crowe hitting well in Akron but they should be facing more challenging AAA pitchers by now and preparing to come up and help the Tribe. How many years are they away from helping the Tribe? Newsome was finally promoted after what, recording 24 saves. A telling sign is that our average age at Akron is almost 25 years old!
Milwaukee is different because they will call guys up from AA and they have proven that their drafting system is superior to ours. The Brewers also believe that a highly thought prospect should make the majors in 2-4 years where the Tribe automatically put their prospect in a 4-6 year mode. Big difference. If we had DePorta in our system, he would have still been playing in Class A. That of course is if we would have been smart enough to draft a player like that. I am sure that you have read about how the Tribe's minor league ratings have started to decline over the last few years. I seems that our own people significantly overrate our prospects. The exception is that I do believe that we have had and still have some great pitching prospects in our minors. And I am thankful for that.
We need more than just plugging holes with guys like Tyner & Velendia. We need to see OUR prospects and Shapiro continuing to get guys like these just shows how wead our minor league system really is.
As far as CC, we all really know that the Tribe was not serious in signing him. They put up a show that they would compete but they knew it was a low ball number. But as far as trading CC, yes I am glad that they decided to get something for one of their players leaving for free agency. The only criticsm that I have is that I agree with some writers who believe that we could have gotten more for him if we would have been more patient. None of us will never know for sure though. But I am glad that we did get something because I think our ability to draft potential major league players is very questionable for the last few years. As far as LaPorta helping us in 2009, I sure hope so and I would also like to see him with the Tribe, at least by September.
As far as your comments concerning Shapiro, you bet that I would criticize him if he spent money on a FA that didn't work out with Dellucci case as a perfect example. 3 years at $11.75 Million for a guy who had only been a platoon player was not a brilliant move. Then signing Nixon and Michaels on top of that was even worse. It clogged up our entire minor league OF system and still is. Nino, just name me good trades or FA signings that Shapiro has made in the last 3 years. I am tempted to say 6 years but 3 years should be sufficient. By the way, I never stated that we need to go out and sign a expensive FA. We had the pieces in place which included giving up some of our prospects to get some help this last winter. Shapiro and Wedge stated that 'have enough to compete'. I as well as many true Tribe fans disagreed, even back then. I saw it as a return to 2006.
As far as John Hart, yes he made some moves that did not turn out well for the Tribe but he also made some great moves. The one thing he did was make the Tribe a major force for a number of years, which had not been done for 50 years and has not been done since. I am grateful, as a Tribe fan, for what John Hart did to bring back some pride in the Tribe.
Nino, who did Hart sign up as 'a bunch of washed up has-beens to ridiculous deals'? Please name me all of the players and the ridiulous deals.
I really think that you have a inflated opinion of Mark Shapiro. I have said it before but I think that Shapiro will be named President of the Tribe and if he keeps his hands off the new GM, he will do a great job with that. I just think that he (and Wedge) are very questionable judges of major league talent and he has done a very poor job as GM over the last 3 years.
Buck Showalter had Shapiro's ear and I saw Wedge making moves that he normally wouldn't make, knowing that Buck was there to critique them. Wedge has resorted to going back to his bullish way of running things. And it appears that Wedge has Shapiro's ear again.
It is difficult go out and support this current team because of the ineffectivness that the management team has had. For a guy like Shelton to still have a job after the offensive performance the last year and a half is just one example. To see things like that and things I stated in my letter to Mr. Dolan has me discouraged. I know that we can do better than that and to think that we may have that type of management in place for a number of years, is very depressing. The Tribe fans and players deserve more.
A good fan is not just a person who says nothing or doesn't show their displeasure when things are not being ran properly. It is just like this country, because I may be criticical at times doesn't mean I don't love it.
I want this country (and the Tribe) to be the best it can be and refuse to stand silent when I see things that I blatantly disagree with.
I think that you should be careful in calling people who voice their opinions, BAND WAGONERS. Many of us have been around as avid and faithful Tribe fans for 50+ years and now you are calling us that because we love the team so much, we want the owner of the Tribe to see clearly. Nino, I expected more from you than a childish type jab that I would expect from a 12 year old on a message board. I hope that I am misreading your intent here.
Yes, I have been ticked off recently but it is because I see (and have seen) us going down a road that is leading us to not being as good as we could be. I just wish that Shapiro, Dolan and people like you would just realize that the Tribe fan base is still there but they are not going to come out until they see some real hope that the Tribe will be competive in the field and in the management of this team. This backward thinking will not bring back the fans.
I also disagree with you about the Tribe having a lousy fan base. 455 tells me that is not the truth!
Give the fans just some hope and you will see them come back. As far as me, I watch almost every game on TV (as well as attend a few games each year) but the way this team has been assembled and playing makes it difficult to watch them. I love most of the players but Shapiro and Wedge and his cronies have made it clear that we are not as good as what we should be. I fear that we are overmatched in the GM, managing and coaching of this team. Yes, we did well last year but I truly believe that it was despite their efforts, the players succeeded.
Mr. Dolan wrote a letter to the fans and I just thought that I needed to express my opinions and observations to him, as a Tribe fan. I have reviewed that letter and I have not seen anything that I would want to change in that letter.
I will be forever, Go Tribe!!!
about 1 month ago
Just one comment to Nino. You've written some good stuff in the past, but when you say that 'people who care about this team' will stick with it through thick and thin, remember there are a lot of us older fans who have seen mostly thin for the last 50 years. 50 YEARS!! You're too young to understand that, but try to.
about 1 month ago
Nope..I can't understand that because I'm not 50 year old fan and I won't try to out of respect for anyone who's been watching the game longer than I've been alive.. But being a 50 year old fan shouldn't influence your opinion on this current team and this current management staff. Just because the teams of the past have broken your heart, doesn't mean you have to take the skeptical approach to this one.
Now I'm not saying anyone here is doing that.. But I don't know if its the addition of the Cavs and the Browns for most. It just seems like most of the fan base is so convinced that they are going to fail every time out no matter how far they get. It ain't fair to the team and I think it's bad karma for the team if the fans feel that way.
from about 1 month ago
To let you know, I don't believe in 'Karma'.
Nino, I just wish that you would catch it: Us Tribe fans for 50+ years are avid and we want the best for the fans and players. We are not putting ourselves in position for that.
And after watching the Tribe for 50+ years should give most of some experience and accuracy in accessing what we see happening on the field and in the front office.
I can not remember feeling so badly about the Tribe management since back in the Frank Lane days and that was back in the 50's. It isn't just if you win but how are you playing and is the management team really trying to get better. I just don't think that is happening right now with this managment team.
about 1 month ago
I've been a fan for 40+ years. I had to laugh when, after the incredible run the Tribe had with Hart, the Tribe dropped off to second or third place and the youngsters were talking about how bad the indians stink.
The best thing we could hope for when I was in high school was a respectable last place rather than the worst record in baseball last place.
from about 1 month ago
Yes, I was the same way, if the Tribe didn't finish in last place then it was a 'good year'. More than the losses, I remember some of the players that bring back maybe not successful but great memories from the Rocky Colavito, Tito Francona, Luis Tiant, Gaylord Perry, Sam McDowell, Vic Davaillio and on and on.
Yes, the Tribe fans who started out with the 90's Indians did become rather spoiled and unappreaciative of the history of the Tribe. This may the the first that some of them have really seen a Tribe team struggle this badly.
about 1 month ago
I would think fans that have followed the Indians for so long would have been happy during this past three to four years. Two 90-win teams including one that was very close to winning a championship. Pretty impressive as compared to history of the franchise. The '90s will in my opinion never come back. It was just one of those special era's.
There was hope last year and the fans lacked a big response to that hope until it was playoff time. The Indians had every right to believe that they were to stay competitive. If I remember right, most "prognosticators", not just the Indians brass, believed that this team and its bullpen were front runners for at least a wild card berth. I am still a believer in this team and will be excited next season when they take the field. As we have seen in this division, you can go from the bottom to top quite fast.
from about 1 month ago
Michael, I can see where you think that us older fans should be happy with two 90+ wins teams. We are happy and we do see a lot of potential with this team. But our problem is that management has not taken that next step to make the Tribe a CONSISTENT winner by making a few necessary moves to improve the team.
Many of us 'older fans' knew and stated last winter that this team was so close of being a consistent winner if they just add a few necessary pieces. But management stated that they felt confident that we had enough to compete. It was glaringly obvious to many that we did not.
I don't put much faith in what some national media people say about how good the Tribe was going to be. They look at the talent and not the management of the team. You just have to look at how badly many of these 'prognosticaters' miss the boat, year after year.
The first most obvious clue was that they were content with Dellucci/Michaels in LF even though they were not satisfied with them in 2007 and replaced them with Lofton. And then all of sudden even Lofton is not good enough to make the team and revert back to the failed platoon. All of the other teams we compete with improved and we stood pat.
The offensive stats of this team the second half of the season and into the playoffs was another huge clue. You didn't have to be a wizard to see this, just look at the stats. It was so obvious to some of us.
That is the reason of discontent, we were so close but Shapiro and Wedge would not take that next step. I don't blame it on $ because it was there but I didn't see any FA worthy of signing either. But there were a number of trade possiblities to give us a needed power bat and they would not do it, regardless of what they are trying to say now.
Your last statement is so true: "As we have seen in this division, you can go from the bottom to top quite fast". And that is much of the reason that we needed to go out and improve our team in it's obvious weaknesses. They did not do that!
Much of hesitation of the fans (IMO) is that they look at the way Shapiro has ran this club the last 3 years (look at the transactions he has made) and see the way the Wedge manages (as well as his player evalution ability) this club and it does not lead to consistent success. That is the reason many would be happier with a Hart-Hargrove/Manuel type of management.
Most of us seriously wonder, 'How good could this team really be if they had a true major league GM and Manager leading this team?'
It is a question we all should be asking.
about 1 month ago
Bob,
I had no reservations about this bullpen. You know what you got in Borowski.. Can we help it he got hurt in Spring Training and it was covered up? What was the addition of Kobayashi? Wasn't that more help? I mean between Perez, Betancourt, Kobayashi and Lewis, how many guys in that pen do you need? Wedge wouldn't have used many people past those four in meaningful situations.
I'm not sure you understand what is going on in Buffalo.. The reason the team is bare is because of the influx of talent last year.. That is why there are fill in guys all over the place and that is why the only legitimate positional player prospect is Jordan Brown. Instead of filling the holes with the players at Double A and breaking up the group that has come up together, they throw in guys like Morgan Ensberg. That is the reason he's signing these people.. It's not because our system is weak, it's because he isn't going to break many players away from the nucleus he has put together.
LaPorta is a top ten pick.. How many top ten picks have we had these past few years? Beau Mills is already in Kinston and he was probably our highest pick in a while. That's why LaPorta is in Double A already, he's a big time talent who has mowed through the minor league system.. Mills has done the same, but not at LaPorta's rate. He's a step below. I'm pretty sure if LaPorta was in our system, he'd be where he is now.
The most money offered in Indians' history was a low ball offer? 19 million a year is a low ball offer? From what I've heard.. Money was not the issue with the offer the Indians made.. It was the length.. C.C. wanted a longer commitment and the Indians were not willing to give him more years. The deal was equal to, if not more than what Jake Peavy got... I'm glad we see eye to eye on the C.C. deal though, I too think we could have gotten more, but I'll take management's word for it when they said that a deal as good as this one probably wouldn't have been on the table in a few weeks. You never know if Milwaukee goes into a slump and decides they are out of the race in a matter of weeks.
As for the washups that Hart signed.. I don't remember off the top of my head.. It was in Dealing the silly contracts he gave out to veterans.. I don't have the book with me, but I'll grab it when I can and get back to you on it. I want to get the numbers before I attempt to guess.
If Shapiro has done such a horrible job, why did this team make it to the ALCS? He assembled most of that team did he not? His staff was the one in charge when it all happened.
Hmm.. I didn't call you a bandwagoner did I? I was referring to fans in general.. The ones that would refuse to go out to a game until they "saw a winning team". Way too many times have I heard fans say that and it just ticks me off. Why not support the team? If a fan really does love their team, they will support them no matter what. I apologize if you took it as if I was calling you one. I've seen you share your knowledge on teams of the past. You certainly didn't jump on all the trains that were headed for the Bahamas.
I know this fan base is strong.. I've seen them support the Browns and pack the Cavs games. I've seen 455.. But, there has to be a reason we rank so low in attendance.. This team showed hope.. It went to the ALCS.. I don't know what more hope you can show other than what they've done.. Where are the fans? Right now, of course not many are going, but earlier in the year... Where was the support when they needed it? I didn't see it and that make me strongly question where this fan base has been since 455 ended.
from about 1 month ago
With Borowski's history of arm trouble and his erratic performance, even though he had 40+ saves, I would have thought that we would have tried to bring in a backup. Didn't most know that just as successful (or lucky) Borowski was, things could easily turn the other way. Don't you think that there is a young Joe Nathan out there somewhere or the next Putz, or Sherrill or many others closers who have the stuff to become closers with some heat. That is where I believe the White Sox outdid the Tribe and Tigers by shoring up their bullpen.
But improving the bullpen was way down on my list. The obvious help was needed in the offensive area.
As far as position players, yes, last year we had Cabrera come up from Buffalo/Akron and Gutierrez, Garko & Marte (?) were permanent Tribe players by season's end. But to call it a drain may be a stretch. It may be more a case of lack of real talent, realizing that Snyder, Cooper, Mulhern, Haad, Aubrey and others are not the answer. My problem with filling the AAA with aging ex-major/minor leaguers is that the Tribe is very resistant to calling for help from AA. I see other teams are not afraid to do that but that is not how the Tribe operates. This approach also holds back some top prospects that deserve being promoted.
I just read that the Tribe is probably ranked from 15-20 in the majors on their minor league system. Many of have been led to believe that we are in the top 5. That may have been the case in previous seasons but not any more.
As you well know, being a top 10 pick does not guarentee success at the majors. While most AL GM's had high grades for LaPorta, the NL GM's weren't as high, some questioning where he will play as well as his bat. One NL GM stated that he projected LaPorta as another Kevin Mench. I sure hope that GM is wrong. The point is that it is a gamble but good scouting can help. The Tribe's drafting and evaluation for the last number of years is questionable. I hope you are right that if LaPorta started in the Indian's system, that he would also be in AA. I really wonder about that though, based on how I see us handle prospects and especially top prospects.
Why did the Tribe do so well last season? I think the Tribe had a number of very good players, led by an outstanding pitching staff last season, very few injuries and that despite the failed moves (look at the transactions they made) the Tribe overcame that and put themselves in position to win. I also saw some moves that Wedge made that were not Wedge-like (a good thing) and I will always wonder if some of it was because of Showalter's presence and having the ear of Shapiro. I may be wet here but I really believe that.
We were close but it was very obvious that we needed help and Shapiro and Wedge were content with what they had. Very bad decision, IMO and this is not playing Monday Night Quarterback. I and many others saw (and wrote) about this last winter.
Sorry about the Bandwagon comment. I thought you were calling all of us that because we voice our disagreement in the way the Tribe is managed.
You basically answered your own question in that last paragraph: 'I know this fan base is strong......I've seen 455. But, there is a reason we rank so low in attendance. This team showed hope, it went to the ALCS. I don't know what more hope you can show than what they've done".
Nino, look at what happened to the Tigers after getting Cabrera and Willis. Season ticket sales went crazy.
The White Sox went out and got a lot of help in the bullpen as well as getting Cabrera and Swisher and taking Ramirez from under our eyes and they are filling up the stands again.
The Brewers get CC and even though the fans were excited about the young talent that they had, they went out and sold even more tickets with the fans 'actually seeing' that the Brewers were going to do whatever necessary to get to the playoffs.
After last season, just the signing of one significant bat (say a Roberts, Bay, Rios type player) would have gotten the Tribe fans excited and believing that the Tribe management would do what ever necessary to remain competitve. The front office failed and the fans are tired of the thought of listening to the lies and spins that Shapiro, Wedge and Shelton have tried to throw out to the media and fans.
As a Tribe fan with a lot of hope (and dissapointment of the ALCS loss), knowing that if this core of players were kept, and one or two more significant additions, this team could compete for years. Shapiro dropped the ball and the knowledgeable fans of the Indians could see it.
Also, I will have to also say that for obvious reasons, many fans didn't have very much faith in the abilities of Wedge and his crew, especially Shelton). They knew also that Shapiro had made some terrible decisions and the combination of those, results in low confidence. Which has been confirmed this season, as in 2006.
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