Cleveland Indians Make Bizarre Roster Move by Signing Esmil Rogers
The Cleveland Indians have added relief pitcher Esmil Rogers to their roster, and I can't understand why. Take a look at Rogers' ERA from the last three years:
| Year | ERA |
| 2010 | 6.13 |
| 2011 | 7.05 |
| 2012 | 8.06 |
Do Rogers' stats support a roster slot on a contending major-league team? Can't there be any pitchers down on the farm that could do better than this? How about any of these pitchers at Columbus, where we have at least 50 innings of work this year to assess?
| Pitcher | ERA |
| Chris Seddon | 3.78 |
| Corey Kluber | 3.73 |
| Chris Schwinden | 2.70 |
| Zach McAllister | 2.98 |
And while we are examining the Tribe's roster, why is Johnny Damon still here? After 108 at-bats, his batting average is .176. He has only one extra-base hit so far in the month of June. At age 38, he has also become a liability in the outfield due to his limited range. For whatever reason, Damon just hasn't worked out for the Tribe and his left-handed bat just isn't needed in the lineup.
Rather than sending Matt LaPorta back down to Columbus to make room for Rogers, wouldn't it have made more sense to axe Damon and give LaPorta more major-league experience? It is difficult to imagine him performing worse than Damon.
Am I missing something obvious?
What do you think about this? Leave a comment and let's get a discussion going here.
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