Cliff Lee, Ben Francisco Swapped for Phillies' Prospects: Dolan Era Must End

Earlier today, Cleveland ace Cliff Lee and platoon outfielder Ben Francisco were sent to the Philadelphia Phillies for four minor-league prospects.  Only time can tell how the trade pans out for both teams, but one thing is for sure: The Larry Dolan/Mark Shapiro era in Cleveland must come to an end.

For those of you who do not know, Dolan is the owner of the Cleveland Indians and the brother of Charles Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.  Dolan purchased the Indians in 2000 from the late Dick Jacobs, who oversaw the dominant Cleveland teams of the mid-to-late 1990s.  The end of that dominance coincides nearly perfectly with Dolan's acquisition of the team. 

Since 2003, Cleveland has often been in the bottom third of players' salary spent, although this season and the last have seen a slight rise in payroll.  However, the Tribe have enjoyed three winning seasons and two postseason appearances since Dolan bought the club, one of which coming in 2001 with a roster comprised mostly of players from the Jacobs' era.

Given that Dolan purchased the club for nearly 10 times what Jacobs paid for it in 1986, one would think that he would want to commit extra funds to keep the Tribe at the top of the Central, not only to keep attendance up but to "keep the ball rolling," so to speak.  Quite frankly, however, Dolan's handling of the team has been greatly mismanaged. 

Coming off a seven-year stretch where Cleveland made the playoffs six times and competed for the World Series twice, the excitement in Cleveland over the team had scarcely been higher in its history.  In fact, Jacobs Field sold-out 455 consecutive games from June 1995 to the beginning of the 2001 season, a record held until late last season when Boston's Fenway Park broke the record. 

Instead, Dolan has forced General Manager Mark Shapiro to cut costs across the board and has not signed a prized free agent since Kevin Millwood (who would win the AL ERA title in 2005, his only year with the Tribe).

In a league where the lack of a salary cap has been well-documented, especially considering the New York Yankees spending spree this past offseason, the Indians must spend money to keep key players and sign valuable free agents in order to compete.  Gone are the days prior to the Curt Flood decision where players had to be traded or released in order to change teams. 

Many teams still try to develop from within with varying results, ranging from the tremendous 2008 Tampa Bay Rays team to the big-market feeder Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals teams of the past two decades.  What worries me as a Cleveland Indians fan is seeing the club transform from the big-spending powerhouse of the '90s to the "laughingstock" that these frugal and often delusional clubs have become. 

All-Star catcher Victor Martinez may very well be gone by the weekend and Grady Sizemore is only under contract through 2012.  While this year has not gone as many fans expected for the Tribe, teams must hold onto a core group of players in order to be successful in the future.  If Cleveland stumbles out of the box as they did this year, should we expect the likes of Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo to be trade bait as well? 

Lee had really figured out the art of pitching in the last couple seasons, including a horrendous 2007 where he was sent down to the minors for the second half of the year.  After his return to the majors in 2008 and his subsequent dominance, Lee has the look and focus of a dominant number one starter no matter where he plays, which could translate to great success in Philly.  Cleveland fans including myself wish him much luck there, however, we would much rather have him here in Cleveland for the next few seasons. 

The loss of Ben Francisco, needless to say, is not as big a deal as the hole the loss of Lee creates in our rotation.  Francisco was having a serviceable year (.250, 10, 33 .758) as an outfielder playing four to five times a week, though he can easily be replaced. 

However, to deal two major league caliber players, including one less than a year removed from a Cy Young Award, for four unproven prospects (not including blue-chip pitchers J.A. Happ and Kyle Drabek as we've heard about in the Phils-Halladay rumblings) is simply maddening.  Given that Lee's contract runs through next season, shouldn't Shapiro have asked for a haul more like the Sabathia deal last season, whose contract effectively ended upon Milwaukee's exit from the playoffs?  Furthermore, how much are we willing to give away Martinez for (whose contract runs through next season as well)?

The team's attempt at building from within would be much less difficult if it weren't for a string a lackluster drafts since the Dolan/Shapiro era commenced.  While professional league drafts are often labeled as a "crapshoot," and reasonably so, notable first-round bust from 2001 on include Jeremy Guthrie, Michael Aubrey, Dan Denham, and Jeremy Sowers. 

Furthermore, 2009 NL Cy Young candidate Tim Lincecum was a Cleveland draftee, but they failed to sign him.  Tigers' pitcher Rick Porcello was on the board when Cleveland drafted Beau Mills 13th overall in 2007 and while sign-ability regarding Porcello worried many teams besides the Tribe, the fact is he was available and might instead become an ace for a division rival. 

Try and convince your average Indians fan that the four-year extension signed by Travis Hafner worth $57 million months after the '07 draft was a better baseball decision than drafting and signing a young, potentially dominant pitcher in Porcello (Or more generally, 'Would you prefer a 30-year-old DH or a promising young top-of-the-rotation starter?").

I "applaud" Indians management for the Hafner contract only because it showed some willingness to increase payroll.  Other than that aspect of the deal, it could not have gone worse for Hafner and the Tribe.  "Pronk" was hurt most of last season and some the current one and while he is a welcome addition to the team as a decent hitter with some good power, the money spent on Hafner has clearly been spent unwisely. 

Now Tribe fans must worry whether Dolan will hesitate to commit money to any Indians star out of fear they will perform in a manner similar to how Hafner has for Dolan and the Indians, whether due to injury, complacency or other factors.

Realistically, the only way the Cleveland Indians can compete for a World Series by retaining their cost-effective methods of management is through good, solid drafts and the addition of veteran free agents year-in, year-out.  The idea of a salary cap in baseball would greatly level the playing field, as the Yankees, Mets, and Cubs field teams with nearly double the payroll of this year's Indians club.  However, such a system in baseball is nowhere near implementation. 

Therefore, unless Larry Dolan changes the manner in which he runs his baseball team, the Cleveland Indians' dominance of the 1990s will be soon be forgotten, and its reputation will revert to the rag-tag, low-firepower laughingstock of the 1970s and '80s. 

In closing, I would like to suggest (as if they're listening) to the likes of Dan Gilbert (owner of the Cavaliers, Quicken Loans) and Mark Cuban (hell, anyone other than Dolan with a three quarters of a billion dollars around and the desire to build a winning ball club)...Please, please buy this team away from the suffocating clutches of Larry Dolan.