Mark Shapiro enters his second season as General Manager of the Cleveland Indians, and 12th with the organization, in full rebuilding mode.
While we wait breathlessly for word from Cooperstown about the results of the new Veterans Committee balloting, the STATLG-L Internet Hall of Fame voters have spoken their collective mind here on BP. Well, sort of. The voting patterns on the two ballots (Players and Composite) were rather similar in some respects. On both ballots, only…
Mark Shapiro enters his second season as General Manager of the Cleveland Indians, and 12th with the organization, in full rebuilding mode. Since winning six NL Central division titles in seven years, the Indians have said goodbye to stars Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome and Bartolo Colon and rebuilt the farm system through drafting, development and a series of opportune trades. He recently chatted with BP about the dangers of multi-year contracts, breaking prospects into the lineup, and the pressure of meeting fans’ expectations.
Of the million things Cubs fans can blame when they look back on why
2003 wasn’t the year they finally won the World Series, health won’t be
one of them. In fact, for at least the last decade, trainer Dave Tumbas
has kept Cubs’ health concerns out of the picture more than most teams in baseball. The one major injury during that time was Kerry Wood’s
arm trouble; but as much as people look to Wood’s usage during his
rookie season, the more likely culprit was his usage during high school.
As far as the rest of the team, the injuries suffered have been setbacks they could expect and plan for. It’s fine to have someone like Moises Alou or Rondell White on the roster if there’s an adequate backup plan. The difference between the Cubs with Alou and the Brewers with Jeffrey Hammonds is that not only do the Cubs plan on Alou playing only 120 games, they paid him according to this plan.