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October 12, 2007
BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- With a payroll less than half of the Red Sox, winning baseball games isn’t easy for the Indians. Yet after finishing with identical 96-66 records, the Tribe found a way to get the job done.
The principal reason clearly lies in player development. Under the direction of general manager Mark Shapiro, the Indians have churned out a slew of good, young players in recent years. The minor league system introduced three every-day players this season in first baseman Ryan Garko, second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and right fielder Franklin Gutierrez. Fausto Carmona transitioned from a rocky rookie year as a reliever in 2006 into one of the premier starters in the American League in `07. Young relievers Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis helped firm up a shaky bullpen.
These new additions join more established veterans who also came through the Indians' farm system, notably C.C. Sabathia, Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez. Cleveland’s payroll this season was a shade over $61 million. Boston’s hovered near the $143 million mark. Two of the best buys on the squad are all-star outfielder Sizemore ($916,000) and Carmona, who earned only $387,000 this season.
Rookie battle
There are two major impact rookie second basemen in this series. Dustin Pedroia is the likely Rookie of the Year in the American League but Cabrera enjoyed an extremely impressive debut as well.
Cabrera began this season with Double A Akron but quickly stopped through Buffalo (9 games) before landing in the majors on Aug. 7. Over the last seven weeks of the season, Cabrera received a taste of the action and quickly seized the opportunity. He ended up hitting .283 in 45 games with 22 RBI. A slick fielder, he only coughed up one error in 220 chances at second base and shortstop. He also quickly rose in the batting order from ninth to his present spot in the two hole.
“Initially it was not a permanent move,” to fix the rookie high in the order, said manager Eric Wedge. “We knew that we were going to give him some playing time, and he just went out and took it. If you look at the way he handled himself offensively, the way he handled himself defensively, you know, the kid was just in the middle of everything. When we called him up, he was at the bottom of our order and then we made some changes with our entire order, from really head to toe. And that's when we put him in the two hole. We weren't sure how that was going to work out, either.”
Staying put
Before the game, Wedge was asked why he doesn’t step on the field after his team secures a victory. Even after closing out the Yankees in New York, Wedge resisted the urge to celebrate with his players near the pitcher’s mound. He says the game is about the players, not himself.
“I’ve done that all year, it's not just a postseason thing,” he said. “This is their team. It's their clubhouse, it's their team. It's about the players. Managers and coaches do what they can to help them be the best they can be, but ultimately it's all about the players. As soon as you get done playing and you start managing and coaching, it sure as hell better not be about you anymore or you shouldn't be doing it because your time is done. It's about the players and it's about what they do and what they mean to each other.”
Keeping the faith
Even with top starters Sabathia and Carmona, the Indians know they’ll have to rely on closer Joe Borowski throughout this series. With 45 saves, Borowski knows how to close a game but his 5.07 ERA speaks to bigger troubles in tight situations.
Wedge has supported Borowski all season long and continued to put faith in his closer.
“Your bullpen starts with your closer,” said Wedge. “We've got someone down there with as much strength, actually more strength than I've ever seen in regard to being the leader of our bullpen, as a closer needs to be. Because of that, other people that are down there are more confident. It's black and white; either you get it done or you don't. He saved 45 games for us during the season, saved the final game (in New York). He's the one that we want to get the baseball to.”
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