What, exactly, happened to the Tribe?

[Crow]

So, a few years ago, we were one game away from the World Series.

I don't follow baseball closely, but I follow the news enough to know living hell has been unleashed on our team.

What, exactly, happened to the Tribe?

[SoCalBrownsFan]

What happened???....Dolan happened.

[SoCalBrownsFan]

Originally Posted by SoCalBrownsFan

What happened???....Dolan happened.

I guess, based on the lack of responses, everyone agrees.

[Crow]

everyone else is too disgusted to respond

[SoCalBrownsFan]

Originally Posted by Crow

everyone else is too disgusted to respond

That too.

[JewDago]

here's what happened: c.c. sabathia was due for free agency after the 2008 season, and the team knew it had no chance of re-signing him. when it was clear that they weren't going to compete for the AL central title let alone make the world series after a dismal opening to the season, shapiro looked into trading sabathia, which he was able to do for matt laporta and a couple other prospects.

during that same season, fausto carmona, an integral part of the team's 2007 success (and an equal part of their epic fucking failure), lost his form and pitched like shit. the team was partly bailed out by cliff lee's ascension to badass, as he single-handedly won at least ten games for the erie warriors, but the team didn't make the playoffs because it, of course, choked during the last week of the season. of course, they were only in position to even sniff the playoffs because of a truly epic second-half rally, but close only counts...horseshoes...grenades.

going into the 2009 season, there was hope that carmona would return to form, lee would continue to be a badass, and jake westbrook would assume the #3 role and be competent. fausto sucked, westbrook got hurt, sizemore got hurt, hafner first sucked then got hurt, and the team went to hell. shapiro traded victor martinez and cliff lee to the red sox and phillies, respectively, and got some prospects back in return. the team also traded ryan garko to the giants, again picking up prospects.

lee and martinez were both in line for free agency, and the team knew they wouldn't be able to sign them because other teams can simply offer way more money. the easy answers are to blame the donlans and MLB. if there were a salary cap...blah blah blah. there isn't. if you want to be a fan of a team that really has a chance every year, you have three, maybe four choices: yankees, red sox, angels, dodgers. that's it. have fun being a sellout. if you want to be a real fan, you endure the boom and bust model of a small-market club and hope your team is the one that gets lucky in between the dynasties taking their turns.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Originally Posted by SoCalBrownsFan

What happened???....Dolan happened.

What he said.

[Vegasdogg]

Cleveland happened. We are fucking cursed. Last championship in this city was 1964???? WTF???

Jew Dago nailed the intelligent reasons. But I'm telling you we are cursed. Gawddamn expansion teams have WS wins since 1964. We are fucking cursed.

[ramrod]

Originally Posted by SoCalBrownsFan

What happened???....Dolan happened.

Yes yes yes.

Some of us complain about Lerner, including myself.... But this guy.... errrrrrrrrrr, I am now going back to the cavs board.

Good luck Indians, I dont even know who half of you guys are. Do they bring fans out of the stadium to play? and give them 50 bucks?

[grimmreaper3]

Originally Posted by JewDago

if you want to be a fan of a team that really has a chance every year, you have three, maybe four choices: yankees, red sox, angels, dodgers. that's it. have fun being a sellout. if you want to be a real fan, you endure the boom and bust model of a small-market club and hope your team is the one that gets lucky in between the dynasties taking their turns.

This.

It's a structural thing. Now you're right, Dolan could do something that would make the Indians competitive: move them to a larger market.

The pool of owners who *could* be competitive is absurdly small. No competent businessman would want to touch this franchise: small market, very little room for profit, etc. That leaves only those who are not good businessmen to buy it.

You can see the problem with this.

I, inevitably, have a pro-Dolan bias. Not because I like the current state of the Indians, but because we haven't won the lottery with our prospects yet, which is what a small-market WS championship amounts to.

[Vegasdogg]

Look back to - say - 1989.

Teams like Oakland, Minnesota, Toronto, Florida, Arizona, San Diego, Cincinnatti, Chicago White Sox, St Louis, Colorado, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Anaheim and Cleveland - all have been in the World Series or they have won it.

If they ever was a sport that has done more without a salary cap, it is Major League Baseball, a sport I like the least. LOL.

Small market excuses are just that - excuses. There are Yankees teams spending $200M+ that don't get to the World Series. It is about managing a roster, managing a farm team, and paying players when they are worth it, or getting the most out of the ones you do sign. Larger market teams can sign more players, but they don't hand out Championships to people who spend the most.

Just recently Tampa Bay, Colorado and Detroit all played in the big dance. Are they big market teams?

[JewDago]

i was going to describe how displeased i am with mark shapiro right now, but baseball is easily the sport that's hardest on the current GM. the players that he's acquired in exchange for consecutive cy young winners are at least two years away from being major league players aside from matt laporta and michael brantley (the former who's hitting under .200 with a single RBI on the year and the latter who was below .160 and was optioned to AAA).

however, based on his scouting reports and advice, shapiro got the best players he could to build for the future instead of simply losing players to free agency. trading established players for prospects is always a gamble, but it's one small-market clubs have to take in order to even have the chance to be successful. grimm's quite right - a small-market team winning the world series is the same as winning the lottery.

the trades don't bother me. they needed to happen. what i definitely can bitch about, though, are shapiro's free agent signings. joe borowski. mark derosa. jamey carroll. kerry wood. for the ten mil we've been paying kerry wood to alternately suck and sit on the DL the past two years, we could've signed a quality everyday player who would've helped the team far more than a closer. trying to win with pitching in baseball at this point is like trying to win with defense in football.