This is not exactly the kind of report that I planned on sending out this
evening but that's ok because it's for a very good reason. As some of you may
know, my wife and I were expecting our third child in early February but last
night little Jennifer Rian decided to take things into her own hands. Checking
in three weeks early, she weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs - 14 oz and 20 inches
long with a decent head of blonde hair. The whole evening remains a blur as we
were having dinner at Bob Evans at 6:00 and by 7:30 Jennifer was born. Yeah, it
was fast. Both Mom and baby are doing well while Dad is in need of a stiff
drink. Needless to say, I'm going to be a little busy this week as we all settle
into our new routines. The next CIR will begin the annual organizational
position review which should take us right into the start of spring training.
Until then, the following is the report I had planned to finish this evening
until a little girl dictated otherwise. Talk to you soon!
Jose Jimenez
signed with St.Louis in 1991 out of the Dominican Republic where he remained
in-country for the first three seasons of his Cardinals career. He finally made
the trip to the States in 1995 and began his advancement through the Cards
system, culminating in a 1998 season in which he was named the Texas League
Pitcher of the Year after posting a 15-9 record and a 3.11 ERA in 26 starts (179
IP, 156 H, 68 W, 88 K). That performance was rewarded by the Cardinals with a
September call-up and Jimenez continued to impress, going 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA in
four appearances. Baseball America ranked Jimenez as the number eight prospect
in the Cards system entering 1999 and with the exception of a brief stint in the
minor leagues, Jimenez spent the majority of the year in the Cardinals rotation,
going 5-14 with a 5.85 ERA (163 IP, 173 H, 71 W, 113 K). Despite the less than
gaudy numbers, Jimenez did make history in 1999 when he tossed a no-hitter on June
25 (9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 W, 8K), outdueling Randy Johnson (9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 W,
14 K) 1-0 in the process.
That offseason, Jimenez was included as part of the Darryl Kile trade and was
dealt from the Cardinals to the Rockies where he has spent the last four seasons
pitching out of the Colorado bullpen with the exception of seven starts last
year. In 2000, Jimenez worked in 72 games and eventually was named the teams
closer, saving 24 games and going 5-2 with a 3.18 ERA (70.2 IP, 63 H, 28 W, 44
K). In 2001, he pitched in 56 games, saving 17 and posting a 6-1 record with a
4.09 ERA (55 IP, 56 H, 22 W, 37 K). The next year brought Jimenez' greatest
success as he saved 41 games despite a 2-10 record, posting a 3.56 ERA (73.1
IP< 76 H, 11 W, 47 K) in 74 games. Last season, Jimenez struggled, eventually
being removed from the closer role, and posted a second consecutive 2-10 record
with a 5.22 ERA (101.2 IP, 137 H, 32 W, 45 K) in 63 appearances, including the
previously mentioned seven starts.
Any discussion involving a Colorado hurler needs to consider the Coors Field
effect and Jimenez is no exception, although the outcome is probably not what
you expect. Last season, Jimenez actually pitched better at home (.306, BAA,
5.29 ERA, 61.1 IP) then he did on the road (.343 BAA, 5.13 ERA, 40.1 IP) and
that is the continuation of a three-year trend in which Jimenez has pitched
better at altitude (.277 BAA, 4.48 ERA, 136.2 IP) than in more pitcher-friendly
confines (.310, 4.34 ERA, 93.1 IP). He also has a heavy split towards the
right-side as he's held righthanders to avreages of .266/.311/.394/.705 versus
lefthanders averages of .318/.367/.471/.838 over the past three seasons and
lefites hit him particularly hard last year (.382/.435/.525/.959).
When successful, Jimenez keeps his 90-93 mph fastball down in the zone and
induces a lot of ground-balls as evidenced by the extreme groundball/flyball
ratios (2.88, 3.03, 3.04, 2.57) and few homeruns he has allowed (24 in 300.67
IP, impressive for someone who pitched half the season at altitude) over the
past four years. He also throws a slider but does not has a "strikeout
pitch" which is reflected in his low K/IP ratios. Control is generally not
an issue and even though his walks were up last season, his BB/IP ratio (32 BB
in 101.2 IP) was still within acceptable limits. Command (being able to put the
ball where you want it within the strike-zone) is an issue, however, and what I
suspect happened last season is that Jimenez' was unable to keep his pitches
down and he got hit. This is supported by the big increase in his H/IP ratio
(137 H in 101.2 IP), the decrease in his BB/K ratio (32 BB, 45 K), and the
decrease in his GB/FB ratio (3.04 to 2.57). In short, his pitchers were up and
he got hammered. Whether this was a mechanical issue, a psychological effect of
pitching at Coors, or Jimenez compensating for an undisclosed injury, I'm not
sure. He did pitch better in the second half (4.08 ERA, .302 BAA, 13 W in 57.1
IP) and that offers hope for a rebound this season.
With 102 career saves, Jimenez is the Rockies all-time saves leader but he'll
serve as a setup man for Bob Wickman and/or David Riske for the Indians. He
signed for $1,025,000 (plus incentives) and gives the Indians "five guys in
the backend, all of whom have closed, all of 'em have track records"
according to Mark Shapiro. Those five guys would be Wickman, Riske, Jimenez,
Scott Stewart, and Bob Howry. Assuming a 12-man staff, those five would appear
to have secure positions in the bullpen with Wickman and Howry's health obvious
question marks. If you also assume that one of the starting pitcher candidates
(Westbrook, Bere, D'Amico, Stanford, Durbin) will start the season as the
long-man in the bullpen, that leaves only one bullpen opening for the likes of
Jack Cressend, Rafael Betancourt, Cliff Bartosh, Carl Sadler, Luther Hackman,
Giovanni Carrara, among others, to fight over this spring which should make for
an interesting competition. One thing to keep in mind is that Jimenez'
versatility (starter, long relief, short relief) could also come into play as
the bullpen is structured this spring.
Speaking of Stewart, he and the Indians avoided arbitration on Friday when they
agreed to a $875,000 contract for the 2004 season. With Milton Bradley, Tim Laker, Jake Westbrook, David Riske, and now Stewart in the fold, the Indians
have successfully avoided arbitration for the 11th consecutive year. That streak
will likely be challenged in the 2005-2006 offseasons when all the kids who have
made their debuts the last two years gain arbitration eligiblity.
Speaking of Stewart again, I had wondered to myself if the Indians had
considered signing left-hander Scott Sauerbeck as a free-agent in leiu of
persuing a trade for a bullpen lefty. As it turns out, Sauerbeck failed two
physicals and will have shoulder surgery next week that will likely cause him to
miss all of next season.
Back to Jimenez, the Denver
Post reported that the Indians had persued free-agent Turk Wendell prior to
signing Jimenez. Wendell went 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 64 innings for the Phillies
last year but the two halves of his season could not have been more different as
he posted a 0.67 ERA in the 1st half (27 IP) and a 5.35 ERA in the second half
(37 IP). He eventually signed a minor league deal in the $600k range with the
Rockies (he lives about 25 miles south of Denver).
Corey Smith is the subject of this
article in the Plain Dealer.
Cuban right-hander Maels Rodriguez will audition for big league scouts next week
in El Salvador. He reportedly possesses a 100 mph fastball that Cuban baseball
officials have claimed (since his defection) is down to the mid-80s range in a
possible attempt to discredit the fireballer. Rodriguez' agent has hinted that
Jose Contreras four-year, $32 million contract will be the starting point for
negotiations so I think we can assume the Indians will not be active bidders but
I wonder if they'll send a representative just to monitor the proceedings.
Well, if they're not checking out Rodriguez, Paul Hoynes noted in the PD
yesterday that Indians scouts will be attending a Scott Erickson workout this
week.
Scott Threinen was reinstated off the restricted list which I'll assume means
he's going to be playing in the Indians system again this season.
Karim Garcia is close to signed a one year, $850k contract with the Mets
according to the Bergen Record. He'll compete with Roger Cedeno and Timo Perez
for right-field at-bats and I like his chances in that contest.
The Indians officially announced the reporting dates for spring training and
they are as follows...
Feb 20: Pitchers and Catchers Report
Feb 21: Physicals
Feb 22: First Workout
Feb 25: Position Players Report
Feb 26: Physicals
Feb 27: First full-squad workout
Mar 02: Photo Day
Mar 05: First game
Tim Drew and native Clevelander Chuck Smith signed minor league deals with the
Atlanta Braves. Drew will be reunited with his older brother J.D. as well as
with fellow former Indians top pitching prospect Jaret Wright.
Danys Baez will either have a lot of support or a lot of competition should he
stumble in the closers role in Tampa Bay as the D-Rays signed two former closers
(Mike Williams and Todd Jones) and also added veteran major leaguers Mike Holtz
and Al Reyes. Mitch Meluskey also signed a minor league with the Rays.
Dave Maurer signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays. Mike Matthews did
the same with the Reds.
Alvaro Espinoza was hired by the Pirates as an infield instructor. Grady Little
was named a scouting consultant and assistant general manager with the Cubs.