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.