Just to bust up all the usual chest thumping and teeth gnashing that precedes the two annual Browns---Steelers matchups, I thought I'd drop in a few lines about the Tribe's free agents.
To start off the free agent season, the Elias Sports Bureau published its player rankings. The rankings mean very little in the real world, but they mean the world in evaluating free agents. Type A players are considered to be in the top 30% of players. Those teams who lose Type A free agents get compensated with a low first or high second round pick in the amateur draft plus a supplemental pick after the first round. Type B free agents, who are supposed to be in the next 20% of the free agents, net a low first or high second round pick for the teams they leave. The loss of a Type C free agent results in his team getting a supplement pick after the second round. Elias ranks the Indians free agents as follows:
Wickman---A
Howry------A
Millwood---B
Elarton-----C
If all four guys get picked up by other teams, the Indians will get 2 picks each for Wickman and Howry and one pick each for Millwood and Elarton. Those picks will be set off by any picks the Indians lose for any free agents they sign. Maybe Dolan's grand plan is to let all his free agents go, sign a few nondescript Type C guys, and load up on extra draft picks. That'd be great except the Indians' first round picks generally suck. I've said before that I think that's because our head man is too cheap and won't shell out the dough necessary for true impact players. I hope it's not just that Shapiro and his crew suck at evaluating talent. I don't think it's Shapiro. He seems a pretty decent judge of talent and the Tribe has passed on too many guys in the draft who were obvious studs. Most notably, the Indians abhor first round talent represented by Devil Boras.
So, what's all this mean? Sadly, I suspect that it foreshadows the type of Hot Stove season to which any loyal Tribe fan has become brutally accustomed. There will be a lot of sound and fury from the Tribe's front office but damn little to show for it when April rolls around.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Indians' Free Agents
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3 comments:
Why doesn't the Tribe trade a few of their picks to the Browns for one of the 892 first round wide receivers currently on the Browns' roster? The Browns could then use those picks to draft some more wide receivers.
Butch and Carmen,
Yeah. Each year since they've returned, with the exception of '03, they've taken a pass catcher with a first or second round pick. I had problems with every one, including Braylon Edwards. Edwards had the skills and the pedigree from a big time program, but we needed the fundamentals---big, nasty lineman who either block or tackle. In all fairness, I do have to admit that, at the time, I was happy to get Winslow, but I was pissed that they traded a 1st and a high 2nd to get him.
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