Good-bye Garrett Jones…WHAT A DAY!

 

Indians slugger Garrett Jones is on his way to Pittsburgh.  Today the Pirates traded OF/DH Eric Hinske to the New York Yankees for a pair of 23 year olds.  Jones has been called up to replace Hinske on the Bucs 25 man roster.  This season Jones was hitting .307 (9th in the IL) with a team leading 12 home runs (T4th in the IL) and 49 runs batted in (3rd in the IL). The International League All-Star team will be announced on Thursday and Garrett Jones deserves a bid, but I’m sure he’ll take the promotion to the Big Leagues ahead of the Triple-A All-Star game.  All the best to Garrett Jones…he will be missed. 

The players acquired from the Yankees are OF/C Eric Fryer and RHP Casey Erickson.  They are expected to join the Pirates lower levels.  I expected the Indians to activate OF/1B Larry Broadway from the disabled list to take the spot vacated by Jones.  This month Indianapolis has sent OF Andrew McCutchen, OF/1B Steve Pearce, OF Garrett Jones, and RHP Virgil Vasquez to Pittsburgh.  When you add in the loss of 3B Neil Walker to the DL, the Tribe have lost four starters and a reliable pitcher within the past 25 days.  The loss of the four batters means the club is missing 41% of their hits, 59% of their home runs, 47% of their RBI’s, and 41% of their total runs scored.  We’ll see if that loss is too much for the Indians to overcome.

On another note this is the fourth time within a year the Pirates have dealt with the New York Yankees.  The first move was the July ’08 deal that brought RHP Ross Ohlendorf, RHP Daniel McCutchen, RHP Jeff Karstens, and OF Jose Tabata to the Pirates for OF Xavier Nady and RHP Damaso Marte.  This past May Pittsburgh sent RHP Romulo Sanchez to the Yankees Triple-A club for RHP Eric Hacker and shortly there after the Bucs claimed RHP Steven Jackson off waivers.  The pitching thin Yankees have sent six pitchers to the Pirates for…squat.

Here is a quick note from one of last night’s offensive stars Chris Barnwell.  Although his personality is such that you would not be able to tell, but Chris is off to one of the slowest starts in his career.  Last night Barnwell broke out of a 3 for 45 slump (only 5 strikeouts) with three hits and he scored a pair of runs in the Indians 6-5 win over Toledo.  Barnwell has emerged as one of the clubhouse leaders and he has a competitive edge to him that will keep you on your toes.  There is another side to Barnwell and he has asked me to provide my readers with a link that is very important to him.

Chris and his family has set up a scholarship fund in the memory of his dad Timothy.  They have a goal of $25,000 and are slowly moving forward.  A few days ago he asked me to spread the word to the masses and I promised him I’ll do it when he busts out with some hits.  Well, he held up his end of the bargain so I’m going to hold up mine.  I did joke with him that if everyone who reads my blog donated one dollar he would have…a buck.  In all seriousness, please take a look at the website and anything beyond that is very much appreciated and will go a long way.

I’ll post the Indians line-up later on this afternoon.  Brad Lincoln will make his Victory Field debut and make just his second career Triple-A start.  

2:45 UPDATE:

A lot is happening right now with the Indians parent club.  Both the Post-Gazette and By Gosh are reporting that another trade is in the works.  Jen Langosch goes on to say the next trade may move another player from the Indians to the Pirates.  Stay tuned

Take a look at today’s line-up and compare it to the Tribe’s line-up on June 1st.  Quite a few changes this month.

 June 30, 2009                            June 1, 2009

 

Pedro Lopez      LF                    Andrew McCutchen        CF

Chris Barnwell   3B                    Jeff Salazar                   LF

Jeff Salazar       CF                    Garrett Jones                 RF

Erik Kratz          C                      Steve Pearce                 1B

Brian Myrow      1B                    Neil Walker                   3B

Hector Gimenez DH                   Erik Kratz                      C

Larry Broadway  RF                    Larry Broadway              DH

Luis Cruz          SS                    Shelby Ford                   2B

Shelby Ford       2B                    Brian Bixler                   SS   

If more moves come about, I’ll keep you up to date.  One big note is tonight’s game will be televised on Comcast Cable channel 81 and Brighthouse Cable channel 2.  TV coverage begins at 7:00 and the two cable companies have signed on to carry 18 of the remaining home games with the opportunity to add even more.  So for those of you who can’t pick us up on the North Side of Indy can now enjoy the Tribe from the comforts of your home.  

3:00 UPDATE:

It’s always great to catch up with some former players.  It looks like one is back in the International League. 

4:45 UPDATE:  

Someone check the calender and make sure today is June 30th and not July 30th.  Although the trading deadline is a month away the Pirates have made two separate trades.  Along with the Hinske deal the Pirates have officially traded Nyjer Morgan (Indians ’07-’08) and Sean Burnett (’06, ’07, ’08) to the Washington Nationals.  In return the Bucs receive OF Lastings Milledge and RHP Joel Hanrahan.  Hanrahan will go into the Pirates ‘pen to replace Burnett and Milledge will report to the Pirates spring training site to continue his rehab assignment and then join the Indians in a week to 10 days.

Just minutes ago OF Jeff Salazar left the middle of batting practice and he is on the way to Pittsburgh.  Salazar can be added to the roster without the Pirates making a move.  He is hoping to make it to PNC Park before the end of the game.  (Good luck Jeff, watch out for Columbus traffic)

Salazar is hitting .265 with 10 home runs and 36 runs batted in.  He was also a perfect 16 for 16 in stolen bases.  This will be the third Big League stop for Salazar who has time with Colorado and Arizona.

Luis Cruz will replace Salazar in CF tonight…wow, what a day.