Elarton/Mastny Battle Heats Up; A Vote for Francisco

Paul Byrd went 6 innings today against Tampa Bay. He probably has at least another start left before the regular season so obviously the work load is increasing. He gave up 4 runs off 8 hits and a walk.

However the focus is on two of the guys who pitched after Byrd in this game. Scott Elarton relieved Byrd in the 7th and went 8th giving up only two hits and a walk. The tie enabled Tom Mastny to get an inning in to do much of the same.

This Elarton/Mastny Battle might be closer than we think.

Offensive Notes:

Josh Barfield walked twice.

Andy Gonzalez hit his 4th home run of the Spring.

George Constanza played center field and collected two hits.

Did I say George? I meant Jose… Plus there is a ‘n’ slipped in there.

Andy Marte threw up another goose egg and struck out once again.

Francisco Watch: Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer said Ben Francisco deserves to be on the roster.

“Question: Does the 2007 Class AAA International League batting champion make the Tribe’s final roster?

Answer: Should he, or will he?

Q: OK, should he?

A: Of course. Francisco is 26, has 908 official at-bats in Buffalo where he is a .298 hitter. Last season, it was .318 with 22 stolen bases and a .496 slugging percentage. It makes absolutely no sense to send him back to Buffalo.” - Terry Pluto(Plain Dealer)

Well Of course.. It doesn’t make sense. But until David Dellucci does so awful they have no choice or they trade him, Francisco is going to have to go down to Buffalo for a bit.

There has been interest in the Indians’ outfielders. Teams have come calling about Jason Michaels and you guessed it Ben Francisco, but the Indians aren’t interesting in trading those guys.

I say if you can get even a bag of donuts for Dellucci, you do the deal. Hell pay his salary this year, you will have to anyway.

Latest on Laffey: Carl Willis had good things to say about Aaron Laffey’s performance yesterday.

“‘He said I looked like the Aaron Laffey he watched pitch last year,” said Laffey.” (Plain Dealer)

It’s a shame Cliff Lee has won the spot though. Oh Well

Indians Trim Roster to 36

The Indians are dwindling the roster even more and now the competitions have become a little more clear.

OF Brad Snyder was optioned to Triple A Buffalo

Pitchers Matt Ginter, Jeff Harris and Rich Rundles; Catchers Armando Camacaro and David Wallace; and Infielders Danny Sandoval and Aaron Herr were all re-assigned to the minor league camps.

With Ginter and Harris gone, It’s Tom Mastny, Scott Elarton and Jorge Julio battling it out. Let’s get it on!

How Long Before Dellucci Gets the Boot?

How long is it going to take for Eric Wedge to make a move with David Dellucci in left field?

Dellucci rested again on Wednesday. He claims his forearms are sore. But he also says he will be ready to go in a week or so.

He is hitting a dismal. .129 this spring and really with guys like Ben Francisco chomping at the bit, how long will Wedge put up with Jay before he makes a move?

Last year he didn’t get the job done before injuring himself. He hasn’t lived up to this contract they gave him. This year it’s not looking any better.

Jason Michaels is strictly a left handed hitter. That experiment is over and done with so we know his role. All Dellucci has to do is focus on playing most of the week against righties and play decent defense.

If he doesn’t do that..

Let the Ben Francisco watch being.

Ben Francisco Watch: He continued his awesome spring last night with ANOTHER hit. He is a machine!

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On the subject of outfielders.

Brian Barton doesn’t look to be coming back to the Indians right away.

He still has to remain on the Cardinals roster the entire year in order for the Cards to keep him.

But right now it looks as if he has beaten out Juan Gonzalez(really how hard is that though), to secure a spot in the St. Louis outfield.

On the other side Matt Whitney with the Nationals will probably be on his way back soon. The Nat’s have a ton of infielders that are either Ryan Zimmerman or MLB worthy vets(Nick Johnson, Dmitri Young and Aaron Freaking Boone).

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Also on the subject of left fielders.

Our old friend Jody Gerut has just about won a spot in left field for the Padres!

Back to the Jody Gerut of old according to scouts of Pads GM Kevin Towers.

This is exciting. If you know me I’m a big fan of Jody. Even though he is a Padre expect us to cover him over here at TTTR.

Laffey Making Late Charge

In a rare spring training game under the lights, Aaron Laffey who has struggled this spring threw his name back into the competition.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jeremy Sowers probably axed his chances.

Laffey has given up a lot of runs in short outings all spring. Last night was his best start as he went five innings and gave up only 1 run on 5 hits.

Combined with Cliff Lee’s last mediocre start, there is still a sliver of hope for Laffey to claim that last rotation spot, but it’s going to take another good outing like this one to bring himself closer. With time running out and Cliff Lee’s contract working against him, I don’t think it will happen.

Jeremy Sowers is effectively out of the race. He too only gave up one earned run but did so in 3 innings. Combined with a few disastrous appearances prior to last night, his hopes are all but about over.

Marte Watch: Andy Marte’s quest to make the roster was as high as ever since last Saturday with his 3 homers in 2 games and his soaring RBI total.

However last night he took an 0-4 with 3 whiffs. Not promising. If there is one thing that is consistent about Andy it’s the fact that he is inconsistent. He may very well go out and hit 2 home runs next game for all we know.

The rest of the team pretty much played the entire game. Asdrubal Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko all had 2 hits each and Jason Michaels added the lone Indian run with a solo homerun.

Cabrera’s struggles on defense continue. The usual slick fielding infielder made his 4th error of spring.

The position battle will change focus to the last bullpen spot today. Jorge Julio and Tom Mastny are slated to pitch. Mastny is the leader as of right now while Julio is trying to rebound from a blister.