Morning Update: Hafner’s shoulder only at 50%

It’s 11:45, maybe if I hurry I can beat the Noon Deadline so this doesn’t become “Afternoon Update.” GO GO GO GO!

Jamey Carroll has not sat a game since taking over and I don’t think I blame Wedge. I’d play him every day against the National League, and why not? He played in it for the last few years.

Jamey has been giving Wedge and the team pointers on the NL.

Anthony Castrovince is always digging for a new story. Which is why I like him.. That and he’s Italian and his brother does the local sports here in Youngstown. Trust me, Anthony is the better of the two.. No Offense Bill.

BUT, for some strange reason he talked to Andy Marte… Marte provided some quotables about his playing time.. Here Here..

“I’m still young,” said the 24-year-old Marte. “All I need is playing time. If not here, maybe somewhere else. But I’d like to stay here. I like this organization and the way they’ve treated me. I like it here, but I’ve got to think about my career.”

We all believe that something needs to be done here.. If they fall out of the race, Casey Blake must be the second guy to go. We need to give Marte a real shot at showing he can play. They can’t have this guy hanging over their head next year.

So it turns out the bat C.C. Sabathia used was just a loner from Adam Dunn. Dunn planed to go get the bat back. Hopefully C.C. used all the power it had in or Dunn doesn’t use it this series. Garsh.

Since I brought him up (7 minutes to noon), I forgot about something on C.C. yesterday.

Jon Heyman of SI rounded up some stuff on Sabathia that likes.

Heyman said the Tribe will probably not committ to a fifth year for C.C., uh-oh. May I propose a mutual option?

There are as many as 12 teams interested and all the contenders have at least asked, excluding the Cardinals.

C.C. could be looking for 125 million.. Yikes, over 6 years thats 20 million, and over 7 thats around 17, but closer to 18.

And finally the Indians probably won’t give anyone a window to negotiate.. Why should they? Unless of course the other team sweetins the pot.

Cliff Lee is superstisious. Not really, but he steps over the chalked lines. Carmona hops over them, but Lee tries to make it subtle. I would do the same thing.

Also, Paul Byrd’s book is in and he gave it to the media members. I’m thinking of picking it up when it comes out, just to see what’s up about this steroid use. Straight from the Byrd himself.

Finally we got injury updates on Fausto Carmona and Travis Hafner.

Shoot, it’s noon.

Welcome to the Afternoon update…

First Fausto Carmona…

He played catch yesterday and also ran sprints. The plan is to get him throwing on a mound for a bullpen session in the next week, then go on some rehab assignments. Wedge is pinpointing right after the All-Star break for Carmona.

The news is less-exciting about Travis Hafner, who could be out for a longgggg time.

40-50% is the shape his shoulder is at. They want him to get it to 75% before they even think of letting him swing a bat and what not. There is really no time table, but Lonnie Soloff is supposed to talk to the media today sometime, so maybe he can provide a better insight into this 40-50% thing.

Minor League Update: Rondon To Play in Futures Game

Every year on the Sunday before the All-Star Break, the MLB gets together a bunch of the world’s best players to play a little thing called the Futures Game. ESPN usually televises it and you can see some of the best prospects in the minor leagues.

The Indians are usually well represented, especially on the World team, but this year they only had one selection.

K-Tribe Starting Pitcher Hector Rondon has been chosen to represent the Indians at New York next month.

You can check out the rosters here: US Team, World Team.

Congrats to Hector, and once next year rolls around I’m expecting the game to have a lot more Indians.

Akron laid a smacking on Reading last night 16-6. That man appeared again, Trevor Crowe went 3-5 and has a grand slam. He also scored four times. Josh Rodriguez also had three hits with thee runs batted in.

Kinston hit four home runs last night, including two from Beau Mills who is starting to get locked in.

The Captains swept a double header yesterday.