Were Indians' Trades Salary Driven Despite What Team Execs Say?
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Indians GM Says Recent Trades
Were Not Salary Driven |
Indians Exec VP & GM Mark Shapiro repeatedly insisted that he was "'not directed' to dump salary" after trading P Cliff Lee to the Phillies and C Victor Martinez to the Red Sox before the MLB trade deadline, but it is "absurd to think he made the deals for any reason other than to ease the pressure on the bottom line," according to Sheldon Ocker of the AKRON BEACON JOURNAL. Ocker: "Logic dictates that owners Larry and Paul Dolan had already determined the economic outlook of the Tribe was so sketchy ... that Shapiro needed to trade Lee and Martinez a year early." The Indians currently are scheduled to pay six players a total of $48M in '10, and the rest of the roster "probably will make no more than $11[M]." That puts the Opening Day payroll next year around $59M, down from the $81.5M on Opening Day this season. Ocker wrote the Dolans "have been the least of the team's problems, but that doesn't take them off the hook in the long term." Meanwhile, the trades will have a "devastating effect on next year's attendance," and if the Dolans "were concerned about diminishing revenue before discarding Lee and Martinez, they should be in a full panic now." The Indians needed their home attendance to reach about 2.2 million this season to hit budget. Ocker wrote the team will be "fortunate to fall only 400,000 short of that figure and sell about $8[M] fewer tickets than anticipated," and the Indians "will be lucky to draw 1.5 million" in '10 (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 8/2). In Cleveland, Bill Lubinger wrote, "This latest whack was no surprise, but white flags don't fly well here" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 8/1).
BAD TIMING: In Cleveland, Paul Hoynes reported more than 31,000 fans attended Tigers-Indians Saturday night "to collect Victor Martinez bobblehead dolls even though he was traded to Boston on Friday" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 8/2). The Indians' promo schedule was set during the offseason, when "nobody would have envisioned Martinez being traded." Meanwhile, the team prior to Thursday's game against the Twins "will give away Victor Martinez Chest Protector Backpacks to kids 14 and under" (PLAIN DEALER, 8/1). In Cleveland, Bud Shaw wrote, "The timing couldn't be worse. The only thing worse really is the organization's happy talk about the possibility of quick contention" (PLAIN DEALER, 8/2). The BEACON JOURNAL's Ocker reported bobbleheads "have to be ordered from the manufacturer six months" in advance. Indians Exec VP/Business Dennis Lehman: "We're talking to [Shapiro] now about guys who he thinks are going to be here for awhile. But we know they haven't evaluated the team yet. That won't happen until October" (OHIOMM.com, 8/2).
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