Prelude to Indians spring training: Team betting big on Wood shoring up a problematic pen - Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball News - cleveland.com

Prelude to Indians spring training: Team betting big on Wood shoring up a problematic pen
by Paul Hoynes/Plain Dealer Reporter
Monday February 02, 2009, 11:56 PM

CLEVELAND -- It seemed like every team wanted a closer this winter. The Indians, with the third-fewest saves in the big leagues in 2008, needed one badly.
Kerry Wood was their target and they signed him to a two-year, $20.5 million contract with a vesting option for a third year that could make the deal worth $31.5 million if he finishes 55 games in 2009 or 2010. It's the biggest contract the Indians have ever given a closer and one of the few times that the Dolan family has allowed GM Mark Shapiro to identify and land a prime free agent.

There was no way the Indians were going to get Francisco Rodriguez, the No.1 closer on the market. He went to the Mets for three years and $37 million.

Brian Fuentes and Wood were the top two choices after Rodriguez. Fuentes was much more accomplished in the role, but the Indians wanted Wood.

"They were aggressive from Day One," said Wood.

After the Indians signed Wood, Fuentes eventually signed with the Angels to replace Rodriguez. He agreed to a two-year, $17.5 million deal even though he had three times as many career saves, 115 to 34, as Wood. Fuentes' deal included a vesting option for $9 million if he finishes 55 games in 2009 or 2010.

Wood has been a closer for only one year, going 34-for-40 in save situations last season for the Cubs. He was a high-profile, but much-injured, starter through most of his career before moving to the pen in 2007 in an attempt to save his arm.

The Indians not only believe, but are banking on, that Wood can make a Dennis Eckersley-like transformation from the rotation to the pen. Their season, it is safe to say, rests a great deal on that belief.


Manager Eric Wedge has four experienced set-up men to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. Lefty Rafael Perez should figure significantly in the eighth inning. He struck out 86 batters in 76 1/3 innings last year and can get lefties and righties out.


Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer
The Indians would be quite content if Rafael Perez splits the difference between his stellar 2007 season (1.78 ERA) and a bumpy 2008 (3.54).

Countdown to Goodyear
Indians officially open spring training on Feb. 12 in Goodyear, Ariz. The first official workout is Feb. 14 and the first full-squad workout is Feb. 17.Wedge can use Rafael Betancourt or Jensen Lewis as a right-handed complement to Perez. If Wood runs into injury problems, Lewis converted 13 straight saves last year from August to the end of the season. The hard-throwing Betancourt re-established himself as a late-inning option is the last two months of the 2008 season following a rough start.
Right-hander Joe Smith, acquired in December, pitched the eighth inning for the Mets late last season. The side-arming Smith offers a different look and is tough on right-handers. Masa Kobayashi pitched in a variety of roles last year.

Adam Miller was throwing 95 to 98 mph with an 88 mph slider this winter in the Dominican. If he stays sound through camp, he could help in a variety of ways.

Here's a look at the Indians' bullpen possibilities entering the 2009 season.


• Big-league pen: Wood, Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt, Joe Smith, Masa Kobayashi and Adam Miller.

Comment: If Miller makes it through spring training healthy, he should break camp in the pen. One of the biggest questions is Kobayashi, who burned out in the first half last year and probably wouldn't even be a factor if he wasn't owed $3 million for 2009.

• Next in line: Rich Rundles, Tony Sipp, John Meloan and Edward Mujica, Class AAA Columbus. Spring-training invitees Matt Herges, Jack Cassel, Greg Aquino, Kirk Saarloos, Tomo Ohka and Vinnie Chulk could help if they don't make the big-league club and accept an assignment to Columbus.

Comment: Sipp, reportedly healed from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, could be an early-season surprise. Rundles is a left-on-left candidate and Mujica is out of options. Herges would have to be the clubhouse leader among the spring-training invitees.

• Fire down below: Ryan Edell, Steven Wright and Hector Rondon, Class AA Akron.

Comment: Edell, Wright and Rondon have good enough arms where they could help in the pen or the rotation.