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After a long Sunday of NFL football, let's get back to discussing a more civilized sport. Here's some Monday morning baseball news:
Indians (and LGFT) news
Indians should trade Lindor for Price | Indians Baseball Insider (John Mast) - IBI presents a case for trading our first potential home-grown superstar in years for Tampa's David Price. I highly doubt their proposed package of Francisco Lindor and Trevor Bauer could net us Price, but I'd do it in a heartbeat if it was on the table. How sexy would Price-Masterson-Salazar look at the top of the rotation? For the record, CBS Sports' Dayn Perry thinks the Rays shouldn't trade Price.
Reds pushing to bring Grady Sizemore back from the grave | MLB.com (Mark Sheldon) - Cincy is "still working on it" according to GM Walt Jocketty. Looks like the Reds are interested in Grady as insurance for rookie CF Billy Hamilton. I think their best chance for success might be to make a cyborg/composite being using parts from the both of them.
Jokes aside, and though Grady is likely to never be an Indian again, his contributions to the the few exciting teams of the mid 2000's are worth remembering. Stephanie Liscio over at "It's Pronounced 'Lajaway'" has a great piece about why we should remember Grady's golden years instead of remembering his as a crazy, old, arthritic dog.
Trade market was weak for Asdrubal Cabrera | Cleveland.com (Terry Pluto) - This is a few days old, but I don't think I saw it mentioned elsewhere. Part of Terry's "Talkin'" column discusses the Tribe's fruitless attempts to shop Cabrera this offseason. Other teams were discouraged by his mediocre 2013 season, but the Indians feel his problems were partially due to playing in the WBC. I'd like to see an in-depth analysis on whether or not the WBC is actually responsible for the bad seasons it is often blamed for. Unfortunately, the data is extremely limited, but I just can't see how a few games in the spring could do so much damage to guys who play 162 game seasons.
Santana's flexibility an added bonus for Tribe in 2014 | Did The Tribe Win Last Night? (Bob Toth) - Toth goes into considerable depth discussing the platoon possibilities that could result from Carlos Santana's 3B experiment. Santana might be the best-hitting platoon player in the majors this year.
John Farrell credits Cleveland with part of his success | Cleveland.com (Dennis Manoloff) - The former director of player development for the Indians sits down for an interview with Manoloff, describing how he became the latest person to use Cleveland as a stepping stone on his way to ultimate success. Is that cynical? OK yeah, that's a bit cynical. I'm gonna roll with it.
Around the league
L(N)GFT Jhonny Perlata wants to prove he can play PED-free | NBC Sports (Bill Baer) - Good for him, I guess.
Dodgers, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Cubs, White Sox make offers to Tanaka | CBS Sports (Dayn Perry) - The deadline for the Japanese right to sign with an MLB team is this Friday, Jan. 24th. I'm looking forward to not having to hear more news about this, frankly.
Nationals in the mix for Grant Balfour | Fox Sports (Ken Rosenthal) - Rosenthal thinks former almost Oriole Balfour would be a useful late-inning option for the "World Series contender" Nationals.
Instant replay is a win for league, fans | Sports on Earth (Jonathan Bernhardt) - Bernhardt gives his take on why expanded replay is the right call, and why it means an improved experience for fans and the league alike.
Justin Verlander would bean Seahawks' Richard Sherman | NBC Sports (Bill Baer) - So would LGT's Joel D.