Paul Hoynes at the PD is reporting that Eric Wedge will not coach past the end of the season on Sunday.
Eric Wedge has had a couple good runs with the team (2005 and 2007), but consistently underperformed his Pythagorean record, and has turned in several years of terrible starts (2006, 2008, 2009) in years in which the team was expected to contend. Increasingly, Wedge had put incomprehensible lineups out on the field (Ryan Garko in the outfield, anyone?) and has played marginal veterans (Jamey Carroll) or favorite players (Gimenez, Trevor Crowe) over high-potential newbies like Andy Marte.
It is time for a new voice in Cleveland. Much speculation is that John Farrell is the front runner for the job. He has previous experience in the organization as director of the minor league program, has spent the last few years in the winning Boston organization as a successful pitching coach, played for the Indians and even lives in Cleveland in the offseason. It will be interesting to see whether the Indians bring in an old hand to guide what will very likely be a team full of young and inexperienced players, or whether they take a chance on another minor league manager like Wedge.
The dismissal of Wedge will add drama to the situation building with who plays first and third next year. It seems pretty clear that Peralta was not a favorite of Wedge, who publically called him out several times over the years. Marte, too, somehow made it into Wedge’s doghouse and never managed to get out long enough to determine whether with regular playing time he could adjust to major league pitching. Marte can play first or third, but has yet to establish his bat and would be ill-suited to a backup role, as he apparently needs regular playing time to get sharp and stay sharp. LaPorta can play first base and left field; however, the performance of Brantley in his September callup has a large number of folks penciling him in at left field next year. Who’s the odd-man out? Can we get anything of value for Peralta or Marte in the offseason? Stay tuned.
Press conference today at 1:30 p.m.
