Well, Mark Shapiro has done it again. Entering this off-season, the Indians have no money and have to cut payroll, so the chances of another Shapiro bonehead signing are pretty low right?

We didn’t even make it past the World Series.

I don’t have anything against Manny Acta. After all, I am sure he is a great guy and has a wealth of baseball knowledge to share. But facts are facts and stats are stats – Manny Acta’s Nationals were an atrocious 26-61 when Acta was fired. I honestly don’t know what to say. We have a young, struggling team, so we fire our manager and bring somebody in who has already failed miserably with a young, struggling team. I mean, what gives? Does anyone think this will work? Doesn’t a track record mean anything in this league anymore?

Just when you give yourself that tiny little glimpse of hope that the Indians are going to have a decent season and build on a dismal year, we get this. The front office never fails to let us down. Following this team has become a constant kick to the groin. Our stadium is called Progressive Field, our logo is really controversial, our highest paid players suck, we haven’t won a World Series since 1948, we have no money and we have played to historically bad standards most years this decade. Progressive Field has horrible attendance, we get games snowed out and Cleveland has all but stopped caring about baseball since the ALCS collapse in 2007.

In summary, it sucks to be an Indians fan right now.

The good news? We play in the worst division in baseball and things really can’t get much worse. Manny Acta, despite being royally screwed for the next three years captaining a sinking ship, has one desirable job quality. He really can’t be much worse than Eric Wedge, and consider this – if the Indians go 75-87 (which would still be a ‘disappointing’ season) he will have improved the team by 10 games. Carl Willis, who according to most is a good pitching coach, will be gone. He clearly was in over his head with the Fausto Carmona situation, and maybe a new pitching coach could get him right again.

(Seriously, how pathetic is this? I am clutching at straws about the upcoming season and the World Series isn’t even finished yet. Look what this team has done to me.)

(I’m not kidding. I just said 75-87 would be a good season. Am I going to be ok?)

But none of this is Carmona’s fault. None of this is Travis Hafner’s shoulder’s fault, or Grady Sizemore’s elbow’s fault, or Jake Westbrook’s arm’s fault; not even Kerry Wood’s ridiculous facial hair is to blame for the Indians struggles in recent times. The root of the problem here in Cleveland? Mark Shapiro. People are quick to point to his executive brilliance in bringing in Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon in one of the worst trades in the history of baseball. But does Shapiro really get credit for this? He cantered that trade around receiving Brandon Phillips, and Sizemore and Lee came over in a virtual toss-in at the end of the deal. Phillips didn’t work out in the Indians organization and Shapiro fluked two future all-stars and has reaped the benefits from his ‘excellent judgment.’

He is also pointed to as the guy the put the team together to make it within one game of the World Series in 2007, but really, what did he do? He brought in Trot Nixon to play right field every day, and he ended in losing his job before the All-Star break. (In defense of both, Nixon was the heart and soul of that team… from the bench.) Carmona went nuts that season, covering up big holes in the Indians rotation and giving the Indians the luxury of two Cy Young candidates in the one season. His ‘big trade’ that offseason was for Josh Barfield, who crossed the line into complete useless early into the season and is still yet to recover. Before the 2007 season, Shapiro signed David Dellucci to a three-year deal, without question one of the worst contracts in my life as an Indian fan. Joe Borowski was signed to be the closer, and his ERA was above 5. Consider the following things that happened in 2007 that allowed the Indians to be a successful as they were –

-          Jensen Lewis exceeded all reasonable expectations and dominated down the stretch.

-          Rafael Perez come from nowhere to be the second best reliever in the league.

-          Rafael Betancourt had the season of a lifetime, and was unquestionably the best reliever in the league in 2007.

-          Paul Byrd somehow won 15 games, despite the complete lack of good stuff and any actual ability

-          The Indians scored 811 runs, despite having only one .300 hitter in the team. (Victor Martinez, .301)

-          Kenny Lofton was the best player in the postseason for the Tribe.

Basically, Shapiro got lucky. Sure, he put a good team out on the field most nights, but consider everything that went right for the Indians that year. It’s not like teams like the Angels, or the Twins, when you know they will be competitive regardless. The Indians were a team of players having career years, and everything aligned for just long enough to get into the ALCS.

In case you haven’t noticed, I am not a fan of Mark Shapiro. As much as I have criticized Eric Wedge, (the ‘completely useless’ first ballot hall of famer) I wholeheartedly blame Shapiro for 97 losses this season. I blame Shapiro for only one playoff appearance since 2001, despite having the talent for at least two or three AL Central crowns in that time. As we prepare for another Indians winter, we need to prepare for the reality that Shapiro is probably going to make a bad deal or two before pitchers and catchers head to Arizona next February. “What kind of deals?”  you may ask? Look to the past for examples. Here they are in all their glory, the ten Worst Mark Shapiro Offseason Moves, as compiled by The Outside Corner.

10. Juan Gonzalez. This was a pretty good signing. After signing a deal with the Indians before the 2005 season, Gonzalez had a year to remember, notching an entire at-bat. He grounded out and tore his hamstring in his only appearance of the 2005 season, to the complete surprise of almost nobody.  

9. Kerry Wood. He got a pretty big contract (at least by Indians standards) and came across from the NL and struggled. Forget the fact that Shapiro would rather pay $30 million plus for an aging guy with extensive injury history who’s stuff was not as good as at least two or three of the guy the Indians roster. Forget the fact he was inconsistent and struggled with niggling injuries all season. Forget the fact that just when the tribe started to get a few cylinders clicking in May and June, he blew saves like Brad Lidge. Just remember that he single handedly made sure that his old team, the Cubs, would sweep the Indians in interleague play in Chicago. Bad signing.

8. Todd Hollandsworth. You forgot Hollandsworth played for Cleveland, didn’t you? The offensive output? A .237 average and six home runs.

7. Jason Johnson. He came in to be a reliable back of the rotation veteran, and left a few months later with an ERA of 5.96. Maybe a sign that giving a guy with a 16-28 record over the previous two season a bigger contract than half the remainder of your rotation is not the best idea.  

6. David Dellucci. The Indians finally cut David Dellucci this year after one of the most miserable tenors with the Indians of my lifetime. (OK, that’s being pretty harsh. But I just always hated this guy getting at-bats while Trevor Crowe, Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, and in previous years Franklin Gutierrez and Ben Francisco rotted away on the bench or in the minors.) So that’s a triple f--- up for Shapiro on this one – the signing in the first place, ruining some young guys and refusing to acknowledge he had signed a player of no value until it was way too late.

5. Anthony Reyes. I can imagine Shapiro talking himself into this one – “Injury history, he already sucks, he pitches in the easier of the two leagues and went 2-14, plus he can’t even pitch for two months because of an arm injury… where do I sign?!” This one still makes me shake my head.  

4. Joe Borowski. Has anyone in the history of Cleveland sports raised a heart beat like Borowski would in the ninth inning every time he came out to pitch? Has anyone ever lead the league in saves (45) and had an ERA over 5? Will this ever happen again?

3. Aaron Boone. It was ambitious, to say the least. And, after a big press conference announcing the signing, Boone didn’t actually play for over a year. Once he started? It wasn’t pretty. Averages of .243 and .251 with only 23 HR’s across the two years.

2. Masahide Kobayashi. Remember when this guy came over to work the eighth inning and expectations were he would develop into the nest Indians closer? Yeah, didn’t quite pan out. To put it kindly, Kobayashi was the worst reliever on the Indians roster in the second half of 2007 and the entire 2008 season, posting ERA’s of 4.53 and 8.38 in 2008. A warning to teams everywhere about discount Japanese imports.  

1. The December 2005 trade massacre. The deal – Josh Bard, Coco Crisp, and David Riske to the Red Sox for Andy Marte (huge bust) Guillermo Mota (huge bust) and Kelly Shoppach (strikeout enthusiast). Josh Bard hit .333 the following season, Coco Crisp was a BIG part of the success the previous season, and David Riske was one of the few reliable relievers in an otherwise shaky bullpen. Basically, he imploded a 2005 team that won 93 games. And no, I am not bitter.

So here is to a great Indians winter, a new season with a new manager, and a few months with no activity from Mark Shapiro. We really need it.