KANSAS CITY: If the Indians players and manager were upset that the front office didn’t make any other move at the trading deadline Tuesday other than a swap of minor-leaguers, it was hard to tell.
In fact, some players even expressed relief that the brass didn’t trade away a member of the Tribe’s “core group” – players such as closer Chris Perez, right fielder Shin-Soo Choo or starting pitcher Justin Masterson – guys whose names had been bandied about in various trade rumors that intensified the last few days.
“It’s good for next year,” Perez said. “As far as the team goes, it’s good we didn’t lose any guys that we can still have under contract next year – which I never would have understood unless they were throwing up their hands saying we’re not competing. I mean, yeah, you can get guys back for Choo, but it’s not Choo and he’s still under contract. It’s not like he’s a free agent and we’re gonna lose him.”
Manager Manny Acta, who said the front office kept him in the loop despite the team being in Kansas City about to begin a three-game series, wasn’t disappointed nothing major transpired by the 4 p.m. deadline.
“To get something, you gotta give up something,” Acta said. “Obviously, everyone wants your best players and our best players are a part of what we’re trying to accomplish here.”
In fact, Acta would have been surprised had a big deal even remotely close to the magnitude of last season’s transpired, considering the Indians opened the series against the Royals only five games back of the first-place Chicago White Sox.
“I wasn’t anticipating much because we are in the thick of things and we don’t have a bunch of veteran guys that we could move if we were out of it,” he said.
HERNANDEZ ROUGHED UP — In his second minor-league rehab appearance since returning to the U.S., Indians right-hander Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona) allowed five runs on nine hits, two walks and a wild pitch in Triple-A Columbus’ 10-8 loss in 12 innings to Rochester.
“It was a little rough for him,” Acta said. “He went five innings and threw 83 pitches, that’s what mattered to us. He struggled to get his sinker down. He was a little flat and gave up a few runs there. But other than that, we needed him to get through five innings and he got through it. It’s not about performance.”
SCORING CHANGE — If you’re scoring at home, take note that in the seventh inning of the Indians’ July 26 game against visiting Detroit, Jason Kipnis’ soft line drive that skipped off the glove of Ramon Santiago is now being ruled an error on the shortstop. Joe Torre, the executive vice president of MLB’s baseball operations, overturned the official scorer’s decision to award a hit on the play.
FARM FACTS — Columbus outfielder Ezequiel Carrera was named the Indians’ Minor League Player of the Week for July 22-28. He was also named the International League Player of the Week on Monday. The 25-year-old batted .515 (17-for-33) with two doubles, two triples, two home runs and 13 RBI while posting a 1.407 OPS (.528 on-base pct., .879 slugging pct.). He is hitting .297 on the season with 65 runs scored, 19 doubles, six triples, six home runs and 42 RBI with 26 stolen bases.
— Stephanie Storm
