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Cleveland Indians: The Five Worst Moves by Mark Shapiro

Matt Bretz

Away Back Gone

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Mark Shapiro has been with the Cleveland Indians for 24 years, joining the organization back in 1991.  Recommended to John Hart by the great Hank Peters, he honed his craft in the 1990s learning under Hart before eventually succeeding him as General Manager following the 2001 season.  Shapiro face many challenges such as a changing landscape in baseball and payrolls that were slashed from top five in baseball to the bottom of the league.

He managed to make numerous moves to help the club win in spite of this; however, like any GM, he made several very poor decisions as well.  Here are, in my humble opinion, the five worst moves Mark Shapiro made as General Manager of the Cleveland Indians.

Next: #5: The Hafner and Westbrook Extensions

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#5: The Travis Hafner & Jake Westbrook Extensions

Heading into the 2007 season the Indians had three key members that were facing free agency in the near future, as  Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook, and CC Sabathia were all looking at free agency by the end of the 2008 season.  Shapiro had already gotten Sabathia to agree to an extension prior to 2006 (when he could have become a free agent originally) so another one always seemed like a long-shot.  Him eventually winning the 2007 Cy Young virtually cemented that he was going to leave for a huge contract.

Travis Hafner was not too far behind Sabathia, if any, heading into the 2007 season in terms of impact on the field.  He was coming off back-to-back 1.000+ OPS seasons and top 10 MVP finishes.  He hit 42 home runs and drove in 117 runs in just 129 games in 2006 while leading the American League in SLG, OPS, and OPS+.  He was still just 29 when 2007 started and while the season was a “down year” for him, he still managed to hit 24 home runs, drive in 100 runs and post an OPS north of .830.  During the All-Star break Mark Shapiro and the Indians rewarded Hafner with a 4-year, $57M contract, which is still to this day the most guaranteed money the Indians have ever handed out in a player contract. 

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Unfortunately for the Indians, Hafner would never again play in more than 120 games in a season following that 2007 season. In fact, he only played in more than 94 games once (118 in 2010).  His bat was still effective though for the most part, as from 2009-2012 he never posted an OPS+ lower than 120.  However, for a small market club, spending over $10M on an injury prone DH-only was a burden the team simply couldn’t carry.

Jake Westbrook was perhaps an even more frustrating case for Tribe fans.  After winning 44 games in the previous three seasons he signed what most considered and extremely team friendly 3-year, $33M extension in April of 2007.  After a minor injury in 2007, he managed to finish the season strong and was a key member of the Tribe’s playoff rotation. He won Game 3 of the ALCS and put the Tribe in a position to come back and win Game 7 before the bullpen let the game slip away. However, that was essentially the last of the good pitching Tribe fans would see out of Westbrook in an Indians uniform…

Westbrook made just five starts in 2008 before eventually having Tommy John Surgery.  He missed the rest of the season and had a few setbacks in his recovery and ended up missing all of 2009 as well.  Two of the first three seasons of that “team friendly” three-year extension got the Indians 34 innings out of Westbrook.  He did manage to get healthy for 2010 but after posting a 4.65 ERA and 4.64 FIP in 21 starts he was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade with the San Diego Padres. Westbrook was an impending free agent as getting something for him seemed better than nothing… 

Next: #4: Trading Coco Crisp

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#4: Trading Coco Crisp

There were many unpopular moves Shapiro made during his tenure as GM.  He traded fan favorites like Victor Martinez, Cliff Lee, and CC Sabathia; however, the one that probably hurt the most was when he traded 26 year old Coco Crisp to the Boston Red Sox after the 2005 season.  The Indians were coming off a remarkable 93-win season in a year when many projected them to be no higher than 3rd or 4th in the division. They missed out on the Wild Card by just two games and had a shot at the division title up until the last week of the season when the eventually World Series champion White Sox knocked them out.

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The nucleus of that team seemed strong and big things were on the minds of Tribe fans heading into 2006.  Young superstar Grady Sizemore showed in 2005 that he could be one of the best players in the game and displaced Coco Crisp to LF the previous season.  Crisp was not a typical leftfielder as he didn’t have big power (though did hit 31 total home runs in 2004 and 2005).  Shapiro, seeing that he had two very good, young centerfielders on the roster looked to capitalize on that depth and used Crisp as trade bait to fill other holes on the roster.

While this upset many fans (including myself) at the time, it did make some sense.  Crisp’s value was much higher in CF vs LF, so if you could trade him to a club that would use him in CF the return could make the loss of him in LF worth it.   Shapiro appeared to do just that getting a top ten prospect in all of baseball in 3B Andy Marte plus an organizational top ten prospect in Kelly Shoppach.  All in all, the deal involved seven players but the key members were Crisp, Marte, and Shoppach.

Crisp never hit as well in Boston as he did his last two years in Cleveland, but Marte had an even tougher time living up to expectations.  Casey Blake, who had moved to RF, eventually took over 3B in 2007 leaving Marte without a position and out of a job. His bat never turned into what experts predicted, and he was one of the bigger prospect busts of the last decade.  Over parts of five seasons with the Indians, Marte batted just .224/.281/.369 with 20 home runs in 278 games. A far cry from the franchise cornerstone he was thought to be.

Shoppach did manage to have a few good years as a backup catcher but never developed into anything more than that.  Trading a young, controllable talent such as Crisp needed to net the Indians more than a Quad-A infielder and backup catcher.  So while the theory behind the trade made sense, the execution was quite terrible, especially when you consider that Red Sox farm system included the likes of Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury… 

Next: #3: Trading Brandon Phillips

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#3: Trading Brandon Phillips

Heading into the 2006 season, Brandon Phillips, the former top prospect, was out of minor league options after struggling to establish himself in the big leagues.  It appeared as though he would make the club as a utility player behind starting 2B Ronnie Belliard; however, manager Eric Wedge felt Ramon Vazquez was a better fit on the bench than Phillips.  Phillips, who had a reputation of being a bit of a prima donna, was designated for assignment at the end of spring training by the Cleveland Indians.

Mark Shapiro then dealt Phillips to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league reliever Jeff Stevens.  Phillips became the starting 2B for the Reds and immediately made an impact hitting 17 home runs and stealing 25 bases.  In his second season with the Reds he became a 30-30 guy hitting 30 home runs and stealing 32 bases in route to finishing 22nd in the National League MVP voting.  Through 2015, Phillips has made three All-Star teams, won four Gold Gloves, and won a Silver Slugger as a member of the Reds.  Whether his manager told him he couldn’t work with Phillips or not, Shapiro’s willingness to go along with the move was definitely a poor decision. 

Next: #2: Trading Archer for DeRosa

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#2: Trading Chris Archer for Mark DeRosa

Most trades Mark Shapiro made in his tenure as GM involved dealing veteran players for prospects; however, on New Year’s Eve 2008, he flipped the script and traded three prospects for super utility man Mark DeRosa.  At the time the deal seemed like a steal for the Indians.  DeRosa was coming of a 2008 season in which he hit .285/.376/.481 with 23 home runs, while playing six different positions.  The original plan was to slot him into the middle of the lineup and replace Casey Blake at 3B (who was dealt the previous summer).

DeRosa, a free agent at the end of the season, actually had a solid stint with the Tribe.  He hit .270/.342/.457 with 13 homeruns in just over 300 at-bats.  However, the team struggled to contend, and he was eventually dealt to the Cardinals midseason for a pair of relievers (one of which was future closer Chris Perez).

Where this deal really fell apart though was in who Shapiro dealt to the Cubs to acquire DeRosa.  Jeff Stevens (acquired for Brandon Phillips) was the main piece at the time.  He was major league ready and many thought he could become a decent middle reliever.  John Gaub was a left-handed reliever who racked up huge strikeout numbers in the minors but was a bit of lottery pick as his control was always an issue.  Neither of those two ever amounted to anything…but the third guy sure did…

The final piece of that deal was minor league right-hander Chris Archer.  If that name sounds familiar it’s probably because he’s one of the favorites to win the American League Cy Young this season. Now pitching with the Tampa Bay Rays (via the Matt Garza deal), Archer was always thought to have a great arm, but the question was, how likely was he to reach that potential?  Big upside but high risk type prospect. The ones you love having in the system even though many (most?) don’t make it.

However, Archer was one of those that kept developing and now is one of the best pitchers in the American League. Shapiro has made a living stealing players like Archer from other teams, but he is one of the few that truly got away…

Next: #1: Too Many Poor Drafts

Too many draft picks never developed under Mark Shapiro, including Trevor Crowe. Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

#1: Too Many Poor Drafts

This is probably the fault that has been most scrutinized with Shapiro.  For a small market team, they needed to draft better to help infuse the major league club with young, cheap talent. However, from 2002-2009 the Indians simply didn’t produce enough elite talent to sustain the success they experienced in the middle of Shapiro’s GM tenure.  Sure near the end things did go better when he took Lonnie Chisenhall in 2008 and got Jason Kipnis in the 2nd round of 2009, but that didn’t make up for such misses as Jeremy Sowers, Michael Aubrey, Brad Snyder, Beau Mills, and Trevor Crowe.

The lack of drafting was more magnified by the inconsistent play of the big league club as well.  Under John Hart, the Indians may have actually been worse at drafting, but since the big league club was consistently winning most fans didn’t notice (or care).  Shapiro had to improve the drafting and he simply was not able to enough to help the big league club, which is what ultimately led many fans to turn on him. 

Next: Honorable Mention: Hiring Eric Wedge

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Honorable Mention: Hiring Eric Wedge

I know I said the five worst moves but this is one I felt needed at least a mention.  After a tenuous relationship with manager Charlie Manuel (whom he inherited from John Hart) came to end midway through the 2002 season, Mark Shapiro decided to hire Eric Wedge as manager for the 2003 season.  Wedge was a bit of a surprise pick as many thought that 2002 interim manager Joel Skinner would get the job as it appeared he was the manager in waiting.  However, Wedge was named the Minor League Manager of the Year on multiple occasions while working his way through the Tribe’s system.

At first it didn’t seem like a bad move to hire the inexperienced Wedge. Getting an up and coming manager to work with all the young kids coming up; this was a recipe that worked with Mike Hargrove and the 90s Indians.  Wedge, however, never seemed to be able to get the best, or better yet, maintain the best from his young players. From 2005-2009, the Indians had what always seemed to be one of the most talented young teams in the American League (on paper at least), but for whatever reason they (mostly) failed to live up to expectations.

Wedge was relieved of his managerial duties at the end of the 2009 season.  He finished his Tribe career with a .495 winning percentage.  All things considered it wasn’t a terrible stint as manager for the Indians. His 561 career wins are near the top of the all-time Indians list, and he did come within a game of taking the team to the World Series, something only four managers have done in Cleveland. But expectations were high and Wedge’s teams tended to disappoint moreso than not.

Not all the blame should go to Wedge as he could only compete with the players he had, but one still can’t help but wonder if a different (better?) manager doesn’t win a World Series with the talent Wedge was given. And wanting to keep Ramon Vazquez over Brandon Phillips is still something I’ll personally never forget… 

Next: No GM Is Perfect

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No GM Is Perfect

There were definitely other moves that could be classified as “bad” by Mark Shapiro (the Jeriome Robertson trade quickly comes to mind); however, these were the five (or six) worst moves during Shapiro’s tenure with the Indians in my opinion.  Fans the last 15 years have loved to dwell on the negative in regards to Shapiro and the Indians. I can understand that as many only remember the 90s Indians teams and expected that kind of success to continue and be the norm.  Reality though is no general manager is perfect and while Shapiro made a number of poor decisions as the leader of the Indians, he made many more positive moves. I mean, it’s not like he ever drafted a relief pitcher over Derek Jeter…

So which moves that Mark Shapiro made do you think were the worst? Did I miss one you truly thought was devastating to the organization? Let us know and be sure to check back soon for the list of the Best Moves Mark Shapiro made with the Cleveland Indians.

Next: Grading Cleveland Indians President Mark Shapiro's Tenure

Matt Bretz

After a few years in South Carolina back home in Northeast Ohio. An Engineer by trade and a graduate of The University of Toledo. Lover of all things Cleveland, especially the beer and sports. Movie Lover. Tech Fanatic. Can talk sports all day. Can be followed on Twitter @MattB_WOF.