Tribe Close With Wood but Won't Be Done Today

post from The Tribe Time Report on 09 December 2008 06:32:00 PM. © The Tribe Time Report

Well they are close and probably as close as they were earlier.

But it won't happen today. They need to do a physical and all that jazz.

Anthony Castrovince is "cautiously optimistic" that the Indians and Kerry Wood are a match.

But as Paul Hoynes reports.. You either have a deal or you don't... Or that could just be the typical GM spin.

"There is no close. You either have a deal or you don't," said Chris Antonetti, the Indians' assistant general manager, when asked if they were close to doing a deal with Wood."

Yeah.. Trevor Hoffman and the Indians were close a few years ago. So I understand that.

Peter Gammons says.. The Indians are talking to alternatives... Because they are far enough apart to do so.

Hmmmmmmm.

The AP Says.. This... According to a source close to the deal.

The club has offered free agent Kerry Wood, the former Chicago Cubs starter-turned-reliever, a two-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the sides are still working through details at the winter meetings in Las Vegas.

Let's talk about something else while I have it.

Indians Prospect Insider forums offered up a nice un-found bit of news.

Brian Slocum is a Pittsburgh Pirate.

Official Word.

Anyway.. Later Smoke-EM Slocum!

Tom Mastny...... Let's tie this up

Mastny was on All Bets Are Off and he sounded great.

He is excited about his new opportunity. They contacted him, he pursued it and the Indians granted him the chance.

He'll be a starter on a one year deal with an option for a second. Great for him as a starter. It will be a Masa type thing with the driver and the interpreter. Awesome for him really it is.

Moving on to more stuff from the show.

Buck Martinez was just on and he brought up Adrian Beltre as a NAME.. Not a possibility but a guy out there if something doesn't happen with the Indians.

They might have to get creative and do something with Seattle in terms of giving up more prospects to pay some of his deal, but I'm sure if Seattle could unload him, they would.

I'm not sure if that sounds like a good idea given his contract and what we'd have to give up, but the name is certainly better than what we have.

Martinez echoed what Shapiro said about the Economy.

Moving on to Eric Wedge.

Wedge had some interesting comments.

Matty asked about Josh Barfield and if the possibility was there for him to start the year at 2nd Base and then shift everyone over.

It's a possibility by the way.. Just not one the Indians would feel comfortable about.

Wedge kind of just shrugged it off and said Barfield showed stuff that make them optimistic about him, but he brought up Cabrera can play third and then that name.. Jamey Carroll.

So.. Yeah...

Wedge is unsure of the Shoppach/Martinez situation, but he brought up Ryan Garko and felt that Shoppach would play a lot more and Martinez would play more first.

However.. Wedge feels we will make a move for an infielder. Big or small, someone will be brought in to at least compete is what I get the feeling.

Second to last.. Wedge said he'd be surprised if something got done with a starting pitcher before the first of the year and also added that it is going to be tough to fill all three needs.

Lastly from Wedge, which throws us into this article.

Travis Hafner should be ready Day 1 of Spring Training.

And According to Lonnie Soloff..

He's lost some weight sir!

Want to be the judge?

He'll be on All Bets Are Off on STO tomorrow at 4:45.

Awesome..

I really hope this helps him not just this year but extend his career. His elbow is fixed, he's getting in better shape.. He's a bigger man so it's not like he's out of shape or anything, he's just getting in better shape.

"I'll let you make up your mind when you see him," said Soloff, attending the winter meetings at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. "He realizes that this is his No.1 off-season priority to get his career back on track."

That's all today....

Hopefully tomorrow we have news on Kerry Wood being official.