Gone are the days of watching number 41 beat everyone else out of the dugout to mob a teammate after a walk-off hit. Gone are the days of watching Victor effortlessly swing the stick. Gone are the days of watching Martinez calm down the young pitching staff one word at a time. Victor Martinez was traded Friday for 2 prospects and one major leaguer. Justin Masterson was the headliner of the deal, a tall, young flamethrower coming out of Boston's bullpen. The other two are not even worth mentioning yet, pitching prospects who we can only hope will have careers with some meaning to them, but who, in all likelihood will end up with bios in the media guides that we will line our birdcages with.
I was very upset with the Cliff Lee trade. I slowly accepted it. He was leaving after next year anyways. Victor, on the other hand, only wanted to play in Cleveland. You can't trade for that, you can't buy that and you can't teach that. After 13 years in the Indians' system, they said goodbye to a player with character that will most likely never be seen in this town again. Not often does a player who says "I want to stay with this team" mean it as was evident with Martinez. I think our pitching staff and perhaps our ball club are better suited for the future after these trades, but our city is not.
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