I think Garko could fall out of bed and outhit Francisco.

Ironically, we've discussed this on LGT for nearly a week now, ever since it came up that we might take a 5th OFer with us.  :-)  You can see some of what we said here.

First, Garko's defense is a bit of an issue, though I think it gets overblown at times - in my opinion, it's NOT that bad - below-average, yes, but not so horrendous that he can't play over there.  

I think the Indians are concerned about his defense for two main reasons:

1. The defensive collapse in 2006.
2. The three young IFers - Marte, Peralta, and Barfield.

Garko does have the advantage over Francisco in terms of ML exposure; however, let's not short-change Francisco here - his Minor League numbers are solid, not spectacular, but solid, and arguably, more what you would expect out of Franklin Gutierrez, but Francisco has consistently put them up since he's been in the Indians' farm system, with a Minor League career line of .289/.354/.458, including a solid .278/.345/.454 in his first exposure to AAA at age 24.

There are questions whether he'd ever hit enough to be a corner OFer, and some have questioned whether he could handle CF on an everyday basis, but as a 4th OFer, he'd arguably be perfect, and could someday make Jason Michaels expendable in my opinion.  Plus, Francisco has stolen 99 bases in 125 attempts, nearly an 80% SB success ratio (79.2% to be exact.)

Granted, ST stats don't mean much, but Eric Wedge has been impressed with him, saying that he has turned around the best fastballs and has hit the toughest breaking balls, so I think Francisco is showing that he could be ready for his ML debut.  I think his solid spring gives him an edge over Gutierrez and Choo for that 5th OFer spot.  Choo actually would prefer to start at Buffalo instead of sitting on the ML bench (I'm not kidding when I say that either - look here.)

Defensively, Francisco has a relatively weak arm, so if he ever became an everyday player, he would most likely be a LFer.  However, he has enough range to play all 3 OF spots, especially as part of a platoon or in a backup role.  

Another reason why Francisco, Choo, and Gutierrez are being considered is probably due to the fact that Nixon doesn't seem to be up to game speed yet, according to the reports I've heard.  Therefore, they may want to protect themselves, though you would think Choo would be the likeliest of the three to be selected because he is the only lefty of the three, but based on praise and performance, I'm thinking Francisco has the edge over Choo and Gutierrez.

This recent Indians.com article shows that Garko continues to improve and that the Indians are also taking into account the 20 games he played at 1B last season.

If I had to guess, I think Garko will make the team, with Francisco, Gutierrez, and Choo sent down to AAA Buffalo.  I could be wrong, but Garko's bat certainly helps the lineup against LHP, and being that Garko won't be in there everyday, I don't think his defense will hurt the Indians that much, if at all (like I said, he's below-average, but he's not THAT bad - while Garko has made 3 Es at 1B in ST, Hector Luna, who was supposed to be the Indians' backup to Peralta, made 8 Es at SS, 2B, and 3B this ST, and was optioned to AAA Buffalo the other day, leaving the backup UTIL spot to former A's farmhand Mike Rouse, most likely, which you can read more about here.)

We'll find out in another day or two whether Garko, Francisco, or another OFer (Choo or Gutierrez) makes the Indians' 25-man roster, as well as whether it will be RHP Tom Mastny or LHP Juan Lara who will replace RHP Matt Miller in the bullpen (he's out 3-4 weeks with a severe cramp in his forearm, which is unfortunate after being out with an injured elbow for most of 2006, but was having a great ST.  Mind you, this is Matt, not Adam, who according to tribester, actually hit 100 MPH (again!) in his start against Detroit's AAA affiliate, the Toledo Mudhens, on Saturday.  I'll probably mention more about this in a future diary - stay tuned!  :-)

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!

Hello jpahk,

No offense, but I'm not sure many LGT members would agree with you when you say "Garko has mashed in Buffalo a couple of times," mostly because he only hit .247 in his second go-around at AAA, and it was actually lower than that until he went on a better tear before he got called up to Cleveland in late 2006.  He still hit 15 HRs and had 59 RBIs for the year, but his line of .247/.352/.420 at age 25 doesn't compare to his line of .303/.384/.498 at age 24, so saying he has mashed a "couple of times at Buffalo" isn't exactly accurate.

However, I do agree with your point that Garko would probably handle the Majors better than Francisco because comparing his age 24 line to Francisco's age 24 line, which was .278/.345/.454, Garko's was clearly better.  In addition, Garko has some limited ML experience to draw on, whereas Francisco doesn't.

Again, I think the main reason the Indians are even considering Francisco at this late point of ST is because of Garko's defense, which again, I think is a bit overblown due to the fact that the Indians' IF defense faltered in 2006 and the fact that the Tribe has 3 young IFers throwing to 1B.  I've seen Garko make a few nice plays, and admittedly, a few bad ones, but being that he hasn't played 1B for all that long (a few years,) and the fact that he likely won't play it everyday, I still think Garko will make the team despite his below-average defense.  

Another day or two, we should know for sure.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!

Yes, ESPN and others have confirmed that those three have made it; Francisco, Choo, and Lara have been optioned to AAA Buffalo, while Gutierrez (along with Inglett) are battling hamstring injuries (something I was not aware of in regards to Gutierrez yesterday when I made my post.)  Those two and Matt Miller will begin 2007 on the DL.

Regarding Garko, like I said, he's more advanced than Francisco because of his ML experience, and I agree that his 2006 line shouldn't be the only criteria used to evaluate him (I've mentioned this a few times myself on LGT,) but most would still say that Garko didn't "hammer" AAA pitching in 2006, due to the low BA.  Conversely, Francisco didn't do poorly at AAA last year - his numbers were more solid than spectacular, but combined with his very solid ST, he probably would have made most ballclubs, and probably would have made the Indians as well if not for the roster crunch this year.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!