24-year old righty reliever Chris Perez could be the Indians’ closer of the future. He came over from the Cardinals in the Mark DeRosa trade and got off to a rough start. But, he’s on fire right now earning a lot of work late in ballgames. Perez has pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Indians so far this season and he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 2.75 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He has only allowed 13 hits in 19 2/3 innings for the Tribe while striking out 22 batters. At the time of this trade I thought it was a good move for both teams. But in the end this trade will look really good for the Indians as Perez and Jess Todd could both become mainstays in the Tribe’s bullpen down the road.

After the trades of Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano the Indians needed someone to step up and give the Tribe a good chance to win every five days and that has been 24-year old lefty Aaron Laffey. Laffey has pitched in 19 games (13 starts) this season for the Indians and he is 7-3 with 1 save, a 3.40 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Laffey is a crafty pitcher as his fastball rarely touches 90 miles per hour but he knows how to pitch and that has served him well. Laffey does have one weakness as he tends to nimble sometimes as he has walked 41 batters in 90 innings this season and he will need to improve in that area.

When Ryan Garko and Victor Martinez were traded away last month the Indians needed someone to step up and play 1B. That guy has been 25-year old righty swinging Andy Marte which has come as a surprise. That’s because Marte came into this season having played in 174 games in the majors where he was 108 for 513 (.211 avg, .602 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 9 homers and 52 RBIs. In fact, the Indians even designated him for assignment and he cleared waivers which was a surprise as Marte was considered a top prospect up to just a couple of years ago. Marte has played in 23 games this season for the Indians and he is 22 for 80 (.275 avg, .771 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 15 RBIs. We’ll see in September if Marte keeps up the good work or proves to be a mirage.

The Indians have acquired 25-year old righty reliever Yohan Pino from the Twins to complete the Carl Pavano trade. Pino has pitched in 40 games (12 starts) in AA+AAA ball this season and he was 7-3 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has whiffed 108 batters in 113 innings in the minors this season while allowing on 98 hits which shows that he has decent stuff. The Indians might give Pino a call up when rosters expand September 1st.

The Indians have traded 31-year old righty swinging infielder Andy Cannizaro to the White Sox for a stack of cold, hard cash. Cannizaro played in 50 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 43 for 160 (.269 avg, .698 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer and 19 RBIs. I hate helping the White Sox but Cannizaro didn’t have much of a future with the Tribe so at least he might benefit from this deal.