Cleveland appears ready to wave the white flag, as it enters a three-game series with the Twins tonight at the Metrodome.

Paul Hoynes, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, reports that Joe Borowski is likely out as closer. He was 6-for-10 in save situations, with a 12.46 ERA and an opponents batting average of .395.

Masa Kobayashi, Rafael Betancourt and Raffy Perez could be counted on to close. Jensen Lewis and Brian Slocum are coming from Class AAA Buffalo, and Juan Rincon isn’t far behind, though his ERA is 16.20.

Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro held a conference call with Manager Eric Wedge and staff on Thursday, and it’s possible they discussed trading C.C. Sabathia, especially if the Brewers or another team entices them with the right offer.

With Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook on the DL, this team has been derailed after coming one victory from the World Series.

That said, tonight is a trap game for the Twins. Last time Livan Hernandez faced the Indians, the Twins lost 12-2. Paul Byrd has given them fits, though he is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts against them this year.

The Twins are 8-1 after a day off, so it’ll be interesting to see if they come out firing tonight. Check back this afternoon for the starting lineups.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under Around MLB, Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.