Tribe’s manager makes no excuses

Eric Wedge was disappointed with the season marred by injuries.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Two days after their so-so season ended with a third-place finish, the Cleveland Indians were still waiting for someone to dethrone them as AL Central champions.

The Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox were forced to Game No. 163 to decide the division title, and that brought some slight satisfaction to Indians manager Eric Wedge.

“I do like the fact that they have to work for it,” Wedge said.

Tuesday Wedge sat down and assessed a disappointing 2008 season for the Indians, whose plans to play deep into October were scuttled by early summer amid a string of injuries to Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Jake Westbrook, a flammable bullpen and the front office’s decision to trade ace CC Sabathia for prospects rather than wait and watch him leave as a free agent without compensation.

Wedge didn’t make excuses for the Indians’ 81-81 record, a disheartening mark for a club that came within one win of the World Series in 2007. But after the Indians dealt Sabathia to Milwaukee July 6, when they were 37-51 and in the throes of a 10-game losing streak, they clawed their way back to .500 and on the way learned more about many of their young players.

It was a tale of two seasons in Cleveland.

“Nobody is happy that we finished at .500, but look at where we came from — that’s real and that does mean a lot to me even if it doesn’t to somebody else because there will be some carryover into next year,” Wedge promised. “One thing we asked them to do was to work hard and get better, and that’s what they did.”

It’s not Wedge’s way to look too far back.

Because the Indians wound up just seven games behind Minnesota and Chicago in the standings, some fans wonder if general manager Mark Shapiro gave up on his club too early. Maybe if he had kept Sabathia, third baseman Casey Blake and right-hander Paul Byrd a little longer, the Indians would have come back to repeat as Central titlists.

At least publicly, Wedge refuses to give the idea any thought.

“I’ve never, ever been what could have been or should have been,” said Wedge, 496-476 in six seasons. “You start that, you do it your whole life. You can’t play it that way anyway. All circumstances change if you keep him [Sabathia] there or you trade him. There was a little hangover affect when we knew we were going to trade CC. That hurt us as much as anything.”

Wedge addressed several other top topics during a 45-minute interview at Progressive Field. Among the other issues:

ULuis Isaac. Wedge fired the Indians’ longtime bullpen coach, who started with the team in 1965 as a player and served as a minor league coach, manager and scout.

Isaac had two stints in Cleveland’s bullpen, and had imparted his vast knowledge on hundreds of pitchers since beginning his second go-round in 1993.

“It was tough,” Wedge said of releasing the 62-year-old. “Luis was as loyal as the day is long. Ultimately, I felt we needed a different dynamic in the bullpen for that role.” Wedge is considering three or four candidates to replace Isaac.

UThird base. Wedge said the team will consider moving Jhonny Peralta over from shortstop and sliding Asdrubal Cabrera to the other side of second base.

The Indians will look for an infielder during the offseason — either a second or third baseman via free agency or trade — and what they get will impact the infield’s future alignment.

“I do think at some point in time, Jhonny is going to end up at third base and at some point in time I do think Asdrubal is going to end up at shortstop,” Wedge said. “But that may not be for three or four years. It may be next year, I don’t know.”

UCloser. The Indians will look for one during free agency, but so will 20-plus other teams.

Jensen Lewis, who went 13-for-13 in save opportunities down the stretch, gives the Indians an option in case their wallet isn’t deep enough to find anyone better.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Wedge said. “That’s why I don’t discount what Jensen did.”

URyan Garko. The Indians’ first baseman struggled for the first few months as he tried to pull every pitch. He also ran himself into Wedge’s doghouse when he was benched after failing to run out a pop fly. But in his last 36 games, Garko sprayed the ball to field and batted .352 with 34 RBIs and finished tied with Grady Sizemore (90) for the team lead.

“He was just more serious,” Wedge said of Garko’s turnaround. “He needed to pick it up and he did. What he needs to do is go home and say, ‘I need to get better.’ He can be an everyday or role player depending on which guy shows up. That’s the reality of it and that’s nothing that I haven’t said to him.”

UPitching staff. Wedge identified Lewis, Rafael Betancourt, Masa Kobayashi and Rafael Perez as the only locks for the ’09 bullpen.

Cleveland’s rotation only has two spots filled with Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona. Anthony Reyes, Zach Jackson, Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis and Jeremy Sowers will be in the mix and the Indians could find outside help this winter.