Cuckoo For Coco Crisp? Cleveland Indians are Buy-One-Get-One Free EVERYDAY at Save-A-Lot!

"Kramer goes to a baseball fantasy camp? His whole life is a fantasy camp! People should plunk down $2000 to live like him for a week. Sleep, do nothing, fall ass-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors and have sex without dating ...THAT'S a fantasy camp." -- George Costanza

So I guess Coco Crisp is off on his merry way to become a member of the Boston Red Sox.

According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer: "The Cleveland Indians sent Crisp, David Riske and Josh Bard to Boston on Friday for Guillermo Mota, Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach, a player to be named ...and cash (more than $1 million). The Indians traded an estimated $8.5 million in salaries, while acquiring an estimated $5.2 million."

"Payroll was not a factor," said Shapiro. "It went down, but it gives us more flexibility now and through July to do something else."

Yeah, right. I guess that's what happens when "Thrifty Smurf" owns The Cleveland Indians...

Coco was an above-average player at best, and I am intrigued by the acquistion of Andy Marte, to be perfectly honest. I have total confidence in Mark Shapiro's skills as a General Manager for The Indians (under the penny-pinching circumstances) - that is a moot point.

But I am sick of this "corporate spin" that is constantly being portrayed by the Indians that NOTHING with this organization is "about money." It's ALWAYS about money (or more importantly, lack thereof) when it comes to our "Daddy Warbucks on Welfare" - Larry Dolan.

I'm sick of The Indians having to pause and turn to Larry Dolan to flip through his portable plastic coupon pouch everytime they are looking at possible free agents to see if Dolan says: "Wait! Let me see if I have a coupon for THAT...?"

Mark Shapiro and company have no trouble asking US - the hard-working folks of Cleveland - to fork over mega-bucks for $6.00 beers and $4.00 hot dogs along with expensive tickets for a team that no longer is shown on "Free TV" in favor of lucrative cable deals without flinching - yet we as loyal Indians' fans are supposed to be "patient" everytime Larry Dolan runs to the local Coinstar with his jar of pennies to purchase another mediocre, middle-of-the-road, over-the-hill, free agent.

Maybe Larry Dolan and Mark Shapiro have blinders on - and believe that the "common man" can eat Tender Vittles for lunch every day in order to purchase a golden ticket to an Indians' game at Jacob's Field - and, hey, that notion probably gets a guffaw and an "oh-what-a-knee-slapper!" response at their local country club - but it's that blind pompous ambition that's going to bite them in the ass - in the end - if the Indians fail to produce - and win a World Series - in the long run ...and not too distant future.

On a lighter note, I guess, now, I will be waiting patiently by my mailbox for my 2006 press credentials from the Cleveland Indians, huh-?

Postage to be paid by recipient, of course!