Indians Confidential

Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown has his preview of the AL Central up.  Here is the link to the complete article:

Divison Tour: AL Central 

Below is his take on the Indians

First impression: If the Indians are to become the next small-market club to lose a Cy Young-type left-hander to the economic polarities of the game, then it looks like they’ll go down fighting. Unless the Indians tank early, which is unlikely, GM Mark Shapiro apparently has no designs on trading Sabathia, who, at 27, just pitched his best and most durable season. Still, Sabathia’s coming free agency could put a clock on the Indians’ revival, at least as far as standing among the AL elite. If his arm holds up and he backs up last season’s 19 wins with anything like it, Sabathia could approach the $23 million or so average annual value the New York Mets gave Johan Santana. That would amount to about a quarter of the Indians’ payroll. So, in the face of the Tigers’ offseason reload and plenty of resistance in the stacked AL, the Indians stayed the course that once seemed to have them hours from the World Series. Shapiro did visit the notions of adding another starting pitcher (Dan Haren, who went to the Arizona Diamondbacks instead) and a corner outfielder (Jason Bay, among others), but found the costs detrimental to the course. Presumably, he’ll continue to consider upgrades in both corner outfield spots, though a healthy David Dellucci is capable of corner-outfield pop. Shapiro has the likes of Cliff Lee, Andy Marte and Josh Barfield to offer in return.

Competition: Behind Sabathia, Carmona, Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd, Shapiro and manager Eric Wedge will choose from Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers and Lee for the fifth spot in the rotation. The left-handed Lee won 18 games in 2005 and 14 more in 2006 and threw more than 200 innings in both seasons, but he bottomed out last season, was sent to the minors, returned a middle reliever and wasn’t even on the postseason roster. If Byrd lands on Bud Selig’s suspended list for a couple weeks, the Indians will have to cover those games, as well. Marte, once a can’t-miss prospect, could make the roster as a corner-infield utility player, in part because he’s out of options. With Trot Nixon gone, Franklin Gutierrez will be given every opportunity to win the right-field job.

Healing: Dellucci, the left-handed side of the Dellucci-Jason Michaels platoon, blew out his hamstring in June, underwent surgery and didn’t return until the final days of the season. He is expected to be healthy for camp.

Next: Laffey, 22 and left-handed, made nine starts for the Indians last season and was OK. He is the slight favorite to be the fifth starter coming out of camp.