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Another season is upon us and after finished the season hot and catching up to go 81-81 after a disastrous June-July, the Indians are re-tooled and back with hopes of raising another AL Central Division Title Banner. Lets take a look at their season preview.

Key Additions: CL Kerry Wood, RHP Joe Smith, RHP Carl Pavano, 3B Mark DeRosa.

Getting Kerry Wood was the biggest addition of the offseason because he solidifies the bullpen and gives the Indians a flame throwing strikeout closer. Smith gives the Indians a solid right-handed option, for right-handed specialist.

Pavano, if he stays healthy, could give the Indians 12-15 wins, as he looked good in spring training. DeRosa is an great offensive threat and is very average defensively but very adequate at third base.

Key Losses: OF Franklyn Gutierrez

The only major player lost was Gutierrez, who was at best a fourth outfielder on this team.

Key Questions: The Indians starting rotation 1-5 is shaky. Lee won 22 games last season and the AL Cy Young, but asking him to duplicate that is asking too much.

However Lee's track record of season of 14, 15, 17, and 22 wins over the last few seasons (mixed in with his horrid 2007), makes it feasible to believe he will win 14-17 games this season. A big component will be Fausto Carmona.

Carmona was hurt last year and never found the strike zone. He seemed to work all that out and looked fabulous in spring training. The Indians definitely need him to be more like the 19 win Camona of 2007. Pavano will be the third starter and has shown that, when he's healthy, he is a productive pitcher.

If he does stay healthy its believable he could get 10-12 wins. Scott Lewis the fourth starter, only because Wedge doesn't want two lefties in a row, had a solid rookie campaign winning all four of his first career starts.

He won the job in spring training, but as soon as he got that news, got shelled in two starts. He needs to calm down and give the Indians some quality starts until June or July, when Jake Westbrook is expected to come back.

Anthony Reyes is a very important part of the rotation, because he was extremely effective at getting outs last season, before a cranky elbow ended his season early.

Reyes throws a heavy sinking fastball and is in the Charles Nagy-Westbrook mode, where he wont strike many out, but knows how to get outs, and on the ground primarily.

Key Players: Westbrook coming back is huge, because if he does come back around June 13, (one year from his surgery), and gets a few good starts in before the All-Star break, he could be the boost the Indians need in the middle of the rotation.

He is a two or three starter, essentially bumping Lewis (hopefully), back to Columbus. The Indians' offense seems to be healthy and in good shape, with or without the man known as Pronk.

If Hafner does come back to be a home run hitter, the Indians' offense could be among the best in all of baseball. If not, they can still be a top-10 offensive club, and shouldn't struggle to score runs this year.

The bullpen, much retooled, seems ok, and even if Wood spends a little time on the DL, Jensen Lewis has shown he can hold the fort down for a bit.

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