Playing Pepper 2009: Cleveland Indians

As the players start getting themselves ready for another season, I thought it'd be a good idea to do the same. I contacted a blogger for each major league team and posed to them five questions. This is the result. You can find the tentative schedule of teams here and today's main post is right here.

My wife hails from Ohio, so today's two teams are ones that I tend to keep my eye on. She professes to be an Indians fan (though it's more of a casual following) and the Indians have always put together an interesting team. This is the organization who started the trend of signing young players and buying out their arbitration years, which has worked out pretty well both for them and baseball in general.

I caught up with Chris from Tribe Times and asked him about this coming season, from their chances of playing in October to the Carl Pavano signing.

C70: What needs to happen for the Indians to win the division?

TT: The Indians need to come out of the gate quickly and not experience their typical slow starts.  The starting rotation has to be consistant or it could be a rough first half.  If Hafner is average and Martinez comes back to his typical full strength, the Tribe will be in contention all season.  Of all of the Central Division teams, the Indians were the most aggressive in improving their ballclub by far.

C70: What kind of season do fans expect out of Cliff Lee?

TT: No one expects Lee to repeat his 2008 Cy Young performance, but 16-18 wins with an ERA under 3.50 would be acceptable.  He is now the ace of the staff and will be counted on heavily in that role.

C70: What happened to Victor Martinez and will he improve in 2009?

TT: Victor strained his groin in the first game of the season, and then subsequently sometime in April messed up his elbow.  Victor was a gamer and tried to gut through the bumps and bruises, but ultimately ended up on the DL.  His 0 homeruns were a pretty big indication that he was more injured than originally diagnosed.  

Martinez will be fine, as his catching duties will be dimished, while playing First Base quite a bit more.  Look for Vic to be the team leader and elite hitter he always has been in 2009.

C70: Will Adam Miller be able to crack the rotation this year?

TT: Adam Miller has been moved to the bullpen for the near future due to his myriad of injury issues.  Miller's fastball still clocks in the upper 90's so he is still thought of as a top prospect at age 24.  He is in the mix for the 7th and final bullpen spot in Spring Training this year.  Eventually we will see Miller back in a starting role, probably 2010 or later as he gains more confidence and arm endurance.

C70: Is anyone expecting anything out of Carl Pavano?

TT: The Indians seem to be expecting a lot out of Pavano, listing him 3rd on their rotation depth chart.  Most fans (including myself) aren't expecting much at all.  Carl has not pitched well since 2004, and seems to have a fragile ego.  If he can stay healthy he may help the first half of the season until Jake Westbrook comes back, but hopefully if he stuggles, the Tribe will cut bait sooner rather than later.

I appreciate Chris taking the time to answer those questions.  The AL Central should be a very competitive division and I'd expect the Indians to be right there in the thick of things.