T-minus 3 Weeks and Counting!

Well, we've broken the three week mark until the opening of the new season and while I generally like to avoid making any kind of observations based upon the first few weeks of spring training, I'm going to do just that. There have been ups and downs already with each faction of the team, but the further along we get, the more and more excited I am, and the more confident I become that this team will actually compete, not just in the AL Central, but in the entire American League.

Rotation

I'm not putting a lot of stock into Cliff Lee's troubles (albeit from two starts). Lee earned the #5 spot in last year's rotation by being the lesser of three evils; he had an awful spring, but it was just a bit less awful than Aaron Laffey's and Jeremy Sower's. In fact, I actually feel pretty good about Lee having a bad spring, since it seemed to allow him to peak just in time for the season to start.

Fausto Carmona is a different story. He's had three outings, two good, one bad, but the last one was good, which is why I'm optimistic. It seems like both Carmona and the staff know exactly what he needs to do to be successful, which is a good sign. He also lost the majority of the weight he'd put on in the off season, which is also good.

Anthony Reyes hasn't pitched a whole lot of innings yet, but he hasn't given up a run yet, either. He appears to be both healthy and on his game.

Carl Pavano is healthy. He's also had two games a different as can be. Again, it's really too early to know, but I'm sure he'll get better as we get closer to opening day.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of spring training (well, one of a few) is the battle for the last spot. Aaron Laffey, Scott Lewis, and Jeremy Sowers all had great starts in their last outings; Lewis was the only one to even give up a run. Sowers got eight ground ball outs in four innings today, and started two double plays on his own. His ERA is 3.00. But while Laffey's ERA is at 7.00, he pitched four no hit innings in his last start. While Lewis looked good in his first appearance, I would handicap his odds, simply because he has the least MLB experience.

Still, to have three guys throwing that well this early in spring training bodes well for the fifth spot and possibly beyond, depending upon how are two reclamation projects (Reyes and Pavano) do.

Bullpen

I am as giddy as a school girl.

Sure, Kerry Wood has only thrown two innings so far (allowing a single hit and no runs), but he's been dominate in those two innings. Rafael Perez has only been in camp for a few days, but his performance in the World Baseball Classic was equally as dominant (even if the rest of his team decided not to show up). And Jensen freaking Lewis has been an absolute beast in each of his appearances; he's yet to allow a run and, from all accounts, he's going at guys like a closer.

We could have the best back end of the bullpen in baseball. No, really.

The loss of Adam Miller (again) was disappointing, but Vinnie Chulk appears primed for a rebirth. He pitched two more scoreless innings today, bringing his ERA down to 2.31 -- and he's gotten a good amount of work as the coaches try to evaluate him. He seems like the current favorite to get the last spot most of us assumed would go to Miller.

Kobayashi is a definite concern, but someone like Zach Jackson would be nice to have in the 'pen, both for length and because he's left handed.

Line-up

Anthony Castrovince over at www.clevelandindians.com made a good point the other day on why the front office are keeping Peralta at short instead of moving him to third. Sure, there's the matter of Peralta having to learn a new position as opposed to using DeRosa who already has big league experience at the hot corner. The bigger issue, though, is that it's not a given that Asdrubal Cabrera will stay in the line-up. At this point, he's yet to prove that he can produce on a regular basis, so the idea of moving our infield around to accommodate a guy who might not make it past the first month is, well, really, really premature.

If Cabrera does falter, the Tribe has a lot of options, options not named Josh Barfield.

Tony Graffanino, entering his 14th season, has really been hitting the ball so far this spring. Given DeRosa's ability to play the outfield, Carroll's ability to play every position in the infield, and Cabrera's ability to switch over to short stop, I wouldn't be surprised if the last spot on the roster goes to Graffanino instead of Barfield (who they're trying to get some time in the outfield). He's just performing much better than Barfield, who still has options left.

The other option is really encouraging, as well: Wes Hodges is having a really good spring. Were there suddenly an opening at second, it would be interesting to see if the Tribe would consider moving DeRosa over there and bringing up Hodges to play 3rd, perhaps platooning with Carroll until he gets comfortable in the majors. Regardless, it's a great to see him performing well, as he is, more or less, the future of third base for the Tribe.

I'll say this much: the Columbus Clippers should be really good this year!