April Here; Roster Set

Spring Training is almost coming to an end. The Tribe Roster is set. From where I sit, it seems to me that finishing at 81-81 would be an extremely daunting task.

The club, as constructed on opening day, will include the following starters:

Jake Westbrook, who is coming off nearly 3 years of injury.

Fausto Carmona, who is coming off 2 full seasons of ineffectiveness.

Justin Masterson, who still can't seem to get lefties out.

Mitch Talbot, who still hasn't pitched 10 major league innings and is coming off injury.

David Huff, who seems to give up hits and hand out walks but doesn't have a dominant out pitch to stop runs from crossing the plate.

The bullpen is as much a question mark as the rotation. I won't spend much time on the bullpen because pens change a lot during the year. To evaluate Jamey Wright, Jensen Lewis, and others who will be shuttled in and out is not worth the time. All that we need to know is if Tony Sipp and Chris Perez can stop walking people, if Raffy Perez can get his slider over and be that dominant setup guy, and will Kerry Wood be healthy enough to help until he is traded.

The infield will be Lou Marson, Matt LaPorta, Luis Valbuena, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Johnny Peralta. Mark Grudzielanek will split time with Vabluena and get most of the at-bats versus lefties. Andy Marte will split time with Matt LaPorta who still can't play everyday due to his offseason surgeries to his hip and toe. Mike Redmond will be the backup catcher and will serve as Fausto Carmona's personal caddy.

The outfield sees the return of a healthy Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, and Michael Brantley who wno the job in spring training. Austin Kearns will be the fourth outfielder and get at-bats against lefties.

Russell Branyan will open the year on the DL but should return, barring setbacks, to the team in Mid-April. At that time, either Brantley will prove to be overmatched and LaPorta will be ready to log some time in LF or Andy Marte will be heading to the waiver wire. The Indians also have a decision on Jordan Brown at some point.