The Tribe pitching has been fantastic!

Shapiro seems to have pulled a lucky rag off the scrap heap with OC.

I still say he has to be moved when the kids are ready.

Another pleasing sight is the Twins at the bottom of the Division.

Have you noticed how weak the CWS are in the bullpen?

The AL Central is up for grabs!

Hey, I'm gonna enjoy the pennant fever while it lasts.

Santana sure is in a big time funk with the bat.

AC is off to a great start on both sides of the ball. His defense is vastly improved from 2010.

I like players who can competently catch and throw the baseball.

rocky raccoon wrote:The Tribe pitching has been fantastic!

Shapiro seems to have pulled a lucky rag off the scrap heap with OC.

I still say he has to be moved when the kids are ready.

Another pleasing sight is the Twins at the bottom of the Division.

Have you noticed how weak the CWS are in the bullpen?

The AL Central is up for grabs!

Hey, I'm gonna enjoy the pennant fever while it lasts.

For the record, on the old forum I was the one saying all offseason that the Tribe, with a little luck and some smart personnel moves, could contend in the AL Central this year. Frank (big surprise) was the one saying it was all about 2012.

We have good pitching, a solid top to bottom lineup (no easy outs as another post said), and Antonetti had one of the most intelligent offseasons I've seen from a Tribe GM in a long time by making the most out his limited budget and signing guys who certainly are not stars but are legit major league players (Cabrera, Hannahan, Kearns) to fill holes on offense and defense and provide insurance policies for injuries and kids needing more time in the minors. I was disappointed he didn't get a veteran starter to chew up some innings but I'm not complaining about that right now.

Welcome, TRIBE GUY! I hope you saved your avatar from WC and will use it here.

AL batting averages have deflated more quickly than I would have expected after only the first two weeks of the season. Normally lofty numbers in the leaders seem to stay a little later in April.

Today Travis Hafner is at #11 knocking on the AL Top Ten Door with his .333

I like the fact we can set our time stamps according to where we live.

I didn't see any "Daylight Saving Time" option in the Board Preferences, so I've been an hour off since the time change in March. To get it back to correct I opted for Mountain time as my preference until November.

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@MLBastian Jordan Bastian

With Sizemore here, it's worth pointing out that Travis Buck does indeed have one option remaining.
11 hours ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Reply

GPG.

Gotta play Grady.

I am still skeptical about what to expect from him but everyone has to find out what the post microfracture Sizemore has left of his baseball skills.

I'd say he needs to produce at about the 'B' level of his average seasons between 2003 and 2008.

Best case scenario is he plays well enough that the front office picks up his option before the end of the 2011 season.

Worst case is he gets injured again.

Put him in Coach!

Tribe got their 10th win last season on May 1.

I have 2 tickets to today's game if anyone wants them. Section 172 but you can really sit about anywhere. Took Ben to the game Friday and it was fun. BTW Adam Everett made a very nice play at third, had a couple of hits, and made it home from 2nd on a single.

No cost for the tickets and I can meet someone near 271 on the east side.

Hey easy TG I did predict 81 wins for this group but the core includes Kipnis, Chisenhaul, White and Pomeranz at a minimum and they won't show what they have until 2012. Starting to look more and more like we will be able to move Sizemore for a right handed corner OF....

But I think this offseason is the earliest Sizemore is dealt. Wow what a lift Hafner has been so far...

If I am a Boston fan I might be thinking....

Hmm, Victor Martinez didn't work out here and is gone. Meanwhile, the Indians still have Masterson and others....

Funny how these things can work out.

Point taken Frank but my point is that just because "core future" guys like Chisenhall, Kipnis, Phelps, and Pomeranz aren't quite ready to play at the big league level, doesn't mean the team shouldn't try to compete in the AL Central.

A strong bullpen (the great equalizer in today's game), a solid 1-5, and lineup of hitters who work counts and don't give up the outs can get it done and get it done within the Tribe's budget.

BTW, we don't need some stud power hitting OF. This team is fine in the power deparment. It's cheaper (and easier) to build a lineup that has distributed throughout the batting order and it gives the same aggregate effect. That type of lineup is also less vulnerable to slumps and injuries.