Indians Fever

The Cleveland Indians have built itself a solid group of core players that it will have over the next couple of years. Within the scope of the budget that it has to go around, it has a shot to compete this year again. If anything, it is a team that improved slightly over the roster that it put on the field in 2005.

The starting lineup will look like this

• 1st base- Ben Broussard
• 2nd base-Ronnie Belliard
• 3rd base- Aaron Boone (hopefully he will improve from last year)
• Shortstop-Jhonny Peralta
• Catcher- Victor Martinez (perhaps the best offensive catcher in the AL)
• Right- Casey Blake
• Left- Jason Michaels (somewhat of a question mark as a player)
• Center- Grady Sizemore (my prediction is that he will hit .300 with 32 homers and 100 rbi's this year, an improvement from last year)

Pitching rotation

• Starters are: Sebathia, Byrd, Lee, Westbrook, and Jason Johnson; in that order.
• Wickman will close and if he stays healthy shoudl close our about 40 games.

The pitching is pretty solid. The only question mark is the strength of Wickman to endure a whole season. Conditioning is something that Wickman does not come through with.

My Prediction

The Indians will stay consistent with last year. The results will be 90-72, a slight decrease from last year. The reason that the wins will decrease is due to the fact that the rest of the American League has improved.

If you look within the AL Central, the White Sox have strengthened a team that was already better than most of the other teams. The Yankees have improved with the addition of Johnny Damon. If Randy Johnson can stay healthy, look out. Whether the Red Sox or the Yankees win that division that will put increased pressure on the Indians to win the Wild Card this year.

Oh and there are still the Angels and the A's to deal with. The Athletics look like they will win the division, but the Angels are going to be a force in the Wild Card chase.

I feel as though the Indians will compete and will not win the Wild Card this year. It is difficult to make this prediction because I am pulling for the Tribe every year. But let's let the season start and find out.

Oh well, I am ready for the home opener this Friday. Tonight the Indians start the season against the White Sox. It should be a great matchup with good play-by-play with the ESPN2 crew.