Asdrubal Cabrera

When I posted my updated shortstop rankings last week after the news on Jose Reyes, (click here to view) there was a lot of talk about Asdrubal Cabrera and his omission.  Honestly, I just don’t see what all the hype is about. 

Where is the potential upside? 

What is driving all this excitement?

Before we answer those questions, let’s look at his stats from 2009:

523 At Bats

The Cleveland Indians may be rebuilding again, but it's hard not to be optimistic when CHONE predicts the team to win at least 81 games and finish second in the division.

Let's take a closer look at those projections, using WAR—Wins Above Replacement.

Circle the wagons, grab your money, buy the seats, because the Cleveland Indians we expected are ready to return. Travis Hafner shows signs of the player of years gone by and Grady Sizemore has returned. Asdrubal Cabrera should return to shortstop next week. Aaron Laffey is slated to return to the starting rotation.

Now its time for Wedge to make the Great Experiment: a set lineup.

The A.L. Central, like its Western-division brethren and the entire National League, is full of bad teams. The division’s first-place Detroit Tigers enter Tuesday’s games with a run differential that would rank fifth in the A.L. East.

The Minnesota Twins, meanwhile, have ridden Joe Mauer’s Ted Williams impression and a pitching staff that has decided against issuing walks this season into second place, a mere three games out, and are the only other team in the division to have outscored its opponents thus far.

The 2009 season has not gone at all as planned for the Cleveland Indians.

They have struggled, at one point or another, in every aspect of the game, losing because of starting pitching, the bullpen, blown saves, bad defense, bad managing, a lack of situational hitting, a lack of hitting period, and even some blown calls (when a fan reaches over the fence to snatch a ball away from a fielder it's interference, not a go ahead home run, even for the Yankees, but I digress).

Professional sports are full of underrated guys who never see the credit that they deserve.

We have seen it year in and year out, in every sport. But to me, baseball is the leading sport for guys who are underrated, and never receive credit.

Here's my list of the top 10 underrated players in the major leagues today, the non pitcher addition. The guys I have on this list deserve more than enough credit for their stellar play over their careers, and in the young 2009 season.

You may not agree with some of my choices, and that's fine.

Welcome to Tribe Talk, where Bleacher Report's Tribe fans weigh in on the ups and downs of the Indians each week throughout the season.

This week we consider whether the Tribe’s fortunes are inextricably linked with those of Grady Sizemore, the dangers of incessantly tinkering with a lineup, and the chances of seeing Pedro Martinez don an Indians uniform.

I would like to thank this week's participants Nino Colla and Dave Wiley for their contributions.