Cleveland Indians

Michael Brantley’s 2010 curse may be your 2011 blessing.

The young speedster had a hell of a time getting into any sort of rhythm last season. He struggled out the gate and battled a string of ailments, including shoulder, hamstring and ankle injuries.

And to rub salt in the guy’s wounds, the Cleveland Indians demoted the kid twice. His April and July numbers were deplorable.

However, all of that could be a good thing for fantasy savvy GMs.

The Cleveland Indians have bolstered their bullpen with the signing of right-hander Chad Durbin.

Durbin spent time during the 2003 and 2004 seasons with the Indians. He most recently played for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he earned a World Series ring in 2008. 

Ah, baseball season.  For me, there are few feelings like it.  Spring Training represents a new era every year for me; one filled with hopefulness and optimism.  The recent purchasing of an undisclosed publication taught me something that put a damper on this anticipation: The Cleveland Indians are the worst team in Major League Baseball. 

Justine Siegal has been all about breaking down barriers, and on Monday, it was only natural for her to break one of the biggest barriers of all.

Siegal became the first one woman ever to throw live batting practice to Major League hitters when she threw for the Cleveland Indians earlier on Monday.

Siegal became the first woman ever to coach on a professional baseball team when she was named the first base coach of the Independent League Brockton Rox in 2009.

Thirty-six year old Justine Siegal has a passion for the game of baseball, and this has allowed her to make great strides in the sport.

No, she's not a player—that would be truly remarkable. What makes this event so special is that, for some reason, it's flown somewhat under the radar.

Siegal has spent the past four years as an assistant baseball coach at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Aside from coaching baseball at the college, she has been working toward her Ph.D. in sports and exercise psychology.

The official web site of the Cleveland Indians has Orlando Cabrera listed as the starting second baseman for the club. This confirms what has been suspected since the signing was announced last week.

For the most part, reaction to the signing has been positive. All I'm hearing about is how great a player Cabrera is and how he's a big addition to the 2011 team. Did you know he's been to the playoffs six of the last seven years? I've heard about it ad infinitum.

In 2007, the Cleveland Indians were one game away from their first world series in 10 years and most likely, the Tribe would have won the World Series against a Rockies team that eventually got swept by the Red Sox. However, after the unfortunate ending to a great season, expectations were high for the Tribe in 2008. But after injuries to key players, some bad luck and less then spectacular starting pitching, the season took a turn for the worst and the Indians were forced to clean house.

As deep as the White Sox rotation is, the Indians' is equally shallow. Sports have been downright rough on Cleveland fans the past few years.

Sigh...

Fausto Carmona leads the way, followed by Justin Masterson and Carlos Carrasco and after that, well, the bottom kind of falls out.

Fausto Carmona was a legit Cy Young candidate in 2007 but got injured and lost his way in 2008 and 2009.   

In the rotation, they have (blank) and who else?

Where is Sizemore playing?

How long will Hafner be on the DL this season?

All of these questions have been asked in one form or another this offseason. That’s not what makes them interesting.

What makes them interesting is that they were actual questions raised on veteranpresence.com in the spring of 2007. Tribe fans everywhere remember that 2007 was the last year the Indians were relevant, and that was coming off a 78-84 campaign.

With the 2011 MLB season just around the corner, fans around the nation are making their predictions.

While everyone is busy predicting their favorites, I'll get to work on predicting my least favorites—the teams that are going to come in last place of each division in the American League.

AL EAST

This one is tricky.  

With the Boston Red Sox's flurry of transactions, they certainly won't be in last.