Cleveland Indians

It's almost that time of year again. In exactly one month, Cleveland Indians pitchers and catchers will report to Goodyear, Arizona to kick-off Spring Training and the 2011 Major League Baseball season. Yes, I know things can change from now until February 14, but lets just say, if the season started today, what starting pitchers would make up the Tribe's five-man rotation?

Its no secret that the Cleveland Indians have some work ahead of them in the rebuilding process. But with such a deep farm system and many former All-Stars being dealt, Tribe fans are anxious to see something come from the plethora of young talent the Indians are supposed to have.

The Minnesota Twins have become more of a large-market team with a new stadium and the ability to keep their talent around, while the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox have spent a lot of money in the offseason to make a once seemingly winnable AL Central a very formidable one. 

It seems like at this time for the past few years we’ve had the same discussion about the potential breakout candidacy of Justin Masterson. 

The underlying metrics scream that he could be a successful, under-the-radar option for fantasy owners, yet he has consistently failed miserably. 

The 2010 season was no different, having posted the following line:

Most Indians fans would rather not remember last season.

Our best player, Grady Sizemore, suffered another season-ending injury.

Our top prospect, Carlos Santana, had his season shortened by a Ryan Kalish slide.

Our best pitchers in seasons past, C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, once again led their teams to the playoffs while the Indians skidded to another fourth-place finish.

All in all, 2010 was a year to forget.

Go ahead, read that title over a few times and let it settle in. It appears that the Cleveland Indians are not only trying to sign Bartolo Colon, but they may end up in a bit of a bidding war for the services of the 37-year-old righty.

As sportswriter Bill Simmons would put it, the Indians are in life or death territory, as in whenever an Indians fan dies, you count back to see if they got to be alive during the last World Series win. Since that last win came in 1948, there are far too many Indians fans dying before they get a chance to see their team on top.

With that in mind, the Cleveland Indians need to be doing everything possible to win the World Series. Rebuilding is a necessary part of this, but the current Indians roster is littered with players that aren't going to help the Indians get back on top.

I know what you're thinking: How can Indians first baseman Matt LaPorta, a player who hit .221 last season, become the same type of power hitter as Colorado Rockies outfielder and NL MVP candidate, Carlos Gonzalez? 

Well, the answer to this question can be seen easier when breaking down both ballplayers.

It happened on Sept. 18, 1954, but it really happened before then.

The New York Yankees would go on to win 103 games, which would be the most the perennial World Champions would ever win under their greatest manager of all time, Casey Stengel, but the Cleveland Indians would be American League Champions.

On Sept. 12, the Yankees were in Cleveland to face the Tribe in a doubleheader before a record crowd of 86,563 paying customers. Yes, the Indians were a force during the early and mid-1950s.

Bob Feller.

It's hard to talk about the Cleveland Indians and not mention the name of Bob Feller.  There were several years when there was nothing else to talk about as Cleveland Indians fans than their greatest player of all time, but it was always so much more than that. 

Baseball and America lost a legend on Wednesday when Hall of Fame pitcher and World War II hero Bob Feller passed away. Feller was 92 years old.

Feller, who played all 18 years of his Major League career with the Cleveland Indians, won 226 games, struck out 2,581 and had a 3.25 ERA. His numbers would have been even better if he didn’t serve his country in World War II in the prime of his career. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962.