Grady Sizemore

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 only one real big signing remaining on Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous' agenda before the season starts—Jose Bautista, the Jays roster looks to be almost set heading into spring training.

Last year, Manny Acta made a splash by dropping Grady Sizemore to second in the batting order.  This year, he's considering moving him back to leadoff.  Is either the right move?  And how should the rest of the lineup look?

As good as he is, Evan Longoria is not single-handedly winning your fantasy baseball league for you. Why? Because most of the owners in your leagues are getting fairly off-setting numbers out of their first round picks.

However, the players discussed here could win you that championship, because while everyone is getting minimal value from their late-round picks, you could be getting early-round numbers.

It happens every year. One team has unreasonably high expectations for their team, signs a couple of free agents, and when they fail to meet their goals, they become sellers at the trade deadline.

Need an example? How about last year's Seattle Mariners. In theory, Cliff Lee would have been great if they had an offense. However, their lack of success forced them to trade Lee to the Rangers, a team better suited for Lee.

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. 

Entering his final year of salary arbitration, Jonathan Papelbon will likely cash in on a big pay day following the 2011 season. 

However, with a declining skill set and Daniel Bard as the closer of the future, there is next to no chance he signs a long term deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Papelbon is due to make roughly $11 million for the coming season.

The presence of Bard and the acquisition of Bobby Jenks makes the possibility that Papelbon does not finish the year with the Red Sox all the more likely.

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.

As of this moment, right here, the 2013 Yankees already have in the neighborhood of 109 million dollars spent. That's with arbitration, or new contracts. 109 million...for a season 3 years away.

What is that team going to look like? Is it going to be as old and brittle as some forecast? Well, maybe. Let's take a guess at what the lineup and rotation might look like by then.

In The Field

1B: Mark Teixeira is penned in here for the foreseeable future.

The MLB offseason is already in full swing, and many top free agents have already been taken off the board.

So who's left? And what players might be available for teams that don't have the pocket change to go out and sign a free agent?

Begin the slideshow to see the top five players available to sign or trade for at each position.

Begin Slideshow