OK, what are we going to do with the Indians offense? Currently, they are a mess. Another well-pitched game ended up in a loss today, as Aaron Laffey threw a really good game. But it seems the offense is going to be a lingering problem and there will probably have to be some changes.

First of all, Travis Hafner deserved to be dropped to sixth in the lineup. I'm not sure what the deal was with Terry Pluto's observations in this morning's PD. I think his case was overstated or, at the very least, "over-statted". A whole bunch of stuff about Hafner hitting flyballs to left or some other rot. He fails to mention the important stat, which I'll keep saying because it's, in fact, true. He is not driving the ball. It's that simple. You can talk all about an "uppercut swing" or whatever, but last year, even with the drop in run production and batting average, Hafner's walks were still up and his strikeouts were down. This year, however, the walks are way down (OBP is .305) and the K's are way up, projecting to 166 right now, which would be a career high by plenty. He is also projecting to only 77 walks, a significant drop to a career low. This points out to me he's lost whatever plate discipline he had. Last year, even in the throes of a slump, he could still hammer a pitcher's mistake. This year, it's been fairly ugly and he's not producing.

Mark Shapiro's magical number of 40 games played will be upon us in the next week-and-a-half or so. I have to believe Ben Francisco will get the call at that time. And if he hits, place him in the third slot. He may see some good pitches ahead of Victor Martinez in the lineup. He's 26 years old, we can't wait much longer. BTW, Victor seems to have become a singles hitter while no one was watching. Only 6 extra base hits (all doubles) and 4 walks.

Currently, they are getting virtually no production out of three positions. Casey Blake at third, Jhonny Peralta at short, and Asdrubal Cabrera at second. Those guys have been dismal, so far. BTW, Grady Sizemore seems to be playing much better since his injury caused him to miss two days. Maybe he'd be better off playing 150 games a year, as opposed to every inning of every game. Only Kelly Shoppach of the bench players seems to be doing anything with the bat. Andy Marte can't be trusted, it seems, and Jamey Carroll is...well...Jamey Carroll.

Having said all that, what are the options? Francisco seems an obvious choice. He can certainly replace Jason Michaels in the leftfield platoon. Cabrera would be the most likely position player to be sent down as he has options and Josh Barfield has major league experience. Other than those moves, unless a deal is made, I think we're stuck with what we have.

I realize there is a long way to go and really no one is running away with the division, thankfully. It also looks like a win total in the high 80's may get you in the playoffs. My concern is 20% of the season is now over and we don't have a lot of good signs offensively. Perhaps, the hitting coach is the fall guy. Remember, Eddie Murray was dumped during the season a few years ago, so it's not an unprecedented move.

Pitching is OK. Starting pitching has been terrific the last three weeks. Bullpen? Certainly not as sharp as last year. Have to grade them incomplete for the time being, because we'll have to see if Borowski gets healthy and gets the closer's job back. He starts throwing later this week, I believe.

Meal of Links

You play with the Royals. You're on the disabled list. There's a rainout in Cleveland. What do you do? Punch a door was probably not in your plans.

Racial profiling by police in Los Angeles? Nothing to see here, move along.

A reminder of what May 4 means to some people.

Exercise Yard

In case you wondered whatever happened to Trajan Langdon. Today, he was MVP of the Euroleague Final for CSKA Moscow. I happened to catch the end of this game on NBA TV.

I have no idea who the announce crew was, but a foreign guy did play-by-play, while an American did color. The color guy sounded like an old coach and it was as if they weren't even partners. The play-by-play guy did it by the book, while the American nitpicked virtually every play. It was hilarious.

Visitor

None. A sunny, cool Sunday.