The Indians, baseball's version of "Breaking Bad", start play tomorrow, as they open the season at Chicago. I've taken a hard look at the club and see them winning 74 games this year. Which is actually 9 games better than last year, but still not even close to where they need to be. I think the Most Interesting Manager in the World, Manny Acta, will be a breath of fresh air, but it looks like a 4th-place finish in the Central. That means plenty of good seats available starting, oh, next week or so.

Starters:

This year's rotation is Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Mitch Talbot and David Huff.

Seriously, if they get 10 wins out of Jake Westbrook, they should consider themselves lucky. Hasn't pitched since early 2008. I believe he is the longest-tenured Indian at this point. Doesn't mean all that much, but it's a Fun Fact to Know and Tell.

Fausto Carmona will win 15 games this season. I firmly believe the Hispanic voice of Acta pays dividends here.

Justin Masterson is murdered by lefties. And lefties are still allowed to play this season. I looked it up. 10-12 wins, tops.

Mitch Talbot. We traded Kelly Shoppach for him. 5 wins. OK, that dripped of sarcasm. Make it 6 wins.

David Huff will have me yawn more than most of the pitchers. 10 agonizing wins and probably more losses. At least, no Ryan Garko in left field when he pitches this season. That always kept me awake.

Bullpen:

Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, Jamey Wright, Aaron Laffey and Jensen Lewis.

I actually think Chris Perez will be OK as the closer. I firmly believe the job is his for a long time. We just gotta get to him.

Rafael Perez will never duplicate 2007. Let's hope he never duplicates 2009 again.

Joe Smith is murdered by lefties. Yeah, him too. But he's healthy this year. So when lefties hit him this year, no excuses.

Tony Sipp. Not a good spring after a decent 2009.

Jamey Wright is an innings eater. His arm will eventually fall off and when he realizes he's with the Indians, that should probably happen before June.

Aaron Laffey should get major innings this year from the left side. I see many 2-inning outings from him this year. Should be fine.

Jensen Lewis needs to stop throwing gopher balls immediately. Leads the league in whiplash.

Everyday Lineup:

Matt LaPorta, Luis Valbuena, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo Lou Marson and Travis Hafner.

Matt LaPorta finally starts somewhere, now it's at first base. About effin' time.

Luis Valbuena is at second. Can't hit singles for some reason. Current regime seems down on him, while The Departed couldn't talk him up enough. Not good defensively.

Asdrubal Cabrera should be fine. Droobs was the most consistent Indian last year. On the good side. We had many who were consistently bad.

Jhonny Peralta. Has not hit well since "his vee-zee-own is twenty-twenty". I think he'll do well this year. Knocked in 83 last year while the entire community crapped on him. Should sleep better now that Eric Wedge ("The Mentalist") can't yell at him. So, he'll be well-rested while seeing clearly.

Manny Acta is high on Michael Brantley in left field and that's a good thing. I'm sure the front office is still concerned with service time, but Acta is making a stand. Good for him.

Grady Sizemore is healthy once again. So, what do we get? .260 with a bunch of strikeouts or a major leap in play to match the hype? Still waiting.

I have apologized for calling Shin-Soo Choo the "Asian Trot Nixon". Now, he's one of my favorites. I know it's as juvenile as it gets, but I just love saying "Choo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!" at the ballpark.

Lou Marson is the catcher. Unlike Valbuena, he hits an absurd amount of singles. Hopefully, not another Eddie Perez, who knocked in 3 runs in his first game of 2002 and then waited until the last week of the season to drive in another one.

Travis Hafner should be a 20-100 guy if he's finally healthy. On-Base Percentage, Slugging and OPS were all up last year and he had a better year than most were willing to admit. Can't stomach that pay though, if he's a 20-71 guy from here on out.

Backups:

Russell Branyan, Andy Marte, Mike Grudzielanek, Austin Kearns, Mike Redmond.

Russell Branyan. Cue Nancy Kerrigan: "Why? WHY?".

Andy Marte. The Cleveland version of "The Thing That Wouldn't Leave".

Mike Grudzielanek. He ruins the most Indians Spelling Bee contestants since Masa Kobayashi.

Austin Kearns got one line in today's PD preview as the fourth outfielder. Enough said.

Mike Redmond is the backup catcher and was the big free-agent signing over the winter. I cannot believe I just typed that. Saw him hit into a triple play once.

Yep, that looks like about 74 wins.

Meal of Links

They found the Missing Link. Doesn't this happen every few years or so?

How to make your own Girl Scout Cookies?

Ah, Opening Day. Let's see what Vin Scully is up to.

Why bring Ring-Dings to your Easter gathering, when you can have bobka? I wonder if they carry the "lesser bobka"?

















Exercise Yard

Charley Rosen answers some NBA questions. Z gets discussed and not in a good way.

Crack Reporting from the EPL



Visitor

None, on a sunny Easter Sunday.