AL Central

I had such high hopes for Freddy Garcia. He won a championship and was such a workhorse throughout his career, until his injuries in 2006.

When Jose Morales made the club out of spring training as Joe Mauer's replacement, the assumption was that Morales would fill in until Mauer was ready to return. It was a fair assumption because, after all, with a tight bench to begin with, making room for three catchers would be a difficult task.

Much in the same manner as the Twins did with their 11-man pitching staff idea, the team has rethought the plan to ship Morales to triple-A when their All-Star catcher returns to the lineup Friday, in the Metrodome against the Kansas City Royals.

Back again for its second season, this is the weekly series where I plan take the top 9 Indians in terms of OPS and feed them into Dave Pinto's Lineup Analysis Tool to determine the theoretical ideal batting lineup.

This Week's Results

I always wonder about how managers deal with the various attitudes and personalities on a roster. Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint; which means there are going to be lots of ups and downs.

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Certainly exceeding utility status, yet short of earning a starting spot in the last three years, Brian Anderson’s position with the Chicago White Sox has been frustratingly undefined.

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"Vintage Lester dominates Orioles" read the headline after Sunday's 2-1 Red Sox victory over Baltimore.  While headlines are known for hyperbole, by definition, Jon Lester's third and best start of 2009 was vintage.

Buster Olney of ESPN made this comment on Mike and Mike in the Morning, an ESPN morning radio program: "If the Detroit Tigers are out of the playoff race early this season, look for them to trade Miguel Cabrera to the Red Sox, since the Red Sox are one of the few teams that could take on a large salary."

Cabrera is in the second year of an eight-year, $153 million deal. His annual salary ranges from $15 million to $22 million a year.