The Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are going to have some trouble trying to keep up with The Detroit Tigers in the American League Central. Although The Tigers appear to have already locked up the division title The Indians may have a chance of competing.

Just recently we found out that the pitcher Fausto Carmona is three years older than he claims and has a different name. Maybe if the Indians can take his inconsistent pitching and his seven million dollar contract off the team, it will free up room for a better player.

The Indians have a pretty decent pitching staff, above average if you will say. During the 2011 season they traded for Ubaldo Jimenez. Although he wasn't as good as The Indians expected he may have a bounce back season for 2012. Ubaldo will not put up the same numbers he did with the Rockies in 2010, but anything close to that will be a great advantage for The Indians. Lets not forget about the young pitcher Justin Masterson, who also proved he can pitched at the big league level. Masterson is 26 years old and posted a 3.21 ERA for the 2011 season. The Indians also have starting pitchers Josh Tomlin and Derek Lowe. Lowe will be 39 in 2012. Although he can pitch close to 200 innings a year, his ERA has been elevated over the past few seasons. As for Josh Tomlin, he is young and still has something to prove at the age of 26. He posted a 4.25 ERA over 165 innings in 2011.

The Indians have a decent offense that can provide a comfortable amount of runs for the pitcher. When Shin Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Carlos Santana are healthy The Indians have a powerful offense. If they can add one more bat to their lineup The Tigers may have something to worry about.

Hello Hall of Fame

Barry Larkin was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. Remembered as one of the most consistent and best players of his time (1986-2004).

Called up to the MLB in 1986 Barry Larkin was just 22, he played a total of 2180 games all for the Cincinnati Reds. Playing shortstop he received 3 gold glove awards, received the national league MVP in 1995, nine silver slugger awards, and had a .371 OBP over his 19 seasons.

His career stats are as follows,  2340 hits over 7937 at bats, forming a .295 batting average. 198 home runs and 960 RBI's. Also speed was a big part of his game stealing 379 bases and hitting 76 triples. His on base percentage was previously mentioned at .371.

Once again Congratulations to Barry Larkin.

Yu Darvish

Yu Darvish is probably going to be a Texas Ranger for the 2012 season. The Texas Rangers won the right to negotiate with Darvish last night for $51 million. Yu Darvish is a pitching phenom in Japan. Posting a 1.44 era in 2011 and a 1.99 career era from the age of 18-25 Darvish has been dominate in his time in Japan.

The Rangers will absolutely be able to combat the angels now. The Angels signed Wilson and Pujols and now the Rangers will probably sign Darvish. Without a doubt the rangers have a blistering offense that will frighten any pitcher.

Neftali Feliz is said to move to the rotation since Joe Nathan was signed by the Rangers. With Darvish, Feliz, Ogando, and who ever else may fill in the positions the Rangers will be a definite force in the A.L. The only other thing I have to say is that the Angels-Rangers series' will be very entertaining.

The Winter Meetings Off With a Bang

With the winter meetings starting last night at 10 pm EST, we all knew that free agents would sign and trades would happen. Last night Jose Reyes signed with the Marlins for $106 Million over 6 years. I could only imagine having that much money. We all knew Jose Reyes wouldn't resign with the Mets, and the Marlins were the logical decision.

Now with Jose Reyes on the team, the Miami Marlins will have to make some changes. Hanley Ramirez agreed to moving to third base, but there has been rumors of him going to center field. For some reason i don't think he will be playing center field. The Marlins have now added a legitimate speed threat at the top of their line up and a high average hitter.

Their new line up will look a little bit like this: Reyes, Morrison, Ramirez, Stanton, Sanchez, Infante, Buck, Bonifacio, Pitcher.
I think this is a line up with one minor deficiency, a lefty power bat. instead of perusing a 31 year Albert Pujols, i think the Marlins should peruse a young and powerful Prince Fielder.

Fielder, who will be 28 next year will just be entering his prime, and is much cheaper than Albert Pujols. You would have to sacrifice some defense, but the power Fielder and Stanton would supply from the 3 and 4 spots in the line up would be immense. That line up would look something like this: Reyes, Ramirez, Fielder, Stanton, and that is all that matters.

The Marlins are making a definite bid for player this year, and i think they may be able to put up with the seemingly unstoppable Phillies. The Phillies are an aging team with a lot of pitching, but the Marlins may be able to out due them with their young power and speed.