I believe that the 2009 Cleveland Indians will win the AL Central by at least 6 games. I also believe that the lead will be bigger before Eric Wedge takes his foot off of the gas.
Travis Hafner and Kerry Wood will be carpooling back-and-forth to the Cleveland Clinic. Bad hunch here, but Pronk and the new guy are both going to have injury-plagued seasons. Look for Wood to be on the DL at least three times. Expect Hafner to miss a couple of months.
Matt LaPorta will be the starting 1B or DH by the end of the season.
The Indians will lose in the ALCS to the Anaheim Angels.
Grady Sizemore will be a candidate for AL MVP with an outstanding year. Look for sizemore to go 30/30 with over 110 RBI.
Mark DeRosa will make the 2010 AL All-Star team based on what he does this season for the Tribe. Look for DeRosa to be the versatile piece that completes the puzzle.
Cliff Lee will not win the 2009 Cy Young Award. Look for Lee to still rack up 16 wins and be among the league leaders in ERA all season.
Fausto Carmona will be demoted to the bullpen. This move might take place for several reasons. The most obvious being Kerry Wood being physically unable to perform and the Indians needing the quick fix. He may also be used as a setup man after struggling as a starter.
Victor Martinez will have a great year and miss very little playing time. Look for Martinez to be healthy all year with maybe one short trip to the DL, barring some freaky injury.
Asdrubal Cabrera will be replaced by Josh Barfield by the end of the season. Don’t be shocked if this happens. Cabrera just doesn’t impress me enough with the bat. Once Barfield gets a good look at Spring Training, don’t hold it against Eric Wedge to make this move.
Bonus: Mark Shapiro will bring in someone for the playoff push. That someone is going to be Roy Halladay. Another long reach here, but the Blue Jays are going to be unloading salary when they are eliminated by the break this year. Cleveland will look to add one more big arm for the push!
The 2009 Cleveland Indians: 10 Fearless Predictions
