Russell Branyan was activated from the DL today and Michael Brantley was optioned to Triple AAA. This is a good thing. Brantley can develop and Branyan can hit homeruns. It will be interesting to see who plays leftfield now, it's a pretyy sure thing that Branyan will only play 1st base and DH even though he can play 3rd, and leftfield and rightfield. Matt LaPorta could be the leftfielder but he isn't ready for everyday starts yet at any position and he hasn't played a day in the outfield yet this year including spring training. I assume Austin Kearns will get more at bats for the time being with Branyan and LaPorta splitting time at 1st and DH(unless Travis Hafner goes on a tear).
Next on the list is Kerry Wood. He should be ready in the next week or 2, I'm guessing he will replace Tony Sipp. This is another move in the right direction, Wood will close and allow everyone else to move down an inning in the bullpen hierarchy.
Bullpen it would be nice to see Justin Masterson swap positions with Aaron Laffey and being used as a set up man along with Chris Perez. I could also see Jeremy Sowers and Jason Grilli jumping into the bullpen when healthy, Sowers would be an awesome reliever for an inning or 2. He has a good track record in 3 innings of work or less. Saul Rivera is a nice veteran option if need be as well. The bottom line is the bullpen needs to shape up quickly because there are a lot of good options on the horizon. Guys like Rafael Perez need to find a groove quickly in stead of coming in and giving up walks and hits without recording outs.
Carlos Carrasco could be in the rotation and Carlos Santana in the lineup (sorry Lou Marson)before the All Star break too. I wouldn't count the Indians out of the American League Central.......but I say that every year.
How about this for a lineup:
1. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS (speed/OBP)
2. Grady Sizemore - CF (speed/power)
3. Shin-Soo Choo - RF (speed/power/OBP)
4. Travis Hafner - DH (power)
5. Russell Branyan - 1B (power)
6. Matt LaPorta - LF (power)
7. Carlos Santana - C (power/OBP)
8. Luis Valbuena - 2B (speed/power)
9. Jhonny Peralta - 3B (????)
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