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Not surpisingly, Juan Gonzalez was named the starter in right field and Grady Sizemore has been sent back to AAA. With Gonzalez slotted to bat fifth, and Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez set to bat third and fourth, respectively, the Tribe has three RBI machines in the middle of the lineup. Also, with their 1-9 approach to building a strong lineup full of tough outs, the Tribe can compete with the most expensive lineups in the majors in scoring runs.

This might be the year that Shapiro cements his reputation as one of the best GMs in baseball. It should be fun.

After humiliating himself at the NFL combine with times in the 40 that barely beat the times of offensive linemen, Maurice Clarett has scheduled another workout, this one at his old high school. He wanted to work out at Ohio State during their pro day, but the Buckeyes told him he wasn’t invited. They did the right thing.

All of this drama surrounding the Cavaliers has taken our focus off one very important piece of information: Opening Day is just 12 days away.

Most publications say the Indians won’t pass the Twins in the AL Central standings this year, but as I’ve said in past posts, these guys have a legit shot. Whereas Mark Shapiro brought in some quality free agents, I just don’t see where the Twins significantly improved themselves this offseason. While it’s true that their young players are going to be another year better, guys like Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Coco Crisp are going to be that much better too.

That said, it’s time for C.C. Sabathia to mature into a true #1. If the Indians want to take down the Twins, they need an ace, and after four years C.C. needs to take that long-awaited step forward. True, he’s still only 24 but every year he gets you excited, flashes that undeniable talent, only to finish around .500 with an ERA higher than it should be and strikeout numbers lower than they should be. Kevin Millwood has put up ace numbers in the past, and you hope he can do it again this year, but it’s the big lefty who needs to finally lead this rotation right into the playoffs.

I didn’t get a chance to watch the game, but I saw the Cavaliers, under interim head coach Brendan Malone, waxed the defending champion Pistons 91-76 Tuesday night. A quick look at the box score is very telling, with Eric Snow getting the start over Jeff McInnis while McInnis, Lucious Harris and Anderson Varejao each logged 20-plus minutes off the bench.

But after all this talk yesterday about the team relying too heavily on LeBron, he still played 43 minutes, the most for either team, while hitting for 29 points, six boards and six assists. Snow, meanwhile, notched 10 assists vs. just one turnover in his 25 minutes while McInnis, despite logging comparable playing time, scored just four points with three assists and two turnovers. It’ll be interesting to see how Malone handles his point-guard minutes — he may keep splitting the time pretty evenly, though tonight’s stat line perhaps suggests that Snow should be seeing the bulk of the PT.

Finally, a couple other notes of interest: Tractor Traylor, one of Silas’ guys, played just 12 minutes while Sasha Pavlovic, who everyone seems to think Silas should’ve played more, only saw seven minutes of action. Still, a win’s a win, and with Washington currently getting blown out by Denver, the Cavs should find themselves tied for the fourth seed by night’s end.

For those of you who listened to the press conference after Silas was canned on Monday, Dennis Gilbert’s refusal to give G.M. John Paxson the “dreaded vote of confidence” was deafening. I keep going back and forth with him…it’s like the guy has two distinct sides…the dumb Pax (Diop, Wagner, letting Boozer go) and the smart Pax (dumping Kemp, trading for Varejao and Gooden)…Pax can only hope that Gilbert only sees the smart side. His last move, getting Welsch at the deadline rather than a shooter, could be the beginning of the end.