The buzz around the Cleveland Indians has been tempered. Many experts are predicting big things from the Tribe, while others forsee a drop off. The Detroit Tigers received the bulk of buzz this offseason with the acquisitions of Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Jacque Jones and Edgar Renteria. Steve Phillips went so far as to say that the Tigers will have the best offense in the history of baseball, but he is an idiot. The Indians pitching appears to be stronger than Detroit, especially with the injuries of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. The major additions made by the Indians included the signing of Japanese import Masa Kobayashi, infielder Jamey Carroll, and relief pitcher Jorge Julio, players who won't catch anyones' attention. The Yankees and Red Sox made the same type of moves, choosing youth over overpriced journeyman players.
I predict the Indians to win the 2008 World Series over the Atlanta Braves. They have the pitching depth to avoid elongated slumps. Their core group of position players (Sizemore, Martinez, Hafner, Peralta,) will only get better. Guys like Gutierrez, Cabrera, and Garko all now have playoff experience under their belt. The Indians proved they can play with the top teams in the AL, so there is no reason to believe they will regress. 2008 is the 60th anniversary of the Tribe winning the World Series, so I think as fans we are due.
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