Fausto to DL, Lewis sent down, Mujica, Elarton called up

A whole bunch of roster moves were made Saturday, as apparently Fausto Carmona's hip hurt him enough for the Indians to place him on the 15 day DL. Also, the Tribe sent down Jensen Lewis in a move to help locate his velocity. Lewis has not pitched horrible, but if his fastball is not clocking in at least the high 80's, it is a problem. Scott Elarton returns to Cleveland to fill a role in long relief. The team did not really have an innings eater out in the pen all year. Edward Mujica was added for the time being until Jake Westbrook is activated from the DL. Mujica has been pretty bad in the big leagues so far, so I would imagine he will only come in in mop up duty, Elarton took the place of Breslow on the 40 man roster. Finally, the Tribe won last night for the first time in 8 games. It figures the first game I don't watch in a week they win.

Breslow Designated for Assignment, JoeBo Back

Anthony Castrovince of Indians.com is reporting that Craig Breslow will be DFA'd tomorrow in order to add Joe Borowski back to the big club. Breslow had a 3.24 in 8 1/3 innings of work. Craig, we hardly knew you since Wedge would pitch you every ten games. Andy Marte lives to sit on the bench another day.

If I were GM for a day...

Just when you think things can't get any worse, they are. The Indians 7-2 loss to the first place White Sox was there fifth in a row, slipping two games under .500. Since the majority of the Indians offense was produced by Ben Francisco and Michael Aubrey, both minor league call ups, these are some of the moves I think Shapiro should make over the next few days.

Send down Asdubal Cabrera and call up Josh Barfield. Now I know J-Barf hasn't exactly been tearing up Buffalo, but Cabrera looks totally lost at the plate, almost hoping for a walk. Barfield cannot possibly due worse, since his .177 batting average places him 90th out of the 90 eligible batters in the AL, 23 points behind 89th place Robinson Cano (.200).

Cut Craig Breslow and activate JoeBo. Although I cringe every time Borowski toes the mound, Breslow has no role on this team and has shown nothing. Need to keep as many hitters on the roster as possible.

Cut Jorge Julio and bring up Adam Miller. With Jorge arguing and shouting at Victor Martinez tonight, get him out of here, he is a stiff. Miller has been lights out in Buffalo and would bring some excitement to a dull team when he pitches.

Trade Paul Byrd to the Braves for infield hitting prospect. Byrd is a gamer and a great clubhouse guy, but he has some value to teams in contention. Paul is a free agent next year, so we may have to pick up some of his salary. Thanks for being a gamer Paulie, it is time for a youth movement.

Cut Andy Marte, activate Jake Westbrook. Marte is a corpse on the bench of the Indians. He is only 24 but his best days will not happen in a Tribe uniform.

Cut David Dellucci and bring up Shin Soo Choo. Choo is raking in Buffalo, Dellucci is who he is. Eat his contract and cut bait.

These moves won't make the lineup menacing, but it may give this team a spark it so desperately needs. The roster changes also may send a message to the team that complacency is not tolerated.

*Note: I know this moves can't all happen in a day, but a fan can dream.

Tribe Barely Avoids Sweep

Pitching saved the Cleveland Indians from being swept this past weekend, and this is how Casey Blake celebrated today's 2-1 win. The Tribe batted a crisp .204 for the series, played spotty defense, and really only pitched well in one game. Teams go through hitting slumps from time to time as the Indians did in 2007, but it is extremely annoying to watch. The Lineup has a fever, but I don't believe the prescription was batting Dellucci, Michaels, Marte and Shoppach in a row. Manager Eric Wedge does believe in his veterans, so we may be stuck with Michaelucci for the month of April. Taking two out of three from the Angels will salvage a .500 road trip, which wouldn't be terrible, since the Detroit Tigers have been struggling mightily. Victor Martinez is expected to be back behind the dish tomorrow, so hopefully he will give the team a much needed boost. Here were some of the highlights:

Ryan Garko: Went 4-10, slugged a homerun and had the game winning walk today. Looking very solid in the field as well.

Grady Sizemore: 4-11 2 walks, one of the few Indians hitters who look comfortable at bat.

Cliff Lee: 6 2/3 innings, 4 K's, pitched a great game when the Tribe needed it, spotted his fastball and mixed in some off speed stuff as well. Looked confident as bailed his team out.

Craig Breslow: 2 innings, no runs. Solid debut for second lefty out of the pen.

Joe Borowski: Gave up just a walk in his save today, slowed the fans collective pulse down considerably.

Areas of Concern

The Collective Lineup: Struggled together, strung 2 hits together only once the whole series in the 7th inning today, need to find some slump busters in Anaheim.

Michaels/Dellucci: 1-11 look terrible at the plate, can't wait to look back in September and laugh that they were our starting left fielders. My friend Jon refers to Michaels as the Rock of Love.

CC Sabathia: 5 1/3 innings 4 earned runs, only 2 K's. Needs get back to finishing off batters on 2 strike counts. Seems to be overthrowing a bit.

Franklin Gutierrez: 0-9, 3 K's, hit the ball hard a few times, needs to be consistent on the road. Played a tremendous right field on Friday night.

Jhonny Peralta: 3-12, got 2 hits today, showed questionable range and made a few errors. Was cold but not an excuse, needs to keep his head in the game.

Fausto Carmona takes on Joe Saunders tomorrow night in Anaheim.

Mastny Moved Down, Breslow Makes 25 man Roster

Paul Hoynes has reported that Tom Mastny will be starting the season at Buffalo. The tribe seems to prefer having two lefties in the bullpen, which left Mastny out. He pitched well in the ALCS and I am sure he will be the first call up when someone in the pen implodes or is injured.

Julio Promoted, Elarton, Barfield to Buffalo

Paul Hoynes has just reported that Jorge Julio will be the sixth member of the Tribe bullpen for 2008 and Josh Barfield and Scott Elarton will start the year in Triple-A Buffalo. This isn't any big news, but this means the last spot in the pen is down to Tom Mastny and Craig Breslow. As speculated earlier, you would assume Mastny will be sent down as Breslow pitched a shutout inning today to earn a save. Also, with Barfield being sent down, the last utility spot is probably down to Andy Gonzalez and Andy Marte. Buster Onley of espn.com said on the Mike and Mike show this morning that the Cleveland Indians were the deepest team in the majors. These demotions help illustrate the fact the Indians will have many viable options if and when injuries occur to the big league ball club. Shapiro has said that he would like to get the 25 man roster set by Friday, so we shall see.

Fultz Finally Finished

Well the Aaron Fultz era has finally coming to an end, as Fultz is expected to be released or traded sometime today. The bullpen this offseason and spring training has been a major area of concern for the Cleveland Indians. Between the implosion of Fultz and the three-headed battle amongst veterans Scott Elarton and Jorge Julio and Tom Mastny, it seems Shapiro and Wedge feel that relief pitching may be the key to this season. When the tribe claimed Boston lefty Craig Breslow off of waivers, this signaled the end of Fultz as an Indian.

This is a mild suprise because the tribe will be on the hook for his $1.5 million dollar salary for 2008 if he cannot be traded. This move shows that the front office will keep substandard play on the field on a short leash, because this season seems to be their best shot a world title. Having a below average lefty buried in the bullpen because he has a guaranteed contract should not happen anymore. Aaron Fultz had some success against leftys, but his inherited runners scoring stats were terrible as was his opponents batting average. This move represents the Cleveland Indians pursuit for the playoffs again in 2008.