Indians Off Season

With spring training almost in full swing, I suspect I should start paying attention to the Indians again. While it's not a good excuse for shutting down the part of my brain that cares about baseball, when the big winter talk is about where Jamey Carroll will land, I was pretty sure this would be a slow winter for the Indians. That's not to say this offseason has been without changes that will affect the Indians for a long time.

- Manny Acta was hired as manager

Acta is a good choice despite the obvious fact he was fired as coach of the worst team in baseball. In his defense, I'm sure he learned a few things and I bet any manager would have a hard time motivating that thing the Nationals call a team.

- Mark Shapiro was announced as the future President, while Chris Antonetti becomes GM after this season

No real surprise here. Antonetti was one of the most sought-after front-office guys in the majors and the Indians had to do something. I would love to know which, if any, of the decisions over the last five seasons that Antonetti and Shapiro disagreed on.

- The Indians sign Russell Branyan . . . again

The Indians have now acquired Branyan in every conceivable way: draft, sign to minor league deal, trade, and signed to major league deal. Cry Me a Cuyahoga River points out that maybe Branyan was signed to help out a little only to then trade at the deadline for prospects. Sounds good to me.

- Grady took naked pictures of himself

Seriously, you're a really good athlete and not 17 - for what reason are you trying so hard with women? Last time I'll ever want to talk about this.

- Choo hired Scott Boras as his agent

Which scenario do you like better: He leaves us for greener pastures a) earlier or b) later? Your choice.

- Early computer projections show the Indians finishing as high as second in the AL Central

I don't know about all that but the 2010 Indians are going to be downright better and more fun to watch than the 2009 ever were or could hope to be. 2010 is all sunshine and warm breezes if you ask me.

Well if you excuse me I have to go edit Renee Russo out of Major League so I can watch that movie in peace.

Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)