One of the biggest question marks heading into opening day, was whether Ubaldo Jimenez would be able to get back to his all-star form in 2010. After being traded to Cleveland last year, Jimenez finished with a sub-par (4-4) record with an ERA of over 5 (5.10).

Everyone in Northeast Ohio was unsure if Jimenez was mentally ready to start the year after intentionally throwing at Troy Tulowitzki, a former teammate in his last outing on the mound during spring training. These former teammates had apparently exchanged a few unpleasantries since the trade last July, in which it carried over to the bench clearing spat at Salt River Fields this past week. Currently, Jimenez is appealing a five game suspension handed down by Commissioner Bud Selig.

However, by appealing his suspension, Jimenez was able to make his first scheduled start today against the Blue Jays. Cleveland fans were hoping that Jimenez had put the Rockies, Tulowitzki, Former Manager (Jim Tracy), and the possibility of missing a start due to suspension behind him.

Jimenez, seemed to answer his critics right away, as he pitched unblemished baseball through his first six innings. However, the 7th inning brought back flashes of his control issues that were made well known in spring training. Jimenez gave up just one hit in the inning, but two walks and a passed ball later, had the scored tied up at (2-2).  It’s hard to imagine that much improvement can be made with a one-hitter on the mound, but Jimenez through 95 pitches in 7 innings with 45 of those pitches being outside the strike zone.

The control wasn’t completely there today, but the former Colorado Rockies ace had one of his finest outings as an Indian this afternoon. Cleveland should be in many games this year with Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez pitching at the top of the rotation, so I encourage everyone in Cleveland to take one big collective breath for the time being.

Outlook: Cleveland is coming off an (80-82) record from a year ago, in which they held the central division lead for over two months to start the season. Solid pitching accounted for most of those wins as the tribe seemed to show enough promise for Cleveland fans to remain optimistic heading into next Thursday’s home opener.

Probable Lineup: 

[CF] Michael Brantley

Can Santana Lead Cleveland to the Playoffs?

[SS] Asdrubal Cabrera

[RF] Shin-Soo Choo

[C ] Carlos Santana

[1B] Casey Kotchman

[2B] Jason Kipnis

[LF] Shelly Duncan

[3B] Jack Hanahan

Notes: With Grady Sizemore sidelined due to injury once again, Michael Brantley gets the nod as the starting center fielder and lead-off man. Take it for what it’s worth, but news out of tribe camp was that Asdrubal Cabrera came in overweight. This is the last thing Tribe fans want to hear, as Cabrera was the teams MVP a year ago. The Indians failed to get a solid middle of the order hitter in the off-season, so they will rely on Choo, Santana and Hafner at those regards. Santana, who will be in his second full season at the major league level, is looked upon as the tribes main cog in the middle of the order. Santana competed in 155 of the 162 games last year for the tribe and will look to increase his homer (27) and RBI (79) total from a year ago. Finally, Shelly Duncan leads the Indians with 5 home runs this preseason, and could add some fireworks at the bottom of the order.

Cleveland Needs Jimenez to Regain 2010 Form

No. 1 Justin Masterson [RHP]

No. 2 Ubaldo Jimenez [RHP]

No. 3 Josh Tomlin [RHP]

No. 4 Derek Lowe [RHP]

No.5 Jeanmar Gomez [RHP]

Notes: Masterson and Tomlin are coming off there first full major league season. Both of the right-handed pitchers proved they belonged in the majors, especially Masterson who finished with a team leading 3.21 (ERA). The question is, will they fall in a sophomore slump? This rotation still has a lot of question marks, especially with 38 year old Derek Lowe. Lowe, hasn’t won a game on the mound since August, 31st in 2011 after he finished his final month of September at (0-5). Jenmar Gomez is battling with the experienced Kevin Slowey for the #5 spot, but it appears after a strong spring that Jeanmar will get the nod. Finally, will Ubaldo live up to all the hype? Jimenez wasn’t able to put together much of a 2011 campaign due to an early injury he suffered with Colorado. However, he’s healthy this season and the Indians need him more than ever after hearing Alex White and Drew Pomeranz will be pitching for the Rockies major league club to start the year.

So, give me a reason to be optimistic: Well, Cleveland does return all key members of there “Bullpen Mafia”. The bullpen was one of the Indians biggest surprises last season. Closer, Chris Perez, and relievers Vinny Pestano, Joe Smith, Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, and Frank Herrmann look to be the main names in the bullpen.

PREDICTIONS: Cleveland’s biggest problem has been beating teams within their own division. This wasn’t just a problem in 2011, but a problem that has continued to haunt the Indians in the past half-decade. Until Cleveland can prove to me that they can beat Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera, and Detroit’s solid pitching staff, then I will continue to pick the Tigers to take the division crown. However, look for the Indians to make a playoff push with the additional wildcard spot.

Cleveland will open the season at home against Toronto and Chicago in a six game homestand, before playing there next 9 on the road, including a 6 game west coast trip that will eat up most of the month of April

In Cleveland we’re use to coaching changes, front office shake-up’s, and quarterback controversies every off-season. However, General Manager Tom Heckert, Head Coach Pat Shurmur and Quarterback Colt McCoy all appear to be back on the 2012-13 roster as the Browns look to improve upon there (4-12) record from a year ago.

Heading into the off-season, whoever you talk to in Northeast Ohio, would make it known that the Browns were in dire need of play-makers on the offensive side of the ball. Cleveland finished the 2011-12′ season as the 29th ranked offense in the league. There leading receiver was rookie Greg Little who hauled in 61 receptions for just over 700 yards. However, Little managed just two touchdown catches, and the rest of the Browns as a collective unit hauled in just 12 more. Offensively, the Browns have failed to add any play-maker’s in free-agency and actually lost Peyton Hillis there starting running-back to the Kansas City Chiefs, when he recently signed a (1 year, $3 million) dollar deal.

Richardson (ATT- 283, YDS- 1,679, TD- 21)

Cleveland can’t really go wrong with the #4 pick in the draft. The Browns could select either Receiver Justin Blackmon or Running Back Trent Richardson. Drafting a guy like Richardson at #4 could be a risk though, as the position he plays takes a major toll on the body in the professional ranks.

Blackmon (Rec - 121, YDS- 1,522, TD- 18)

Defensively, the Browns had a solid outing in 2011-12′ as they finished with the league’s 10th ranked defense. Rookies Phil Taylor (Baylor) and Jabaal Sheard (Pittsburgh) proved to be solid picks in last year’s draft. Along with the success of the rookies, Linebacker D’Qwell Jackson came on strong from season ending injury a year ago, to account for a league leading 158 tackles. Jackson was awarded for his play in 2011, as he signed a five year deal worth over 42 million as the Browns made him their top priority. Along with re-signing Jackson, the Browns added depth to the defensive end position with the additions of Frostee Rucker (Cincinnati) and Jaqua Parker (Philadelphia).

Finally, two other possibilities in the Browns upcoming draft, is to move down from #4 and acquire extra draft picks as they did a season ago. They could also surprise some people and draft defensive back Morris Claiborne from LSU and pair him with one of the best young cornerback’s in the NFL in Joe Haden. I have been pushing for Morris Claiborne since January, but I also thought the Browns would make more noise offensively through free-agency.

The Browns are in a great position to draft a pro-bowl type player at #4, but it’s unsure what route they will take at this point. However, what we do know, is Cleveland needs to continue to have solid drafts from here on out, as the Browns continue to build through the draft.

With Cleveland heading into tonight’s matchup against the Orlando Magic, they stand at (17-27) and 4 1/2 back of the suddenly surging New York Knicks. However, Cleveland has to be feeling pretty good with the way they have played this year. The Cavs are one win shy of there total of a season ago (18), in which they’re playing in a much shortened season with less games. Recently, Byron Scott has inserted Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup at the Center position. Thompson, who is a bit undersized at (6’9″), has provided a spark at the beginning of ballgames in which just two games ago fellow rookie teammate Kyrie Irving and himself combined for 53 points in a Cavs victory over the Nets. Before Thompson took over at the Center position, the Cavs auditioned Semih Erden, and Ryan Hollins who is no longer with the Cavs. It was safe to say that neither of these guys showed any consistency at the position and that’s why Coach Scott went with the rookie as the big down-low.

Along with Tristan Thompson developing as a rookie, the Cavaliers recently assigned Alonze Gee the starting small forward spot, in a current lineup that features a mix of youth and experience (PG Irving, SG Parker, SF Gee, PF Jamison, C Thompson). Gee, who was apart of the Spurs and Wizards before landing with the Cavaliers, has made a name for himself in Cleveland with his hard finishes and stellar defensive play. Alonzo, is averaging near 11 ppg in his first full season in the NBA. Chris Grant, the Cavaliers General Manager, recently said they want to build the team through the draft and would also love to find a gem in the rough every now in then as they did with Gee. Donald Sloan, who has also found himself with his third nba team has shown early signs with the Cleveland Cavaliers, after being signed to the Varsity club for the remainder of the season, with Sessions being shipped out to Los Angelos. Sloan scored 11 points in his first major minutes as a Cavaliers in New Jersey as he shot 4-6 from the field this past Monday.

The biggest thing with the Cavaliers right now is consistency, but when you have the youngest team in the NBA, you will have moments where your scratching your head. The best medicine right now for Cavs fans is to stay patient and believe that Chris Grant and Dan Gilbert are doing the right thing. Cleveland has already said they wont try and make a big splash in free agency, even though they have a good lump of money to spend this upcoming off-season. One thing the Cavs front office should do, is try to find players who are young and hungry to win. Someone who understands the Cavs situation, a situation sort of similar to the Oklahoma City club when they moved from there old home in Seattle. Cleveland’s biggest off-season needs would be finding a starting two guard and center whether its through the draft or free-agency. The Cavaliers would also like to resign there own players like Gee, Samuels in the off-season, and don’t rule out Jamison who could be had for a cheaper price and Donald Sloan who is the current backup point guard.

Cleveland owns two first round picks this upcoming draft, as well as two second round picks.

After hearing for the past couple of weeks that the Lakers were unwilling to part with one of their first round draft picks, that all came to an end today with a deadline deal for the Cavalier backup point guard. The Lakers traded one of their two first round picks to Cleveland along with Jason Kapono and Luke Walton for Ramon Sessions and Christian Eyenga. The Cavaliers also have the rights to switch draft picks next year with the Lakers if they finish with a worse record than Miami (This is Likely). Cleveland continues to stockpile draft picks and this is why the deal is a “win” for the team. However, in order for the Cavaliers to receive this pick, they had to take on Luke Walton’s ugly contract in which he will be paid over $6 million next season.

Ramon Sessions will be the Lakers starting point guard with Derek Fisher getting traded today.

Ramon Sessions had been having a fine year at point guard backing up Kyrie Irving. Sessions, was averaging  just over (10 ppg, and 5 ast) in 24 minutes a game. Ramon will be missed as he was only 25 years old, but it was likely that he was going to head for free agency in the off-season with Kyrie Irving holding down the Point Guard spot. Ramon will take over the reigns at Point Guard in LA as Derek Fisher was traded today to Houston.

Finally, my sleeper in this trade is Jason Kapono. I think he could take minutes away from Omri Casspi. Casspi, has proved to be a big disappointment since coming over from the Sacramento Kings.  Kapono, can stroke it from outside when he gets his minutes. His best season came in Miami (06-07′) when he played over 26 minutes per game, shot just over 50% from the three point line, and averaged near (11 ppg). Even though Kapono has an expiring contract, the Cavaliers could keep him for cheap this off-season.