Sizing up the Indians

It wasn't too long ago that I expected the Cleveland Indians to emerge as a serious World Series contender. Last spring, actually. After their surprising surge at the end of 2005 which left them with 93 wins but shut out of the playoffs, I saw the Tribe - stacked with young, talented positional players and a blossoming pitching staff - as the team to beat in 2006, even in the daunting AL Central. But Cleveland took a step back last season, finishing with a 78-84 record and fourth in the logjam that has become the best division in baseball. What happened?

Well, there was this team from Detroit, which whipped them 13 times in 19 games on its way to the World Series. There was this team from Minnesota that beat them 11 times in 19 meetings on its way to winning the division. There was this other team from Chicago, still potent after hanging its newly minted 2005 World Series banner from the rafters. And there were injuries, subpar performances from those same talented positional players, and, for most of the season, no reliable fifth starter.

But one thing that stood out last year (even more than Travis Hafner's 42 home runs and 117 RBI in only 454 ABs) was the emergence of Grady Sizemore as an elite player. ESPN's Rob Neyer takes a look at the baby-faced Sizemore, at only 23, put together an incredible season: he played in all 162 games, led the league with 134 runs, and collected 190 hits (53 2B, 11 3B and 28 HR) while hitting .290. Incredibly, Sizemore has room for improvement, and with help from a better supporting cast around him this year, he could find himself the league's MVP.