Spring Training News and Notes

History says Cleveland Indians may consider new deals for rising stars Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo | Cleveland Indians - cleveland.com
As Paul Hoynes notes, it does seem very likely that the Indians lock up both Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo to long-term contracts. The Indians have rarely let a young player who's had a breakout season play his next season with a one-year contract.

As noted here and elsewhere, Choo, age 27, has not yet served his mandatory military stint in his native South Korea, and he must serve two years by his thirtieth birthday. Hoynes notes that Choo could receive an exemption if he wins a gold medal playing for his home country in this winter's Asian Games. If that doesn't happen, he'd have an extremely difficult choice to make: serve in the army, and miss two of his peak baseball seasons, or continue to play in the majors and not be able to return to his home country.

Sowers behind in race for Tribe rotation | indians.com: News
Because of a sore shoulder, Jeremy Sowers is a couple weeks behind the other pitchers in camp, according to Anthony Castrovince. That doesn't bode well for Jeremy, as he's going to have to beat out several more talented pitchers for a rotation or bullpen spot. If he's seriously injured, he could start the season on the DL, and could pitch in the minors on a rehab assignment. An injury not serious enough to merit a DL stint, the type it seems that Jeremy is working through, seems to portend a late-spring trip to the waiver wire.