Not sure if anyone remembers mikehudson, who posted quite frequently here about a year and a half back, but this was in today's PD.
Fascinating article, accompanied by pictures, that I found extremely interesting.  
It's always pleasantly surprising to put a face and a story to a username.

The Tribe just outrighted Jake Dittler and Jason Stanford off of the 40-man.  The moves essentially mean that the current 40-man roster stands at 38.

Interesting on Dittler, as he won't turn 24 until late November and spent the full season at Buffalo.  I believe this means that he has to clear through waivers to be added back into the orgaization.

There's the first domino to fall:

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/pdsports/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_pdsports/archives/2006_07.html#163 304

They don't list the name of the prospect, but it should be a decent one.  All the story says is that the prospect will not impact the team in 2006.
I would assume that Langerhans and/or Betemit would be named.

News at 11...

With Casey Blake coming off of the DL after the AS Break, where does Gutierrez fit in?

Does Michaels become the 4th OF, with Blake in LF, Gutz in RF, Hollandsworth elsewhere?

Does Gutz get sent back down?

Does Gutz become the 4th OF, with Dutch hitting road?

Does Blake play 3B (or 2B, with Belliard moving to 3B) - "Welcome back, Casey...go take some grounders"?

Personally, I think that the first option is the most beneficial to the team as the Tribe knows what it has in Blake and Michaels, but needs to find out if Gutz is a viable MLer (and possibly a leadoff option for 2007).

The interesting factor in the equation is that Blake and Michaels have always seemed to be "Wedge guys" - hard-nosed grinders.  How much that comes into play will be the one to watch, as Gutz needs to be more of a known quantity by year's end.

For you Craig Wilson fans out there, he may be headed to Fenway:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports//s_434540.html

It could all just be conjecture and rumor, but the trade seems to make sense for both parties involved.  The Red Sox would be rid of Clement and have some insurance at 3B and the Pirates would upgrade their staff while not doing too much damage to the projected lineup.

What players on the 40 man (and not assumed to have a guaranteed spot on the 25 man) are out of options?

Phillips is generally known to be out of options (as was Tallet), but where do Jason Davis, Jason Stanford, Jason Dubois, and the rest of the 2006 Bisons fall?

How many options remain for players with options?

Anybody have a handle on this?

A quick question and challenge to those able to easily navigate their way through MLB stats:

The insertion of Peralta into the 3 spot is marked as the time that the offense really clicked; while it wasn't until Hafner returned from Buerhle's beaning that the lineup took the shape that most felt was most productive. That lineup, which is what we're currently looking at for 2006 (minus Perez), obviously being:
Sizemore
Crisp
Peralta
Hafner
Martinez
Belliard
Broussard
Blake
Boone

The date of Hafner's return was August 4th, when the Tribe was 57-51.  After that date (a loss, which is remembered for Wickman's meltdown in the 9th against the NYY), the Tribe went 36-18.  So the last 54 games (or 1/3) of the season was the only time that the lineup was truly in its present state.

With all of that being said, how did the Indians' offense compare, over those 54 games, with the rest of the league?  
Where would it rank against the AL, and all of the ML?

Can you factor that production out over 162 games (as the team won at a .666 clip over the final 1/3 of the season, including the late-season collapse) to predict 2006 offensive production if no changes were made to the lineup?