The biggest disappointment in baseball last season was the team that makes their home on Lake Erie. After winning 93 games in 2005, the buzz around this team coming into 2006 was staggering. There was talk that the Cleveland Indians would end the longest championship drought in the AL baseball and win the 2006 World Series.

That was until the Tribe tripped into April, stumbled into May and fell apart by the end of June.

The collapse was heartbreaking to Tribe fans, but they have managed to not become too discouraged. The organization and the fans still believe that they can compete in the American League Central – the toughest division in baseball over the last two years.

General Manager Mark Shapiro has done about as good a job as anyone could with the budget he has to work with. The Indians don’t have one of the highest payrolls in baseball like they did in the 1990’s, making his job a bit more difficult. At times in the 90’s, it seemed the Indians had an All-Star at every position. The two biggest weaknesses on this club from 2006 were bullpen pitching and infield defense. Shapiro addressed these issues in the offseason, and got a contract extension as validation of his success in doing so.

Manager Eric Wedge still has to prove that he is the manager Cleveland thinks he can be. He has a great relationship with his players, but most of the blame for last season’s mishap falls in his lap. If 2007 is a repeat performance of last year, he may be out.

The Cleveland rotation is one of the best in baseball and combined to win 58 games last year. They would have won more if there was any kind of stability from the pen and the infield defense. C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Jake Westbrook are All-Star caliber pitchers and each could win a Cy Young someday. Paul Byrd is the veteran in the rotation, but he didn’t pitch up to par last year, going 10-9. Future star Jeremy Sowers only pitched in 14 games last year, but the Indians are expecting big things from the southpaw based on the success he had in his limited experience (7-4, 3.57).

A slew of veteran free agent pitchers were brought in to strengthen the bullpen. Among those were Aaron Fultz, Roberto Hernandez, Joe Borowski, and Keith Foulke. Foulke retired at the beginning of training camp, so he’s out. The remaining three bring experience and solid credentials to a team that desperately needs both. Borowski is set to be the closer after saving 36 games for Florida a season ago. Fultz will serve as the left-handed specialist, something Cleveland simply didn’t have last year. Hernandez will be somewhere in a setup role at the ripe age of 42.

Joining the newcomers in the pen will be holdover Rafael Betancourt. He has been inconsistent and tested positive for steroids before, but he still had a 3.81 ERA last year. Fernando Cabrera was superb down the stretch in 2005, but struggled to find consistency as well last year. This year might be his last chance to show his worth. Jason Davis, out of minor league options, will also be in the mix.