Indians retooling and MLB teams dealing

The Indians are basically back to par following Tuesday.

After almost getting Trevor Hoffman from the Padres, Cleveland went back to their closer last year, Bob Wickman for a 1-year deal worth $5 million.

A few days prior, they signed Paul Byrd, who will for the next two years at $7 million, replace Kevin Millwood in the rotation.

This is fine, though there has been little change so far. John Kruk on SportsCenter said that the Indians haven't improved except for in experience. Well, they won 93 games last year, that little extra improvement will probably give them seven more victories for an even 100.

I'm not saying the Indians should stop shopping. They declined arbitration on Jose Hernandez, and Juan Gonzalez (who cares), while offering arbitration to Kevin Millwood and Scott Earlton. I don't see either one coming back, but the offer is out there.

What the Indians do need to find still is a bat with power to play first or the outfield. This will in turn fill the void, if you can call it that, Hernandez leaves because Casey Blake plays so many positions.

The Tribe should still have some money to spend, as they have only spent $12 million so far, and both deals were short-term contracts. There is plenty left on the market, and trades seem to be the "in" thing to do right now.

In the past 24 hours alone, Jaun Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, Dan Kolb, Lyle Overbay and Sean Burroughs have been traded. That is three solid bats that have moved already, so there is likely others out there for the Indians to pursue.

The Indians have an abundance of pitching talent in the minor leagues. So they can afford to give up a couple of them, especially when there is only one open spot in the rotation at the moment. And although the lineup is okay as-is, it can be terrifying to opposing pitchers if there is one more potent bat in the lineup.

So here is to Mark Shapiro for getting two of the four pieces back already, get a bat and three out of four is not bad. The fourth that he missed on was not getting back Bob Howry, but like Millwood, that was no surprise.

And on a random note to leave you with... think about the number of free agents that the almighty New York Yankees have signed. Just one - Kyle Farnsworth, who might be one of the most overpaid pitchers in baseball today. Three years for $17 million. He has pitched a solid half-season of good baseball in his career? Look out Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays are coming for you.