Cleveland Indians

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2002 Finish: 74-88, 3rd, AL Central	2002 Payroll: $77,843,083 (10th)

Projected Lineup LF Matt Lawton OF Omar Vizquel DH Ellis Burks RF Karim Garcia 1B Travis Hafner OF Milton Bradley 3B Casey Blake 2B Brandon Phillips C Josh Bard Projected Rotation LHP C.C. Sabathia RHP Jason Bere LHP Brian Anderson RHP Ricardo Rodriguez RHP Jason Davis CL Danys Baez

By Lonny Krasnow, SI.com

Rebuild it and they will come back.

Second-year general manager Mark Shapiro must have been thinking along those lines last summer when he began unloading contracts and stockpiling prospects.

Jim Thome's departure guarantees another losing season in Cleveland, but there is hope for the 2004 and beyond.

Eric Wedge, the majors' youngest manager at 35, takes over a team that likely will start four rookies (C Josh Bard, 1B Travis Hafner, 2B Brandon Phillips and 3B Casey Blake) and two players who have never had 400 at-bats in a season (Milton Bradley and Karim Garcia).

There are a few veterans on the roster. Shortstop Omar Vizquel, DH Ellis Burks and LHP Terry Mulholland will provide leadership for the next generation. All three are older than their skipper.

With rebuilding comes a change in philosophy. Instead of outscoring their opponents with a fearsome lineup as they did throughout the '90s, the Indians are trying to rebuild with young starting pitching.

The rotation is led by C.C. Sabathia, 22, who has won 30 games in his first two seasons. Shapiro added veterans Brian Anderson and Jason Bere so his young starters wouldn't be overexposed, but he plans to fill the last two spots with rookies Ricardo Rodriguez and Jason Davis. Left-handers Cliff Lee, Billy Traber and Brian Tallet are not far away.

With an Opening Day payroll projected aroud $50 million, winning will take a back seat to development in 2003. Indians fans can take solace in the fact that their minor league teams posted the highest winning percentage (.577) in baseball in 2002. Translating that to the majors may take a few years.

Except for Vizquel at shorstop, the entire infield is unsettled. Ben Broussard and Hafner will compete for the first-base job. The winner has Thome's shoes to fill; the loser goes to Class AAA Buffalo. At second base, slick-fielding John McDonald and Phillips will battle for playing time. At third base, Casey Blake is the frontrunner in a four-way battle with Bill Selby, Greg LaRocca and Ricky Gutierrez, who is coming back from offseason neck surgery.

In the outfield, seven guys are competing for three spots, with Lawton the oldest at 31 and the others -- Bradley, Coco Crisp, Alex Escobar, Garcia, Chris Magruder and Shane Spencer -- ranging in age from 23 to 27. Lawton, still recoving from shoulder surgery, may begin the season on the disabled list.

Only closer Danys Baez and Mulholland have locked up spots among the relievers. Mark Wohlers will miss at least the first two months of the season after having bone chips removed from his right elbow. David Riske, Chad Paronto, Jerrod Riggan and Dave Elder are among the pitchers competing to be the right-handed setup man. Carl Sadler and Alex Herrera are the leading left-handers.

Designated hitter Ellis Burks is the Indians' only proven run producer. He will bat third or fourth for a club that finished 12th in batting average, 10th in runs, 11th in on-base percentage and 10th in slugging percentage despite Thome's lofty numbers. Burks is coming off a productive, injury-free season in which he hit .301 with 32 homers and 91 RBIs. At 37, Burks will be hard pressed to duplicate those numbers. And if he does, other GMs will start calling around the All-Star break.

Phillips, 21, was the most coveted of the three prospects acquired in the trade that sent Bartolo Colon to Montreal. Last year he hit .302-18-67 with 14 stolen bases in the minors. Eventually, he will supplant Vizquel and scouts expect him to join the ranks of the five-tool shortstops in the American League. For now, he will play second as he develops more plate discipline.

Arrivals: LHP Brian Anderson, RHP Jason Bere, OF Shane Spencer, 1B Travis Hafner, OF Wendell Magee, RHP Aaron Myette, C Tim Laker, RHP Mike Thurman, C A.J. Hinch.

Departures: 1B Jim Thome, C Einar Diaz, RHP Charles Nagy, RHP Jaret Wright, C Eddie Taubensee, RHP Ryan Drese, 1B Lee Stevens, IF Earl Snyder, C Eddie Perez.

If the rookies step up and Baez adjusts to his new role, the Indians again will be the worst third-place team in baseball. Cleveland will be lucky to equal last season's 74-86 record by going 24-14 against the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers (50-74 against other teams).