Indians Today, March 24, 2006

And then there were three.  The Tribe sent Andrew Brown and Fausto Carmona to Triple-A Buffalo Wednesday, thinning out the competition for the final spot in the bullpen.  Carmona was never more than a longshot to make the club out of Spring Training despite a 0.75 exhibition ERA, but some people *COUGH*me*COUGH* had Brown penciled in as the favorite.  It looks like it’s now a three-way race between Jason Davis, Steve Karsay, and Danny Graves for work as the sixth righty out of the pen.

The man who once dubbed himself The Franchise is losing ground in his fight to win the utility infielder job.  Brandon Phillips has been on the shelf all week with a viral infection, giving Ramon Vazquez a clear shot at winning the job.  The franchise is out of options on The Franchise, meaning his days as an Indian are likely numbered if he doesn’t make the team.  Fan favorite and folk hero Lou Merloni is also hanging around camp, but he’s a 35-year-old who hasn’t played shortstop regularly in three years, and is coming off a major injury.  Loumer’s only going to make the team if Bob Wickman gets hungry and eats the other utilityguys.

Speaking of which, Andy Call reports in the Canton Repository that Wickman lost some weight over the winter (Registration required).  Wick says he lost 10 or 12 pounds, but the real story here is that Wickman says that last year was great and fun.  We agree, Bob, but it was only great and fun when you weren’t in the game.

Wickman wasn’t the only Indian that drove me absolutely insane last year.  Somehow, Ben Broussard will return as the everyday first baseman this year, and the Plain Dealer’s Dennis Manoloff reports he’s got a whole new approach.  Broussard says he’s watching video and keeping a journal.  Hey, anything to avoid getting benched again in favor of Jeff Liefer.

Jason Michaels is excited.  He’s got an everyday job for the first time, and he says he’s eager to prove he belongs.  Michaels says he doesn’t want to get labeled a platoon player, and who can blame him?  Of course, it’s much easier to win an everyday job when your main competition is from Todd Hollandsworth and Jason Dubois.

The Sportstime Ohio train is chugging along slowly but surely.  STO added Comcast in Lake and Lorain Counties this week, as well as Cox in the western suburbs of Cleveland.  That brings them up to 1.7 million subscribers out of the 2.8 million they’re aiming for.  Columbus is still largely in the dark, as two of the three cable systems in the capital city have yet to come to an agreement to carry the Tribe.

Mark Shapiro tells Indians.com’s Anthony Castrovince that he’s in position to make a high-profile trade this year, if necessary.  With the payroll at about $55 million and the budget at $60 million, there’s plenty of wiggle room if the Indians need an impact player at the trade deadline.  Shapiro says he had planned to spend the money on free agents, but once his targets signed elsewhere, he wasn’t going to spend just for the sake of spending.

Ronnie Belliard is back in camp and ready to go (RR) after his adventure on the Dominican Republic’s bench at the World Baseball Classic.  Sheldon Ocker reports Belliard asked Eric Wedge to play in every inning of every exhibition game the rest of the way, but that’s not likely with the positional battle going on between Vazquez and Phillips.

Eric Wedge either: knows something we don’t, is dumb, is trying an unusual motivational technique, or has some sort of brain damage.  With just more than a week left before the start of the season, Einar Diaz and Kelly Shoppach are in a dead heat for the backup catcher job (RR).  Diaz hasn’t had an OPS+ above 61 since 2001, but is apparently using the same Vulcan mind control technique that he’s used for the last ten years to stay in the running for a job.  A dollar says his luck runs out this year.