Following a scheduled off day Monday, the Indians begin a six-game interleague road trip to Colorado and Los Angeles on Tuesday night. As the Indians move into late June, the big question will be whether or not the team's front office believes the team capable of contending in the Central Division.
Right-hander Jake Westbrook has had season-ending "Tommy John" surgery. Catcher Victor Martinez had elbow surgery and is expected to be sidelined for at least two months. Designated hitter Travis Hafner is on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain that has been so slow to heal there is no fixed date yet for him to go out on a minor league rehab assignment, much less any projection for when he may return to the lineup.
Will all those key players sidelined, and with the team continuing to play inconsistently, the question becomes how much longer general manager Mark Shapiro will wait before he starts trading away some of the club's veteran players who can be free agents at the end of the season.
That group starts with reigning Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia and also includes veteran right-hander Paul Byrd and versatile infielder Casey Blake.
All three of those players would be available if and when Indians officials determine that contending for a division title in 2008 is no longer likely. And Shapiro's history is to make such trades well in advance of the July 31 trading deadline. In 2002, when Shapiro traded Bartolo Colon to Montreal for Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips, that trade was made in late June, not late July.
