--RHP Adam Miller is one of the wild cards for the Indians' 2009 pitching staff. Miller has been the club's top-rated pitching prospect for the past few years, but he also has been unable to stay healthy for most of those years.
He missed much of the 2008 season with elbow and finger problems, but is expected to come to training camp able to compete for a relief spot. Miller has the kind of power arm that is in short supply in the Cleveland bullpen. If healthy, he could be an option for 2009 in a setup role, with the potential to possibly become a closer some day. "He's important, but not a guy we can plan around right now," general manager Mark Shapiro said. "If Adam is healthy, he has the ability to help our big-league club. He's pitching in the Instructional League, then he'll go to winter ball, then he'll come to spring training. If he's cleared all those hurdles, I would expect he'd then be in the mix for our major league bullpen and could factor towards the back end."
--LHP Cliff Lee and RHP Fausto Carmona are the only sure things in the Indians rotation for 2009. The club would like to add a veteran innings-eater pitcher to what could otherwise be a very young rotation.
"We already have a guy (Lee) who was maybe the best pitcher in the American League this year. So no matter who we add, that guy isn't starting Opening Day," general manager Mark Shapiro said. "Our goal would be to acquire a guy who would pitch one of the first three games in a playoff series."
--OF Michael Brantley, the player to be named later that the Indians acquired from Milwaukee in the CC Sabathia trade, has a quality in short supply on the Indians' major league roster: speed. In 2008 at Class AA Huntsville, Brantley batted .319 with four home runs, 40 RBIs, 28 stolen bases and a .395 on-base percentage.
"He's only 21. He doesn't turn 22 until May of next year. Most kids his age will be drafted this year, and he's already in Triple-A," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said. "He's a physically and mentally mature player. And when he's been healthy, he's made an impact with his on-base and base-stealing."
Brantley is expected to join OF Matt LaPorta and OF Trevor Crowe as the starting outfield at Class AAA Columbus next year.
--RHP Bryan Bullington, who was 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in three September appearances, was claimed off waivers by Toronto.
--RHP Brian Slocum was outrighted to Class AAA Columbus.
--RHP Jensen Lewis is the Indians' closer as they head into the offseason. That doesn't mean Lewis will be the Opening Day closer in 2009. It just means that the front office was very pleased with how Lewis handled the closer's role in the last two months of the season, when he collected a team-leading 13 saves.
Despite that, Indians officials say they would like to add a closer or back-of-the-bullpen arm to their pitching staff for next year.
BY THE NUMBERS: 9 -- Indians hitters with 20 or more doubles in 2008. The Indians finished third in the American League with 339 doubles.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Jensen did a good job of helping our bullpen settle down. But we're always going to go out and try to find someone who has been in that role for longer than one and a half months." -- Manager Eric Wedge, on the club's desire to add a closer, despite RHP Jensen Lewis' 13 saves in the second half of last season.
