--LHP Cliff Lee, the Indians' fifth starter, completed his Grapefruit League action Thursday, but he's got one more exhibition game to go. He will pitch for Class A Kinston next Tuesday in an exhibition game against Mount Olive (N.C.) College. That will put him on track for his first scheduled start for Cleveland, April 6 in Oakland.

--OF Ben Francisco, who had a sensational camp, still couldn't squeeze his way onto the Opening Day roster. Francisco was optioned to Class AAA Buffalo on Thursday despite a .362 average and three home runs in exhibition play. His demotion clears the way for INF Andy Marte to make the team. Marte hit .208 with five homers, and he was out of options.

--RHP Jorge Julio, signed as a minor league free agent and invited to the Indians' major league camp as a non-roster player, has pitched his way onto the Opening Day roster. Julio beat out RHP Scott Elarton and RHP Tom Mastny for a spot in Cleveland's bullpen. Julio is the hardest thrower of the three candidates. That, and his track record -- he averaged 28 saves per season in a three-year stretch with Baltimore from 2002-04 -- probably tipped the scales in his favor. The veteran has appeared in nine spring games and has a 1.64 ERA.

--LHP Aaron Fultz came to camp with his spot in the Indians bullpen seemingly secure, but that all changed the last week of camp, when the Indians designated Fultz for assignment. Fultz had a terrible camp, posting an 11.88 ERA in seven appearances. Opposing batters hit .390 against him. "We try not to make decisions based on spring training," GM Mark Shapiro said. "Aaron pitched effectively for us last year before he got injured, but he was never able to get back to that level." Fultz had a 1.71 ERA in his first 32 appearances last year, but he went on the disabled list June 24 with a strained intercostal muscle. He missed six weeks, then had a 4.60 ERA in his last 17 appearances.

--LHP Cliff Lee won the competition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation. Lee beat out fellow LHPs Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey for that spot. Lee's track record (46 wins in a three-year period starting in 2004) and $3.75 million salary made him the favorite in the competition, and he did nothing to hurt his chances during camp. "We said we were going to make this decision based on three factors: on the pitcher's entire body of work, on last season, and on spring training this year," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said. "Cliff is a guy who in two of the last three years pitched 200 innings in the American League, which is a tremendous accomplishment. And as the spring went along, he didn't always get the results, but he got better and better."

--LHP Craig Breslow was claimed off waivers from Boston the last week of spring training, and he quickly won a spot on the Opening Day roster. In his first appearance with the Indians, Breslow pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two, in a win over the Yankees. Breslow replaces LHP Aaron Fultz as the second left-hander in the bullpen, after Rafael Perez. Fultz was designated for assignment.

--2B Josh Barfield, the Indians' Opening Day second baseman a year ago, was optioned to Class AAA Buffalo at the end of training camp. Barfield lost his job to rookie Asdrubal Cabrera in the middle of last season, and Cabrera held onto the job through training camp. Indians officials want Barfield to play every day, which he will be able to do at Buffalo.

BY THE NUMBERS
38 -- Number of home runs the Indians hit in their first 25 games of the spring. That led the American League.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're going to see if they caught us or not." -- RHP Joe Borowski on the Tigers, who made several high profile moves in the offseason in hopes of dethroning the Indians. Detroit finished second last year, eight games behind Cleveland.

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.