"OK, figure this one out. We can't win in Cleveland. [Shapiro] trades Casey, and he goes off. He trades CC, and he's the best pitcher in baseball in the second half. He trades me, and I do well. You would think the Indians would go down."

Sure enough, the Indians went 44-30 without Sabathia, 36-25 without Blake and 28-17 without Byrd.

"That just proves to you that baseball doesn't make any sense. How is that possible?"

"In my exit meeting with Mark Shapiro and Eric Wedge, they told me they're trying to find another infielder," Peralta said as he cleaned out his locker Monday morning at Progressive Field. "They don't know if it's going to be a second baseman or a third baseman."

If it's a second baseman, Asdrubal Cabrera is expected to move to short with Peralta moving to third.

"When I start playing winter ball, I'm going to call Mark to see where I should play," Peralta said.

Eric Wedge: This is a real screwball one, but his odds are better than you think (though still not good).

Here’s the key point on his favor: he was barely 35 years old when he started managing the Indians, making him the youngest person to fill out the lineup card in the last 25 years. He has nearly 500 wins, but he’s still younger today than Mike Scioscia was upon his hiring as Angels manager.

If he’s respected enough to last a while, he’ll pick up some very impressive career counting stats. If he lands some playoff teams in the process, he’ll have a legitimate Hall of Fame case.

I don’t see it happened, though. I don’t follow the Indians too closely, but that team usually does a little worse than expectations, which I take as a knock on the manager. An early start puts him in a good position, but he’s got to make the most of his opportunities. To date, he’s failed badly at that.

By the way, Choo likes the cheers of "Choo" from the Progressive Field crowds.

"At first I thought they were booing," said Choo.

Bowie hit me better than this, actually.

I mentioned in the column that if he even tried just a little not to be the world’s biggest jerk, he’d own the city. It led to an ugly scene in the clubhouse the next day. Albert accused me of going into his locker and reading his index cards. Uh, right. Nobody, including other players, went anywhere near Albert’s locker. I’d be more likely to willingly visit a hell mouth.

I noticed as the confrontation was developing that lots of players and media were moving away from where Albert and I were standing. I could see one guy sidling toward me out of the corner of my eye. Finally Sandy Alomar Jr. rushed in and saved me from possibly being pile driven or hit with the roll of quarters Albert no doubt kept in his waistband for just such occasions.

I like track and field. I liked watching Usain Bolt win the 100 and 200 meters. That's how I think I look in my mind when I'm stealing a base.

Michael Brantley, OF, Double-A Hunstville (Brewers)
Sleeper alert! Brantley has been buried all year on a Huntsville roster loaded with high-profile prospects, but all he does is keep hitting at the top of the Stars' lineup, going 7-for-12 over the weekend and extending his streak of scoring at least one run to seven games. Brantley's skills would have been valued highly twenty years ago, but in today's game they can cause confusion. A 21-year-old outfielder batting .330/.409/.416 at Double-A should be some kind of prospect, and Brantley has one of the best combinations of approach and contact skills around, drawing 46 walks this year while striking out just 22 times in 361 at-bats. He's also a well above-average runner, as evidenced by 25 stolen bases in 31 attempts. The only problem is his defense; he just doesn't have a good feel in center field, and every time the Brewers play him there, he quickly ends up moving back to left, as both his range and his arm are disappointing. Still, those offense skills have to be worth something no matter where you end up putting him.

We asked for a bonus. They didn't want to do a bonus and they offered me a Major League contract. I can tell you how it impacted me. It didn't impact me at all. I pitched the same whether I had a $3 million bonus or a $4 million contract.

It may have [increased expectations], but it still didn't affect the way I pitched.

It affected everybody outside of me. The fans, the organization. They act more different than the player does. If a player has a true desire to perform well and pitch well, he should have that whether or not he has a timetable that's been increased. I think it affects the expectations outside of the individual himself. It all starts with the outside people.

It took me a few years to iron out some things that didn't go well for me, and it would've taken a few years whether I had a Major League contract or not. It's not like I was going faster or slower because of my contract. The outcome probably would've been different, but as a pitcher I would've progressed exactly the same from year to year.

I think if there is one problem that needs to be rectified, it would be a better evaluation of certain players’ ceilings. That is, if Franklin Gutz or Garko has a great 2007 and his trade value is high – the Indians need to sell high on those guys, as opposed to getting pennies on the dollar for them if the prevailing thought is that players aren’t going to progress much more.