Clevelinks, February 25: Let the Games Begin!

Here are some Indians highlights from a very busy weekend:

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Indians News

• Three days into Spring Training, the Indians are 4-0! After 11-10 and 13-10 slugfests against the Reds on Friday and Saturday, a pair of Sunday split-squad games ended in a 3-0 one-hitter against Cincinnati and a 7-4 win over the Brewers. Ryan Raburn is the MVP so far after going 4-for-5 with three homers, five RBI and a walk. Michael Brantley (4-for-4 with three doubles), Zach McAllister (two hitless innings with two strikeouts), and David Huff and Trevor Bauer (each had two shutout innings with two strikeouts) are also off to strong starts.
• Kenny Lofton isn’t happy about having fallen off the Hall of Fame ballot while some PED users are still on it. ”It boggles my mind that the people you know cheated, who admitted they cheated, are still on the Hall of Fame ballot,” he said. “That is sad. It’s really sad for baseball.” He’s got a right to be mad—his snubbing was downright criminal—but it’s also incredibly disingenuous for Lofton to complain about dopers being honored when he didn’t make any like statements about undeniable cheater and 2012 Indians Hall of Fame inductee Gaylord Perry.
• Shin-Soo Choo wrote a very touching letter to Chris Antonetti after being traded to the Reds in December.
• The Tribe brass plans to try Chris McGuiness out in the outfield this spring.
• Jim Thome is hoping to continue to play in 2013. Also, Ken Rosenthal confirms that the Indians refused to offer him a guaranteed deal.
• Cleveland’s new motto for 2013: “This is a Tribe town.”

Wahoo’s on First Highlights

• In last week’s Wroundtable, we discussed Trevor Bauer’s personality.
• Geordy continued his top prospects list with No. 14: Kieran Lovegrove.
• Brian remembered one of the most underappreciated Indians of the 1990′s: Paul Sorrento.

Tribe Analysis

• WaitingForNextYear’s Jacob Rosen puts the Cleveland rotation’s awful 2012 in perspective as he looks to 2013.
• Joseph Coblitz at Burning River Baseball ranks the best center fielders in Indians history.
• Ryan McCrystal from It’s Pronounced “Lajaway” identifies a flaw in Jason Kipnis‘ approach at the plate.
• Indians Baseball Insider’s Michael Hattery sees reasons for optimism in Justin Masterson‘s numbers.

Top Prospect Crowdsourcing

• Today is the final day to vote in our 2013 Cleveland Indians top prospects crowdsourcing project. Please take a few minutes to help us pick the most promising young players in the organization!