Trevor Crowe  and Josh Barfield were secretly battling for the Cleveland Indians final roster spot.  Eric Wedge never gave any indication that this is what it was about.  Fans could only assume the battle was between Josh Barfield and David Delucci.  The presumed argument was a ten-year age difference and Barfield busting his butt in Arizona learning new positions.

Manager Eric Wedge claimed that Delucci was safe all along and will better serve to mentor Barfield.  It was said here over a week ago on Deep Left Field that Barfield would earn that spot.  I pointed out in that article the versatility that Barfield was adding and that he would earn a roster spot when the decision would come. 

The real mystery with Barfield now is, what happened to his bat?  Did he spend too much time learning to play outfield and not enough time in the cages?  Barfield batted below .200 this preseason.  How long he stays up with the big club will ultimately depend on whether or not he can produce when given AB’s.

Wedge has such a full cupboard in Columbus with a AAA outfield consisting of Matt LaPorta, Trevor Crowe, and Michael Brantley.  All three of these guys have bright MLB futures and we have not heard the last of any of them.

In other demotions, Wedge sent catcher Chris Gimenez to Columbus after his impressive spring.  I am going to guess the Indians will hold Gimenez but have to move someone eventually to bring him up in the next couple of years.  Hard to say who the odd man out is.  The only possible scenario I can visualize is moving Kelly Shoppach for pitching down the stretch if needed.  Time will tell.

The Cleveland Indians are not having their best spring training by any means.  Plenty of stuff has happened over the past week though as the Tribe continues to tune up for performance soon.  The Indians are 8-14 so far in Arizona, and with only about a week left, Eric Wedge should be concentrating on solidifying a lineup for chemistry reasons.

The Tribe lost to the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, on Sunday.  A couple of bright spots in the loss were the hitting of the unheralded George Lombard (2R HR, 2B), and Cliff Lee having his best outting of the spring.  Lee gave up only two runs in five innings and finally showed flashes of last years Cy Young Award winning form.

A few days ago, the Indians made three roster cuts, demoting Rich Rundles, Ryan Edell, and Tomo Ohka.  Yes, that Tomo Ohka.  This guy has been around for about 13 years and had one or two respectable seasons, I’m not sure how he keeps popping up everywhere.  Regardless, he will look good with a Mahoning Valley Scrappers outfit on if that is what management chooses. 

With Team USA being eliminated by Japan, Mark DeRosa should be back in Arizona meeting his new teammates.  DeRosa had a big 2-run double late in the game for Team USA, but Japan pulled away in their next at-bat.  With all of the injuries Team USA had, they made a very respectable showing.  Japan vs Korea tonight for all of the marbles.