It is easy to see the problems with the Indians' offense.

1. Too many strikeouts.
2. Not enough speed.

Those are the type of problems that coaching can't completely fix. Sure, you can preach patience and teach smarter base running, but in the end, these are woes that manager Eric Wedge can't fix with a wave of a wand.

No, these are problems sitting on GM Mark Shapiro's desk.

So what do we know:
1. Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko are not going anywhere. But they are really the only hitters who can net a quick fix in return.
2. Travis Hafner is nearly untradeable, unless you take prospects back. His contract and ridiculous batting average are an anchor on this franchise.
3. Casey Blake, David Dellucci, Jason Michaels can be traded, but they will not bring back the tools to fix the team.
4. Asdrubal Cabrera might have just had a hot September and is what he is. A decent hitting middle infielder.
5. No one seems to be waiting in the wings in the high minors to fix the offense, unlike last season.

What about the pitching:
1. C.C. Sabathia could net a return to fix the offense, but would his loss put too much pressure on a young pitching staff? I think this only happens if the Indians are out of it by the end of July, and the Tribe won't be out of it by then because the division looks to be weaker than most thought entering the season.
2. The young guys, Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers and Adam Miller, are very tradeable and could net a good return. But Shapiro does trade these type of players.

Where does this leave Shapiro?

Can he make a trade that helps the Indians in the short term? So far in his career, he has avoided these type of trades.

Trading Sabathia in May or June, seems to me to be the only trade that can work in the short term and long term. Anything else is a long-term deal, unless you add a chunk of cash to the payroll. Again something Shapiro has not done.

Standing pat nearly worked last season, can it work again? I doubt it.

– The Cavs and Wizards continue their war of words; good thing for the Cavs, the Wizards have shown little bite on the court.

– The Browns received passing grades from most sites around the sporting world for their draft.

– Kyle Busch nearly wrecked like he usually has at Talladega, but he kept his car clean enough to end his day in Victory Lane. If continues his hot runs, folks at Joe Gibbs Racing will be asking, "Tony, who?"

– The Indians seem to be rounding into shape, thanks to slow starts throughout the division. C.C. definitely is rounding into form, too bad he ran into the Yankees ace Sunday.

– We are continuing are move into the Internet waters more each day. We are attempting to add more standings items to the teams pages and video from our reporters. The first one of note is Marla Ridenour's take on the NFL Draft. You can find that here.

– Patrick McManamon's blog is back, offering a lot of insight into the area pro teams. He has been with the Cavs since the playoffs began; take a look here.

I know I made fun of ESPN and the NFL Network for all the hype around the NFL Draft, but I do get it.

In fact, I remember when the draft was on a Tuesday and started at 8 a.m. I also remember staying home from school to see whom the Steelers would take. In fact, I recall the Rod Woodson draft in particular. He was supposed to be a top five pick but was dropping throughout the morning. I had read a lot about him in the Sporting News, when the Sporting News was an awesome magazine.

Any way, I just knew he was supposed to be a great player and athlete. If I remember right, he was the best hurdler in the Big Ten while at Purdue.

But he drops and drops and eventually the Steelers landed him at No. 10. Woodson was a key to the early years of the Bill Cowher era.

Woodson will be in the Hall of Fame soon, and that is why we all watch the draft. Will our team land a Hall of Famer?

Stewart Mandel of SI.com writes on his blog that the NCAA is about to add 3 more bowl games, putting the total at 35 games. You soon might get a bowl game by just showing up for the season. It is becoming like the trophies you get for just participating in youth sports.

Stewart writes:

The 2008-09 bowl lineup could be even bigger.

Next week in Weston, Fla., organizers for three potential new bowl games will make their presentations to the NCAA's Bowl Certification Committee. They are: The Congressional Bowl in Washington D.C (Navy vs. ACC); The St. Petersburg Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Big East vs. Conference USA); and the Rocky Mountain Bowl in Salt Lake City (Mountain West vs. WAC).

No, this is not a joke.

Is the NFL Draft still something you all will find interesting this weekend? Or, with the Browns being silent until the fourth round, is this a weekend for mowing lawns and watching the Cavs?

My guess: The draft will still pull in good ratings in NE Ohio.

And here are just some of the reasons:

Folks will want to see how much info ESPN and the NFL Network can squeeze on their HDTV screens.

They will want to see if Mel Kiper Jr.'s hair deflates.

They will want to see if Chris Berman will be able to yell into his microphone for the entire first day of the broadcast.

They will want to think about the fact they might be the only person at that moment watching the NFL Network and Mike Mayock.

They will want to wonder who in the world is Mike Mayock.

They will want to see which team can act more like the Raiders in adding as many bad characters as possible: the Raiders or the Cowboys.

They will want to throw the remote at the TV screen when the Patriots add a top flight player with the seventh pick and then get reminded that the 18-1 Pats face the easiest schedule in the league this year.

They will want to see who goes with the 22nd pick to the Cowboys … you know the choice that the Browns gave up for their backup quarterback.

They will want to get excited about the most popular fourth-round pick in the history of the Browns. And what is wrong with this? Nothing at all.

It is just this area's most popular sport, and this weekend will be just more proof of that fact.

Big names make big news and make big money.

That I understand.

The NBA is where it is, or, at least, where it was, because of Magic and Bird. The NHL got its big lift when Mario Lemieux was winning Cups and Wayne Gretzky was playing in the L.A. market. Baseball is doing better than it has, because the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are playing well. The NFL does well … well … because Las Vegas exists.

This brings me to auto racing. I have read several times, now that Danica Patrick has won the IRL is going to grow. Or, once Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins, NASCAR will be back.

So, yes, Patrick winning helps the IndyCar Series. And yes, when Earnhardt Jr. breaks his slump, NASCAR will be in the headlines.

The point of this post, though, is: Neither of the sports will die if these drivers fail.

IRL is the strongest it has been since it began, particularly now the open-wheel racing merged this season. The Indy 500 this year will again have a great field like it did in its heyday.

NASCAR TV ratings still blow away everything expect the NFL and Tiger in the lead in major golf events, and its stands are filled at nearly every track.

So, go ahead and praises these drivers or scorn them for not winning, just don't say that their series are depending on them.

Because you would be wrong.

Not sure where the Cavs season will end, although it is likely next series against the Boston Celtics, but I think coach Mike Brown deserves some credit for getting this team in position to advance in the playoffs.

He obviously has had trouble getting any type of consistent offense going in his three seasons with the Cavs, but with LeBron James, I think most coaches would follow his plan: Play defense and let LeBron win the game at the other end.

It worked well with the San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan.

Brown has done a nice job working the officials in the media the past few days, as well.

All things that should give the Cavs a solid foundation for the future.

If the Cavs don't win a title this season, and they likely won't, it won't be Brown's fault.

The Tribe continues to scuffle with their bats. A 3-0 loss to another rookie Saturday.

Some folks, think that the Travis Hafner contract is out of whack (Me included) and his lack of production is killer. Others point to Casey Blake's poor production in the clutch.

Those are valid points, but the real problem is the amount of strikeouts.

There is no base-runner movement on a strikeout; it is not a productive out. And with little speed on this team, it is not built to manufacture runs.

I will always point to the White Sox in this case. The year they won the World Series, many folks hammered them for trading Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik. Yes, they traded away a power bat for not much of a pedigree in Podsednik. But the leadoff hitting outfielder got on base and made things happen. In the end, GM Kenny Williams had won a World Series.

By the way, since they have let Podsednik go, they haven't won.

Now Grady Sizemore gets on base a lot, but it is different. He strikes out too much, too.

In fact, the Tribe would be better with him lower in the lineup, if and this is a big IF, they find a leadoff guy who can get on base.

With the way this team is set up, it will need to be a second baseman or corner outfielder in that role. Maybe Asdrubal Cabrera can pull it off, otherwise I don't see one on this version of the Tribe.

C.C. Sabathia is showing no signs of the pitcher who won the Cy Young last season.

And now with latest loss, the Indians have fallen into a tie with the Tigers at the bottom of the AL Central. That might be the saving grace of this April, that the Tigers have been just as bad as the Tribe. Unless, of course, the Chicago White Sox run away and hide from the rest of the division.

Back to C.C. Unlike Joe Borowski, Sabathia seems to have his velocity; it is his command that is way off. Patrick McManamon points out in his column today that since the playoffs, Sabathia is 1-5 with an 11.34 ERA (42 runs, 33 innings) in his past seven starts.

Can the Indians win the division without a great Sabathia and a solid bullpen, no way.

Now it seems that Joe Borowski was hurt, and from what I get from the articles, the Indians knew it.

What is up with that?

Now he is hurt bad enough that he will be out for about a month. Ridiculous.

Most would think that baseball players, especially pitchers, are babied too much. But here is a case where the team needs to be made more important than the individual.

Remember these games and management decisions come September.

By the way, the best way to screw up a bullpen is to have a bunch of poor starts from the rotation. The next way is to put the relievers in roles they aren't used to. For next month or more, that will be the case for the Indians.