My post a couple of days ago I talked about building offenses and the type of players teams build around. I got a couple of e-mails, saying that I forgot about pitching.

I guess I didn't make my thoughts clear enough. I don't think pitching gives a team its identity very often, really only the recent Atlanta Braves got their identity from pitching, and there were 3 Hall of Famers there.

Yes, pitching is important and probably more important than offense, but I think teams get their identity from their starting eight and bench and how the front office builds the team.

I wrote that the Twins and Angels are gritty "baseball" players. Steal, bunt, play defense, play hit-and-run baseball. The Indians are powerful strikeout kings who don't field well much like the Yankees. I didn't say a team can't win the way the Indians are playing the game; I just think it is an expensive way to play.

It is interesting to see how teams build their offenses in the AL, and how much success they have.

With the Twins, you get a player who is a "baseball" player … down and dirty. The positives in these type of players are they don't put up flashy numbers and that means they don't cost a lot. But so far for the Twins it has meant little success in the postseason.

With the Red Sox, you get a player who works the count and who can play defense. If you look at Youkilis and Pedoria and Ellsbury, they play the game the same way. They are tough. Obviously with two titles in four years this has been successful.

With the Indians, you get a player who puts up monster offensive numbers but who strikes out a lot and who struggles with a glove on their hand. See all of the recent offensive prospects, and by the way, Matt LaPorta fits right in here. It is what Travis Hafner was when the Tribe got him from the Rangers. It is who Michael Aubrey is, who Andy Marte is, who Lonnie Chisenhall is. Now obviously this formula came within a game of the World Series last season. But it is also expensive to keep together. See Hafner contract.

The Yankees, Tigers, White Sox seem to have bought much of their offense.

The A's focus more on pitching and let the offense take care of itself.

The Angels are another team that is like the Red Sox.

What does this all mean? I don't think it is set in stone, but it seems to me the teams with the most success get offensive players who get on base, run the bases well, don't strike out a ton and play defense. See Angels, Red Sox and the White Sox team from a few years ago.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks are the two best teams in baseball.

Go figure?

The Indians and Detroit Tigers are fighting to see who can catch the Seattle Mariners as the biggest disappointments of the year.

Go figure?

Victor Martinez has no home runs; Carlos Quentin (who?) leads the AL in home runs.

Go figure?

SI's cover last week called it Bizarro Baseball.

What does this all mean? Well before Bizarro world, it would mean that one of these odd situations would hold on while the rest would fade.

I think it is just talent. The Rays and D'backs have been stockpiling talent for a few years.

Eventually talent wins. And this just might be the year.

– The TV talk this weekend will center around Tiger Woods and The Masters. This usually signals the beginning of golf season in NE Ohio. With temperatures in the 40s this weekend, maybe the Browns minicamp in May would be a better starting point.

– Is C.C. Sabathia struggling with expectations? Many thought that he turned the corner last season. But the playoffs. The contract talks. The slow start this season. Maybe it is all starting to add up.

– The NHL has to pleased with Alexander Ovechkin being in the playoffs. We get to take a look tonight on Versus and Sunday on NBC.

– I have seen a couple of folks saying Brady Quinn would be the No. 1 pick in this draft. Then how does he not beat out a player who was cut from his first NFL team and another player who becomes the backup with the Seahawks. I think Quinn still needs a lot of work, and obviously the Browns agree.

– Red Sox and Tigers coming to town early next week. We'll get an early indication of what to expect this year in the American League.

– Coming on Ohio.com on Saturday and Sunday, is Patrick McManamon writing about Fausto Carmona, free throw shooting and other random thoughts. Also we'll have coverage of the Masters, the Cavs finish of the season, the Tribe-A's series and a wrapup of the Zips spring football camp.

Does the Tribe's move in signing Fausto Carmona end any chance of bringing C.C. Sabathia back?

Now it can and has been argued — I believe I have written this before — that Sabathia is done here. The Tribe is in no position to sign Sabathia to $160 million for seven seasons. And I beleive that. Just like the Travis Hafner deal was ludicrous. That type of deal for Sabathia should not be on the Tribe's radar. It makes no sense long or short term.

That being said GM Mark Shapiro has said talks with C.C. aren't dead. And later today, he probably will say that again.

But don't believe it. It really doesn't fit into the Tribe's way of thinking to pay a pitcher for that long when he will be in his mid-30s when the deal is complete.

I believe any chance of Sabathia staying with the Indians died today.

Agree?

I love the game of baseball; my boys play, I played and I enjoy talking about it, and maybe it is because I grew up a Pirates fan, but I am down on the sport.

This new habit of taking pitches is killing the game. I understand the reasoning … get to the bullpens.

But here is the result: the Pirates-Cubs game yesterday, it last about 4.5 hours for 12 innings, there was 19 walks, nearly 500 pitches. It worked out to nearly 6.5 pitches per out.

That is ridiculous, but you know what else, it is the normal game.

Here are some things that I find interesting:

– Why does Memphis coach John Calipari get no credit for being a good basketball coach? I know that he can recruit, that he took UMass to the Final Four and that his teams have never gone on probabtion. I know that he struggled in the NBA, but he knows what he is doing on the college level. He outcoached Ben Howland of UCLA, and I expect the same thing tonight against Bill Self and Kansas.

– We received our shipment of MLB media guides this morning, what team do you think produced the thickest book? Try the Tampa Bay Rays. 576 pages; it works out to nearly a page per all-time victories. Very strange.

– If the Cavs end up fifth and then lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Wizards, we all know the calls will be loud for coach Mike Brown to be fired. My guess is that won't happen. I think it is more likely that GM Danny Ferry gets bounced, but even writing that, don't look for a cleaning out of the Cavs by Dan Gilbert.

– Browns GM Phil Savage says he isn't going to trade up in this year's draft. And that is the correct choice. First, I don't think he has anything to trade beside next year's No. 1 or Brady Quinn, and Quinn isn't going anywhere this year. Check back on that this time next season if Derek Anderson goes to the Pro Bowl again. Lastly, Savage has built this team to win now, so he should give it a shot and see what happens this season.

– The first week was choppy for the Tribe, but a heck of a lot better than the Detroit Tigers'. Talk about flaming out.

Quick name the top five on the Indians payroll.

Did you forget Casey Blake or Paul Byrd?

The answer: C.C. Sabathia at $11 million, Jake Westbrook at $10M (with $21M more to come in the next two years), Travis Hafner at $8.05M (with $51.75M more to come over the next four seasons … he better not hit .250 ever again), Byrd at $7.5M and Blake $6.1M.

The total, according to numbers published in USA Today, is $78,970,066. Not bad for a team that could win the World Series.

The biggest bargain is a toss-up between Jensen Lewis ($393,000) and Asdrubal Cabrera ($393,300).

It also was reported that the Indians have committed more than $124M in future deals through 2013. The bulk of that being Hafner's crazy contract.

The rest of the AL Central:
Tigers at $137.7M
White Sox at $121.1M
Royals at $58.2M
Twins at $56.9M

The Indians seem to be flying under the radar locally.

The TV, radio and newspapers have continued their normal coverage of a Tribe spring training, but for a team that was one win from the World Series, it seems that not much is at stake.

Maybe it is the Browns' strong offseason or LeBron James, maybe there isn't enough air for everyone. Heck, even the Gladiators are 2-0.

The Indians are close, they can win it all.

But the window of opportunity is open THIS season. This is C.C. Sabathia's likely final season with the Indians.

These thoughts need to be a the forefront of GM Mark Shapiro's head.

I think Shapiro needs to be ready to play whatever chips he has to make trades to fix any holes that develop early. The chips, I see, are the the losers in the No. 5 spot in the rotation, either Lee, Laffey or Sowers. Marte, Choo and Francisco also are trade bait.

I think this team can win the American League this season, but it also can't be a season that Shapiro lets get away early. He needs to be bold and active.

– It has been quite a change for LeBron James.

Last season, at this time, his play late in games was questioned. This season, he only seems to play in the fourth quarter, scoring at will at that, leading the league in scoring.

He won't win MVP this season, but I do think he has taken his place as the best player in the league.

– The rest of the Cavs still leave a lot to be desired. But with LeBron, anything will be possible in the playoffs.

– I can't argue with the contract extension for Mike Brown.

– The quiet offseason seems to have spooked Indians fans. I get any number of e-mails worried that last season will be a one-shot wonder. I don't think that will be the case. The foundation is in place for the Indians to be like the Twins have been recently. Always in contention.

– Any worries about the new defensive coordinator having little experience should be put to rest with Romeo Crennel in charge of the Browns. That is where he made his career, coaching defenses. Now does that mean the defense will suddenly be better? NO. Just ask Marvin Lewis of the Bengals. Another supposed defensive wiz whose defense can't play. It takes players to win on defense.

– Terelle Pryor seems to add more schools to his wish list each week. Now the No. 1 prep star in the country is said to be considering LSU. He added Oregon about a month ago, Michigan three weeks ago and Duke after that. At this rate, he will end up a Akron. Actually, I think he ends up at Michigan (he has had a long relationship with RichRod) with OSU a close second.

– Selena Roberts wrote her first back page column for Sports Illustarted this week. She is the best female sportswriter in the business and it shows. She recently left the New York Times to go to SI.