– 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.

My first thought after reading the Mitchell Report is that Barry Bonds just got in the Hall of Fame.

Most sportswriters aren't going to keep Roger Clemens out of the Hall of Fame, which means they lose their reason to keep Bonds out.

And when all is said and done, there really is no other option.

We either put these players and others of that era into the Hall of Fame or we close the doors.

Testing is always behind what the athletes can do to mask whatever they are taking.

Bonds and Clemens will go into the hall as the best hitter and best pitcher in the Steroids Era.

Senator George Mitchell's report on steroids and other performance enhancers is set to be released tomorrow at 2 p.m.

My gut tells me that the baseball fans don't care who used and who didn't.

They want their teams to win and that really is all that matters.

So if it comes out that Manny and Thome used during the playoff runs in the late 90s, I don't think the Tribe fans will hold it against them.

In fact, I believe most folks think that these guys used because that is what everyone else was doing.

Other than Hall of Fame credentials, nothing will come from this report.

According to several reports in Pittsburgh, the hangup on the Jason Bay-to-Tribe trade is Cliff Lee.

The Pirates don't want him in the deal. They want Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers instead, and Shapiro has said no.

Bay and Paulino for Gutierrez, Shoppach and Laffey or Sowers, is what the Pirates would do.

It is dead for now, but so was the Pirates trade to get Adam LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez at this time last year. It took until the middle of January to get that one done with the Braves.

Even with Bay (another guy who even when he is playing well strikes out a ton), the Indians lineup is not on par with the Tigers and Yankees, but the Indians pitching is better.

The funny thing is that only 3 of the 4 (Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers and Indians) get to make the playoffs, and if the Rangers are horrible, there is a chance that two teams from the West, Mariners and Angels, could make playoff runs.

This I do know: At least, one very good team is not making the playoffs.