His hopes for the Indians for 2010:

"… we play in one of the most balanced if not the most balanced division in the Big Leagues, which if you look at it over the last three, four years, a different team has won it.  So hey, we're going to Spring Training thinking why not us?"

On whether those hopes are realistic:

"Obviously we were in the middle of the pack without having Grady for the whole season and Travis Hafner.  So we're very excited about our potential."

The main team needs:

"It's pretty clear that we do need better pitching.  That was kind of the problem last year, and I think it's a general problem.  I think a lot of people are looking for pitching.  But we do have some guys, Jake Westbrook is coming back, and he's a solid guy when he's healthy.  We're hoping to help Fausto back, and Masterson is going to be in full season in the starting rotation."

Who plays in left field:

"We have options.  We can use Michael Brantley, and LaPorta can also play left field.  We have those options.  Jordan Brown is having a really good winter ball in Venezuela, so we have options.  Trevor Crowe, that's another guy who's going in to compete for a spot.  We like our options out there."

Who plays first base:

"If the season were to start today and everything was normal, we're looking at guys like LaPorta, Jordan Brown, but we're also looking through the free agent market to see if we can find a first baseman.  You know, we have a few months to go yet, and some guys are going to be out there. In the ideal world, we'd probably want guys to get those at‑bats."

Where does Andy Marte fit:

"He's going to come to camp and we'll have to make a decision.  He's one of our options (for first base), too."

On Fausto Carmona:

"Fausto is pitching in winter ball.  He just threw three innings two days ago, and we got good reports.  He threw the ball well, and he's going to continue to pitch through the winter.  He felt that that helped him in the past, and he wanted to go work on some things.    We're going down there next week and watch him pitch and talk to him and get him in the right frame of mind."

On Travis Hafner:

" … our plan is he's going to get days off here and there but nothing as he was in the past where he couldn't play a certain amount of games in a row.  Our plan is we need this guy.  This guy is a bat in the middle of our order.  If he's fine, I'm looking to have him out there as many games as possible."

Who pitches the eighth and ninth innings:

"Kerry (Wood) is without a doubt is our closer.  Well, the plan that we're designing right now with Belch (pitching coach Tim Belcher) is that we're anticipating having a better start and playing good.  So even when we hit a rough spot, we're not going to let (Wood) sit for, let's say, more than three days at a time, and also talking to Belch, it's not going to be a problem.  Woody is a guy who's going to be able to get the four‑out save and stuff like that.  So that's our plan going in.  Use him not only in save situations but when we have to try to keep him sharp. And Chris (Perez) obviously pitched very well the second half of the season.  And going into camp, we're counting on him to handle that eighth inning there."

On Grady Sizemore's pictures that were circulate on the internet:

"I haven't seen them, because that's really not going to help me win one more game.  (Laughter). I've never seen them.  Why would I want to see them?  If I want to see any of my players, I'll just walk in the showers after the game.  I think it's sad, people using stuff like that to basically get into people's private lives.  But you have to be aware of it."

On the Indians overall:

"They need what the other 29 need, pitching.  I mean, you talk to everybody here in the lobby, and everybody is looking for pitching.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist.  If you finished last in pitching, you're not going to win.  You just can't shrug people away in the Big Leagues."

Send her running and screaming from the room, that's what it'd do.

I mean …. I must live in a completely separate reality from some others.

"Most of the time when he starts a game, and he's in control of the game, and everything around it he's controlling — he's throwing strikes and he's getting the ball, what I call he handles the flow of the game, if you know what I mean. Everybody about it. The flow of the game, the way the game goes.

"Not only does he have command of the game, but he has the flow of the game. To me he sets the tone by his rhythm, getting the ball back, and he knows what he's going to throw. I like the way he pitches. I like everything about how he goes about it. But that's part of his success, too, is the fact that's how he handles the game."

OK … he looked great doing it.

OK … he dominated. I mean … 10 strikeouts … a complete game, the first in a World Series since 1995. Pretty good.

And … yes … he used to pitch for the Indians.

And yes, the Indians might have gift-wrapped the Phillies their second World Series title in a row (though they do have some other good players and a pretty good mana … umm … never mind).

But while Joe Posnanski marvels at Lee's lack of nerves, we in Cleveland understand what we saw. Because we know that Lee is just "out there" enough to be able to shrug off nerves in his first World Series game.

It's what he does.

At least it's what he's done the last two seasons.

Or it could have just been the way Acta talks.

He used the imperial “we” and “our.” A lot. He said he’d been studying the Indians the final month of the season, and said: “I don’t think any of you guys have any idea how long we’ve been in contact.” He also said he knew nothing about the Browns but he’d support them “because I’m here.”

For a day at least.

This did not sound like a casual, pro-forma interview. It sounded like a guy the Indians are very serious about hiring – either as manager or bench coach.

And Acta seemed like an incredibly good, upbeat and impressive guy who has a lot of in-depth thoughts and plans regarding the Indians.

Among the comments I found interesting:

–“Hopefully Fausto (Carmona) can bounce back.”

If Acta can get Carmona back to the form he showed in 2007, he should get a lifetime contract.

–“It’s about bringing the right attitude right off the bat and convincing these guys, making them believe that with any little improvement in our starting rotation and bullpen that we’re ready to win here.”

Note the use of the first person plural pronoun.

–“The main thing in the American League is having power arms. This is a hitting league. There’s no break after the seventh hitter like in the NL.”

Interesting given many of the Indians starters are soft-throwing lefties.

How good was Lee? Here's his pitch chart (thanks to brooksbaseball.net):

And here's another chart showing how he changed speeds:

Yes, he was pretty good.

Here’s a whole page of kind of cool charts and things about Lee’s game, thanks to PitchFX and Brooks.

Carlos Carrasco best be able to pitch.