Kerry Wood

Kerry Lee Wood was born on June 16th 1977 in Irving, Texas. He is the newly acquired right handed closer of the Cleveland Indians. He signed a two year 20.5 million dollar contract with a vesting option for a third year.

He started out his career as one of the most dominating young pitchers of this generation with the Chicago Cubs but would soon become one of the most injured pitchers of this generation. In 2008 he finally had a healthy season as the Cubs closer and helped lead them to a National League Central title.

In the 2008 off season the Cubs made it clear that they did not wish to have Kerry Wood return when they traded for Marlins closer Kevin Gregg and handed the reigns to the bullpen to Carlos Marmol.

He would then go on and sign a two year 20.5 million dollar contract with the Cleveland Indians including a vesting option for 2011. He will enter the season as the Indians closer.

Jensen Lewis

Jensen Lewis was born May 16th 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a right handed relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. He was inserted into the closers role in August 2008.

Jensen came to the Indians after being drafted in the 3rd round by them out of Vanderbilt University. He was teammates with Jeremy Sowers for a season at Vanderbilt and now are teammates with the Indians.

He started off in the Indians organization as a starter but at the start of the 2007 season he became a full time reliever. He excelled in this role and found his way to the majors and became a key part in the back end of the Tribe's bullpen.

Jensen came into 2008 looking to build off a great 2007. Unfortunately a dip in velocity hurt his chances of contributing early on and so he was sent down to AAA Buffalo mid season. He would eventually return in August and with the Indians in desperate need to close games out he was given the chance. He would take the chance and run with it converting 13-13 in save opportunities to finish the season.

He looks to enter the 2009 season as a favorite to close out games for the Tribe if they fail to find a more experienced closer.

Victor Martinez

Victor Jesus Martinez was born December 23rd 1978 in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela. He is catcher and a 1B for the Cleveland Indians. He was signed by the Indians as undrafted free agent in 1996. Victor is one of the most emotional and hardest working Tribe players and is a team leader on the Indians.

He made his MLB debut in 2002 in a short 32 at bat stint.He would follow that up with a slightly longer 159 at bat stay in 2003.

His first full season as a regular came in 2004 when he was an All Star who hit .283/.359/.492 with 23 homeruns and 108 RBI. He was moved into the clean up spot early in the season and in his first game there he hit a homerun off of Curt Schilling.

Through 2005-2007 Victor Martinez became known as not only one of the best offensive catchers in baseball but one of the best pure hitters. He would hit over .300 in all three of the seasons and drive in 80 runs or more each year.

Victor and the Indians came into 2008 with high expectations but Victor would get off to a slow start and eventually need to be placed on the disable list for an elbow which would require surgery.

Fausto Carmona

Fausto C. Carmona was December 7th 1983 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a right handed starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians.

Fausto Carmona made his debut in 2006 and it looked like it was going to be a great season for Carmona. He made his major league debut on April 15th in Detroit after an impressive outing. He would then be moved to the bullpen where he would thrive as a setup man.

Soon the Indians would make the decision to trade current closer Bob Wickman to the Atlanta Braves for Max Ramirez and enshrine Fausto as the new closer. Fausto would not respond well to his new role and blew 3 saves including two walk off homeruns.

Fausto would rebound in 2007 once again as a starter and win 19 games for the Indians in what was an incredible season for the Tribe. He would then go on to pitch one of the best games in his career in one of the most famous "ALDS" games ever... the "Bug Game".

Fausto got off to a good start in 2008 but then like most of the Tribe players began to struggle and eventually landed themselves on the disabled list. He would come back befores seasons end but was not the same Fausto from 2007.

Cliff Lee

Clifton Phifer Lee was born August 30th 1978 in Benton, Arkansas. He is a left handed starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Any day now he should be named the 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner for his outstanding performance in 2008.

Cliff was drafted by the Florida Marlins and then in 1998 he was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 8th round. He did not sign either of those time. He finally signed with the Montreal Expos in 2000 out of the University of Arkansas in the 4th round.

Cliff and teammate Grady Sizemore were part of one of the biggest trades in Indians history. During the 2002 season Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Lee Stevens were sent to the Indians for ace right hander Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew.

Cliff enjoyed early success in 2002-2003 during a limited time with the Indians and in his first full season (2004) he enjoyed pretty good success with a 14-8 record with a 5.43 ERA. However next season (2005) would be a breakout season for Lee as he went 18-5 with 3.79 ERA and coming in 4th in the Cy Young voting.

2007 was a year to forget for Lee. He started out by getting an injury in Spring Training forcing him to miss time. Then after a bad outing he was being booed off the field he tipped his hat to the crowd. The next day he was sent down to AAA Buffalo.

2008 was a year to remember for Lee. He posted an amazing 22-3 mark with an even better 2.54 ERA in 223.1 innings. He is a lock to be named the 2008 Cy Young anyday now.