The Indians have locked in their rotation:

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Left-hander Scott Lewis and right-hander Anthony Reyes will open the season as the Cleveland Indians' fourth and fifth starters. Manager Eric Wedge told Lewis Wednesday he won the No. 4 spot in the rotation. Aaron Laffey was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Wednesday, one day after Jeremy Sowers was sent down. Reyes will be moved to the fifth spot to give him time off at various points in the season. Reyes was shut down in September with a sore elbow, but has not had discomfort this spring. Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee lead the rotation, followed by Fausto Carmona, a 19-game winner in 2007, and veteran Carl Pavano, who signed as a free agent.

In the new Baseball America Prospect Handbook, Lewis comes in 21st among Cleveland's prospects. In the new Baseball Prospect Book, John Sickels assigns a C-plus grade to Lewis. Oddly, both books suggest he might be good enough to pitch in the Indians' rotation this season. Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't this one of those bird-in-the-hand sort of deals? Baseball America has nine pitchers ranked higher than Lewis. I know that potential is important, too. But how many of those nine guys ahead of Lewis will wind up in a major league rotation, ever? I'm obviously biased, but I'd move Lewis up a dozen or so spots on that list, even if he can't throw 90 miles an hour. Which isn't to say he's going to be good in 2009. Based on what he did in 2008, though -- from Double-A through four winning starts with the big club -- he seems to have a pretty decent shot, 90 or no 90. Meanwhile, both Pavano and Reyes are, for completely different reasons, huge question marks. Pavano has won nine games in the past four seasons. Reyes spent a few years piling up big strikeout numbers in Triple-A, but last year in the majors, he averaged 4.5 K's per nine innings. He's worth a gamble, but it is a gamble. I like the Indians. I think they're going win their division. But their No. 1 starter isn't going to go 22-3 again, their No. 2 starter went 8-7 last season and Nos. 3 through 5 are question marks wrapped in enigmas surrounded by conundrums. So at the very least, it should be an interesting spring and summer in Cleveland.