Can the Cleveland Indians Sign Any of Their Big Three?

Having been a Cleveland Indians fan for over 30 years, it is safe to say I have witnessed some very bad baseball over the years, sometimes so bad, I'm not sure it could even be called baseball, but lately those fortunes have changed and once again, The Cleveland Indians are at a crossroads because of today's "business climate" that surrounds the game. Three of the superstars, Jake Westbrook, C.C. Sabathia and Travis Hafner all stand to become free agents that will command top dollar on the market by the end of the 2008 season if the Tribe cannot find a way to sign them before then.

Westbrook's contract is up at the end of the current 2007, while Sabathia and Hafner's contracts are up after the 2008 season. So given the economics, and the past practices of the Dolan family's approach to the teams salary structure, die hard Tribe fans can only conclude that we will once again be bidding farewell to 3 more of our prized possessions, while other teams around the league that have deeper pockets, or in some cases spend foolishly, i.e the Kansas City Royals giving Gil Meche $55 million over 5 years drool at the prospect of getting into the bidding war any or all of these prized potential free agents.

Not so fast I say! I am going to make a case for how and why the Indians should consider "breaking" the bank at this point since I truly believe that have assembled the "pieces and parts" necessary to compliment Westbrook, Sabathia and Hafner that could lead to a championship or two, and the Jacobs Filed sellouts that will be necessary to retain their "Big Three." Keep in mind, that when Jacobs Field opened in 1994, Tribe fans were treated to exciting baseball, exciting players and the playoffs for the first time since 1954, and responded in part to the tune of 450+ straight sellouts, so this part of my fantasy, uh I mean proposal, is at least grounded in reality.