Indian Givers

Well, that didn't take long. While we were all wondering whether the Cleveland Indians were for real, their entire team signed with the Miami Heat.

Since jumping out to a seven game lead over the rest of the AL Central and a 17-game advantage on the woeful Minnesota Plan B, the Indians have dropped 14 of 18 while the Twins' substitutes have begun competing. Detroit, 11-4 in its last 15, has caught the Indians, and the Twins, though still looking up at the rest of the league, are within seven games.

It's not just bad luck in Cleveland, which would be redundant anyway. The Indians have scuffled on both sides of the ball, tallying under three runs per game while allowing more than six during their slide. Minnesota, meanwhile, has discovered itself, though most of itself is on the DL (Joe Mauer, Denard Span, Jim Thome, Jason Kubel). The two leading sluggers on the team are Michael Cuddyer, 9 home runs, and Danny Valencia, 5. (Yes, that Danny Valencia.) That's an annual rate of 25 and 12 respectively, which is roughly what your bank CD is paying these days.

Even if staff ace Francisco Liriano continues his comeback on the mound and manager Ron Gardenhire remembers where his bullpen went, it's going to take a paradigm shift for the Twins to become relevant again. The same can not be said for Detroit or the White Sox, who are now within three-and-a-half of the division lead. They both look capable of looking capable over the last 100 games and making the early aptitude of the Indians and scuffling of the Twins ultimately irrelevant.

But they had us wondering for a minute there. 

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