I've been thinking about Eric Wedge and his role with the Indians since spring training. I was very troubled then and I'm more troubled now.

The Cleveland Indians will be watching the Playoffs and the World Series from the sidelines. Again!

Eric Wedge lost his job as Manager of the Indians. Fans have been screaming for that to happen since the second week of the season. It may not have been fair, but it happened. It may not have been all his fault, but it happened. Fans called for Wedge to be replaced in every forum they could find.

Actually, Wedge didn't put the team together. That honor belongs to Mark Shapiro. Wedge, however, was the one who insisted that Ramon Vazquez remain on the team instead of Brandon Phillips when Phillips was out of options. That decision has stuck with Wedge during his entire tenure with The Tribe. It was also Wedge who orchestrated the dismissal of Bullpen Coach Luis Isaac. That move, like the one with Phillips, caused tremendous fan backlash. No reason for the dismissal was ever given and Isaac became a symbol of the power wielded by Wedge. And Eric Wedge would never recover from either of those high profile moves. Maybe, just maybe he could have overcome those issues had the team won. They didn't. The team was supposed to have turned the corner this season from a horrible 2008 with a revamped bullpen anchored by new closer and former Chicago Cub Kerry Wood. Joe Smith came over from the Mets to help the back end of the pen. With the revised bullpen, there was optimism among the fan base. Wow, Kerry Wood. The starting pitching got a bit of new blood with former Yankee Carl Pavano. However, Pavano was dispatched to Minnesota in a lightning rod of trades that cleaned out the Tribe's roster of players with time on their contract and/or serious money that could be saved.

Personally, I was concerned from the first day of spring training. I was concerned about the pitching. I was concerned about Travis Hafner. In my role as a guest commentator on Marty Lurie's fantastic radio show "Right Off The Bat" I expressed my sincere and deep concerns. Frankly, Fausto Carmona looked out of shape to me. The pitcher's couldn't throw strikes and they spoke far too often about not being able to "grip the ball." I watched pitchers from other clubs grip the ball just fine. The lefty starters looked the same to me. One after another after another. Same arm angle. Same stuff. Very little progress over the course of the spring. Then the season began. More of the same. Only worse.

No new bats were added. The Tribe hoped that Travis Hafner would return to being a feared Designated Hitter following shoulder surgery. He and a healthy Victor Martinez would both be returning to the starting lineup to drive in Grady Sizemore, who would get on base, steal second and score with the knocks provided by Hafner and Martinez. Shin-Soo Choo would continue to develop the power he flashed in 2008 and respectability would return to Cleveland. All that was left to be determined was the World Series opponent. Uh, a bit of a hiccup here. Not so fast with the World Series talk. Hafner's bat had slowed tremendously as he struggled to hit the ball out of the infield in spring training. The regular season was little better. Sizemore had a bum elbow in spring training and has just begun his recovery from two surgeries, one for the elbow, and the other for a sports hernia. Sizemore's season was a total bust. Choo hit well but had no protection around him in the lineup. Martinez hit well, but the Indians lost and lost and lost. He was traded in that summer lightning round of "Let?s Make A Deal...Please."

The pitching? Ah, yes, the pitching. The Indians have had great difficulty developing pitchers, to say the least. Pitching is the name of the game. The Indians had no pitching and thus, had no game. As a result of their pitching being in the tank at the time of the July non-waiver trade deadline, the Tribe traded stars such as Martinez and Cliff Lee in a quest to right the ship. But, that's a story for a different story. For now, let's just say the pitching, (the starters, the bullpen and those laboring in the minor league part of the organization) were the root cause for a 90+ losing season.

And that brings us back to Eric Wedge.

He never threw an inning for the Tribe. He never had one at-bat. His team couldn't win. He inserted guys in the lineup out of position (see Ryan Garko in left field or right field or Andy Marte at first base.) He kept rookie Matt LaPorta on the bench during his first tour of duty with the Indians. He stuck with Jhonny Peralta at short way too long even though Peralta couldn't go to his left. Or to his right. And Wedge didn't win. Again! Uh, Cleveland fans had seen enough of that show before. Like last year, for example. They became tired and weary. They became surly and angry. They became Cleveland Browns fans again sooner than usual. Like in late April or early May. Even the Browns brought some relief. Now that's bad, isn't it?

So who gets Wedge's job? The Cleveland papers are touting Red Sox Pitching Coach John Farrell as the top contender. Oops, another hiccup there. Farrell has a clause in his contract indicating he cannot take a manager's position until after the 2010 season. Maybe that could be negotiated. Farrell was once the Director of Player Personnel for Cleveland and is highly respected. Other names? Former Indians Manager Mike Hargrove. Current AAA Columbus Manager Torey Lovullo. No decisions quite yet. Other names will surface.

The franchise is a mess. Attendance has dropped with no indication of an improvement for 2010. The budget will be an issue, making adding new players very difficult. There are no fence busters on the roster. There is little team speed. The starting rotation has no true ace. No true ace? Actually, the truth be known, the starting rotation has no true # two starter either. The starting rotation has Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers, two clones of each other who are soft-tossing lefties. David Huff, yet another lefty, does show some promise. Jake Westbrook is still not totally finished with his surgery rehabilitation. Fausto Carmona has days when he?s lights out and days when he can?t even find the light switch. The team has traded for pitchers that require more development time. There may be some help with a Justin Masterson. The jury is certainly still out on Carlos Carrasco. So far, not so good.

There were reasons I was concerned in spring training. The stories have now played out. The season is over. Eric Wedge took the fall.

The best part about next year? One of the best play- by -play radio broadcasters in the game of baseball will be behind the mike making each and every game come to life. Tom Hamilton, the voice of the Tribe will help any remaining Indians fans enjoy the games even when the team has no chance of winning. It's the little things that may help keep Tribe fans coming back . But Indians fans have been through it all before. Over and over. And oh, by the way. They'll have a new Manager. We just don't know his name yet.