The Indians have placed outfielder David Dellucci on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left calf. Dellucci has played in 8 games this spring for the Indians in which he was 6 for 25 (.240 avg, .841 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBIs. Trevor Crowe has been recalled to replace Dellucci on the active roster. Crowe has played in 18 games this spring in which he is 14 for 47 (.298 avg, .766 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 3 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Crowe should give the Indians good speed and defense off the bench until Dellucci is ready to return to action.

The Indians have traded 23-year old lefty pitcher Shawn Nottingham to the Pirates for a player to be named later. Nottingham pitched in 33 games (14 starts) in A+AA ball last season and he was 3-6 with a 5.38 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The Indians shouldn’t miss Nottingham much as he wasn’t one of their top 30 prospects according to Baseball America.

The Indians have claimed 25-year old righty reliever Jae Kuk Ryu off waivers from the Padres. Ryu was awful the the Padres this spring as he worked in 8 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-1 with a 10.61 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He pitched in 1 game (0 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. In parts of three seasons, Ryu has pitched in 28 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 1-3 with a 7.49 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. Ryu is young enough to turn his career around but he will start the season in the minors.

UPDATE: Major League Baseball has voided the waiver claim of Jae Kuk Ryu by the Indians due to injury. He has been returned to the Padres.

26-year old lefty swinging Shin Soo-Choo had a monster second half for the Cleveland Indians in 2008 and they hope his is for real. Choo played in 94 games for the Indians last season in which he was 98 for 317 (.309 avg, .946 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 14 homers, 66 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Choo didn’t make any errors in 51 games in RF for the Tribe last season while showing average range.

If anything happened to Choo the Indians would likely shift Ben Francisco to RF with either Dave Dellucci or Matt LaPorta playing LF. Francisco played in 32 games in RF for the Indians last season making 2 errors while showing slightly below average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B

26-year old lefty swinging Grady Sizemore just keeps getting better and better. He played in 157 games for the Indians last season and he was 170 for 634 (.268 avg, .876 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 33 homers, 90 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. He should be a 30/30 man again for the Indians who should consider dropping him in the batting order to enhance his RBI opportunities. Sizemore played in 151 games in CF last season for the Indians and he made 2 errors while showing average range.

25-year old switch hitting rookie Trevor Crowe would likely get called up to the show if anything happens to Sizemore. Crowe is the #15 prospect for the Indians’ according to Baseball America. He played in 84 games in AA+AAA last season and he was 104 for 344 (.302 avg, .866 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 9 homers, 41 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: A+