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Happy Friday, baseball fans! It's a bit of a slow news day, aside from the usual Tribe domination, but here's your daily dose of linkage:
Indians news
Dolan, FO in awkward position as Masterson awaits counter offer | Cleveland.com - By making his contract offer public, Justin Masterson has put Tribe management on the hot seat - if a deal doesn't get done, they'll look bad. Or worse, I guess. The two parties are expected to negotiate this week.
Also! Some interesting notes about Corey Kluber and his "robotic" personality in this notes column. I think Klubot is gonna stick as a nickname this season.
Gomes excited for new role | Did The Tribe Win Last Night? - DTTWLN profiles Yan Gomes as he prepares to step into the spotlight, in a much different position than he was last year as the "other guy" in the Mike Aviles trade.
Possibility of Swisher bounceback tied to health | Wahoo's On First? - Brian Heise breaks down Nick Swisher's 2014 performance and looks ahead to 2014, anticipating a good year if the bro's health holds up.
Elliot Johnson, Jeff Francouer, Nyjer Morgan, Matt Treanor all possible candidates for roster spot | Cleveland.com - In discussing Jason Giambi's rib injury, Hoynes notes that one of those four are likely to take the elder Tribesman's roster spot if he's on the DL come March 31.
Ramirez set for surgery, Morgan and Murphy improving | Indians.com - J.C. Ramirez is ready to undergo surgery on his left thumb and is expected to miss up to ten weeks. Morgan and David Murphy are both "battling" soreness, in the calf and elbow respectively.
Around the league
Manny Ramirez admits mistakes, is surprisingly humble in comeback bid | Fox Sports - Ken Rosenthal sits down for an interview with an honest, humbled Manny Ramirez, who wants one last chance to play and to mentor young players. This is great stuff - Manny like you've never heard him before.
Spring Training records don't matter | CBS Sports - Matt Snyder reinforces the idea that we should temper our excitement. A look at the last three years worth of the best and worst teams in Spring Training shows no correlation to how those teams played in the regular season.
Detroit Tigers 2014 preview | CBS Sports - Justin Verlander is a good bet to bounce back, but Detroit's bullpen depth is suspect.
Still hope for teams that win fewer than 70 games | Sports On Earth - Will Leitch looks at 2014 prospects for teams that failed to win at least 70 games last year. Spoiler alert: the 2013 Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox were anomalies.