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The news about Michael Bourn's hamstring strain is depressing, but it's only slightly more depressing than going back to work on Monday! News other than that is pretty slow in Tribe town, but here are some tidbits to start of your week:
Indians news
Who will take Gomes' place on the Goon Squad? | Cleveland.com - Hoynes profiles Tribe utility man Mike Aviles, who is as versatile as they come. But the Goon Squad founder says they'll have to find a new member now that Yan Gomes has been promoted to starter. Any predictions on who takes Gomie's place?
Wood in the best shape of his life in 'pen bid | Indians.com - Coming back from injuries and having shed some weight, reliever Blake Wood has a new mindset and is making a solid case to make the Tribe bullpen in 2014.
One-on-one with Tribe Assistant GM Mike Chernoff | Did The Tribe Win Last Night? - DTTWLN's Laurel Wilder sits down with Chernoff in Arizona to discuss the team's philosophy on contract extensions, reviving the careers of bargain bin players, and top-level prospects, among other things. Lots of good stuff packed into this one.
Kluber key to Tribe success in 2014 | DTTWLN - Bob Toth takes a look at newly christened #2 starter Corey Kluber and his potential impact on the Indians repeat bid for the playoffs.
Results inconclusive in Santana 3B experiment | Wahoo's On First - He's made some flashy plays and botched some simple ones. Either way, the small sample size of Spring Training data makes a tough decision tougher.
Acta served his purpose in Cleveland | Fangraphs - Fangraphs catches up with Manny Acta, who actually has lots of good stuff to say about the organization and his time here. Also some notes on Chris Perez in this article, who discusses how "lonely" he felt during the team's playoff run last year.
Around the league
Should the Tigers sign Stephen Drew? | CBS Sports - Dayn Perry examines the case for Detroit signing Drew to replace Jose Iglesias.
Tigers to make "serious" run at Franklin | OutsidePitchMLB - Perhaps as a backup option to Stephen Drew, the Tigers are apparently angling hard for Seattle 2B Nick Franklin. Franklin would have to come via trade, so I'm kind of hoping this is what happens.
Mike Schmidt battled skin cancer | Philly.com - As of his arrival at Spring Training, scans show his body is clear after several rounds of treatment.
Australian invasion | Sports On Earth - As the Diamondbacks prepare to take on the Dodgers in the first ever MLB game played in Australia, SOE looks at historical MLB talent from down under.