Tribe Still Rolling!

The Cleveland Indians completed their third sweep in five series this afternoon after beating the Baltimore Orioles 4-2. Fausto Carmona recorded his first win on the season and third quality start in a row after the opening day massacre. At 11-4 the Indians have best record in the American League and start a series with the equally surprising Kansas City Royals (10-5) on Monday.

The Indians are Royals were picked by everyone (myself included!) to be flat out bad. It's no secret that the Royals have a lot of talent in their farm system but the success was supposed to be a couple years away yet. The Royals have been led by homegrown bats. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler are living up to the expectations of being first round draft picks, both hitting over .350 in the early going.

The Tribe has been built on prospects received by trading away the stars of yesteryear. Justin Masterson has been unbeatable in three starts after coming to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade. Carlos Carrasco has been getting better each start after being acquired in the Cliff Lee trade. Mitch Talbot was acquired for none other than Kelly Shoppach! Closer Chris Perez came to the Tribe in the Mark DeRosa deal. That is a very young and promising pitching staff.

Looking at the lineup, it is also littered with players acquired by trade. Grady Sizemore was famously acquired in the Bartolo Colon deal in 2002 along with Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips (gave up on him a little quick). Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana, Matt LaPorta, Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, and Travis Hafner also came to Cleveland by way of the trade.

While many people tend to focus on the success of players that the Indians have traded away, they have done a fine job of recognizing and developing young talent for the likes of Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, and Victor Martinez.