The Indians' performance in 2007 tells two different stories -- both with dramatically different tones.

Story 1 praises them for their execution of a long-term goal. As a young, mostly homegrown team, they continued their gradual rise to excellence with a trip to the ALCS. Story 2, on the other hands, speaks of failure, of top prospects gone awry. Yes, for all the young talents that helped the Indians on their championship run, a few didn't live up to their promise. Third baseman Andy Marte missed, second baseman Josh Barfield bombed and starting pitcher Jeremy Sowers -- you guessed it -- soured.

But the latter story -- the bad one -- actually portends to good things in the future, for as much as some of the prospects struggled, their potential still remains. If a few of them happen to hit their stride a little later than expected, this team -- already a contender -- will become that much better. The same will happen if prized slugger Travis Hafner, coming off a down season, returns to his usual standards of a .300 average and 35 home runs.

With C.C. Sabathia and last year's breakout Fausto Carmona, the Indians have a clear pair of aces at the top of their rotation. They also have a deep bullpen, though closer Joe Borowski hardly qualifies as shutdown. At least if he struggles, the Indians know they have other options to step in behind him.

Spring position battles

Second base -- Asdrubal Cabrera vs. Josh Barfield

From a Fantasy perspective, you have to root for Josh Barfield because of his potential. In time, he could develop into a power-speed threat valued on the level of Ian Kinsler. However, the Indians will probably elect to go the safe route, trusting the slick-fielding Cabrera going into the season just as they did in the postseason. And Barfield has nobody to blame but himself after hitting .243 with only three home runs in 420 at-bats last season. He likely fell so out of favor with the organization that he'll have to drop jaws and turn heads this spring to win his job back. Assuming Cabrera holds him off, he probably won't provide enough offense to have value outside of AL-only leagues.

Starting pitcher No. 5 -- Aaron Laffey vs. Jeremy Sowers, Cliff Lee and Adam Miller

The three contenders all have more upside than the incumbent Laffey, a fringe prospect who made the most of his opportunity last year. Even if Laffey opens the season in the rotation, he'll have to look over his shoulder all year -- particularly for Miller, who has the ability to top 100 mph on the radar gun. In Fantasy, particularly outside of AL-only leagues, any of the three contenders should get drafted before Laffey -- Lee as a potential bounce-back candidate, Sowers as a slow-developing prospect and Miller as the next great thing.

Right field -- Franklin Gutierrez vs. Ben Francisco and Brad Snyder

I point out this battle not so much to sing the praises of Francisco or Snyder as to emphasize that Gutierrez doesn't have a stranglehold on the job. True, he showed decent power in a half-season of at-bats, but he doesn't have the plate discipline or pedigree to suggest pitchers won't figure him out in due time. Even if the Indians wouldn't want to take another flier on a fringe prospect like Francisco or Snyder, they could always shift third baseman Casey Blake to right field and give Marte another shot at the hot corner. Consider Gutierrez viable only in AL-only leagues.

Cleveland Indians Outlook
Projected lineup Pos. Projected Rotation
1 Grady Sizemore CF 1 C.C. Sabathia LH
2 Asdrubal Cabrera 2B 2 Fausto Carmona RH
3 Travis Hafner DH 3 Jake Westbrook RH
4 Victor Martinez C 4 Paul Byrd RH
5 Ryan Garko 1B 5 Aaron Laffey LH
6 Jhonny Peralta SS Alt Jeremy Sowers LH
7 Casey Blake 3B Top bullpen arms
8 David Dellucci LF CL Joe Borowski RH
9 Franklin Gutierrez RF SU Rafael Betancourt RH
Top bench options RP Rafael Perez LH
R Jason Michaels OF RP Masahide Kobayashi RH
R Andy Marte 3B RP Thomas Mastny RH
Rookies/Prospects Age Pos. 2007 high Destination
1 Adam Miller 23 RH SP Majors Triple-A
Injuries led to disappointing Triple-A year, but his stuff is great.
2 Aaron Laffey 22 LH SP Majors Majors
Doesn't have knockout stuff, but favored to win rotation spot.
3 Chuck Lofgren 22 LH SP Triple-A Triple-A
A little erratic last year; big pitching prospect on team loaded with them.
4 Jordan Brown 24 1B Double-A Triple-A
Young Wally Joyner, but needs to make impact soon at age 24.
5 Wes Hodges 23 3B Class A Double-A
Had solid first pro season; gives Indians fallback for Marte.
Best of the rest: OF Trevor Crowe, 1B Matt Whitney, 2B Jared Goedert, SS Josh Rodriguez, C Matt McBride, 1B/3B Beau Mills, SP Scott Lewis, P Tony Sipp, OF Brad Snyder, SP David Huff, 1B Michael Aubrey, SP Sung-Wei Tseng, OF Ben Francisco.

You can e-mail Scott your Fantasy Baseball questions to dmfantasybaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Indians outlook in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state.