Hello Tribe fans everywhere!

If the Indians are so impressed with the work of Josh Barfield this spring, then maybe they should go ahead and make the infield moves everyone believes they will eventually make in the future. That is, shift shortstop Jhonny Peralta to third base, Asdrubal Cabrera to shortstop and put Barfield back at second base. Peralta probably wouldn't be pleased, but Cabrera is a natural shortstop, and Barfield played a solid second base in 2007. Josh's defense was more than satisfactory -- it was at the plate where he looked so weak.

Until last season, Barfield had always hit. He compiled a lifetime .300 batting average in the minor leagues and hit .280 in 150 games for San Diego in 2006. Maybe he just had an off-year at the plate for the Tribe last season. He's tried to make amends by spending weeks working with Cleveland batting coach Derek Shelton, and he also reviewed his entire season, clip by clip, with his father, former American League home run champ Jesse Barfield.

Josh Barfield reported to camp in excellent condition and has impressed everyone with his hustle, potent bat and positive attitude. At this point, GM Mark Shapiro and Manager Eric Wedge rave about Barfield's upside, but it still looks as if he's headed to Buffalo. He has two minor league options remaining and the Indians appear ready to go with Cabrera at second and Peralta at short. Casey Blake is an adequate third baseman, but he can also play the outfield, which I think would be a better overall solution for the club.

I suppose you could argue that, because the Indians are coming off a successful season, why should they roll the dice and mix up three-quarters of their infield? But the only question mark is: can Peralta play third base? Because he's been a shortstop for practically his entire career, we assume he can play third, but I guess nothing is certain in baseball.

If the Indians could remove some of the pressure Peralta feels on defense, perhaps he would turn into a real slugger -- a 30 home run, 100 RBI guy.

It all comes back to Barfield, and whether he can hit .265 this season. If he could do that and steal 20 bases, the move would make a lot of sense. When Cabrera played a couple of innings at shortstop at the end of a recent spring game, everyone said he looked like the second coming of Omar Vizquel. Getting better defense at that key position would be huge for Cleveland. I thought Peralta was much improved defensively in 2007, but he's still far from being a golden glove performer at short.

Say the Indians are serious about being impressed by Barfield's improvement. What have they got to lose? Hey, if worse comes to worse and after two weeks nobody's happy or productive, then you send the kid down to Buffalo.

I'd take a chance and make the move, but, then again, nobody is asking my opinion -- despite 37 years of solid support for the Tribe from the cheap seats.

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The answer to the last quickie quiz: Fausto Carmona was 17 when he started pitching in the Indians minor league system.

Today's quiz: How did the Indians acquire Shin-soo Choo?

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-- Kevin Cuneo