Hello Tribe fans everywhere!

The Cleveland Indians used to dominate the Cincinnati Reds during their annual inter-league series, but no more. It was the Reds who flexed their muscles in a three-game sweep over the weekend. The losses bumped the Tribe out of first place and reminded Indians fans of a very bad trade.

Brandon Phillips might be a loudmouth and a braggart, but, man, can he play baseball. Worse, he's exactly what the Indians need -- a power-hitting middle infielder who can run and hit for average. The Indians more or less gave him away because they didn't like his attitude. That trade and the Kevin Kouzmanoff-for-Josh Barfield deal with San Diego really hurt the Indians.

Kouzmanoff, a third baseman, is batting .270 for the Padres, while Barfield continues to languish in the minors, where he's batting about .250. The Indians must feel Barfield does not have a future as a big leaguer. Otherwise, he'd be up in Cleveland and Jamey Carroll, who's hitting .194, would be on the bench.

It looks as if the Tribe will have to make a trade, which means they'll be forced to part with one of their young pitchers -- Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers. What a pity it would be to trade one of these two, especially when it looks as if the Indians will be without C.C. Sabathia and Paul Byrd in 2009.

I'm a fan of Mark Shapiro, but trading Phillips and Kouzmanoff really hurt the club. It appears the decisions to re-sign Jake Westbrook and Travis Hafner are also turning out to be horrible calls. Westbrook has become injury prone and Hafner appears to have lost it. And now the Indians have nearly $100 million locked up in those two players -- money that could have been spent to resign Sabathia.

I guess the Tribe will have to make a deal to add some offense to the lineup. The Indians can't keep limping along with these hitless wonders. The shame of it is that the starting rotation has pitched so superbly.

It's not Shapiro's fault that the Indians can't hit, but he's the one who assembled this crew and must accept responsibility for their failure.

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Quickie quiz: Name the Texas banker who played a solid third base for the Tribe in the 1960s.

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-- Kevin Cuneo