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CLEVELAND, Ohio --

Giovanny Urshela's pursuit of the Indians' third base gig will begin as soon as his left knee fully heals. That could be soon.

Urshela is at the Indians' spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. He has been fielding ground balls hit directly at him, said Carter Hawkins, the club's director of player development. He has not yet progressed to taking batting practice.

The 23-year-old third baseman sprained a ligament in his knee when sliding into third base during a Venezuelan winter league game in November. He underwent an examination in Cleveland, but the team decided against surgery. Urshela was batting .398 (43-for-108) with three home runs and 22 RBIs in winter ball.

Urshela will likely begin the 2015 season at Triple-A Columbus, where he posted a .276/.331/.473 slash line with 13 home runs and 65 RBIs in 104 games last year. The Indians consider him the most skilled defensive third baseman in their organization. They also named him the recipient of the Lou Boudreau Award, given to the top position player in the farm system. Should Lonnie Chisenhall falter, Urshela could get a look.

Hawkins said Urshela should be ready for spring training. Pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear on Feb. 18.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

Re: SPRING TRAINING 2015!

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GOODYEAR, Ariz. --

Tony Clark, executive director of the players association, told reporters Saturday that there was talk about playing spring training games in Cuba this spring, but the details couldn't be worked out in time. Clark added that games could be played there in the future. President Obama in December announced plans to try and normalize relationships with Cuba, a hotbed of baseball talent. "I can simply tell you that there were conversations and dialogue this off-season about the possibility of having spring training games in Cuba, but because everything was relatively new, because nobody was really sure what it meant, we weren't able to put those pieces in play this go-round," said Clark. "I will say to you that it is conceivable somewhere down the road that there may be a spring training game played in Cuba, but it is hard to tell at this point in time." Clark was in Goodyear to conduct the MLBPA's annual spring training meeting with the Indians. Afterward he talked to reporters about several subjects.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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Pitcher Gavin Floyd says he signed with the Indians

in part because he felt manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway could help him, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer writes. Also, Floyd liked the Indians’ chances of winning and welcomed a return to the AL Central, with which he became familiar as a member of the White Sox from 2007-2013. Floyd has also been limited the past two years due to arm injuries, and the Indians have a fairly good track record of getting the most from bounce-back pitchers like Scott Kazmir and Carl Pavano. After missing much of the 2014 season with a broken bone in his elbow, Floyd has been pitching off a mound in Spring Training.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller

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thanks for the Urshela report, Joe. I'd like to see him and Chisenhall battled it out this spring, but I guess that won't happen. I don't think Francona is totally sold on Lonnie so Giovanny should have a fighting chance. I would consider Chisenhall as a possible back up at third and at first and DH, and would prefer a potential gold glover and a right handed hitter at 3rd base.

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I don't know Civ. I thought we improved our team enough this winter to keep up with the big boys in this division. We did add that guy from Oakland if I recall.Moss is his name I think.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller