"Lemons at new-car prices? What a deal.

Everyone keeps asking when the Dolans will spend money. They apparently mean besides the money spent on Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore and Fausto Carmona.

Maybe never, but certainly not until they lose the ball and chain that accounts for $27 million of a sub-$50 million payroll.

That the Indians are even contending for the division title approaching July 4 is both a product of a struggling division and fairly remarkable when you consider the current return on their investment in such crucial roster spots.

At least the Dolans haven't blamed certain underachieving players the way New York Mets ownership did earlier this year, the way the Steinbrenner family has pointed fingers once a summer for the past 25 years.

Hafner looks healthy. His swing looks simplified again almost like the old days, minus the consistent power surge. The reason he's mentioned with Carmona and Sizemore this season is less his production in 2011 than the fact he'll make $13 million in 2011 and $13 million next season.

The Indians hold a club option on Hafner for another $13 million in 2013. The buyout is $2.75 million. So the best-case scenario is they'll pay him $28.75 million, counting this season.

Carmona isn't in that stratosphere, unless you're talking about the proximity of his head to the clouds. He makes $6.1 million this year. The Indians have the first of three club options at $7 million next season. The best you can say for Carmona is that he's been durable and that his issues aren't injury-related (but soon could be, if he doesn't fix his delivery).

It's difficult to believe we could be talking about Sizemore as the clunker of the Big Three, especially the way he hit when he joined the lineup in late April.

Sizemore is 20-108 since returning to the lineup May 27. Sizemore has always compiled strikeouts, even at his best, but not quite with the regularity currently on display. Suffice to say "I Strike Out More Than Grady Sizemore" has a Facebook page.

He is making $7.5 million this year with a club option for $9 million in 2012. In the early years of his deal he was one of baseball's best bargains. Not so much anymore. Lately, his issues have followed him from the batter's box to the outfield. "