"Pretend that Grady Sizemore never spent his career with the Indians, that his career had been spent with the Kansas City Royals.

Sizemore is now 29, and a free agent.

You are the frugal Tribe with $9 million of an estimated $70 million budget to spend on Sizemore. You already have $13 million committed to Travis Hafner, a player with his own history of injuries. You are expected to gamble $7 million more on Fausto Carmona because you need starting pitchers. Carmona is inconsistent on the mound, but durable in terms of making nearly all of his starts.

That's $20 million on two players whose performance for 2012 is hard to project.

Do you invest another $9 million in Sizemore, who has missed more games in the past three years than he has played?

Remember, you haven't been watching Sizemore come through your farm system. You didn't see him mature into a three-time All-Star (2006-08). He has simply been a very good player on another team who has had five different operations in the past three years -- including major microfracture knee surgery.

Would there be a serious debate in the Tribe front office about giving Sizemore the $9 million if he had not played so well for them in the past?

The Indians often say when it comes to signing a player, make sure you are paying him for what he WILL do, not simply what he has done in the past.

In the past three seasons, Sizemore has played 210 games . . . missed 276.

His batting average in those 210 games is .235 with 28 homers and 109 RBI.

In 835 at-bats, he has fanned 212 times and walked 87. "