"The winter meetings start Monday in Dallas. It's another opportunity for the Indians to close the gap in the AL Central.

They were second in the Central last season, improving from 69 victories to 80, but the gap is still wide. The Indians finished 15 games behind Detroit and just one game ahead of Chicago.

The chasm separating the Tribe from the top of the division goes to the root of wins and losses. It's about money. The Indians play in the MLB's only division featuring three teams with payrolls in excess of $100 million. The White Sox opened last season at $128 million followed by the Twins at $113 million and the Tigers at $106. The Indians started the year at $49 million.

The White Sox, Tigers and Twins will remain over $100 million in 2012. The Indians, meanwhile, are expected to open the year with a 25-man payroll between $60 and $70 million.

GM Chris Antonetti, to date, has been aggressive. He acquired veteran right-hander Derek Lowe from Atlanta for minor-league left-hander Chris Jones. Lowe will make $5 million with the Braves paying the rest of his $15 million contract. Antonetti re-signed free agent outfielder Grady Sizemore for $5 million after initially not exercising his $9 million option. Sizemore, recovering from right knee surgery, had his knee re-examined by Dr. Richard Steadman last week and is on course to be ready for spring training.

Last week, the Indians signed veteran catcher Matt Pagnozzi to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. They'll add more players in that category, as all teams do, in the coming weeks. "