The Indians shocked the local and national baseball world last night when news came down the pipe that they had reached agreement on a four-year $48 million deal with free agent Michael Bourn. For days and weeks the Indians gave no indication they were in on him and that their payroll was maxed out, and they made a key strike at the start of spring training which improves the club in a lot of ways. The IBI's Jake Dungan recaps the signing and provides some thoughts on what the deal means.

The IBI's 2013 Indians Top 60 Prospect countdown continues on with second baseman Cord Phelps. He is a solid player that has proven to be a good offensive performer with the bat at the Triple-A level, but has yet to prove himself in limited opportunities at the big league level. He also lacks much versatility, which hurts since Jason Kipnis is entrenched at second base in Cleveland. Tony breaks down his offensive abilities, his defensive shortcomings, and what positions he may play in the near future in this detailed scouting report.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight for a special half hour edition from 11:00pm – 11:30pm EST. Indians Baseball Insiders Tony Lastoria and Jim Pete talk about the stunning signing of outfielder Michael Bourn to a four year $48 million deal and talk about all the ways his deal impacts the team.

With Spring Training just beginning, the Cleveland Indians made one more splash by agreeing to terms with free agent outfielder Michael Bourn on a four-year deal. The team went above and beyond their self-proclaimed budget to make the deal and get the best position player left on the market.

It is officially draft season. The football draft season is gearing up with the combine occurring this month, and the baseball draft season is just kicking into gear as the college and high school seasons will soon begin. Everyone is releasing their top 100 lists, and we are beginning to see the crystallization of draft boards. IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis puts together his first list of top 2013 Draft prospects, and gives us an idea of the talent the Indians may have to choose from with their first pick this iJune.

Tony is hard at work finishing up the new 2013 Indians Baseball Insider prospect book, and he shares a quick update today where he is at with it, when it may be available, and how it can be purchased. The book continues to grow every year, and this edition may be the first to feature 200 scouting reports.

The IBI's 2013 Indians Top 60 Prospect countdown continues on with outfielder LeVon Washington. Last season he once again struggled with injuries, and as a result he was unable to consistently stay on the field to develop his raw tools on offense and defense. He is a tremendous athlete with tons of ability, but needs a healthy season this year to realize his potential, and Tony breaks down all his abilities and some areas of opportunity in this detailed scouting report.

Today marks the first day for pitchers and catchers to report to Goodyear, Arizona for spring training. In keeping with the season, the IBI's Jim Piascik and Steve Orbanek continue with their 2013 chain e-mail positional previews, and touch on the outfield in this edition. The outfield certainly has a much different look when compared to last year's squad, so join Jim and Steve as they offer their takes after the jump...

The Indians have reportedly agreed to terms on a minor league deal with free agent right-handed pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. The deal has not yet been made official as he still has to take and pass his physical, but if he makes the team and is added to the roster he will make $1.5 million and has incentives in his deal which could push it up to $4 million.

Spring training is finally here. While most have already reported, pitchers and catchers will officially report to Goodyear today and tomorrow and thus begins the journey that is the Indians' 2013 season. Over the course of the seven weeks of camp the Indians will need to make several roster decisions, and Tony goes through them all in great detail in today's edition of Tribe Happenings.

The IBI's 2013 Indians Top 60 Prospect countdown continues on with first baseman Chun Chen. Chen has proven to have a solid, productive bat in the minors, but he lacks a regular position which hurts his value. Last season he moved from catcher to first base, and Tony provides all the details on how that transition is going and if he has a Major League future there, plus takes a look at his hitting potential in this detailed scouting report.

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed free free agent designated hitter/first baseman Jason Giambi to a Minor League contract with a non-roster invitation to Major League camp. Giambi, 42, owns a career Major League batting average of .280 (1968-for-7021) with 395 doubles, 9 triples, 429 home runs and 1405 RBI over 18 seasons and 2163 games since debuting with Oakland in 1995.

The IBI Digest catches you up on anything you might have missed over the past week at Indians Baseball Insider and also notes some of the more popular columns posted at the major news sites and blogs.

Well now we get to the fun stuff. That’s right, today we will discuss the “The Bullpen Mafia” as Clevelanders have so affectionately branded the Indians relief corps. Outside of maybe Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo in San Francisco, the Tribe probably has the most unique, fun-loving bunch of characters to ever occupy a major league bullpen. The IBI's Jake Dungan continues his four-part series with a comparison between the 2012 opening day bullpen and this season's projected opening day bullpen.

The IBI's 2013 Indians Top 60 Prospect countdown continues on with right-handed pitcher Jake Sisco. Sisco came out of nowhere in 2011 as he shot up draft boards and looked like a steal for the Indians in the third round of the draft, but his lackluster showing last season leaves many questions about him that need answered. Did he just have a bad year and his 2011 campaign is his true self, or was 2011 the outlier and last season was what he really is? Tony breaks it all down in this detailed scouting report.

There's only two days left until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, so in the spirit of the season, the IBI's Steve Orbanek debuts the first edition of the Spring Training Notebook. This week, Steve looks at five burning questions for the Indians as the team heads into spring training. Who will be the team's fifth starter and who will fill in as backup catcher? Steve offers his take on these questions and more after the jump.