Question of the future: Sizemore or Brantley

CLEVELAND: The question was premature, but nonetheless relevent to the way the Indians assemble their 2011 roster.

Who will play center field, Grady Sizemore or Michael Brantley? Sizemore has missed the entire 2010 season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee. Brantley is in the midst of his rookie season and has not yet established himself as a fixture on the club.

""The first thing we'll have to do is see how Grady comes back from that injury,'' manager Manny Acta said this afternoon. ""And it's so far away.''

The procedure doctors performed on Sizemore is not one that can be taken for granted. There is no assurance that Sizemore's left knee will be as good as new next spring, when he comes to training camp. However, because the surgery was performed by a noted specialist and because he is in a favorable age group, complete recovery is a good possibility.

Sizemore aqnd Brantley have the same plusses defensively: speed, and neither has a rocket arm.

""Brantley is so good out there, but so is Grady,'' Acta said. ""Grady is a sxuperstar. It does give us a glimpse of what we have in the outfield with Grady, Brantley and (Shin-Soo) Choo.''

If Sizemore is healthy, the odds are that he will not be supplanted in center. That would leave Brantley in left field and Choo in right.