Questions, always questions:

• How much money will the Indians spend on their 2009 payroll?

Before General Manager Mark Shapiro even begins to track down his priority free agents and his most desired trade targets, he will be burdened by about $53 million committed to players under contract next year.

These include stalwarts Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Jhonny Peralta, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez as well as Rafael Betancourt and Masa Kobayashi, who didn't do much to keep the club out of harm's way this year.

The cash obligation for 2009 would be much higher, but the Tribe no longer is responsible for the salaries of C.C. Sabathia, Paul Byrd, Casey Blake, Joe Borowski and Jorge Julio (remember him?), which were worth almost $30 million this year.

Attendance at Progressive Field will fall a couple of hundred thousand short of the predicted 2.4 million, but that might have minimal affect on next season's spending because of income from SportsTime Ohio (even though the TV network is a separate company) and from revenue sharing. Yes, the Tribe probably will receive a handout from its wealthier lodge brothers.

The Indians began 2008 with a payroll of $78 million. I'm guessing it will climb to at least $85 million by next April.

• Who has scored the most runs and amassed the most RBI by getting smacked by a pitch?

Being hit by pitches is not the most celebrated record in baseball, but it certainly didn't hurt the Tribe offense — (at times it hurt certain individuals) — to become all-time American League targets by being thumped 92 times by enemy pitches.

Thirty-two of the players hit have come around to score and five others have driven in a run. That's a pretty good jolt to the attack just for being in the way (or getting in the way). I'm not suggesting that any Tribe batsmen jumped in front of a 95 mph fastball, but when the count is 0-and-2 and the odds of getting a hit are 1-in-5 or worse, sometimes it takes longer for a guy to duck.

The team leaders in runs scored when they are hit by a pitch: Franklin Gutierrez, Sizemore and Jamey Carroll with four apiece. Ryan Garko has driven in two runs by getting struck. He also is the team's overall leader with 14, which ranks among the top five in the American League.

• Is Hafner the Indians' designated hitter of the future?

His contract says yes, because the club owes him $49 million over the next four years, and that's guaranteed money.

But after starting the season mired in the same slump that wore on his psyche last year, then missing 31/2 months with a shoulder injury, there are two things we still don't know about Hafner: What caused his 2007 skid to continue into 2008; and if it was his damaged rotator cuff, is that injury now behind him?

If you as a fan think this issue is troubling, how would you like to be Shapiro, who has to construct the roster?

• Which team will sign Sabathia?

There is only one logical answer: The New York Yankees have the need, the resources and they don't have to worry as much as most teams about making a mistake. That is, if Sabathia were to miss extended time because of injury, well, it's only money.

The Bronx Bombers have been burned by the deal they gave Carl Pavano, who received a long-term deal and spent most of the time on the disabled list. Because of that, General Manager Brian Cashman has been rumored to be gun shy of giving another pitcher a contract of more than four years.

But Hank Steinbrenner seems to be bent on escaping the shadow cast by his father, George. He might insist on signing Sabathia, no matter what.

There is no contending team in the big leagues that needs starting pitching more than the Yankees, and when the season is over, about $90 million of salary will drop off the team's total.

Moreover, when every team knows the Bombers have targeted a player, other clubs often back off, allowing the Yankees to sign the player for a relative bargain price.

It's kind of sad to see the wealthiest teams always getting the tastiest desserts, and it might be even more distressing to Sabathia. As a West Coast guy from Northern California, he has never been enamored of New York, but he practically will be forced to make his living in the Bronx if the Yankees blow everyone else out of the water.

It was in New York, if you recall, that the phrase, ''I'll make him a deal he can't refuse,'' was born.

• Which pitcher has broken the ninth-most bats in major-league baseball this season?

And you probably thought Cliff Lee's finest accomplishment was a 22-2 record. His domination of opposing hitters is one thing, but think about this: Not only has Lee retired his enemies with almost unprecedented consistency, he also has turned 30 of their bats into worthless splinters.

Other than the curiosity factor, is there any significance to this statistic? Maybe. It probably means Lee is adept at pitching inside, and that hitters continually make contact on the handle of the bat rather than the barrel.

When it counts most

There are different methods of measuring clutch hitting.

Driving in important runs from the seventh inning on is a good one. In this regard, the Indians' disappointing season, that is, poor record, necessarily has limited their number of key hits.

But here are the leaders in RBI that either tied the score or gave the Tribe a lead from the seventh inning on.

Bet you can't guess who is best in this category? It's a player who hasn't even been on the roster the entire season. Asdrubal Cabrera has driven in runs to tie the score three times and give the club a lead once, with three singles and one sacrifice fly.

That's not many, but typically, even for a contending team, the top players might only produce eight or nine such RBI.

Peralta also has four late RBI to give the team a tie (3) or a lead (1), but Cabrera has the edge because he has received fewer chances, with 358 overall plate appearances to Peralta's 590.

Tied for third place are Gutierrez, David Dellucci, Garko and Blake with three RBI each. Blake, of course, is now driving in runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Gutierrez and Dellucci have not played every day (395 plate appearances for Gutierrez; 358 for Dellucci).

Sizemore, Ben Francisco and Carroll have two RBI apiece, as do Hafner and Martinez, even though these two have missed much of the season with injuries.