Many sports fans and talk show hosts who choose (or are simply incapable of anything greater) a shallow view of the Cleveland sports scene perceive Showalter's presence as that of a manager-in-waiting. If Eric Wedge falters, Showalter is ready and waiting to take over the reigns. We here at CursedCleveland.com don't believe this is the case.

The Indians organization has denied the existence of any order of succession behind Wedge and claim that Showalter is in the fold simply as an advisor and assistant to Shapiro and Wedge. Since no professional sports organization has ever lied to or misled the media and general public before, we won't expect anything less of the Indians...

Still, Showalter's presence presents a predicament for the entire organization, although Wedge and his staff may be put in the most difficult situation.

Buck Showalter despises facial hair and has banned it at his prior big league stops. With the Indians being a fairly young team that has lacked the discipline to penetrate baseball's second season under the tutelage of Wedge, it isn't out of the question for Showalter to get into Shapiro's ear and suggest that his ultra-conservative grooming policy be enacted with the Tribe.

While players have never appreciated relinquishing their freedoms in the past, it may not be a major issue with the 2007 Tribe. At last check, the only Tribesmen to sport any bristle of significance were CC Sabathia, Paul Byrd, Roberto Hernandez, Jason Davis, and Matt Miller. With Davis and Miller fighting to make the team it shouldn't take much to entice them to pick up the Gillette Fusion. The consummate team player, Byrd would gladly do anything for the betterment of the whole (It remains to be seen if upon releasing his "fastball" Byrd could shave his entire goatee before the ball reaches the catchers glove - Vegas has 2-1 odds in favor of the shave)

Hernandez is old enough that he may need to utilize his facial hair in a follicle transplant to fix the growing bald spots on his head. At the same time, Sabathia would probably agree to shave in exchange for a steak dinner and half-dozen cupcakes.

The problem lies within the Indians coaching staff. While inconsequential staff members such as the bullpen catchers, bench coach and first base coach sport the clean-shaven look, the heart of Eric Wedge's coaching staff enjoy sporting the grizzled look. If Showalter's rule were to be imposed, pitching coach Carl Willis and hitting coach Derek Shelton would be forced to prune their whiskers, potentially leading to a level of alienation and discomfort that could affect their performance and in-turn work its way down through the two facets of the game that they coach: pitching and hitting. Of course upon finding his team suddenly struggling to hit and pitch, manager Eric Wedge would no longer have his secret weapon readily available: the impromptu growing of the Ron Jeremy porn 'stache.

The absence of this Wedge secret-weapon would in-turn result in Eric having to rely solely on his managerial abilities to keep the club afloat, which of course can't possibly bode well for the Indians' fortunes in 2007.

NEXT UP IN THE CURSEDCLEVELAND.COM SPRING TRAINING REPORT:

Eric Plunk and Albie Lopez visit Winter Haven to teach Fausto Carmona how to control his pitches and how to deal with failure.

Special report by CursedCleveland.com correspondent Juice Brennan