I’ll identify the player later this week.

Post your guesses in the comments section.

– Rick Green (follow me @ETNrgreen)

A.J. Burnett carried the Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching staff for most of 2012.

He was rewarded for his 16-10 season by being named the starter for opening day against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on April 1.

Wandy Rodriguez is scheduled to start the team’s second game.

– Rick Green (follow me on Twitter @ETNrgreen)

Fans of the struggling Cleveland Indians still have something to celebrate.

The Akron Aeros won their fourth Eastern League title since 2003 with Saturday night’s 6-1 victory over the Trenton Thunder at Waterfront Park. Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate celebrated after clinching the teams’ best-of-five series in four games.

The Aeros insured themselves the title thanks to a three-run ninth inning. Adam Abraham and Ryan Rohlinger highlighted their victory, as each recorded two hits and an RBI.

– Mike Copper

Chris Cron is a doting baseball dad when he’s not managing the Erie SeaWolves.

His current enthusiasm is justified, given his elder son’s feat.

C.J. Cron, a first baseman for the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers, was the team’s leader in batting average (.296) and home runs (26) going into Thursday’s California League game action.

That doesn’t take into account Cron’s leagues-leading 122 RBIs.

That’s right. Leagues, as in plural.

According to milb.com, the 2011 first-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has driven in more runs than any sanctioned minor league baseball player this season.

“He’s had a heck of a year so far,” Chris Cron said. “He went out there to do certain things and set certain goals, and I think he’s exceeded them. The main goal this year, of course, was his health. He’s been healthy for a full year, and he’s enjoying the hell out of it.”

– Mike Copper

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The Cleveland Indians’ chances for making the playoff this season are bleak. The Indians have lost 16 of their past 20 games to effectively end postseason hopes.

The Tribe are 11 1/2 games back in the AL Central and 10 games behind the wild card leaders (through Friday).

So, what’s next? The Indians can start to figure out how they’re going to contend in 2013. First, say goodbye to Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore. Re-signing either of the oft-injured, former star players would be a foolish move. Sure they might return to form some day, but hasn’t that been what the team has banked on for the past three-plus seasons?

Trading Shin-Soo Choo is an option. His agent is Scott Boras and the Tribe won’t be able to hold onto him — without paying above market value — after 2013 anyway, plus Choo could bring back a quality power bat or power arm in return.

Trading Chris Perez  also is an option. The bullpen is the strength of this team and it’s the easiest thing to put together. With Vinnie Pestano, the Tribe have a ready-made closer in waiting. Perez could bring back new talent or some prospects to help re-stock the farm system.

The Indians have a decent core (Choo, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana, Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Zach McAllister, Pestano and Perez), but there are still many unknowns.

Will Lonnie Chisenhall be the answer at third base? Can Casey Kotchman return to his 2011 form at first base? Will the front office make a move to add a substantial piece or two to the Indians’ core?

There still are more than 40 games left in this season, but Indians fans likely are more interested in next year’s team at this point.

–Tony Battaglia

Check out Ben Revere’s sick over-the-shoulder catch against the Red Sox. Plus, he turns it into a double play.

– Rick Green

The Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates come into their interleague series licking their wounds this weekend.

The three-game series, which starts Friday at Progressive Field, features a pair of second-place teams — in their respective divisions — that were just swept in separate interleague matchups. Both pitching staffs were worked over as the Tribe lost three straight to the host Reds and the Pirates were swept by the Orioles.

Facing off with identical 32-30 records to start, the Indians and Pirates come into the three-game set with a .500 (15-15) all-time series mark.

Get more details on the series here.

–Tony Battaglia

Chicago White Sox starter Philip Humber made history Saturday.

Humber threw the 21st perfect game in major league history in a 4-0 victory over the host Seattle Mariners.

Humber completed the feat in just 96 pitches, but he got a little help from the umpire on the final strike to end the game.

Read more about Humber’s outing here.

–Tony Battaglia

It was the kind of conclusion suited for late autumn game, not early spring.

Regardless of  season, though, the Erie SeaWolves posted one of their greatest comebacks at Jerry Uht Park with Saturday afternoon’s 11-10 victory over Bowie. Those left in the crowd of 1,012 saw Erie tie the game with four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, highlighted by Tony Plagman’s two-out, three-run home run, and win it in the bottom of the 10th on shortstop Niuman Romero’s RBI single over the Baysox’s drawn-in outfield.

The improbable outcome marked the first time that Erie (4-4) won consecutive games in this young Eastern League season.

– Mike Copper

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Those who love baseball statistics and history are in for a treat.

In a massive undertaking that spanned more than a decade of research by the Baseball Hall of Fame and others, statistics have been compiled for the Negro Leagues and are available on baseball-reference.com. The stats run from 1903 until 1948 when the leagues started to disband.

Curious about the roster for the 1932 Pittsburgh Crawfords? The team had two of the greatest Negro Leaguers in Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. Those and the names and statistics of many great players from that era are included.

It’s a great addition to the site.

–Tony Battaglia