Their starting rotation is thin, headlined by an ace coming off Tommy John surgery that limited him to five starts the past two seasons and a former 19-game winner who was demoted to rookie ball in 2009.

Offensively, two of their top run producers are coming off injury-plagued years, one of them for the second straight season.

The lineup figures to be littered with inexperienced players.

While those would be enough challenges for any team, they’re not the only ones facing the Cleveland Indians in 2010 — not even close.

Their top free-agent acquisition, who was expected to challenge for the team lead in home runs, will open the season on the disabled list.

A bullpen that was one of the American League’s worst last year will be without its closer — their top free-agent acquisition two years ago — who will also open the year on the DL.

The list goes on regarding the questions and doubt for the Indians, a team that finished in a last-place tie in the Central Division with Kansas City last season.

Want more on the Tribe? Pick up today’s Chronicle in print (or read the “E”dition) for our Indians special section. It includes a full-page schedule you’ll want to hang on to, along with picks from the CT’s Chris Assenheimer and Assenheimer’s “Keys to the season” for the Indians. Who’d he pick to go all the way? You’ll have to read to find out, but you probably won’t be surprised to hear … It’s not the Indians.

Do they have a chance to contend for a division title? Yes.

Are the odds against them accomplishing that? YES.

This is what Manny Acta has to work with in his debut season in Cleveland. Not surprisingly, the manager is looking in a more positive direction, believing his club has a legitimate opportunity to succeed.

Why?

“Because it’s baseball, it’s sports and because Kansas just lost,” Acta said shortly after the top-seeded Jayhawks lost to Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. “There’s always the opportunity to rise up.”

True, but making things even more difficult, the Indians are playing in a much-improved division that used to provide nearly everyone with an opportunity to contend.

The Central has long been considered the weakest division in the AL, if not in the majors, but that’s not the case this year.

The White Sox, who many are picking to win the title, have aces Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy atop their rotation.

Minnesota, which is also considered a contender, will christen a new ballpark with a happy defending AL MVP Joe Mauer — he signed a lucrative long-term contract in spring training — and former MVP Justin Morneau.

Detroit brings back a power-packed lineup led by slugger Miguel Cabrera, and one of the division’s top starting pitchers in Justin Verlander.

Even the Royals have something big to offer in Zack Greinke, the defending AL Cy Young award winner.

Acta concedes the division has improved, but still sees it as a winnable one with plenty of parity.

“There are people that like to call our division weak, instead of the most balanced one,” he said. “Any team can win in any given year. That’s why I love this division. There’s not one big club in the division that says they’re going to run away with it.”

To contend, the Indians will have to draw from their strength, which is expected to be offense. Though Cleveland hasn’t had problems scoring runs in recent years, there are no guarantees in this department, either.

Gone are some of the top run producers from a year ago — Victor Martinez, Mark DeRosa and Ryan Garko — leaving the Indians to bank on a return to form for center fielder Grady Sizemore and designated hitter Travis Hafner, both of whom struggled through injuries and a lack of productivity last year.

Then there is the youth movement that is expected to infiltrate the lineup, with Michael Brantley (left field), Luis Valbuena (second base), Lou Marson (catcher) and Matt LaPorta (first base) projected as starters despite none of them ever playing a full season in the big leagues.

“I’m not at all concerned (about our offense),” said Acta, who, in one of his first orders of business upon taking over for Eric Wedge, moved Sizemore to the second spot and replaced him atop the order with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. “I still think this team is going to be able to score runs. The addition of Russell (Branyan) is going to help. I think our offense is going to be fine.”

Unfortunately, Branyan, whom the Indians signed after he produced a career year in Seattle in 2009, will begin the year on the disabled list with a herniated disk in his lower back.

But Sizemore and Hafner looked like their old selves this spring and they will be joined by some legitimate weapons in Cabrera, who hit .308 and stole 17 bases in 131 games last year, and right fielder Shin-Soo Choo. Choo appears poised to have a breakout season after being one of just four players in the majors to bat .300 with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases a year ago.

Third baseman Jhonny Peralta has proved he can produce runs, but is coming off a down year (.254 and 11 HRs).

Unlike past years, the Indians will mix in some speed, with a number of players capable of stealing 20 bases — three of them in the outfield in Sizemore, Brantley and Choo.

“I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys out there,” said Sizemore, a three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove award winner.

Hafner, who is looking to stay on the field more this year in an effort to produce numbers similar to the ones he generated as an elite hitter from 2004-07, is also optimistic.

“I’m really excited about our offense,” Hafner said. “We’re going to have a lot of speed and also some guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. I think, just in general, up and down the lineup there’s going to be a lot of really good hitters.

“I think we’ll be able to score runs in bunches and I think we’ll be able to score one run here or there late in ballgames when we need to.”

Even if that’s the case, ultimately it figures to come down to pitching, and this is where the Indians pale in comparison to most of their AL rivals.

Cleveland’s entire rotation is suspect.

The ace, Jake Westbrook, is returning from reconstructive right elbow surgery, and the second starter, Fausto Carmona, is coming off two disappointing seasons that followed a Cy Young-like effort in 2007.

Carmona appears to be the key. If he can rekindle the magic he produced three seasons ago, that should take some pressure off Westbrook and the rest of the rotation.

“It’s not a secret. We just need our starting rotation to get better,” Acta said.

“I’m not going to complain about our position players, ever. We’ve got talent.

It’s those guys (in the rotation) being able to take a step forward.

“We’re not just talking about Fausto.

All those guys need to take a step forward.”

That includes the final three starters— Justin Masterson, David Huff and Mitch Talbot — three pitchers who have never spent a full season in a big league rotation, though Huff, as a rookie last year, led Cleveland with 11 wins in 23 starts.

The starting staff doesn’t exactly conjure up memories of the Braves’ dominant rotation of years past.

“The doom and gloom to me comes from there being a lot of guys that we’re unsure of what they’re going to do,” said one of those guys, Masterson, who enters his first season as a full-time starter after spending the majority of the past two years pitching out of Boston’s bullpen. “Carmona hasn’t been as good as he was but that doesn’t mean he can’t be as good again, and if Jake Westbrook comes off the injury, I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”

No matter how the rotation performs, the bullpen still has to finish off games, which was a problem last year and doesn’t figure to get any easier, with closer Kerry Wood (strained muscle in his back) on the shelf to start the season.

While right-hander Chris Perez was being groomed to close games in the future, it wasn’t supposed to happen this soon. And his elevation from the primary setup man has left the rest of the relievers out of place.

“We’re just going to have to mix and match to get the ball to Chris in the ninth,” Acta said. “It’s going to be challenging because now you have guys in roles that they weren’t supposed to be in.” Challenging might just be the best way to describe the Indians’ bid for a division title and a postseason appearance. But as Acta claims, there is always a chance.

That’s why they play the games.

“I feel good about the team,” Peralta said. “Everybody’s ready to go. I know we have a lot of young guys, but they can play hard. I think we’re going to compete for the division.”

We shall see.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.