If the lineup the Indians ran out against the Mariners on Friday night wasn’t the worst since who knows when, it’s a close runner-up, like real close, like outleaned at the finish line close.

This was shades of the old Municipal Stadium days that led to the making of Major League I and II:

• Michael Brantley, CF (.198, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs)

• Asdrubal Cabrera, SS (.269, 2 HRs, 13 RBIs)

• Shin-Soo Choo, RF (.288, 14 HRs, 55 RBIs)

• Jordan Brown, DH (.259, 0 HR, 1 RBI)

• Trevor Crowe, LF (.257, 2 HRS, 30 RBIs)

• Andy Marte, 1B (.210, 4 HRS, 15 RBIs)

• Luis Valbuena, 3B (.169, 2 HRS, 17 RBIs)

• Jason Donald, 2B (.259, 3 HRs, 20 RBIs)

• Chris Gimenez, C (.136, 0 HR, 2 RBIs)

Sounds like runs, doesn’t it? All two of them in a 3-2 loss to the last-place Mariners.

I know the Indians are playing for the future and there weren’t many better options, but couldn’t manager Manny Acta at least have inserted Matt LaPorta and/or Shelley Duncan into the mix? It was almost like he was trying to lose, and with his ace Fausto Carmona on the mound to boot.

That lineup couldn’t beat pitching coach Tim Belcher let alone Seattle right-hander David Pauley, who got his first big league win at the Indians’ expense, throwing mediocre stuff at below-average hitters.

Sick thing is it’s not getting better any time soon, if ever, over the remainder of the regular season. This putrid Indians offense will continue to stink up Progressive Field and wherever else it goes on a regular basis.

Sure, the Indians figure to get Travis Hafner back before the end of the month, all .267, nine HRS, 33 RBIs, of him. Really and sadly, Duncan is probably a better option than Hafner at DH right now anyway.

How about that for a kick in the teeth? Hafner, who is making $11.5 million this season, isn’t much of an improvement, if any, over a guy Cleveland signed to a minor league contract.

And get this, Acta isn’t worried about the offense moving forward.

“I think if we had all our guys healthy (this year), everything would have taken care of itself,” Acta said. “I think this offense has been good for years. We have enough good hitters here. If we can keep them on the field, I’d have no complaints with our offense.”

The Indians will get Carlos Santana and Grady Sizemore back from injuries next year, but Santana started to sag after a hot start and Sizemore hasn’t been the same productive hitter since 2008.

Either way, Acta is dreaming if he thinks his offense is set for 2011.

Preach on

Don’t look for Acta to lighten up on two of his main focal points since spring training – pitchers throwing first-pitch strikes and fielders playing better defense.

“I’m going to die saying it,” Acta said. “We’ve been saying we need to throw more strikes and play better defense over and over and we still have 400 walks and 80 errors. That’s a lot of baserunners scoring.”

Raffy’s recovery

Gotta give some props to reliever Rafael Perez, who has resurrected his career after a terrible start that seemed to signal the left-hander would continue a downward slide that began midway through the 2008 season.

Perez entered Saturday having allowed just four earned runs over his last 32 games (29 1/3 innings).

Herrmann’s monster

Gotta take some away from reliever Frank Herrmann, who has plummeted back down to earth after a lengthy scoreless-innings streak that began in the minors and continued for a respectable time in the majors.

Over his last 16 games (161/3 innings) through Friday, Herrmann had allowed 13 runs on 24 hits and five walks.

A guy who looked as though he was en route to solidifying a spot in the bullpen for 2011 is now a question mark.

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

CLEVELAND – After Travis Hafner (right shoulder inflammation) took his second straight round of positive batting practice Saturday, the designated hitter deemed himself ready for activation from the disabled list.

Hafner was expected to be evaluated Saturday before a decision was made on whether he will be activated or begin a minor league rehab assignment.

“He could be activated without going on rehab,” said manager Manny Acta. “He wasn’t hurt, he was just fatigued. We’ll make a decision on him after he gets evaluated and see how he responded to (Saturday’s) workout.”

The decision is expected to come over the next two days with the Indians hitting the road Tuesday for six games in Kansas City and Detroit.

Hafner said the inflammation in his shoulder is gone and prefers not to make a rehab assignment. It is within his rights to refuse the assignment, but players rarely go against their club’s wishes in this department.

Hafner met with reporters prior to Saturday’s game, but most of the talk centered on the upcoming fantasy football season.

Hafner’s fantasy team name is “Pronk-tically Unbeatable,” but his performance on the field this year has been anything but. Bothered by shoulder issues for the third consecutive season, he is batting .267 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 82 games.

Hafner has missed 208 games over the past three seasons.

Return to relief

Aaron Laffey (left shoulder fatigue) will begin a rehab assignment at Class A Lake County on Monday. When the left-hander is ready to return, he will pitch out of the bullpen.

“We don’t feel it’s going to be productive to ramp him up and get his pitch count up,” Acta said.

Laffey (2-3, 4.62 ERA) has pitched as both a starter and reliever for the past two seasons. His status for 2011 is undecided, but Acta sounded as though he is leaning toward the bullpen.

“I haven’t seen Laffey enough as a starter, but I really like him out of the pen because he’s able to pitch multiple innings with that sinker effective against lefties and righties,” Acta said. “Obviously, his versatility is good for the organization.”

Who’s on third?

Look for the Indians to keep rotating Andy Marte, Luis Valbuena and Jayson Nix at third base until one of them proves he is worthy of consistent playing time at the position.

“The reason it’s a carousel is because no one has stepped up and said, ‘I’m that guy,’” Acta said. “I think we’re going to continue to mix and match over there and get some at-bats for just about every one of them.”

Marte, who started at third Saturday, entered the night batting .212 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 50 games, while Nix was at .256 with seven homers and 14 RBIs in 35 games for Cleveland, and Valbuena was at .167 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 58 games.

Young guns

Even if Jeanmar Gomez (3-0, 1.54 ERA) and Josh Tomlin (1-2, 2.96) continue to pitch effectively out of the rotation, the rookies will still have to earn spots at spring training next year.

“When you don’t have a track record, you don’t just show up at spring training because you have pitched well for two months and have a spot in the rotation,” Acta said.

Meeting of minds

Browns coach Eric Mangini visited Progressive Field before a game earlier in the week, with Acta meeting him personally for the first time.

Mangini, the brother-in-law of general manager Mark Shapiro, and Acta were in New York at the same time in 2006 – Mangini as head coach of the Jets, and Acta as a third base coach for the Mets.

Minor detail

Recently demoted left-hander David Huff improved to 7-0 with a 3.75 ERA for Triple-A Columbus on Friday, allowing three runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings of a 12-4 victory over Louisville.

Roundin’ third

Shin-Soo Choo ranked fourth in the American League with a .339 home batting average through Friday. He is hitting .241 on the road.

• The Indians signed 10th-round draft pick Tyler Holt, an outfielder from Florida State University. Cleveland has yet to agree to terms with its top four selections, which includes the fifth overall pick, LHP Drew Pomeranz (University of Mississippi). The deadline to sign draft picks is midnight Monday.

• Former Indians pitching coach Carl Willis is now performing the same duties with Seattle. Willis, who began the year as Seattle’s minor league pitching coordinator, replaced a fired Rick Adair on the big league level.

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