Until the last couple of weeks, I was picking the Indians to win the Central Division.

That might have been going out on a bit of a limb. To pick them after what has transpired as of late would be stepping out on a twig.

With a starting rotation of Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Masterson, Fausto Carmona, Derek Lowe and Josh Tomlin, one had to at least concede there was a chance the Indians could unseat the Tigers in the Central.

After all, pitching wins games, right? And when you throw in one of the American League’s top bullpens over the past two years, Cleveland had plenty of it to contend with a Detroit team that had just lost key cog and former Indian Victor Martinez to a season-ending knee injury.

Who cares how bad the Indians’ offense was going to be? Pitching would keep them in the hunt against the depleted Tigers and the rest of their division rivals.

That was so two weeks ago.

Cleveland’s rotation no longer includes Carmona or Roberto Hernandez Heredia — whatever his name is — because the pitcher is being detained without a visa in the Dominican Republic after being arrested on false identity charges.

The now-31-year-old right-hander is not likely to make it to Goodyear, Ariz., for the start of spring training, and the Indians really don’t know when they can expect to see Carmona back on the mound in a Cleveland uniform.

Some would say, big deal. Carmona hasn’t come close to duplicating his 2007 close-to-Cy Young form and the Indians are better off without him and his off-field issues.

They would be wrong.

Carmona, who certainly has committed no heinous crime, might not be the pitcher he was in ’07 but, when healthy, he’s good for 30-plus starts — some of them quality ones.

And even if he is three years older than thought, Carmona isn’t exactly at the end of his career. There is the possibility he could rekindle the magic that made him one of the AL’s elite starting pitchers. Believe me, manager Manny Acta and the Indians were expecting big things from Carmona in 2012.

To fill the void for however long it might be, the Indians have to turn to Kevin Slowey, Jeanmar Gomez or David Huff — and that is a big deal.

It puts the rotation’s fifth spot in the hands of an unproven pitcher and more pressure on the rest of the starters to pick up the slack.

Still, the Carmona news was nothing in comparison to the bomb that got dropped on Progressive Field on Thursday, when it became official that three-time All-Star Prince Fielder was taking his talents to Detroit.

I mean, what are the odds. Detroit? Really, Prince? After being in Milwaukee for the past seven years, you would think the guy might want to go somewhere sunny, which would have taken every team in the Central Division out of the running.

So … just when the Indians, who certainly didn’t celebrate the injury to one of their most popular players back in the day, had gotten a reprieve from a top-shelf Tigers lineup, it got even better than projected with Fielder replacing Martinez. That means two of the AL’s most lethal weapons will be hitting in the middle of Detroit’s batting order in Fielder and Miguel Cabrera.

The Indians have been searching all offseason for a big bat at first base. They’ve been unsuccessful, and to make it sting a little more, they saw the biggest player on the free-agent market outside of Albert Pujols go to the defending division champ.

You could almost hear Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski saying, “Not so fast, Indians.”

All of a sudden, Cleveland’s hopes of toppling the Tigers in 2012 don’t look nearly as bright.

The Indians are still in search of someone other than Matt LaPorta to open the season at first base and help strengthen an otherwise weak lineup that can’t just be carried by All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and catcher Carlos Santana.

Who knows what Cleveland is going to get from Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner, and Shin-Soo Choo is coming off a sour season that included injuries and a DUI arrest. Beyond that, there are no proven commodities in the lineup.

There’s still the bullpen, right? Well, bullpens are fickle by nature, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the relief corps take a step back after two sparkling seasons. I’m not saying that’s going to happen. Just don’t be shocked if it does.

Acta remained confident the Indians could still win the division as of Thursday, and general manager Chris Antonetti called the Indians a contender before the Carmona and Fielder news.

But let’s just say it’s a good thing MLB is considering adding another wild-card spot this season. The Indians are going to need it.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

STRONGSVILLE — Manny Acta was warmly greeted in the hallway by Slider, the Indians’ pink mascot, who wrapped his furry arms around Cleveland’s affable manager.

Acta

After the week he’s had, Acta needed a hug.

First, Acta learned that pitcher Fausto Carmona, his countryman from the Dominican Republic and one of his starters, was arrested on charges he falsified his identity to play in the U.S. Then, the Indians, who have spent the winter trying to add a powerful bat to their lineup, got news that Prince Fielder, the biggest free-agent bat of them all, had signed with Detroit.

Suddenly, catching the Tigers in the AL got a whole lot tougher.

“I would have preferred him to sign somewhere else, but we can’t worry about that,” Acta said, smiling. “We have to worry about our ballclub getting better and taking the next step. So we’ll just deal with it.”

Acta and several of his players kicked off “Tribe on Tour” Thursday, a four-day event where the Indians will stop at shopping malls around Northeast Ohio and interact with their fans, some of whom are still reeling from Fielder’s decision to sign a nine-year contract that will pay him at least $23 million per season until 2020.

The Indians don’t have that kind of money to throw around — not now, and probably not ever. However, just because Fielder landed with the division champions, Acta’s focus hasn’t changed for 2012. Cleveland challenged for nearly five months last season before injuries caused it to fade.

Acta is confident his team will contend again.

“We know what we have and we know what we have to work with,” Acta said. “Before the offseason started we weren’t targeting the guy who signed with L.A. (Albert Pujols) and the guy who just signed with Detroit. We’re just going to have to do it with our internal options. They played pretty well last year for 4 1/2 months, so we have to keep them on the field and we have to take the next step and go from there.

“We can’t sell dreams to people.”

Acta said there’s still a chance the Indians, who reportedly pursued first baseman Carlos Pena before he re-signed with Tampa Bay, could sign a hitter before the offseason ends. Acta has been a “witness” to general manager Chris Antonetti’s efforts to improve a team that went 80-82 last season.

The Indians have protected themselves this winter by inviting 20 non-roster players to camp with the goal of adding depth in case of injuries.

They don’t know when — or if — Carmona will be able to be with them in Arizona this season as he works through his legal entanglement. On Thursday, Carmona, whose real name is believed to be Roberto Hernandez Heredia, was placed on Major League Baseball’s restricted list.

The move allows the Indians to open a spot on their 40-man roster. Also, the club does not have to pay Carmona until he reports to the team and there’s no guarantee that will happen. He’s scheduled to make $7 million this season after the club exercised its option on him in October.

Authorities say Carmona, who was arrested last week in Santo Domingo, is 31 and not 28 as he had claimed and the Indians believed.

Acta has been in daily contact with Carmona. However, he said he could not comment on any specifics regarding the pitcher’s case, the latest involving a player from the Dominican Republic lying about his age and birthdate to play in the U.S.

Sadly, the deception has been a common practice in a country where baseball is the only avenue to a better life for many.

Acta feels baseball has made strides in fixing the problem.

“I believe Major League Baseball is doing a tremendous job right now to help better the system, but it’s been a flawed system for a long time,” he said. “You can be 21 and be a first-round pick out of college here, but when was the last time that anyone that signed out there that you knew he was 21?

“It’s a system in the past that has forced those kids to do some of that stuff. It’s getting better. They’re doing a good job of trying to fix the problem.”

Carmona’s loss leaves a hole in Cleveland’s starting rotation Acta knows won’t be easy to fill.

“You don’t find 200 innings in every corner of America, and just two years ago he pitched 210 quality innings,” he said. “But life goes on.”

The Indians signed relief pitcher Dan Wheeler to a minor league contract Thursday that includes an invitation to big league spring training camp.

The 34-year-old right-hander is a 12-year veteran that spent last season with Boston. He owns a lifetime record of 25-43 with a 3.88 ERA in 577 games.

The Indians placed pitcher Fausto Carmona on Major League Baseball’s restricted list, which means they are not responsible for the right-hander’s salary as he sorts out his legal problems in the Domincian Republic.

While on the restricted list, Carmona does not count against the club’s payroll or its 25- and 40-man rosters.

Carmona was arrested last week in the Dominican Republic on false identity charges that claim his real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia and that the pitcher is 31 years old, not 28, as listed in the Cleveland media guide.

Carmona has been released but has not obtained a visa to return to America and most likely will not be in Goodyear, Ariz., when pitchers and catchers report Feb. 19.

— Chris Assenheimer

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.