Comments on Indians Prospect Insider: Indians Top 50+ Prospects: #31-40

Anonymous,Thanks for the feedback, and I appreciat...

2008-01-08T09:37:00.000-05:00

Anonymous,

Thanks for the feedback, and I appreciate it.

On Tseng, I probably should have written that a little better, but he consistently throws 91-92 with his fastball and tops out at 94. That came directly from the Indians player development staff. Tseng is a lot like Jensen Lewis as if he is shifted to the bullpen (he eventually will) his velocity should play up to consistently around 93-94 with the switch. Just to verify, I even checked Baseball America and they had him topping out at 95 when he was in Taiwan.

Also, I tried to strike a balance with the list with some of the older types like Sean Smith, Goleski, Mulhern vs the younger projectable types like Pontius, Ryan Morris and Miller, etc. While Sean Smith is more established and looks like at some point he will get a ML shot, he probably is a 5th starter or 4A player, while a guys like Pontius has electric stuff who could be a dominant late inning reliever. Yes, lots of projection there, I know. Plus, in my talks with the Indians org, they LOVE Pontius and are excited about him. Bottom line, I am not too concerned about the actual rankings, but more on providing in depth and accurate scouting reports so people get a grasp who these guys are.

I'm not sure I clarified this before, but I spend about 1-2 weeks in spring training watching the players, talking to them, and talking to scouts/coaches/staff, and over the course of the season visit all the affiliates several times (Kinston and Winter Haven only 1-2 times due to distance). All of the info provided in these scouting reports are from my talks with players, coaches, staff, front office types, scouts, and from baseball people outside the org. I'm not a scout, so I left all my opinions out of this and am just providing the info. I'll likely do a followup piece to all this giving my opinions on guys from what I have seen.

Linger, that's cool on Snyder. I am one of his bi...

2008-01-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

Linger, that's cool on Snyder. I am one of his biggest fans, but just not as high on him as I once was. I agree on Toregas and Alcombrack, although what holds Toregas back and Robbie is their inconsistent offense. Robbie still has a long way to go, so can develop it, and the power is very intriguing. When I sat down and talked to him last summer in Winter Haven, I was suprised with how big he was at that age. Wyatt pretty much is who he is. A solid backup ML receiver with very good defense.

i'm very used to Baseball america inflating guys c...

2008-01-07T08:55:00.000-05:00

i'm very used to Baseball america inflating guys capabilities but tseng does not throw 91-94. he sits in the high 80s and on his best days hits 92-93 a couple times in that game. great job overall tony but alittle too much hearsay on some guys rather than i think actually going out and seeing some guys play and maybe a little too much "projection" for my liking. pontius has done very little in this org. while a guy like sean smith (with an obviously lower ceiling) but still 23 in AAA shouldn't be sitting behind Pontius (as a singular example). but overall thanks for doing this and i guess debate is healthy.

Very nice, Tony.We can agree to disagree on Snyder...

2008-01-04T02:51:00.000-05:00

Very nice, Tony.

We can agree to disagree on Snyder. On this list, I am right along with you except I have both Catchers, Toregas and Alcombrack, rated higher. I give extra value in my rankings by the importance of the position they play and how well they do at the most important tools. The most difficult positions to find are LHP, SS, C and CF. BTW, I watched Alcombrack at the AFLAC and the lad does have power.