Indians Prospect Insider

Indians sign Kotchman

2012-02-03T08:34:00.000-05:00

Casey Kotchman

The Cleveland Indians today announced that they have signed free agent first baseman Casey Kotchman to a one-year contract. He will earn $3 million in 2012 and there are incentives in his contract to earn more. The Indians have not yet announced the player that will be removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Kotchman.

Kotchman, 28, played with the Tampa Bay Rays last season and finished 8th in the American League in hitting (.306) and 10th in on-base percentage (.378). He also had 24 doubles, 10 home runs, 48 RBI, and a .800 OPS in his 146 games played. His batting average, on-base percentage, and games played were all career highs. In his 8-year career he is a .268 hitter with 59 HR, 332 RBI and .733 OPS, and where he really helps is his ability to limit strikeouts as he has just 289 strikeouts in 2588 career at bats. He is a former Baseball America MLB Top 25 Prospect for four straight years from 2002-2005 when he was in the Angels system.

Kotchman is a plus defender and should help improve the Indians' infield defense on the right side. Last year he finished the season with a .998 fielding percentage (2 errors in 1201 total chances), leading all Major League first basemen in that category for a fourth consecutive campaign (2008-11). His career .998 fielding percentage (11 errors in 6076 total chances) is the highest in Major League history for those with at least 700 career games at the position.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

The can't miss kids

2012-02-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Matt LaPorta (Photo: AP)

These are the "can't miss kids". Players that are former members of the Top 100 Prospect club as named by Baseball America. With over a thousand players in the minors every season, at one time these "can't miss kids" were considered the best 100 prospects going into that season and were thought to end up being at worst solid major leaguers.

Each player had a pedigree and now has a few flaws which have prevented them from being major leaguers. I am sure the hope for the Tribe is that things will finally click for one or more of these guys and they will pull a Ryan Ludwick and become a late in life All Star.

Here is a listing of five Indians' prospects that were once included in a Top 100 listing. My hope is to show why these players have not lived up to expectations and why they could still end up helping the Tribe at some point.

Thomas Neal - Outfielder

BA peak rank: 96

Flaws: power, declining production, injury

Thomas Neal burst on the scene with a great year in 2009 where in High-A he showed power, contact, and a solid glove. The problem is since he has advanced the power has evaporated, the average has dropped, and his walk to strike out ratio is 1:2. The upside for the Indians is that he should be a guy that is a major league back up at worst. The Indians acquired him for very little cost because he had a down year thanks to injuries. Even in his declined year at Double-A he still posted an OPS near .800. He is a free swinger that does not walk much, but thanks to a solid glove and a right handed bat, he strikes me as a guy who could find a place on the Indians or else were as a 4^th outfielder.

Aaron Cunningham - Outfielder

BA peak rank: 55

Flaws: average, strike outs, lack of power

Cunningham’s peak rank came after a great year that he split between Double-A and Triple-A, which would have seemed to make him a sure bet. He could play all three outfield positions, posted good numbers, and demonstrated doubles power that people thought would develop into home run power. He basically has played extremely well at every level in the minors, but his success has failed to translate to the majors. In the majors he has posted a line of .231/.290/.375, but it should be noted this has only been through 355 at bats. With his prospect pedigree it is surprising that he has never been given a full season to see if he can put it together. As for what he brings to the Tribe, he is a right-hander that has crushed lefties and he can play all three outfield spots which is important with Sizemore’s health issues. I think he has a great chance to make this team as a 4^th outfielder thanks to what he can do. I know a lot of people disliked this deal, but the Tribe got a great athlete that can hit lefties for a pair of six inning arms (which typically have zero trade value).

Nick Weglarz - Outfielder

BA peak rank: 58

Flaws: defense, injury, contact

Nick Weglarz for a long time has been one of the most interesting prospects in the Indians system. The reason was simply because he had a ton of raw power and has been the only major power prospect to come through the Indians system in awhile. Plus he had the bonus of an extremely advanced eye at a young age. He did strike out but his strike out rate typically was 1:1 with his walk rate. But injuries have derailed his once promising career. He just finished his 7^th year in the minors and most would have expected him to have made the majors two to three years ago. It’s hard to get in a groove when injuries keep occurring, and I am sure this has lead to some frustration which could have affected him last season. The decline in stats and the fact he actually spent a year at a lower level than the year before makes his chances seem grim unless he breaks out this year. There is a very good chance he could be out of the system by this time next year. His .179/.360/.303 line last year shows that he still has a good eye at the plate, but the power loss makes one wonder if injuries have robbed him of some of his power.

Andy LaRoche - Third Baseman

BA peak rank: 19

Flaws: everything

This might be a bit cruel as LaRoche was such a huge prospect, but it just hasn’t come together for him. At one point he was the top third base prospect in the entire game, but as we saw with Andy Marte this does not guarantee success. He does play a solid third base, but after one solid season with Pittsburgh where he posted a .731 OPS he has failed to ever come even close to those numbers again. In his time in the majors he has shown no home run power, a 1:1.8 strike out to walk rate, and a low batting average. I don’t think much is expected of him as not many guys would sign with a team that has two third basemen clearly blocking you no matter what you do unless you’re just looking for any job out there. He is the player on this list who might be considered the most talented, yet he has the least chance of helping the Tribe this year and going forward.

Matt LaPorta - First Baseman

BA Peak: 23

Flaws: eye, defense, consistency

Matt LaPorta is one of the more hotly debated players in Cleveland. A lot of people still believe in him at first base, but as I write this the Indians have signed Casey Kotchman (my quick analysis is this is a good signing). This signing shows me there is very little support in the organization for LaPorta as his lack of consistency will be the reason he will be ticketed for Triple-A. He posted a .719 OPS last year, which is not bad. He hardly ever takes a walk but his .299 OBP was still several points above Mark Trumbo, a player many Indians fans wanted the Tribe to get (yes, that's right, LaPorta makes less outs than Trumbo). When you look at his power I think LaPorta could easily project for 17-20 home runs with 35-40 doubles, and while his numbers are solid they just don’t impress for first base. Add in the fact he will look dazed for three weeks, then good for two weeks, and so on. If he was a better defender this might not matter because as they say defense never slumps, but the below average defense mixed with his inconsistency means he could be ticketed for Triple-A for a long time this year. The hope is that he can gain consistency this year and get back to his days in the minors where he still didn’t walk but he also didn’t strike out. If he can do this, then he is a prime candidate to take over as DH after Pronk leaves next season.

The Tribe has had success with this approach in the past with relief arms where they grabbed a bunch of tarnished gems and hoped for them to reestablish value. As this season goes on, some of these players will be counted on to help the Tribe in their quest for the playoffs, so the hope as fans is that at least one of these guys will be able to turn themselves into at worst a league average player.

If I were to bet on one player to do this it would be Matt LaPorta. This might surprise some, but his ability to control the strike zone - which he showed in the minors - is a skill that typically forecasts a degree of future success. Add in that he has shown a degree of success in the majors, then he really only needs some tweaks to go from a slightly below average player to a guy who can be the right handed bat this team is desperate for, and was the reason the Indians acquired him in the first place.

Follow me on twitter @jeffipi

A new IPI is coming

2012-02-02T01:09:00.002-05:00

Okay, as I have been mentioning over the past several months, things are about to change in a big way with the IPI. I had planned on making this change a few months ago, but wanted to make sure it was done right and wanted to take the time to research this new venture I would be getting myself into.

Sometime in the next week the Indians Prospect Insider will be getting a makeover and moving from a site hosted on a blog network (Google’s Blogspot) to an independently hosted website. The site address will stay the same and the site may look quite familiar, but the site has been rebuilt by an actual web designer and will have some cool new features and a new look to it.

This change in host and the recreation of the site was necessitated by the site now going to a premium platform. Many articles on the site – the majority actually – will still be “free” so to speak, but now several articles with inside information, scouting reports, player news, and so on will be hidden behind a pay door and be available only to subscribers.

This was a tough decision and something I had contemplated for years. I had been balancing life between this site as a glorified hobby and a real full time job in the business world. Over time this hobby turned into a job with full time hours of its own – though with minimal pay – and the boundaries between my real job and this site began to overlap.

After what I went through last spring with my kidney cancer diagnosis and the time I had to reflect on things I realized I was overextending myself and needed to either pull the plug on this baseball gig or dive into it full time. When I thought about it more I realized that this is my passion and this is where I want to be. So, I decided to leave the business world last fall and focus on this baseball venture full time. That meant I would need to be creative in finding ways to support myself and my family in order to keep doing this.

I have been contacted by numerous media outlets over the years and very recently to bring the IPI to their site and take over content manager duties, but I wanted to remain independent and see if I can do this on my own first. This is where the new premium membership comes into play.

I understand that for many this will be an immediate turn off and I may lose some readers because of this decision. I will be sorry to see that happen, but I believe in my work and my hope is that many people will find it acceptable to pay the $2-3 a month for a lot of firsthand information that I provide that I believe is informative, accurate, and well researched.

I have not decided on a cost structure yet, but I do not expect an annual membership to cost more than $29.99 ($2.50 a month). There will also be a monthly option as well, though of course will cost more over 12 months than a regular annual subscription. And again, a lot of articles will still be able to be read without a subscription.

With this new venture I have a lot of great ideas and things I want to focus on now that I am doing this full time. I am already working on a weekly web TV show that will be produced in-house, a weekly/monthly radar report with radar gun readings for pitchers I saw that week/month, more specific team coverage with the addition of more writers and site written game recaps, a site scoreboard, an IPI app for the phone, player guest blogs, and lots more. I'll be going to a lot more games, talking to more scouts, and many other things as well. I am also toying with the idea of starting up a Reds Prospect Insider site to complement this one (it would be non-premium).

If you have any thoughts you would like to share on this, please feel free to provide them in the comments section below or by emailing me at tlastoria@indiansprospecinsider.com. I am open to any and all suggestions whether good or bad.

Moving on...

The hope is to have the new site go live on Monday, which is also when the new 2012 Top 50 Indians Prospect countdown will conveniently begin. I have been holding off on that in order to align it with the new site launch.

In addition to that, the new 2012 Cleveland Indians Prospect Insider book is nearing completion. The book will feature scouting reports and player profiles for over 180 players in the Cleveland Indians’ farm system, and have a report written for EVERY SINGLE PLAYER that played stateside last year. Those familiar with the book know there will be lots of other goodies in it as well with tool grades, charts, reference material and lots more. I will share more on the book availability hopefully sometime late next week.

Thanks again for the support and for being loyal readers, and I hope you will join me in the next chapter of the IPI.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.

Indians' Infatuation with Yoenis Cespedes?

2012-02-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

Yoennis Cespedes (Photo: AP)

Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Bieber have more in common than you may think...

Huh?

Well, both were ‘discovered’ by YouTube and became instant viral icons. If you have been M.I.A. of late, you can see the showcase and the encore of the Cespedes scouting satire here. Bieber was signed by musician Usher while Cespedes is rumored to ink with one of six potential MLB clubs. Though the YouTube video made “El Talento” an international phenomenon, scouts have long been waiting on the Cuban to defect to the States as he’s been considered one of their finest talents for several years now.

Next, both of these pop culture icons (in their own right) have incredible marketing teams. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t deny the power of their marketing: Bieber’s is self-explanatory while Cespedes’ majestic promo video has been labeled as the ‘greatest scouting video of all time’ among many in the baseball community. He has single handedly hushed conversations about other top Cuban prospects—some of whom may have even higher ceilings than Cespedes—thanks in large part to his super fame from these brandish videos.

Fortunately for the world, that’s where the similarities conclude...

Cleveland is one of the six teams “very interested” in Cespedes.

The Indians’ outfield needs include (but are not limited to):
-A right handed hitting power bat
-Defense
-Speed
-Outfield versatility
-Youth

What am I missing? If the Indians’ marketing department is looking for some big screen entertainment in-between-innings, Cespedes looks to fill in there, too. Cespedes has got all those on his side and Cleveland would appear a fine fit.

At 26 years old, he’d fit both the short and long term plans for the Tribe. The YouTube sensation is a centerfielder at the moment, though he can plausibly shift to either of the corners. With Sizemore’s contract expiring at the end of 2012, Cespedes could slide to center at season’s end, or even spell Sizemore there in 2012.

In 2011, Cespedes hit a corrupt .333/.424/.667 in the Cuban League—corrupt based less on his government and more on the fact that the Cuban batting numbers trend on the barbaric side. Despite that, Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldsteins suggests many scouts still rate Cespedes’ power as high as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale. While he projects to be just an average hitter at this stage, he still offers the almighty five-tool player tag with good defensive abilities and speed included. The Cuban defector bombarded international pitching in the 2009 World Baseball Classic as he hit .458/.480/1.000 over Cuba’s six games. It’s no reason why they’ve tagged him “La Potencia.”

Cespedes’ potential is seemingly infinite and he could become a real impact player in the majors. With no centerfield-ready options on the farm with tremendous upside, signing Cespedes would fill a premium position for years to come and provide one of the finest up the middle trios in Santana-Lindor-Cespedes in the future.

Obviously, the major league friction between the Tribe and Cespedes will be about the Cuban Pesos Cespedes is seeking; the asking price for Cespedes ranges from the Aroldis Chapman deal of $30.25M over six years to even more fruitful figures. The Rangers signed fellow Cuban centerfielder, Leonys Martin, to a five year, $15.5M deal a year ago and though Martin is three years younger (presumably), he is considered a few levels below Cespedes’ ability, yet still got a big time contract.

Then again, Cleveland has been reserved all offseason when it comes to free agency (beyond passing out minor league contracts and spring invites like Halloween candy) and no one expected the other Ohio squad to sign the last Cuban star, Aroldis Chapman, two winters ago. If the Indians want to counter the Tigers — who are also still reportedly in on Cespedes according to ESPN’s Jim Bowden — they’ll have to pull the trigger on a high risk-high reward move like this. Antonetti showed he’s willing and able to with the Jimenez trade, so why not go one step further? Cespedes would instantly supplant Francisco Lindor as the team’s top prospect and would (again, presumably) be MLB ready.

Last Monday, Cuba’s newest missile was granted free agency in MLB with the Indians, Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Tigers, and Orioles all reportedly in on El Talento.

Clearly, Cespedes is a physical specimen and can be a major league threat, but how sure are we that he’s worth the money? It feels like every player out of Cuba is more highly hyped than the last one, from Orlando Hernandez to Jose Contreras to Kendrys Morales to Alexei Ramirez to Aroldis Chapman. While this quintet has had success ranging from mediocre to substantial in the majors, the learning curve is always the greatest variable between the Cuban leagues and the majors. Just ask first baseman Leslie Anderson, Tampa Bay’s very own highly touted Cuban import whose career parallels that of Michael Aubrey more so than Kendrys Morales.

For comparison’s sake, let’s compare two of the finer Cuban hitters in MLB, Kendrys Morales’ and Alexei Ramirez, and compare their Cuban stats with their ML stats:

Courtesy BeisbolCubano:

Ramirez hit to a tune of .332/.394/.503 in the Cuban League over six seasons.
He broke into the majors at age 26, and since ’08, has hit .279/.323/.421 in the bigs.

Morales, in two full seasons at age 19 and 20, hit .358/.445/.593 in the Cuban leagues.
He broke into the majors at age 23, and since ’06, has hit .284/.336/.502 in the bigs.

So what does this small sample size suggest? Cespedes won’t hit to the robust tune he did in the Cuban league, but we already knew that. And though its surely merited to a player's skill level, the track record suggests many of the Cuban players take 2-3 years to develop in the majors despite their age. Moreover, they often take longer to adjust their plate discipline and tend to hone low OBP’s—Alexei Ramirez walked a poultry 18 times in his rookie season (though a respectable 51 times in ’11).

With that said, Cespedes must be handled with care like any prospect; there is a possibility that Cespedes would be sent down to the minors and won’t be as refined a product as his outlandish advertisements suggest. Much to the curiosity of baseball scouts, Cespedes participated in winter ball and scuffled as he went batted .145 (5-35) with 10 K’s and a homer in a brief but questionable stint (as he couldn't feasibly 'improve' his stock).

This further begs the question, would he be able to help the Indians in ’12 and ’13, their two primed campaigns? The aforementioned is posed as a rhetorical question and with upwards of $35 million dependent on an even more indefinite answer, it certainly does not match the conservative approach the Tribe typically has taken in past seasons.

The other potential worry on Cespedes is his age. As the Tribe learned with Fausto “Roberto Heredia Hernandez” Carmona, you can never be certain of these things, especially when it comes to a country like Cuba with such a poor government and documentation. If the Indians find out Cespedes is 29 instead of 26, it really would make a world of difference in their long term investment in the player. At 26, Cespedes figures to be near his physical peak, but his tools should still develop at the major league level and his useful life is three years longer than that of a 29 year old.

Last, but likely not least, I personally see a potential in Cespedes' size. While he’s clearly a physical beast, to me, he merely resembles a 28-year old Andruw Jones. What happened to Jones over time? He accumulated a fashion for overeating and eventually ate himself out of centerfield and into a permanent bench role. It’s unfair to compare Cespedes to Jones, but from the look and sound of things—a 6’0, 215 lb strong centerfielder with power—I can’t help but parallel the two, especially if the Indians don’t sign him.

At the increasing rate north of $35 million, there’s a fat chance the Indians make a realistic offer to Cespedes especially with wealthier bidders in the auction. But, if they are able to sign Cespedes, they instantly boost their outfield and offense in one move which is more than they can say with the marginal minor league signings sprinkled over the offseason.

With the Tigers signing Prince Fielder along with the migration of major star power to the American League (Pujols, Darvish, etc.), now may be the time for the Indians to make a move to not only acquire a potential impact player, but also take away the competitive edge another team could gain with Cespedes. A move for the sake of a move isn't the right rationale, but with a real 'winning window' of just two years, desperate times call for desperate measures. Unfortunately, desperation can't resolve the financial constraint the Indians are in and thus makes it very unlikely the Tribe can invest in a risk this rich.

One thing we’ve learned through the Yoenis Cespedes experience is if Kevin Youkilis was deemed ‘the greek god of walks,’ then surely, Cespedes must be the greek god of (showboat) scouting videos.

Like any top prospect, we’ll simply have to wait and see if La Potencia’s showcase videos are pure propaganda or the foreshadowing movie trailer of the next big star. Cespedes hopes to finish his trilogy of ‘showcase’ videos with his third video this spring, being that it will be most important and telling of all: facing live major league pitching.

Follow Sean on Twitter @SMahon2Go for various Indians' musings and mentions.

2012 Cleveland Indians Payroll Chart

2012-02-01T08:41:00.005-05:00

Here is a payroll listing for the Cleveland Indians as they get set to embark on the 2012 offseason. I have updated this chart after some recent arbitration signings and lots of minor league contract details were made public.

This is the most comprehensive listing in regard to the Cleveland Indians 40-man payroll and contract status you will find on the web. Included below is the payroll and player control outlook for the next seven years, service time through 2011, and lots of contract information for every player. This payroll chart is linked on the top of the page below the title and to the right.

Last updated: 02/03/2012

Player	Service	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Barnes, Scott	0.000	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Brantley, Michael	1.131	.480	Super 2	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Cabrera, Asdrubal	4.027	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Carmona, Fausto	5.125	7.000	9.000	12.000	FA
Carrasco, Carlos	1.067	.480	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Carrera, Ezequiel	0.082	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Chisenhall, Lonnie	0.094	.480	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Choo, Shin-Soo	4.119	4.900	ARB3	FA
Cunningham, Aaron	1.142	.480	Super 2	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
De La Cruz, Kelvin	0.000	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Diaz, Juan	0.000	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Donald, Jason	1.057	.480	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Duncan, Shelley	2.099	.480	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Gomez, Jeanmar	0.117	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Hafner, Travis	9.009	13.000	13.000	FA
Hagadone, Nick	0.030	.480	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Hannahan, Jack	3.065	1.135	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Herrmann, Frank	1.099	.480	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Huff, David	1.117	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Jimenez, Ubaldo	4.087	4.200	5.750	8.000	FA
Kipnis, Jason	0.069	.480	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Kluber, Corey	0.011	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Kotchman, Casey	6.144	3.000	FA
LaPorta, Matt	2.063	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Lowe, Derek	14.100	5.000*	FA
Marson, Lou	2.036	.480	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Masterson, Justin	3.108	3.825	ARB2	ARB3	FA
McAllister, Zach	0.011	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Neal, Thomas	0.000	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Perez, Chris	3.136	4.500	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Perez, Rafael	4.157	2.005	ARB3	FA
Pestano, Vinnie	1.011	.480	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Phelps, Cord	0.065	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Salazar, Danny	0.000	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Santana, Carlos	1.115	.480	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Sipp, Tony	2.138	.480	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Sizemore, Grady	7.056	5.000	FA
Slowey, Kevin	4.053	1.500**	ARB3	FA
Smith, Joe	4.091	1.75	ARB3	FA
Tomlin, Josh	1.069	.480	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Weglarz, Nick	0.000	MIN	MIN	MIN	ARB1	ARB2	ARB3	FA
Sizemore buyout	7.056	.500
TOTAL		$ 64.035	$ 27.750	$ 20.000	$ -	$ -	$ -	$ -

Legend: Blue = Club Option; Orange = Player Option; Green = Mutual Option; Yellow = Super 2

* - Atlanta Braves are paying $10 million of Lowe's $15 million salary for 2012.
**- Colorado Rockies are paying $1.25 million of Slowey's $2.75 million salary for 2012.
*** - Minimum salaries of $480K for 14 players are listed above (13 on ML roster, 1 on ML DL - Carrasco). The players that make the $480K are subject to change based on who makes the roster out of spring training, plus these figures will alter slightly once they sign their 1-year deals this spring and make anywhere between $480-500K based on service time.

General Notes:

- Most of the players with minimum salaries will earn league minimum wages around $480K (or slightly above) depending on their service time.

- Major League service time is through the 2011 season. 172 days of service time is considered 1 major league season. Service time listing shows the years before the decimal point, and the days after. Ex: 2.134 is 2 years and 134 days of service time. Though the season is really 180 days or so long, you cannot accrue anymore than 172 days of service time in a season.

- Free agency, Super 2, and arbitration are all projected as if all players played a full season at the big league level from next year going forward. Obviously, for several players free agency and arbitration will actually be pushed back a year or two as they spend more time in the minors in the coming years.

- Previous 25-man roster payrolls:

2011: $49,426,567
2010: $61,453,967
2009: $81,579,166
2008: $78,970,066
2007: $61,673,267
2006: $56,031,500
2005: $41,502,500
2004: $34,319,300
2003: $48,584,834
2002: $78,909,499
2001: $93,360,000
2000: $76,500,000
1999: $73,857,962
1998: $59,033,499
1997: $54,130,232
1996: $45,317,914
1995: $35,185,500
1994: $28,490,167
1993: $15,717,667
1992: $8,236,166
1991: $18,270,000
1990: $15,152,000
1989: $8,928,500
1988: $7,819,500

Player Contract Details:

Barnes, Scott:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Brantley, Michael:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency. However, he will likely be a Super 2 arbitration player after the 2012 season if he spends just about all of the 2012 on active Major League roster or on the disabled list.
- Agent: Joshua Kusnick

Cabrera, Asdrubal:
- Has two more arbitration years before he is a free agent after the 2013 season.
- Agent: Alan Nero

Carmona, Fausto:
- Currently in the middle of a 4-year $15M contract (2008-2011) which also has three club option years for 2012-2014.
- Deal includes a $750M signing bonus which is divided among four years of deal.
- Base salary: 2008: $500K, 2009: 2.75M, 2010: $4.9M, 2011: 6.1M, 2012: $7M club option, 2013: $9M club option, 2014: $12M club option.
- 2012 club option for $7 million picked up on 10/31/2011.
- If he finishes in the top five of Cy Young voting in 2010 and 2011 his 2012 option increases by $1M, if he finishes top five in Cy Young voting in 2011 and 2012 his 2013 option increases by $2M, and if he finishes in the top five in Cy Young voting in 2012 and 2013 his 2014 option increases by $2M.
- Agent: Jorge Brito

Carrasco, Carlos:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Carrera, Ezequiel:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Chisenhall, Lonnie:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $67K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Choo, Shin-Soo:
- Signed a 1 year $4.9M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- Has one more arbitration year left before he is a free agent after the 2013 season.
- Agent: Scott Boras

Cunningham, Aaron:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season as a Super 2, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

De Le Cruz, Kelvin:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Diaz, Juan:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Donald, Jason:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.
- Agent: Scott Boras

Duncan, Shelley:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until after the 2012 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.
- Agent: Barry Meister

Gomez, Jeanmar:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Hafner, Travis:
- Currently signed to a 4-year $57M (2009-2012) contract with a club option for 2013.
- $5.25M of deal was added to 2007 ($2.25M) and 2008 ($3M) salaries of pre-existing deal.
- Base salary: 2007: $6.3M, 2008: $8.05M, 2009: $11.5M, 2010: $11.5M, 2011: $13M, 2012: $13M, 2013: $13M ($2.75M buyout).
- Agent: Scott Parker and Brian Peters of Legacy Sports Group

Hagadone, Nick:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Hannahan, Jack:
- Signed a 1 year $1.135M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- Has two arbitration years before he is eligible for free agency after the 2014 season.

Herrmann, Frank:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Huff, David:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Jimenez, Ubaldo:
- Signed by the Colorado Rockies to a 4-year $10 million deal prior to the 2009 season, a deal which also includes two option years.
- He made $750K in 2009 and $1.25M in 2010, and makes $2.8M in 2011 and $4.2M in 2012. He has a $5.75M club option for 2013 which has a $1M buyout. He had an $8.0M club option for 2014 with a $1M buyout as well, but as part of his contract if he were traded that 2014 club option turns into a player option.
- His 2013 club option increases to $6.75M if he wins the 2012 Cy Young or to $6.25M if he finishes 2nd or 3rd in the Cy Young voting. His 2014 player option increases to $9.0M if he wins the Cy Young or 450 innings pitched from 2012-2013, or to $8.5M with a 2nd or 3rd place finish in the 2013 Cy Young voting.
- He receives a performance bonus of $50K for reaching each of 200, 210, 220, 230, and 240 inning pitched in a season.
- He receives an award bonus of $100K for winning a Cy Young in 2011 or a $50K bonus if he finished 2nd to 5th in the voting. He also receives an award bonus of $100K for MVP or World Series MVP, a $75K bonus League Championship Series MVP, and a $25K bonus for each All Star selection or winning a Gold Glove.
- Agent: SFX

Kipnis, Jason
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $67K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Kluber, Cory:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Kotchman, Casey:
- Signed a 1 year deal for $3 million for the 2012 season.
- Incentives in deal to make more based on games and performance.

LaPorta, Matt:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2012 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.
- Agent: Scott Boras

Lowe, Derek:
- In the final year of a 4 year $60 million contract he signed with the Braves prior to the 2009 season.
- As part of a trade to the Indians, Atlanta agreed to pay $10 million of his $15 million 2012 salary.
- Agent: Scott Boras

Marson, Lou:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2012 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Masterson, Justin:
- Signed a 1 year $3.825M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- Has two more arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency after the 2014 season.

McAllister, Zach:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Neal, Thomas:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $67K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Perez, Chris:
- Signed a 1 year $4.5M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- He was a Super 2 arbitration player in 2011 and has two arbitration years left before he can be a free agent after the 2014 season.

Perez, Rafael:
- Signed a 1 year $2.005M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- He can earn an additional $25K in incentives if he makes 55 appearances in 2012.
- Has one more arbitration year before he is a free agent after the 2013 season.

Pestano, Vinnie:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Phelps, Cord:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $67K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Salazar, Danny:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he can make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Santana, Carlos:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Sipp, Tony:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until after the 2012 season, and then has three arbitration years before he reaches free agency.

Sizemore, Grady:
- Signed a 1 year, $5 million deal on November 23, 2011.
- Deal includes up to $4 million incentives which pay out as follows: $250K for 450 PA and $250K for 475 PA, and then $500K for each of 500, 525, 550, 575, 600, 625, and 650 PAs. He would also receive a $500K bonus for being named Comeback Player of the Year.
- Agent: Joe Urbon

Slowey, Kevin:
- Signed a 1 year $2.75M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- Has one more arbitration year left before he is a free agent after the 2013 season.

Smith, Joe:
- Signed a 1 year $1.75M deal for 2012 to avoid arbitration.
- Has one more arbitration year left before he is a free agent after the 2013 season.
- Agent: Rick Oliver

Tomlin, Josh:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he will make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2013 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.

Weglarz, Nick:
- As a non-arbitration eligible player, he could make around $480K in 2012.
- If sent to the minors, he will have a split contract calls for a daily rate of his $65K minor league salary and his $480K or so salary in the majors.
- Not arbitration eligible until at least after the 2014 season, and then has at least three arbitration years remaining before he reaches free agency.
- Agent: Michael Bonnano, Oak Sports Management

Other Contracts

Here are some additional contracts of note for players not on the 40-man roster.

Accardo, Jeremy
- Signed to a minor league deal for 2012 and can make $825K if he makes the Indians roster.
- His deal includes incentives where he could make up to an additional $300K by earning $50K for 50 games, 55 games, 60 game and 65 games pitched, and $100K for 70 games.
- Can ask for release if not on Major League roster by June 1st.

Hernandez, Michael
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $425K if he makes the Indians roster.

LaRoche, Andy
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $600K if he makes the Indians roster.
- Can request his release if he is not on the Major League roster by June 1st.

Lewis, Fred
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $725K if he makes the Indians roster.
- He can earn up to an additional $500K in incentives by earning $50K each for 350, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 525, 550, 575, and 600 plate appearances.
- He can ask for his release if he is not on the Major League roster by June 1st.

Lopez, Jose
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $900K if he makes the Indians roster.

Pagnozzi, Matt
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $525K if he makes the Indians roster.

Petit, Gregorio
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $550K if he makes the Indians roster.
- Can request his release if he is not on the Major League roster by June 30th.

Pie, Felix
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $700K if he makes the Indians roster.
- He deal includes incentives where he could make up to an additional $300K.

Ray, Chris
- Signed to a minor league contract for 2012 and can make $900K if he makes the Indians roster.
- He can earn $50K each in incentives for 40, 45, 50 , 55, 60, 65, and 70 games pitched; $50 K for 35 games finished, $50K for 40 games finished, and $125K each for 45 and 50 games finished.
- Can request his release if he is not on the Major League roster by April 3rd or added to it within 72 hours.

Tejeda, Robinson
- Singed to a minor league deal for 2012 and can make $825K if he makes the Indians roster.
- Can earn $50K in incentives for each occurrence of 50, 55, 60, and 65 appearances, and $100K for making 70 appearances.

Wheeler, Dan
- Signed to a minor league deal for 2012 and can make $900K if he makes the Indians roster.
- He can earn an additional $50K in incentives for each instance of appearing in 45 games, 50 games, 55 games, 60 games, 65 games and 70 games. He can also earn an addition $50K for 35 games finishes, $75K for 40 games finished, and $125K each for 45 and 50 games finished.
- He does not have an opt out clause, though can sign with a foreign team for $100K if not added to the Major League roster within 48 hours.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.

Indians acquire Canzler from Rays

2012-01-31T12:05:00.000-05:00

Russ Canzler

On Tuesday morning the Indians announced that they acquired infielder/outfielder Russ Canzler from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations. The Rays had designated him for assignment on January 27th after they signed infielder Jeff Keppinger, and he is now on the Indians 40-man roster. He assumed the spot vacated by Fausto Carmona who was put on the restricted list last week.

Canzler, 25, was the MVP this past season of the International League at Triple-A Durham. Last season he hit .314 (149-for-474) with 40 doubles, 4 triples, 18 home runs, 83 RBI and .931 OPS in 131 games. He was a midseason and postseason All Star and led the the league in doubles (40) and slugging pct. (.530), finished tied for second in runs (78), third in hits (149), fourth in batting average (.314), fifth in RBI (83) and second in on-base pct. (.401) and total bases (251). He showed some versatility last season as he appeared in 41 games in right field, 33 games in left field, 40 games at third base and 17 games at first. He made his Major League debut with the Rays in September and went 1-for-3 in 3 games (1RBI, 1BB).

Canzler was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 30th round of the 2004 Draft out of Hazleton Area High School (PA). After a seven year minor league career with the Cubs he signed with the Rays last offseason as a free agent. For his minor league career he is a .280 hitter (698-for-2490) with 172 doubles, 23 triples, 84 homer and 405 RBI in 738 games.

Canzler is a depth option and has some potential as a corner utility player. While his 2011 season and MVP are nice to see, they mean very little as he is not valued highly in the industry. His defense is questionable, and the fact the Cubs let him go as a free agent last year and now the Rays let him go for only cash show how limited his future may be. He could be a late bloomer like a Casey Blake, or just another defensive challenged offensive player stuck in Triple-A like Jordan Brown.

Canzler has all three of his options remaining, so he should provide depth at several positions this year at Triple-A and in the big leagues, and he could end up being a good buy low pickup for the Indians. With that in mind, even with his impressive performance the past two years expectations should be tempered and he should be viewed nothing more than a depth option until he shows otherwise.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

2012 Remaining Options Chart

2012-01-31T00:35:00.001-05:00

Lonnie Chisenhall

Here is a listing of the players on the 40-man roster - and a few others that are not on the 40-man roster - and how many option years they have remaining going into the 2012 season. This listing is up to date and includes the latest transaction with the removal of right-handed pitcher Zach Putnam from the roster and the addition of right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey.

As an FYI, any player on the 40-man roster but not on the active 25-man Major League roster is on what is called "optional assignment". A player on optional assignment can be moved up and down an endless amount of times in one season between the Major Leagues and minor leagues and it still only counts as one option. A player is considered to have used one of their three options when he spends at least 20 days in the minors in a season. Once all of the options have been used up on a player, a player is considered to be "out of options" and must be placed on and clear waivers prior to being sent down to the minor leagues.

For future reference, this chart is listed in the "Reference" tab located along the top just below the header.

Last Updated: January 31, 2012

Player	No.	Player	No.
Barnes, Scott	3	Kipnis, Jason	3
Brantley, Michael	2	Kluber, Corey	2
Cabrera, Asdrubal	2	LaPorta, Matt	1
Carmona, Fausto	0	Lowe, Derek	0
Carrasco, Carlos	1	Marson, Lou	1
Carrera, Ezequiel	1	Masterson, Justin	1
Chisenhall, Lonnie	3	McAllister, Zach	2
Choo, Shin-Soo	0	Neal, Thomas	2
Cunningham, Aaron	0	Perez, Chris	3
De La Cruz, Kelvin	1	Perez, Rafael	0
Diaz, Juan	3	Pestano, Vinnie	3
Donald, Jason	1	Phelps, Cord	2
Duncan, Shelley	0	Salazar, Danny	3
Gomez, Jeanmar	1	Santana, Carlos	1
Hafner, Travis	0	Sipp, Tony*	1
Hagadone, Nick	2	Sizemore, Grady	0
Hannahan, Jack	0	Slowey, Kevin	1
Herrmann, Frank	3	Smith, Joe	1
Huff, David	1	Tomlin, Josh	3
Jimenez, Ubaldo	0	Weglarz, Nick*	1

Others (Not on 40-man)	No.
Ambriz, Hector	3
Carlin, Luke	1
Crowe, Trevor	1
Goedert, Jared	2
Huffman, Chad	2
Rondon, Hector*	1

* - player may be eligible for a 4th option year

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.

Explaining Stats: OPS and OPS+

2012-01-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

For this entry in this "Explaing Stats" series, I will explain two important stats: OPS and OPS+. In most places only OPS is referenced and it is a useful tool for evaluation, but OPS+ is a way to improve on OPS and make it carry more meaning and make up for the problems that people find in OPS.

OPS stands for on-base plus slugging. It is literally just the addition of the two stats on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Last year Jose Bautista led the league with an OPS of 1.056, while the highest Indian was Carlos Santana at .808 which was 57th in baseball. The average level is typically seen as .725 but it can vary based on position.

If you remember the previous pieces I am sure you can quickly see one of the main flaws with OPS is that each part is not an equal share. The top slugging percentage last year was .608 and the top on-base percentage was .448. As a result, OPS in general favors power over the ability to get on base.

A lot of Indians fans like Mark Trumbo as he hit 29 home runs and posted a .768 OPS last year which appears great. Yet he also had the 11th worst on-base percentage of every hitter in baseball. It means he is making outs at a rate faster than pretty much every other hitter in the league, yet his OPS looks solid. This under valuing of on-base percentage is the primary issue with OPS.

Another issue is that it does not take into effect the parks or leagues the player is playing in. For instance, the recently signed Prince Fielder had a .981 OPS, which was 5th best in baseball. Yet one has to think that while he will still have a good OPS that he has zero chance of keeping the same rate because of the change in parks to Detroit's spacious Comerica Park. Using a great website Katron.org - which I found thanks to ESPN - you can see how a players' hits would fall in each park. This website showed me Fielder would hit 14 less homeruns if he hit identical to the year before. One would assume that the park factors would have a major effect on OPS. A player in Petco Park will have a much harder time posting a high OPS than someone who plays in Miller Park.

The final factor is the difficulty of the leagues themselves as sometimes one league is better than the other which can inflate a player's numbers. These problems all lead to the development of adjusted OPS or as it is commonly stated OPS+.

OPS+ has a lot of little changes which make it such a useful stat. The first change was to make the stat more accessible. Instead of .725 generally being average for OPS, a value of 100 is the average player on the OPS+ scale. If a player has a value above 100 (ex. 120) then you know they have an above average OPS, if the player has a value below 100 (ex. 79) then you know the player has a below average OPS. This makes it much easier to see and relate player values, so much so that anyone should be able to read and understand it.

This stat also includes more components such as park factors. The way to figure it out is a lot more complicated and is not something that can be easily calculated. Basically it is this:

(OBP divided by park adjusted OBP of the league + SLG divided by park adjusted SLG of the league - 1) X 100.

Adjusted OPS allows fans an easy way to figure out a player's production. It is the easiest scale out there of any stat, and shows the whole of a player's production.

Bill James developed a great system for understanding OPS and it is now a stat that is easy to find and easy to calculate. Yet even a stat like this which is just starting to get the attention it deserves in the last few years is already out of date. Adjusted OPS is yet another tool for fans and scouts alike to try and figure out who are the most effective producers in the game.

Hopefully these stats are both more accessible and understandable to fans out there who were not familiar with them. The next column in this series will focus on WAR (wins above replacement), what it is good for, and how it is an even more inclusive way to figure out a player's value to a team.

For those who want to see the top players in adjusted OPS the last few years go here:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/onbase_plus_slugging_plus_top_ten.shtml

You can also now follow me on my sports related twitter @jeffIPI.

That's why they play the games

2012-01-30T00:32:00.001-05:00

Prince Fielder (Photo: AP)

Superstar first baseman Prince Fielder is a Detroit Tiger. No matter how many times people hear that it still sends a chill down the spine of Cleveland Indians fans.

When the news broke last Tuesday fans of every team in the AL Central teams closed their eyes and hoped it was some sort of sick joke. But it is real as Fielder has since already been introduced to the Detroit public. He is a Detroit Tiger now and for the foreseeable future.

Many Cleveland fans have already bid farewell to any hopes of the Indians winning the AL Central this year after this signing. I’ll admit, I was one of those fans. But after the dust settled I realized that Major League Baseball is not going to just cancel the 2012 season and hand the Tigers the World Series trophy. They still have to play the games.

The only guarantee Detroit is getting is a large bulls-eye on their backs.

Yes, on paper, Detroit looks like the hands down favorites to win the AL Central. And on paper, Detroit looks like a trendy World Series pick. However, no games have ever been played on paper, and that's not about to start this season.

There is no doubt that Detroit has a solid collection of great baseball players. Justin Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young and MVP winner, shows no signs of stopping his dominance. Miguel Cabrera will continue to put up MVP caliber numbers, and the surrounding pieces will continue to put up average to well above average statistics.

However, Detroit did suffer one big blow this offseason. Designated hitter and catcher Victor Martinez will likely be lost for the year due to a torn ACL. Don’t automatically think that Fielder will make Detroit fans forget that they lost Martinez. Last season, he finished sixth in all of MLB with a .330 batting average. The switch-hitter also added 40 doubles, 12 homers, and drove in 103 runs, while adding immeasurable leadership to the Detroit clubhouse.

Another value that Martinez brings that is often overlooked is his vast knowledge of the AL Central. Martinez spent seven and a half years with Cleveland, and then spent last year with the Tigers. During that time Martinez has developed a familiarity with the different ballparks in the AL Central, the pitchers in the division, and the managing styles of the different managers in the division. That knowledge and leadership is something that should not be overlooked, and something that Fielder may not be able to duplicate.

During his seven year career, Fielder has hit a combined .269 with 20 homers and 61 RBI in 350 at bats against American League opponents. These numbers are by no means below average; however, they are not the type of numbers that Detroit will need in order to replace Martinez and capture their first World Series title since 1984.

An important aspect of baseball is defense. A bad defense can cost pitchers runs and cost the team victories. The defense that Detroit is expected to trot out onto the field on Opening Day is not exactly full of Gold Glovers.

Fielder is expected to be the everyday first baseman for the Tigers. Last season, he led National League first baseman in errors with 15 and also finished last in the league among first basemen in fielding percentage.

With Fielder’s arrival, incumbent first baseman Miguel Cabrera will slide over to third base, a position he used to play in Florida. Cabrera has put on a lot of weight since his Florida days, and his body is much more suited for first base or designated hitter and he has not played any third base since playing 14 games at the position in 2008. In those 14 games he had five errors.

Detroit’s shortstop Jhonny Peralta brings a solid fielding percentage to the Tigers infield; however, as Cleveland fans remember from his days as an Indian he has very limited range. With the lack of range of all three of those players a lot of groundballs could find their way through the infield for base hits. More base hits mean that Detroit’s pitchers will have to throw more pitches. More pitches mean more fatigue. More fatigue leads to balls catching more of the strike zone, which could lead to a lot of big innings for Tigers’ opponents.

Another disadvantage for the Tigers is their lack of team speed. Leadoff man and centerfielder Austin Jackson led the team in stolen bases in 2011 with 22. Finishing in a distance second with five stolen bases were outfielders Brennan Boesch and Andy Dirks. Detroit finished last in the entire American League with 49 stolen bases as a team. To put that into perspective, Tampa Bay led the American League with 155 steals.

That severe lack of team speed will make it difficult for Detroit to manufacture runs. Yes, Cabrera and Fielder are capable of manufacturing several runs with one swing of the bat, but Detroit’s Comerica Park, known for being a pitcher’s park, is not a ballpark where a team can sit back and wait for a home run.

Cleveland fans and players will not deny the immense talent in the Detroit clubhouse. On paper, it looks as though Detroit would beat Cleveland nearly every time the two squads meet. During this upcoming 2012 season Cleveland will face Detroit 18 times, but all 18 of those games will be played on the field and not on paper.

The intangibles and unpredictability of the game of baseball will certainly come into play throughout next season. That’s why they play the games.

Tribe Happenings: Prince signing makes things more difficult

2012-01-29T00:08:00.000-05:00

Fielder looks like a super addition to the

Tigers, but will he be the right fit? (Photo: AP)

Some news, notes, and thoughts from my Indians notebook…

Prince of Tides

It has been an offseason of shocking signings. First the Miami Marlins went crazy in early December spending a lot of money on three players, and then the Los Angeles Angels came out of nowhere to land the top free agent prize first baseman Albert Pujols.

On Tuesday things got even crazier as it was announced that the Detroit Tigers signed free agent slugging first baseman Prince Fielder. The news came out of nowhere as up to the signing the Tigers were never really linked to him as a serious suitor, but after the announcement it sent an enormous shockwave throughout the Indians offices and to fans across the country.

There is no doubt when a team can add one of the premier power hitters in the game that it is going to be a significant addition. With Fielder and his power bat in tow it makes for a very formidable one-two punch in the middle of the Tigers’ order with him and Miguel Cabrera, arguably the best in the league and shades of the David Ortiz-Manny Ramirez combo that was a nightmare for opposing pitchers just a few seasons ago.

While a lot of people are already crowning the Tigers as AL Central champions for 2012, the one caveat is that things do not always play out as they look on paper. Baseball is very unpredictable, which is why teams still have to play the games as there is never a guarantee with how any player will perform in a given season and more importantly how healthy a team will be all season.

At this time last year people were already buying World Series tickets for the Red Sox after they acquired Adrian Gonzalez and signed Carl Crawford to mega deals. The White Sox looked a lot stronger after they inked Adam Dunn to a big deal. But both of those teams missed the playoffs and were big disappointments last season, mostly because things just did not click for them.

Look how many times the Indians seemingly added the missing piece in the 90s? After coming up short in 1995, they went out and added Jack McDowell and Julio Franco and came up even shorter in the playoffs in 1996. Every offseason they added a significant piece, be it Roberto Alomar in the 1998 offseason or Chuck Finley in the 1999 offseason, but it was never enough and they even missed the playoffs in 2000.

Look at the Tigers just four years ago when they made the big splash of the offseason when coming off an 88-74 season in 2007 they acquired both Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera from the Marlins, but followed that up with a 74-88 record in 2008 and finished in last place in the AL Central. Look at the White Sox after they won the World Series in 2005 when they acquired Jim Thome, and then flat out missed the playoffs in 2006 and finished in third place in the division.

At the time all of those moves were made people thought those teams would be better. That’s the beauty of baseball and why what looks good on paper does not always translate to success on the field. Offseason moves to add players via free agency and trades definitely help, but injuries and performance are still the number one factor that determines success over the course of a season.

The Tigers are certainly the favorite to win the AL Central, but the Indians are still a contender. Instead of fearing the Prince, let’s see what happens over the course of 162-games. As Indians’ right-handed reliever Vinnie Pestano would say, “If you are scared, get a dog.”

Carmona gets restricted

Last Friday right-handed pitcher Fausto Carmona - whose real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia - was arrested and released on bail for using a false identity and is currently being investigated by United States and Dominican Republic authorities. On Thursday the Indians placed him on the restricted list, which takes him off the 25-man and 40-man roster and he is not paid. He will be eligible for reinstatement when he reports to the team.

The Indians are not making any further comment on the matter until Carmona’s status and availability to the club are determined. At the moment no one knows when that will be, but the team and fans should prepare for him to be out for a significant amount of time. A good barometer as to how long he may be out is the Leo Nunez situation in Miami, as he was also caught using a false identity back in September and that situation has yet to even come close to being resolved.

In the meantime, all the Indians can really do is wait to find out what happens with Carmona and in the meantime just put him on the restricted list in order to clear a roster spot and some salary. Some people have suggested that the Indians should just cut him loose after he deceived the team, but this is a delicate situation where their rush to cut him would be viewed in a bad light by others around the league. On top of that I am not even sure they can void his contract if they wanted to until the investigation is complete.

At this point in free agency there is not much to spend his salary on anyway, so it is not yet a critical decision on what to do with his contract. It may become more of a necessity in June or July if he is still not available to pitch and the Indians can use his salary to pick up a player or two in a mid-summer trade.

The Indians picked up Carmona’s $7 million option for 2012 back in November. If he does not return until after the start of the regular season, then he will earn a pro-rated portion of his contract depending on how many days are left in the season when he is activated from the restricted list. For simplicity sake, say he does not return until around June 1st and misses the first two months of the six month season, he would then only receive about two-thirds of the $7 million salary ($4.7M).

Thank goodness for the AL Central?

The Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels really beefed up their already good rosters this offseason, and look like the two kings of the AL West. The New York Yankees have improved their pitching staff immensely this offseason, and of course the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will be very good once again.

Meanwhile the AL Central continues to plod along with little fanfare this offseason…..well, that is, until the Tigers made the Prince Fielder signing this week.

Outside of the Fielder deal, while teams in the other divisions have improved, the teams in the AL Central this offseason have done very little to make themselves much better. The Royals and Twins have made a few nice signings, but nothing big or that will put them over the top. Like the Indians, the biggest boost to them will be health and the development of their internal players. The White Sox are in sell mode and are retooling and are not considered to be a major factor in the division this season.

Even with the Tigers continuing to add big pieces in the past year, the Indians should thank their lucky stars they are not in the AL East or AL West as they would almost have no chance every year unless they hit on a bunch of young very good players at one time like the Rays. Beating the "buyers" over a 162 game season is a tough task, but the Indians have never had to really worry about that too much in the AL Central.

The Tigers’ recent activity will make things more difficult, and maybe they see an opportunity to get a leg up on the lowest payroll division in baseball. But even with the Tigers’ spending a lot of money of late, it still beats having to beat out two big spending behemoths in each of the other divisions. So not matter what any team in the American league does, it all boils down to the Indians only needing to worry about beating the Tigers, White Sox, Twins and Royals for the division crown.

Yes, eventually you will have to beat the “buyers” in a five or seven game postseason series if the Indians make the playoffs, but as many people know anything can happen in a short series. So until some other teams in the division join the Tigers and start going crazy with big time trades and free agent signings, be thankful the Indians are in the AL Central. I would argue the single best thing former owner Dick Jacobs ever did for the Indians franchise was getting them out of the AL East when the league was realigned after 1993.

Wheeler signed

On Thursday the Indians signed free agent right-handed reliever Dan Wheeler to a minor league contract with an invite to Major League spring training.

Wheeler, 34, debuted in the Major Leagues in 1999 and since then has made 577 appearances with the Rays, Mets, Astros, and Red Sox and compiled 3.88 ERA in his career with 43 saves. His 466 appearances since 2005 are ranked fourth in Major League Baseball, and in his career he has struck out 7.9 batters per nine innings and walked 2.7 batters per nine innings. Last season with the Red Sox he posted a 4.38 ERA in 47 appearances (49.1 IP, 47 H, 39K)

Wheeler joins non-roster invitees Jeremy Accardo and Chris Ray as the favorites to win the last spot in the Indians bullpen. Lefty Nick Hagadone is another minor league option that should also get strong consideration for the final spot in the bullpen. In any case, this is a much better approach to filling the last spot in the bullpen with an inexpensive player that is not rostered and can be effective and also not guaranteed money. The Indians made a mistake giving right-handed pitcher Chad Durbin a guaranteed contract and roster spot last year, and it appears they have learned from that.

Given Wheeler’s success in the past and over the last several seasons he is probably the early favorite going into camp to win that last spot in the bullpen. That said, he had forearm soreness in September and had to be shut down, so it remains to be seen if he is completely recovered from that and if it affects him going forward.

Spending when the time is right

“We will spend when the time is right.”

That’s the infamous quote Indians owner Larry Dolan made back in the summer of 2002 when the team was being deconstructed and being rebuilt over a three year plan. It is a quote that is never going to go away. It is also a quote that has been very misunderstood over the years as everyone took it to mean something different at the time. There is no doubt that he probably wishes he never made that comment, especially in light of how much the game has changed since he made it.

That comment was made almost nine years ago, and like everything as time passes, we tend to exaggerate the real story. Back when he made that comment he was not saying that they would go out and spend a lot of money in free agency when the time was right. It was simply a comment made in response to a team which was blown up and payroll had been bottomed out to $35 million and that when they were contenders again they would bring payroll back up to previous levels.

Those previous levels were $65-80 million, which is what they have done for several years since then. In the five of the last six years they have had four payrolls north of $60 million and two of those season (and maybe this year) north of $70 million. Unfortunately for Dolan and the Indians, when he made that comment he probably never envisioned the payroll disparity that was about to come and that getting back to $70-80M payroll levels would not be enough.

Parting shots

On Thursday the Indians signed right-handed pitcher Jose De La Torre and infielder Ryan Rohlinger to a straight minor league deals. They will report to minor league camp in March and did not receive an invite to Major League camp this spring. … De La Torre is a 26 year old pitcher that in 168 career appearances (265.2 innings) in the minors owns a career 17-19 record with a 2.84 ERA. … Rohlinger is a 28 year old infielder that is a career .268 hitter in the minors (2306 at bats). … Also on Thursday the Indians unveiled their broadcasting schedule for the 2012 season. SportsTime Ohio will air 151 games this season, 20 of which will be simulcast on WKYC Channel 3. Also, FOX will nationally televise four games on April 28th (Angels), June 2nd (Twins), June 9th (Cardinals), and September 15th (Tigers).

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

2011-2012 Winter Ball Stats: Final Stats

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Asdrubal Cabrera

Here are the final winter ball statistics for all Cleveland Indians players participating in fall/winter ball out in the Arizona Fall League, Colombia Winter League, Dominican Winter League, Panama Winter League, Venezuelan Winter League, Puerto Rico Winter League, and Australian Baseball League.

I have included all playoff stats for those players below that pitched in their respective league's playoff tournament (something MLB and MiLB do not include on their sites).

Stats are updated as of 1/27/2012.

BATTERS	LGE	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	E
Aguilar, Jesus	AFL	16	59	15	20	7	0	3	9	11	18	0	.339	.458	.610	1.069	1
Aguilar, Jesus	VWL	22	69	8	19	5	0	3	14	10	16	0	.275	.358	.478	.836	1
Aguilar, Jesus	TOT	38	128	23	39	12	0	6	23	21	34	0	.305	.405	.539	.944	1
Battaglia, Ryan	ABL	14	44	8	12	5	0	2	6	2	13	0	.273	.319	.523	.842	1
Cabrera, Asdrubal	VWL	17	57	9	14	3	0	2	10	10	11	1	.246	.368	.404	.771	3
Campbell, Andrew	ABL	26	93	15	28	5	1	0	8	13	16	3	.301	.387	.376	.763	0
Carrera, Ezequiel	VWL	39	152	23	41	3	6	2	13	18	21	11	.270	.349	.408	.756	4
Diaz, Juan	DWL	12	30	1	4	0	0	0	0	3	5	0	.133	.212	.133	.345	1
Fedroff, Tim	AFL	3	11	4	4	2	0	0	2	2	1	1	.364	.462	.545	1.007	0
Hu, Chin-Lung	ABL	28	119	19	33	6	2	3	14	8	18	3	.277	.328	.437	.765	9
Huffman, Chad	AFL	17	70	6	15	6	0	1	11	10	13	0	.214	.313	.343	.655	1
Lopez, Jose	VWL	58	220	27	64	12	0	6	32	13	19	1	.291	.335	.427	.762	2
Moncrief, Carlos	AFL	8	23	4	4	1	0	0	0	5	8	0	.174	.367	.217	.584	2
Montero, Moises	DWL	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0
Nilsson, Mitch	ABL	14	45	4	9	3	0	1	5	7	9	0	.200	.308	.333	.641	4
Perez, Roberto	AFL	16	53	13	12	1	0	4	11	13	10	0	.226	.382	.472	.854	0
Perez, Roberto	PWL	6	12	2	2	1	0	0	0	7	4	0	.167	.474	.250	.724	0
Perez, Roberto	TOT	22	65	15	14	2	0	4	11	20	14	0	.215	.402	.431	.833	0
Pie, Felix	DWL	42	161	21	44	9	2	4	21	9	29	5	.273	.322	.429	.750	3
Reyes, Argenis	DWL	39	135	12	32	7	0	0	6	10	18	2	.237	.295	.289	.583	5
Rodriguez, Ronny	DWL	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0
Urshela, Giovanny	COL	23	79	9	17	5	1	0	4	9	10	0	.215	.292	.304	.596	4

PITCHERS	LGE	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	WHIP	AVG
Berger, Eric	VWL	1	1	2.84	10	0	0	6.1	9	2	2	0	2	7	2.67	1.74	.310
Berger, Eric	DWL	1	0	0.00	5	0	0	3.2	1	0	0	0	2	5	NA	0.82	NA
Berger, Eric	TOT	2	1	1.80	15	0	0	10.0	10	2	2	0	4	12	N/A	1.40	N/A
Bryson, Rob	VWL	0	2	2.77	19	0	1	13.0	14	9	4	2	10	8	0.64	1.85	.280
Carmona, Fausto	DWL	1	2	3.74	5	5	0	21.2	17	12	9	1	7	20	N/A	1.11	N/A
Colon, Joseph	PWL	0	1	16.71	8	0	0	7.0	16	14	13	1	7	4	2.20	3.29	.432
De La Cruz, Kelvin	DWL	0	0	16.20	6	0	0	1.2	3	3	3	0	4	4	0.00	4.20	.429
Espino, Paolo	VWL	2	2	7.71	7	6	0	23.1	31	20	20	4	5	17	2.15	1.54	.323
Guilmet, Preston	AFL	0	0	6.43	10	0	0	14.0	18	12	10	0	8	12	1.30	1.86	.327
Jimenez, Ubaldo	DWL	0	1	11.57	1	1	0	2.1	3	3	3	0	2	4	2.00	2.14	.300
McFarland, T.J.	AFL	3	0	3.18	8	7	0	28.1	30	12	10	1	13	22	2.24	1.52	.280
Murata, Toru	PAN	2	1	2.72	8	8	0	46.1	37	14	14	2	9	31	NA	0.99	.222
Rondon, Hector	VWL	1	0	5.19	5	0	0	8.2	6	5	5	0	7	6	3.50	1.50	.194
Salazar, Danny	PAN	3	1	1.74	8	8	0	41.1	38	9	8	0	9	29	NA	1.14	.252
Soto, Giovanni	PWL	1	2	3.95	13	0	0	13.2	8	8	6	0	12	12	4.40	1.46	.182
Sturdevant, Tyler	AFL	0	0	3.00	10	0	0	12.0	11	4	4	1	4	13	1.11	1.25	.239
Tejeda, Robinson	DWL	0	1	6.48	9	4	0	16.2	14	14	12	3	13	15	NA	1.62	NA
Wright, Steven	PAN	3	0	1.40	8	8	0	32.1	20	5	5	1	12	14	NA	0.99	.182

Indians Sign Reliever Dan Wheeler

2012-01-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

Dan Wheeler (Photo: MLB)

The Cleveland Indians announced yesterday afternoon that they signed reliever Dan Wheeler to a minor league deal. The 34-year old Wheeler is a 12-year veteran right-hander who has spent most of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays. He spent last season with the Boston Red Sox, going 2-2, with a 4.38 ERA, while striking out 39 batters and walking only eight in 49 1/3 innings pitched.

The move adds potential solid depth to an already stout bullpen, as Wheeler has proven to be a highly effective in his 12 seasons in many different roles. While he has closed some (43 saves in his career), his strength has always been against right-handed hitters. Righties have only hit .218 against him lifetime, while striking out nearly 386 batters against only 92 walks.

The issue for Wheeler may be the lack of slots available. At best, he'll be fighting for two spots, and it may only be one. He'll be going up against some of the brightest prospects in the Tribe's minor league organization, as Nick Hagadone, Chen Lee and Frank Hermann are all making major league noise. That said, Manny Acta may give players like Wheeler and Chris Ray a close look to add a veteran presence on the major league roster.

Overall, Wheeler is sporting a 3.88 ERA, with 553 strike outs in 623 innings pitched. He had a nice season for Boston last year, but his season was cut short with a sore forearm in early September. Wheeler declined arbitration from the Red Sox, which now seems to be an odd move, since it cost him $3 million in guaranteed money, leaving him with a minor league contract, and a non-roster invite to spring training with the Tribe.

While it's certainly not a move that's going to blow the doors off any Tribe fans, it's another subtle move to continue to add solid support to a team that should continue to contend in 2012. Prince Fielder this is not folks, but a nice little move nonetheless.

Thanks for all the well-wishers over the past few months. I'm feeling healthy again, and should be back in the swing over the next few weeks. Check out the IPI Winter Ball Recap, going up later today!

Top 10 Reasons the Tribe still contends in 2012

2012-01-26T00:34:00.000-05:00

Prince Fielder (Photo: AP)

Well, with the signing of Prince Fielder the Detroit Tigers certainly sent a shot across the bow to the Cleveland Indians for the 2012 season and beyond. But in reality that is all it was, a warning shot.

Yes, the Tigers are a major favorite to win the division now, but just ask the Boston Red Sox if throwing a bunch of money around in the offseason is any sort of guarantee for the postseason.

So while it does feel like a major punch to the gut, it does not in any way preclude the Indians from making the playoffs in the 2012 season. Here are the Top 10 reasons the Indians can still be contenders this season:

1. Expanded playoffs. As of this writing, Major League baseball is still debating whether to add a second Wild Card team in 2012 or 2013. There is significant momentum towards the expansion happening in 2012. Should it come to fruition this year, the Indians won’t even need to beat out the Tigers. As long as the Tribe takes care of their own business, they can sneak into the playoffs while the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays beat up on each other in the East and the Rangers and Angels do the same in the West. At that point, anything is possible.

2. The Arizona Diamondbacks. Going into the 2011 season, the Dbacks were an afterthought in the National League West. The team was given no chance to contend. Of course when the dust settled on the 2011 regular season, Arizona had won their division over the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and preseason favorite Colorado Rockies. With the Fielder signing in Detroit nobody is giving anyone in the American League Central a shot at unseating the Tigers. Who’s to say the Indians won’t become this season’s version of Arizona.

3. Ubaldo Jimenez. For the first half of the 2010 season he was arguably one of the five best pitchers in the Major Leagues. That sort of talent just does not go away, particularly when a player is still in his 20s. He is still only 28, and he has dedicated this offseason to finding that old form. He may not be Justin Verlander, but when right Jimenez is not far behind and better than anything else the Tigers can put out on the mound.

4. Justin Masterson. If Jimenez is better than 4/5 of the Tiger starting rotation, it can be argued that Masterson is as well. Coming off of a breakout season, Masterson is bound to improve upon his win/loss record with just a little more run support. Even with a slight regression, 15-18 wins are well within the reach of the lanky right-hander.

5. The Bullpen Mafia. Their closer has a self-proclaimed arm like a cannon. That is some pure rage to throw at any late inning threat. To get to Chris Perez, opposing offenses must go through the matchup nightmare that is Vinnie Pestano, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Frank Herrmann, Joe Smith, and emerging family members down on the farm. Games can get short rather quickly if these guys get a team where they want them.

6. Jason Kipnis. In the brief time between his call-up and unfortunate injuries, Kipnis was a shooting star in the Tribe lineup. What he showed was a tantalizing glimpse at the potential this second baseman poses. The man is filled with grit and armed with a swing that makes the ball explode off the bat. He should be a doubles machine. Kipnis will quickly become a fan favorite, making all of Cleveland "Kipnisses".

7. Shin-Soo Choo. Throw 2011 out the window, it was a season of bad luck and bad decisions. To get a true feel of what to expect from the Indians’ right fielder, look to the previous two seasons. In 2009 and 2010, Choo hit .300 with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. In the post-steroid world of baseball, those are simply beautiful numbers. Expect a return to form this season.

8. Grady Sizemore. Yes Grady Sizemore. Every year, the world of sports is witness to a feel good story of someone overcoming countless injuries to put together a season nobody thought was possible. Isn’t it about time Cleveland had one of those stories? It is already known what is possible when Sizemore can stay healthy, just look at what he did last season before the injury bug hit again. His speed might be gone, but Grady can still hit for power.

9. Carlos Santana. He is 25 years old and coming off an impressive first full season in the Major Leagues. And he is only going to get better. He already gets on base and hits for power. Chances are he increases his run production, reduces his strikeouts and becomes an elite offensive weapon this season.

10. Asdrubal Cabrera. On one hand it can be argued 2011 was a career year for the Tribe’s shortstop. On the other hand, Cabrera is still only 26 years old and should still have his career in an ascending state. He may never hit 25 homers again, but he is still one of the best hitting shortstops in the game and may only get better.

Offseason Spotlight: Mike Rayl and Matt Packer

2012-01-25T00:25:00.000-05:00

Mike Rayl (Photo: IPI)

I have to confess: I’m a sucker for left-handed pitchers.

It has nothing to do with any great disdain for right-handed pitchers or any real reason whatsoever other than the fact I have always loved watching a baseball game when a lefty is thrown on the hill. With the game so right-handed dominated, it is like watching the game through a mirror as everything is backwards.

I’m also a lefty and former pitcher myself, so that explains most of love affair with left-handed pitchers.

So with that in mind I was deeply saddened when the Indians traded away power lefty Drew Pomeranz last July in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. But, thankfully, the Indians have some interesting left-handed pitchers in the system that are fascinating to watch develop. There is no lefty in the system even close to Pomeranz’s ability, but there are some good Major League quality lefty arms.

Two of those southpaws are Mike Rayl and Matt Packer.

Rayl, 23, started 25 combined games between Low-A Lake County and High-A Kinston last year and went 6-8 with a 3.42 ERA (123.2 IP, 114 H, 9 HR, 26 BB, 121 K). He does not have overpowering stuff, but he showed an improved fastball last season as his average was up to 88 MPH and he more consistently flashed 92 MPH. He also has a good feel for pitching and commands the ball well.

Rayl learned a lot last season and has taken that experience into his offseason workouts in preparation for this coming season.

“I tried to eat up as many innings as I could,” Rayl said in a recent interview for the IPI. “My goal was to try and get at least over a 100 innings and I got over that. I am still working on some pitches and with my consistency and keeping the ball down.”

Not much was changed with Rayl’s mechanics over the course of last season, but he did make some subtle changes to his delivery to make him more on line with his pitches.

“I worked mostly on just getting the ball out of my glove a lot quicker so I can get my arm up,” Rayl said. “I have a tendency to get my elbow down and throw high and away a lot to righties. That was my biggest problem and I have been working on it a lot so I can throw more strikes down in the zone.”

Rayl had added a sinker to his repertoire at the end of the 2010 season, but the pitch was quickly scrapped at the beginning of last season in order to have him concentrate on developing his fastball, curveball and changeup.

“At the beginning of the year the sinker was just a pitch that got lost,” Rayl said. “When I went to Lake County, pitching coach Jeff Harris and I decided to just scrap it for now and work with the three main pitches that I have. Ever since I let that go I stopped walking people and had better success, and I have not touched it since.”

With the 2012 season right around the corner, Rayl wants to add more natural movement to his fastball in order to make it a more effective pitch.

“I want to develop a more natural sinker,” Rayl said. “That’s my primary goal, and if I can add it to my repertoire I think it [will help me a lot]. I throw a four seamer and two seamer but the two seamer just kind of drifts away. If I can just get it to start middle away and then sink to the bottom half then it will be perfect and I can get a lot of swings.”

Matt Packer (Photo: IPI)

While Rayl was having a good season in the lower levels of the Indians’ farm system, the 24-year old Packer was having another solid season in the upper levels of the Indians system. In 27 starts for Double-A Akron he went 9-12 with a 4.31 ERA (169.1 IP, 175 H, 16 HR, 33 BB, 129 K).

“I think the biggest thing for me early in the year last season was I could command my offspeed stuff just fine, but I could not strike anybody out,” Packer said recently to the IPI. “So when I got into jams I could not get the big swing and miss when I needed it. They were putting balls in play and scoring those runs in scoring position which hurt me quite a bit.”

On the surface Packer’s numbers from last season look quite ordinary, but considering he got off to an awful start going 3-8 with a 5.71 ERA in his first 16 starts and then finished strong going 6-4 with a 2.78 ERA in 11 starts. His strong finish was just a byproduct of things starting to click for him and some small mechanical adjustments working out.

“Once you have a few good games you get the confidence and you get into a groove,” Packer said. “I worked with [Akron pitching coach] Tony Arnold and we changed a few things mechanically and that is what did it the most. I just got into a few bad habits and they are hard to break once you get into them. It is tough to explain, but I was not really getting tilt with my shoulders so everything was flattening out. When I get that tilt I can get that late action on my ball and get groundballs and swings and misses.”

As spring training draws nearer, a lot of people will focus in on the big upside young talents the Indians have stockpiled in the lower minors. I’ll be focusing in on them too, but I’ll also be checking out how Rayl, Packer and a host of other left-handed pitchers in the Indians’ system perform.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Five exciting prospects to watch in 2012

2012-01-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

Francisco Lindor (Photo: IPI)

Editor's Note: This is the first posting from Jim Piascik here at the IPI. He will be writing about all things Cleveland this season with a special focus on Double-A Akron.

Despite the fact that the Cleveland Indians’ top 4 prospects are either no longer prospects (Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall) or with the Colorado Rockies (Alex White and Drew Pomeranz), there are still plenty of prospects for Tribe fans to be excited about in 2012.

As Baseball America notes in their 2012 Indians prospect rankings, most of “the Indians’ best prospects are years away from contributing” at the big league level. That simply means that if you want to see thrilling players in the Tribe’s minor league system, you should head more toward Lake County than Columbus.

Here are five Indians’ minor leaguers that you should be excited to go see in 2012 and where they should be playing on Opening Day.

Francisco Lindor, SS, Lake Country

When the Indians drafted Lindor eighth overall this June, Baseball America threw out these phrases: “tremendous work ethic,” “plays the game with ease and passion,” “scouts haven’t scoffed at Omar Vizquel comparisons” on defense, and that he was a “legitimate candidate for the No. 1 overall pick.” If that’s not exciting, I don’t know what is.

Lindor is only 18 and has plenty of growth ahead of him. He’s already been dubbed best hitter for average, best defensive infielder, and top prospect by Baseball America and now will have to go to work proving that on the field. If he’s as good as he’s advertised to be, he could force his way up the minor league ladder very quickly.

Nick Hagadone, LHP, Cleveland

Hagadone could open the season in Cleveland this year and he has the tools to be a high-leverage back-end arm for years to come. After having Tommy John surgery and using 2010 as a year to knock off the rust, Hagadone came out on fire in 2011. Between Akron and Columbus last year, Hagadone posted a 2.79 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 9.8 SO/9 and 2.8 BB/9. Not bad at all.

With the starting rotation unsettled after the Fausto Carmona news, the Indians will need the Bullpen Mafia to have another great year. In order for that to happen, they will need big contributions from Hagadone. He should start out in middle relief, but don’t be surprised if Hagadone forces his way into an 8^th inning role sooner rather than later.

Chen-Chang Lee, RHP, Columbus

As much as I like Hagadone for the upcoming season, personally, I’m much more excited for Lee. Like Hagadone, Lee also pitched between Akron and Columbus last year, except he posted better stats (2.40 ERA, 2.24 FIP, 12.5 SO/9, 2.9 BB/9). Lee’s best tool is his slider, which Baseball America rated best in the organization.

In my mind, if you’re looking for someone to be this year’s Vinnie Pestano, I suggest you look at Lee. Pestano’s 2010 stats between Akron and Columbus (1.81 ERA, 1.91 FIP, 11.61 SO/9 and 2.41 BB/9) look very similar to Lee’s. They’re both pitchers who get a ton of strikeouts, don’t walk people and are players you can trust in the late innings. I would love to see Lee make the Opening Day roster, but he’ll likely start the season in Columbus.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B, Carolina

The breakout player in the minors for the Indians last year was definitely Aguilar. Between Lake County and Kinston, he posted a .284/.359/.506 slash line, .865 OPS, .390 wOBA, 23 HR and 82 RBI in 521 PA. Power is obviously his game and he showed that in the Arizona Fall League when he hit a home run over this part of the fence. That’s no small feat.

There’s plenty for Aguilar to work on in 2012 (lowering his 24.2 K% would be a good start), but with that kind of power, Aguilar is a very valuable and exciting player for the Indians. He’s pretty far away from the majors, but if Aguilar continues to mash the ball and make adjustments, the first base job is wide open and his for the taking.

LeVon Washington, OF, Lake County

On the opposite end of Aguilar is Washington, who came into the 2011 with huge expectations and disappointed. The Tribe’s seventh-highest rated prospect according to Baseball America posted a paltry .218/.331/.315 slash line, .647 OPS, 4 HR, 20 RBI and 15 SB in 351 PA. Washington was particularly hurt by striking out in over one-fourth of his plate appearances (25.4%).

That doesn’t change that Washington should be an exciting player in 2012. He drew a ton of walks last year (14.0 BB%) and remains the best athlete in the organization according to Baseball America. As he adjusts to the pro game, the strikeouts should fall and his power should come out. Plus, you don’t want to bet against 2012 being #WASHTIME do you?

Overall, these five players aren't the only exciting prospects the Tribe has, but if you had to pick only five to see all year, they'd be the best choices. So get out and see these potential stars in 2012 so you can say you saw them before they got big.

If you want to follow Jim Piascik on Twitter he's @DarkestDiamond.

First base, First priority

2012-01-24T00:12:00.001-05:00

Matt LaPorta (Photo - AP)

Editor's Note: This is the debut piece of another new writer on the IPI, Sean Mahon. He will be writing about various topics surrounding the Cleveland Indians for the site.

If you take a look around the AL Central, you’ll notice a household list of tenured first baseman: Paul Konerko and his 13 seasons with the White Sox, Justin Morneau and his nine with the Twins, Miguel Cabrera and his four with the Tigers with four more through 2015, and Eric Hosmer who seems bound to be the Royals’ first baseman for the next decade after an impressive rookie campaign.

Then there’s the Indians. Since Jim Thome left first base vacant after the 2002 season, the spot has held casting calls on a seemingly annual basis.

Ben Broussard had four solid seasons as the Tribe’s stopgap first baseman from ’03-’06. That’s actually not half bad. But Broussard, who would probably best be considered a very, very poor man’s Sean Casey, was only meant to hold the spot until the big fish arrived. The fact of the matter is the Indians could never catch the fish and the notion that Broussard held stability at the position better than anyone else in the decade is telling.

Following Broussard came the underrated Stanford standout, Ryan Garko. Fans truly liked Garko. He came off well with the fans and even served as the club’s Indians fan blog ambassador during the 2007 playoffs. However, Garko never earned the love of the higher-ups in Cleveland or Eric Wedge. The reason being was that he was not the prototypical (pre-2010) Mark Teixiera-like first baseman who could hit 40 homers, drive in 120 RBI, and hit .300.

Garko was a .285 hitting “grinder” who had served his four years at Stanford and defied expectations when he won the first base job in ’07. He had about average power and you knew he gave it his all. He was never a high OBP guy, but he held his own hovering close to a solid .350. The other Garko issue was his GE sponsored refrigerator glove at first base; his UZR rating was oft-terrible, and a trial in the outfield felt like watching Fred Flinstone shag fly balls. Garko, for as hard as he tried, just never had the hands of Donnie Baseball. The sabermetricians could never “OK” Garko because he equated to a lowly WAR.

In the wake of Garko's departure, it brought forth the rise of an offensive star bound first base prospect, Matt LaPorta. (Just to stick to the storyline, Russell Branyan came back for another tour of duty in Cleveland… You know how that went.) The Florida Gator star figured to hit about .290 with 30 HR’s and 100 RBI’s in his first big league season. After all, while Michael Brantley was the scratch and peel prize in the Sabathia trade as the PTBNL, LaPorta was the grand lotto prize. Sure, LaPorta would be just adequate at first base defensively, but it didn’t matter because his offensive benefits would far exceed the costs.

However, as you’ve seen recently, that’s obviously not how the script worked out. LaPorta, one of the nicest guys on the team and probably in the sport, would struggle from injuries and surgeries as well as mediocre performance. He’s fallen down the depth charts in Cleveland as he was summoned to AAA in the final month of last season.

After half a decade of seeing the Michael Aubrey’s and Wes Hodges’ in the system, Tribe fans are in pursuit of a franchise caliber first baseman with a shelf life longer than three seasons.

So where do we turn now?

It all goes back to the farm. The system has some interesting first base candidates in the minors. While none of them is projected to be the next Prince Fielder, some may become serviceable first baseman, much like Ben Broussard was for a few years.

While Matt LaPorta is still a candidate for the first base position, there are other viable options in the system. They include (but are not limited to):

Beau Mills-The son of Astros’ manager, Brad Mills, was ranked as Tony’s #64 prospect coming into last season. He’ll probably be more highly regarded this season after hitting to the tune of .289/.347/.513 between Akron and Columbus in ’11. However, Mills is 25 and has had a rather disappointing professional career to date. After being drafted in the 1^st round in 2007, Mills hasn’t put together the resume many were expecting. He is an average first baseman defensively, which the Indians are used to in recent years. Mills will start ’11 in AAA and has a decent chance for a call up if the Indians don’t sign a first baseman and/or Matt LaPorta shows more of the same. In fact, of the minor league options at this point, he’s probably the most likely to at least have a cameo in Cleveland. Mills provides the power the Indians have been searching for since Thome left, however, though he improved his plate patience in ‘11, he still doesn’t offer the high OBP the team seems to be seeking.

Chad Huffman-The TCU standout has had some decent showing in the minor leagues over the years. He’ll be 27 in 2012 and will be another depth option. He almost fits the Oakland Athletics first baseman approach as he’s a solid contact hitter with an impressive OBP (.374 career) and mediocre power (a la Daric Barton, Scott Hatteberg, etc.). Huffman can play both first base and the outfield, so he is an option somewhere on the field for the Indians. Perhaps the best thing going for him right now is that he’s right handed, so he may find his way onto the roster for a period of time as a bench player of fill-in. I could potentially see Huffman play the role of ’08 Michael Aubrey in playing a few dozen games if the Indians fail to solidify first base, or serve as a righty bench bat.

Jesus Aguilar-The 21-year old Aguilar played the majority of last season at A ball and he did some good things. At 6’3 and 240+ lbs, he’s got first baseman written all over him (and potentially DH). Aguilar is no Rod Carew at the plate, but he does provide some serious raw power. He’s another guy like Huffman (and originally LaPorta) in that he can play first base and left field. Power will be this kid’s calling card and if he can continue to slug ‘em, he may force his way into the picture sometime in the next few seasons. He appears to be a slowly progressing prospect, but at age 21 he still has time to develop more patience and hitting ability. Though his future may be at DH, the Tribe will check back in on this guy come 2014 thanks to his prolific power.

Andy LaRoche-LaRoche may be a diamond in the rough for Cleveland. LaRoche’s career has paralleled another Andy’s career… Andy Marte. LaRoche was tagged as the Dodgers’ third baseman of the future. He was a major piece in the three team trade that sent Manny Ramirez to LA and Jason Bay to Boston, where LaRoche landed in Pittsburgh. Five years later, and after a full tour with the Pirates, LaRoche has a fizzled prospect status. Now, he plays the corner infield positions and will likely serve as depth to Hannahan and whomever the Indians name their first baseman. LaRoche has a great minor league track record and perhaps another shot with a new club will bring out the best in him. Though he is no elite defender, he is a guy that will be in the depth charts for Cleveland with a shot to takeover if he can impress in spring training and the minors. Sometimes guys like LaRoche realize their potential with a change of scenery, a few years of struggles, and a new shot. In this case, LaRoche has all three of those on his side.

Chun-Hsiu Chen-Though signed out of Taiwan as a third baseman/pitcher, Chen was developed in the Tribe system to catch. However, due to the system's need for first basemen and his seemingly natural fit, many around the league believe Chen will end up at first base. Chen hit .262/.330/.451 at Akron last season and figures to start there again in 2012. The 23-year old's future potential may mirror that of Ryan Garko: The part catcher/part first baseman, with a bat strong enough to DH. Like Garko, Chen is better known for his gap power than his homer power. Chen started out 2011 quite hot, hitting .279 until the All-Star break where he slid to hit .236 in the season's final 46 games. The catching may catch up to him, no pun intended, and Chen may find himself as a viable first base option down the road.

It looks like the Indians may have to settle for guys more like Jordan Brown as they have a crop of fringe first base prospects. The other option is to sign a Casey Kotchman for now and perhaps consider calling the Oakland A’s on a young guy with upside like Brandon Allen or the Red Sox on Lars Anderson. This is because the system doesn’t seem to be flourishing with up and coming first basemen like it was just a few years ago with Jordan Brown, Beau Mills, and Matt LaPorta. The seemingly obvious answer from fans is to plop Carlos Santana at first base and play Lou Marson as catcher--or perhaps rotate he and Chun-Hsiu Chen down the road.

For now, it still looks like Matt LaPorta has the most upside of any of the prospects in the Tribe system. . .

2012 Scouting Videos: Volume 12

2012-01-23T08:16:00.000-05:00

LeVon Washington

Today we wrap up the 2012 Scouting Videos series with the 12th and final batch of Cleveland Indians 2012 scouting videos. Here are the the previously posted volumes:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
Volume 10
Volume 11

I shot tons of video of over a 100 players this past season, and Michael Taylor edited down the collection of video for each player to make their 2012 videos for their upcoming 2012 scouting reports. In total we posted scouting videos for over 120 players that played in the Cleveland Indians minor league system in 2011.

Thanks again to Michael for the excellent work in condensing down all the video and putting it together for each player for one comprehensive video. Now that this video project is done, be on the lookout for a new in-season video update coming to the IPI. The video update will be a weekly interview with a player, coach or front office executive....it is something we are still putting together but should be a great addition to the site!

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Around the Farm: January 22

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Julio Lugo

Around the Farm (ATF) takes a quick look at some of the daily performances by Indians prospects. This is a special winter ball version of ATF that recaps all the offseason action by Indians players in the Caribbean Leagues. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in the game.

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday. Looking at the schedules for the remaining winter ball teams and what Indians players are still playing, this will likely be the last Around the Farm of the offseason since it looks like all Indians players are now done for the offseason.

Australian Baseball League

Andrew Campbell (DH, Brisbane Bandits): 2-for-4, R, BB, K. A strong finish to a good showing for Campbell in the ABL as he reached base in 3 of his 5 plate appearances last night. He finishes his time out in Australia with a batting line of .301/.387/.376 in 26 games. He also had a solid 13-16 walk to strikeout ration in 93 total at bats.
Ryan Battaglia (C, Brisbane Bandits): 3-for-4, K, 2 PB. Battaglia had 3 singles, something new for a change as 7 of his 9 hits coming into the game had gone for extra bases. He went 5-for-8 in his last 2 games, and in his last 10 games hit .306/.342/.583. He only played in 14 games in the ABL and had 44 at bats, but finished with a solid .273/.319/.523 batting line.

Dominican Republic Winter League

Julio Lugo (DH, Leones del Escogido): 3-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, K. The deal is not yet official, but new Indians’ signing Julio Lugo had a good first night with the organization. I don’t have his playoff totals, but in 13 games with his Escogido team during the regular season he hit .163/.265/.326 with 2 HR and 8 RBI.

Venezuela Winter League

Jose Lopez (3B, Caribes de Anzoategui): 1-for-5, 2 K. Lopez was a much different player in the playoffs than he was in the regular season in Venezuela. The playoff totals are not available at the moment (he hit .203), but his numbers dropped significantly in the playoffs as compared to the regular season when he hit .310/.350/.470 in 43 games.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Tribe Happenings: Carmona's future is in jeopardy

2012-01-22T07:28:00.002-05:00

Carmona's future with the Indians is in

serious jeopardy. (Photo: AP)

Some news, notes, and thoughts from my Indians notebook….

Identity crisis

By now everyone has heard the news from Thursday which caught the entire Indians’ organization and an entire fan base by surprise.

Indians right-handed pitcher Fausto Carmona had just finished up his stint pitching in winter ball in the Dominican Republic and was getting ready to renew his visa so he could come back to the United States for spring training in a few weeks, something he has done for years without incident. But on Thursday he was arrested by Dominican Republic authorities for using a false identity.

According to a report by ESPN’s Pedro Gomez, a comment made several weeks ago on a popular Santo Domingo radio broadcast by the mother of the real Carmona family is what led to the investigation. Apparently she said that Carmona had been paying the family hush money for years to use their identification, and after the Indians picked up his $7 million option this offseason he did not increase the payments to them. When the Dominican Republic government caught word of the comment on the show they immediately began an investigation and when he arrived at the US Consulate to renew his visa on Thursday they arrested him.

Carmona’s real identity is being reported as Roberto Hernandez Heredia and he is actually 31 years old, which is three years older than he was always believed to be. He has since been released from jail on bail for $13,000, but while the investigation is being completed he has been ordered not to leave the country and his ability to ever get a visa again to come to the United States is in great jeopardy.

Carmona’s future is on hold and there is a distinct possibility he has thrown his last pitch with the Cleveland Indians and in Major League Baseball for that matter. There is a chance his situation could be resolved at some point, but no matter what it looks like he is going to miss at least some time this season while the legal process plays out.

The Indians are gathering information and exploring all of their options on what to do in response to the Carmona situation. As things become clearer as to the timing of the legal proceedings and how long he may be unavailable, the Indians will likely at some point place him on the restricted list. This would allow them to still control his rights, but they would not have to pay him and he would not count against the 40-man roster. It is possible they could attempt to void his contract and let him go, but that appears unlikely.

The Indians signed Carmona back on December 28, 2000, just 21 days after what was thought to be his 17th birthday. Had he been listed at his real age of 20 years old at the time, neither the Indians nor any other Major League club may have bothered to sign him. Also, given his older age, as he progressed up through the minor leagues the Indians may not have been as patient with him.

Carmona broke onto the scene in 2003 at Low-A Lake County when he went 17-4 with a 2.06 ERA in 24 starts and became a top five prospect in the system. This was because of his performance and stuff at what was then perceived as a 19-year old pitcher. Had people known he was 22 years old at the time it would have been much less impressive.

Carmona’s situation brings to light an ever growing problem in the Latin American countries. Players and their families are so desperate to get away from rampant poverty in their countries that identities are often altered to help their chances as a professional baseball player. Every year players that sign professional contracts as alleged 16-17 year olds are voided as teams find through the verification process that they falsified their information, and even for the ones who clear inspection there is always a feeling of uncertainty for teams.

A lot of people may fault Carmona, but he is a product of a bad system. Major League Baseball is doing their best to police the problems with age and name falsification and the rampant use of steroids. On top of that players are often bribed by buscones (street agents) where they are promised food, shelter, training, and help with getting a signing bonus in exchange for a pre-arranged sum of money. There is only so much the league can do to control it.

Carmona is just another example of a system out of control. He is not the only one either as several players have been caught recently – such as Miami Marlins pitcher Leo Nunez a few months ago - and more will be caught in the future as there are probably several players in the big leagues and minor leagues currently playing with false identities.

Filling a rotation vacancy

With Carmona out of the mix for the foreseeable future, the Indians now have to make a decision on what to do with the vacancy they have in their starting rotation. When they had picked up his $7 million option a few months ago and acquired right-hander Derek Lowe in a trade with the Braves, they thought the rotation was set going into the season with those two along with Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Masterson, and Josh Tomlin.

Even after trading for right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey (more on him in a minute) they need to decide if they are satisfied with him and the rest of their internal options to replace Carmona’s spot in the rotation, or if they need to go out and sign a free agent or make another trade.

The pickings are very slim in free agency and on the trade market as anyone of real significance has already been signed or traded. There are some attractive free agent options out there, such as right-handers Roy Oswalt; however, considering the Indians have probably not had much dialogue with him this offseason they would be coming in very late in the game for their services.

One free agent that is out there that they may consider is right-hander Rich Harden. He will not cost a lot and is an injury risk, but when he is healthy he has proven to be an effective starter. The Indians had a lot of interest in him this past August in a trade, and is probably someone they have been in contact with throughout this offseason as starting pitching depth. He may be someone that could be signed to a very small guaranteed deal, or maybe even a minor league deal given his injury history.

The best solution for now is probably to use any available funds to get a bat for the lineup and to just go with their internal options for the rotation. All four of the candidates for the vacant fifth spot have a minor league option, so any one of Slowey, David Huff, Jeanmar Gomez or Zach McAllister can be sent to Triple-A to start the season and remain on hand there until a starting pitching need in Cleveland comes up.

Both Huff and Gomez showed flashes of brilliance last season in Cleveland, so the potential is there for either one to fill the fifth spot well, and were probably the frontrunners prior to the Slowey trade. McAllister could be a sleeper candidate this spring, and lefty Scott Barnes is someone who could be an option later in the year.

Slowey acquired

The Indians moved quickly on Friday and acquired right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey from the Rockies in exchange for right-handed reliever Zach Putnam. The Indians maintain it was not in direct response to the Carmona situation and that they had been working on such a deal for Slowey all offseason, but the timing of the move was in no doubt catalyzed by the depth the rotation took after the Carmona news.

Slowey, 27, split last season between Triple-A Rochester, the Minnesota Twins and the disabled list. In 14 games (8 starts) with the Twins last season he went 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA (59.1 IP, 78 H, 5 BB, 34 K), and in seven starts at Rochester went 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA (38.0 IP, 44 H, 5 BB, 29 K). He has a career Major League record of 39-29 with a 4.66 ERA (532.2 IP, 606 H, 84 BB, 395 K) in five big league seasons. He won a career high 13 games with a career best 3.99 ERA in 27 starts with the Twins in 2010. The Twins had traded him to the Rockies back in early December.

Slowey is no doubt a solid depth starting option and the deal itself makes sense from the Indians’ perspective. He does not cost much as the Indians only have to pay him $1.5 million this year since the Rockies are picking up the other $1.25 million of his $2.75 million salary for 2012. He also has an option left and is under team control for another season as he is not eligible for free agency until after the 2013 season.

It may be a buy low opportunity with Slowey, but coming off a very bad season with some health concerns is not going to do a lot to inspire confidence with him in the starting rotation. He no doubt needs to prove he is healthy this spring and even more importantly that he can be effective. If both ring true, then yes, it will be a good deal for the team.

I’m just not a big fan of picking up back of the rotation pitchers like Slowey with average stuff and with some health concerns, especially when I feel that Gomez, Huff and McAllister were ready for an opportunity. Those three will still get strong consideration this spring, but with the Indians paying Slowey more than what they will pay the other three combined, who do you think has a clear leg up for the spot in the rotation?

I’m also sad to see Putnam go. I felt he was on the verge of a Vinnie Pestano-like breakout this year for the Indians and could impact the bullpen in some way this year like Pestano did last year. He was one of the Indians’ top three bullpen prospects, and after his trade and the recent losses of Josh Judy and Cory Burns in other moves the upper levels of the Indians’ farm system is starting to get thin with true bullpen prospects.

Unless you are high on Putnam like me, then you probably like the deal, and in the long run maybe I will too. It is hard to argue against the idea of picking up an inexpensive, proven Major League starter that you get two years of control of in a deal. I just hope sending away Putnam is not a decision the Indians regret in a few years.

Arbitration update

The Indians came to agreements this past week on one year deals with five of their seven arbitration eligible players this offseason. Third baseman Jack Hannahan ($1.135M), outfielder Shin-Soo Choo ($4.9M), right-handed starter Justin Masterson ($3.825M), right-handed closer Chris Perez ($4.5M), and right-handed reliever Joe Smith ($1.75M) all came to terms on Tuesday.

Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and left-handed reliever Rafael Perez are the only two that have yet to sign. Right now Cabrera is requesting $5.2 million and the Indians are offering $3.75 million, and Perez is requesting $2.4 million and the Indians are offering him $1.6 million. If the Indians are unable to come to an agreement on a one year deal with either player in the next week they will go to salary arbitration for the first time since 1991; however, they are expected to come to one year deals with both players and keep their salary arbitration streak alive.

For those unfamiliar with how salary arbitration works, the Indians are not in danger of losing Cabrera or Perez for the 2012 season. Both are under team control through the 2013 season; they just need to come to an agreement on what their salary should be. Also, while Hannahan, Choo, Masterson, Chris Perez, and Smith all signed one year deals they are still under control for the 2013 season as well as long as the Indians offer them arbitration next offseason (they will).

Martinez injured

Even with the loss of Carmona for an undetermined amount of time, the Indians actually saw their chances to win the AL Central actually improve this week. The Indians did not go out and make a big signing or trade, instead their chief rival for the division the Detroit Tigers took a big hit when catcher and first baseman Victor Martinez was lost for the year when he tore the ACL in his knee while working out this week.

Martinez was a key cog to a very good Tigers lineup last year as his bat really protected Miguel Cabrera. When Martinez was out of the lineup no one pitched to Cabrera, and the Tigers were 7-10 without him in the lineup last season. The Tigers will now look to add a player to the roster to help offset the loss of Martinez, but it is will be very hard to replace his bat.

The playing field between the Indians and Tigers has been leveled some, and if the Indians are able to pick up a bat for first base it could level it even more. Health is usually the greatest determinant to the success of a team year in and year out. The Indians were unlucky from a health standpoint last year after a good start, so maybe they are finally getting a few breaks.

Signings, singings, and more signings

The Indians were very busy this week once again with the transactions. In addition to the Slowey trade, they also signed outfielder Fred Lewis, right-handed reliever Jeremy Accardo, infielder Gregorio Petit, and outfielder Ryan Spilborghs to minor league deals with an invite to Major League spring training.

Spilborghs is probably the most interesting pickup as played with the Colorado Rockies for seven seasons and in 619 games owns a career big league batting average of .272 with 42 homers, 218 RBI, and .768 OPS. He can play all three outfield positions, is a right-handed hitter, and a career .305 hitter as a pinch-hitter. He may not be on the Major League roster now, but he may very well end up on the Indians 25-man roster when the season starts as the fourth outfielder.

Lewis has lots of Major League experience, and with some good speed, versatility, and pedigree as a former high profile prospect he could enter into the Indians outfield mix at some point this season. In 519 career Major League games he has hit .267 with 27 homers, 136 RBI, 53 stolen bases, and .761 OPS.

Accardo is relief pitching depth that has made 235 appearances at the big league level. In 247.1 innings he owns a career 4.22 ERA and 52 saves. Petit missed last season with a knee injury and is a good defender that is mostly just minor league infield depth.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Around the Farm: January 21

2012-01-22T00:24:00.002-05:00

Andrew Campbell

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Australian Baseball League

Andrew Campbell (DH, Brisbane Bandits): 2-for-5, 2B, RBI. A much better game for Campbell who had struggled in his two previous games with 6 strikeouts. He is still hitting .333/.395/.359 in his last 10 games and is having a good overall showing in the ABL this offseason.
Ryan Battaglia (C, Brisbane Bandits): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, RBI. Battaglia pounded out his second homer in the ABL and continued his string of producing power when he squares up the ball. Incredibly, 7 of his 9 hits in the ABL have gone for extra bases. He does not hit the ball consistently as he has 12 strikeouts in 40 at bats and is hitting just .225, but when he hits it right he has made the most of it.

Indians should benefit from last season's struggles

2012-01-21T08:03:00.009-05:00

Shin-Soo Choo (Photo: AP)

This is the first piece from Andy Nichols, one of three new IPI writers that will be debuting over the next several days. He is a college student and will be writing about the Indians.

The Cleveland Indians went to the bottom of the eighth inning down 2-1 to the Boston Red Sox, the popular World Series pick among fans and baseball experts.

With the game broadcast on national TV, a young Cleveland team saw this as an opportunity to show the baseball world that it was a serious contender in the American League. In that eighth inning, Michael Brantley singled home Adam Everett to tie the game at 2, and the next batter Asdrubal Cabrera doubled home Brantley to give the Indians a 3-2 lead. In the top of the ninth closer Chris Perez shut the door on a comeback win over the vaunted Red Sox.

The date was May 23rd, and after the win the Indians held the best record in all of baseball at 30-15.

Cleveland fans know where the story goes from there. That young Indians team that captured the hearts of Cleveland fans came back down to Earth, and injuries and a lack of depth eventually took Cleveland out of the playoff hunt.

However, the final standings do not fully represent how memorable this past season was for the Indians and their fans. There were comeback victories, walk-off wins, dominant pitching performances, and jaw-dropping plays that continued to bring fans to a ballpark that had the worst attendance in all of baseball just one year prior.

Fans could feel the tide turning in Cleveland. People could see the excitement on the faces of the fans as they walked down Ontario Street and in through the gates of the ballpark. The magic had finally come back to Progressive Field, and people saw a young, hungry team that was determined to give the distraught fans of Cleveland a reason to believe.

After going a combined 32-20 in April and May, the Indians finished the rest of the season by going 48-62 to finish with an overall record of 80-82. That record was good enough for a second place finish in the American League Central.

The 2011 season had its down moments, with the injuries to core players Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Travis Hafner, and Michael Brantley, but there were also plenty of highs. The bullpen was a key to the Indians success with the continued improvement of Chris Perez, Joe Smith, Rafael Perez, and Tony Sipp, among others. The standout piece to the success of the Tribe bullpen was the emergence of rookie set-up man Vinnie Pestano. The 26-year-old right-hander wowed fans with his 2.32 ERA and his 84 strikeouts in 62 innings. Pestano’s 12.19 strikeout per 9 inning rate was good enough for 4^th best in the entire American League.

The starting rotation offered solid performances of their own. Justin Masterson proved to be a reliable, top of the rotation arm. The trade deadline addition of Ubaldo Jimenez brought in another pitcher capable of leading a rotation and brings a potentially deadly one-two punch with him and Masterson. Cleveland’s ace to begin the year, Fausto Carmona, had his struggles, but has proven to be reliable in the past.

The surprise of the 2011 rotation was the fearless Josh Tomlin. The right-hander doesn't light up radar guns or blow anybody away with unhittable pitches, but he has developed a reputation for attacking the zone and not giving into hitters. In 2011, Tomlin’s precision pitching earned him a 3.81 ERA in 18 starts before the All-Star break. After the break he struggled a bit with consistency and came down with a right elbow injury. He did not make another start after August because of the injury and finished the season with a respectable 12-7 record and 4.25 ERA.

With all of the injuries suffered by the Indians’ starting nine, fans were able to get their first glimpses of top prospects Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis.

Chisenhall took some time to get adjusted to big league pitching, but in the season’s final month the third baseman put up a .279 batting average with 4 homers and 14 RBI. September showed Cleveland fans what Chisenhall is capable of doing at the Major League level.

Jason Kipnis added an immediate spark to the Tribe offense when he was called up from Triple-A Columbus in July. The second baseman’s first career hit was a walk-off single to beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Throughout the remaining months of the season, Kipnis showed his pop by hitting 7 homers in only 136 at bats.

During the rebuilding stages, Cleveland’s front office said they believed that 2012 would be the year that fans would see the Indians start to compete for the division crown. What people saw in 2011 was a team that was ahead of schedule but ran into some tough luck with injuries and is possibly destined for far greater success in 2012.

Around the Farm: January 20

2012-01-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

Ryan Battaglia

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Australian Baseball League

Andrew Campbell (DH, Brisbane Bandits): 1-for-5, R, 3 K. After a three week hot streak Campbell looks to have hit a wall as in his last 2 games he is now 1-for-9 at the plate with 6 strikeouts. The 19-year old left-handed hitter has still had a solid showing in the ABL hitting .286/.375/.357 in 24 games.
Ryan Battaglia (C, Brisbane Bandits): 1-for-5, R, 2B, 2 K. Surprise, surprise. Battaglia got a hit and a couple of strikeouts in one game. That’s been his MO this entire offseason. He now had just 7 hits in 36 at bats this offseason with 5 of them going for extra bases, and he also has 12 strikeouts.

Venezuela Winter League

Jose Lopez (3B, Caribes de Anzoategui): 1-for-4. Another okay outing for Lopez who has been really quiet in the playoffs. He is going right down to the very end this offseason playing for his Caribes team through the playoffs, and when the dust settled will have played in almost 60 games this offseason and put up about 250 at bats.

Indians sign Spilborghs, Petit

2012-01-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

Ryan Spilborghs

Today the Cleveland Indians announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Ryan Spilborghs and infielder Gregorio Petit to minor league contracts with non-roster invitations to Major League spring training camp.

Spilborghs, 32, has played in 619 total games at the Major League level - all with the Colorado Rockies - and owns a career batting average of .272 with 86 2B, 12 3B, 42 HR and 218 RBI. Last year with the Rockies his season ended prematurely because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot in early August. In 98 games with the Rockies last year he hit .210 with 8 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR and 22 RBI. He is a right-handed hitter and is versatile where he can play all three outfield positions. In his career he is a .305 (53-for-174) pinch-hitter.

Petit, 26, has a nine year minor league career where he is a career .266 hitter with 139 2B, 22 3B, 41 HR and 343 RBI in 827 games. He was a member of the Athletics organization from 2002-2009 and played in 25 total games at the big league level with them in 2008 and 2009. He last played in 2010 with the Rangers, and spent the entire season at Triple-A Oklahoma City and hit .251 (118-471) with 20 2B, 7 HR and 53 RBI in 130 games at shortstop. Last December he injured his knee playing in the Venezuela Winter League and missed the 2011 season, but recently played in the Venezuela League for Caracas and hit .189 with 6 2B, 0 HR and 11 RBI in 30 games.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Prospects in the wind and free agent first basemen

2012-01-20T08:21:00.003-05:00

Matt LaPorta (Photo: AP)

Many voices have shouted from their teepee’s about what the Indians should do at the not-so-hot corner.

Carlos Pena and Casey Kotchman are available and potential fits (though left-handed in the heavily tilted Tribe lineup). Matt LaPorta is the struggling not-so-green prospect (but right-handed). It is very clear to say that Kotchman or Pena are more guaranteed bats and certainly better defenders. So why not make the relatively low-risk investment (also, I’m a big Kotchman fan if we do, FYI).

There are many factors beyond player selection that are going into this decision:

Long Term team performance – Basically, does the organization want to completely abandon the biggest piece from the CC Sabathia trade? LaPorta seems to have officially “died” as a prospect, but he just turned 27 and has roughly two seasons worth of plate appearances and many of these have come while injured. While unlikely, LaPorta could still figure things out and become the eventual Hafner replacement after this season because he is not a good defender at first base.

Short Term team performance – ~~The Indians have a window this year, with the Victor Martinez injury~~(1/24/12)Update: The Tigers signed Prince Fielder and will score many runs and are prohibitive favortiesBUT the Indians have a lineup loaded with bounce-back and break-out potential (Choo, Sizemore, Carmona + prospects galore). This is also intimately tied with financial success and the ability to pursue locking up the young core and signing on needed complementary pieces.

Economics – The Indians do not want to spend money that isn’t delivering high-class bang for their buck. This is where my issue with signing on Pena and Kotchman begins and ends: if we sign them, what are the chances that one of them is the difference between playoff contention for the entire season (to the extent it drives attendance) and being a non-factor? In my mind, it is extremely small. Granted, so too, is the financial commitment the Indians will have to make. In addition to this, if first base is really a sore spot and the Indians feel they are extremely close to contention after a fractional season they can just go after the numerous first basemen available as the year continues on.

Win Probability – Let’s say the Indians pick Pena, and lets further say that he turns into a three-win player (fair, he had six Wins Above Replacement in 2007, but has settled in around/below this level). So the Indians get him for the entire season and get their three wins above LaPorta, who we will further assume is a 0 win player.

Flexibility - Around the half-way point of the season, teams make the decision to go for it or throw in the towel. At this point, Pena might have accumulated 1.5 more wins than LaPorta. These wins would be very unlikely to sway Indians management to go for it as opposed to conceding defeat…too many other parts are too important in determining this component. The Indians could just give LaPorta more time to establish himself, while sometimes spelling him with Santana and then make the evaluation with a half season of LaPorta’s prime and theoretically only missing out on 1.5 wins. This will simultaneously give themselves the chance to complete their evaluation of LaPorta and not make a year-long financial commitment to a rental player.

In conclusion, the Indians need to ask themselves a few questions: Is Matt LaPorta completely a bust and ready to be written off? Will Pena or Kotchman be THE difference between contention and not? Will there be zero acceptable first base candidates available at the mid-point of the season? Will the resulting wins and playoff contention, coupled with the front-office admission of a failed prospect that headlined the trade that sent a huge part of the franchise away, drive financial success capable of securing core players?

If you can definitively answer “yes” to all of these questions, you have a compelling argument to sign a first-basemen. If you are unsure, or can answer “no” to any of these, you might just want to advocate keeping what we have and waiting things out. After all, you are only giving up a little more than one win and you might just be surprised with what you had in the cupboard.

Around the Farm: January 19

2012-01-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

Robinson Tejeda

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Australian Baseball League

Andrew Campbell (LF, Brisbane Bandits): 0-for-4, BB, 3 K, PO. The three day lag between Brisbane’s last game on Sunday and their game last night apparently cooled down the hot hitting Campbell. Coming into the game he had hits in 14 of his last 15 games and was 6-for-12 in his last 3 games.
Ryan Battaglia (C, Brisbane Bandits): 0-for-4. Battaglia hit his first homer in his last game on Sunday. The bad news is he went hitless in 4 at bats, though the good news is he did not strike out in any of those at bats as he was averaging a strikeout every 2.7 at bats coming into the game.

Dominican Winter League

Robinson Tejeda (RP, Tigres del Licey): 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Tejeda faced just two batters, but a lot happened while he was on the mound. He came into the game in the 4^th inning with 1 out and runners on 1^st and 3^rd. The first batter he faced hit a sacrifice fly that scored a run (not charged to him) and while pitching to the second batter the runner that was on first stole second and scored because of a throwing error by the catcher that allowed him to advance to third and a throwing error by the center fielder that allowed him to score. The second batter eventually singled and Tejeda was replaced. And so ends his winter ball season.

Venezuela Winter League

Jose Lopez (3B, Caribes de Anzoategui): 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB. A better outing for Lopez who reached base in 2 of his 4 plate appearances and also ended an 0-for-14 stretch with a single in the 2^nd inning.

Indians sign three players to minor league deals

2012-01-19T12:26:00.000-05:00

Fred Lewis

The Cleveland Indians today have announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Fred Lewis and right-handed pitcher Jeremy Accardo to minor league contracts with non-roster invitations to Major League spring training camp.

Lewis, 31, is a career .267 hitting in the Major Leagues with 91 2B, 21 3B, 27 HR and 136 RBI in 517 combined games with the San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. His 11 triples in 2008 were tied for second in the National League and he also stole 21 bases while with the SF Giants. Last season he played in just 81 games with the Reds and hit .230 with 7 2B, 3 HR and 19 RBI. He began the season on the disabled list because of a strained right oblique.

Accardo, 30, has made 235 career Major League appearances with the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and San Francisco Giants and has a 4.22 ERA and 52 saves (247.1 IP, 246 H, 95 BB, 176 K, .261 AVG). His best season was in 2007 with the Blue Jays when he filled in for injured closer BJ Ryan and went 4-4 with 30 saves and a 2.14 ERA in 64 games. Last year he split time in the big leagues with the Orioles (31 G, 5.73 ERA) and Triple-A Norfolk (26 G, 2.16 ERA).

Both players are considered more as depth options for Triple-A Columbus and should not factor into things in Cleveland unless a rash of injuries occur. There is also unofficial word that the Indians have signed infielder Gregorio Petit to a minor league deal (no invite to ML spring training).

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Around the Farm: January 18

2012-01-19T00:42:00.000-05:00

Jose Lopez

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Venezuela Winter League

Jose Lopez (3B, Caribes de Anzoategui): 0-for-4. Ouch. Lopez has now gone hitless in 3 straight games and is currently in an 0-for-14 stretch at the plate. With play in Venezuela wrapping up this weekend, he is not finishing up very strong as he is hitting just .191 in 12 playoff games, which is a far cry from how well he did in 43 games during Venezuela’s regular season when he hit .310 and was very productive at the plate. Because of his right-handed bat, versatility and Major League experience he has a decent chance to make the Indians opening day roster as a player off the bench, but if he is to make the team he is going to need to play extremely well this spring for the Indians and benefit from a few injuries as well.

Offseason Spotlight: Thomas Neal

2012-01-18T10:20:00.001-05:00

Thomas Neal (Photo: IPI)

The offseason continues to roll along. By now most of the players in the Cleveland Indians’ system from the minors to the majors are well into their preseason workouts in preparation for the new season.

Some of those preseason workouts have been interrupted this week as the Indians invited a select few players to come to Cleveland for their annual Winter Development Program. Eleven Indians players are currently in Cleveland this week getting to know the city and the facilities at Progressive Field, and then this weekend will ship off to Goodyear, Arizona for the second leg of the development program which finishes up at the end of next week.

One player participating in the program is newly acquired outfielder Thomas Neal.

Neal, 24, is the player the Indians acquired in their July 30th trade with the San Francisco Giants for infielder Orlando Cabrera. He played only 70 games last year between Triple-A Fresno and Columbus because he battled a few injuries, and hit .289 with 2 HR, 26 RBI, 8 stolen bases, and .734 OPS.

Like with any player the trade flipped Neal’s world upside down as he was leaving the confines of the Giants’ organization for an Indians organization he really knew nothing about. At first he was startled by the trade, but then quickly realized it is a new and maybe even better opportunity for him.

“I really look at it as a blessing,” Neal said in a recent interview with the IPI. “It is one of those situations you have no control over. Obviously the Indians believe in my talents enough to make that trade. At the time I didn’t even know who I was traded for as it was not officially out yet. It was exciting. I called my mom first and told her I can’t really talk and don’t have all the details – you know how moms want to ask all the questions. It was a hectic and crazy time.”

Neal had no idea he was even being considered in a deal. Even up to the time he was told over the phone by Giants Vice President of Baseball Operations Bobby Evans that he had been traded.

“It was about the second inning of our game and I was sitting on the bench,” Neal recalled. “Our athletic trainer came up to me and told me Bobby Evans wanted to speak to me. I wasn’t even putting two and two together, and I went upstairs and made the call and he told me I had been traded to the Indians. It took me by surprise and then we said our good-byes and he wished me well. It was a unique experience.”

At the time of the trade Neal was on the Triple-A disabled list with a left hand injury. He had last played on July 16th but the Indians were comfortable with the looks they had of him prior to the injury and with his medical information so made the trade. After the trade he continued his stay on the disabled list at Columbus for a week until he made his debut in the Indians organization, but was limited to just ten games before he was back on the disabled list and did not play the rest of the season.

The recurring hand injury Neal had to work through all last season made for a very frustrating season.

“For me, it was a frustrating season, but I wouldn’t call it a down year,” Neal said. “I don’t like to make any excuses but before the hand injury I was hitting .320 and tried to play through it and my numbers suffered. I feel like everything happens for a reason, and the injury gave me time to clear my head and fix some things. Mentally and physically I am fresh and hopefully in the long run it will help me finish strong.”

The hand injury mostly affected Neal’s ability to drive the ball. He is a well-rounded player that can hit for average and power, and also plays sound defense and can steal some bases. But the power component is what was missing the most last year as he came into the season with a career .475 slugging percentage but only had a .391 slugging percentage last season.

“It was just one of those years where I went on the DL the second game into the season, I came back and was back for 15-20 games and got hurt again and missed a month, and then came back and went on the DL again,” Neal said. “So it was hard to get into a rhythm. It was a palm injury that I hurt sliding into third. I kind of bruised it and tried to play on it for a week, but I slid again and it got little bit worse. It was one of those things where I was trying to swing and every time the knob hit my hand I couldn’t stay through the ball or anything. At first [the Giants] thought I had broken my hamate bone, but after more tests we found out it was just a deep bruise and was something I just had to take my time to make sure it got well.”

Now that Neal has had time to rest and recover from the hand injury last season, his right-handed bat and versatility in the outfield could really help the Indians at some point this season. As a right-handed hitter he brings something the Indians lack not only in Cleveland but through their minor league system. To break into the big leagues he is going to need to show he versatile in the outfield and fill a fourth outfield role.

“Me personally, I feel like I can play the corners and I played center [last] year,” Neal said. “I am faster than people give me credit for in the outfield. I really work on getting good jumps and it is something that I really work on with my defense and I think helps reading the ball off the bat. I played shortstop my whole life, so I have some instincts on what to expect and how to read the swings which helps make up for not having blazing speed.”

Even with his big 6’2” 225 pound frame, Neal moves well in the outfield. He was a shortstop in high school, but thanks to his former high school coach Tom Brunansky - the former Minnesota Twins outfielder in the 1980s and now currently the hitting coach for the Twins Triple-A Rochester affiliate – he moved Neal to the outfield near the end of his senior season and is something that has paid off for him ever since.

“In high school I played shortstop,” Neal said. “We were playing a game and I went into the outfield in center field. People kept hitting balls out there and I kept running them down and Brunansky said I had a better shot of being an outfielder. So about three quarters of the way through the season I made the switch to the outfield and it is how I got drafted.”

Neal also has some experience at first base as he spent his 2008 season at Low-A Augusta splitting time between first base and designated hitter. That season he was coming off of labrum surgery on his right shoulder and the Giants did not feel he was quite ready to go back out to the outfield, so had him play some first base that season.

That experience at first base along with Neal’s experience as a shortstop in high school could be something the Indians or another team experiments with down the road to add some versatility if he does not work out as a full time outfielder. But right now the focus is making him an option to use in the outfield this season.

Neal is one of several outfielders that will go to big league spring training in a dogfight for the fourth outfielder role on the team. Unless a few of the other candidates get hurt he is expected to open the 2012 season in Columbus, but will be one of the first options the Indians call upon this season when a need presents itself.

Health is always the biggest key, but if Neal is healthy and performing he has a great chance to make his Major League debut some time this season.

“Hopefully the opportunity presents itself,” Neal said. “Obviously everyone’s goal is to become a big leaguer. But I know the one thing I have always felt strongly about is that when I go up there I don’t want to come back. I want to go up there and be a productive Major Leaguer. I don’t want to be someone that is not helping the team. I want to be someone that can be a force. That’s my goal and what I am always going to strive to be.”

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Around the Farm: January 17

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

Jose Lopez

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Venezuela Winter League

Jose Lopez (3B, Caribes de Anzoategui): 0-for-4. After a nice regular season in Venezuela where in 43 games he hit .310/.350/.470 with 5 HR and 24 RBI, Lopez has struggled in the playoffs and in 11 games is hitting just .209/.255/.279 with 1 HR and 8 RBI. It may just be water finding its level, but his recent struggles probably have a lot more to do with the fact he has been nursing a minor injury sustained while running the bases two weeks ago that resulted in him missing a few games and having to DH a few games before returning to the field. Overall it has been a solid showing this offseason for him, and he could become an option in Cleveland if an injury crops up to some of the frontrunners on the bench to make the Indians’ opening day roster.

Explaining Stats: Slugging Percentage

2012-01-17T08:08:00.000-05:00

My earliest memory of baseball stats was as a child going over to my grandmother's house and after everyone was done with the Sunday paper I would cut out the giant section of stats in the Sunday Akron Beacon Journal.

For those who don't remember or did not get the paper every Sunday they had just about every player listed in order of batting average with Indians players bolded, and then pitchers listed the same way in order of ERA.

Also, depending on space allotted, they would have small boxes of less than ten names for other category leaders such as home runs, runs, RBI, doubles, strikeouts, etc. I would keep the list and look at it randomly as a source of information, and in time this would lead to me making games using dice or whatever I had on hand to play baseball games and keep my own stats of my own games. This practice faded as I grew older, but then when I got to college we had the internet and stats were at my finger tips at all times.

Yet, I still only really knew about the basic old school stats, but then about five years ago I started playing OOTP 5. It is a free baseball game that you play and everyone manages one team. This game had stats I didn't know and thus I had no way to know how to completely and correctly judge my players.

So in addition of looking to see what the abbreviations stood for, I started to examine and learn what they meant stat-wise and what would be a good score for each stat. I often refer to that baseline as the 300 level, because growing up 300 was the baseline for what a good hitter should break.

Sadly, as I learned about these stats I began to realize that many of what I had relied on for years were half stats and did not tell a true story. This was about the same time Major League Baseball started figuring this out and hiring stat guys who were famous for advanced stats and different ways of judging players.

Last year I started I started examining some of the newer stats with a piece on base percentage, but this time around I wanted to focus in on slugging percentage. I plan to write on a variety of stats, so feel free to ask about some you don't know or anything you would like to see profiled. I know some dislike the new stats, but they are now a part of baseball and are not going away. If anything they are getting even more complex.

So what is slugging percentage?

There is a basic and easy way to understand the formula for it. Slugging percentage is singles + (doubles x 2) + (triples x 3) + (home runs x 4) all divided by the players' total number of at bats. The easier way is to say it is the total bases a player accumulates divided by the players' at bats.

The league average for slugging percentage is often considered to be .400 to .415. For a player to have been exceptional last season and make the top 30 in both leagues he would have had to post a .495 SLG.

As a comparion, last year the highest slugging percentage for the Indians was Asdrubal Cabrera's .460 SLG, though Carlos Santana was close with a .457 SLG. They were 62nd and 66th in the league respectively, which shows how the Indians really did lack a credible consistent power threat.

For those wondering about the Indians targets for the hole at first base, Carlos Pena posted a .462 SLG and Casey Kotchman a .422 SLG, and both players were in the bottom half of all qualifying first baseman last year.

The old school method used before was typically that power hitters were judged by how many home runs they hit and the ability to hit for doubles did not represent power. This new approach with calculating slugging percentage allows for all extra base hits to be a part of the evaluation. This allows evaluators to take advantage of the full concept of power as maybe a player only has doubles power, which is still better than no power at all.

Bottom line, slugging percentage is a way to judge how effectively a player hits for power and it allows for better evaluation of the teams we follow.

Around the Farm: January 16

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

Robinson Tejeda

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Dominican Republic Winter League

Robinson Tejeda (RP, Tigres del Licey): 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Tejeda was the tough luck loser as the one run he allowed in the 5^th inning put his Licey team down 2-1 and they eventually lost 3-1. He has now made a total of 8 appearances this offseason and in 16.1 innings has allowed 14 runs (12 earned) on 13 hits, 13 walks, and has 15 strikeouts. The high amount of walks and ineffectiveness are a carry over from a poor 2011 where he posted a 6.14 ERA in 9 appearances with the Royals and battled right shoulder inflammation for most of the year.

2012 Depth Chart

2012-01-16T09:01:00.006-05:00

This is updated look at the Cleveland Indians organization from Cleveland down to Low-A Lake County. This listing is my own view and the Cleveland Indians in no way assisted in putting it together. That said, I do feel I have a good understanding of where a lot of players will be placed so this is a good snapshot of how I think things look at the moment.

As moves are made this offseason I will continue to update this listing. So while Matt LaPorta may be listed as the starting first baseman in Cleveland, this will likely change as we get deeper into the offseason.

The players listed at the bottom are question marks as they do not appear to have a spot in the organization and may be on the bubble. The one exception are the extra players listed under Low-A Lake County as most of these players will be assigned to extended spring training and then play for one of the short season affiliates later in the year at Single-A Mahoning Valley or rookie level Arizona or even Low-A Lake County later in the season.

The players with a (+) are what I think will be piggyback situations. With several pitchers expected to start and have their workload monitored this gives an opportunity for the Indians to essentially have six starters at a given level. Danny Salazar and Alexander Perez are expected back next season as starters but will likely have to piggyback with someone, and Dillon Howard is not going to go out and throw 150 innings his first pro season so he may piggyback with someone like Jake Sisco, which would be a good way to break both in at Lake County.

Players listed under the "DH" does not mean they will be the full time DH, it just means they will be in the everyday lineup but have to split time at a few positions, something of which is hard to illustrate in a depth chart.

As you get deeper and deeper into the system, particularly at the Single-A level in Carolina and Lake County it becomes harder and harder to determine who goes where, especially with the pitchers. So if a player is not listed on a roster now it does not mean in a month or two I won't put them on a roster. In the end it only matters what the Indians officially unveil at the end of March as between now and then injuries, trades, etc will occur which will change the makeup of this depth chart considerably.

This depth chart will be linked in the tabs above right below the header, so check back often as this chart will continue to be updated all offseason as moves are made or I gather more information.

One last note....the (*) means the pitcher is left-handed.

Last updated: January 25, 2012

	Cleveland	Columbus	Akron	Carolina	Lake County
Lineup
C	Lou Marson	Luke Carlin	Roberto Perez	Jake Lowery	Alex Lavisky
1B	Carlos Santana	Matt LaPorta	Adam Abraham	Jesus Aguilar	Charlie Valerio
2B	Jason Kipnis	Cord Phelps	Tyler Cannon	Zach MacPhee	Tony Wolters
SS	A. Cabrera	Juan Diaz	Casey Frawley	Ronny Rodriguez	Francisco Lindor
3B	L. Chisenhall	Jared Goedert	Kyle Bellows	Jordan Smith	Giovanny Urshela
LF	Michael Brantley	Tim Fedroff	Tyler Holt	Delvi Cid	LeVon Washington
CF	Grady Sizemore	Ezequiel Carrera	Jordan Henry	Bryson Myles	Luigi Rodriguez
RF	Shin-Soo Choo	Thomas Neal	Nick Weglarz	Carlos Moncrief	Cody Elliott
DH	Travis Hafner	Beau Mills	Chun Chen	Anthony Gallas	Robel Garcia
Bench
C		Matt Pagnozzi	Michael Hernandez	Alex Monsalve	Moises Montero
INF	Jack Hannahan	Argenis Reyes	Karexon Sanchez	Todd Hankins	Nick Bartolone
INF	Jason Donald		Jeremie Tice	Argenis Martinez	Evan Frazar
INF
OF	Shelley Duncan	Trevor Crowe	Ben Copeland	Jordan Casas	John Barr
OF	A. Cunningham	Chad Huffman
OF
Rotation
SP	Justin Masterson	Jeanmar Gomez	T.J. McFarland*	Giovanni Soto*	Felix Sterling
SP	Ubaldo Jimenez	David Huff*	Matt Packer*	Kyle Blair	Elvis Araujo
SP	Josh Tomlin	Zach McAllister	Austin Adams	Mike Rayl*	Shawn Armstrong
SP	Fausto Carmona	Scott Barnes*	Clayton Cook	M. Goodnight	Will Roberts
SP	Derek Lowe	Corey Kluber	Steven Wright+	Alexander Perez+	Dillon Howard+
Bullpen
MR	Frank Herrmann	Tyler Sturdevant	T.J. House+	Danny Salazar+	Jake Sisco+
MR	Nick Hagadone*	Hector Ambriz	Rob Bryson	Trey Haley	Kyle Petter*
MR	Tony Sipp*	Paolo Espino	Eric Berger*	Brett Brach	Grant Sides
MR	Rafael Perez*	K. De La Cruz*	Matt Langwell	Jordan Cooper	Tony Dischler
MR	Joe Smith	Bryce Stowell	Toru Murata	F. Jimenez*	Danny Jimenez*
MR	Vinnie Pestano	Bryan Price	Kyle Landis	Cole Cook	Joseph Colon
MR
CL	Chris Perez	C.C. Lee	Preston Guilmet	Cody Allen	Enosil Tejeda
Disabled List
DL	Carlos Carrasco	Hector Rondon	Bo Greenwell	Jason Knapp
DL
DL
DL
Extras or free agent
	Jose Lopez	Chin-Lung Hu	Doug Pickens	Aaron Fields	Aaron Siliga
	Felix Pie	Willy Lebron		A. Hubbard	Jeff Johnson
	Andy LaRoche	Gregorio Petit		Brian Heere	Andrew Campbell
	Robinson Tejeda	Jose De La Torre		Clayton Ehlert	Leonardo Castillo
	Chris Seddon*	Ryan Rohlinger		Dale Dickerson	Luis Encarnacion
	Chris Ray			Chase Burnette	Chia-Ching Lin
	Jeremy Accardo			Dwight Childs	Drew Ruckinski
	Fred Lewis			J. Reichenbach*	Eric Haase
				Joey Mahalic	Erik Gonzalez
				Nick Sarianides	Francisco Valera
				Justin Toole	Cody Anderson
					Harold Guerrero*
					Henry Dunn
					Hunter Jones
					Jack Wagoner*
					Jairo Kelly
					Jerrud Sabourin
					Jorge Martinez
					Brian Ruiz
					Jose Lopez
					Jose Ramirez

					Josh McKeon
					Juan Romero
					KC Serna
					Kevin Fontanez
					Kirk Wetmore*
					Luis DeJesus
					Luis Lugo*
					Luis Morel
					Manuel Carmona
					Marcus Bradley
					Mark Brown
					Martin Cervenka
					Mason Radeke
					Matt Curtis
					Mitch Nilsson
					Moisses Ramirez
					Nathan Striz
					Owen Dew
					Patrick Tolentino
					Rafael Homblert
					Ramon Cespedes
					Rob Nixon
					Robbie Aviles*
					Ryan Battaglia
					Ryan Merritt*
					Shawn Morimando*
					Will Krasne
					Xavier de los Santos

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.

Around the Farm: January 15

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Fausto Carmona

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Australian Baseball League

Andrew Campbell (LF, Brisbane Bandits): 1-for-4. That is now 3 games in a row Campbell has gotten a hit and now 14 of his last 15 games that he has had at least one hit in a game. In his last 3 games he is 6-for-12 with 4 runs scored, 1 walk and no strikeouts.
Ryan Battaglia (C, Brisbane Bandits): 1-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI. Battaglia pounded his first homer out in the ABL, and now 4 of his 6 hits have gone for extra bases. He is only hitting .222, but thanks to the extra base hits he has a .720 OPS.

Dominican Republic Winter League

Fausto Carmona (SP, Aguilas Cibaenas): 5.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 9 K, 0 HR. Carmona picked up the win for his Aguilas team in the playoffs with his best performance by far this offseason. Not only did he rack up 9 strikeouts, but he also got 9 groundballs to boot. He has been inconsistent this offseason pitching in the Dominican Republic, so hopefully he can build on this performance.
Eric Berger (RP, Gigantes del Cibao): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Berger with another good outing and he has now pitched in 4 playoff games in the Dominican Republic and been near perfect. In those 4 games he has pitched a total of 3.0 innings and allowed no runs, 1 hit, no walks, and has 4 strikeouts.

Tribe Happenings: First base void could be filled soon

2012-01-15T07:39:00.000-05:00

Pena's power would be much welcomed

to the Indians lineup. (Photo: AP)

Some news, notes, and thoughts from my Indians notebook…

First base options come into focus

The Indians are about five weeks from the start of spring training as pitchers and catchers will report on February 20th. As spring training gets closer a lot of teams are still making moves to add players to their Major League rosters, and the Indians could be one of them very soon. Reports this week surfaced that talks between the Indians and free agent first basemen Casey Kotchman and Carlos Pena have heated up.

The Indians have yet to address their need at first base this offseason, but they have been talking to lots of free agents and to lots of teams about potential trades to fill their need there. After Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, the market for the remaining first baseman was expected to drag out late into the winter, and it has. In fact, Fielder has yet to sign with a team.

There are lots of options still available in free agency that could fill the Indians void at first base. The three best and most popular options after Fielder are Derrek Lee, Kotchman, and Pena. At the moment the Indians’ interest in Lee appears cool so the focus appears to be Kotchman and Pena. Both Pena and Kotchman bring their own intangibles and positives to the team, but also their own negatives as well.

Pena, 33, is someone a lot of people like simply because of his power. He has had five straight seasons of 28 or more homers including a three year stretch from 2007-2009 where he hit 46, 31, and 39 homers respectively. He also plays good defense and walks a lot as he has had five straight seasons with 87 or more walks, which has helped supplement a poor batting average in almost every season (career .239 AVG). On the flip side, he has also struck out at least 142 times in a season for five straight years.

Kotchman, 28, is a guy a lot of people like because he puts the ball in play. In 2588 career at bats he has struck out just 289 times, and last season he hit .306 with the Rays. Like Pena, he is also a good defender. The problem with him is he had a good 2007 and 2011, but the years in between there from 2008-2010 were not much better from an offensive standpoint than Matt LaPorta, so the Indians run the risk of getting that player. While he can hit 10-15 home runs, he lacks the big power of Pena.

If in fact the Indians are making a decision between the two players, it is a tough decision they have to make. The way things are looking they will likely sign one of these two players, but the question is who and which one is the best fit?

Both are are solid to above average defenders, so evaluating their defense is moot as both will provide a defensive boost at first base the Indians need. It is the offense that will be the separator and determines which player fits best.

Most of the focus is on adding a power bat, but the Indians also need guys that can consistently put the bat on the ball and be productive. The Indians were actually in the middle of the pack in power last season as their 154 home runs ranked them 16th in MLB, and their .714 OPS was 18th in the league. But the Indians struck out 1269 times which was 5th worst in the entire league and was the highest total in franchise history.

Do the Indians sign Pena and add him to a lineup already full of windmills? He struck out 161 times in 493 at bats last season. By the same token, Kotchman struck out 66 times in 500 at bats. Is the benefit of more extra base hit power with a guy like Pena more valuable than a guy like Kotchman who put the ball in play 100 more times than Pena did last season in the same number of at bats?

As I noted in last week’s notebook, the addition of a left-handed or right-handed bat at first base hardly changes anything with the Indians lineup. Even if they were to add a mid-level right-handed bat this offseason they would still have six left-handed hitters and two switch-hitters (that are best from the left side) in the lineup. Whether they sign a left-handed or right-handed bat, the lineup is still left-handed heavy either way and can be matched up to late in games.

At this point the Indians simply just need to sign the best player, be it the powerful, strikeout prone bat of Pena or the contact oriented, questionable bat of Kotchman. It is a tough decision, but then again that is why GM Chris Antonetti gets to sit in the chair and make those decisions.

Spring invites

The Indians announced two more signings this week as they inked right-handed pitcher Chris Ray and left-handed pitcher Chris Seddon to minor league deals with an invite to Major League spring training.

Ray, 30, owns an 18-19 record with 51 saves and a 4.10 ERA in six Major League seasons. Last year he pitched for the Seattle Mariners and in 29 appearances went 3-2 with a 4.68 ERA until his season ended prematurely on July 30th because of a right lat injury. His best season was with the Baltimore Orioles in 2006 when he was their closer and went 4-4 with 33 saves and 2.73 ERA. Due to his experience and past effectiveness out of the bullpen, he could be a dark horse candidate to win the final bullpen spot this spring.

Seddon, 28, owns a 93-88 record with a 4.64 ERA in 266 games (250 starts) over his 11-year minor league career. He also owns a 1-2 record and 7.03 ERA in 21 career big league appearances, with his last year in the majors coming in 2010 with the Seattle Mariners. He is not really an option to pitch in Cleveland this year and is simply depth for the Triple-A Columbus pitching staff.

The Indians also announced six internal non-roster spring invites from their farm system: right-handed pitcher Hector Ambriz, right-handed pitcher Austin Adams, catcher Chun Chen, right-handed pitcher Chen-Chang (C.C.) Lee, outfielder/first baseman Chad Huffman, and right-handed pitcher Tyler Sturdevant. All of these players are not expected to make the opening day roster, but will be options the Indians consider adding to the roster later in the season.

With the two minor league signings and six internal invites the Indians are now up to a total of 15 non-roster invites this spring. The other players recently signed to minor league deals with an invite to Major League spring training are catcher Luke Carlin, catcher Michael Hernandez, infielder Andy LaRoche, infielder Jose Lopez, catcher Matt Pagnozzi, outfielder Felix Pie, and right-handed pitcher Robinson Tejeda.

Winter Development Program starts Monday

The Indians annual Winter Development Program every January starts up on Monday. It is a two week program that was started up by Team President Mark Shapiro 17 years ago in January of 1996 as a way to hone each player’s physical, mental, and fundamental skills.

The program mostly involves players who are expected to make their Major League debut in the upcoming season, who have recently been acquired in a trade, or are a high level prospect nearing a big league opportunity. It serves as an introduction for many of the minor league players to the Progressive Field facility, big league coaching staff, and the city itself.

The Indians will conduct the program out of Progressive Field the first week of the program. During the first week players will live with host families in the Cleveland area and attend various extracurricular activities as well as other community and charitable appearances and tours of local attractions. For the second week of the program they will go to the Indians Player Development Complex in Goodyear, Arizona. There they will hone their skills on the diamond while continuing to take part in strength and conditioning activities.

The 11 participants this year are right-handed pitcher Austin Adams, right-handed pitcher Rob Bryson, catcher Chun Chen, outfielder Aaron Cunningham, infielder Juan Diaz, outfielder Tim Fedroff, outfielder Jordan Henry, left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland, outfielder Thomas Neal, catcher Roberto Perez, and right-handed pitcher Tyler Sturdevant.

Carolina dreaming

On Thursday the Indians’ announced they have extended their Player Development contract with their new High-A Carolina Mudcats affiliate an additional two years. The Mudcats will now be the High-A affiliate home of the Indians minor leaguers through the 2014 season.

The Mudcats are the Indians new High-A affiliate this season because their former High-A Kinston Indians affiliate was sold to the Mudcats last winter. As part of the celebration with their first season working together, the Indians will play an exhibition game against the Mudcats at their home field Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina on April 3rd.

The Indians will travel to Zebulon at the conclusion of spring training to participate in the exhibition game before moving on to Cleveland for the season opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field on April 5th.

Tribe on Tour

The Indians have unveiled the dates, locations, and participants for their annual winter promotional tour. This year “Tribe on Tour” will run from January 26-29 and include several Cleveland Indians staff members, players, and radio personalities. Each event will feature live player interviews, autograph sessions, Indians themed games with the opportunity to win great prizes, and team mascot Slider will be on hand as well.

Each event is free to attend and will include the following Indians’ participants: manager Manny Acta, Shelley Duncan, Jason Kipnis, Jack Hannahan, Jason Donald, Josh Tomlin, Vinnie Pestano, and radio voice Tom Hamilton.

The date, time and locations are as follows: January 26th (7-9pm) at Westfield Southpark Mall in Strongsville; January 27th (7-9pm) at Westfield Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted; January 28th (12-2pm) at Summit Mall in Akron; and January 29th (12-2pm) at Beachwood Place Mall in Beachwood.

All of the participants listed above will be at each event except Pestano and Hamilton will not be at the January 27th event in North Olmsted. Radio broadcaster Jim Rosenhaus will sub in for Hamilton on that date.

Parting shots

Former Indians infielder Adam Everett has been signed as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. In the role he will be in uniform as an instructor in spring training at both big league and minor league camp this spring. During the season he will provide infield instruction and evaluation within the Player Development system. … The Indians have hired Scooter Tucker to be their hitting coach at High-A Carolina. He was a catcher that played for the Indians in 1995 and in 17 games went 0-for-20 at the plate. … Former Indians’ bullpen pitcher Chad Durbin signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins this week. …. Former Indians pitcher Justin Germano, who left the organization midseason last year to pitch in Korea, signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox this week. … The Indians signed infielder Chin-Lung Hu and right-handed pitcher Willy Lebron to minor league contracts this week, but neither player will report to big league camp this spring as they are only depth for Triple-A Columbus.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Around the Farm: January 14

2012-01-15T00:39:00.000-05:00

Andrew Campbell

Here is the rundown of what Indians players in winter ball did yesterday.

Australian Baseball League

Andrew Campbell (LF, Brisbane Bandits): 2-for-4, 2 R, BB. Campbell has now hit in 13 of his last 14 games with 2 straight multi-hit games and 4 multi-hit games in his last 7 games. He is now hitting .307/.395/.387 in 22 games in the ABL.
Ryan Battaglia (C, Brisbane Bandits): 0-for-4, 2 K. After going 3-for-7 in his last 2 games, Battaglia went hitless in 4 at bats. He has now struck out 10 times in 24 at bats this offseason in the ABL.

Dominican Republic Winter League

Eric Berger (RP, Gigantes del Cibao): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K. Berger has yet to allow a run in 4 outings in the DR, but he was shaky for the first time. Coming into the game he had walked 2 batters in 11 games this offseason, so he doubled that output in one night.

Venezuela Winter League

Jose Lopez (3B, Caribes de Anzoategui): 1-for-4, RBI. After a very good regular season in the Venezuelan Winter League, Lopez has cooled considerably in the playoffs going 9-for-36 (.250) with 1 extra base hit and 6 RBI in 11 games.