Indians 2008 Minor League Free Agents

Note: This is an unofficial list as the official list will not be released by the Commissioner’s office until October 16th.

Pitchers (9): T.J. Burton (RHP), Eddie Buzachero (RHP), Matt Ginter (RHP), John Halama (LHP), Jeff Harris (RHP), Juan Lara (LHP), Preston Larrison (RHP), J.D. Martin (RHP) Jeff Weaver (RHP)

Catchers (3): Armando Camacaro, Damaso Espino, Yamid Haad

First basemen (1): Matt Whitney

Second Basemen (2): Andy Cannizaro, Brandon Chaves

Shortstops (1): Niuman Romero

Third Basemen (2): Morgan Ensberg, Tony Graffanino

Outfielders (5): Jason Cooper, Andy Gonzalez, Todd Linden, Nathan Panther, Bronson Sardinha

Minor League Free Agency (Rule 55)

Who is eligible: If a player is not on the 40-man roster, a minor leaguer is eligible for free agency and becomes a minor league free agent (MLFA) six years after their first season ends with an organization. This is why they are often called “six year minor league free agents” because they become a free agent after six renewal options afforded to the major league organization have all expired.In general, once a player has six full seasons in the minors he is eligible for minor league free agency. For example, if a player was drafted in June of 2002 and signed in July of the same year, then his renewal seasons were 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and he would be a minor league free agent after the 2008 season.

There is an exception to this rule for a player that has been released from their first organization before they have used up all six renewal options. When this happens and the player signs with another club, that organization has the option of signing the player to as many years as they want up until the expiration of their sixth renewable contract. In most cases, however, the new club opts to sign the player to a one year deal, and even if the player has not had six full seasons he would be a MLFA after that season.Also, a player does not become a MLFA if they agree to a successor contract prior to October 15th. A successor contract is basically just an agreement between player and organization to extend and sign for the following season in the period between the end of the season and the start of minor league free agency.

Timeline: On August 1st the Commissioner issues a listing of all players eligible to become MLFAs for the upcoming offseason. On October 15th a player officially becomes a minor league free agent (MLFA) if the club that originally signed him no longer has one of their six renewal options available to them. On October 16 the Commissioner issues the final MLFA list to all clubs, and a MLFA may negotiate a deal with any major league club for a major league or minor league contract.

Talk about the Indians minor league free agents and other topics here on our site message board.

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Josh Is No Punch And Judy Pitcher

Practically every pitcher in the bullpen at Single-A Lake County this year emerged and put themselves on the prospect map as far as reliever pitchers go. Right-hander Rob Bryson was the most publicized because he came in the C.C. Sabathia trade, right-hander Vinnie Pestano racked up a ton of saves on the year, right-hander Mike Pontius got off to a sensational start early in the year and can throw a ball throw a brick wall, and left-hander John Gaub was a strikeout machine all year.

One pitcher that was a part of the Lake County bullpen for almost the entire year who has turned out to be a hidden gem is right-hander Josh Judy, and he just may end up being the best of the bunch.

Hidden gem is not the word. Judy is from the small town of Morgantown, WV which is known mostly as the home of West Virginia University. As a diehard Mountaineers fan growing up, Judy was all set to go to school there, but not to play baseball. Judy was not scouted much out of high school, and at the last minute decided to go to school at the Indiana Institute of Technology to play baseball.

Raise your hand if you have ever heard of that school.

"Actually, Indiana Tech got a hold of me through a showcase with a guy I was working with in the offseason out of high school," said Judy. "It was pretty much the only place I got an offer to play."

Players at big time programs obviously get more exposure, but baseball has proven over time it doesn't really matter where you go to college to play baseball because if you have talent the scouts will find you. And that is exactly what happened with Judy at Indiana Tech, and he has become a great find since being taken in the 34th round of the 2007 Draft by the Indians.

"That is definitely how baseball is, and if you have what it takes someone will see you," said Judy. "My sophomore year we had a new coach come in who actually played in the minors with the Reds organization for awhile and played in Double-A, so he had some connections. He would usually hold a Scout Night in the fall and 20 to 30 guys would come out and then we would go out and throw. They would have the guns up and sit behind us and stuff like that, so I guess that is how I [was found]. It was definitely awesome [to get drafted] and one of the greatest feelings on Earth. Just coming from a small town and going to a small college and being able to get that opportunity is overwhelming."

The 6'4" 200-pounder is yet another power arm in the system as his fastball has great life and consistently sits around 92-94 MPH and has topped out as high as 96 MPH when he was in college. He complements his plus fastball with a very good slider that has a nice sharp break to it and late movement. Judy used to throw a curveball for his third pitch, but that was tabled for a changeup that he spent a lot of time this year working on between outings.

"They actually bagged my curveball that I used to throw," said Judy. "So we no longer throw that and just go fastball-slider. I started to work on a changeup this year too so that I have that third pitch. It has come a long way because I never threw one in college as I just threw fastball-curveball-slider and occasionally threw a two-seamer. If I can get that changeup going it will be a solid [addition to my pitch mix]."

Lake County Pitching Coach Ruben Niebla was really impressed with what he saw from Judy this season. Niebla spent time with Judy this year teaching him how to sink the ball better, which down the road is really going to help him attack left-handed hitters and get easier outs. He also worked with Judy on tightening up his slider as it has a tendency at times to flatten out which gets him in trouble.

"Judy has the makings of a plus slider that hitters just have a tough time picking up" said Niebla earlier in the season. "He has been able to use it as a weapon this year. He came in and was not throwing a changeup and we started to introduce it to him and throwing it in games this year, and I think it is a pitch he can develop. He has two plus pitches for this league that he has gone to so the development of the changeup has taken a backseat. We want him to solidify that slider first before we move forward with those offspeed pitches."

In addition to his outstanding fastball-slider two pitch mix, Judy has also displayed very good composure on the mound by being a bulldog in tight situations.

"I would say [my biggest strength is] mental toughness," said Judy. "Just being able to go out there in any situation and be able to come through and not have the game speed up on me. Being able to stay calm and stay within myself and go out and pitch. I think my fastball command needs a little tweaking, but I think everything else is doing good. [As far as an area of opportunity goes], I would say pickoff moves and changing the running game up. Also, definitely finding that third pitch."

During his two year professional career, Judy has pitched out of the bullpen. Although he signed late last year he pitched well in limited time with the Indians as he was 1-2 with a 0.36 ERA, and in 25.1 innings allowed 18 hits and 11 walks while striking out 21 in 13 combined appearances at Mahoning Valley and the GCL. This year in 42 combined appearances at Lake County and Kinston he went 12-1 with a 3.26 ERA, and in 88.1 innings he allowed 72 hits, 26 walks, and had 97 strikeouts.

Any pitcher who has two very good pitches and commands them well is going to have a lot of success, but in order to be able to face a lineup multiple times in a game they need a third pitch to have success. Judy has been a starting pitcher all throughout his high school and college career, but since coming to the Cleveland organization he has pitched out of the bullpen. Judy still would like to start, so this offseason and next season he will spend a lot of time working on his changeup to see if he can get back into the starting mix.

"All the way up until pro ball I have been a starter, and I am still trying to get acquainted with the bullpen and how it works," said Judy. "I like the bullpen, but I miss starting because you always know when you are going to throw and you have a set routine you follow. Being a bullpen guy it jumbles around a little bit, but it has all worked out well. It's all how the organization sees you and what they want to use you for and what they see you getting to the big leagues as. Whatever role they give me that's the one I am going to go out and do my best in."

One of the things that really got Judy noticed this year is how he had a penchant for piling up strikeouts. Seemingly every time he showed up in the box score he had three or four strikeouts in one to two innings of work. Whether or not Judy was deceiving hitters with his delivery, hiding the ball well, or just flat out overmatching hitters with his stuff, his high strikeouts rate (9.89 K/9) was impressive.

"Me and [John] Gaub actually had a strikeout race going on and we had a little bet going to see who would have more by the end of the season," laughed Judy. "He actually slipped by me by three as he finished the season with 100 and I had 97. But yeah, it is just being able to go out and attack hitters and identify what their weaknesses are and attack and put them away when they are setup. It is mostly just going out there and sticking to your gameplan."

Now that the season if over, Judy has the experience of his first full season to build on and the instruction and knowledge he has gained from several Tribe staffers to take his game to another level next season. One of the main focuses for him as he gets ready to move to Kinston to start next season will be getting better attacking left-handers and also pitching inside more to right-handers.

"Yeah, when I was in Kinston the pitching coach [Greg] Hibbard made some pointers of what to work on this offseason," said Judy. "I need to be able to throw inside a lot more and be able to command the inside to a right-hander. You are going to hit guys, but you have to be able to throw inside that way you can setup your offspeed stuff on the outside. I am better inside to a lefty than to a righty armside. It is more of a visual thing where I need to get used to visualizing where I have to throw it. Hibbard talked about the plate back there where it is more for the umpires to call balls and strikes and that the pitcher doesn't need to worry about that. Just body up and center in on the catcher and trust him back there and your command will come through."

Judy will certainly be talked about this offseason and will find his way on many Indians Top Prospect lists that extend to 30-40 players. His big year, durability, talent and ability have taken him from an unknown small town kid to a potential big time relief prospect.

"I just tried to finish up strong," said Judy about his season.

With a little punch too.

Photos courtesy of Ken Carr

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Holt Has Striking Command

The ability to throw strikes is something that comes easier and more natural to some pitchers, but for most it can be a struggle. The Indians have several pitchers in the system who have become notorious for their exceptional command, namely pitchers like left-hander David Huff and right-hander Josh Tomlin who are widely considered the top starting pitchers in the organization as far as the ability to control the strike zone goes. With the completion of the 2008 season another name will have to be added to that list, and that is right-hander Jonathan Holt.

Holt is a 5th round pick by the Indians in the 2007 Draft out of the University of Tampa. He came into the draft last year as a reputed strike thrower after he put up an incredible 19.75:1 strikeout to walk ratio over 66 innings his junior season at Tampa (79 K, 4 BB). He has lived up to that billing so far during his time with the Indians the last two years as in 109.1 career innings he has yielded only 11 walks while striking out 95 batters. Overall at Single-A Lake County this year Holt went 4-6 with a 3.20 ERA in 41 appearances, and in 76 innings allowed 80 hits, 7 walks, and had 68 strikeouts.

"I think so," said Holt when asked about his strike throwing ability being his biggest strength. "Coming into the draft last year and talking to different teams they all said 'hey, you are a strike thrower'. I may not have the best pure stuff, but it plays up with being able to throw strikes and being able to throw any pitch in any count. That has always been something that helped me in high school and college. In high school I was not a hard thrower so I had to learn how to hit my spots and change pitches to keep hitters off balance. I guess that is one of the reasons I have had success is being able to throw strikes, so hopefully that will keep going."

There are many other relievers who throw harder than Holt does, and many more that have much better secondary stuff, but being able to throw strikes is a skill in itself. For many pitchers, the ability to command and locate is one of the last things they learn and is usually the separator to determining their fate as a prospect. In the end, it doesn't matter if a pitcher can throw 98 MPH or can snap off a devastating curveball because if they can't consistently control where the ball goes then they will not be very effective.

"I like the ability to be able to call upon him out of the bullpen and know he is going to compete in the strike zone," said Lake County Pitching Coach Ruben Niebla in a late season interview. "He does a great job disrupting timing, he throws all three pitches in any count, and he uses his fastball well. At times when he needs to he goes out of the zone with his fastball as well, which is another trait that some of these guys at this level might not have yet and he has the ability to do that. It is something that people don't often hear about with a player having the ability to command the fastball outside of the zone. He does that to keep guys off the plate."

Holt's innate ability to pound the strike zone with quality strikes at such a high rate clearly gives him a leg up on the competition as far as his standing goes when compared to other pitchers at his level in the Indians' system. What Holt needs to learn now is how to attack and finish hitters off.

"For the most part I feel I can throw the ball where I need to, now it is just refining it and trying to keep it down in the lower half of the zone and learning how to attack hitters a little better," said Holt. "I talked to Ruben and Dave Miller the [Minor League] Pitching Coordinator about it. They said the big thing for me is to learn how to attack hitters and put them away. So that is what I really tried to work on, to know when to throw certain pitches in which spots."

Telling a pitcher he needs to learn how to attack hitters is one thing, but actually implementing it and working on it is another thing. So, what does a pitcher faced with a challenge of becoming more aggressive really actually do to improve in this area?

"I think it is a little bit of everything," said Holt. "[For example], commanding your fastball to both sides of the plate and then throwing your offspeed stuff maybe first pitch or three pitches in a row. It depends on the hitter as each hitter has a different plan that you are going to go out and use on them. Some hitters you can finish with fastballs or a breaking ball, or a fastball inside. That is something I have to learn as in college I was usually fastball-fastball-slider. Now it is more maybe a first pitch slider and finishing up inside with a fastball. Most hitters I found in the [South Atlantic League] looked outside to try to cover the outer half of the plate with two strikes, so if you could get a fastball inside then you might have some luck in there."

While throwing strikes is clearly Holt's biggest strength, it may also be his biggest weakness. If hitters know he does not walk very many people and is consistently around the zone at such a high rate, chances are they are going to dig in and go up to the plate hacking when they face him. The ability to back off and sort of deprogram himself some to learn how to throw purpose balls is something Holt is learning how to incorporate into his gameplan, which will help to keep hitters more honest.

"That is another thing that Dave said I need to work on, which is to throw purpose balls to maybe move some hitter's feet by throwing a ball inside for a purpose to set up the outer half," said Holt. "That is something that I have always grown up doing which is to throw strikes and now it is like 'hey, you have to throw purpose balls'. So that is going to take some time for me to learn when I can get away with it and when I should throw a purpose pitch inside or away."

Holt primarily throws a three pitch mix of a fastball, slider, and changeup, and his fastball consistently sits around 88-91 MPH and has good arm side run and sink. His breaking ball is more of a modified slider - commonly called a slurve - because it lacks the velocity to be a true slider and has more break to it.

"This year in the beginning when my mechanics were all out of whack I was around mid-to-upper 80s, but I [ended up] in the 88-90 range," said Holt. "I talked to Ruben about the velocity part of it, and he said you can't worry about it and once you get used to throwing everyday and get used to the full season your velocity will come back a year or two down the road. I am just learning how to get through that and actually pitch."

His changeup has come a long way in the short time he has been with the Indians. He lacked a feel for it coming out of college, but throughout the season started to become more confident in it and has developed a feel for it and it has improved enough to where it now has the potential to be a good pitch against left-handers.

"When I came out of college I had no changeup whatsoever," said Holt. "Last summer when the Indians put me in as a starter right out of the draft I was kind of learning the changeup on the fly. This year they told me coming out of spring training that I would be in the pen all year. Since then, it has come a long way."

After pitching so many innings this year, Holt is not participating in the Indians Fall Instructional League currently going on out in Goodyear, AZ. With the offseason here, Holt has a lot of time on his hands to reflect on his accomplishments and look at correcting some of his mistakes.

"It was a good season, a long season," said Holt. "It was definitely a learning experience going through that first full season. I got a little taste of it last summer with the travel and trying to keep in a routine. That was a big thing, setting up a firm routine. It has been a satisfying year I guess. Probably after the All Star break I started throwing better as early in the year I started out pretty bad with the mechanics and the numbers were not pretty, but I just kept working through it with Ruben. I think it was a good learning experience to go through my first real adversity on the pitching side early in the year. It was physical with mechanics, but also the mental side of not tinkering with too much stuff and just going out and trying to pitch through it and get better."

After a well deserved break this offseason, around the holidays Holt will start to get himself ready for the 2009 season. He learned a lot over the course of the 2008 season, and hopes he can use those experiences and instruction he received from coaches to set him up for a very good 2009 campaign.

"I will just try to keep up on my mechanics [this offseason]," said Holt. "I am not going to pick up the ball for a little while, but just do dry drills and keep up with the mechanics. When I start back up I will continue to work on my changeup. Dave told me being able to throw a changeup to a righty and lefty would serve me well. I just really need to try and get better in every phase."

Holt has a chance to move fast through the system from here on out, and projects as a good major league middle reliever. Time will tell if that projection holds true.

Photos courtesy of Ken Carr and the Lake County Captains

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Weekend Update: 9/27

A quick update today:

• Left-hander David Huff ended up ranked #6 in Baseball America's International League Top 20. He was also ranked #11 in their Eastern League rankings. These rankings are not on their website yet, but will be soon.

• For comments from the Baseball America chat transcripts for each league pertaining only to Indians prospects, check out the site message board thread on the BA Top 20s.

• Martin Rozenman of the Columbus Dispatch makes a suggestion that in light of Columbus' new affiliation with Cleveland and their new ballpark set to open this spring that the time is right for a name change.

• In another article in the Columbus Dispatch from earlier in the week, Baseball America's Ben Bradley talked about the status of the Indians system and who some of the top prospects are. One excerpt:

Miller opened 2008 as the No. 1 prospect in the Indians system for the fourth consecutive year but had another season derailed by injury. He was 0-1 with a 1.88 ERA in six starts for triple-A Buffalo before undergoing surgery to reattach a tendon to the middle finger of his right hand.

"You can't really talk about him without mentioning all the injuries," Badler said. "When he's healthy, he still probably has the best arm in the system. He just hasn't had a lot of time when he's been healthy. He could end up in the bullpen. But I don't think he is their No. 1 prospect anymore."

• Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com provides a short piece giving an update on how the team and players are adapting to the new Goodyear Complex out in Arizona.

• I will have a listing of the Indians minor league free agents up on the site sometime in the next few days. I am just awaiting confirmation on the status of one player’s eligibility for free agency.

• Rule 5 eligibles will also be available soon, but I don’t have a list yet. Likely sometime at the end of this coming week or the beginning-middle of the following week. Will post as soon as I have it.

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Weekend Update: 9/26

I don't know how often I will have these updates, but the Indians provided some news from the Fall Instructional League out in Goodyear, AZ that Adam Miller made his debut on Tuesday in a 7-1 win over Kansas City. Miller threw two perfect innings and had three strikeouts while throwing 32 pitches. He topped out at 94 MPH on the radar gun. Outfielder Nick Weglarz, first baseman Beau Mills and catcher Carlos Santana hit home runs in the game.

In other news, apparently Matt McBride's listing as an outfielder on the Hawaii Winter League's player roster may not be a typo. While I am awaiting confirmation, he supposedly is indeed going to play outfield out in Hawaii. This is an interesting development, and not really a suprise given the depth at the catching position in the system, particularly at the upper levels with three starting caliber catchers in Wyatt Toregas, Chris Gimenez, and Carlos Santana all expected to be in Triple-A Columbus or Double-A Akron next year. Gimenez or Toregas could wind up as the backup catcher to Victor Martinez in Cleveland if Kelly Shoppach is traded in the offseason. But, back to McBride, he certainly has the athleticism for such a move and this may be a way to keep him in the lineup and his ailing arm much more healthy.

Looking deeper into the Reid Santos waiver loss, his removal from the 40-man roster and subsequent loss on waivers to Toronto was mainly the result of left-hander Rich Rundles proving his worth and jumping over Santos on the value meter as far as left-handed relief options go. Santos was awful at Buffalo earlier in the year where in 16 appearances he was 2-2 with a 7.20 ERA and a WHIP of 2.00, and lefties hit .382 with a .995 OPS off him. In comparison, in 55 games at Buffalo Rundles was 5-4 with a 2.91 ERA including a 0.93 ERA in 13 August appearances before his callup to Cleveland. His allowed 40 hits and 24 walks in 52 innings and had 60 strikeouts, and lefties at Buffalo hit just .165 off him with a .498 OPS. Rundles ability to get lefties out at a higher level and also with the stuff to miss bats is why he is in Cleveland still and Santos is elsewhere. The writing was on the wall when he was called up and rostered, while Santos who was on the 40-man was not.

Baseball America has been providing their Top 20 lists for each league in the minor leagues, and to date all the Indians affiliates have been covered. Only the International League has not been issued yet, but with virtually no prospects there all year no one is expected to make the International League listing. Here are the players to make the list in each league:

Gulf Coast League: #10 Abner Abreu (3B)
NY-Penn League: #6 Lonnie Chisenhall (SS), #16 Tim Fedroff (OF), #19 Cord Phelps (2B)
South Atlantic League: No one
California League: #2 Carlos Santana (C)
Carolina League: #4 Nick Weglarz (OF), #5 Beau Mills (1B), #9 Hector Rondon (RHP), #15 Carlos Rivero (SS), #18 Josh Tomlin (RHP)
Eastern League: #11 David Huff (LHP), #16 Wes Hodges (3B)
Southern League: #4 Matt LaPorta (OF)

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Minor Happenings: Phelps Is Second To None

"Minor Happenings" covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.

Today is the final edition of Minor Happenings of the season. This is a special edition covering a few interviews I recently had with some players and coaches at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley. I'll have two final player features on right-handed relievers Jonathan Holt and Josh Judy sometime over the weekend, and I'll wrap up the coverage of the 2008 minor league season with my year end Tony Awards piece this coming Tuesday or next Thursday.

I'll still be updating my blog all offseason with news snippets that come in, and will continue to air my weekly radio show "Smoke Signals" every Thursday from 9:30-10:30 PM EST. Check out the show tonight as I will be solo and will be spending 100% of the time on the Indians minor league system. Also, in case you missed them, I posted player features on Frank Herrmann, Neil Wagner and Brian Juhl in the past few days.

Thanks to everyone for reading this year, and especially thanks to Ken Carr all season for his generosity and help with pictures for these articles. Minor league spring training is a little over five months away, and you can count on me being there in Arizona providing all the Happenings in the Indians farm system.

Phelps Is Second To None

The Indians may have finally found a solution at second base in the system. For years now, second base and shortstop have largely been the weakest positions in the Indians farm system, but that appears to be changing with a good collection of shortstops in Lonnie Chisenhall, Carlos Rivero, and Josh Rodriguez. Unfortunately, the Indians still have a problem at second base and it is the weakest position in the system.

The arrival of Cord Phelps should hopefully help provide a little spark to the position. The fact that Phelps, a 2008 third-round pick out of Stanford University, is the top second base prospect in the system says a lot of what is above him. The path to the big leagues is really only blocked by Jared Goedert and potentially Josh Rodriguez who started to split time between shortstop and second base this year; however, but Goedert and Rodriguez had disappointing seasons this year.

Phelps charge to the top of organizational depth chart at second base is based a lot on not only how high he was taken in the draft, but also because of his outstanding professional debut at Mahoning Valley this year where he hit .312 with 2 HR, 21 RBI and an .830 OPS in 35 games. He provides a complete package at the position with his defense, hitting, and his ability to run well. While he has a long way to go to prove himself, just having a player in the organization with his talent at a position of need is a breath of fresh air.

"I try to be a complete player and I think everybody tries to do that," said Phelps. "I definitely pride myself on my defense and my hitting and I try not to have any holes, but again there are always areas for improvement. It is always an adjustment when you step up a level. But it was fun [this year], and the atmosphere in Mahoning Valley was a good place to play. I think as a player you always are looking to do better. There are some things I thought I did well, and definitely things I need to improve on. The offseason will be a good chance to get some rest, but at the same I am looking forward to getting back into it and making improvements."

Looking at Phelps' numbers, it looks like he handled the transition from college to the professional ranks with ease. According to Phelps, however, this was not the case as he faced the toughest pitching he had faced to date and is still in the process of developing a routine and refining his approach at the plate.

"You don't see weak pitching necessarily and they generally make less mistakes [than pitchers in college]," said Phelps. "You just need to be ready for a pitch when it comes. You can't always be looking for a good pitch to hit, so you just need to be a little more aggressive at the plate. I talked with the hitting coaches at Mahoning Valley about my approach to my at bats and what you are supposed to be thinking in certain situations. I think that is part of my game that needs improvement."

While Phelps is firmly planted at second base for the time being he does have experience at other infield positions which can create some versatility for him down the road to help him break into the big leagues.

"My first two years in college I played all three infield positions," said Phelps. "My freshman year I played third and second, my sophomore year I played third, second and shortstop, and my junior year I just played second. I have tried to get comfortable with all of them, but they are all definitely different. If I had to move to a different position or wherever, it would definitely [be an adjustment] to get back into it."

Phelps will likely skip Single-A Lake County next year and move right to advanced Single-A Kinston, but no matter where the hardnosed switch-hitter ends up he is happy he signed with the Indians and that his professional career has started.

"I am definitely glad I decided to sign," said Phelps. "Cleveland is a great organization and they seem to really care about their minor leaguers and their development. So I am really happy with my decision. Obviously by choosing to be a professional you leave certain things behind, but there definitely comes a time for that and I am glad I moved on."

Coaches Corner: Anthony Medrano

Anthony Medrano is the hitting coach for the Indians short-season Single-A affiliate Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Medrano is a former player who owns a 14-year professional playing career, and actually played under Indians manager Eric Wedge in Buffalo several years ago and was named the team MVP. He struck a good rapport with Wedge, and Wedge promised him whenever he hung up the cleats that if he needed a job to give him a call. This past season was only his second year in the organization as a coach, and this year was his first as the hitting coach as last season he came in as just an extra coach in Mahoning Valley to sort of learn the ropes.

I recently had a chance to talk to Medrano and here is what he said about a few of the hitters that made up the heart of the Mahoning Valley lineup this year:

On Lonnie Chisenhall: "Oh man, me and Travis Fryman always joke that if we could start over with that swing we'd do something (laughs). He has a very good swing plane, is short to the ball, and is a very talented hitter. He is definitely going to have more power down the road. He is a growing kid and going to get a little bigger and stronger and the balls he is hitting off the wall right now are going to start going out of the ballpark."

On Tim Fedroff: "He is a real good competitor and puts up some good at bats, puts the ball in play and gets his hits. He covers some ground out in the outfield as well. Right now he is just a singles and doubles guy as he is not a big power guy. He might go home this offseason and put on some pounds and start driving the ball, you never know."

On Cord Phelps: "He handles himself really well at the plate and has a good gameplan. He puts the ball in play and has the potential to drive the ball a little bit. He does a pretty good job at second base, moves around well, and turns a good double play."

On Isaias Velazquez: "He is a very exciting player who has a lot of athleticism and swings the bat very well. Defensively he needs some work as he makes some good plays but makes unnecessary throws. It is just mental things with his defense that he needs to kind of clean up a little bit, but he really works hard when he is in the cage and has a very good swing. You see him during the season sometimes you'll see him take some big 'ole crazy swings and he'll just swing and miss, but I think down the road as he refines his swing a little and doesn't try to do too much he'll start driving some balls out of the ballpark."

On Jeremie Tice: "He has some power in that bat and is one of the guys who I think will start driving the ball out of the ballpark more consistently. This year he got some good pitches to hit and he was fouling them straight back. Sometimes when he didn't foul them back and put them in play he hit them a long way. He has real good power potential and he drives the ball pretty well."

Taylor Relieved With Recovery

If anyone happened to stumble upon a Gulf Coast League Indians box score in August, you may have seen the name Brandon Taylor from time to time and wondered "Brandon who?" Well, Brandon happens to be the first name of a left-handed pitcher who commonly goes by his middle name of Heath. Once I connected the dots and realized that Brandon Taylor was in fact Heath Taylor and not some recently sign undrafted free agent I quickly realized that Taylor was on his rehab assignment after being MIA for almost three months with an elbow injury.

Taylor had a great year last season in his professional debut at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley going 3-3 with a 2.35 ERA in 12 starts, and was one of the lone bright spots on a team lacking very many players who will get above the Single-A level. When spring training broke this year, Taylor was one of the big surprises as far as roster makeup is concerned as he started the year at advanced Single-A Kinston in the bullpen and ended up skipping Single-A Lake County where he was projected to begin the season in the starting rotation.

After an impressive first few outings in Kinston, Taylor's performance declined rapidly as he suffered through a few bad outings. The problems ended up being the result of an injury to his elbow and he eventually went on the disabled list in early May after going 2-2 with a 4.79 ERA in 10 appearances at Kinston.

"It was just a couple pitches," recalled Taylor. "I went out one particular day and it was a two inning day. I threw the first inning and I threw a curveball and something didn't feel right, but I finished the inning and it was alright. But the next inning the first batter I threw another curveball and it was just done. I thought I tore it, but luckily it was just a partial tear and I rehabbed it. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it was. It was a struggle going through rehab for so long, but it turned out good. I'm glad I didn't have to have the surgery."

When Taylor was shutdown in early May he had no baseball activity for six to seven weeks and did not start throwing until July. The injury sidetracked a good start to his career after he dominated in Mahoning Valley last year and was off to a good start in Kinston this year, but after rehabbing the partial tear of the UCL in his left elbow from June until late August in Winter Haven the elbow is now as strong as ever.

"Oh yeah it was frustrating," said Taylor. "It was more frustrating because I had a little trouble before that with my arm. It was never as painful as it was then, but I didn't feel 100%. I was trying to throw through it and I think bad stuff happens when you make bad pitches. I was hoping 'well maybe the next time I go out it will get better' and it just kept gradually getting worse. It is great now and feels a lot better. I feel better now than I have in two or three years, even through college and stuff. I have no problems and am throwing my curveball harder than I ever have before and without pain."

One thing I have always wondered about is how players get over the anxiety of throwing that first curveball when coming back from a serious elbow injury. The thoughts that race through a players head where they may question if they really are 100% or if they are ready to snap off a breaking ball, which Taylor admitted being hesitant with once his throwing program called for him to start throwing breaking balls.

"The first time out in rehab when they had us working on curveballs I was like 'oh great'," said Taylor. "When I threw my first bullpen when we were throwing curveballs I was like 'alright, I'm going to see what happens'. I kind of spun one up there and nothing happened. As soon as I threw it the first time and it didn't bother me I was like 'alright, I got that pitch back.' I haven't really thought about it and it hasn't bothered me since, so that's a good thing."

Taylor features a traditional three-pitch mix of a fastball, curveball, and changeup, with his fastball sitting around 88-91 MPH. Now that Taylor is 100% recovered from the injury, his focus is on his health and making up for lost time. He is currently in the Fall Instructional League in Arizona participating in games and getting regular work on the side, and later this offseason he will pitch in the Hawaii Winter League to make up most of the innings he lost while he was out for three months.

"Just getting healthy and back into the zone," responded Taylor when asked about his offseason pitching goals. "I was out for so long that I have been a little rusty trying to throw strikes. I have been mainly working on that with controlled velocity, which is basically just trying not to do too much with it."

Once the fall and winter leagues are finished and Taylor has a chance to rest and get ready for next year he hopes when spring training breaks next year he gets another shot to pitch in Kinston.

"I am hoping that I get a chance to go back to Kinston," said Taylor. "I started off good but had a couple rough outings at the end. I'd like to go back there and get a chance to pitch."

Fedroff Excited To Be An Indian

Outfielder Tim Fedroff wasted little time in acclimating himself to the professional ranks this year. The 7th round pick out of North Carolina University signed late on August 6th and didn't arrive in Mahoning Valley until August 10th, but in the 23 games he ended up playing at Mahoning Valley he impressed by hitting .319 (29-for-91) with 0 HR, 12 RBI and a .789 OPS.

"I got [to Mahoning Valley] and just had a good time," said Fedroff. "Played some games and the season went quick. It wasn't long for me, but in the time I was there it went quick. Baseball is a job [now] which is nice because it is what I always wanted to do. I am ready for it."

As a player, Fedroff is well-rounded in that he have above average speed, has good range and an average arm in the outfield, makes good contact and has some pop in his bat. He pounds the ball gap-to-gap, and at 5'11" 220-pounds there have already been some comparisons to his build and the way he plays and performs to the Giles brothers. Fedroff's average to above average skills across the board are the result of his high school coach making him work extra hard in the areas he needed improvement.

"It kind of goes back to my high school coach," said Fedroff. "He was real big on not really working hard on your strong points, but working extra hard at your weaker points and trying to make every player the most well rounded player they could be. It is important to have the five tools that scouts and everybody really looks for, so I really just worked hard at every aspect of the game."

Even with his well-rounded game, Fedroff still has things to work on. While he likes hitting, he believes he will need to make some big strides to become a better defensive outfielder, especially at a new position in center field.

"Of course I like hitting the best, but if I had to say what I need the most work on it is probably playing center field," said Fedroff. "At North Carolina I always played right field, and that is what I have been practicing everyday the past two years. At this level center field is a lot of ground to cover and it is a tough position to play. I am going to be focusing a lot in working on that and making the adjustment."

Fedroff had the option to go back to school, but signed for $725,000 just days before the August signing deadline. Fedroff was ready to get his professional career going and has had no second thoughts about his decision to sign.

"I thought it over a lot, and once I made a decision there was really no looking back," said Fedroff. "I feel like I made a good decision, and it is a great organization to be in. I was real fortunate to have the opportunity, and I think I did the right thing. I really did not know what to expect. They throw you into the short-season and you know the minor leagues are not a glorious lifestyle by any means. It is a lot of hard work and I was fully prepared to go at it full force."

Fedroff is currently participating in the Fall Instructional League out in the Indians new Arizona spring training complex. A big reason for going out to Arizona is to continue to get him acclimated to professional baseball and expose him to what spring training will be like next year. Fedroff will play on a full-season team next year, which means 140+ games in a little over five months. That is just one of the things he will need to learn to adapt to next year.

"The speed of the game is the same," said Fedroff. "It is just swinging the wood bat. Everybody at this level can play and they have shown it. Everybody is trying to get better and working hard to be the best player they can be. I'd say that is the biggest adjustment is working hard day in and day out because it is a grind and if you are not ready for the schedule it will catch up to you real quick."

Haley's Comet Returns Early

Right-hander Trey Haley, 18, was one of the Indians biggest draft signings who agreed to a $1.25 million signing bonus hours before the August signing deadline. This year at Central Heights High School in Nacogdoches, Texas, Haley went 8-2 with a 1.55 ERA in 13 games (50 IP, 23 H, 34 BB, 98 K), and had signed a letter of intent to pitch for Rice University before signing with the Indians.

After signing with the Indians, Haley reported to the Gulf Coast League to get his arm back in shape since he had not thrown all summer. The Indians actually exposed him to some game action by letting him throw one scoreless outing in the Gulf Coast League before moving him up to Mahoning Valley the final week of the season to make two appearances and get some experience around the clubhouse. The numbers at Mahoning Valley were ugly (1.1 IP, 4 H, 8 R, 6 BB, 1 K), but it was more just to get his feet wet and get him exposed to the baseball environment.

"It was good," said Haley about his late season game experience. "I was just trying to get back into the swing of things really since I had not been throwing all summer. I was just getting the arm back in shape since I kind of relaxed all summer since [the Indians] did not want me to really play in a summer league. So I just worked out and ran to stay in shape."

Haley is an intriguing young talent. Because of his age, the opportunity to miss on him is far greater than a player with the same stuff in their early 20s who is a little more established, but it is hard not to like what you see from Haley. His fastball sits around 91-94 MPH and already tops out at 95 MPH, and due to his youth he has the arm and body (6'4" 190-pounds) to grow and add more velocity down the road (I can already envision the "Haley's Comet" headlines). In addition to the fastball he also throws a curveball and changeup, with the curveball rating as a plus pitch and the changeup an average pitch at the moment. His ball has good movement, he commands the strike zone well at a young age, he is intelligent, and he has good poise on mound.

"I guess I am very projectable as I have a lot of room to grow," said Haley. "I am just starting off, and I haven't learned how to pitch at this point as I have always been throwing. I think once they work with me there is no telling where I can be once I learn how to work in and out and spot up the curveball. Right now they just want me working on the fastball, curveball, and changeup. Once I develop those maybe we can work on a slider later. I haven't really had a feel for a changeup because I really never needed it in high school, but now these hitters can catch up to the fastball so you have to throw that changeup in there to keep them off balance."

Photos courtesy of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, Stanford University, and Perfect Game USA.

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Minor League Radio Tonight

I'm going solo tonight for the weekly hour long show.....so check out "Smoke Signals" if you get a chance. The show is still a WIP, but it is coming along with the hopes by the start of next season I am seasoned enough to have live guests on. Just another way to try and promote the minor leagues and also give some of these kids some attention.

Tonight it will be 100% on the minors. I'll talk about the Santos/Snyder moves as well as any other moves on the horizon. I'll talk some about fall/winter baseball. Also talk about a lot of other things time permitting.

I have a long interview with GCL Indians pitching coach Steve Lyons that I cut down to 6-minutes that I will air. He talks about Clayton Cook, TJ McFarland, Chris Jones, Danny Salazar, and Alexander Perez and maybe one other guy I am forgetting.

Call in number is 1-646-716-8012
Show goes from 9:30pm to 10:30 pm EST (Thurs)

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theclevelandfan

Log on and listen live or download and listen later.

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Composite Top 16

As many of you may know, I have reached out to many of you to see if you wanted to get involved with the site. Jellis is one of those people, and he along with a few others who will debut in the coming days and winter will help provide a varying opinion and perspective on things. Also, they will be able to provide some good analysis pieces and more that should complement the stuff I do on the site. Welcome aboard Jellis - TL.

Some of you out there might know me as the frequent commenter Jellis on this site. I am very excited to now get a chance to write for this great site, and for my first article I thought I would do a look back. This year our minor league system made a major jump - this is in part thanks to breakthrough and also trades. With people’s top ten lists starting to be formulated, I thought we could look back to last year and look at a cumulative top ten. For my sources I used four respected names: Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, John Sickles, and Tony. To determine the cumulative rank I assigned a first place rating worth 10, 2nd worth 9, etc. Those four sites left me with exactly 16 players, so I will comment on each one if they are up or down but also about their year in general, starting with number 16.

16. Jon Drennen OF
He had one 10th place vote, though I would be surprised to see him anywhere near the top 10 this year. Drennen’s downward spiral continues this year and I would not be surprised to see him repeat at Kinston. On his rank for next year I have to say I am unsure but would place him maybe in the mid 30’s - he’s young and has shown promise but seems to have hit a wall.

15. Jared Goedert 3B
He was last year’s breakout player in the minors with an amazing first half and a solid second half, but this year he was average. Right now he projects more as a utility player. Thanks to an okay year he will drop this year to the 20’s in terms of specs.

14. Tony Sipp MR
He was actually tied with Goedert and Ben Francisco, all having one 8th place vote. Sipp is still recovering from his surgery this year and it’s hard to evaluate. He will slide this year back into the same range as Goedert, but I would expect to see him in Cleveland this year and we can all hope he can get back to his pre-surgery ways.

13. Ben Francisco OF
He has had a solid year for the Indians, and he looks like he should end up a 4th OF on a good team, but he’s a guy I would love to have on roster any day. He won’t qualify as a spec anymore.

12. Trevor Crowe OF
He appeared on two lists. He had a better season this year, including a scorching 2 month period, but once he was promoted to AAA he failed to continue impressing. Looks like he’s ticketed to go to Columbus next year, though if an OF gets traded then maybe with a solid spring he makes the team. This year 13-18 range sounds about right.

11. David Huff SP
He was hurt last year and didn’t get a lot of looks, but he might be the biggest break out spec for the Indians this year. He was an all star in AA, then got to AAA and pitched even better. We will see him in Cleveland some time next year. This year he’s a top 5 spec.

10. Brad Synder OF
He only made one list but was high on that list so he sneaks into the top 10 here. Synder had another average year for the Bisons and will more than likely be with another organization next year. (editor's note: Snyder was just picked up off waivers by the Cubs on Tuesday before this article was submitted)

9. Josh Rodriguez SS
He was another breakout player last year for Kinston and struggled this year at Akron, hitting 240, but the more troublesome stat was the drop in his power - he looks more like a utility player. He slots in the late teens or early 20’s this year.

8. Scott Lewis SP
If not for Huff then everyone would have talked about Lewis’s year. He stayed healthy and pitched very well in AA and then after a short stay in Buffalo, he has now joined the Indians and is 3-0 and will be in the competition to make the team next year. I would think he would be in the 8-12 range for this year’s spec list.

7. Aaron Laffey SP
After a great year in AAA and then pitching well in the majors, Laffey was another riser last year. It looked like that trend would continue as he was very, very good when he got called up, until July when the wheels fell off and he went back to AAA where he struggled – makes you wonder if there isn’t a bigger issue. I don’t think he qualifies as a spec anymore but I could be wrong; if he does, I would think he’s in the early teens based on what he has done.

6. Jordan Brown 1B
He was coming off back-to-back MVP years and I agreed with everyone else when I thought we had a Mark Grace-like first baseman, but thanks to an early injury his numbers were down and he didn’t make it to the majors this year. I expect to see him in Columbus to start the year and be called up if an injury strikes. He is victim of an okay year in a much deeper system, though, and slides back into the middle teen range.

5. Nick Weglarz OF
It’s hard to not be excited by this kid’s power and eye at such a young age. Last year he started to garner attention after having recovered fully from his hand injury. This year he continued his development and had the best Olympics of any player we sent there. He should be top 5 again next year and will likely spend the year in Akron.

4. Chuck Lofgren SP/MR
I don’t know if anyone had a harder year than Lofgren did. I don’t know what his personal issue was so I can’t comment on how that might have affected him. Some people had him as high as the number 2 spec in the system this year - he won’t make the top ten and might fall to the 20’s. There are real questions if he will be a SP or a MR and that’s if he stays with us. The Indians have to roster him; if not, I could see a team like the Nationals stashing him in their pen for the year.

3. Beau Mills 1B
He won the MVP this year and had an all-around great year. He should continue his advancement and hitting and could be a lefty Laporta. He’s a top 3 spec this year.

2. Wes Hodges 3B
Hodges was another player who had an excellent year. He faded a bit in the second half but still had a great year across the board. The only concern at this point is defense as he had a lot of errors, so even with a good year he’s probably going to slide to the 4-6 range in most lists. I think, though, that that’s not so much a statement on him but rather a reflection of how deep the system has gotten.

1. Adam Miller SP
If he could just stay healthy, he would still be number one. He has two devastating pitches, but we all know how injury prone he is. It’s been reported he will spend all of next year in the pen. Based on potential alone he will still be in the top 10, but for the first time since 2004 he won’t be number 1.

So we fast forward to now and of the 16 players mentioned here only 6 have a legitimate chance of making this same list next year. It’s been a hard year for Tribe fans, but the minors have given us a chance for great hope for next year and beyond. Thanks for reading this - I hope it was a solid and enjoyable first article.

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Indians Participants In Hawaii Winter League

Here is a listing of the Indians players who will participate in the Hawaii Winter League (HWL) this fall:

http://www.hawaiiwinterbaseball.com/tea ... &year=2008

Adam Davis (C), Matt McBride (C), Josh Judy (RHP), Matt Meyer (LHP), Dustin Realini (1B), and Heath Taylor (LHP) are all on the North Shore team. Play begins this Saturday, 9/27.

One note, and I have received a few questions on this, is McBride is listed as an outfielder on their roster (and on Baseball America's site). This is likely just a typo as I am not aware of any plans to play McBride in the outfield.....although anything is possible.

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Indians Lose Reid Santos

Left-hander Reid Santos has been claimed off outright waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.

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A Wild Offseason Awaits Herrmann

When you think of immediate major league starting depth that the Indians will have stashed away in the minors next year, the names of lefties David Huff and Scott Lewis come to mind. Another pitcher who has entered that mix is Akron right-hander Frank Herrmann.

Herrmann is a relatively unknown prospect, a player who went to Harvard University and went undrafted in the 2005 Draft before the Indians signed him in August of 2005 as an undrafted free agent. Generally considered a middle-of-the-road prospect who provides good depth in the farm system, Herrmann's prospect standing has strengthened since last year after he went 11-8 with a 4.14 ERA in 26 combined starts between Kinston, Akron and Buffalo this season.

For Herrmann himself, it was a satisfying year and one where he grew a lot as a pitcher.

"I am happy with [my season] and I thought I had a good year," said Herrmann last week at Canal Park in Akron. "They always say it is not how you start it is how you finish, and I think my last two months I [did] better than I could of hoped. I think just going to Buffalo and getting the opportunity helped as I was able to take advantage of it and then keep rolling off that confidence-wise."

The opportunity Herrmann is speaking of is when he made consecutive spot starts on July 5th and 10th for Triple-A Buffalo. Prior to the opportunity Herrmann was 8-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 16 combined starts between Kinston and Akron, but upon going to Buffalo things started to click for Herrmann where in those two starts he went 0-2 with a 1.38 ERA. Herrmann carried that success with him back to Akron where he finished out the year going 3-5 with a 2.23 ERA in 10 combined starts at Akron and Buffalo.

"I think one of the things I have been able to do the last couple of years is finish up strong," said Herrmann. "Some guys will tail off near the end of the season, but my velocity [went] up as the year went on this year and I got stronger. I think that confidence from having two consecutive starts where I did well in Buffalo and saw I could pitch at that level helped me when I came back [to Akron] as I had the mindset I could get guys out."

His experience in Buffalo was short. In fact, he never really had time to take in the city or get to know his new teammates since he came into town the day of for both starts and left both times to go back to Akron right after the game.

"It was a whirlwind day both times," recalled Herrmann. "It wasn't like 'hey you are here for several days' as I spent just two days there. I wasn't there the day before or after, just the day of both times. It was cool as I knew I was coming back both times, but I found out the night before and left the day of both times. So one day I got a ride from one of the Binghampton stadium workers to Rochester, and the other time I took a flight from here early morning to Buffalo. Both days were kind of crazy, and sometimes it is better off as you don't have time to think and you just go out there and react and play."

When it comes to consistency in the Indians farm system, Herrmann is at the top of that list. He has lived up to his nicknames of "Frank the Tank" and "The Herrmannator" because of his ability to eat innings and seemingly never give in. In addition to his 26 combined starts this year where he went 11-8 with a 4.14 ERA, Herrmann also made 26 starts with Lake County in 2006 going 4-6 with a 3.97 ERA and 26 starts for Kinston in 2007 and went 11-5 with a 4.01 ERA.

At 6'4" 220-pounds Herrmann has the physical makeup to be an innings eater and go out there every night and give his team a chance to win, which is what he has done so far in his three year professional career. He is armed with a sinking fastball that sits in the low 90s and has gotten it up to as high as 94 MPH. The key to Herrmann's success is his bulldog mentality and his intelligence in coming up with a good game plan to attack hitters. In addition to his fastball he also throws a changeup and slider, but he has always been a pitcher who relied heavily on a fastball-changeup mix and had lacked a good breaking ball until this year.

"He is a bright kid, works hard, is durable, and has been able to maintain his velocity," said Akron pitching coach Tony Arnold. "In fact lots of times his velocity increases as the year goes on. The biggest thing with Frank is he has never really had a third pitch as he has always been fastball-changeup. From last year to this year his breaking ball has gotten so much better and is getting more consistent, and with that third pitch it allows him to attack hitters better."

Herrmann agrees that the biggest change for him this year was the development of his slider and the confidence he has in it now.

"If I had to pick one thing that is different this year other than my confidence it would have to be my slider," said Herrmann. "I didn't strike many guys out earlier in the year, and the days I had the higher strikeouts [later in the year] meant I had a good slider. I changed it from more of a loopy slurve type pitch to a hard slider where I am throwing it like 83-84 MPH. I am not trying to finesse it, just trying to throw it more as a power pitch and throw it down in the zone. It is a pitch I am not going to get beat with and hang where they hit one out. If I miss with it, it is in the dirt for a ball."

After piling up 150 innings and staying healthy all year, Herrmann will not participate in the Instructional League or play any fall or winter ball this offseason in order to give his arm a rest. There is a possibility he is invited to take part in the Indians Winter Development Program at Progressive Field this coming January, but aside from that he will spent most of the offseason resting his arm and instead putting his Economics degree from Harvard to good use.

"I kind of get stir crazy [in the offseason]," said Herrmann. "Last year I did an internship on Wall Street to do private equity kind of stuff. This year I will probably do the same thing since my buddy works at a trading place in New York City so I am going to go intern there and hang out. It is tough to get a day off doing that finance stuff on Wall Street in New York, and you always have to think long term too. I don't want to have to start at square one when baseball is up, so I have these internships which will help me bypass that entry level kind of stuff that I want to do after baseball. I will probably wait till October to get into that again, do some pitching lessons, and then just get ready for next season."

No matter what, it is going to be an interesting offseason for Herrmann. His strength, consistency, durability and ability to throw strikes are definitely key assets for him where even with average stuff he could be a solid backend of the rotation innings eater in the majors. It is a big reason he will be considered for roster protection by the Indians this offseason from the Rule 5 Draft, and if they choose not to protect him why it is very likely another team will take a shot on him to fill a fifth starter spot for their major league club next year.

Whether he sticks with the Indians or ends up on another team this offseason via trade or the Rule 5 Draft, Herrmann has proven himself to be a quality depth starting pitching option and is poised to get a crack at a major league opportunity sometime next season.

Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Indians

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Indians lose Brad Snyder

Outfielder Brad Snyder was claimed today off outright waivers by the Chicago Cubs.

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Mills And Gimenez Recognized

On Sunday the Indians announced the year-end organizational winners of their Minor League On-Base Program “On-Base-Where Careers Take Off”, sponsored by Continental Airlines. The on-base program stresses pitch recognition and patience at the plate for all position players within the organization’s Player Development System.

Players are rewarded with a cash recognition for their performances based on three different non-traditional hitting categories at each of the six Indians Minor League affiliates (AAA Buffalo, AA Akron, A Kinston, A Lake County, A Mahoning Valley, Rookie GCL Indians). The three hitting categories are: on-base percentage, percentage of hard hit at-bats and walk percentage based on total plate appearances. These categories represent the ability to make solid contact, the best approach to hitting and the best overall ability to hit.

The following are the list of organizational winners in each of the three categories. For their efforts, the winners will receive a round trip voucher for anywhere in the continental United States from Continental Airlines.

Hard Hit Percentage: BEAU MILLS - 52 %
Walk Percentage: CHRIS GIMENEZ – 16%
On-Base Percentage: CHRIS GIMENEZ - .421

First baseman Beau Mills led the entire Indians Minor League system in hard hit percentage, as he hit the ball hard in 52 percent of his at-bats. On the year Mills batted .293 (141-125; 8th/Carolina League) in 125 games with the Kinston Indians. He finished T-1st in the Carolina League and led the Organization with 21 home runs, 2nd in RBI (90), and 3rd in CL in slugging percentage (.506) and extra-base hits (58). Mills hit safely in 15 straight games (7/7-7/23) batting .367 (22-60) with 11 runs scored, 4 doubles, 3HR and 14RBI, in addition to owning a consecutive on-base streak of 21 games. Mills was the Indians 1st round (13th overall) selection in the 2007 draft. In his first two professional seasons he owns a .282 (205-727) average with 122 runs scored, 54 doubles, four triples, 27HR and 132RBI.

Catcher Chris Gimenez led the entire Indians Minor League system in both walk percentage (16% of plate appearances) and on-base percentage (.421). Combined between Akron and Buffalo he walked 75 times in 372 plate appearances while batting .304 (113-372; 2nd in Organization) with 69 runs scored, 24 doubles, two triples, 9HR and 45RBI. While at Akron, he batted .339 (60-177) with 15 doubles, a triple, 6HR and 26RBI in 55 games for the Aeros. During one stretch, Gimenez reached base safely in 26 straight games during which time he hit .400 (34-85) with 30RS, 9 doubles, a triple, 2HR and 11RBI. He was promoted to AAA Buffalo on June 19th and hit .272 (53-175) with 23RS, 2 doubles, a triple, 3HR and 19RBI in 54 games for the Bisons. Gimenez was the Indians 19th round selection in the 2004 draft. In five professional seasons he owns a .270 (466-1727) average with 294 runs scored, 116 doubles, 8 triples, 69HR and 255RBI.

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Wagner Finishes Strong At Akron

Right-hander Neil Wagner put up a great showing down the stretch this season.

After starting the year at advanced Single-A Kinston and putting up an 8.73 ERA in nine April appearances, Wagner settled in the rest of the way to put up a 3.44 ERA in 32 appearances from May until mid-August when he was called up to Double-A Akron. At Akron he was sensational in limited time going 2-2 with a 2.75 ERA in 11 combined appearances in the regular season and playoffs. Wagner's late season progress was a byproduct of him sticking to his plan as well as some tinkering with his delivery.

"I don't know, I just kind of had a bad start this season the first month or month and a half," said Wagner last week at Canal Park in Akron. "I just kept sticking to it and made a couple adjustments, my windup being one of them. I lowered my arm slot just a little bit and started throwing more strikes and kind of brushed off the bad outings as much as I could."

Wagner now throws exclusively from the stretch, which was a change implemented by Kinston pitching coach Greg Hibbard earlier in the year. Wagner used to always throw from the windup with no one on base, but the change was made in mid-May to strictly throw from the stretch. While it took some time to adjust to the change, his performance took off from there.

"Hibbard said that my velocity was better out of the windup, but my velocity was kind of a little inconsistent so we tried it for a couple weeks and if I liked it we would stick with it," said Wagner. "As I settled into it my velocity out of the stretch got back to where it was out of the windup. I was just more consistent with the release point on all my pitches and decided to stay with it."

The Indians drafted Wagner in the 21st round of the 2005 Draft out of North Dakota State University. Wagner closed in college, and has the stuff to be a late inning reliever. Outside of right-handers Adam Miller and Mike Pontius, Wagner arguably has the most explosive fastball in the system and shows good command with it. Wagner's fastball velocity out of the stretch is still up at 95-96 MPH, and earlier in the season topped out at 98 MPH and in Akron's first playoff outing was at 97 MPH.

While Wagner controls his fastball well and can blow it by hitters, the key to him becoming a bona fide relief prospect will be the development of at least one secondary pitch which he has struggled with at times. He throws a slider and changeup, and was sent to the Hawaii Winter League last offseason to work on them. The results have been mixed to date, and he continued working on developing the pitches this season and will continue to do so this offseason in the Arizona Fall League.

"I am working on a slider and I guess a split-changeup," said Wagner. "It drops kind of like a splitter but is not a true splitter. The main thing with my slider and changeup is to throw them for strikes and be a little more unpredictable early in the count so that late in the count I can use my fastball or those pitches so guys are not sitting on fastball every pitch. The split-changeup got better sort of in the middle of the season and toward the end of the season it picked up where I was not only just throwing it for strikes but throwing it in the right counts and right situations to be more unpredictable with what I was throwing. It was not so much throwing it for strikes, it was just using it in correct counts."

There is no doubt the Minnesota native's strong finish has firmly added himself to a list of impressive relief pitching prospects the Indians are starting to pile up in the system. His outstanding month of August and showing in the playoffs here in September have provided him the springboard he needed going into next season where he should start in the Akron bullpen.

"The last month of the season was good coming up [to Akron] and getting my feet wet at this level," said Wagner. "Knowing I can command three pitches and use them in different counts has really given me some good confidence moving forward. I hope to have a good fall league and offseason and go from there."

Photos courtesy of Tony Lastoria and Akron Aeros

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Instructs Roster Breakdown

I was finally able to get a roster breakdown for the Indians Instructional League, and it is indeed still broken up into three camps. The breakdown is as follows:

Fall Development Program (Games) (28)

PITCHERS
Archer, Chris (RHP)
Bryson, Rob (RHP)
De La Cruz, Kelvin (LHP)
Gomez, Jeanmar (RHP)
Haley, Trey (RHP)
Lewis, Scott (LHP)
Mahalic, Joey (RHP)
Miller, Adam (RHP)
Pontius, Mike (RHP)
Putnam, Zach (RHP)
Rondon, Hector (RHP)
Sipp, Tony (LHP
Taylor, Heath (LHP)

CATCHERS
Castillo, Alex(CA)
Davis, Adam (CA)
McBride, Matt (CA)
Santana, Carlos (CA)

INFIELDERS
Mills, Beau (1B)
Nash, Chris (1B)
Goedert, Jared (2B)
Sanchez, Karexon (2B)
Romero, Niuman (2B)
Rivas, Ronald (SS)
Thompson, Mark (SS)

OUTFIELDERS
Drennen, John (OF)
Montero, Lucas (OF)
Weglarz, Nick (OF)
White, Adam (OF)

Fall Instructional League (Orientation) (30)

PITCHERS
Araujo, Elvis (LHP)
Berger, Eric (RHP)
Campos, Jose (RHP)
Cook, Clayton (RHP)
Flores, Fernando (RHP)
House, T.J. (LHP)
Jones, Chris (LHP)
McFarland, T.J. (LHP)
Moncrief, Carlos (RHP)
Perez, Alexander (LHP)
Putnam, Zach (RHP)
Roberts, David (RHP)
Valera, Francisco (RHP)

CATCHERS
Abraham, Adam (CA)
Chen, Chun (CA)
Montero, Moises (CA)
Petit, Rolando (CA)
Valadez, Michael (CA)
Perez, Roberto (CA)

INFIELDERS
Recknagel, Nate (1B)
Phelps, Cord (2B)
Abreu, Abner (3B)
Tice, Jeremie (3B)
Diaz, Kelvin (3B)
Chisenhall, Lonnie (SS)
Fontanez, Kevin (SS)

OUTFIELDERS
Baker, Trent (OF)
Fedroff, Tim (OF)
Rucker, Kevin (OF)
Palincsar, Tim (OF)

Strength and Conditioning (18)

PITCHERS
Archer, Chris (RHP) - 2nd Half
De La Cruz, Kelvin (LHP) - 2nd Half
Finocchi, Mike (RHP)
Fonseca, Guido (RHP)
Morris, Ryan (LHP)
Munoz, Oswel (RHP)
Rondon, Hector (RHP) - 2nd Half
Salazar, Danny (RHP)
Urena, Jose (LHP)
Wright, Steve (RHP) - 1st Half

CATCHERS
Alcombrack, Robbie (CA)

INFIELDERS
Martinez, Argenis (2B)
Camargo, Jose (SS)
Rivero, Carlos (SS)
Velasquez, Isaias (SS)

OUTFIELDERS
Brown, Matt (OF)
Pena, Roman (OF) - 1st Half
Blair, Ryan (OF) - 2nd Half

Rehab: Jose Riera (RHP), Gregorio Rosario (RHP), Daniel Morales (RHP), Delvi Cid (OF), Santo Frias (RHP)

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Minor Happenings: Move To Columbus Finally Official

"Minor Happenings" covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.

With Akron now finished with the playoffs, the Indians 2008 minor league season has come to a close. And with that another year of Minor Happenings is quickly coming to a close as well. We are still open for business though for a little while longer as a few player features on Frank Herrmann, Neil Wagner, Brian Juhl, Josh Judy and Jonathan Holt will all post in the next week and a half. Also, a special edition of Happenings will post next week recapping a visit to Mahoning Valley two weeks ago to talk to some coaches and players like Tim Fedroff, Trey Haley, Cord Phelps, and Heath Taylor. We'll close things out with the year end awards at the end of the month.

Don't forget to check out player features on Kevin Dixon and Chris Jones which posted earlier in the week.

Even though the coverage for this season is wrapping up, I'll have updates on the Fall Instructional League, winter and fall leagues, and any other news all offseason. And, we will continue to air our weekly radio show "Smoke Signals" every Thursday from 9:30-10:30pm this offseason and talk about all things Cleveland Indians baseball related. And don't forget the 2009 Indians Top Prospect book will be coming at the end of the year, a project I will dive right into at the end of this month!

Triple-A Affiliate Move To Columbus Finally Official

Well, that didn't take long. Major league teams yesterday were finally allowed to talk to other minor league affiliates about moving minor league operations to their site. Literally at 12:01 a.m. yesterday the Columbus Clippers General Manager Ken Schnacke left Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro a phone message that the Clippers were very interested in partnering up with the Indians and that they would like to set up a meeting to discuss it. Schnacke drove up to Progressive Field and talked with the Indians, and within about twelve hours after that phone call a marriage between Cleveland and Columbus was consummated.

Major league teams are only permitted to sign two or four year player development contract deals with a minor league host city. The Indians opted for the maximum four year deal which will make Columbus the Indians Triple-A home through 2012, but don't kid yourselves, this is a marriage that is likely to last forever given the unique situation with the proximity of both cities to one another and being in the same state, the strong Indians fanbase existing in Columbus and now expected to grow, and the new state-of-the-art ballpark Huntington Park located in the trendy downtown Arena District that will open this spring.

"Partnering with the Columbus Clipper organization is a tremendous opportunity for the Indians organization to affiliate with a first-class organization in the vibrant capital city located in the heart of our fan base," said Cleveland Indians President Paul Dolan in a statement released by the team. "It's an exciting time for both organizations, as well as for the baseball fans of Ohio."

Columbus officials are boiling over with excitement now that the Indians are on board. At 1:00 p.m. today Indians President Paul Dolan and Vice President, Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti the Indians held a press conference at Huntington Park to formerly introduce the new partnership. The move to Columbus was a unique situation, and the option to move to their home state's capital was really the only reason the Indians left Buffalo. The New York Mets are expected to add Buffalo as their Triple-A affiliate in the coming days, possibly as soon as Monday.

"We would like to thank Bob and Mindy Rich, the entire Buffalo Bisons organization and the Bisons fans for their support the past 14 years," said Dolan. "Our affiliation coincided with the organization's renewed commitment to the foundation of the franchise - its Player Development System - and the Bisons organization played a major role in our success during that time. Today's announcement is a result of a unique opportunity presented the Indians organization. We wish the Rich family and the Bisons organization much success in the future."

The agreement marks the first time the Indians and Columbus Clippers have been affiliated in the 32-year history of the Clippers organization. Columbus had been affiliated with the Washington Nationals the last two seasons (2007-08) after a 28-year relationship with the New York Yankees from 1979-2006. With the addition of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, the Indians now possess four of their top five minor league affiliates within the State of Ohio (AA Akron, A Lake County, Short-Season A Mahoning Valley). All four of those affiliates are located within a two and a half hour drive from Progressive Field.

Director's Cuts

Indians Farm Director Ross Atkins had some things to share about two heralded prospects left-hander Scott Lewis and outfielder Matt LaPorta:

On Scott Lewis: "You know what has really been interesting and impressive to watch about him over the last month and a half is he has known he is in the mix, he has known he is being considered [to fill a spot in the big league rotation]. He has watched the other guys come up and then seen a couple of injuries here and there, and all along has been saying 'I am ready' down here. When guys know that they are in the mix, and they answer the call a la Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers in the past, it really is impressive and shows that they can handle the pressure. Scott is an extremely consistent human being, he goes about his business the same way every day, and it has paid off for him."

On Matt LaPorta: "He has pretty much been the best player on the field [in the playoffs], whether we are playing Bowie or Trenton. He has been the best at the plate and the most impressive all around player. He has really been great in left field. It is obvious that he is feared as a hitter, and he still finds a way to get his pitch to hit and drive it out of the park. [In Game 1 against Trenton] the results did not show it, but he had great at bats and was close to putting the team in a better position to win."

Instructional League Opens

The Indians kicked off the Fall Instructional League (FIL) on Wednesday in their new state-of-the-art spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona. The player development part of the complex is complete and will be utilized for the next month in the FIL until it concludes on October 17th. The start of the FIL marks the organization's first official activities in the Goodyear complex as they get set for their first spring training there this coming February after 16 years in Winter Haven, Florida.

A total of 58 players makeup the FIL roster, with most of the players being recent 2007 and 2008 draft picks or undrafted free agent signings both domestically and internationally. Many of the veterans on the roster are in the FIL to make up innings or at bats they may have missed this season due to injury, while a lot of the younger players are given the opportunity to play more games and get a lot of firsthand instruction from the Indians entire player development staff that is on hand.

Right-hander Adam Miller is one of the top players at the new Goodyear facility looking to make up some innings after he missed over half the season due to surgery on his right middle finger. Right now he is still throwing bullpen sessions every few days and then mixing in simulated games to ramp himself up for game action in the FIL and the Dominican Republic which he will report to in mid-October. Miller is expected to throw around 40 innings this offseason and is on pace for a full recovery from his injury.

I also got word that left-hander Ryan Morris was a last minute edition and he is on his way to Arizona, so he is not listed below. He will not pitch, but will take part in the Strength and Conditioning portion of the FIL. For more on the Fall Instructional League and what it is all about, check out this article posted yesterday on my blog.

Here is a roster of players and the FIL schedule:

PITCHERS (26) HT WT B/T AGE
Araujo, Elvis 6.04 165 R/R 17
Archer, Christopher 6.02 165 R/R 19
Berger, Eric 6.03 210 L/L 22
Bryson, Rob 6.01 205 R/R 20
Campos, Jose 6.03 175 R/R 18
Cook, Clayton 6.03 175 R/R 18
De La cruz, Kelvin 6.05 187 L/L 20
Flores, Fernando 6.04 220 R/R 17
Frias, Santos 6.03 189 R/R 20
Gomez, Jeanmar 6.03 168 R/R 20
Haley, Curtis 6.03 180 R/R 18
House, Glenn 6.02 215 R/L 18
Jones, Christopher 6.02 165 L/L 19
Lewis, Scott 6.00 185 S/L 24
McFarland, Timothy 6.03 190 L/L 19
Mahalic, Joseph 6.05 205 R/R 19
Miller, Adam 6.04 175 R/R 21
Moncrief, Carlos 6.01 210 L/R 19
Perez, Alexander 6.02 156 R/R 19
Pontius, Michael 6.02 235 R/R 20
Putnam, Zachary 6.02 215 R/R 21
Roberts, David 6.03 210 L/R 21
Rondon, Hector 6.03 165 R/R 20
Sipp, Tony 6.00 185 L/L 25
Taylor, Brandon 5.11 220 L/L 22
Valera, Francisco 6.01 170 R/R 18

CATCHERS (10) HT WT B/T AGE
Abraham, Adam 6.00 210 R/R 21
Castillo, Silvio 6.00 168 R/R 22
Chen, Chun 6.01 200 R/R 19
Davis, Adam 5.09 185 S/R 23
McBride, Matthew 6.02 215 R/R 23
Montero, Moises 6.00 210 R/R 18
Perez, Roberto 6.00 200 R/R 19
Petit, Rolando 6.02 205 S/R 18
Santana, Carlos 5.11 199 S/R 22
Valadez, Michael 6.01 220 R/R 22

INFIELDERS (14) HT WT B/T AGE
Abreu, Abner 6.03 170 R/R 18
Chisenhall, Lonnie 6.01 200 L/R 19
Diaz, Kelvin 6.00 187 R/R 21
Fontanez, Kevin 5.11 170 R/R 18
Goedert, Jared 6.01 180 R/R 23
Mills, Beau 6.03 220 L/R 22
Nash, Christopher 6.04 230 R/R 21
Phelps, Robert 6.02 200 S/R 21
Recknagel, Nathan 6.02 220 R/R 22
Rivas, Ronald 6.02 184 R/R 20
Romero, Niuman 6.00 160 S/R 23
Sanchez, Karexon 5.11 175 S/R 21
Thompson, Mark 5.09 165 R/R 23
Tice, Jeremie 6.00 185 R/R 21

OUTFIELDERS (8) HT WT B/T AGE
Baker, Trent 6.00 175 R/L 18
Drennen, John 5.11 185 L/L 22
Fedroff, Timothy 5.11 190 L/R 21
Montero, Lucas 5.11 180 S/R 23
Palincsar, Timothy 6.03 190 L/R 21
Rucker, Kevin 6.01 185 R/R 18
Weglarz, Nicholas 6.03 215 L/L 20
White, Adam 5.10 190 S/R 23

SCHEDULE
Monday 22-Sep @ SD 12:30 PM
Tuesday 23-Sep
Wednesday 24-Sep KC 12:30 PM
Thursday 25-Sep
Friday 26-Sep @ TEX 12:30 PM
Saturday 27-Sep
Sunday 28-Sep
Monday 29-Sep @ KC 12:30 PM
Tuesday 30-Sep
Wednesday 1-Oct TEX 12:30 PM
Thursday 2-Oct
Friday 3-Oct LAD 12:30 PM
Saturday 4-Oct Intrasquad 10:00 AM
Sunday 5-Oct
Monday 6-Oct @ SEA 12:30 PM
Tuesday 7-Oct
Wednesday 8-Oct KC 12:30 PM
Thursday 9-Oct
Friday 10-Oct SD 12:30 PM
Saturday 11-Oct @ SD 10:00 AM
Sunday 12-Oct
Monday 13-Oct
Tuesday 14-Oct KC 12:30 PM
Wednesday 15-Oct @ KC 12:30 PM
Thursday 16-Oct LAD 12:30 PM
Friday 17-Oct

Mirabelli Talks Prospects

Indians Scouting Director John Mirabelli comments on an assortment of topics from the Arizona Fall League, to Tony Sipp, to David Huff, and so on:

On the Arizona Fall League: "It is a very competitive league where most of the elite prospects go, and one of the best-of-the-best for minor league non-40 man prospects. It is a great developmental league for all of our guys. I am excited about Wes Hodges and Beau Mills, Sipp and some other pitchers that are going. It is a great experience. You are facing the best guys around all of minor league baseball and a very competitive schedule. You play six days a week, most of the games are during the day when it is hot and humid, and there is some fatigue and tired issues they have to fight through. For everybody we have sent out there over the years it has really been a plus for them developmentally."

On Tony Sipp: "I think [he could be a player in the major league bullpen next year]. His stuff has come back as he is at 91-93 MPH. The slider and changeup are in place. I think - as it is with a lot of these Tommy John guys - the control and command are still not there yet, but that is what the Arizona Fall League is for. I think he is just a click away to being back to where he was before the injury. I think he is a guy that could impact our major league bullpen at some time next year. Luck sometimes plays a factor in scouting. I think he only pitched six innings his junior year at Clemson, and we happened to be at four of those six innings. We still weren't quite sure what we had. We knew we had an athlete with a good arm, a guy who was a little raw on the mound. So we actually followed him that summer up in the Cape Cod League for a month or so where he got a chance to pitch regularly. And we saw what he could do up there and it was pretty impressive and that made the decision pretty easy to offer him a contract."

On Carlos Santana: "I think we probably have a little more than we thought we got. We got a switch hitter at a premium position. He is a very athletic kid who is a converted outfielder/third baseman, so his athleticism is a big plus for him behind the plate. But he has offense, and offensive upside who is a very aggressive attack the ball kind of hitter that can do some damage. Plus you have the defensive skill set to stay behind the plate, so all in all you have a pretty impressive package there at a premium position."

On David Huff: "I think the only thing we were surprised by is the injuries he had last year. He had a little forearm problem that set him back in terms of innings, but once he cleared that up he has really been dominating. He has pitched better in Buffalo than he has in Akron. It is about his stuff, delivery and his command, and he is very close to being a major league ready pitcher. I think he will be in the mix next year, whether it is in the beginning of the year or sometimes during the year, he gives us viable major league starting depth right now. A very impressive year for David."

On the Mahoning Valley hitters: "We are excited about the starts some of these guys got off to. They hit the ground running, and that is a tough transition with wood bats, playing every night, and facing the best pitching you have ever faced before. But these guys all held their own and then some. Chisenhall, Phelps, Fedroff and you can even throw Tice in there. I think we have the makings of some good offensive players there."

On Lonnie Chisenhall move to 3B: "I think we are going to look at it in Instructional League this month. He has actually played better at shortstop than we thought he would. He has made some improvements, and obviously having Travis there has helped him a lot with his feet, range and his throwing. He has had some experience there before and he did play third base at South Carolina so it is not an altogether new position for him. I think that with the skills and tools that he has it should be an easy transition for him, but I will tell you we are pleasantly surprised with how he has handled shortstop."

Indians Sign Prospect From Taiwan

On Tuesday the Indians announced the signing of right-handed pitcher Chen-Chang Lee. Lee, who turns 22 on October 21st, is an international free agent from the island nation of Taiwan and signed a minor league contract for a reported $400,000.

Lee was one of the top amateur college prospects from Taiwan, and was a just one of three amateurs of this year's 2008 Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) Olympic team that competed in Beijing, China. In two appearances in the Olympics, Lee posted a 2.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 11 K). In a start against the Cuban National Team he went an impressive 6.2 innings and allowed just three hits, one run, two walks and struck out seven. His other appearance was against Team USA where he went 2.1 innings and allowed three hits, one run, no walks, and had four strikeouts.

In addition to the Olympics this year, Lee attended Taipei Physical Education College and pitched for the Taiwanese National team in the 2006 and 2008 World University Baseball Championships. At just 19 years of age at the World University Baseball Championships in 2006 he beat the Cuban National Team by throwing 8.1 spectacular innings and allowing only one run on two hits and had six strikeouts. The win over Cuba was the first time Taiwan had beat Cuba in two decades. Lee also has some other experience pitching internationally as he also pitched in the Asian Games and Intercontinental Cup for Taiwan in 2006, and in the summer of 2007 he pitched in the United States for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaskan Baseball League going 4-0 with a 2.62 ERA in seven starts (44.2 IP, 37 H, 13 ER, 27 K).

"Chen-Chang Lee has had a great deal of experience and success pitching at the highest level of international competition," said Assistant General Manager, Scouting Operations John Mirabelli on Tuesday. "That experience and success make him a very attractive prospect for us and we feel he has a great deal of upside. We are very familiar with Chen-Chang as we have scouted him since he was a 16-year old high school pitcher in Pingtung County, Taiwan before he opted to attend college."

The 5'11" 175-pound Lee signing is a lot like the Sung-Wei Tseng signing from two years ago. Both signed at 21 years of age out of Taiwan, although Lee has much more experience pitching internationally than Tseng did when he signed. Mirabelli estimated had Lee been in the 2008 Draft this past June that he would have been picked somewhere around the third or fourth round.

Lee throws from a sidearm slot and has a four pitch mix of a fastball, sinker, slider and split finger. His fastball velocity as a starter sat around 90-92 MPH and topped out as high as 94 MPH. Lee's future is in the bullpen, and he is expected to make the move right away to the bullpen when he reports to the Fall Instructional League later this month. With a move to the bullpen his average fastball velocity it expected to tick up a MPH or two. He gets good movement on all his pitches and has shown a good ability to command the strike zone. Lee will likely open the season next year in the Kinston bullpen and is expected to move through the system quickly given his experience and advanced pitching approach.

Chernoff Talks About Recent Acquisitions

Indians Director of Baseball Operations commented on some of the big prospects the Indians picked up in the July trades of C.C. Sabathia and Casey Blake:

On Carlos Santana: "He is a really exciting player. Anytime you have a switch-hitting catcher with that kind of bat, you of course are going to hear comparisons to Jorge Posada, Victor Martinez and players like that. He was converted to catcher two years ago and we feel he really has a chance to stay behind the plate. With a plus arm and very good hands, he really has a chance to stay back there. With that bat, when you rank out major league catchers he ranks high. Our scouts are evaluating the tools of the player and not just how they perform in the league. At the same time we can also look at some statistical analysis that tries to factor some of that out and compare him to other players in the league he is playing in and not just players in all of minor league baseball. With Santana, it is not a question as his statistics and numbers would be top of the charts in basically anything."

On John Meloan: "Our scouts saw his best role as a reliever. He was really dominant in Double-A and even in his first exposure to Triple-A last year. He was moved to a starting role because the Dodgers felt like they needed some depth there. He also has four pitches, an out-pitch curveball, a cutter, changeup and an above average fastball. He has the arsenal to be a starter and was a starter in college, where he was actually dominant at the University of Arizona in that role. But we feel like with the type of strikeout pitcher that he is and that he can get a little more velocity on his fastball in the bullpen that we feel like he could make an impact in that role on a major league team at some point. We have been following him since 2005 when he was first drafted, so we have seen a lot of his performances on back-to-back days and as a starter this year. I think the Dodgers were looking more for starting pitching depth for them, so I don't think [a drop in velocity using him on back-to-back days] was necessarily a factor in it. Actually his velocity started to creep up as a starter too in his second or third time through the lineup. I think it is not a concern to us. He has a little bit of a maximum effort delivery, so it is kind of better suited for the bullpen anyway and we really feel he has a chance to dominate there."

On Matt LaPorta: "It is hard to give a schedule or timetable for him. I think we'll let his progress dictate where he ends up, but we do feel like he has a chance to be a run producing bat for us. It has obviously been somewhat of a whirlwind for him with the travel schedule he has had where he went to from being one of the key pieces in the C.C. deal, to playing in the Futures Game, he had a death in the family to go travel to and attend, and then he was off to the Olympics in Beijing for a month. It has really been a whirlwind for him, so we'll just have to let him get comfortable in the organization and kind of let his own progress dictate where he goes."

Akron Falls In Finals Again

Akron's season wrapped up this past weekend when they dropped the Eastern League Championship Series to Trenton three games to one. After splitting two games at home late last week, Akron went on the road and lost Game Three and Game Four in the best-of-five series. Akron lost to Trenton in the finals for the second straight year, and it is the third straight season Akron has lost in the championship series.

The series was lost in the decisive Game Three when two amazing defensive plays by Trenton centerfielder Austin Jackson completely changed the complexion of the game and series. Jackson hit a home run in the first inning to put Trenton up 1-0, but saved a run with his defense by leaping over the wall and robbing third baseman Wes Hodges of a game-tying solo home run to deep right-center in the fourth inning. He followed up the sensational over-the-wall catch with an encore performance in the fifth inning. With Akron now down 3-0, they had two on and none out and first baseman Matt Whitney sent a booming drive to left-center, but again Jackson covered an acre of ground, set his feet, and leapt over the wall to take away a three-run game tying home run. Akron eventually lost the game 4-1, and Akron never recovered and they were almost in a hangover for Game Four and could not get anything going offensively as they lose 5-1.

Some of the top performances from Akron's postseason include outfielder Matt LaPorta (.320, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1.220 OPS), right-hander Frank Herrmann (1-1, 1.46 ERA, 2 games, 12.1 IP), right-hander Erik Stiller (0-0, 1.93 ERA, 5 games, 4.2 IP), and right-hander Neil Wagner (2-0, 1.42 ERA, 4 games, 6.1 IP). With Akron now finished with the playoffs, it closes the book on the Indians 2008 minor league season.

Options Still Full With Sipp

One of the good stories to come out of this season was the return of much heralded lefty Tony Sipp. After tearing his ulnar collateral ligament last year and undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2007, Sipp rehabbed rigorously all offseason through the first few months of this season before he was sent on a rehab assignment to the Gulf Coast League Indians in late June. Sipp continued his rehab in Kinston and then in late July settled in Akron on the active roster.

Because Sipp spent less than 90 days on the active roster in an injured season, the Indians will retain the option they lost on him this year when he spent almost the whole season in the minors rehabbing. This special fourth year option given for medical reasons has been given out in the past, most recently to the Indians in 2006 when Brian Tallet, Andrew Brown and Jason Stanford all received fourth year options because of medical issues in the past.

This is some good news for the Indians, as they now will still have their full allotment of three option years for Sipp going into the offseason and into next year. As we have seen in the past with many players, options are vital and offer a lot of flexibility with the 40-man roster. In a nutshell, a player optioned to the minors is a player on the 40-man roster who is on "optional assignment" to the minors. An option is only used when the player is optioned to the minors, be it in spring training or anytime during the season. A player does not use an option when they are called up, only when they are sent down from the major league roster to the minors.

Comings And Goings

Here are some recent signings and releases I have not mentioned:

Released: Austin Creps (RHP), Corteze Armstrong (OF)
Signed: Joel Torres (OF)

Photos courtesy of Akron Aeros, Kinston Indians, Columbus Clippers, Associated Press, and City of Goodyear.

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