Weekend Update: 12/13

Time for another rundown of some of the stories from the week:

- Right-handed reliever Randy Newsom was our guest this past week on an extended edition of Smoke Signals which ran for 1 hour and 40 minutes this week. We talked about the recent signing of closer Kerry Wood and the Gutierrez trade which netted the Indians right-handed reliever Joe Smith and infielder Luis Valbuena. In addition to that we sat down and talked to Newsom for about 40 minutes and covered everything from the Rule 5 Draft, winter ball, his 2008 season, his future, his company Real Sports Interactive, and so much more. Click on the hyperlink to listen to the podcast!

Next week, right-hander Rob Bryson will be our guest on the Thursday December 18th edition of the show at 9:30pm. Bryson was one of the players obtained in the Sabathia trade and we’ll obviously talk about the trade and the recent surgery he underwent to repair a torn labrum which could have him shelved for most of the 2009 season. And of course we’ll talk about lots more.

We will not have a show on Thursday December 25th and Thursday January 1st for obvious reasons, but the show will be back in its regular slot on Thursday January 8th. A special edition will air on Monday December 29th and left-hander Ryan Morris is expected to be our guest. Guests in January are expected to be Nick Weglarz, Frank Herrmann, Matt McBride, and Josh Tomlin.

- The Indians did not lose anyone in the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft as predicted here on Wednesday. Contrary to what some have said in the media the past few days, this is NOT an indictment on the lack of talent in the Indians system just because no one was drafted. All it means is the Indians protected the right guys and that their eligibles list was not strong with what clubs are looking for: major league caliber players, preferably high upside arms for the bullpen. Aside from Jordan Brown and maybe Randy Newsom, no one that was eligible was really major league ready.

Fans have a tendency to believe that teams look to pluck players from the Rule 5 just to stash them and not use them all year, which is not the case except in the most rare of circumstances when a Single-A high upside pitcher may be exposed. Bottom line, the teams want players that can come in right away and contribute in some way, and a high percentage of the picks are relievers which was the case again this year as over 60% of the picks were relievers, just like in the five years prior. The Rule 5 Draft has really become a hunting ground for relief pitching.

In any case, the Indians did lose two minor leaguers in the Triple-A phase of the draft, right-handers Carlos Arias (Royals) and Rafael Quintero (Pirates). Not much is known about either player, other than Quintero is a converted shortstop who had some good numbers last year in the DSL (5-1, 1.36 ERA, 23 games, 46.1 IP, 44 H, 5 BB, 48 K). But, having not even played stateside yet, it is hard to know much about him or what we really lost. The same goes for Arias, who did okay at Mahoning Valley this year (1-2, 3.41 ERA, 22 games, 29 IP, 30 H, 14 BB, 38 K). Both have been in the Indians farm system for at least five years and both haven't pitched a game for a full season team yet, so they do not appear to be much of a loss.

Apparently Farm Director Ross Atkins - who signed Arias when he was the Tribe’s Latin America coordinator - felt the same way as he said the Indians had decided the innings they would eat up in 2009 were better served elsewhere. "We look at that [innings] value and would rather give that value to our amateur and Latin American scouts and see if we can keep filling in guys we'll have a few more years of protection with," Atkins said in a statement released by the team. "[Quintero and Arias] are good baseball players, but we'd rather give those innings to guys who we have more years of control with."

- One final nugget on former Tribe farmhand right-hander J.D. Martin who signed with Washington over a week ago. According to someone close to Martin, it was very tough for him to leave the Indians as after being with them for eight years they were like his family. He is truly gracious for the way the Indians were patient with him in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and he wanted to express his thanks to the Indians fans who have supported him over the years. He had 13 teams call him on the day free agency started and after a lot of phone calls and researching the situation he felt the best solution for him was to leave the Indians and sign with the Nationals because they offered him the best chance to reach the big leagues this year. While he understands it is a business, he did feel somewhat insulted with the way he was handled last year. As I said last week, much luck to J.D. with the Nationals!

- Right-hander Brian Slocum (if you got 'em) signed with the Pirates last week. Slocum had been removed from the Indians 40-man roster earlier in the offseason and was a minor league free agent.

- I know I mentioned this last week, but on Monday I should have some details on the 2009 Prospect Book.

Posted in: Brian Slocum,J.D. Martin,Randy Newsom,Rob Bryson