Camp Update: Position Changes & First Rosters

I've already mentioned that Lonnie Chisenhall has been officially moved from shortstop to third base. Here are a few other position changes that I have learned about:

- As I speculated in my update over the weekend, Abner Abreu indeed seems to have been moved to the outfield as he is working out there. This makes sense now that Chisenhall and Tice will likely be the third baseman at Kinston and Lake County.

- In our radio interview with Matt McBride a few weeks back, he mentioned he would be primarily playing in the outfield this year. At the moment, he is still listed as a catcher and working out there at the early stages of camp. This may just be temporary as many of the catchers are in big league camp, so once those guys start to trickle back into minor league camp McBride will then probably concentrate on the outfield. Hopefully when I get out there in two weeks I can nail his 2009 position down.

- Jason Smit has been moved to the outfield. Whether this is permanent or temporary, it looks like this could be a way to get him on the Lake County club sometime this season, though he likely remains in extended spring to work on the change and then starts the season in Mahoning Valley.

- Adam Davis is still working out at catcher.

- Adam Abraham is now working out at catcher, as expected, where he played only at first base in 2008 with the rookie level GCL club.

As for the makeup of each roster, the pitching is still too hard to determine who will end up where especially in the lower levels, and not all players are in camp as another couple dozen of players are expected to arrive in the next few days. That said, the Indians have the following grouping of position players which may be an early sign of who may end up where. The team in bold above the listing is MY projection based on this listing:

(note, there is no COLUMBUS listing since 90% of the players are in big league camp still. )

AKRON:
Catcher: Armando Camacaro (C), Alex Castillo (C), Michael Valadez (C)
Infield: Todd Martin (1B), Josh Rodriguez (2B), Carlos Rivero (SS), Jared Goedert (3B), Niuman Romero (INF), Jerad Head (INF)
Outfield: Jose Constanza (OF), Mickey Hall (OF), George Lombard (OF), Lucas Montero (OF)
(note, Weglarz is missing from this group because he is in the WBC and John Drennen is not in camp yet)

KINSTON:
Catcher: Adam Davis (C), Matt McBride (C/OF), Alex Monsalve (C), Doug Pickens (C),
Infield: Nate Recknagel (1B), Cord Phelps (2B), Mark Thompson (SS), Lonnie Chisenhall (3B), Jansy Infante (INF)
Outfield: Matt Brown (OF), Cirilo Cumberbatch (OF), Tim Fedroff (OF), Roman Pena (OF)
(note, Monsalve's inclusion here is probably more to help the pitchers get their work in)

LAKE COUNTY:
Catcher: Rob Alcombrack (C), Juan Aponte (C/1B), Chen Chun (C), Richard Martinez (C/1B)
Infield: Chris Nash (1B), Cristo Arnal (2B), Ronald Rivas (SS), Karexon Sanchez (3B), Matt Willard (INF)
Outfield: Abner Abreu (OF), Angel Rodriguez (OF), Juan Valdes (OF), Adam White (OF)
(note, outfielders John Allman and Ryan Blair are not in camp yet and likely will fit in here. Bo Greenwell will fit in here too once he joins camp.)

EXTENDED SPRING:
Catcher: Adam Abraham (C/1B), Moises Montero (C), Roberto Perez (C), Rolando Petit (C)
Infield: Lurvin Basabe (INF), Jesus Brito (INF), Jose Camargo (INF), Argenis Martinez (INF), Rafael Vera (INF)
Outfield: Trent Baker (OF), Darling Read (OF), Jason Smit (OF), Joel Torres (OF)
(note, outfielder Delvi Cid and infielder Kevin Fontanez are not in camp yet and will likely slide into here.)

There are a lot of guys still on their way to camp or you are in camp who have to finish their pre-camp workouts and physicals before they are cleared to practice. Guys noted above as well as some other notables like Jeremie Tice (INF), Brock Simpson (OF/1B), Donnie Webb (OF), Tim Palinscar (OF), and Kevin Rucker (OF).

Also, in case anyone missed it Dustin Realini (INF/OF) has retired and Kevin Dixon (RHP) is not in camp (restricted list). I am trying to track down some info on both players and hope to have a small update on both. Dixon's status is sort of surprising.

Posted in: Abner Abreu,Adam Abraham,Adam Davis,Jason Smit,Matt McBride