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| Photo credit: Ken Carr |
Is Antonetti Really Just A Shapiro Clone?
The Indians made it official this week as Chris Antonetti assumed general manager duties while Mark Shapiro moved on from his general manager role to his new role as team president. While the move was made official on Monday, Antonetti had for the most part been handling the day-to-day general manager responsibilities in step with Shapiro ever since the move was announced earlier this season.
There are those out there who think that with this move that things will continue to be the same as they were while under Shapiro's reign since 2002; however, that may not necessarily be the case.
Antonetti has often been labeled as a Shapiro clone, maybe because of the way he dresses and talks, but really when it comes to baseball acumen the two couldn't be any more different. While he did use statistical analysis in his evaluation methods, Shapiro is someone who was always some one that mostly would go by instinct and the objective information obtained from scouting reports to evaluate players. By comparison, Antonetti is a hardcore stat-guy who craves subjective information, almost straight out of the new “Moneyball” approach used by a lot of front office executives these days.
Also, let’s not forget, when Shapiro took over the general manager duties from John Hart at the end of the 2001 season, Shapiro himself was dubbed as a Hart clone because he had worked with Hart so many years and was his right hand man for several of them. Of course, nine years later, I think it is safe to say that Shapiro proved to be very different and had his own style as a general manager, though some of this is because he had to work in a completely different competitive and financial environment than Hart did.
Bottom line, let’s see what Antonetti does before dubbing this move as nothing more than the “same old, same old”. Antonetti probably won’t have a chance to put his stamp on the team this offseason, but that opportunity may come next offseason when the team is hopefully in a position to contend and make a key acquisition or two.
Goedert Could Fill Right-hand Need
One of the Indians' top priorities this offseason will be to add a much needed right-handed bat to the lineup in the outfield or infield.
The team is extremely left-handed hitting heavy with the expected starting outfield next year of Shin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore, and Michael Brantley. When you add in that DH Travis Hafner hits left-handed, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and catcher Carlos Santana are switch-hitters who are better from the left side, and that our three best hitting prospects in outfielder Nick Weglarz, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, and second baseman Jason Kipnis all hit left-handed, well, you can see the need.
Because of this need, and because the Indians are very likely to carefully sift through the discount racks in free agency for a hitter, the Indians may turn to an internal alternative to fill the right-handed hitting need.
Triple-A Columbus third baseman Jared Goedert had a very good season this year hitting .283 with 27 home runs, 83 RBI and a .890 OPS in 125 combined games at Double-A Akron and Columbus. But, even with the outstanding numbers and a need at third base in Cleveland he was never called up because of his questionable defense at third base. With Chisenhall very likely to open the 2011 season as the everyday third baseman in Columbus and also Cord Phelps now in the mix at third base, the opportunities for Goedert will be limited next year.
With that in mind, don't be surprised if Goedert transitions into a corner utility role sometime between now and the end of spring training. The Indians are well aware of the squeeze for playing time at third base at Columbus, and also know that Goedert has shown some versatility in the past playing second base and even some outfield this season at Akron. While second base may no longer be an option, using him in a corner utility role where he plays left field, third base, first base, and at designated hitter is certainly a possibility.
The Indians really like Goedert’s bat and think it plays, it is just about finding him a position and role on the field, and a corner utility role may just be it. It is still unclear if he will be in the organization next year as he is up for roster protection this offseason from the Rule 5 Draft, so if he is not added to the 40-man roster he could be lost to another team that selects him in the draft.
More Front Office Changes
In addition to the official change as to who now sits in the general manager's chair, the Indians also named Mike Chernoff as the new Assistant General Manager. He had been the club's Director of Baseball Operations since 2007, and will essentially be replacing the role that Antonetti had under Shapiro as Antonetti's new right hand man. As the assistant general manager he will oversee the club’s professional scouting and baseball analytics and will also be involved in all aspects of baseball operations, primarily assisting Antonetti in player acquisitions, contract negotiations and the day-to-day operations of the department.
The Indians also added vice president titles to Director of Scouting John Mirabelli and Director of Player Development Ross Atkins. Their roles have not changed as these are just promotional titles in the organization. Andrew Miller who had been the Assistant Director of Baseball Operations has moved to a new role of Assistant to the President, a position where he will assist Mark Shapiro in strategic planning in all areas related to business, brand and Progressive Field strategy and development, in addition to advising Baseball Operations on decision-making and strategic planning.
Finally, Meka Asonye is the new Assistant of Baseball Operations, Alex Eckelman is the new Assistant Director of Professional Scouting, Derek Falvey the new Assistant Director of Baseball Operations, and Carter Hawkins the new Assistant of Player Development.
Triggs Not Healthy
For the most part, the Indians signed all of their priority guys from the 2010 Draft. The one guy they missed out on was right-hander Burch Smith who was firmly committed to going back to school and playing for Oklahoma this coming spring, but another player high on the target list that they did not sign was 24th round pick right-hander Andrew Triggs out of USC.
Triggs was drafted this year even though clubs knew his health status was questionable after he missed the last month of the season because of a shoulder issue. Had played summer ball and shown over the summer that his health had returned the Indians were prepared to be aggressive in their approach in signing him.
Unfortunately, Triggs did not pitch anywhere this summer and instead opted to rehab his shoulder, which in turn took him out of the signing mix for the Indians. The Indians have a history of redrafting players, and if he proves healthy next spring don’t be surprised if the Indians call his name again during the 2011 Draft.
8th Pick Blues
The Indians can't catch any breaks these days. Their strong late season finish which included a seven game winning streak saw them finish tied with the Washington Nationals for the 6th worst record in the league at 69-93.
But, instead of getting the 6th pick in the 2011 Draft, the Indians ended up with the 8th because the Nationals won the tiebreaker because of a worse 2009 record (a strange tiebreaker). The Indians then lost out on the 7th pick and ended up with the 8th pick because the Arizona
Diamondbacks get the 7th pick as compensation for not signing their 2010 first round selection (6th overall) right-hander Barrett Loux from Texas A&M.
Major League Baseball rules state that if a team does not sign their first round pick that they get a compensation pick in the slot after they drafted the previous year.
Phelps, Team USA Qualify For Pan-Am Games In 2011
The USA Baseball Pan American Qualifying Team so far is a perfect 6-0 and has already qualified for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. While they are still playing and in the second round of the qualifying tournament, because of their 6-0 record so far they have assured themselves of no less than a seventh place finish, which is good for qualification into the tournament next year.
Triple-A Columbus second baseman Cord Phelps is playing with the team and while he struggled in his first four games he broke out with a 2-for-4 performance on Friday with two runs scored and an RBI. In five games he is hitting .250 (5-for-20) with five runs scored, a double, a stolen base, and four RBI. When the qualifying tournament ends, he will be going out to the Arizona Fall League for more action and experimenting with a move to third base.
Arizona Bound
I am heading out to Goodyear, Arizona this week to see the Indians minor leaguers in action in Instructional League and for the start of the Arizona Fall League. I'll be providing daily notebooks on my site what I see, and will recap my visit here in my weekly notes column next week.
Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. His latest book the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is also available for purchase on his site for a special year end closeout sale of $10.00 (including shipping and handling).
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1 comments:
From what I understand, they are going to try and work with Haley much in the manner they had with Carmona to try and get him on track mentally and fundamentally. Anything you can find out and pass along will be greatly appreciated as to the process they are going to have in -lace for him...
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