Smoke Signals 2/28: Say Goodbye to February Edition

Paul Cousineau and I are back on the cyberwaves tonight for some Cleveland Indians baseball talk in another edition of "Smoke Signals" from 11:00 - 11:30 p.m. EST.  Tonight we will discuss some of the happenings from the past week with Chad Durbin being signing, Trevor Crowe and Anthony Reyes suffering setbacks, and the start of spring games on Sunday.

Feel free to call us at 1-949-203-4752 or email us at smokesignals@indiansprospectinsider.com to talk about anything on your mind.

Thanks again for listening!  No matter how good or bad the Indians play this year we look forward to another fun year talking Tribe!

You can listen to the show live or download it and listen to it later here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smokesignals/2011/03/01/smoke-signals

You can also listen to the show live directly on this site via our radio page:

http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2008/11/radio-interviews.html

Subscribing To iTunes

Once every show finishes it is automatically added to iTunes. To have the podcast of every show sent right to your desktop and to your MP3 player or iPod, do one of the following:

1. Go to the iTunes store, do a search for "Smoke Signals" and then under the results for podcast click to see all and you'll see Smoke Signals shows listed. You can subscribe there if you want. The direct feed to subscribe is: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smokesignals/feed.

2. Open iTunes, click on "Advanced" along the top, and then click on "Subscribe to Podcast" and enter the feed above and all the shows will be added once they are finished.

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

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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #20 Chun-Hsiu Chen

Chun-Hsiu Chen - Catcher
Born: 11/01/1988 – Height: 6’1” – Weight: 200 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: Chen was signed by the Indians as an undrafted minor league free agent in September of 2007 out of Taiwan. He was a third baseman and pitcher in Taiwan, but was converted to a catcher when he joined the organization. The Indians planned to have him play in the Arizona Fall League last year, but he ended up playing for Taiwan in the Asian Games instead. He was named to the Futures Game last season, and he finished 2nd in the organization in batting average (.315).

Strengths: After a promising pro debut as a 19-year old in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2008 where he hit .261/.336/.409, he really struggled at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009 as he hit just .215/.328/.308. He bounced back last year with an incredible display of patience and gap power seemingly getting better and better as the year wore on, and showed why the Indians nabbed him as a high profile free agent out of Taiwan in September 2007. He is an offensive player who shows good bat-to-ball skills, power, and a very professional swing that has translated well to the wood bat. He has an uncanny knack to consistently square the ball up, and when he does the ball just jumps off his bat. He has always shown good plate discipline in his three year career with the Indians, but last year his power stroke emerged with 53 extra base hits - a whopping 38 of them doubles - in 390 at bats where he had just 16 extra base hits in 195 at bats the previous year at Mahoning Valley.  As he continues to mature and get stronger, he projects to have more power down the road and some of those doubles may start to turn into home runs. He is very coachable and makes adjustments well.

One of the bigger stories of last season was the return of Chen's impressive stroke and approach at the plate. Some in the organization believe that his bat took a backseat in 2009 while he tried to answer the challenges at catcher to improve his receiving, blocking, and calling games. But his success as a hitter last year also stems from a small adjustment he made with his swing where he abandoned the traditional high leg kick and a lot of hand movement you see from a lot of players in the Pacific Rim to a much calmer stride with a more traditional setup without the leg kick, less hand movement, and a shorter path to the ball so he could better handle off-speed pitches. He was sort of caught in between the two approaches in 2009, hence the rough year, but last season he made the full conversion by dropping the leg kick and eliminating a lot of movement in his stance and his offense blossomed as a result.

The biggest question mark with Chen is his defense. He is an average receiver with good leadership qualities, is a good blocker, moves well, and his throwing is improving. He and Roberto Perez split playing time at Low-A Lake County the first few months of the season to help ease their transitions into catching a full season - something the Indians are likely to do with Alex Lavisky and Alex Monsalve at Lake County this year. Over the course of the season he made a lot of strides with his receiving, blocking, and throwing, and the Indians feel he exceeded their expectations with his advances in his communication with pitchers in English and Spanish and how comfortable he was catching as frequently as he did. He has also shown some intelligence behind the plate picking up tendencies from the hitters and reading swings. He still has a long way to go, but the Indians believe he can remain in the role for the foreseeable future and that he just needs experience and playing time in order to
continue to grow behind the plate.

Opportunities: The defensive reviews on Chen are mixed, and he still has a long way to go to be a serviceable major league catcher. He is still raw and picking up all of the nuances to the game as a catcher, his game calling and blocking need improvement, and he needs to get quicker and more consistent with his throwing. He has made incredible strides with his English and adapting to the American culture, but even though he has a good understanding of the English language his vocabulary is still very limited and he has trouble expressing to those who speak English and Spanish what he wants to say. At the plate he is continuing to work on simplifying his approach as he tends to think too much. His pitch recognition skills need work as he has shown a problem with recognizing curveballs and other offspeed pitches. He has made improvements in this area, but he needs to get better with his understanding on how to approach and attack them.

Outlook: Chen went from an up-and-comer in 2009 to a forgotten guy by many outside of the organization going into last season because of his poor season in 2009 at Mahoning Valley. He came back with a bang last year and even exceeded the expectations of the Indians with both his hitting and defense. Things will start to get a lot tougher now that he will be entering the higher levels of the minors, but the Indians look like they have the makings of a solid offensive-minded catcher. He has the tools to hit and be an average defensive catcher, and if catching does not work out for him or a need arises elsewhere he could someday move to first base where his bat would still play. His future looks to be that of a Max Ramirez-type of payer, and he should open the 2011 season at Double-A Akron.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	19	GCL Indians	R	38	115	11	30	4	2	3	15	13	29	1	.261	.336	.409	.745
2009	20	Mahoning Valley	A-	59	195	24	42	15	0	1	19	31	42	9	.215	.328	.308	.636
2010	21	Lake County	A	58	218	27	68	21	3	6	39	17	38	1	.312	.368	.518	.886
2010	21	Kinston	A+	52	172	31	55	17	0	6	30	38	36	4	.320	.442	.523	.965
		MiLB Totals		207	700	93	195	57	5	16	103	99	145	15	.279	.371	.443	.814

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

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Tribe Happenings: Who's on third?

Jason Donald is in the mix at third base

(Photo: AP)

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

Third base is question #1

There are a lot of spots on the opening day 25-man roster for the Cleveland Indians that are up in the air this spring. While most of the competition is for the final few spots in the bullpen and who rounds out the bench, the one starting spot this spring which will be interesting to see sort itself out is third base.

If baseball lines were set on the competition, the best odds would be on one of Jason Donald, Jayson Nix, or Luis Valbuena to be the Indians opening day third baseman. Others like Jack Hannahan and Jared Goedert will be in the mix and get consideration, but they are not expected to be in the running for the everyday job to open the season.

While the odds heavily favor the trio of Donald, Nix, and Valbuena, the real mystery is trying to figure out which one of the three is favored over the others because at the moment there appears to be no frontrunner. Manager Manny Acta and GM Chris Antonetti have been very vague in their comments on the subject since the start of camp, and likely will continue to be until a winner is named late in the spring.

All three players certainly have their warts. Neither of the three has much if any experience at third base, all three are below average to maybe fringe average defensive options there, and all three are below average big league hitters.

Nix, 28, was picked up off of waivers last June and struggled in his short time at third base with the Indians in the second half of last season. He showed some thunder in his bat by pounding out 13 homers in 78 games with the Indians, but he also only hit .234 and had 75 strikeouts to just 13 walks in 282 at bats.

Valbuena, 25, had one of the worst seasons by a Tribe hitter in some time last year as he hit just .193 with two homers, 24 RBI and had a .531 OPS in 91 games. Not only was he a mess at the plate, but he also struggled in the field as he botched too many groundballs.

Donald, 26, had an uninspiring big league debut last year where he only hit .253 with four homers, 24 RBI, and had a .690 OPS in 88 games. He also left several people in the organization questioning whether he can be an everyday player because of his questionable defensive play.

At the outset, it looks like it is wide open and whoever proves to be the more reliable defender this spring will probably win the job. These things are fluid and can change at a moments notice with injuries, roster moves, and obviously their play this spring, but if I were handicapping the race it appears that Nix has the edge early on in camp.

A lot of this is due to the fact that Nix has remained on the roster the entire offseason when it looked like he was a goner several times. Sometimes the transactions the Indians make or don't make speak loud and clear, and since he has stuck around so long and been a survivor up to this point, it appears the Indians have him penciled in as the guy at third base unless he bombs this spring or one of Donald or Valbuena clearly play better.

Valbuena looks more like he will make the team as a utility option, and quite possibly could serve as the left-handed portion of a platoon at third base with whichever one of Nix and Donald is named the regular third baseman. Donald may have more upside than Nix, but there are some in the organization who believe Donald may be best suited if he started the season in Triple-A Columbus as the everyday shortstop to keep him as an option at shortstop this year and beyond.

No matter what happens, it is a decision that really only has short term ramifications. A month or two into the season Cord Phelps could be an option to replace any of the three if they are struggling and Phelps is playing well in Columbus. Also, if things go well with Lonnie Chisenhall in Columbus, he could be in Cleveland sometime around the All Star break and would be given every opportunity to nail the position down for most of the next decade.

Also, don’t rule out the Indians signing a free agent, making a trade or waiver claim at the end of camp to fill the void.

Sizemore move coming?

No one is really talking about it yet, but outfielder Grady Sizemore may at some point this season make a zip code change in the outfield from center field to left field.

The Indians have had discussions about it in the offseason and right up to the start of camp, but for now they appear content with keeping him in center field as they believe it is the best place for him to better ensure his health. Coming off microfracture surgery to his left knee, he has been limited by injuries the past two seasons so it is probably a good idea to have him stay in center field for now until he re-establishes himself and proves he is healthy.

“The wear and tear, going side-to-side, abrupt stopping, walls, etc all make it tougher on the knees to play corner outfield than center field according to the medical experts,” says a source close to the situation.

Currently, Sizemore is working his way back from his microfracture surgery and has already started taking live batting practice and is doing sprinting drills. He is expected to start playing in Cactus League games later in spring training, likely the middle of March.

While Sizemore's progress to date is encouraging he still has a long way to go. He is almost certain to open the season on the 15-day disabled list to allow him more time to rehab from his surgery and get back to 100%.

Sizemore will probably stick around in extended spring training for a week or so, and then go on a 20-day minor league rehab assignment before being re-activated. He will probably begin his rehab assignment at High-A Kinston as the warmer weather would help in preventing any setbacks or loss of games due to weather, and then move up to Triple-A Columbus at the tail end of it.

If Sizemore has no setbacks on his rehab assignment and all goes well, he could be back in Cleveland sometime in late April to early May.

Crowe hobbled

With Sizemore very likely to open the season on the disabled list it means Austin Kearns will get the lion’s share of playing time in left field and that Michael Brantley will be the everyday centerfielder. It also opens the door for one of Trevor Crowe or Ezequiel Carrera to make the team as the fourth outfielder.

Crowe, 27, looked to be the favorite there, but a rotator cuff strain may shelve him for the start of the season. To make matters worse, the injury setback hurts him as he is running out of time in the organization in that this season is his last option year.

Crowe has underwhelmed since being selected by the organization in the first round of the 2005 Draft out of the University of Arizona. He never really had a consistent season in the minors, and in 190 games the last two seasons in the big leagues with the Indians he has been a poor performer hitting just .246 with three homers, 53 RBI and a .627 OPS during that span.

There is no doubt that Crowe brings the pedigree as a former first round pick, and his speed, versatility, and switch-hitting ability are seen as assets. But his inconsistent performance and lack of any real value as a major league hitter will likely force the organization to make a decision on him at some point this year, be it during the season or early in the off-season.

With Crowe probably now out of the fourth outfielder mix, it means that Carrera and Travis Buck look like the frontrunners to win the spot. Shelley Duncan, Jared Goedert, Chad Huffman, and Jordan Brown are expected to battle for the fifth outfielder and backup first base role this spring.

Indians land four in Top 100

This week Baseball America released their 2011 Top 100 prospects in the minors. The Indians placed four players in the listing with third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall (No. 25), right-handed pitcher Alex White (No. 47), second baseman Jason Kipnis (No. 54), and left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz (No. 61). The Indians are one of just ten organizations in Major League Baseball to have at least four prospects in the Top 100 listing.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has also recently released his Top 100 listing, and the same four players appear in his listing just in a different order: Kipnis (No. 28), Chisenhall (No. 40), Pomeranz (No. 43), and White (No. 71).

International affairs

The Indians continue to sign players year round on the international front. This year they have seen a significant increase of around 25% in their international budget, and they are using that extra money to go out and try to unearth young, talented players in the Pacific Rim and in the Caribbean.

Their 2011 budget is somewhere between $2.5 million to $3.0 million, which is a significant change as just a few years ago they were spending less than $1.5 million internationally. The extra money in the budget is expected to allow them to be bigger players during the International Signing Period this year when it opens up on July 2nd. The Indians have a strong presence in Venezuela, so don't be surprised to see a July 2nd signing or two come out of there.

Goodyear and book

I’ll soon be heading out to Goodyear, Arizona on March 10th and will be out there for close to two weeks. I’ll be providing updates daily on my site at IndiansProspectInsider.com as well as at STOHD.com.

Also, my new 2011 Indians book is now already in its second print run. Thanks again to everyone for all the support. For those interested, you can order the book here on my site through the order form on the upper right side of the page, or you can e-mail me directly to place an order by mail.

The book will soon be available at several retail outlets and team shops. I can confirm that the Cleveland Indians team shop is already on board, and it will soon be at all their team shops including the Goodyear team shop.

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

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A Major League Sequel to the 1990s?

(Photo: Paramount Pictures)

The Cleveland Indians are the talk of the national media.  It seems the buzz is there and a comeback is at hand.  Our lovable losers are about to shed the failures of the past several years and return to prominence.

OK, so the buzz is actually about another sequel to the 1989 movie Major League.  But considering the turnaround the real Indians experienced just a few short years after the original film debuted, isn’t it kind of fun to dream?

And really, who is to say life doesn’t imitate art? Chris Perez certainly thinks so, recently tweeting, “It’s like a cast reunion on here…where’s Jake, Cerrano?”

Well, according to reports, the sequel would find Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) in camp as a coach for the imitation Indians.  He’ll be joined on the coaching staff by Willie “Mays” Hayes (Wesley Snipes).   Even Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) would be back to serve as a mentor to a young pitching staff.

It’s kind of like the situation the Tribe currently employs, with Sandy Alomar Jr. and Kenny Lofton serving as a coach and special instructor.  What better way to connect with a glorious past than by bringing yesterday’s heroes to work with today’s young players?

But where do the similarities end?  Are these Indian coaches similar enough to Jake Taylor or Cerrano to satisfy Perez?  And would they really want someone like Cerrano teaching their young players the fine art of hitting a Major League curve ball?

So, maybe they should avoid Cerrano. 

But Alomar and Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) do have a striking resemblance to each other as players.  Both men were the heart and soul of their respective teams.  The fictional ’89 team would have fallen apart without Taylor’s leadership and that magical ’97 World Series run would have been impossible without Alomar’s contributions.  Their ability to impart wisdom upon a new generation should not be in doubt.

Likewise Hayes and Lofton would cancel each other out.  Both men were demons on the base path and fine center fielders; truly a case of art and life imitating each other.  They undoubtedly would have an abundance of tips for running the bases and playing some defense.  

But would any team really want Vaughn as a mentor?

Sheen’s recent outbursts have led to claims that he is an anti-Semite.  His personality is probably most akin to former Tribe reliever John Rocker who famously went on a hate-filled rant about foreigners when he was a member of the Atlanta Braves.

But in the new screenplay, Vaughn is said to have been out of baseball since giving up a walk-off home run in the seventh game of the World Series.  So…should the Indians consider bringing in Jose Mesa as a mentor?

Maybe it’s best not to think too deeply about this.  But if this new film can inspire another run of greatness from the real-life Tribe, then fans, coaches, and players of all incarnations of the Indians should be very happy.

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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #21 Zach Putnam

Zach Putnam – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/03/1987 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 225 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: Putnam was selected by the Indians in the 5th round of the 2008 Draft out of the University of Michigan. He played some third base and was a very good college hitter who actually projected well professionally as an outfielder with an excellent arm for right field, raw power to all fields, and very good bat speed. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League in 2009 and in five games went 0-1 with an 8.76 ERA (12.1 IP, 18 H, 3 BB, 18 K). He struggled when he was first called up to Triple-A Columbus last year as in five outings covering seven innings he allowed seven earned runs and 15 base-runners, but he settled in the rest of the season allowing just two earned runs and 12 base-runners in 17.1 innings covering 12 outings.

Strengths: Putnam is an aggressive, power pitcher who is extremely athletic with a great baseball pedigree. He has a four pitch mix led by a fastball that sits at 92-93 MPH and has touched 96 MPH, and complements it with a splitter, slider, and changeup. He commands his fastball exceptionally well and gets good arm side run with heavy, late life. His best secondary pitch is a devastating splitter which is nasty and already considered a major league strikeout pitch, and was widely considered one of the top secondary pitches coming out of college in 2008. The splitter sits around 82-83 MPH and gives hitters fits as they chase it even though it often drops out of the zone into the dirt. His change is more of a show pitch to give hitters a different look and attack left-handers with, but has shown improvement and has become a solid pitch for him. His slider is his primary breaking ball as he also used to throw a curveball but that was dropped so he could refine the slider. The slider shows good depth and tilt and flashes plus ability.

Putnam opened the season last year in the starting rotation in order to develop his slider. The Indians wanted him to concentrate on making sure he was developing consistent shape with it and the ability to throw it for strikes early in the count and being able to expand the zone with it. He got off to a great start, but a minor back injury in late May due to right rhomboid tightness shut him down for about three weeks. When he returned from his back injury he finished the year in the bullpen, and once he started pitching in the bullpen full time he showcased his slider a lot more in order to try and develop it as a true third pitch in his arsenal. His slider took off as he showed a better feel for it, especially at the end of the season, and has become another go-to pitch in his arsenal.

Putnam is a physical presence on the mound with a big frame to go along with very strong legs and broad shoulders that give him an ideal body to be a workhorse in the starting rotation or bullpen. He has an advanced feel for pitching and the versatility to pitch in any role be it as a starter, giving length in the middle innings, or pitching in the backend in high leverage situations.  He gets hitters to pound the ball into the ground and he gives up very few home runs because hitters have trouble lifting the ball against him because of his heavy sinker. He has a very strong delivery and the put away stuff to attack hitters and finish them off. He is tenacious on the mound, much like a pit bull where he will attack and challenge hitters and go right at them without backing down. He is a confident, big game pitcher with excellent composure to handle adversity well, and his makeup and toughness are off the charts.

Opportunities: The main focus in Putnam's development at this point is to continue to refine his slider so he can consistently throw it for strikes, get ahead in the count with it, and put away hitters with it. He is already armed with two plus pitches with his fastball-splitter combination, and his changeup is solid, but he needs an effective breaking ball to help his other pitches so it gives hitters something with a different look. He relies on his splitter so much as an out pitch that with the presence of an effective breaking ball it will help make right-handers look away instead of always down and in. He also showed improvement with his delivery last year, but he still needs to iron out a few minor mechanical issues to make sure he more consistently uses his lower half. He is a high effort pitcher, which can have an affect on his command. He also needs to continue to learn how to use and mix all of his pitches and read hitters tendencies better.

Outlook: Since the day Putnam signed with the Indians they saw him as a guy who could help out the major league bullpen in the very near future. With his deep mix of pitches, mentality, athleticism, and makeup he has the potential to be a dominant late inning pitcher in the big leagues for a very long time. He was invited to big league camp last year for spring training and impressed, and even though his overall season did not live up to what many hoped, he is on track for a possible bullpen gig at some point this season. The one thing working against his major league chances is there is no rush to promote him due to roster management reasons and because of lots of depth in the bullpen at Cleveland and Columbus. Even still, it is not a matter of if he will pitch in the big leagues, it is when. That opportunity will likely come near the end of the 2011 season, but in the meantime he will open the season in the bullpen at Columbus.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2008	20	Mahoning Valley	A-	0	1	3.72	3	0	9.2	7	4	0	5	8	.206	4.7	7.4	1.24
2009	21	Kinston	A+	2	0	4.13	5	0	24.0	22	11	1	5	23	.247	1.9	8.6	1.13
2009	21	Akron	AA	4	2	4.13	33	2	56.2	59	26	2	18	57	.261	2.9	9.1	1.36
2010	22	Akron	AA	4	1	3.86	20	3	51.1	58	22	2	9	41	.286	1.6	7.2	1.31
2010	22	Columbus	AAA	0	1	3.33	17	0	24.1	20	9	2	7	24	.222	2.6	8.9	1.11
		MiLB Totals		10	5	3.90	78	5	166.0	166	72	7	44	153	.259	2.4	8.3	1.27

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

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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #22 Abner Abreu

Abner Abreu – Outfielder
Born: 10/24/1989 – Height: 6’3” – Weight: 170 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: Abreu was signed by the Indians as an undrafted free agent in October 2006 out of the Dominican Republic for $75,000. As a 17-year old in the Dominican Summer League in 2007 he piled up 24 extra base hits in 228 at bats, and in 2008 with the rookie level Gulf Coast League team finished with 31 extra base hits and led the league in doubles (16), home runs (11), total bases (107) and slugging percentage (.538). He separated his shoulder diving for a ball in the outfield in June of 2009 while playing for Low-A Lake County, which resulted in him having surgery and missing the rest of that season.

Strengths: Abreu is an athletic player who has an effortless swing that generates excellent bat speed and combines it with some very good raw power where the ball just explodes off his bat. He is a very aggressive hitter so is prone to strikeouts, but shows an innate ability to square the ball up when he makes contact and crushes balls to all fields and can hit the ball out to any part of any ballpark. His strong hands and wrists help create a natural whip in his swing, and he has a very quick bat on inside pitches that allows him to really drive the ball pull side. The Indians recently made a subtle adjustment to his stance as he was standing too straight up and now have him leaning more forward which has helped him get a better load at the plate.

Abreu is only an average runner, but he plays above his speed on the bases and in the outfield because of his athleticism. He has a loose, wiry frame with very long legs and arms, a build similar to his favorite player Alfonso Soriano. Last offseason he added about 15-20 pounds to his listed weight of 170 pounds, and as he continues to mature physically and grow into his body it could lead to more strength and plus power down the road at the major league level. He is a quiet player, but is very patient, confident and a hard worker. He also speaks good English, which helps him communicate and fit in better with his American teammates.

While Abreu’s offensive performance can be erratic, his defense is very consistent and he is the best defensive corner outfielder in the Indians’ system. He was originally signed as a shortstop and then was moved to third base in 2008, but in 2009 the Indians decided to take advantage of his athleticism and excellent throwing arm by putting him in the outfield because they believed he could be an impact defender there. So far it has been a very positive move as some scouts have compared his defensive ability in right field to that of a young Vladimir Guerrero. He glides to the ball and shows a lot of range moving well to his left and right, and comes in and goes back on balls very well. As he continues to fill out his range may drop a little, but he projects as a well above average defensive outfielder with excellent arm strength and accuracy.

Opportunities: The Indians have worked extensively with Abreu on his approach, mindset and plan at the plate to improve his plate discipline issues. He is often over-aggressive at the plate and gets himself out where he is pulling off pitches and not staying on them like he should be which results in a lot of strikeouts and poorly hit balls. He needs to continue to work on staying within himself and let things come naturally instead of over-swinging and trying to show his incredible raw power. He has a tendency to get too geared up for the fastball, which makes him very susceptible to offspeed pitches. He needs to do a better job of recognizing pitches and show that he can hit offspeed stuff, and his two strike approach needs a lot of work. He needs to work on strengthening his core and the mental side of his game.

The hopes for some improvement with Abreu’s high strikeout rate and low walk rate did not happen last year as his strikeout rate got worse (3.6 AB/K in 2009, 3.1 AB/K in 2010). He also saw significant dips in on-base percentage (.351 in 2009, .298 in 2010) and slugging percentage (.488 in 2009, .362 in 2010). The one hope here is since he was coming off a significant shoulder injury in 2009, maybe with another offseason of rehab and some improved confidence he can get back to his expected performance levels. It can take a player awhile to come back from a serious lead arm shoulder injury and rid himself of any uncertainties and apprehensiveness in order to have full confidence that he can swing without pain and not reinjure it, which is something similar that fellow Tribe farmhand Jared Goedert has gone through recently.

Outlook: Abreu did not live up to his promise last season as he had one of the most disappointing years of any prospect in the Indians’ system. From a power and defensive standpoint, he is still one of the most exciting players in the system, but his struggles at the plate with making consistent contact and avoiding strikeouts is a huge concern and will be the determining factor of what he becomes as a prospect. His ceiling is still unlimited and he has not peaked both physically or mentally, so there is still a lot of time to develop him and harness his impressive collection of tools. He is still a priority prospect for the Indians and the hope is that with a full season under his belt after shoulder surgery in 2009 along with the bad taste his 2010 left in his mouth that he will come back and make some very positive strides in this season. He should open the 2011 season by returning to High-A Kinston, but if he plays well he could move to Double-A Akron by midseason.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2007	17	DSL Indians	R	56	228	34	69	13	7	4	41	18	46	5	.303	.353	.474	.827
2008	18	GCL Indians	R	51	199	32	50	16	4	11	37	9	52	4	.251	.289	.538	.827
2009	19	Lake County	A	63	246	36	75	16	4	7	30	11	68	3	.305	.351	.488	.839
2010	20	Kinston	A+	106	409	44	103	21	6	4	58	20	130	11	.252	.289	.362	.651
		MiLB Totals		276	1082	146	297	66	21	26	166	58	296	23	.274	.317	.446	.763

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

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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #23 Giovanny Urshela

Giovanny Urshela – Third Baseman
Born: 10/11/1991 – Height: 6’0” – Weight: 185 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: Urshela was signed by the Indians as an undrafted minor league free agent in July of 2008 out of Columbia. He struggled in the first half last year at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley hitting just .248/.285/.274 in his first 29 games, but in his remaining 29 games from July 21^st on he hit .333/.370/.463 and was one of the best hitters in the league. He missed a few weeks in August because of a hand injury he suffered on August 13^th.

Strengths: Defensively, Urshela is in a world all to his own as he shows exceptional Gold Glove ability at third base with his range, hands, and arm. He plays near flawless defense with a very strong, accurate arm, soft hands, and shows very good ability to go to his left and right as well as coming in on balls. While he did not lead the NY-Penn League in fielding percentage last season, he was only 14 points off the leader (.970) even though he was three to four years younger than most of the third basemen in the league. Even so, he was a defensive highlight reel every night and played well above his age. There is still a lot of room for growth, but he has already made a big impression on Indians personnel as well as scouts around the league with his defense and emerging
bat.

The Indians did not expect much offense from Urshela last year considering his age and the advanced level he was playing at, but he surprised and more than held his own and was one of the best hitters in the lineup by the end of the season. His power is still developing, and he shows an ability to consistently make contact with just 58 strikeouts in 434 career at bats. The Indians believe he will continue to get bigger and stronger and like his approach at the plate where he is already displaying good gap power. He is an average runner, and shows an advanced maturity for his age in being able to make adjustments and implement instruction. He also has the instincts and physical tools to continue to grow as a player where his performance should hopefully continue to improve as he gets older.

Opportunities: There is no doubt that the defense is there for Urshela, so his progress as a prospect will almost exclusively be determined by how he develops as a hitter. He has made some positive strides as a hitter, but as he moves up the minor league ladder he is going to be tested more and more as he faces better pitching. He is currently not very big and lacks much punch with the bat, so he needs to continue to work out and get stronger so he can drive the ball more and pile up more extra base hits. He also needs to refine his approach and be more patient at the plate so he is more selective and swings at better pitches and draws more walks.

Outlook: Urshela was not a household name coming into last season, but he definitely is now. The Indians are very high on him and showed that excitement by having him open last season as the starting third baseman at Mahoning Valley at just 18 years old. His numbers from last season may not appear to be very impressive, but when you consider his age (18) and how he really held his own offensively in a league so much older than him (mostly college players), they are remarkable. His upside is extremely high, especially if the bat continues to develop and he gets more consistent at the plate. The Indians will continue to push the envelope with him and he will likely start the 2011 season at Low-A Lake County.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	17	DSL Indians	R	27	108	10	29	8	1	1	24	7	14	2	.269	.316	.389	.705
2009	17	AZL Indians	R	32	105	10	27	2	0	0	11	10	12	3	.257	.322	.276	.598
2010	18	Mahoning Valley	A-	58	221	22	64	8	0	3	35	12	32	5	.290	.326	.367	.693
		MiLB Totals		117	434	42	120	18	1	4	70	29	58	10	.276	.323	.350	.673

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

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2011 Minor League Spring Training Game Schedule

Here is the spring training schedule for the minor leaguers this spring. There are only a total of ten spring games against other teams, though there will be a few inter-squad scrimmages leading up to the start of the spring games.  As I have in the past, I plan to post the spring game box scores for each game (or whatever games I am able to acquire).

Early camp for the minor leagues opens on March 1st, and then pitchers and catchers are slated to report on March 7th.  The position players are expected to officially report on March 11th.

All games 1:00 PM local time
	Columbus	Akron	Kinston	Lake County
March 18th	WHITE SOX vs. Charlotte @ Glendale	WHITE SOX vs. Birmingham @ Glendale	WHITE SOX vs. Winston-Salem in Goodyear	WHITE SOX vs. Kannapolis in Goodyear
March 19th	REDS vs Louisville @ Goodyear	REDS vs Carolina @ Goodyear	REDS vs Bakersfield in Goodyear	REDS vs. Dayton in Goodyear
March 20th	Camp Day, all teams in Goodyear
March 21st	DODGERS vs Albuquerque in Goodyear	DODGERS vs Chattanooga in Goodyear	DODGERS vs Inland Empire @ Glendale	DODGERS vs. Great Lakes @ Glendale
March 22nd	Camp Day, all teams in Goodyear
March 23rd	BREWERS vs. Nashville @ Phoenix	BREWERS vs. Huntsville @ Phoenix	BREWERS vs. Brevard County in Goodyear	BREWERS vs. Wisconsin in Goodyear
March 24th	WHITE SOX vs. Charlotte in Goodyear	WHITE SOX vs. Birmingham in Goodyear	WHITE SOX vs. Winston-Salem @ Glendale	WHITE SOX vs. Kannapolis @ Glendale
March 25th	Camp Day, all teams in Goodyear
March 26th	BREWERS vs. Nashville in Goodyear	BREWERS vs. Huntsville in Goodyear	BREWERS vs. Brevard County @ Phoenix	BREWERS vs. Wisconsin @ Phoenix
March 27th	REDS vs Louisville in Goodyear	REDS vs Carolina in Goodyear	REDS vs Bakersfield @ Goodyear	REDS vs. Dayton @ Goodyear
March 28th	WHITE SOX vs. Charlotte @ Glendale	WHITE SOX vs. Birmingham @ Glendale	WHITE SOX vs. Winston-Salem in Goodyear	WHITE SOX vs. Kannapolis in Goodyear
March 29th	Camp Day, all teams in Goodyear
March 30th	In Columbus, OH	DODGERS vs Chattanooga in Goodyear	DODGERS vs Inland Empire @ Glendale	DODGERS vs. Great Lakes @ Glendale
March 31st	Camp Day, all teams in Goodyear
April 1st	In Columbus, OH	PADRES vs. San Antonio @ Peoria	PADRES vs. Lake Elsinore in Goodyear	PADRES vs. Fort Wayne in Goodyear
April 2nd	Camp Day, all teams in Goodyear

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

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2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #24 Matt Packer

Matt Packer - Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 08/28/1987 - Height: 6'0" - Weight: 200 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

(Photo: Ken Carr)

History: Packer was selected by the Indians in the 32nd round of the 2009 Draft out of the University of Virginia. His sophomore season in 2008 he led all of college baseball in ERA (1.14), but had velocity issues and a disappointing 2009 year which saw his draft stock plummet. After being drafted, he was a summer follow by Indians area scout Bob Mayer. He had seen Packer at his best in 2008 and his worst in 2009, so he went to the Cape Cod League to see which version the Indians would be getting if they made an offer to sign him. After seeing him pitch in the Cape Cod League all summer they liked what they saw and signed him just before the August signing deadline. Last year he finished the season 1st in the Indians organization in ERA (2.04) and 5th in strikeouts (123), and he ranked 1st in the Midwest League in ERA at the time of his promotion to Double-A Akron in early August.

Strengths: Packer is a versatile, athletic left-handed pitcher who has a deep four pitch mix of a fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup. His fastball sits at 89-91 MPH and touched 93 MPH a few times last season. He had seen a drop in his velocity in 2009 during his junior season at Virginia, but his velocity came back last season thanks to a subtle delivery adjustment that he made. His changeup is his best offering as it really has a lot of deception and depth to it where it really dives. His slider is an above average offering with good swing and miss ability. His developing curveball is still a work in progress, but has shown improvement since being drafted.

Packer is not very big nor is he an over-powering pitcher and instead relies on his intelligence, strike throwing ability, limiting walks, and pitching to contact by using the sinking action on his pitches to pile up groundball outs. He shows an elite feel for his fastball, slider and changeup where he throws them all for strikes and has excellent command and movement down in the zone. He is aggressive on the mound with a good plan, and has a nice compact windup with good arm action that creates some deception in his delivery. He understands how to pitch, and shows good composure on the mound. He controls the running game well, and has an outstanding pickoff move.

Packer is versatile where he could end up as a starter or reliever. He opened last season in the bullpen, but showed four good pitches and command of all four of them in his bullpen sessions and in games to where six weeks into the season the Indians eventually decided to move him into the rotation to see how he could do. He shined in a starting role, which made the Indians shift their gears to develop him as a starter. His incredible walk-to-strikeout rate at Low-A Lake County forced the Indians to move him up to Double-A Akron in August to make what was initially planned to only be a spot start in order to see what he could do, but after he impressed in his Double-A debut going 7.0 strong innings allowing 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts they decided to keep him there the remainder of the season and he performed well. As a result he completely skipped High-A Kinston, and unless he pitches poorly this upcoming season will likely never throw a pitch at the advanced Single-A level which is unheard of.

Opportunities: Even with the success Packer had last year, he still has a ways to go to be considered a finished product as a pitcher. He mainly worked with a fastball-changeup mix at Lake County last year, and upon moving up to Akron he didn’t even throw his curveball at all. He will need to work his curveball in at the higher levels and develop the pitch so he is more consistently able to throw first pitch strikes with it and most importantly change the eye level of the hitters. He is small for a starter, so he needs to get stronger. He did some extra work in Instructional League in the fall to improve his strength and conditioning in order to help him be prepared to start 27 or more games this season and throw 150-170 innings. He is also working through a few small adjustments to clean up his pitching mechanics and fine tune the mental part of his game as a pitcher with how he pitches to certain batters and better hitting his spots.

Outlook: The Indians consider Packer's fastball-slider-changeup combination to be as good as Jeremy Sowers and Scott Lewis when they were just entering their pro careers. His excellent command, ability to command four different pitches, and his very promising showing at Akron has him now considered as a legitimate big league pitching prospect and one of the Indians best pitching prospects, something that was inconceivable at this time last year. He snuck up on everyone last year and had very low expectations for him going into the season, but going forward the expectations will increase ten fold. It was just one great season, so he will need to put together another good year this season from a development and performance perspective to truly be considered the real deal. He will open the 2011 season at Akron, and due to the depth of starting pitching in the higher levels he should spend most of his season there; however, if he continues to pitch like he did last year he should finish the season at Triple-A Columbus.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2009	21	Mahoning Valley	A-	0	0	2.38	5	0	11.1	8	3	1	1	13	.186	0.8	10.3	0.79
2010	22	Lake County	A	8	5	1.60	24	13	95.2	77	17	4	13	92	.218	1.2	8.7	0.94
2010	22	Akron	AA	1	2	3.16	6	5	37.0	35	13	3	9	31	.267	2.2	7.5	1.19
		MiLB Totals		9	7	2.06	35	18	144.0	120	33	8	23	136	.227	1.4	8.5	0.99

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2011 Indians Prospect book now available!

The 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects and More book is now available.  I received my first rush shipment over the weekend, and pre-orders have started to go out today.

The book came out very well this year with a much improved layout and look on the interior and a nice sleek cover.  Those who have purchased this book in the past will immediately notice the improved overall quality of the book!

The book runs $20.95 (plus shipping/handling) and in addition with the improved "look", is bigger and better than last year's version as far as content goes.  It runs 228 pages in length and is in 6x9 format and includes the following:

• Detailed and updated scouting reports for over 175 players in the Cleveland Indians system, with 60 completely new reports on players not in last year's book.
• Reports on the entire 2010 Draft class as well as the Top 15 Latin prospects coming stateside this year.
• Projected opening day rosters from Cleveland to Single-A Lake County.
• 2010 transactions and released payer listing and 2011-2014 Rule 5 Draft outlook.
• Full 2011 minor league spring training schedule and complete 2011 schedules for all affiliates.
• Career stats including college and winter ball, and over 100 player photos.
• 2011 coaching staffs, affiliate information, top prospects by position, 3-year ranking history, and more!

Those are all the same features as seen in previous editions of the book, but there are loads of new additions and enhancements to the book this year that you can ONLY see in the book:

ok:

• New individual tools grades: These are listed with the scouting report for each player in the Top 100.  This is a new feature only in the book and was added by popular request to show a quick snapshot of each player's abilities.
• Individual player transactions: This is a listing under each scouting report so you can see the movement or disabled list history in the 2010 season for a player in the Top 100.
• "Best Tools": This listing ranks the best in the system in several tools categories.
• Previous ranking: This is a small update added by popular request so people can see where prospects were ranked the previous year.
• Upside and value grades: Grades to show what kind of upside and Major League value each player in the Top 100 has.
• Latin Top 15 prospects: This was increased from 10 to 15 players this year and profiles all the top talent coming stateside this year from last year's Dominican Summer League team or who were recently signed in the past year.
• 2010 Draft scouting reports: Scouting reports for all of the players selected and signed from the 2010 Draft.
• College stats: Complete stats for all college players from the 2010 Draft.
• Remaining options: This is a detailed listing showing the options outlook for players on the 40-man roster and some who are not on the roster (this is available on the site).
• 2010 Transactions: All the transactions from 2010 in a new easy to view comprehensive listing that makes it easy to follow all the moves in order from the start of the season until the end of the playoffs.
• Payroll and player control outlook: A 7-year outlook for the Cleveland Indians 40-man roster with yearly payroll information, service time, arbitration, and free agent eligibility (this is available on the site).
• 2010 playoff and winter league stats: All the stats from the playoffs last year for Columbus, Kinston and Lake County as well as the stats for the players who played in offseason fall/winter leagues (this is available on the site).

As always, in addition to the scouting reports the book serves as a handy reference guide throughout the season not only for the minor leagues but for the big league team as well.  The book should serve as all the reference you need to follow the 2011 Cleveland Indians and their future big league players of tomorrow.

To order a copy of the book or any previous edition just click on the image below. Order your copy today and thanks for the support!

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