IPI Inbox: Should Santana be sent to Columbus?

Carlos Santana (Photo: AP)

It is time for another IPI Inbox to talk about some of the questions from the minors to the big leagues that Indians fans have asked of late. These are all questions I have received of late via e-mail or on my Twitter page (@TonyIPI).

If you have a question on anything pertaining to the Cleveland Indians from the minors to the big leagues that you would like answered in a future inbox, feel free to contact me. I also pull from questions in the comments sections in articles, and also from Twitter, so you can post your question there as well.

To the IPI Inbox we go.....

Rick Thomas wrote: Why not send Carlos Santana back to the minors to get his swing and confidence back?  Am I the only one who thinks he is hurting the team right now?

Me: Good question Rick.  I think there is a difference between sending a guy back to the minors to work on his swing and sending a guy back to the minors because he has a poor approach.  The thing is, Santana's approach has really been very good this year.  He's been patient, working counts, and laying off a lot of bad pitches, which is obvious since even with a .224 average he is 19^th in the AL in on-base percentage (.362) and is 1^st in the AL in pitches seen per at bat (4.49).  I mean for as great as shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera has been this season, Santana has actually been on base MORE than him.  Obviously Cabrera has been more productive, but purely from putting up good at bats and getting on base arguably no one has been better except Travis Hafner.

Santana is seeing tons of pitches...the problem has been when he is getting a pitch to swing at he is overswinging and is getting under the ball.  He is missing some pretty hittable pitches by fouling them off when he should be hammering them, which is a sign he is late with his swing.  The Indians made a correction this week to eliminate the toe tap he used to do in order to try and cut down on so much of the movement he has at the plate with his swing.  Hopefully this will help him get the timing back.

As to whether you send Santana to the minors to work on this new change to correct his swing, I think this is something that can be ironed out at the big league level and the Indians are right for doing it.  Sending him down to Triple-A Columbus to try to become more consistent hitting Triple-A pitching will not help because once he gets back up who knows if the same issues will persist.  It is mostly about confidence, and that is why at least to me you first try to get the ship righted at the big league level so the confidence is already there and he can move past this.  Now if his very good approach ever goes by the wayside, then you seriously consider sending him to Columbus.

Thankfully Santana has maintained his approach even through all of the frustration he is going through as a hitter, which is a testament to how talented and mentally strong he is as a player.  Through it all, even with the poor hitting he amazingly has a .750 OPS which is 2^nd in the AL for catchers and 6^th in all of baseball for catchers.  Imagine when this guy starts hitting, which is what he is starting to do since he had a few “mental health” days and was dropped down in the batting order last weekend.  Ever since then he is playing better, which is good news for the Indians and bad news for the rest of the league.

Rick Smith wrote: I've noticed that Adam Miller is only pitching once every three to five days. Is this time period between appearances part of a plan? Will this time period shorten as the season goes on? Is he a long-shot big league option this year, barring any setbacks?

Me: I believe the length of time between Miller’s appearances when he was at High-A Kinston was twofold.  One being the Indians were still being cautious with him, and the other due to all the rainouts they have had.  But from what I understand he will get at least two rest days between appearances for the time being.  Once he proves he can pitch effectively with the slider, the command of his pitches is there, and he is healthy and up to Triple-A, THEN his workload will probably be increased to pitching more every other day or even back-to-back nights.  That will be the final test if you ask me.

As far as a big league option this year, I believe Miller is a long shot.  Yes, it is an incredible story, but emotions aside it is just not very realistic.  Not only does he have to remain healthy, effective, and move up through Akron and Columbus, but I think a lot of people forget he would have to vault over guys like Josh Judy, Nick Hagadone and Zach Putnam who are waiting and next in line on the big league train in Columbus.  So unless the Indians have serious injury issues, I don't expect Miller to be up this year except maybe as a September callup when rosters expand and they can more easily get him on the roster.  In fact, if healthy and performing well, I expect him to be a September callup as it is a perfect time to give him that cup of coffee and what a story it would be.

Bottom line, though, I think this season is more of a proving ground for Miller and if he proves healthy and effective he is certainly in the immediate plans right out of the gates next season.

Chad L. wrote: I was wondering has the Tribe thought about selling high on Marson's early success to those teams (Red Sox, White Sox, Rockies, etc.) that need catchers really bad?  I like Marson but his only role with us will be a career back-up catcher and if we can get another quality arm or position depth it might be better for the club in the long run.  We have Carlin as a career back-up in AAA and he is doing really well there.

Me:  Chad, I think there is the potential that if the right deal comes along that the Indians could deal Marson.  But, here is the thing, in addition to his very good defensive abilities, he is under club control for a long time, has an option left, and really provides a lot of roster flexibility to the team going forward.  It would almost make no sense to trade him unless they are blown away in an offer for a high profile player and he has to be included in the deal (for what it is worth, I don’t see such a high profile trade happening).

Marson surely has his warts as a hitter, but he has proven to be a very good handcuff to Carlos Santana and is going to be needed if Santana can’t overcome his offensive issues or is injured.  That and he is still young (24), and actually quite valuable as a cheap backup catching option making league minimum this year and next year as well.  With his youth he also has some upside still where the bat may always come around, which is why many think with his defensive abilities he could start for a lot of teams down the road or even now.  There is certainly attractive trade value in that, but with nothing else in the minor league system ready to contribute at the big league level as a backup or starting catcher in the next two or three years, he is probably most valuable to the Indians and probably will stay put until he gets into his arbitration years and becomes too expensive as a backup.

Hopefully by then the Indians have a catcher in their system that emerges as a major league quality defensive catcher to be Santana’s caddy who by then is hopefully putting up huge numbers on a yearly basis.

Bob B. wrote: Has your rating of McAllister changed - or do you need to see him when you get fully recovered?

Me: Yes, my rating on Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Zach McAllister has definitely changed.  Those preseason rankings almost become immediately obsolete once spring training starts as they are based on the previous year and some of the offseason work.  But man, McAllister looked completely different this spring.  I'm sold.

If the rankings were updated two months into the season, McAllister is a top 10-15 prospect in the system without a doubt and probably should have been to start the season.  Too much was put into his performance last year, when he really had three good years before that and scouts liked him.  His home run rate jumped considerably last year, which explains the high ERA and ineffectiveness, but this year it is back to previous levels.  He put in a ton of work with the Indians coaching staff in the offseason during Instructional League where they made some adjustments with his delivery, and the results are showing.  He is just oozing confidence again and going out and really performing well this season night in and night out.  If the Indians need another starter, I hear that Jeanmar Gomez may not be the slam dunk as the first option everyone thinks he is and that the Indians will seriously consider giving McAllister the call.

The Indians got McAllister last year in exchange for Austin Kearns when the Yankees were selling low on him, and in the future could prove to be another one of former GM Mark Shapiro’s best moves and rivals Casey Blake for Carlos Santana, Ben Broussard for Shin-Soo Choo, and Eduardo Perez for Asdrubal Cabrera.

Richard Schwartz wrote: It is really a shame that Weglarz is hurt. Do you think he would have been a possibility for the big leagues this year? He is already on the 40 man roster so I don't super 2 would apply to his status, right? How is his rehab going? Does he have a chance to come up to the majors this year in your opinion? When he does come up, what is he going to play?

Me: Yes, if Weglarz were healthy and performing when Hafner went on the disabled list it is probably almost a certainly that he would be up here instead of Travis Buck right now.  Weglarz and Buck are obviously both on the 40-man roster, outfielders, and left-handed hitters, but Weglarz is a priority player in the Indians system and with his power and patient approach it would have been an ideal time to insert Weglarz into the lineup and ease his way in while Hafner has been sidelined.  Definitely a missed opportunity for him.

As for Super 2, that would certainly apply had Weglarz been called up prior to somewhere around the first week of June as he would get about 120 or more days of service time this year if he stayed up the rest of the year.  If he stayed up all of 2012 and 2013, then he would be a Super 2 after the 2013 season.  Speaking of Super 2, we are about past the Super 2 point for zero service time guys that teams may want to bring up to the bigs and avoid the Super 2 hassle, players for the Indians like Cord Phelps, Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, Zach Putnam, Zach McAllister, etc.

Weglarz’s rehab is going well and he is expected to begin a rehab assignment any day, and when he does he may initially start in Double-A Akron like Jared Goedert recently did.  If he proves healthy, I see no reason he is not a big league option by the All Star break so long as he is also performing.

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).

Posted in: Adam Miller,Carlos Santana,Lou Marson,Nick Weglarz,Zach McAllister