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| Ross Atkins (Photo: IPI) |
Earlier this week I had a chance to sit down and talk to Indians Vice President of Player Development Ross Atkins about the 2011 season, what happens next for him and his staff, and about several players in the system. I did not focus on the typical names or top prospects when talking about the players as those players were talked about all year. Instead, I mostly focused on players that may have been overlooked all season and maybe not talked about as much.
As a quick note, starting tomorrow I will begin to close the book on the 2011 season with my annual Tony Awards. The first award will go to the Rookie of the Year.
Q: Congrats on another good season developing players and getting them to the big leagues. With the offseason now here and offseason leagues in full force, what happens for you and your staff between now and spring training?
Ross Atkins (RA): “We have all the offseason plans and we have meetings to determine those plans with 2012 and beyond in mind. Then we also have Instructional League that is full steam ahead, and then we will have winter ball, the Arizona Fall League, and the Winter Development Program to plan for. Throughout that there are staffing issues to handle whether or not we lose employees or have to hire new employees. This is an exceptionally busy time of the year.”
Q: You guys suffered a tough loss losing right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco late in the year to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. By the same token, you have several pitchers coming back from Tommy John surgery last year, one of them being right-handed pitcher Hector Rondon. How is he doing?
RA: “He pitched in Mahoning Valley at the end of the year and is pitching in Instructs, and he is going to pitch winter ball too. He has been great and is back to 100%. He has had a relatively seamless process in his return, so we are excited to see how he does this offseason. [As far as restrictions go next year], that’s a good question and is something we are still working through. A lot of it will depend on his success and progress this offseason.”
Q: Triple-A outfielder Tim Fedroff is heading out to the Arizona Fall League. He had a really nice bounce back season this year at Double-A Akron before finishing the year in Columbus. What was the biggest change for him this year?
RA: “He made a subtle adjustment that I think helped him with the wood bat and his professional approach. It was really just getting comfortable and finding what worked for him because he really is an advanced hitter and always has been. It is going to be tough for him. He is going to have to really make some progress as a defender and really make some progress as a complete offensive player. He can go to center but he is not going to separate himself out there. To be one of the best in the world at what he does if you play a corner outfield position you have to be an offensive player. So it is not going to be easy for him, but it was a very positive year for him.”
Q: Double-A Akron catcher Chun Chen had a solid year this year both behind and at the plate, though the drop in his walk rate and increase in his strikeout rate is concerning. What does he need to do going forward?
RA: “The bat is there. He has enough bat to be considered a solid Major League prospect. I think the biggest thing for him is the progress he can make as a defender that separates him and really what gets him over the hump. He obviously has had to handle a lot thus far considering that he is in Double-A as young as he is and has had as much success and handled the pitching staff well there. It bodes well for his future, but there is still work to be done just as there was for Carlos Santana or for any young catcher. It is such a challenging developmental position.”
Q: You guys really like the defense that Double-A Akron third baseman Kyle Bellows plays. His bat is interesting as he has some pop and he does not strikeout a lot, but what can be done to get him more consistent at the plate?
RA: “It is clearly what he needs to work through. He needs to be a much better player offensively for him to be in the Major League mix. His defense is there, and I think his defense will even be better if he is performing on the offensive side of the game. He has some work to do on the offensive side.”
Q: Double-A right-handed pitcher Bryce Stowell probably did not have the year he nor you envisioned with him missing time to start the year and then finishing up in Akron. What can he take away from this year?
RA: “He had some off the field issues he had to work through and he has gotten through them and finished strong. I think anytime you have someone in your system who throws 100 MPH and has already been in Triple-A and strikes guys out you are excited about them. We will learn from this year and make sure there is progress going forward.”
Q: High-A Kinston outfielder Bo Greenwell had another solid season, but had it interrupted with a finger injury for most of the second half of the season. He is playing some first base in Instructional League….is that an option you are exploring?
RA: “Not necessarily. He needs to develop as an outfielder. It is more about getting at bats and helping the team where they need his positional versatility. He will benefit from it, but his focus needs to be on outfield play.”
Q: Low-A Lake County outfielder Luigi Rodriguez had a breakout season as a prospect. Obviously going into the season you guys were already high on him, but his year put him on the map to the rest of the baseball community. What do you think about his year?
RA: “He is a bat for sure. He has a natural ability to make consistent, hard contact and that is clear to see when you watch him play. He is a developing defender with tons of ability out there. There is a lot of upside with him and he is a very, very interesting player for us.”
Q: Low-A Lake County shortstop Ronny Rodriguez is another player who broke through this year with a very good professional debut. What did you think of his year and what does he need to focus on going forward?
RA: “We like his athleticism and his tools. He has all of the athleticism to be in the middle of the diamond and he has all of the tools to be an All Star potential type player. Now there is a lot that has to occur, but there is not much limiting him other than just consistency and helping him with that. That’s the hardest part. You talk about tools and then you talk about performance, and he has not performed. He has not been a disciplined hitter and there have been errors and there has been inconsistency. The tools are there and it will be up to us and him to realize his potential.”
Q: Speaking along the lines of developing plate discipline for some of the younger, raw players like Ronny Rodriguez and others, how exactly do you approach that?
RA: “It is no different than any other player. Whether or not it is a Latin American player, high school player, or college player, some guys are just more advanced with their approach. We are careful with it as you have to make sure you don’t take the bat out of their hands and alter their aggressiveness too heavily. But helping them to define their strike zone is really what it comes down to and define what pitches they can drive. It takes time. The biggest variable is what has been ingrained into their success and their aptitude.”
Q: Low-A Lake County outfielder Carlos Moncrief showed some great, raw tools this year with the raw power with his arm in the outfield and his bat at the plate. The plate discipline obviously needs a lot of work going forward, but his transition back to the outfield has been very good so far, yes?
RA: “It is similar to the consistency to Ronny Rodriguez. He has a lot of ability. Maybe not as much natural bat as Rodriguez, but a ton of athleticism and strength. It is about expediting his baseball experience, which will be tough to do. You only have so much time and so many opportunities that you can give to any given player, but he has the athleticism that we will be patient with.”
Q: Low-A Lake County right-handed pitchers Kyle Blair and Cole Cook had up and down years in their pro debuts. Both pitched well in the second half of the season, and both suffered through a significant injury this year as well. Thoughts on their season?
RA: “It was good. We try not to put too much stock into those first full seasons. It is such a significant transition. It is definitely information, but we really would like to see how they recover from this season, what they have learned from this season, and what adjustments they make going into next season because both of them have plenty of potential to be Major League contributors. I think both of them made positive strides, though we did not see that in the performance as much as we would have liked to. One is dealing with an injury and one is coming off a significant procedure, so that is information as well. I think we will have a lot more information about the future of both of those pitchers at the end of next year.”
Q: Short season Single-A Mahoning Valley right-handed pitcher Tony Dischler opened the year in Lake County but really struggled and eventually finished the season in Mahoning Valley. What happened to him this year?
RA: “I think like anything sometimes a tough start or a bad stretch can turn into a very tough year. I think that is what happened with him. He has the ability and he will get another opportunity. It is very competitive and very much a grind in that first full season to transition into professional baseball. I think that he dug himself into a hole that was tough to dig himself out of and he dealt with some aches and pains that had an impact as well.”
Q: Short season Single-A Mahoning Valley catcher Alex Lavisky had a frustrating year at the plate in his first full season. He is still just a year removed from high school and has tons of ability behind the plate and has unbelievable makeup. What do you think about his year?
RA: “He is a high school player from Ohio. You think about the amount of at bats and reps that he had compared to a kid from Florida, Texas or California, for the bulk of his amateur career he was playing half as much as those other players. So that is a lot to ask of a guy to go right into the Midwest League and the NY-Penn League and he handled that well. It did not affect him mentally and he made progress, so I think we are going to see a much better player in 2012.”
Q: Rookie level Arizona left-handed pitcher Elvis Araujo had a nice comeback season after a two year hiatus in his return from Tommy John surgery. What does he need to do going forward?
RA: “He has got to stay healthy. He has to work his tail off in the offseason and during the season to make sure he is maximizing his power and getting the most out of his durability. Then he has to command his fastball. His breaking ball is a very good pitch, but we have him focused on just fastball and changeup right now as we want to make sure he can get those two pitches down in the zone and consistently over the plate.”
Q: Rookie level Arizona infielder Robel Garcia had a very nice second season there this year. He was overlooked some by Baseball America in their recent league Top 20 rankings, but what do you think of his season?
RA: “He has a chance to be an offensive player and we have to make sure he can be a complete player. He has impressive strength and athleticism to his swing, so there are a lot of good signs for his future.”
Q: Rookie level Arizona’s Hunter Jones was drafted as a third baseman but transitioned to the outfield this year and was in and out of the lineup all season. What about him?
RA: “We will see if we can just let him get a little further away from the ball and focus on his offensive game. With his pedigree and with his strength there is potential there. He is going to be a fun project for Player Development. The guys are excited about his potential and where he has been in his baseball career, so he will certainly get an opportunity.”
Q: Rookie level Arizona right-handed pitcher Robbie Aviles made a successful return to the mound from Tommy John surgery late this year. How is he doing in his recovery?
RA: “He recovered 100% and is pitching right now in Instructional League and doing great. All very positive signs and he is over the hump from Tommy John. That has been good for him as he has been through an incredible process already before he started his career that will really help him understand the value of taking care of everything that he can control.”’
Q: Rookie level Arizona infielder Jose Ramirez had a very nice season in his pro debut. Not a lot is known about him. What kind of player is he?
RA: “[He is versatile, with speed, and puts the bat on the ball]. That is him. He performed and was productive. I think the recent influx from Latin America has been very positive. On top of that the Arizona staff has done a great job with those guys in helping their transition and helping them have success. That staff there, we can’t say enough about it.”
Q: What about the year as a whole? What do you take away from it and how do you feel about it?
RA: “Ultimately we evaluate ourselves on how we contributed to the Major League team, what strides did we make internally with our better players, and who are some of the guys that overachieved. As we are evaluating those things we have to evaluate where our failures were too. We always have each one of those pieces to evaluate. There are things we could have done better, there definitely has been progress, and there have definitely been contributions at the Major League level. I think all in all we had a productive year. Guys were put in positions to have success and put in positions to contribute at the Major League level. We still have to figure out how we can do that better, and that is what we will spend a lot of time on this offseason.”
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). Use discount code 2Z6F362B to receive 40% off the book through the site store!
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