Fall Leagues Stats Update and More

Here is another update on how some of the Indians minor leaguers are doing in fall/winter leagues. Play in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) wraps up this week on November 15th, and play in the Hawaii Winter League (HWL) wraps up on November 18th. Both leagues have a short playoff, so play will extend a little after that for the teams that make the playoffs.

All stats through 11/12/2007

Arizona Fall League (AFL)

Michael Finocchi (RHP): 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 games, 10.1 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 1.06 WHIP
David Huff (LHP): 1-1, 7.07 ERA, 6 games, 14 IP, 15 H, 3 BB, 13 K, 1.29 WHIP
Adam Miller (RHP): 0-1, 7.11 ERA, 4 games, 12.2 IP, 15 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 1.34 WHIP
Randy Newsom (RHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 games, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.29 WHIP
Rich Rundles (LHP): 0-0, 1.17 ERA, 7 games, 7.2 IP, 1 H, 6 BB, 5 K, 0.91 WHIP
T.J. Burton (RHP): 0-1, 14.73 ERA, 4 games, 3.2 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 3.00 WHIP
Jeff Stevens (RHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 games, 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0.67 WHIP
Chris Gimenez (C): .244 AVG (10-41), 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 10 K, .765 OPS
Michael Aubrey (1B): .275 AVG (22-80), 5 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 10 BB, 9 K, .850 OPS
Brad Snyder (OF): .263 AVG (5-19), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, .754 OPS
Trevor Crowe (OF): .289 AVG (11-38), 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 3 SB, .864 OPS

Note: Burton, Stevens, and Crowe are no longer playing in the AFL.

Hawaii Winter League (HWL)

Todd Martin (1B/OF): .217 AVG (10-46), 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, .642 OPS
Reid Santos (LHP): 0-0, 2 saves, 3.32 ERA, 11 games, 19 IP, 13 H, 11 BB, 24 K, .194 BAA
Erik Stiller (RHP): 1-3, 5.46 ERA, 7 games, 28 IP, 34 H, 7 BB, 30 K, .306 BAA
Neil Wagner (RHP): 0-1, 8.40 ERA, 10 games, 15 IP, 22 H, 11 BB, 13 K, .328 BAA

I was able to get in touch with Erik Stiller yesterday, and while he had a very rough outing over the weekend, a lot of this is a learning experience for the players and they are in the AFL and HWL to work on specific things so some of the stats sometimes suffer. Farm Director Ross Atkins and Minor League Pitching Coordinator Dave Miller have told the players that they are not very concerned with the statistics, and instead are more interested in seeing how the players respond to the development goals they have set for the players.

Stiller was sent to Hawaii to work primarily on his changeup and also work on consistently driving his fastball down to the bottom of the zone. Since Stiller throws four pitches, but his changeup did not get a lot of work this past season in Kinston since he was coming out of the bullpen for most of the season. So, the focus in Hawaii is to throw the changeup a lot and see if he can get the feel of it back.

Wagner has also had a rough go of it so far in Hawaii, but he is another example of how stats do not tell the whole story. He was sent to Hawaii to primarily work on his two offspeed pitches, which he is throwing much more often in Hawaii than he would under normal circumstances during the regular season. Wagner features a mid to upper 90s fastball, but to make that pitch more effective it is imperative he develop a good secondary pitch.

Martin hurt his right wrist and had to go home a week or so back.

As for the HWL itself, all games are played on one field, so each day it hosts two games. Just about every player on all the teams live in downtown Waikiki and are bussed to the field (about 30 minutes away) each day. Since there are only four teams, the players get to know the other players from other teams well. The quality of play in the league has certainly improved since last year.

Thanks to Erik Stiller for the 411 on what is going on over in Hawaii.

Also, one more quick note:

Check out this story in Baseball America on Kyle Stark. New Pittsburgh General Manager Neil Huntington signed Stark away over the weekend as his new Director of Player Development. In Stark’s new role, he will oversee the Pirates farm system. Stark was with the Indians for nine years, and most recently gained a lot of experience in both scouting and player development the past four years with the Indians as an assistant farm director. He also helped oversee and coordinate the Indians’ scouting in the Pacific Rim, although it should be noted that Director of Scouting John Mirabelli was the driving force behind this operation.

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Minor Happenings: Notes 11/12

Baseball Prospectus just released their Indians Top 11 Prospect list over the weekend. For more detail on these rankings, you will need to have a subscription to Baseball Prospectus. However, here is the listing (which is free):

Five-Star Prospects
None
Four-Star Prospects
1. Adam Miller, RHP
2. Wes Hodges, 3B
3. Beau Mills, 1B
Three-Star Prospects
4. Chuck Lofgren, LHP
5. Nick Weglarz, LF
6. Aaron Laffey, LHP
7. Jensen Lewis, RHP
8. Josh Rodriguez, SS
Two-Star Prospects
9. Jordan Brown, 1B
10. Trevor Crowe, OF
11. David Huff, LHP

Just Missing: Brian Barton, OF; Jared Goedert, 3B; Scott Lewis, LHP; Matt Whitney, 1B

Just looking over that list, the only real surprise is Beau Mills being ranked so high and Jordan Brown somewhat low. Also, Huff may be a little high as well. But, overall, expect this list to be commonly duplicated among other Top 10 lists which will issue over the course of the next three to four months.

Also, of note, Baseball America just started releasing their Top 10 lists on-line. They started with the NL East and the Indians Top 10 list is scheduled to be unveiled on January 16th. Their full Top 30 prospects list for the Indians as well as for every other team will be available in the 2008 Prospect Handbook which should issue sometime in February. You can pre-order the book here.

Tomorrow, I will give an update on how some of the players in the Arizona Fall League and Hawaii Winter League are doing, and also provide some info on an Indians minor league FAQ I am working on.

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Minor Happenings: Notes 11/9

Some updates:

J.D. Martin reportedly is healthy and maybe on the verge of a bounce back season next year. According to minor league coordinator Dave Hudgens, in the recently completed Fall Instructional League, “Martin looked really good. He especially looked good in his last outing and was throwing all his pitches well.”

Martin is currently playing in the Nicaraguan Winter League to make up for lost innings this year since he missed two-thirds of the season. He is only expected to play there another two weeks before shutting him down, and to date he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings.

Also, the roster deadline for the Rule5 Draft is coming up on November. The Indians have a lot of Rule 5 eligibles (check the reference section on this site for the complete list), and it likely will come down to deciding between two guys for several of the spots.

Last year, Indians Scouting Director John Mirabelli commented about how they go about making their roster decisions and how they tend to slot players. For example, the last two roster spots on the 40-man roster he said came down to Ben Francisco or Ryan Goleski for one spot (outfield) and J.D. Martin and Jim Ed Warden for the other (pitcher). In the case of Francisco/Goleski, they chose Francisco because they believed he could help the club sooner and because he is more versatile (they were right).

The fact that Mirabelli commented about the roster spot coming down to Francisco and Goleski speaks volumes to how the Indians slot positions on the 40-man roster. At the Indians already had eight outfielders listed on the 40-man roster, and adding a ninth outfielder (Goleski) would have left very little wiggle-room to fill out other positions. While people at the time were correct in that Goleski had more worth than infielder Mike Rouse and reliever Brian Sikorski, those players were slotted for those spots on the 40-man roster so when/if the Indians would drop either one of Rouse or Sikorski, they would replace them with a like player (infielder or reliever). When looking at who the Indians kept on the 40-man, you have to look at the other eight outfielders, and there was no one that Goleski could have trumped other than the aforementioned Francisco or possibly Top 10 rated prospect Brad Snyder.

Just something to chew on as you maybe try to figure out and rationalize who the Indians may protect.

In other news, here is the press release from yesterday’s Buffalo announcement on a new radio deal:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2007

Bisons Games Return to WWKB Radio
Bisons Sign Three-Year Agreement with Entercom Broadcasting

The Buffalo Bisons are pleased to announce that they have reached a three-year agreement with Entercom Broadcasting of Buffalo to broadcast all Bisons’ home and road games on WWKB “A New Voice” 1520 AM. The agreement will begin next season and run through the 2010 season.

“We are extremely happy to renew a great partnership with Entercom Broadcasting,” said Mike Buczkowski, Vice President/General Manager of the Bisons. “The strength of WWKB’s signal will allow us to bring the excitement of Bisons Baseball to our great fans in the south towns and Southern Ontario.”

“We are excited about once again partnering with the Buffalo Bisons. It is an honor to be associated with their commitment to excellence and winning tradition,” said Greg Ried, Vice President/General Manager of Entercom Buffalo LLC.

The partnership will include all 144 regular season Bisons’ games, the broadcast of the annual Triple-A All Star Game (this year’s game is on July 16 in Louisville, KY), all Bisons’ post season games and the Triple-A Championship Game known as the “Bricktown Showdown.” After the 2008 season, WWKB will also host a monthly one-hour “Baseball Hot Stove Show” in the off-season.

Bisons’ games were broadcasted on WWKB for seven seasons, 1998-2004. The Bisons broadcasting team of play-by-play announcer Ben Wagner and color analyst Duke McGuire will remain intact for the 2008 season.

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Francisco Named Topps' All-Star

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2007

Bisons’ Ben Francisco Named to Topps’ Triple-A All-Star Team
Outfielder Hit .318 for the Bisons in 2007

Minor League Baseball announced that Buffalo Bisons’ outfielder Ben Francisco has been named to the Topps’ Triple-A All-Star Team. After each season, the best performances in each Minor League Baseball classification are honored by the Topps Company of New York, NY, in conjunction with Minor League Baseball.

Francisco, 26, played 95 games with the Bisons in 2007 and led the International League with a .318 (120-377) batting average. He was the Bisons’ first batting champion since Mark Ryal hit .334 in 1990 in the American Association. It was Buffalo’s first batting title in the International League since 1961 when Ted Savage hit .325 on his way to being named the IL’s Most Valuable Player.

Francisco was also named an International League post season All-Star in 2007. The outfielder hit .319 in 19 games in April, earning his first ever Major League promotion. He returned to Buffalo on May 4 and put together a 19-game hit streak from May 9-June 7 where he hit .423 (33-78). He spent a month with the Cleveland Indians, June 22-July 28, before being optioned down to the Bisons for August. In his third stint with the Herd, he had a 15-game hit streak from August 2-16 (.381, 24-63) to take command of the IL batting charts.

Francisco’s 120 hits with the Bisons were second on the team only to Ryan Mulhern (138). His 40 multi-hit games were T1st (Mulhern) while 41 of his hits went for extra bases (27 doubles, 2 triples, 12 home runs). Francisco hit .343 (60-175) in front of Buffalo fans at Dunn Tire Park.

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Minor Happenings: Notes 11/7

Just a couple random notes this morning:

First, the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster and make reserve lists at Buffalo, Akron, etc for protection from the Rule 5 Draft is November 20th. If you are not familiar with the Rule 5 Draft and what it is, a good, brief description can be found here. The Rule 5 Draft will take place at the end of the Winter Meetings on December 6th.

Right-handed reliever Randy Newsom is in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) getting some additional work in. He is Rule 5 eligible, so the Indians are probably getting an additional look at him before they have to make a roster decision on him on whether to put him on the 40-man roster. He has been writing a diary for Baseball America on life in the AFL, and the submissions have been outstanding. His latest piece posted yesterday.

Team USA gets ready to play in the World Cup in Taiwan today, and one Indians prospect was selected to the team: right-handed reliever Jeff Stevens. Here is Baseball America’s short writeup on him in their preview:

Stevens is a quality reliever who posted a 2.81 ERA, 102 strikeouts and 25 walks in 83 1/3 innings between high Class A and Double-A in 2007. He mixes his fastball and changeup well, although his breaking ball is fringy. He profiles as a middle reliever in the majors, and Johnson should be able to call on Stevens in key situations in the tournament.

Stevens is someone the Indians are very high on, and is a pitcher they feel could make the leap to the majors at some point in 2008. He is being fasttracked, and if he performs well early in 2008 could move as quickly as Jensen Lewis did last year. I’ll have a full detailed scouting report of him when the Top 50 list posts in January.

Speaking of the Top 50 list, here is the tentative schedule for its release:

Thurs 1/3: 2008 Top 50 Prospect Intro and focus on guys who just missed
Mon 1/7: Top 50 Prospects 41-50
Tues 1/8: Top 50 Prospects 31-40
Wed 1/9: Top 50 Prospects 21-30
Thurs 1/10: Top 50 Prospects 11-20
Fri 1/11: Top 50 Prospects 6-10
Sat 1/12: Top 50 Prospects 1-5

So be on the lookout for that. There will be detailed scouting reports for all 50 players, as well as brief ones for another 10-30 players who just missed the list. All will be stored on this site in the Scouting Reports section, and will be stored on TheClevelandFan.com as well. Also, I am printing 300-500 copies of the 2008 Top 50 list after it posts on-line, and the copies should be available in February-March. So, if anyone is interested let me know in advance. At most, it will be $5 as I am selling these at cost.

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Fall/Winter League Stats

Just an update on how some of the Indians minor leaguers are doing in fall/winter leagues so far:

All stats through 11/05/2007

Arizona Fall League (AFL)

Michael Finocchi (RHP): 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 games, 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 0.95 ERA
David Huff (LHP): 1-1, 7.50 ERA, 5 games, 12 IP, 14 H, 3 BB, 10 K, 1.42 WHIP
Adam Miller (RHP): 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 3 games, 10 IP, 10 H, 0 BB, 8 K, 1.00 WHIP
Randy Newsom (RHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 games, 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 1.64 WHIP
Rich Rundles (LHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 games, 5.2 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 0.53 WHIP
T.J. Burton (RHP): 0-1, 14.73 ERA, 4 games, 3.2 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 3.00 WHIP
Jeff Stevens (RHP): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 games, 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0.67 WHIP
Chris Gimenez (C): .241 AVG (7-29), 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, .801 OPS
Michael Aubrey (1B): .234 AVG (15-64), 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 9 BB, 6 K, .713 OPS
Brad Snyder (OF): .154 AVG (2-13), 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, .308 OPS
Trevor Crowe (OF): .289 AVG (11-38), 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 3 SB, .864 OPS

Note: Burton, Stevens, and Crowe are no longer playing in the AFL.

Hawaii Winter League (HWL)

Todd Martin (1B/OF): .217 AVG (10-46), 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, .642 OPS
Reid Santos (LHP): 0-0, 1 save, 3.60 ERA, 9 games, 15 IP, 11 H, 9 BB, 20 K, .204 BAA
Erik Stiller (RHP): 1-2, 3.75 ERA, 6 games, 24 IP, 26 H, 6 BB, 26 K, .286 BAA
Neil Wagner (RHP): 0-1, 7.71 ERA, 9 games, 14 IP, 20 H, 9 BB, 12 K, .333 BAA

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Minor Happenings: Notes 11/5

A couple quick notes:

First, some may have been wondering why Trevor Crowe is no longer playing in the Arizona Fall League and why Brad Snyder replaced him on the roster. Well, per an e-mail I got over the weekend from the Indians, it looks like Crowe was sent home in Tucson with a non-baseball medical condition. He may or may not return to fall ball.

Also, the roster deadline is November 20th. This is the date the Indians must finalize their 40-man roster selections and who to add from the eligible list from the minors to protect in the Rule 5 Draft.

Last, looking at the depth chart for next year, the Indians are bursting at the seams in the outfield and at first base with players who should be in Buffalo next year. You have Shin-Soo Choo who is out of options and Ben Francisco who is ready for a major league role, but there appears to be no room for him at this moment. Then, you have Ryan Goleski, Brian Barton, Trevor Crowe, and Brad Snyder all vying for time in Buffalo, and that doesn't include minor league free agents Jason Cooper and John Van Every who may be brought back. On top of that, you have three first baseman slotted for time in Buffalo in Jordan Brown, Michael Aubrey and Ryan Mulhern.

A few of these outfielders are all but certain to be traded, waived, or picked up in the Rule 5 Draft this offseason or by the end of spring training. With Choo, Francisco, Snyder, Goleski, Barton, Crowe fighting for potentially one spot in Cleveland and three spots in Buffalo, it sure looks like one or two of them are gone by the start of next season.

And, at first base, with Brown, Aubrey and Mulhern there, one surely could be gone. Mulhern and Brown can play the outfield, but for now they are still staying at first base. Brown is going nowhere, and is arguably the top hitting prospect in the system, and will be the regular first baseman in Buffalo. The question remains who between Mulhern and Aubrey is the DH and plays some time at 1B to give Brown a day off?

If Mulhern is not protected in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft (Dec 6th), he surely will be taken by another team. If Mulhern is added to the 40-man roster, it would seem that would mean Aubrey would be taken off and have to clear waivers (which he might).

It is going to be interesting to see how they handle the log jam in the outfield and first base in the upper levels of the system these next few weeks.

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2007 Indians Minor League Free Agents

Here is a listing of players in the Indians farm system who are minor league free agents:

Pitchers (11): Bobby Brownlie (RHP), Jake Dittler (RHP), Mike Koplove (RHP), Cliff Politte (RHP), Jeff Harris (RHP), Jim Ed Warden (RHP), Scott Elarton (RHP), Eric Dubose (LHP), Mariano Gomez (LHP), Rich Rundles (LHP), Jason Stanford (LHP)

Catchers (3): Mike Rose, Armando Camacaro, Yamid Haad

Second Basemen (3): Trent Durrington, Argenis Reyes, Luis Rivas

Shortstops (4): Rodney Choy Foo, Anthony Medrano, Mike Rouse, Christopher De La Cruz

Third Basemen (1): Keith Ginter

Outfielders (1): Jonathan Van Every

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2007 Rule 5 Draft: Indians Eligibles

Here is the official info from the Indians on who is Rule 5 eligible for the December 6, 2007 Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings:

Barton, Brian D
Bunkelman, Cody R
Burton, TJ J
Butia, Mike W
Buzachero, Bubbie D
Camacaro, Armando J
Cevette, Dan E
Constanza, Jose G
Cooper, Jason M
Cumberbatch, Cirilo E
De La Cruz, Christopher A
Finegan, Brian J
Gimenez, Chris P
Goleski, Ryan S
Haad, Yamid
Harris, Jeffrey A
Hoyman, Justin K
Larkin, Shaun M
Mulhern, Ryan T
Newsom, Randy
Niesel, Christopher W
Nottingham, Shawn M
Panther, Nathan E
Perdomo, Luis M
Pesco, Nick J
Pinckney, Brandon M
Riera, Jorge
Roehl, Scott D
Romero, Niuman J
Rundles, Richard L
Smith, Sean H
Southerland, Chip F
Tavarez, Argenis F
Valdes, Juan M
Valdez, Luis C
Wallace, David H
Whitney, Matthew J

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Indians Prospect Insider
Established: October 24th, 2007

My name is Tony Lastoria, I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and have lived here all 36+ years of my life.  Growing up I have always been a Cleveland sports fan, but I grew up with a passion for baseball since I was 5-years old.  Over the past 10+ years that passion for baseball has permeated the minor league baseball scene where with the numerous affiliates and future players of the Indians to follow, minor league baseball now rivals my love for Major League Baseball.

About six years ago (2003) I started to write about the Indians minor league system, which is where my main colum Minor Happenings came about. Minor Happenings is a weekly column posted here and on STOHD.com (SportsTime Ohio) that follows the news and developments in the Cleveland Indians minor league system. Through my reltationship with SportsTime Ohio, about four years ago (2006) I was able to expand that writing to go out and visit the affiliates to talk to players and various Indians personnel and use that information for other features. In addition to Minor Happenings I now also write many daily articles on the players, transactions, news, and many other things that occur over the course of the year.

I am very fortunate to be able to travel around to all the Indians minor league affiliates, talking with the players themselves as well as the various Indians coaches, managers, front office executives, and coordinators in the organization. I make several visits a year not only to the local affiliates in Lake County, Akron and Mahoning Valley, but also those that are a bit farther away such as Columbus, Kinston, and Arizona. I also talk to several executives and scouts for other organizations as well.

You'll get no better coverage of the Indians prospects in their farm system and the philosophies of the organization than right here. Everyday you can expect lots of analysis on prospects, scouting reports, interviews, news, inside information, and more. Thanks for reading!

**********

If you have any suggestions or feedback that you would like to share about the site, please feel free to contact me by using the "Contact Me" form on the front page. Also, if you are interested in contributing to this site in any way, feel free to e-mail me and let me know. I am always looking for help from people who would like to contribute, be it writing about a specific affiliate, designing this site, or just helping me with regular maintenance.

- Last updated October 30, 2010

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