Minor Happenings: Year end discussion with Ross Atkins

Ross Atkins (Photo: IPI)

The Major League Baseball season officially came to an end with a wild finish last night, but the minor league baseball season has been done for some time now.

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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Year End Draft Review With Brad Grant

Dan Mendlik/Cleveland Indians

The 2010 Draft process came to a close on August 16^th with the signing deadline coming and going, and once the dust settled the Indians had signed 27 of their 50 draft picks this year.  They paid a club record $9.3 million in bonuses, with 15 players getting $100K or more and four players getting $1M or more.

The architect of the Indians aggressive approach in the draft this year was Amateur Scouting Director Brad Grant.  He along with the help of Scouting Director John Mirabelli and about two dozen area scouts and crosscheckers had what on paper was an impactful, memorable draft, and when it is looked back on in four to five years has the potential to go down as one of the all-time great drafts in Indians’ history.

As with any draft, there are no sure things and the attrition rate can be high.  There could be some unexpected surprises or disappointments, and as always injuries are the great equalizer.  But, with what appears a string of now three successful drafts in a row since Grant took the draft reigns in 2008, things are finally starting to look more promising with the Indians now beginning to draft and develop their own players.

I had a chance to talk to Grant over the weekend about a myriad of topics surrounding this year’s draft, the draft process, and their preparations for next year.  Below is what was talked about, in Q&A style.

Q: Now that the dust has settled on the 2010 Draft and the signing deadline has come and gone, how do you feel about things?

Brad Grant (BG):  We are very excited about how the process worked out with the ability to sign the first 14 picks.  We went into the draft trying to talk the best player available and trying to add as much talent as we possibly could.  We came out of it where right now on paper it looks like a very successful draft.  We will see where it all plays out over the next four years, but we like where we are right now."

Q: Going into the draft it was said you would be very aggressive with your approach not only in drafting players, but in getting them signed as well.  As an example, you selected 12 of Baseball America's Top 200 draft prospects and ended up signing 11 of them.  You went overslot on many players, more than just about any other team.  Where did the aggressive approach come from this year?

BG: I just think with where we are as an organization we need to continue to add talent to our development system.  Obviously we are not going to be able to compete on the free agent market, especially with premium free agent acquisitions, so we have to acquire talent at the amateur level and develop it and add it to our major league club.  We wanted to be aggressive.  We have been aggressive in the past with our drafts, and we wanted to continue to be aggressive this year and ensure we are adding as much talent as possible to the development system.

Q: Why don't we just adopt this approach every year, or is this easier said than done?

BG: Yeah it is easier said than done.  It is a case by case basis and depends with where we are economically as well and what we have available to be able to spend.  Last year we only went out of slot one time, but we still felt like we had a very successful draft last year.  Recognizing that we did take players that would sign for slot, we still took very talented players.  So just because you take players and sign them for overslot doesn't dictate that you are going to have premium talent as we were able to add premium talent last year without going overslot.

Q: The late signing deadline and the slot recommendations seem to be a crutch in the negotiating process.  With more and more players signing so late, you as an organization are losing more and more opportunities to get these guys on the field in their draft year for a significant amount of games.  Is there anything you would like to see changed with the signing process?

BG: Yeah we will see what happens over the course of the next basic agreement.  Certainly moving the signing deadline closer to the draft so that we can get players out and into our development system would definitely be something I would like.  Also, just having some consistency in the process so it doesn't reward a larger market team and doesn't penalize a smaller market team and that there is some consistency with teams being able to acquire the best available players with the way they are picking. (Editor’s Note: I take this as Grant talking about the free agent draft pick compensation system how so many large market teams get comp picks.)

Q: There were a lot of overslot signings this year, not just by the Indians but industry-wide.  What kind of repercussions – if any – come from Major League Baseball for going overslot with so many players?

BG: It is just part of the process to go through it and to make sure that we are negotiating correctly and that we are going through it correctly.  Each case is dictated by a players leverage in negotiations and what type of leverage they have.  Just because you are going overslot doesn't dictate they have better talent than a player who signs in that slot, it is more based on their leverage during the course of negotiations.

Q: How does the relationship work between major league teams and colleges since you are essentially taking their draft eligible sophomores, juniors, enrolled freshman, or transfers?

BG:  It is just how it works and is a professional relationship. Obviously they are working to try and keep their players, and we are working to try and sign them.  Both sides realize that sometimes we will get it and the college realizes that sometimes they will get the player back.  It is just part of the process and we want to build and maintain relationships with the college programs.  Obviously we need their assistance and they need our assistance when their players are ready to be drafted as they want to have them drafted.  It is definitely a professional relationship and we try to maintain those relationships with all college programs.

Q: When it comes to the draft do your crosscheckers see everyone you draft, or as you get deeper in the draft is it really the scout’s draft?

BG: With how we are setup with four regional crosscheckers and a national crosschecker, we are usually able to get pretty deep in terms of our crosscheck looks.  A lot of times it is just one look from a crosschecker, whereas the top end guys in the first five-ten picks will have multiple crosscheck looks where later on it becomes more of the scout's draft.  It is the area scout having multiple looks at a player and maybe one look by a crosschecker.  A lot of times the late picks are dictated by the area scout.

Q: You took an approach of taking the best player available in the draft this year with each pick, but are there ever situations in any given round with two or more players having a similar rating where depth in a position may influence a pick?

BG: You are always using different things to separate out players.  You are always going to have players with similar type abilities, so you use different indicators then to separate it out whether it be what we have already taken in the draft, what is perceived as a lack of depth in our development system, or just using premium position/starter to separate out things.  There are a lot of different pieces that come into play in terms of separating out players and making decisions.  A lot of it to is the area scout who knows the guy the best and says “this is a guy I'd like to get so let’s go get him now".

Q: With Pomeranz signing so late and not throwing a professional pitch this year, is he very likely going to be on the same track that Alex White has been on the past 12 months where he goes to Instructional League, opens in Kinston, and pitches a majority of next season at Akron?

BG: I always kind of go back to where every player dictates their own time frame and path.  Obviously Drew had success at the collegiate level and at the national level with Team USA.  He has the ability to come in and hopefully take that similar path.  We will have him go to Instructional League right now and then have him probably start at Kinston next year and have him dictate what kind of path he takes.  Hopefully it is one where he can move rather quickly.

Q: We have heard a lot about most of your top ten picks this year, but the one guy who has not been talked about much at all is 6^th round pick shortstop Nick Bartolone.  Considering how high he was taken, he has been tabbed as a mystery man because of the lack of information on him from several draft publications.  Is this a guy where his scout Don Lyle really pushed for us to go get him?

BG:  Don has a lot of experience and has had a lot of success signing major league players.  This is a guy that Don identified early on, and when Don gets a gut feel for a guy I usually listen to that.  This was a case where Don felt strongly about Nick and his ability to play short was something that he really thought was an attribute.  He is a guy who can play a premium position at shortstop, has speed, arm strength and as he gets stronger and continues to adjust to wood will be able to handle the wood.  He already kind of exceeded our expectations offensively a little bit this year.  He went out and played the defense that we thought he would be able to play and held his own offensively, which was good to see.  Maybe he wasn't a name in Baseball America, but he was known in the industry and definitely in northern California.  It wasn't like it was a guy who was hidden under the radar.

Q: Going back to the Baseball America Top 200 and the 12 players you drafted, the one player in that group of twelve you did not sign was right-handed pitcher Burch Smith who opted to go to school at Oklahoma.  I know you guys are excited about the end results of the signing process, if there was a “guy who got away”, would it be him?

BG: Yeah.  We were going to try and make a pretty aggressive offer to him, but Burch made the decision that he wanted to go to college and was pretty firm on that.  We respected how he went about the process.  He said that college was important to him and he wanted to go and try to prove it one more year.  He is definitely a guy we are going to scout again next year and definitely a guy on our radar again next year.

Q: Instructional League starts up this week.  One thing of note with the roster is that 9^th round pick third baseman Hunter Jones is listed as an outfielder.  Is he moving to the outfield, or are you guys just experimenting with him out there?

BG: I am not going to tell you that he is going to make the switch yet.  We are just trying the different options and see how he plays out there as well.  We think he can play third base, but also just want the flexibility to see how he performs in the outfield too.  We like the speed, power, athleticism and upside.  He is an athlete and obviously has bloodlines as a well above average runner who has power and is progressing in terms of his hitting and defense.  He is an athlete that has a strong baseball background and a guy we feel that we can mold into a very good player.

Q: Are there any other position changes in store for anyone else in Instructs?

BG: Jones is the only one.  You have seen Tyler Holt play a little bit on the corners [in Lake County], but only because of Cid there in Lake County.  Holt is a guy who is going to play a lot more center field.  This year we didn't have many position change guys as we took all guys that are playing their position we currently see them playing at in the future.

Q: Speaking of Holt, he has certainly lived up to his billing as a very intense player who lets his emotions show.  How do you approach a player like this to scale it back a little since that intense approach is so much a part of their game?

BG: That aggressive approach is part of his game.  He will find that he will have to tone it down a little bit in terms of just the length to a minor league and ultimately major league season.  That to play at that type of speed and aggressiveness that he will have to manage it.  At the same time you don't want to take it away from him at all because that is what makes him good and allows him to overachieve.  That's what has gotten him to the point where he is right now.

Q: I know it is early in the process, but any idea what the draft strategy will be next year?

BG: We will wait and see and what we think the talent level is and where we are picking.  A lot of those things will come out during the course of the offseason in our planning and everything else.  So how we are going to approach it next year is still something that we are continuing to discuss and walk through.

Q: There has been some talk that the 2011 Draft looks to be pretty good, is this true?

BG: On paper right now, especially at the top end, there is probably more depth to it whereas this past year the industry kind of agreed on the top three and after that kind of depending on who you liked there were a lot of similar type players.  I think next year, looking at it right now, in terms of premium players there will be more depth at the top of the draft.

Q: What is the general schedule of events for the next several months to prepare for next year’s draft?

BG: We already started in June right after we finished the Draft.  Our scouts were out and I went out to the Tournament of the Stars and the high school showcases.  We covered all the collegiate summer leagues, saw the east coast showcases, and the national showcases.  When we get to September there is a little bit of a lull, and now we will start right back up in October with all the college fall ball and scout days that each university has and begin to cover all the colleges again.  It doesn't stop at all.  We will break again for a couple of weeks in January and then pick it up at the end of January.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI.  His new book the 2010 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is also available for purchase on Amazon.com or his site.

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2010 Indians 11th Round Pick: SS Hunter Jones

In the 11th round of the 2010 Draft, the Indians select SS Hunter Jones out of Lakewood High School (CA).

Height: 6'2" Weight: 185 DOB: 08/17/1991 Bats: Right Throws: Right

Jeff Ellis: Last year it was Arizona, this year it's California. Every year the Tribe seems to pick one state and keeping going back to it, and they did it again by selecting Hunter Jones. Hunter Jones is the son of former big leaguer Tracy Jones. He played SS in high school, but with his size and speed CF seems like his mostly likely pro position. Jones brings to the table a lot of speed, which has been another target for the Tribe in this draft. He would be the 4th player in this draft who has potential plus speed on the bases, which signifies to me a bit of a change in philosophy from some previous drafts. I don’t know how hard of a sign he will be, being the son of a major leaguer can typically make it harder since he doesn’t need the money. I for one am intrigued though by the addition of another athlete who was a first team all American in a state as deep as California. That tells me he could be an athlete to watch down the road.

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