IPI Inbox: As Shoppach Exits, Redmond Enters

Time for the third installment of the IPI Inbox, and also to clear out the mailbox before the prospect countdown kicks up this coming Monday. As a reminder, while the countdown commences on the site over the next two months, feel free to comment or ask a question about the players or the rankings themselves by using the contact form at the top of this page. After every group of ten prospects I will be doing an IPI Inbox to answer some of the questions or respond to comments.

Short inbox today…

Jim R. wrote: You mentioned a ways back the Indians were close to signing a free agent Japanese pitcher, but you haven’t mentioned anything since. What gives?

Me: Yes, the Indians signed Japanese free agent right-handed pitcher Takafumi Nakamura. He was signed to a minor league contract back in late November, though the exact terms of the deal in regard to how much he signed for is unknown at this time. He was signed out of Chuo University, which is located in Tokyo, Japan. He is not considered a high profile pickup, though he is an interesting arm in that he has a big, physical frame at 6’5” 195 pounds which for a Japanese pitcher is very big. He throws from a three quarter arm slot with a five pitch mix led by a fastball that sits in the high 80s but reportedly has topped out at 92 MPH. His secondary offerings are a slider, curve, forkball, and shuuto (the shuuto is a type of screwball), with the slider being his best secondary pitch. He has shown a penchant for getting strikeouts, but walks have been an issue for him.

Rick V. wrote: Just another glorious Shapiro trade [sending Shoppach to the Rays]. They should start clearing a spot for Mark in Cooperstown. What were they thinking here? It makes no sense at all. We have enough AAAA pitchers to fill out the 40 man roster already.

Me: While I get the sarcasm, this really was a low level trade with little chance for a meaningful return. The Indians had only a few nibbles from other teams because Shoppach's value is at an all-time low and everyone knew the Indians were going to non-tender him and make him a free agent anyway. So, there wasn't much the Indians could get for Shoppach straight up. As I said back when the announcement was made that right-handed pitcher Mitch Talbot was the player to be named, it was simply a gunk for gunk trade. Nothing more, nothing less….though I think Talbot may surprise this season.

Rich S. wrote: It might make an interesting story to compare the prospects the Phillies got for Lee to the prospects the Indians got for Lee. The Indians contended that they wouldn't get as much for Lee if they traded him in the off-season. Looks like that might be true.

Me: Al did a nice job of breaking down the three deals here on the site on Thursday, showing what the Indians got for Cliff Lee from the Phillies, what the Phillies gave up to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay, and what the Phillies got from the Mariners for Cliff Lee. Clearly, the Blue Jays got a better package of prospects, but the Phillies also got the better pitcher with a longer history of consistent success as an ace. Plus, the key part is the Phillies were able to extend Halladay and lock him for four years, which in itself probably was worth the extra talent they gave up. The Lee trades to the Phillies and Mariners show that while he has value, it is not nearly as high as some would think. For whatever reason, whether it is his attitude or teams still being unable to get over his terrible 2007 season, he just doesn’t get the respect as far as value goes for a pitcher who has pitched like he has the last two years probably should. This is something GM’s Mark Shapiro and Ruben Amaro found out. Still, when looking at the Phillies-Mariners deal and the Indians-Phillies deal as far as the haul of prospects are concerned, the Indians clearly got more value for Lee. Whether it was enough will be debated likely until the end of time, but luckily we will see three of the four players acquired in that deal up with the big league team for most of the upcoming season.  So at least we got some immediate return on the trade and all the armchair GMs will have an early chance of evaluating these guys.

Greg A. wrote: So they trade Shoppach, but sign Redmond? What gives?

Me: Yeah, you got me on this one. This is a signing I otherwise might not have bothered with as I would instead have rather just gone with Lou Marson and Carlos Santana splitting the year as the starting catcher and also use Wyatt Toregas in there as the fill in backup catcher. Apparently, the Indians wanted a more experienced backup who would be happy in a very reduced role, be willing to be the caddy to the two big catching prospects in Santana and Marson, and also cost very little. The Indians got all those things, and those are things that Shoppach could not provide. Shoppach would have cost three to four times as much in salary, and considering he is two seasons from being a free agent there is no way he would have been happy with a big reduction in playing time and give way to two kids. Redmond brings with him a lot of knowledge of the hitters in the AL Central, which could help the young Indians pitching staff be better prepared this year. He also could be an on field coach in a lot of ways, something Sandy Alomar Jr. would not be able to do from the dugout. Bottom line, I personally would not have made the signing, but for one year at $850,000 it is hard to get too bent out of shape about it.

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Offseason Happenings: Westbrook To Pitch Winter Ball

In the next few days I will be breaking down the 40-man roster and discussing who may still be removed and who will be added, but in the meantime here are a smorgasbord of news and notes regarding everything Indians related:

• It appears that if right-hander Jake Westbrook continues to progress well with his throwing program he is currently doing out in Goodyear, Arizona that he will pitch winter ball in Puerto Rico this offseason. The Indians have not confirmed when he will pitch in Puerto Rico, but it is expected to be sometime in the last week of this month. He is only expected to make four or five appearances.
  
  
• The Puerto Rico Winter Baseball League starts up today, and the plan at the moment for the Indians is to send Westbrook out there to make some starts to evaluate his health in a game setting. Earlier this year Westbrook twice looked strong in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, but both times broke down after making a few starts in games. Sending him out to get some game action now will not only help the Indians get an idea how far along he is in his rehab and if he is finally on the road to recovery, but it could also have a big impact on their decision to sign a veteran starting pitcher. If Westbrook shows signs of a lingering elbow issue, it may green light them to go after a veteran on a one year deal.
   
• If Westbrook can show he is healthy, it would lessen the need for the Indians to pick up a reliable veteran starter, though there is certainly a chance they could go out and sign one regardless. As reported by the Plain Dealer earlier this week, one pitcher they are already setting their sights on this offseason is right-hander Carl Pavano. It remains to be seen what the Indians do, but going out and spending $4-5 million for one year on a back of the rotation starter or a reclamation project would not be a good use of their resources, especially after they could have kept left-hander Cliff Lee around for this year and only have to pay him $9 million. Not to mention that unless they can find a legit front of the rotation starter to slide into the one or two spot in the rotation that they should not be bothering with any reclamation projects or veteran back of the rotation guys. They have enough of their own guys like this already to sort through.
   
• On the International front, the Indians have made some significant changes that they hope give them a better feel in Latin America and the Pacific Rim. Ramon Pena was hired as the new Director of Latin Operations while former director Lino Diaz has remained in the organization in a much more specialized role assisting young Latin players in their transition to life in the United States. The main reason behind the changes in Latin America is they wanted someone home-based and on the ground in the area year-round. Previously their Director of Latin Operations commuted from the United States to the Dominican Republic. By operating like this it was difficult to really get a true pulse of anything as these people were not in those countries day to day. This is most important in Latin America where they are signing and developing players, and it is just something the Indians feel they can be more efficient with some one living there year round. Most teams have their Latin Operations Director living in the Dominican Republic, so the Indians finally felt it was time to make a move in this regard.
   
• The Indians also made some significant changes with their scouting operations in the Pacific Rim when they fired scouts Jason Lee and Nate Minchey. The promoted Japan scout Dave DeFreitas and made him their Supervisor of Pacific Rim Scouting Operations. He speaks Japanese and like Ramon Pena in Latin America, DeFreitas will be home-based in Japan. He will supervise a small team of scouts in the Pacific Rim where he will be given a part time scout in Korea and a part time scout in Taiwan and they will report directly to him. By being based in Japan, DeFreitas will be able to easily get to those countries when needed. Overall, the Indians reshuffled things but think they are now better situated in the Pacific Rim.
   
• Speaking of changes in the Pacific Rim, part of the reason for the changes is the bust that Masa Kobayashi was for the Indians. Back when they signed him two years ago it came on the recommendation of Scouting Director John Mirabelli after he had consulted with his scouting staff over in Japan and seeing Kobayashi himself. Obviously the signing did not work out as they had hoped, and what the Indians learned from it was whether the player is an amateur or pro that they need multiple and much more thorough looks at a player. Previously they would only get a snapshot of a player and then jump back and forth between the states and Japan to see them. Having someone on the ground in Japan who can get a staff around him and get multiple looks at players they have interest in will help them make better decisions.
   
• To close the book on the Kobayashi Era in Cleveland, the Indians thought process with his signing was when looking at the bullpen in 2007 it was a pretty good bullpen and they went after Kobayashi with the idea to fit him in front of Jensen Lewis in the 6th or 7th inning. There was never any expectation for him to pitch meaningful backend situations in the bullpen; it just happened that way after all the problems piled up throughout the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He was simply looked at as an addition to what they thought was a deep bullpen.
   
• Where they went wrong with Kobayashi was two-fold. First, Kobayashi was never able to command his fastball particularly down and away like he did in Japan, and secondly he was never able to throw his slider with consistency like he did in Japan. Some of that may have been due to better hitters in the US, but bottom line his stuff just did not translate. They also had a lot of interest in Yasuhiko Yabuta who signed with the Royals. They offered a contract to him hoping to land either him or Kobayashi, but in the end neither one of them turned out to be any good.
   
• On a related note, the Indians interest in Bobby Valentine for their managerial opening always seemed kind of odd and an out of nowhere managerial candidate. Putting two and two together, the Indians scouting of both Kobayashi and Yabuta had them cross paths with Valentine a lot over the course of 2007 and even beyond as they continued to scout in Japan. Both Yabuta and Kobayashi played for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League, which is the team Valentine managed before leaving after this past season.
   
• To wrap up the happenings in Japan, the Indians are supposedly very close to signing right-handed pitcher Takafumi Nakamura. They are still working on completing the deal, but it is believed it is more just last minute details and an announcement may be made sometime in the next few days. Nakamura would not be a high profile pickup, but he is interesting in the sense that he is much bigger (6’5”) and physical than typical Japanese pitchers.
   
• The Indians completed a deal back in June where they traded first baseman Michael Aubrey to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later. To date the Indians have not received a player in return, and from what I understand they likely will not get a player and instead the deal will just turn out to be a cash deal. Sometimes the players to be named turn out to be cash because teams can't agree on the value of the player, which happens often.
   
• On the Adam Miller front, there is nothing new to report at this time. He had a scheduled second surgery on August 4th and has been rehabbing the middle finger on his throwing hand since out in Goodyear, Arizona. When I was out in Arizona last month he was supposed to start playing catch and then begin a throwing program at the end of November. No word yet if he is still on schedule to start the throwing program or if any setbacks have arisen. All that said, it should be noted that at this point the cold reality is the Indians have almost no expectations right now and if he pitches an inning at the big league level in 2010 it would be a pleasant surprise.
   
• The Indians are leaning to Matt LaPorta as their everyday first baseman next year. Anything can change between now and spring, but with the way the team is constructed with Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore, and Shin-Soo Choo in the starting outfield and with Trevor Crowe as the fourth outfielder, LaPorta fits best at first base. When he was sent back to Triple-A Columbus in late May he put in a lot of work in at first base and spent the majority of his time in games at first base to get him ready for an everyday transition there at the big league level. The plan in spring training is to take a long, hard look at him there to make a final decision on it for the season, assuming of course he is healthy (toe and hip surgery).
   
• From what I am hearing, the Indians may be close to naming Triple-A pitching coach Scott Radinsky as the new bullpen coach, and Triple-A hitting coach Jon Nunnally is getting strong consideration for the hitting coach opening. I’m also hearing that popular fan choice Ellis Burks may not be in the running for a coaching position because he has supposedly enrolled his son in a full time baseball school somewhere and may move his family there.
   
• From a player who had Nunnally as his hitting coach last year: “The thing I like about Nunnally is maybe not everything that he says is for a certain person, but he can go and have five different hitters working in the cage and point out and say something different to each one of the guys. He is so good about knowing what you do best. He doesn't categorize his hitting philosophy, and I think that is why he is so good. He goes and looks at the player and knows exactly what to do to make the player better."
   
• As reported over the weekend, outfielder Nick Weglarz had surgery last week to insert a rod into his left leg to speed up the recovery from a stress fracture to his tibia. By having the rod put in it greatly reduced the recovery time needed and should fix the problem. They had tried to let it heal naturally since July, but pain remained and it was starting to get worse as he played on it recently out in Arizona. Had they shut him down and not had the surgery and let it heal naturally, he would have been out for as many as four months, and even then there would be no guarantee he would be 100%.

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Indians Sign Japanese Pitcher?

Updated 11/02/2009 at 8:30 a.m. EST:

Unconfirmed reports are saying the Indians have signed or are close to signing Japanese right-handed free agent pitcher Takafumi Nakamura.  According to the Sponichi Annex (which is a site written in Japanese), the Indians have supposedly agreed to a minor league contract with the right-handed pitcher from Chuo University, which is a private university located in Tokyo, Japan.

When reached for comment the Indians said no contract had been signed, though did not decline talking to Nakamura. An official announcement from the Indians or confirmation one way or the other will provided when (if) such a signing has taken place.

According to this site (again, in Japanese) and translated on NPBTracker.com, "Nakamura has got a big frame at 195 cm, 89kg (6′5, 195lbs), and throws from a three-quarter delivery. His heater tops out on the gun at 149 km/h (92mph), but he mostly sits at about 140 km/h (86 mph) with both his fastball and slider. He also has a curve, forkball, and shuuto. Looking at his stats, he shown an ability to strike his college competition out, but walks have been an issue."

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