Offseason Happenings: No On Aybar, Yes To Another Arm?

Here are some quick updates and thoughts on some of the recent developments in the quest to obtain more information on the player to be named in the Kelly Shoppach trade as well as other happenings in the Indians organization:

No Go On Aybar

In my update on Wednesday I made mention that the Indians may be targeting infielder Willy Aybar as the player to be named from Tampa Bay to complete the Kelly Shoppach trade.  As it turns out, this is not the case as a source close to the situation has confirmed that Aybar is not on the player to be named list the Indians have to choose from.

I had originally speculated that they may be trying to get Aybar considering their known need for a versatile infielder, someone to complement Luis Valbuena at second base, and also someone as a fallback at first base in case Matt LaPorta's recovery from surgery takes longer than expected.  When Shoppach was traded to Tampa Bay on Tuesday for a player to be named later and it was announced that the player to be named would have to be decided by December 20th it really looked like the player may be playing winter ball so they wanted some time to see the player.  Hence the Aybar speculation.

However, with the help of e-mails and postings here on the site from several fans, per Major League Baseball rules a player to be named cannot have played in the same league as the team he is going to (a silly and strange rule if you ask me.  I mean it is okay to go from the AL to the NL but not from the NL to the NL or AL to AL?).  Considering Aybar played for the Rays in 2009, this eliminated him from consideration as a player to be named.

So Who Could It Be?

With Aybar clearly out of the picture, just what kind of player will the player to be named turn out to be?

First off, there has been rampant spreading of erroneous information the last 48 hours that Indians GM Mark Shapiro supposedly said something along the lines that the player to be named has a good chance to be on the Indians 25-man roster all year next season.  This however is not true, as in his conference call with the media on Tuesday he was asked this very question on if the player could be a part of the 25-man roster next year and he gave a very short reply of "it's possible".  That's it.  It was a vague answer that could be taken any way really, as there is no better chance either way that the player could be on the 25-man roster next year or not be on it.

The way things look right now if you are gearing up for a player who can contribute meaningful time with the big league club in 2009 you are likely to be very disappointed.  Instead, from what I am hearing, the deal is likely a prospect deal and for pitching.  Whether or not it is for an arm at Low-A or Double-A remains to be seen, but here are some pitchers the Indians may be targeting from the Rays:  Jake McGee (LHP), Aneury Rodriguez (RHP), Mitch Talbot (RHP), and Alexander Torres (LHP).

Of those four pitchers, the two who seem to be the most likely targets are Rodriguez and Talbot.  In fact, if I had to guess right now I would say the odds on favorite to be the guy picked is Rodriguez.  Talbot is major league ready and would certainly be a big league option in 2010, but he is out of options so I can't see the Indians taking him considering one of their own starters left-hander Jeremy Sowers is out of options as well (by the way, Aaron Laffey still has one option remaining).  But Rodriguez has a lot of untapped potential still as a starting pitcher with a low 90s fastball with the potential to get up to 94-95 MPH as he continues to mature and get stronger.  He has a good feel for pitching, commands the zone well, and has two secondary offerings in a curveball and changeup that are no worse than average.  With just a quick glance at his stats and overview of his scouting report without actually ever seeing him, he reminds me a lot of Indians right-handed pitching prospect Jeanmar Gomez.

McGee may be a pipedream and would clearly be a nice haul in return for Shoppach.  He is coming off Tommy John surgery but is expected to be 100% by the spring and with his power stuff he has the potential to be an impact arm in the Rays bullpen by the end of the season.  Torres is a young lefty who turns 22 years old next week and would be a nice addition as well.  He doesn't have dominating stuff with a fastball in the low 90s, but he has a good curveball and a changeup which is still a work in progress.

Whichever way the Indians go with the player to be named selection, for the most part it is all but mere speculation from now until December 20^th.  The Indians are expected to make the selection on that date, and when all is said and looks very much like it will be yet another young arm added to the organization.

Rule 5's Possible Effect On The Deal

Some may be surprised to learn that any player on a minor league reserve list may not be traded between November 20th and the Rule 5 Draft.  When rosters are finalized on November 20th, Major League teams submit reserve lists for all major league and minor league levels.  From November 20th until the Rule 5 Draft, no team can add a player from a minor league reserve list to their roster or trade them.

For example, now that the Indians have an open 40-man spot after dealing Shoppach they can't go and roster left-hander Chuck Lofgren to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft nor can they trade him until after the Rule 5 Draft.  They can include him in a deal on a list as a player to be named, but they cannot trade him until after the Rule 5 Draft has been completed.  Knowing this, it is possible that the December 20th deadline to choose the player to be named in the Shoppach deal may in fact be Rule 5 related.

Indians Dip Into Outback Again

The Indians dipped into the International waters again this week as they signed Australian 17-year old catcher Ryan Battaglia to a contract.  According to the Caboolture Shire Herald, Battaglia signed his deal on Sunday and will join up with the Indians in late March where he will participate in an eight week extended spring training program.  According to the news report, Battaglia has a strong arm and has some good power for his age.  The Indians have shown a strong presence in Australia over the past few years as they have recently signed infielder Jason Smit, pitcher Jacob Reust, and outfielder Trent Baker out of Australia.

Santana Shutdown

Apparently the only thing that can slow Indians catching prospect Carlos Santana down is the flu bug.  According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, after battling the flu recently and losing close to nine pounds because of it, the Indians took the precautionary route and just shut him down in order to avoid any risk of injury while he was in a weakened condition recovering from the flu.  He played just one game in the Dominican Winter League going 0-for-4 on October 16^th.

Acta Close To Hitting On Final Coach

As reported a few weeks back, new Indians manager Manny Acta is now in Venezuela where he is interviewing Dave Hudgens and Jon Nunnally to be the hitting coach on his staff.  Hudgens is managing out in Venezuela while Nunnally is serving as his hitting coach, while in-season Hudgens is the Indians Field Coordinator for the minor leagues while Nunnally was the Triple-A Columbus hitting coach.  A decision could be imminent as the announcement could be made as early as the beginning of next week on who is named as the hitting coach and the final member of Acta's staff.

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Offseason Happenings: Could Indians Be Targetting Aybar?

Updated: 9:23 AM

The Indians yesterday completed a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays sending catcher Kelly Shoppach to them for a player to be named later. In the wake of the trade, here is some additional information Indians GM Mark Shapiro shared in a conference call with the media as well as some of my thoughts on the deal and other things:

- Shapiro said there were three reasons they traded Shoppach. First and foremost, he feels very strongly about the young catchers in the system who are ready to play at the big league level and considers it an area of strength in the organization. Secondly, financial considerations were certainly involved since Shoppach was heading for arbitration and a salary increase. Last, he likes the player they will get back in the trade with Tampa.

- Shapiro said numerous teams were interested in Shoppach as he was engaged in trade talks with several other teams besides just Tampa.

- Shapiro did not say this was the case, but rumblings of late have suggested that the Indians were indeed considering non-tendering Shoppach by the December 12th deadline. Shoppach is in line to make around $3 million next year, and considering they wanted to go with their young catching trio of Lou Marson, Wyatt Toregas, and Carlos Santana to fill the starting and backup roles in 2010, Shoppach at $3 million would have been a waste of what Shapiro considers “finite resources”. Bottom line, they want to get a head start playing those guys every game, and it will start with game one next year.

- As for the player to be named later, Shapiro did not provide any details on what kind of player it would be other than that they have the potential to be on the 25-man roster next season. Shapiro said they have a list of a “couple players” they are choosing from, though it reportedly is a list of just two players.

- While the player to be named is unknown, it is very likely that the two players they are deciding on are currently playing winter ball for the Rays and they will use the next three weeks before the December 20th deadline to do some additional scouting on the players. Looking at the Rays list of players that are currently playing in the winter leagues combined with the Indians needs for next season, infielder Willy Aybar immediately stands out. He is a switch-hitter with the versatility to play anywhere in the infield, mainly at third base and second base. Aybar looks to be a good fit as far at the player to be named later goes.

- Infielder Elliot Johnson is another possible alternative as the player to be named. The one thing with Johnson is he is not playing winter ball, so there would be no need to wait until December 20th because there is no opportunity to scout him between now and then. There may be some medical stuff the Indians want to review as he was dinged up last year and only played in 68 total games. He is already on the 40-man, so this is not a situation where they are waiting out Rule 5 to see if the player is picked. It could just be Johnson and some other Single-A level player where if the medical comes back questionable on Johnson they decide to go the route of picking up the Single-A player already agreed upon. Either way, I still think the Indians are trying to address their utility infielder void with this trade. I would still prefer Aybar if he is indeed an option.

- With Victor Martinez traded in July and now Shoppach gone, there is no doubt the Indians are gearing up and getting ready to hand over the keys to the everyday catching position to elite catching prospect Carlos Santana. But Santana is set to open in Triple-A Columbus pretty much no matter what. If things go as planned, Santana will likely come up sometime midseason around the All Star break. In the meantime he will continue to work on his game at Columbus, more specifically developing his leadership skills, game calling, and improving his defense.

- With Shoppach gone and Santana not yet in the picture, this means that barring something unfortunate happening that Lou Marson will be the regular catcher next year at the outset of the season. The Indians like Marson and feel in his limited major league debut last year that “to draw any conclusions on that would be foolish”. Shapiro said that Marson gives a quality at bat every time up and has done that throughout his minor league career and also calls a good game, has a quick release, handles a staff effectively, and exhibits good plate discipline.

- With Marson the everyday catcher, Wyatt Toregas is in line to be the backup catcher. Chris Gimenez is not considered for the backup role as the Indians are supposedly moving him away from catching and instead focusing on him more as a utility player and as an emergency catcher only.

- The setup with Marson and Toregas as the catching tandem on the big league roster to open the 2010 season is very similar to how they handled things back in 2003. Back then they also had a big time catching prospect in Victor Martinez coming up, and started him off in Triple-A to finish off his development before promoting him in late June or early July that year for good. Marson and Toregas will serve as the short term options until Santana is ready, sort of like Josh Bard and Tim Laker did in 2003.

- Shapiro said that there is really not much of a need to go out and sign a veteran catcher to help assist in the development of the young catchers because of the presence of Sandy Alomar Jr. on the coaching staff. They feel Sandy can provide anything a veteran backup would, and even more. They still may explore bringing in a veteran catcher as a non-roster player for a potential backup role.

- In regard to Mike Sarbaugh being named as the new manager at Columbus and Joel Skinner being named the new manager at Double-A Akron, Shapiro said this was the best fit for both managers based on the organization’s need combined with the need of the individuals involved. Skinner wanted to remain with the organization because he lives in the area (Avon Lake), so staying in the area gives him the ability to better balance his personal and professional life. It was also a priority for the organization to keep Skinner in the organization as they feel his experience will help immensely at Double-A which they consider the most important level of development. Sarbaugh going to Columbus will help continue his development and provide him with a new experience of dealing with what will be much closer to a major league environment in the clubhouse and on the field.

- An announcement of the rest of the Indians managers and coaches throughout their system will be announced at a later date, but I am hearing that Kinston manager Chris Tremie will be taking on a new role in 2010 where he will split duties as the organization's Catching Coordinator and also manage the Arizona League Indians team. Tim Laker had been the Catching Coordinator for the past two years, so it is not certain at this time whether he has left the organization or will assume a different role in the organization. The Indians have also hired Mickey Callaway as a pitching coach, though it is not known where he will be assigned.

- With Skinner in Akron, Sarbaugh in Columbus, and now Tremie in Arizona, the only unknowns as far as managers go is at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley, Low-A Lake County, and High-A Kinston. Travis Fryman is likely to return as a manager this season, but it is not known if he will stay in Mahoning Valley or move up to Lake County or Kinston. Fryman may end up back in Mahoning Valley (his choice), with Aaron Holbert returning to Lake County and Rouglas Odor taking over in Kinston.

- And finally, a big congratulations to Ruben Niebla for being named to the big league coaching staff. In Niebla's role he will assist new Indians pitching coach Tim Belcher and bullpen coach Scott Radinsky in the development of all their pitchers and sort of be a third set of eyes for what truly is the most critical part of the Indians roster. Niebla paid his dues in the minor leagues as a coach, and was one of the most approachable and knowledgeable coaches I have talked to while covering the Indians farm system. He was a very good teacher and did a great job with his pitchers, and he will certainly be an asset to Acta's staff.

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