Shin Soo-Choo and Joe Carter?

Work A Trade & Sign

Say what? This isn't the NBA! Besides didn't you just say that odds were long that Choo would sign an extension anywhere? Yes, I know this isn't the NBA and yes I did say that the odds were long....but not impossible. Trade and sign deals don't happen often in major league baseball but they do happen and should be explored as history shows benefits can be advantageous for the Indians.

The player was Joe Carter and then Indians GM Hank Peters wanted desperately to sign him to a long term contract. He made several proposals to Carter's agent Jim Turner and each one was rejected and Turner made at least one counter proposal which Peters rejected. After the 1989 season Peters made one last offer to Carter for 3 years at $10M and after Carter rejected the offer Peters released a statement to the press announcing that the negotiations had ended and Carter would be traded by the end of the year.

Since Carter, like Choo, was entering the final year of his contract the team acquiring him would want to sign him to a long term extension before finalizing the deal with the Indians. This didn't seem to be much of a deterrent until Turner alerted Peters that Carter would only sign extension with 5 teams (Padres, Dodgers, Angels, Royals, or Cardinals).

Luckily, Jack McKeon was running the Padres who had finished 2nd to the Dodgers in 1989 a mere 3 games behind the San Francisco Giants and had a loaded farm system. The Indians and Padres reached a deal that would send  Carter to the Padres in exchange for Sandy Alomar Jr., Chris James, and Carlos Baerga and the next day the Padres and Carter reached an agreement on a 3-year $9.2M contract. The trade became official on December 6, 1989.

Dugout Seeds: What Type Of Manager Will Sandy Alomar Be?

Today the Indians fired manager Manny Acta and put the interim tag on Sandy Alomar Jr. at the helm. The Indians will continue to interview others over the winter (Terry Francona, Dave Martinez, Sandy Alomar Jr.) etc.  I touched on why I'd support Alomar's hiring over at Wahoos On First:

Why Sandy Alomar Jr. Should Be The Indians Next Manager

What kind of manager will Alomar be? After interviewing with the Boston Red Sox last winter he met with the media to answer a few questions about his thoughts on managing. The video is iincluded below.

Dugout Seeds: Drew Pomeranz - The Rockies Project & Indians Draft Process

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post scribed about the Rockies worst season ever in an article titled Colorado Rockies' worst season ever breeds 10 key questions in which he discusses former Indians pitcher Drew Pomeranz and asks:

Will Drew Pomeranz blossom? The young left-hander seems to have it all — size, a 94 mph fastball, a sharp curveball. But he's pitched terribly in the second half, and the Rockies can't seem to get their message through to him. Namely, throw strikes! He remains a huge project.

The Rockies obtained Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner, and Matt McBride from the Indians at the trade deadline in 2011 in exchange for Ubaldo Jimenez. Pomeranz has had a rough first full season with the Rockies posting a 1-9 record with a 5.30/4.78 ERA/FIP. His big problem has been the ability to get right handed hitters out (.892 OPS against) and his inability to command the strike zone issuing 4.26 walks per nine innings of work and has walked 10.4% of the batters he's faced.
Do the stuggles of both Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, both former first round draft picks by Indians, reflect poorly on the Indians philosophy for drafting or is it a reflection of the inability for the Rockies to develop pitchers (especially in Coors Field)? Did the Rockies error and rush Pomeranz to the majors? Or, are Drew Pomeranz and Alex White two more missed prospects drafted by the Tribe?

All tough questions.

Dugout Seeds: Indians Need To Deal Asdrubal Cabrera Not Focus On A Backup Shortstop

Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes that the Indians need to find a reliable backup for Asdrubal Cabrera as Brent Lillibridge and Jason Donald have been ineffective in the role.

He quotes Manny Acta as saying:

"We really need somebody, when we give Cabby a day off or he goes down, who can step in help us out. It's been an issue. . .It's been an issue."

The words from Manny Acta seem rather odd to me as he had ample opportunity to bring up Jason Donald to give Asdrubal Cabrera an occasional day off early in the year. There was the time that Jack Hannahan missed 12 games and was out for 13 days while Jason Donald sat in Columbus and Cabrera played everyday.

Point being: An organization on the verge of losing close to 100 games need not worry about the backup shortstop rather they should focus on collecting talent.

I'd recommend shopping Asdrubal Cabrera, who is signed for two more years, to the San  Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, or Seattle Mariners. An example of a trade that could help both teams is a with the Braves. The deal would be centered around pitching prospect Julio Tehran who struggled in 2012 and top prospect shortstop Julio Andrelton.

If the Indians want a backup shortstop for the 2013 season their will be plenty of opportunities with guys like Reid Brignac and Elliot Johnson of the Rays that could step in and fill that role.

Dugout Seeds: Jim Bowden List Indians As Possible Managerial Vacancy

Jim Bowden discusses the Astros early search to fill their managerial vacancy and discusses some other possible managerial openings.

He notes Bobby Valentine of the Red Sox, Ned Yost of the Royals, Ozzie Guillen of the Miami Marlins, Jim Tracy of the Colorado Rockies, and Manny Acta of the Cleveland Indians.

The rumor mill should pick up on who may be the next Indians manager and the list should include Terry Francona, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Dave Martinez.

Dave Martinez currently is a Rays bench coach and has worked directly with Joe Maddon since he was hired in October of 2007.

Terry Francona has the rings and the experience but he may not want to go through the rebuilding process. If Francona doesn't find his way into a major league dugout in 2013 he should, at the minimum, brought in to fill an advisory role similar to the role Davey Johnson had with the Nationals prior to taking over for Jim Riggleman.

In the end the Indians should turn the future over to Sandy Alomar Jr.

Dugout Seeds: Shapiro Tweets & Offseason Spending

Major League Trade Rumors featured a tweet from Mark Shapiro who is back on the Twittersphere after a two month hiatus due to what he called harrassment toward him and his family - his Tweet messages (strung together)

"Want to reconnect with all of you Tribe fans," Shapiro wrote on his account. "Sorry for my absence, been a rough time for all & I stepped back to focus on leading the [organization]. We're as disappointed in this season as you are and can't thank you enough for the dedication you show every day toward our team. "We are lucky to have fans with your passion and are working tirelessly to bring you that championship you deserve. The reason I joined Twitter though is to connect directly with you all, so I want to refocus my efforts with that goal in mind." - clevelandindians.com

 Another of his tweets indicated that the Indians will have money to spend in the offseason but is concerned with the depth of the free agent class:

.@joycekeo I think we will have the ability to spend.Just concerned about depth of FA mket this offseason
— Mark Shapiro (@MarkShapiro) September 18, 2012

MLB Trade Rumors suggests the Tribe may be interested in outfielders and believes this may be an area of strength in the free agent market this winter. Below is the list of available free agent outfielders provided by MLBTR.

Dugout Seeds: Good News For Indians On Carlos Santana

As reported on MLB Trade Rumors the 2012 Super-Two cutoff now projects at two years and 139 days of service time (CAA Sports Twitter Link).  Players who are classified as Super Two will be eligible for 4 years of arbitration as opposed to the 3 years afforded to other players.

A fourth year of arbitration can often lead to escalated salaries for players. Although these players remain under team control they can become too expensive to keep. Carlos Santana fits the mold of a player who through better performance over the next several seasons could reap a big arbitration payoff if classified as Super Two. Luckily, at the current projection of Super Two status Carlos Santana will finish the season with less than 2 years 139 days of service thus missing the cutoff for Super Two.

Finally, having Carlos Santana eligible for Super Two would have brought back all the pain of watching Mike Redmond toil behind the dish for the Tribe while Santana crushed the ball in AAA all in an attempt to avoid the Super Two label.

Dugout Seeds: Acta Resigned To Losing?

Over the weekend Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal stated that the Indians were leaning toward bringing Manny Acta back in 2013. Today he reports that (as highlighted on MLB Trade Rumors):

Scouts following the team in recent days, however, say that Acta is displaying poor body language, almost as if he is resigned to the team’s fate. Not a good sign.

Of course, it isn't a good sign when a teams manager is displaying poor body language - if that is noticeable to scouts who are around the game everyday - it is a sign that the writing is on the wall for the manager.

The problem with bringing Acta back would be the inability to overhaul the coaching staff (which is needed) and convincing any free agent to join a team with a lame duck manager. In his time in the Indians dugout Manny Acta has done nothing to establish himself as the type of manager that you an organization can lose with while allowing his brand of baseball to develop.

The logic here is clear - Manny Acta will be replaced at the end of the 2012 season. The short list of my candidates to replace Acta include Sandy Alomar Jr., Mike Maddux, Travis Fryman, and Terry Francona.

Dugout Seeds: Indians Leaning Toward Keeping Acta

From Ken Rosenthal (Fox Sports) Video Link and MLB Trade Rumors:

Indians officials are leaning towards retaining manager Manny Acta as they know that a new manager won't make all that much of a difference. They also don't have to worry about placating their fans as they already rank 28th in MLB in home attendance. Of course, a poor finish to the season could change their minds about Acta.

A new manager may not make all that much of a difference but a change in philosophy, roster management, and talent utilization is required in the Indians dugout. Placating fans should never be the cause of replacing a manager.

Dugout Seeds: Indians Might Fire Acta - In print..

Ken Rosenthal is one of the first to put the Indians Might Fire Manny Acta into an article about managerial openings next season:

The Cleveland Indians might fire Manny Acta; Francona was a special assistant with the Indians in 2001, and remains close with team president Mark Shapiro and GM Chris Antonetti. Better positions could open, too — Atlanta? Detroit? The Los Angeles Angels? — depending upon which teams’ seasons end in disappointment.

Interesting that Rosenthal brings up the name of Terry Francona.

Dugout Seeds: Indians To Promote Three

According to Chris Assenheimer the Indians will call up Russ Canzler, Scott Barnes, and Thomas Neal.

Canzler, Neal and Barnes will be called up tomorrow. #Indians
— Chris Assenheimer (@CAwesomeheimer) September 1, 2012

Scott Barnes (LHP) appeared in 7 games with the Indians in 2012 and went 0-0 with a 8.10 ERA (9ER/10IP). He went 2-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 31 Appearances (3 starts) with the Clippers. He was originally obtained by the Indians from the San Francisco Giants in 2009 for Ryan Garko.

Russ Canzler (RHB) spent the season with the Clippers posting a .797 with a slash line of .259/.324/.473 with 21HR and 73 RBI. He was purchased from the Tampa Bay Rays on January 31, 2012.

Thomas Neal (RHB) spent most of the season patrolling the OF in Akron. The Indians removed the 25 year old Neal from their 40 man roster this past season and to make matters worse sent him to AA Akron where he spent the entire season. To his credit, he did what he had to do to become relevant again, and that was to hit. He finished the season with a .867 OPS with a slash line of .314/.400/.467 with 12 HR and 51 RBI. He was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Orlando Cabrera on July 30, 2011. Neal is not currently on the 40-man roster but the Indians will most likely move Josh Tomlin to the 60-day disabled list to make room (h/t T.J. Zuppe)

According to Manny Acta, none of the September callups are here as a reward for a good season (good news for Canzler and Neal).

"It's a combination of it," Acta said, "but the guys that are coming up are going to be getting some at-bats; the majority of them are going to be getting some at-bats. So it's not so much rewarding but also evaluation time for us." - mlb.com

Dugout Seeds: Asdrubal Defends Acta's Performance, But Why?

Asdrubal Cabrera says Manny Acta is not to blame for the Indians poor performance and hopes that he (Acta) is not the scapegoat.

"It's not the manager's fault," Cabrera said. "He doesn't hit, he doesn't pitch, he doesn't throw and he doesn't play defense. We're bad right now. Everything is bad right now -- defense, hitting, pitchers. It's not [Acta's] fault. He does his job."

The one question I have is if a team isn't pitching, isn't hitting, and isn't fielding....and if everything is bad right now - how exactly is Manny Acta doing his job?

Judge The Indians By Their Words - Not Mine

Instead of me opining about how disappointed I am in the organizational structure of the Indians (I'll do that on www.wahoosonfirst.com) I'll allow their words to be put in print. The following is from Terry Pluto's book Dealing - The Cleveland Indians New Ballgame.

Start with the Cleveland Indians Vision Statement:

To build and sustain a championship caliber team that competes passionately, relentlessly, and professionally. And in the process, make a positive statement about its collective vision and core values.

Scouting Mission Statement:

To scout a passionate, relentless, and systematical manner in order to provide accurate evaluations to assist in procuring championship-caliber Cleveland Indians players.

Player Development Mission Statement:

To develop true professionals, each of whom reaches his full potential mentally, physically, and fundamentally through a systematic approach founded upon Cleveland Indians vision and values. 

Indians Trade Deadline Message From The Past

When F.J. "Steve" O'Neil and Gabe Paul returned to the Indians ownership in 1978 Gabe Paul made reference to the Cleveland Sports fan as the "Sleeping Giant". His words were scoffed at through the hard years and finally came to fruition in the perfect storm of the mid to late 1990's.

It is often suggested that voices from the past speak to us but we are often not willing to listen. I hope Chris Antonetti, Mark Shapiro, and Paul Dolan can take a moment to reflect on the words of Gabe Paul:

"It [sleeping giant] only needs to be reawakened, that won't come with words, only action. But give the fans what they want, a winning team, and they will react like no other city."

"And if we don't succeed, we can't blame it on the people, only ourselves"

Is the front office willing to listen?

From Here To The Trade Deadline: Remaining July Schedules for AL Central Teams

In ranking the toughest second half schedules ESPN.com's Buster Olney ranks the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox as the two easiest and the Detroit Tigers as the 4th toughest. Olney's strength of schedule rankings are based on the number of games remaining against teams with a .500 record and at the time of his writing the  Indians had 33 opponents with a .500 record or better, the White Sox 35, and the Tigers 54.

Currently the Chicago White Sox lead the AL Central with a record of 47-53 and lead the Indians (44-41) by 3 games, the Detroit Tigers (44-42) by 3.5 games, the Kansas City Royals (37-47) by 9.5 games, and the Minnesota Twins (36-49) by 11games. The Indians trail the Baltimore Orioles (45-40) for the final wild card spot by 1 game and Tigers trail the Orioles by 1.5 games.

How  active the White Sox, Indians, Tigers, and even the Royals are at the trade deadline will be determined by how they perform between now and the July 31st trade deadline so let's take a look at who's playing who and where.

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Cleveland Indians:

Home Games (7): Baltimore Orioles (4) Detroit Tigers (3)

Road Games (11): Toronto Blue Jays (3), Tampa Bay Rays (4), Minnesota Twins (3), Kansas City Royals (1)

Off Days: 1 (July 30th)

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Chicago White Sox:

Home Games/Opponent: (3): Minnesota Twins (3)

Road Games (15): Kansas City Royals (3), Boston Red Sox (4), Detroit Tigers (3), Texas Rangers (3), Minnesota Twins (2)

Off Days: 1 (July 26th)

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The Detroit Tigers:

Home Games  (7): LA Angels (4), Chicago White Sox (3)

Road Games (11): Baltimore Orioles (3), Cleveland Indians (3), Toronto Blue Jays (3), Boston Red Sox (2)

Off Days: 1 (July 23rd)

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Kansas City Royals:

Home Games ( 11): Chicago White Sox (3), Seattle Mariners (4), Minnesota Twins (3), Cleveland Indians (1)

Road Games (7): LA Angels (3), Seattle Mariners (4)

Off Days: 1 (July 30th)

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Minnesota Twins:

Home Games (12): Oakland Athletics (3), Baltimore Orioles (4), Cleveland Indians (3), Chicago White Sox (2)

Road Games ( 6): Kansas City Royals (3), Chicago White Sox (3)

Off Days: 1 (July 26th)

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Tribe Day Off - They Need It

The Indians have a day off to day and by Tuesday should have Carlos Santana back in the lineup and by Wednesday Johnny Damon back in LF. Hopefully the Indians will hold off on returning Carlos Santana to behind home plate and take advantage of the opening at Designated Hitter created by the Travis Hafner injury. 

The best move for the Indians to make is to send Matt LaPorta back to Columbus on Tuesday and activate Santana and stick him at DH. 

Then on Wednesday activate Johnny Damon and send Diaz to the minors. 

After 7-10 days with Santana splitting time at DH/1b the Indians could elect to send one of the catchers back to AAA and call up a useful player to help with the roster but by then we could be nearing the return of Jack Hannahan so the roster move may be an easy one.

As Kerry Wood Sets to Retire A Look Back At Three M'aidez

Kerry Wood struggled in a game in May, this time on May 9th, and for the second time in 2 years he'll need to replace his glove as a result except this time the life expectancy of the new glove will be short lived as he is set to announce his retirement in the next day or two.

On May 8, 2012, Kerry Wood walked off the mound after an unsuccessful outing and tossed his glove and hat into the stands. After the game he was asked about the incident and responded:

After the game Wood was asked about the glove toss which he responded, "Irrelevant,  had nothing to do with the game" and when he was asked if he felt as sharp as he needed to be Wood said,  "Obviously, with giving up a five-spot, I'm not [expletive] sharp."

On May 19, 2009, Wood then the closer for the Cleveland Indians was handed a 5-2 lead to protect against the Royals in Kansas City. The lead evaporated in magnificent fashion no back to back solo homers, a walk, RBI triple, and walk-off sacrifice fly.

WATCH THE 2009 BLOWUP (VIDEO)

On May 18, 2010, nearly a year to the day that he couldn't protect a 3-run lead in KC, the Indians handed him the ball with a 4-3 lead vs the Royals in Cleveland. He proceeded to give the lead back on an leadoff triple, infield single, RBI double, intentional walk, and a bases clearing double to put the Royals in front 8-4. As Wood walked off the field that day he chucked his glove into the stands in frustration and said this to reporters after the game.

WATCH WOOD BLOWUP V2.0 (VIDEO)

More About The Indians Blowups After The Jump

Indians Organization Report - 05/15/2012

Corey Kluber registered 6 strikeouts through the first four innings but was unable to make it out of the fifth as the Columbus Clippers lost to the Syracuse Chiefs 5-1. Kluber worked 4.1 innings and was charged with 5R/5ER allowing 9 hits while striking out 6 and walking 2.

T.J. McFarland made his 8th start on the year and improved to 7-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.85. He worked 7 innings allowing 3 hits while striking out 6 and walking 0. The Aeros offense was led by Jared Goedert who went x-x with a home run and x driven in to raise his average to .378 on the year. Tim Fedroff hit his 1st homer on the year and is hitting .339 on the year.

The Carolina Mudcats lost the first game of a doubleheader 8-6 as the Salem Red Sox scored 7R/6ER on Mudcat starter Mike Rayl in 2.2 innings. Jerome Tice and Carlos Moncrief each homered for the Mudcats in the loss and in an oddity the Mudcats had nine hits with each member of the lineup having exactly 1.

Cody Anderson improved his record to 4-1 and dropped his ERA to an impressive 1.89 on the year by going 6 innings allowing 1R/1ER on 2 hits while striking out 5 and walking 1 in a 5-1 Lake County Captains victory over the Great Lake Loons. Francisco Lindor had two hits to raise his average to .319 on the year.

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Indians Organization Report - 05/14/12

The Columbus Clippers defeated the Pawtucket Red Sox 5-3. Eric Berger worked the first six innings allowing 2R/1ER on 5 hits while striking out 4 and walking 1. Scott Barnes worked 2 innings in relief and allowed 1R/1ER, and Chris Ray worked a scoreless ninth for his 6th save on the year and lowered his ERA to 2.08. Matt Laporta delivered a 3-run homer to pace the offense.

The Akron Aeros dropped a game to the Erie Sea Wolves by a final of 6-3. Giovanni Soto had his second rough outing in a row going 4.1 innings allowing 5R/4ER on 8 hits while walking 4 and only striking out 3.Adam Abraham and Kyle Bellows each hit solo homer for the Aeros.

The Lake County Captains defeated the Great Lake Loons by a final score of 6-3. Joseph Colon worked into the 9th inning completing 8.1 innings while surrendering 3R/3ER on 7 hits while striking out 4 and walking none. Additionally, 12 of his outs were of the groundball variety. Tribe Top Prospect Francisco Lindor went 2-4 with a homer and 5 RBI on the night to push his season numbers to .312/.385/.475 with four homers, three triples, and five doubles. HE has 11 walks to only 19 strike outs and has 11 stolen bases in 15 attempts...oh, and he is still only 18 years old and won't turn 19 until after the season ends.


Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

Check out IPI's Jim Pete and his Around The Farm Report

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Indians Organizational Report - 05/12/2012

The Clippers were defeated by the Pawtucket Red Sox but the good news is that minor league journeyman Ben Copeland connected on 2 home runs, Russ Canzler hit a home run, an Ezequiel Carrera had 3 hits. Daisuke Matsuzaka made the rehab start for Pawtucket and went 5.1 inning allowing 5R/5ER on 7 hits striking out 5 and walking 1.

The Akron Aeros lost 6-5 to the Harrisburg Senators and like the Clippers the highlight was three hits by a non prospect Thomas Neal who had 3 hits on the night.A name to keep an eye on in Akron is closer Kyle Landis who tossed another scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 0.48 on the year.

The Carolina Mudcats beat the Potomac Nationals 8-2.  Kyle Blair tossed 5 innings allowing 1R/1ER on 1 hits striking out 5 and walking 1. Jeremie Tice went 2-4 with 5 RBI and raise his average to .342 on the year.

The Lake County Captains behind the solid pitching of Felix Sterling defeated the Great Lake Loons 6-4. Sterling went 6 innings allowing 1R/1ER on 3 hits while striking out 4 and walking 2.


Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

Check out Jim Pete and his Around the Farm Report
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For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Lewis Pollis takes a look at the Indians 4-1 loss to the Red Sox

Indians Organizational Report -05/11/12

Cord Phelps was the only bright spot for the Clippers as they lost to Pawtucket Red Sox 5-1. Phelps hit his third homer and a double. Chris Seddon took the loss for the Clippers who drop to 17-17 on the season.

Knuckleballer Steven Wright has his first rough outing of the season giving up 5R/4ER on 5H while walking 3 and striking out 2 as the Akron Aeros fell to the Harrisburg Senators 8-1.  Rob Bryson dropped his ERA to 2.60 with two scoreless innings.

Micheal Goodnight of the Carolina Mudcats pitched the first 3.2 innings giving up only 1R/1ER but had to be removed from the game after a line drive hit him in the elbow. The Mudcats offense was led by Carlos Moncrief (3-3 with a walk) and Jake Lowery (2-4) as they defeated the Potomac Nationals 9-2.

Luigi Rodriguez and Alex Lavisky both had multi-hit games but it wasn't enough as the Dayton Dragons defeated the Lake County Captains 5-4.

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

For a more detailed look into the days action check out IPI's Tony Lastoria and his Around the Farm Report.

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com
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Indians Organization Report - 05/10/12

Indians Organizational Report provided by FirstInning.com

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

The Scranton WB Blog recaps last nights 4-3 Clippers Loss -

From the SWB Blog: Matt LaPorta and Manny DelCarmen were both ejected:

With Manny Delcarmen on the hill and two outs facing LaRoche a pitch that came in behind the back of the Clippers third baseman drew the ire of LaPorta from the Clippers dugout.  He yelled at Delcarmen from the top stop of the first base dugout and Delcarmen yelled back and both benches and bullpens emptied.  No punches were thrown as there was a bit of gesturing on both sides and when the dust settled LaPorta and Delcarmen were ejected by home plate umpire and crew chief Chad Whitson.

T.J. McFarland pitched 7 shutout innings and Bryan Price worked to scoreless innings as the Akron Aeros defeated the Harrisburg Senators 7-0 to improve to 22-9 on the season. McFarland is now 6-1 with a 2.18 ERA on the year.

The Carolina Mudcats were swept in a doubleheader against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans dropping the first game 2-1 and got roughed up 10-1 in the nightcap.Carolina pitcher Mike Rayl was effective in the first game tossing 7 innings of 5 hit ball giving up 1-run striking out 3 and walking none.

The Lake County Captains were led by Cody Anderson who worked 6 innings yielding 1-run on 6 hits while striking out 5 and walking 2 as the Captains defeated the Dayton Dragons 2-1.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

Check out Tony Lastoria of IPI and his edition of Around the Farm:

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Upon the announcement of the retirement of Casey Blake, Merritt Rohlfing of WahoosOnFirst looks back and presents An Ode to Casey Blake

Indians Organization Report - 05/09/12 - 3 stars - Berger, Weglarz, and Lindor

Yankees top prospect Dellin Betances worked 8 strong innings of 1 run baseball surrendering only 2 hits while striking out 7 and walking 2 as Scranton Wilkes-Barre defeated the Columbus Clippers 2-1. Cord Phelps had the only 2-hits for the Clippers while Eric Berger made a rare AAA start and the lefty went 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3.

Akron Aeros Giovanni Soto gave up 4 runs in 5 innings of work allowing 7 hits while striking out 1 and walking 2 picking up the loss as the Erie Sea Wolves defeated the Aeros 7-5. The Aeros offense was led by Nick Weglarz who once again has been mired in a season long slump but yesterday he went 2-4 with 2 HR and 4 RBI.  Appearing for the Aeros was newly acquired  7'1" reliever Loek Van Mil who, if he makes it to Cleveland, will become the tallest pitcher to ever appear in a major league game.

Lake County received an outstanding outing by Joseph Colon who went 8 innings surrendering 1-run while scattering 4 hits and the Captains defeated the Dayton Dragons 4-1. The offense was led by Francisco Lindor who went 2-5 (6th multi hit game in his last 10) and is now hitting .307 on the year.

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

Make sure to check out IPI's Jim Pete and his Around the Farm Report

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Lewis Pollis of WahoosOnFirst takes a look at Jeanmar Gomez's rough outing last night as Jake Peavy and the White Sox shut down the Tribe 8-1.

Indians Organizational Report - 05/08/12 - Arms Arms & More Arms

Arms Arms and More Arms


The Columbus Clippers split a doubleheader against  Scranton-Wilkes Barre. The Clilppers won the first game 1-0 as  David Huff threw a 7-inning complete game shut out allowing 4 hits while striking out 5 and walking 1.  The Clippers lost the nightcap 4-3 as Kevin Slowey continues to struggle giving up 4 runs in 5 innings.

T.J. House worked 6 scoreless innings surrendering only 2 hits while striking out 7 and walking 2. House started the year in High A Carolina posting a 2-0 record with a 1.44 ERA in 4 starts. Yesterday was his first win in 2 tries at Akron and he has a 2.25 ERA. The victory came against former Indian Kelvin DeLaCruz who saw his record drop to 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA.

The Carolina Mudcats received a strong performance from Francisco Jimenez (3-1, 2.93 ERA) in defeating the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 6-0. Carlos Moncrief hit a 2-run homer to help Jimenz and the Mudcats to victory. Jesus Aguilar continues to hit and went 1-3 to maintain his impressive .330/.402/.570 slash line on the young season.

The Lake County Captains received another good outing from Elvis Arajuo who went 4 innings allowing 1R/1ER on 4 hits while striking out 5 and walking 2 as the Lake County Captains defeated the Bowling Green Hot Rods 4-3.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com & be sure to check out Jim Pete's Daily Around the Farm Report.

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

At Wahos on First -  Steve Kinsella takes a look at Rocky Colavito's 4 Homer night, the 4 Homer Club, and how the members performed the next game. Interesting note, there were more fans in attendance for Colavito's four homer night in May of 1959 i(Memorial Stadium in Baltimore) then for. Josh Hamilton and his  4 homer  game last night at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Blast from the past: Yesterday the San Diego Padres signed former Indians Anthony Reyes to a minor league deal.

Indians Organization Report: 05/07/12

Indians Organizational Report provided by FirstInning.com

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com
Not a lot of action last night with Columbus and Akron rained out and Carolina having a scheduled day off. Jim Pete of IPI looks at the highlights of the Lake County game in his Around the Farm Report .

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Lewie Pollis of WahoosOnFirst looks at the day that was as the Indians swept the day night doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox. The Tribe won the first game 8-6 as Zach McAllister earned his first major league win and Nick Hagadone his first major league save.  The Indians used timely hitting en route to a 3-2 victory in a rain delayed night cap.

Katie Hendershot of WoF takes a look back at the week that was for the Cleveland Indians in her column This Week In Indians Baseball.

One of my personal favorite Web-Sites is Plunk Everyone. A web-site devoted to the hit by pitch or as the administrators there say  a web site dedicated to "all those players who won't get out of the way." Yesterday, Travis Hafner became a headline becoming tying the all-time franchise leader (Napoleon Lajoie) in hit by pitches. A record which has stood since 1914.

Travis Hafner got plunked by the White Sox last night, his 11th against that team, and the 79th plunk of his career.   That ties Hafner with Napoleon Lajoie for the Indians franchise plunk record.  That record has stood since 1914, but Hafner has now tied it.  The White Sox have contributed more to that than any other team, with their 11 plunking of Hafner.  There are now 6 active players who hold at least a share of the plunk record and two more active players who hold the plunk record for a team they used to play for.  That was also the 44th time Hafner has been plunked at Progressive Field, extending his park record.

Draft for Org Report: 05/06/12

Indians Organizational Report provided by FirstInning.com

Follow all the Top Indians Minor League Prospects with Baseball Prospectus' Prospect Tracker

Jim Pete at IPI takes a stroll around the minors in his Around the Farm Report. The above the fold top stars goes to Steven Wright, Jared Goedert, and Francisco Lindor.

Speaking of Steve Wright: Last week we took a look at him in an article titled: Steven Wright the Knuckler Not the Comedian. Later in the week Tony Lastoria from IPI had an interview published on the IPI Youtube Channel (which I highly recommend people subscribe to) and he also had an article go up titled 2012 IPI on Site: Steven Wright. The discussion about Steven Wright is certainly ready to pick up steam as he is dominating AA with his knuckleball and yesterday threw a complete game shutout to lower his season ERA to 1.13.

For more on the Indians minor leagues visit IndiansPropsectInsider.com

For more on the Cleveland Indians visit WahoosOnFirst.com

Marla Ridenour of Ohio.com takes a look at Ubaldo Jimenez's performance yesterday (Here)

Jason Kipnis with one of the best Tweets following yesterday's game:

Tired of hearing from reporters ?'s about Darvish... Here's my answer: Ubaldo won the game, not him. Give the guy/tribe props for once
— Jason Kipnis (@TheJK_Kid) May 6, 2012

Bowling Green 2, Lake County 6

MAY 06, 2012 | MIDW (A)

Players	Pos	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Robel Garcia	2B	5	2	0	0	0	0	2
Francisco Lindor	SS	5	2	0	0	0	0	1
Bryson Myles	CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	3
Alex Monsalve	DH	4	3	2	0	0	1	0
Jordan Smith	RF	5	1	0	0	0	0	1
Alexander Lavisky	C	4	1	0	0	0	0	2
Jerrud Sabourin	1B	3	1	0	0	0	1	0
Leonardo Castillo	3B	4	2	1	0	0	0	0
Zachary MacPhee	LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	3

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Shawn Morimando	4.0	2	2	2	1	4	2
Cole Cook	3.0	2	0	0	0	0	1
Grant Sides	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0

Carolina 0, Frederick 1

MAY 06, 2012 | SOU (A+)

Players	Pos	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Tyler Holt	CF	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tony Wolters	2B	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
Carlos Moncrief	RF	3	1	0	0	0	0	2
Jesus Aguilar	1B	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jake Lowery	DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	1
Justin Toole	3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1
Ronny Rodriguez	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dwight Childs	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Delvi Cid	LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Michael Goodnight	5.0	4	1	1	0	3	5
Shawn Armstrong	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	3

Carolina 3, Frederick 2

MAY 06, 2012 | SOU (A+)

Players	Pos	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Tyler Holt	CF	4	1	0	0	0	1	0
Tony Wolters	2B	5	1	0	0	0	0	2
Carlos Moncrief	RF	5	2	0	2	0	0	1
Jesus Aguilar	1B	2	1	0	0	0	2	0
Jake Lowery	DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	2
Anthony Gallas	LF	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
Ronny Rodriguez	SS	3	1	0	0	0	0	1
Justin Toole	3B	4	1	0	0	0	0	1
Tyler Cannon	C	3	0	0	0	0	1	1

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Brett Brach	3.0	2	0	0	0	0	1
Kyle Petter	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Curtis Haley	1.0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Kyle Blair	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jose Flores	2.0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Dale Dickerson	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	2

Bowie 0, Akron 5

MAY 06, 2012 | EAST (AA)

Players	Pos	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Tim Fedroff	CF	5	2	1	0	0	0	0
Juan Diaz	SS	4	1	0	0	0	1	0
Jared Goedert	LF	5	2	1	0	0	0	0
Adam Abraham	1B	3	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ryan Rohlinger	DH	3	2	0	0	0	1	0
Thomas Neal	RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
Kyle Bellows	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
Davis Stoneburner	2B	3	1	0	0	0	1	1
Roberto Perez	C	4	2	1	0	0	0	1

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	Notes
Steven Wright	9.0	5	0	0	0	2	6	2 WP