Cleveland's farm is as strong as it's been in a decade, and while rookies contributed in 2019, the best is yet to come, as 9 of the #Indians' 14 best prospects are under 21 and their Top 30 is the #MLB's youngest.

@jimcallisMLB
on the state of the system: https://atmlb.com/32DIWUY

https://www.mlb.com/news/indians-farm-s ... e-coverage

and he's still using the top 30 list as amended around midseason; I think there may be some more young guys finding their way on the revised rankings posted over the winter.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro
18h18 hours ago

#Indians have signed 18yr old 5'10 188lbs RHP Javier Tovar out of Cuyagua, Aragua, Venezuela. Tovar is set to make his professional debut this upcoming 2020 season in the Dominican Summer League

PROTECTED:

McKenzie, obvious, although he rarely actually pitches
Johnson, obvious, could have a chance to make the team in Spring Training, although suddenly we may have more RH than LH bats in the OF
Scott Moss, pretty obvious, LHP came in the Bauer deal; rated a middling prospect, very effective for both Akron and Columbus

NOT PROTECED:
Oviedo, pitcher rated among our top 10 last year, was not very effective and then got hurt and missed more than half the year; and has not pitched beyond Lake County'
Oscar Gonzalez; he's moved up ahead of NO. 1 draftee Will Benson but isn't quite the OF as Benson, rarely walks and did not adjust at all to AA. Ceiling is still high enough some non-contender could scoop him up for future development purposes. Not that rosters are at 26, it will be a little easier to host an unproductive prospect on the roster all season as rule 5 requires.
Ka'ai Tom: had a terrific breakout season at Akron and continued the success in AAA. 25 year old RH OF who probably doesn't have the arm for RF or the speed for CF but if this was not a fluke season could be a useful OF. Hard to imagine someone won't snap him up cheaply in the Rule 5 draft
Jose Fermin: solid middle IF but we have lots of them, and he too hasn't played above Lake County
Brady Aiken: is he still around? for some reason some website considers him an interesting option for some team to draft. Not sure why

BA says the 18 year old catcher we got for Mathias -- Andres Melandez -- s a very advanced defender who may hit, or may not, someday.

BA analyzes Rule 5 possibilities. I guess only I think Tom is worth picking up; he doesn't make their "could help in 2020" list. Under the category "stash for the future" they include

Jose Fermin, SS, Indians

If a team is looking to pick a player from low Class A who won’t be completely overwhelmed by the massive leap to the major leagues, it requires finding someone with a solid idea of the strike zone and some defensive skills. Fermin has both. He’s an above-average defender who can play shortstop. He doesn’t drive the ball yet, but he doesn’t strike out much either, which makes him more ready than the average Class A shortstop.

[same basic skills as a dozen of our young SS, without the power potential a bunch of them exhibit [see the top 25 above]

and also:

Luis Oviedo, RHP, Indians

After dominating the New York-Penn League in 2018, Oviedo was not nearly as successful in 2019 as he struggled and then was shut down with a back injury. But he has a very high upside thanks to a mid-90s fastball and a pair of breaking balls.

There are certainly several relievers of modest note on the 40 man roster who could have been moved to make room for him. e.g. James Hoyt Terry liked the stuff he exhibited in September. But he's a 33 year old with a grand total of 80 major league innings; got to like the 104 K that he has registered but still.... And Phil Maton, 7 years younger, with more major league experience, 121 games and an off-putting career 4.82 ERA. Someone like him will be available as a minor league free agent or when some other clears roster space for a signing.... Hunter Wood seems to offer a little more and we did trade 1/2 of Ruben Cardenas for him.
Basically I don't see the value of loading the roster up with modestly talented relievers. But what do I know?

One thing to be reminded of - the new rules regarding roster size go into effect next season.

26 man MLB roster. Then a capped amount (28? 30?) after September 1.

With the 26 man regular season MLB rosters, there is speculation that non contenders have an extra spot to keep Rule 5 guys - therefore making Rule 5 more active this coming year.

I somehow missed that change, TFIR. Thanks.

so we have a much better chance of losing Oviedo and Fermin. I would strongly prefer losing Hoyt.

Imho, the rule 5 draft is much ado about very little. Once in a while, somebody gets lucky and picks someone that turns out to be a steal. Most of the time, it's just somebody else's excess baggage and costs the team 25k to take a look.

I may drop in on the Cardinals' prospects Chat at BA today to see what they're saying about Jhon Torres, who we dealt in the Mercado deal. He is not in their top 10 nor is he their top power prospect.

No one would dispute that Rule 5 is more than a rare occasion to pick up big league talent. But it's something to talk about.

First question in the chat:

Ryan (Detroit): How close was Jhon Torres to making the top 10?
Kyle Glaser: Torres is in the 11-15 range but wasn’t really in Top 10 consideration. You see the youth and the tools and the body and can dream, but his strike zone discipline and pitch recognition drew very mixed reviews and have a long way to go. Even in the Appy League where the numbers were good, there was a lot of concern about his ability to separate balls from strikes and swing at good pitches to hit. There’s promise, but in a system with so many upper-level performers with plenty of tools as well,

don't remember seeing this in past winters, but when the Indians' list is published I'll copy it here

"Baseball America’s annual International Reviews are here. For BA subscribers, we will have a full breakdown of the international signing classes of all 30 teams. Our International Reviews include scouting reports on around 300 players who signed in 2019, with reports and videos on the top signings in the class as well as sleepers to watch among lower-profile signings."