Cleveland Sports Forum

Right, in that tweet I posted he said they s-ent 40 minutes going over one pitch with him. I misspoke. Er. Mistyped.

To err is human, but not in the 9th inning of a tied game.

BA now ranks the top 100 international signings of the past twelve months;

NO. 18 Jose Pastrano by the Indians, a SS as usual with us

Cleveland's top international signing in 2019 was Jose Pastrano, a Venezuelan shortstop who trained in the Dominican Republic with Banana and the younger brother of Athletics infielder Jose Pastrano, who spent the last two years in the Dominican Summer League. Pastrano stood out for his quickness, excellent athleticism and overall game awareness at a premium position. He's a plus runner who projects to stay at shortstop, where he has quick hands and feet, good body control and has shown flashes of above-average arm strength as well. Pastrano shows attributes to hit from both sides of the plate as well, though some clubs left wanting to see more performance from him as an amateur. He has a short, direct swing and good feel for the strike zone. He has good contact skills with a line-drive, all-fields approach and gap power. Pastrano isn't that big, but he does have the physical projection for more of those doubles to eventually climb over the fence, but his offensive profile will probably be tilted more toward his on-base ability over his power.

No. 58 Luis Durango Jr. an OF from Panama

One of the top players in Panama this year was Luis Durango Jr., who signed for $500,000. Durango is the son of Luis Durango, a speedster who played in the Futures Game in 2009 and accumulated 74 plate appearances in the big leagues over three seasons for the Padres from 2009-11. Durango Jr. excelled in games playing in Panama. He was one of the top hitters in the country, earning a spot on Panama's U-15 World Cup team that won the silver medal on their home turf in 2018. He made the all-tournament team, batting .296/.472/.444 in 36 plate appearances. All that experience shows in Durango's baseball IQ and excellent instincts on both sides of the ball. With lean, athletic build (5-foot-10, 145 pounds), Durango is a high contact hitter from the left side with an advanced hitting approach for his age. He performed well as an amateur and continued to do so after signing in Tricky League. Durango doesn't project to be a big power threat, but his on-base skills and speed could potentially fit at the top of a lineup. He's a 70 runner, and it's conceivable Durango could get even faster once he gets stronger. His speed and instincts give him excellent range in center field, where he has a fringe-average arm that could tick up given his sound throwing mechanics. He trained with Jose Camarena.

No 68 Jose Devers another SS

The Indians signed 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Jose Devers for $450,000. Devers is a cousin of Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers and a younger brother of 19-year-old Marlins shortstop Jose Devers, who reached high Class A Jupiter this year. While Rafael is a mashing third baseman, the Indians' Jose Devers is more like his older brother, a skinny shortstop with a high baseball IQ, no surprise given that he comes from a baseball family. At 5-foot-9, 145 pounds, Devers lacks strength, but he has good actions and skills on both sides of the ball to build off once more strength comes as he gets older. Despite being behind many of his peers in terms of physical development, Devers has a fundamentally sound swing from the right side and excellent contact skills, with a knack for putting the ball in play even against higher velocity arms, spraying line drives to all fields without much power. An average runner, Devers has a chance to stick at shortstop, where he has quick feet, a springy first step, smooth actions and an average arm that could grade up once he gets stronger.

BA creates a new list for fantasy players, with top 100 first year players for "dynasty drafts" Our representation:

43 Daniel Espino RHP CLE 19 HS — 25 — $2,500,000 55 Extreme 2024
Exceptional upside potential thanks to potential 80-grade fastball; size and arm action add reliever risk

62 # Jose Pastrano SS CLE 17 IFA — — 18 — 50 Extreme 2025
Quick, compact swing from both sides with above-average speed as well

BA rates Jones as the No. 2 3rd base prospect.

BA Grade: 60. Risk: High
Tool Grades: Hit: 60. Power: 60. Run: 50. Fielding: 50. Arm: 60.

Track Record: Jones was one of the players the Indians targeted with their first-round pick in 2016. The team instead selected Will Benson 14th overall and didn’t expect to see Jones still on the board when they next picked at No. 55. But he remained available and the Tribe didn’t pass on the Pennsylvania prep product a second time, happy to be able to select one of the best high school hitters in the draft class. He’s lived up to that reputation in pro ball, showing off his offensive ability at every stop in the minor leagues. In 2017, Jones led the New York-Penn League in OPS (.912) as a 19-year old and has followed that up in full-season ball. He had a busy 2019, beginning the year with high Class A Lynchburg, where he played well enough in 79 games to be selected to the Carolina League all-star team. He also was selected for the Futures Game and the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars Game, and in July was promoted to Double-A Akron. His season came to an end in October when he re-aggravated an injury to his right thumb and had surgery to repair a ligament. He is expected to be back to full strength to start 2020.

Scouting Report: Jones has an easy lefthanded swing and uses the whole field to hit. He is a patient hitter and has led all Indians’ minor leaguers in walks in back-to-back seasons (89 in 2018, 96 in 2019), though his patience also means that he often works in deep counts and will always strike out fairly often as a result. He has plus raw power and has started to turn that into in-game production. Jones fits the third-base profile but throughout his career has dealt with questions about his ability to stay at the position. He has plus arm strength and has worked hard to improve his defense and infield actions, especially when ranging to the right. He’s improved his footwork and agility, giving him a strong chance to stay at the hot corner. While the Indians generally work to add versatility to all their position players, Jones has played exclusively third base since he was in Rookie ball. Still, his athleticism and speed should play in the outfield if required.

The Future: After his impressive 2019 and stint in the AFL, Jones is nearing the big leagues and will likely open 2020 with Triple-A Columbus. He’s a potential impact bat who also stands out for his work ethic. His impending big league debut and Jose Ramirez’s versatility gives the Indians options over the next couple of years, but even if Ramirez stays in the hot corner, Jones’ offensive ability is such that the team will find a way to get them both into the lineup.

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Previously, I think, posted Naylor No. 15 catcher; Bradley No. 9 IB; Bracho No. 7 2B;

Newest list is for shortstops. Tyler Freeman is rated No. 12 and Brayan Rocchio No. 26

Indians Prospective

#Indians coming in with 5 players on @ProspectsLive 2020 top 100 prospects list.

47) 3B Nolan Jones
78) OF George Valera
82) RHP Ethan Hankins
89) RHP Daniel Espino
97) SS Tyler Freeman

MLB.com less optimistic and closer to Ba with Jones at 42 and Freeman 96. adding the standard comment on the Indians system:

'They may boast just two current Top 100 prospects but the Indians have several talented teenagers [Naylor, Valera, Espino and more] who could crack the list in the future.'

Similarly, BA's rankings of the 30 teams find Cleveland only at No. 18 [that prior 5 years were 23-17-18-21-15 yet we know how successfully they produced big talent out of those mediocre rankings] and comments:

"The Indians have an extremely young farm system which carries risks and possible rewards. The system is stacked with high upside prospects who have a wide range of potential outcomes. This system could climb or dive significantly in the next year"

The highlighted text is confirmed by the fact that in the top 30 listings for all teams, Cleveland is the only team for which all the top 10 has a prospect grade of 55 or more [55 defined as "first division regular" for a position player and 3/4 starter or elite closer for a pitcher] On the "risk" rating, 5 of the 10 are "extreme" and 3 are "very high" risk of reaching that ceiling.

The Indians' ultimate exception to the high risk high reward prospect is one of Tito's favorites, but not mine: Ernie Clement. With a grade of 40 and a risk level of medium, Ernie is exactly what you see: "Capable of playing shortstop... an uncanny knack for putting the bat on the ball... minimal power.. arm strength is fringy for a SS... versality to play anywhere in the IF and has experience in CF"

That earns Clement spot No. 21 on the BA Tribe Top 30 ahead of Yu Chang [22] Daniel Johnson [23] both of whom also only grade at 40

Ernie's underwhelming offensive stats in 2018 at Akron: 261 average with 15 doubles 3 triples and 1 homer in 394 AB. Only 33 K but only 26 BB too. He did steal 33 but caught 16 times. His slash line is 261/314/322. 636 in AA ; are you excited too?[

I agree the stats aren't there but Clement always struck me as a good ballplayer, someone you want on your team. Apparently I agree with Tito there but not on endless relief pitchers.

BA posts the top 20 CF prospects but somehow overlooks Tribe phenom Quentin Holmes, our top pick [2nd rounder, we didnt' have first round pick that year] in 2017.
Holmes received a signing bonus of $988,970 and has done absolutely nothing whatsoever to show it was worth it.

Brad Grant, the Indians' senior director of amateur scouting, said at the time of the Draft. "The big attraction with Quentin is his speed. He was kind a fixture out on the showcases this past summer and he actually set the [Perfect Game] nation 60-yard dash record with a 6.19 [seconds].
"He's a fun player to watch. He's a great person on and off the field."

I am sure he remains a great person off the field. On the field, not so impressive. His career numbers over 2 short season short stays due to injuries and a full year in Lake County are a slash line of 176/242/275. His great speed has resulted in 23 steals in 32 attempts. 228 strikeouts and 48 walks in 653 plate appearances. Showed a bit of power last summer with 6 homers.
Still only 20 and played in cold weather NYC high school so I suppose there's some theoretical possibility he will develop.

Being a sucker for 5 tool [or maybe 4 tool] outfielders, I have not given up on Holmes' fellow 2017 draftee, Johnnathan Rodriguez, who is making his own very slow progress, I think It counts as progress. Drafted in the 3rd round JRod was only 17 so not surprising that he spent 2 years in Arizona and his 3rd season in Mahoning Valley. At 20 I assume he'll be part of the otherwise dynamic group in Lake County this year [Valera, Rocchio, Bracho; joining Delgado and Lavastida and maybe Palacios as potential breakouts]

JRod walked a lot his first year; upped his average in his 2nd year; boosted his power in his 3rd summer. Maybe someday he can do well on all three measures. His 3 years:

250/381/333
294/370/406
247/318/424 and his final month was 263/307/495 with 13 extra base hits in 101 appearances.