Cleveland Sports Forum

Last week's transactions:
Cleveland Indians

Signed:
RHP Clayton Cook (re-signed),
2B Bryan Brito (released by Mariners, Sept. 29) [22 year old never out of LowA; Career OPS of 538]

Why wasn't Urshula on the top prospect list that was published a couple of posts ago?

Perhaps Top Prospect Alert agrees with Tony's summary ?!?!?!

Tony Awards Article

Giovanny Urshela, 3B
128 G, .280 AVG (136-for-485), 78 R, 36 2B, 6 3B, 18 HR, 84 RBI, 36 BB, 67 K, 1 SB, .825 OPS

Urshela opened the season as the IBI’s #36 ranked prospect, but he is no stranger to the Top 25 as he placed in there going into the 2011 and 2013 seasons. There is no doubt that he will once again be in the Top 25 next year and should get strong consideration for the Top 10. He finished 4th in the organization in home runs and 2nd in RBI, and among full season players was in the top 10 in batting average. His defensive play has always been superb and he has always shown a good ability to make consistent contact and avoid strikeouts, but this season he finally put it all together offensively with an improved approach which resulted in more walks and a spike in his power. He’s no doubt the heir apparent to third base in Cleveland.

Lou!

In 2012, Jose Ramirez was not even ranked on Tony's top 100 prospect board.

In 2013, Ramirez made the unprecedented leap from un-ranked to #4.

Two reasons for that ranking, a great summer and an even greater performance during winter ball. He had an outstanding year.

My thought is that if Urshela continues his remarkable success to date, I can see him jumping from #36 to the top 5 next year on Tony's board. I think he may be opening a lot of eyes right now.

JOEZ- I hope so we could use the defense!

Urshela's solid hitting continues into the fall. Joe will now jump on my Giovanny bandwagon.

CLE AFL Lindor, Francisco SS 4 1 3 0 .300 2B (3), SB (2)
CLE AFL Smith, Jordan LF 3 1 0 0 .238 BB (3), SB (1)
CLE DL Naquin, Tyler CF 5 0 0 0 .125
CLE VL Urshela, Giovanny 3B 5 2 4 2 .435
CLE AFL Sides, Grant 2 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 [reliever having a good October]

His performance to date has been some kind of special, Civ. All he has to do is continue making good contact and controlling his walks to strikeouts ratio.

Year of improvement across Tribe minor-league system

Joe Reedy FOX Sports Ohio

OCT 21, 2014 1:45p ET

Going into the season, the Indians farm system was ranked by many to be in the bottom half of the Majors. After having four teams make the playoffs, including one championship, those rankings should improve.

"With the progress that guys made and the additions through the draft and trades this has really been one of the better years I can remember in awhile," said Vice President of Player Development Ross Atkins. "We have a lot more depth and balance than we had a year ago."

In a year that saw 11 rookies on the major-league roster, Columbus and Akron both advanced to the playoffs while Lake County reached the Midwest League championship. The Arizona Rookie League team won their title.

During the organization's end-of-season press conference, General Manager Chris Antonetti did acknowledge that the Indians are better positioned with prospects in the system if they wanted to make a trade in the offseason.

"We have the depth now. It's an area where we have made steady progress over the past three years and want to continue on that path," Antonetti said. "We have the players to make a meaningful trade if that is the way we want to go."

POSTSEASON TEAMS

Columbus: The Clippers won the West Division in the International League and advanced to the playoffs for the third time in five years before losing to Durham in four games in the semifinals.

On May 30, Columbus trailed by 8 1/2 games but went 51-34 the rest of the way as Indianapolis faltered. The Clippers were sixth in the IL in batting average (.261) but second in RBI (635) and third in home runs (121). The pitchers had the sixth-lowest ERA at 3.71 but had the largest run differential in the league, scoring 87 more runs than they allowed.

2014 INDIANS A TO Z

Joe Reedy reviews the Indians 2014 season

Jesus Aguilar batted .304 in Columbus and was ranked fourth in the IL in RBI (77) and fifth in home runs (19).

Akron: The RubberDucks finished second in the Western Division and lost their semifinal series to Richmond in four games.

The RubberDucks occupied either first or second in the division from April 27th through the end of the regular season, and despite going just 25-34 over the final two months of the season.

Akron was sixth in the league in hitting (.261) and seventh in ERA (3.98). They were tied with Richmond for fewest homers (74) but had the league's best fielding percentage at .982.

Lake County: The Captains were 65-74 in the regular season but claimed one of the wild card spots by going 38-31 in the second half. They would advance to the Midwest League championship series before being swept 3-0 by Kane County. Lake County led the league in home runs with 119 but was near the bottom in batting average (11th, .246() and ERA (14th, 4.28).

Arizona League: The Indians had the best-regular season record at 37-16 and defeated the Giants to win the AZL Championship. The Indians strung together three winning streaks of at least five games, including a 12-game streak from Aug. 7-22.

The Indians led the league in team batting average (.269), slugging pct. (.400), and on-base percentage (.345). The pitching staff recorded 37 wins (1st), a 3.51 ERA (2nd) and a league-best 19 saves.

LINDOR'S PROGRESS

Francisco Lindor began the season in Akron before being promoted to Columbus on July 22. In 126 games, he batted .276 with 31 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs, 62 RBI, 75 runs scored and 28 stolen bases, which was third most in the organization.

At the age of 20, Lindor was the youngest player in the International League. Atkins remarked that it was pretty incredible to see how teammates and opponents reacted around him.

"His performance was great but more encouraging was to see the passion and work ethic," Atkins said. "We just want to gage his workload and make sure we're not spiking it. Make sure he is challenged and also not feel like he is in over his head. What is best to make him feel the best he can be?"

Lindor is in the Arizona Fall League and will be in the major-league camp when Spring Training begins. Whether or not he takes over as the Indians' shortstop or sees more time with the Clippers is one of the biggest questions of the offseason. With the emergence of Jose Ramirez, Lindor doesn't have to be rushed up to the majors.

Said Antonetti: "Ramirez and Lindor are not necessarily intertwined. We're trying to look at what is best for his (Lindor's) development. Anyone can come up to the Majors but are they ready to succeed? He had a great year developmentally. He had some challenges in Triple-A he was working through."

In nine Arizona Fall League games, Lindor is batting .300 with a home run, three RBI and a stolen base.

KLUBER'S CASE

After a phenomenal season, Indians starter Corey Kluber is a top candidate for the AL Cy Young award

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

The 2014 Draft class is off to a great start. First-round pick Bradley Zimmer hit .304 at Mahoning Valley before finishing the year with Lake County. Fellow first-round pick Justice Sheffield was in the Arizona League and was regularly throwing 96 miles per hour with his fastball.

The one who might have stood out the most though is third-round pick Bobby Bradley, who led the organization in hitting with a .361 average and also led the Arizona League in RBI with 50.

"We haven't seen players come into an organization and make an impact like Zimmer and Bradley in awhile," Atkins said. "The last player that neared Bobby Bradley's performance in the minors was Manny Ramirez."

ELSEWHERE IN THE SYSTEM

Carolina: The Mudcats were 62-74 and finished in third place in the Carolina league Southern Division. They led the league in batting average (.263) and were third in ERA (3.89), Ryan Merritt led the organization in ERA (2.58) and was second in wins with 13.

Mahoning Valley: The Scrappers went 33-42 in the New York-Penn League. Zimmer's development was the most noteworthy thing.

MOVING ON

The Indians announced in September that their Carolina League affiliate would move to Lynchburg (Va.). The Indians had been affiliated with the Mudcats since 1987 when the franchise was in Kinston, NC.

"We're excited to stay in the Carolina League and work with a new group that shares our visions and values," Atkins said.

in case someone scrolled, don't miss these comments ...

"Fellow first-round pick Justice Sheffield was in the Arizona League and was regularly throwing 96 miles per hour with his fastball.

The one who might have stood out the most though is third-round pick Bobby Bradley, who led the organization in hitting with a .361 average and also led the Arizona League in RBI with 50.

"We haven't seen players come into an organization and make an impact like Zimmer and Bradley in awhile," Atkins said. "The last player that neared Bobby Bradley's performance in the minors was Manny Ramirez."

No wonder Baseball America rated Indians' draft class as the best after the season. Let's hope that the group progresses up the system successfully. It's still a long way from Goodyear, Niles and Eastlake to downtown Cleveland.

Tuesday notes:

CLE AFL Lindor, Francisco DH 4 0 1 0 .295 CS (2)
CLE AFL Wolters, Tony C 3 0 0 0 .143 [40 man roster?]
CLE DL Rodriguez, Ronny PR 0 1 0 0 -- [must be hurt, he hasn't batted once yet]
CLE VL Rodriguez, Ramon 2 1 0 0 1 2 1.23 W (2 - 0) [5-11 20 year old RH, hasn't done much in summer ball: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minor ... drig011ram]

Wednesday boring report from winter leagues:

CLE AFL Lindor, Francisco SS 4 0 1 0 .292
CLE AFL Smith, Jordan RF 4 0 1 1 .239
CLE DL Naquin, Tyler CF 3 0 1 0 .182
CLE DL Rodriguez, Ronny PR-2B 0 0 0 0 --
CLE VL Monsalve, Alex C 3 1 0 0 .273 BB
CLE AFL Maronde, Nick 1.1 6 4 4 0 1 12.91 [on occasion he's not terrible; he's holding a spot on the 40 man roster, for now]
CLE DL Paredes, Edward 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00
CLE VL Marquina, Yoiber 1 2 1 1 0 1 9.00

CLE AFL Lindor, Francisco SS 4 0 0 0 .269 [he's stopped hitting]
CLE DL Valerio, Charlie PH 1 0 0 0 .000
CLE VL Padron, Raul DH 1 0 0 1 .000
CLE VL Urshela, Giovanny 3B 4 0 2 0 .440 [just can't stop hitting]
CLE AFL Head, Louis 1 3 0 0 1 1 3.38
CLE DL Tejeda, Enosil 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 0.00

Friday in the Sun:

CLE AFL Smith, Jordan LF 3 1 3 2 .286 2B (3), CS (2)
CLE AFL Wolters, Tony C 3 2 1 0 .167 2 BB (3)
CLE DL Naquin, Tyler CF 4 1 1 1 .200
CLE VL Aguilar, Jesus 1B 3 1 1 2 .333 2B (1)
CLE VL Padron, Raul DH 3 0 2 0 .286 BB (1)
CLE VL Urshela, Giovanny 3B 5 1 2 1 .436
CLE AFL Baker, Dylan 0.1 3 4 4 3 0 12.46
CLE AFL Sides, Grant 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00
CLE DL Arias, Gabirel 0.1 0 1 0 1 0 5.40 L (0 - 1)
CLE DL Paredes, Edward 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 L (0 - 1)
CLE VL Araujo, Elvis 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Tribe deals utility man Sellers to Pirates

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 9:15 AM ET

CLEVELAND --

The Indians cleared a spot on their roster on Saturday, trading utility man Justin Sellers to the Pirates in exchange for cash considerations.

The move with Sellers, who spent most of this past season with Triple-A Columbus, reduces Cleveland's 40-man roster to 38 players, as the club prepares for offseason maneuvering. The presence of the versatile Zach Walters, along with the possibility that Cleveland will exercise utility man Mike Aviles' $3.5 million club option for 2015, made Sellers expendable.

If retained, Aviles can provide the Indians with a veteran reserve option at shortstop, second and third base, as well as all three outfield positions. Walters, who was acquired at the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline last summer, can play multiple infield and outfield positions, as well. Up the middle, Aviles and Walters are behind shortstop Jose Ramirez and second baseman Jason Kipnis on the depth chart.

The Indians acquired the 28-year-old Sellers from the Dodgers in March to add a versatile utility player to the depth chart. In his professional career, Sellers has played mostly shortstop, but he has experience at second base, third base and the corner outfield spots. With Cleveland in 2014, Sellers appeared in seven games at second, six at short and four at third.

Sellers, who hit .188 in 17 games with Cleveland last year, has hit just .198 in parts of four Major League seasons spent with the Dodgers and Indians. In 102 games with Columbus this past season, he posted a .254/.307/.335 slash line -- with three home runs, 18 doubles, 31 runs and 40 RBIs for the Clippers.

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, and follow him on Twitter @MLBastian. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

By Staff Report

October 25, 2014

Here are the free agents in the entire Cleveland Indians organization from the major league roster on down through the minors.

Major League Free Agents

Position players: Jason Giambi (DH)

The Indians also have only one non-tender candidate, catcher/infielder Chris Gimenez, and he looks certain to be non-tendered. If a player is non-tendered he becomes a free agent.

Minor League Free Agents

Pitchers: Elvis Araujo (LHP), Gabriel Arias (RHP), Matt Capps(RHP), Tyler Cloyd (RHP), Clayton Cook (RHP)**, Kyle Davies (RHP), Trey Haley (RHP), Mark Lowe (RHP),Shaun Marcum (RHP), Adam Miller (RHP), J.C. Ramirez (RHP),

Catchers: Dusty Brown, Luke Carlin, Matt Colantonio, Alex Monsalve, Chris Wallace

Infielders: Adam Abraham, Russell Branyan, Audy Ciriaco, David Cooper, Elliot Johnson, Bryan LaHair,Jaime Pedroza, Ryan Rohlinger

Outfielders: Matt Carson, Tim Fedroff, Ollie Linton

** - resigned