Cleveland Sports Forum

BA posted its top 100 prospects yesterday. Before I saw the list I saw this item on 'just missed' which features two of ours and means only Lindor was on the top 100.

Indians outfielder Clint Frazier and Twins righthander Kohl Stewart both just missed because too many scouts who saw them this year were a little disappointed with how these 2013 first-round picks looked in their full-season debuts.

Another Indians’ outfielder, Bradley Zimmer, is a well-regarded 2014 first-round pick who could climb onto the list next year

They rate Lindor No. 9 which sounds pretty impressive, although there are 3 other shortstops ahead of him.

MLB just released their top prospect list and Lindor was #4.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/ ... =prospects

On Lindor they say:

Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 40 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 70 | Overall: 65

Lindor's rapid ascent through the Minor Leagues continued in 2014. The 20-year-old was the youngest player in the Eastern League on Opening Day and became the youngest position player in the International League after a midsummer promotion. Along the way, he played in his third consecutive All-Star Futures Game.

Lindor is an elite defensive shortstop, considered by many scouts to be the best defender in the Minor Leagues. He makes difficult plays seem routine thanks to his strong arm, impressive range and flashy glove work.

At the plate
Lindor consistently squares balls up and hits line drives to all fields. Power isn't a big part of his game, but he has the feel for hitting and the stength to drive balls out when given the opportunity.

In addition to his considerable tools, Lindor earns praise for his makeup. That combination has him on the cusp of the Major Leagues entering the 2015 season.

Frazier is No. 53.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 65 | Run: 50 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55

The Indians made Frazier the first high school position player selected in the 2013 Draft and he got a franchise-record $3.5 million signing bonus. His first full professional season got off to a rough start, but he was able to get back on track in the second half for Class A Lake County.

Frazier stands out most for his power, which his exceptional bat speed helps to create. With his power, however, comes a lot of strikeouts. He whiffed 161 times in 2014, the third most in the Midwest League, and he'll need to learn how to handle premium breaking balls as he advances in the Minor Leagues.


Defensively, Frazier has above-average speed and the Indians believe he can stay in center field. But the Tribe has stockpiled a large group of center field prospects, which could lead Frazier to eventually slide over to right field

[For those who don't care about strikeouts, does that quote perhaps explain why it might actually matter?]

Zimmer's brother is No. 58, but Brad doesn't make the 100.

Lindor may not be the answer at SS if his power number is that low. Major League pitching will eat him up. We already have a popcorn hitter in Ramirez.

Lindor = trade bait.

Yeah, Indians tried for years to find a taker for Omar but nobody would bite.

Just sayin'.... Lindor might be the only position player another team might be willing to give something up for. He has a lot of value, now, as long as they don't bring him up and he flops.

Baseball America Prospect Guide is out and in my mailbox. Tribe still rated with only the No. 23 farm system, down from No. 17 last year. "Francisco Lindor is the crown jewel of the farm system and could be in Cleveland after the all-star break. It's a top-heavy system which falls off quickly though, with four of their top 10 prospects members of a promising 2014 draft haul"

On the 20-80 grading school, Lindor is a 65 defined as "perennial all star"

Zimmer, Frazier and Sheffield are 60s "first-division regular" or "no 3 starter" although likelihood for each reaching that level is pretty uncertain at this point in their careers.

55 rating to Papi, Francisco Mejia and ss/3b Yu-Cheng Chang, but the latter two are again years from the majors.

50 rating which means "solid average regular" or No. 4 starter or good setup reliever" grades to CF Naquin, 1B Bobby Bradley, RHP Mitch Brown, 1b Nellie Rodriguez, RHP Dace Kime, LHP Luis Lugo, RHP Mike Clevinger [another of our pickups from the Angles, in Pestano deal], RHP Casey Shane. Of that bunch only Naquin has reached as high as AA.

All in all, they realistically rate the top of our farm system as pretty woeful and the bottom levels promising. Perhaps the system will be turning things around if the coaches can develop some quality talent.

No truth to the rumor that Cleveland uses the same scouts for Indians and Browns drafts.

Central Division foes' farm systems are rated:

Minnesota No. 2 with Byron Buxton rated No. 1 or 2 prospect in all of baseball; and Miguel Sano also in the top 15.
Kansas City No. 13 with many of their top prospects graduated in the majors but "continue to keep the pipeline filled"
Chicago No. 20 most promising with pitchers; and several swing and miss big hitters
Detroit No. 30 "hard to argue with Tigers' methods" i.e. shipping away prospects but there's little impact talent left

Other than outfielders forget the Indians farm system. The young players are all in the big leagues save Lindor and they are producing!

That is why we are shifting to more HS players. We finally have time to develop 18 yr old kids who will not be highly rated for years if at all......

I generally agree with that post. The one non-OF who is seriously impressive, but only age 19, is catcher Francisco Mejia.
I really would like to add some pitching depth. I'm sure that the draft will be pitcher heavy this year.

But none of that is to say that I won't be following these teams daily all spring and summer and looking for a breakthrough player or two pop up. I just think it's fun.