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2021 Minor League Thread

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Here is the MLB Pipeline list. Didn't notice too much (a few changes here or there from end of last year). Lavastida did make 29. And, they flipped McK and Freeman as #2/#3.


Surprised, they didn't make a few late movements especially Hentges as #27. Clase is #17 and Hentges has upside as starter. Gabriel Rodriquez dropped from 11 to 15 along w Angel Martinez. Lenny T was big mover up #29 to #12.
If Clase is our 17th best prospect, Bradley 20th, Daniel Johnson 21st, Logan Allen 25th and Anthony Gose and Nick Sandlin aren't even in the top 30 then I really love our farm system. Yesterday Tito was talking about Sandlin and said, "This kid has an extremely bright future."

Just listened to Hoynes' podcast and he was talking about how impressive Logan Allen has been and not just because he lost 35 pounds. His slider has improved and he had six K's in three innings his last outing. Hoynes said he is one of the "big stories of the camp".

If we have 16 better prospects than Clase then we're in for some fun times in the next few years.
 
If Clase is our 17th best prospect, Bradley 20th, Daniel Johnson 21st, Logan Allen 25th and Anthony Gose and Nick Sandlin aren't even in the top 30 then I really love our farm system. Yesterday Tito was talking about Sandlin and said, "This kid has an extremely bright future."

Just listened to Hoynes' podcast and he was talking about how impressive Logan Allen has been and not just because he lost 35 pounds. His slider has improved and he had six K's in three innings his last outing. Hoynes said he is one of the "big stories of the camp".

If we have 16 better prospects than Clase then we're in for some fun times in the next few years.

That's not the MLB Logan Allen, that is the guy we drafted last season. The older Logan Allen isn't prospect eligible like Andres Gimenez isn't, too much big league time.
 
Typically, prospects viewed as relievers dont get high rankings.

But if you compare the rankings of guys who are nothing but relievers...not starters who may end up in the pen...the top two names over the last two years have generally been Karinchak and Clase.

So, if you are talking about prospect rankings for back end, high leverage relievers, many evaluators think we have the top two in baseball.

The question is...how valuable are back end relievers? As we saw in 2016 and KC saw the two years previous, pretty darned valuable.

An elite bullpen can cover up a myriad of weaknesses on a baseball team.
 
Typically, prospects viewed as relievers dont get high rankings.

But if you compare the rankings of guys who are nothing but relievers...not starters who may end up in the pen...the top two names over the last two years have generally been Karinchak and Clase.

So, if you are talking about prospect rankings for back end, high leverage relievers, many evaluators think we have the top two in baseball.

The question is...how valuable are back end relievers? As we saw in 2016 and KC saw the two years previous, pretty darned valuable.

An elite bullpen can cover up a myriad of weaknesses on a baseball team.
IDK about top this or best that.. Ranking systems are more of a baseball tourist type thing & not really what the true baseball fans and in depth baseball people think..

It's a certainty that a guy who spins a baseball at 3400 RPMs while chucking that seed at 999 mph is going to get the press.. but take the guys, the two guys you're talking about, Clase and Karinchak.. perhaps add two or six others who can get outs.. that's what's important.. but, make no mistake.. this is going to be a phenomenal pen. Teams won't want to fall behind at the 5th inning.. or, what the opponents are going to call it: "....in the late going..."
 
I usually pay attention to two sources...fangraphs and Sickels.

For me, the rest is noise...fun to read, but...
 
Bullpens are so volatile...year to year and month to month...but we seemingly have more answers ( with exclamation points) than we do questions.
 
I usually pay attention to two sources...fangraphs and Sickels.

For me, the rest is noise...fun to read, but...
Too bad Sickels has hung it up (regarding minor league prospects)..
He was someone I enjoyed reading & getting info from...
 
I was not a happy camper when Sickles departed for a pay site.

IMO he was the most thoughtful and accurate.
 
With all the bantering about roster choices I decided to look for some positives on the farm. That led me to realizing that there are 3 special hitters that could start the season in Columbus and likely be on the 26 man in 22. Jones, Freeman, and Miller make it look like our offensive woes could be short lived. If Gimenez can continue to hit well, and J. Naylor start to realize his prospect hype the the 2022 lineup could be loaded. By then Rosario should be well adjusted to CF or traded and hopefully Bradley has established himself. We'll still have Reyes and Hernandez if they choose to pick up his option, and we'll have Ramirez or the haul he'll garner by next offseason.

This is being a little aggressive, but Bo Naylor could surge through the minors after watching him this spring. I like his bat much better than Josh's and he looks as if he's become quite the C. Imagine that! A catcher that can hit well.
 
Bo Naylor certainly looks interesting. Without Covid, he might have gotten a few end of the season games in Akron, and start there this year.

The Indians have had three offensive catching prospects in the last twenty years...Victor, Santana, and Mejia. All were switch hitters and absolutely assaulted minor league pitching...esp Santana. All were at least top 15 prospects. But they weren't real aggressive with any of them.

Victor got a Sept call up at age 23, without playing AAA. The next season he was called up in the second half, became the starter at age 25.

Santana was called up at age 24 in the second half after playing in AAA, and took over as the starter at age 25.

Mejia got a Sept call up at age 21 without ever playing in AAA. He played AAA the next season before being traded to the Padres. He has bounced between MLB and AAA since then.

Naylor looks good, but he isn't close to being in their class yet. An aggressive push might mean a Sept call up next year, but probably 2023.
 
With all the bantering about roster choices I decided to look for some positives on the farm. That led me to realizing that there are 3 special hitters that could start the season in Columbus and likely be on the 26 man in 22. Jones, Freeman, and Miller make it look like our offensive woes could be short lived. If Gimenez can continue to hit well, and J. Naylor start to realize his prospect hype the the 2022 lineup could be loaded. By then Rosario should be well adjusted to CF or traded and hopefully Bradley has established himself. We'll still have Reyes and Hernandez if they choose to pick up his option, and we'll have Ramirez or the haul he'll garner by next offseason.

This is being a little aggressive, but Bo Naylor could surge through the minors after watching him this spring. I like his bat much better than Josh's and he looks as if he's become quite the C. Imagine that! A catcher that can hit well.
After Dolan stated that the team lost "tens of millions" of dollars due to the pandemic and it will take "years" to get back to where they were financially, I think this will be the last season for Eddie Rosario, Cesar Hernandez, Austin Hedges, and possibly Jose Ramirez.

By not resigning Rosario, Hernandez and Hedges the Indians would take $16.3 million off the payroll. Rosario would be replaced by Nolan Jones or Daniel Johnson unless Johnson ends up starting in center. Hernandez would be replaced by Owen Miller or Tyler Freeman. Hedges would be replaced by Bo Naylor.

As for Hosey, he's due to make $12 million next year. If they think Freeman is ready to take over at second they could move Miller to third or put Nolan Jones there. Heck, Amed Rosario could be moved to third if somebody else seizes the center field job. Hosey would be traded with two years and $26 million left on his contract for a windfall of pitching prospects. And the payroll would have been reduced by over $25 million.

I could see a lineup something like this:

C Perez/Naylor
1B Bradley
2B Freeman or Miller
SS Gimenez or Arias
3B Jones
RF Johnson
CF A. Rosario
LF Naylor

The starters would be Bieber, Plesac, Civale, McKenzie and Quantrill or Allen. The bullpen would be Karinchak, Clase, Wittgren, Maton, Sandlin, and TBD. The farm system would be packed with pitching.
 
Bo Naylor certainly looks interesting. Without Covid, he might have gotten a few end of the season games in Akron, and start there this year.

The Indians have had three offensive catching prospects in the last twenty years...Victor, Santana, and Mejia. All were switch hitters and absolutely assaulted minor league pitching...esp Santana. All were at least top 15 prospects. But they weren't real aggressive with any of them.

Victor got a Sept call up at age 23, without playing AAA. The next season he was called up in the second half, became the starter at age 25.

Santana was called up at age 24 in the second half after playing in AAA, and took over as the starter at age 25.

Mejia got a Sept call up at age 21 without ever playing in AAA. He played AAA the next season before being traded to the Padres. He has bounced between MLB and AAA since then.

Naylor looks good, but he isn't close to being in their class yet. An aggressive push might mean a Sept call up next year, but probably 2023.

Hence why I think we will keep Roberto and Hedges together next season. Naylor on paper isn't ready at the start of the season at least to be in the pros and we still have to develop a backup as well, Rainer and Lavastida seem to be good candidates also but they haven't really gotten AA bats yet.

@Wham with the Right Hand I think we will stay in 22 near the level of salary we have this season plus we may stay with that salary in 23 as well since we can field a full team near that level. In 24 we can definitely raise again I would guess. If we have a legit chance though in the next few seasons, they will add some payroll (but not a lot) to make sure we have a legit shot. With most of the guys not even in arbitration in 22 and 23, we won't have a very expensive team for the amount of talent we have.
 
After Dolan stated that the team lost "tens of millions" of dollars due to the pandemic and it will take "years" to get back to where they were financially, I think this will be the last season for Eddie Rosario, Cesar Hernandez, Austin Hedges, and possibly Jose Ramirez.

By not resigning Rosario, Hernandez and Hedges the Indians would take $16.3 million off the payroll. Rosario would be replaced by Nolan Jones or Daniel Johnson unless Johnson ends up starting in center. Hernandez would be replaced by Owen Miller or Tyler Freeman. Hedges would be replaced by Bo Naylor.

As for Hosey, he's due to make $12 million next year. If they think Freeman is ready to take over at second they could move Miller to third or put Nolan Jones there. Heck, Amed Rosario could be moved to third if somebody else seizes the center field job. Hosey would be traded with two years and $26 million left on his contract for a windfall of pitching prospects. And the payroll would have been reduced by over $25 million.

I could see a lineup something like this:

C Perez/Naylor
1B Bradley
2B Freeman or Miller
SS Gimenez or Arias
3B Jones
RF Johnson
CF A. Rosario
LF Naylor

The starters would be Bieber, Plesac, Civale, McKenzie and Quantrill or Allen. The bullpen would be Karinchak, Clase, Wittgren, Maton, Sandlin, and TBD. The farm system would be packed with pitching.
Everything you say here Wham seems reasonable, but I just don't have a grasp on the pulse of this team right now and many decisions will be determined by factors that have yet to be revealed.

One thing I am confident in saying is that they are headed for a MIF logjam in short order. Maybe Miller takes over 3B next season. Maybe Rosario can transform himself into a good CF. Even if those things happen the depth goes much deeper than that.

I don't think Jones will ever play 3B, but maybe I'm wrong.
 

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