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2020 Minor League Thread

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Top 10 for Cleveland Indians Baseball Prospectus (2020)

  1. George Valera
  2. Nolan Jones
  3. Brayan Rocchio
  4. James Karinchak
  5. Daniel Espino
  6. Emmanuel Clase
  7. Logan Allen
  8. Ethan Hankins
  9. Daniel Johnson
  10. Bo Naylor
Is Triston McKenzie damaged good?
 
Personal top 10, to wash the stench off from that list:

1. George Valera
2. Nolan Jones
3. Triston McKenzie
4. Tyler Freeman
5. Bo Naylor
6. Ethan Hankins
7. Daniel Espino
8. Brayan Rocchio
9. Logan Allen
10. Gabby Rodriquez

Next 5 would be a combo of Aaron Bracho, Daniel Johnson, Lenny Torres, Sam Hentges, and Luis Oviedo.

Not going to count homegrown guys who've had MLB service time or project to open at the MLB level, hence no Bradley, Chang, Karinchak, and Clase.
 
I love Valera's potential, but can he at least do something before he is anointed our top prospect? I don't see how the top 2 are not Nolan followed by Freeman
 
Is Triston McKenzie damaged good?

For me, yes, but that wouldn't remove him from my top 10, probably around 5, give or take a spot. Potential is still there if he gets healthy.
 
I love Valera's potential, but can he at least do something before he is anointed our top prospect? I don't see how the top 2 are not Nolan followed by Freeman
He had a 142 wRC+ in short-season A as an 18-year-old. That's pretty damn impressive.

That's kind of what makes Bracchio and Bracho guys to watch as well. Anybody who produces above rookie ball as an 18-year-old is worth paying attention to.
 
My Top 10:

1. Nolan Jones - 3B

Elevating him above Freeman for a few reasons, patience and power. At mid-season I had him just behind Freeman, but Jones continued strong in the second half and showed off that he may just stick at 3B in the long-term, which makes him quite a bit more valuable IMO.

The approach is fantastic, walk rate stayed strong at a higher level at almost 15%. Hits to all fields, and was among the leaders in Line Drive %.

Long-term questions, can he stick at 3B and will his BB rate remain a constant at the higher levels. If so, Jones has All-Star potential.

If he can't stick at 3B, I'd likely move him down to #3 on this list.


2. George Valera - OF

Think the swing mechanics and potential are just too much not to put him at the top. The purity of his swing is awesome, and he backed it up with strong performance in SS ball (142 wRC+, 15% BB rate)

HR per FlyBall rate is elite, still swings and misses a bit too much but as that swing and approach improve it shouldn't be a prohibitive issue moving forward.

His only long-term concern is health. He's shown the ability to get dinged up easily and often, and the only negative of his performance thus far is an inability to be available consistently.

Interested to see if they'll continue with him in CF or move him to a corner, I'd guess he winds up in RF eventually, and I'd like to see more of his arm to know whether or not he figures there long term.

Starts in full-season ball (Lake County) in 2020, lets see how it goes. If he crushes and stays healthy, he should be a Top 10 MLB prospect next year.


3. Tyler Freeman - INF

Going to take him down her based on a less than ideal 3% walk rate and .078 ISO after his promotion to Lynchburg. There is clear need for improvement in his patience and body type before I start proclaiming him the next GOAT.

His bat to ball skills are beyond elite, his makeup is elite, his feel for hitting is elite. His body needs to take the next step and get stronger, quicker to the ball and add some lift. The power has to come, and I think it will as he gets older.

He profiles so similar to Alex Bregman, who spent a could years at LSU before REALLY turning on the power as he got to age 21-22. If Freeman is able to incorporate some power into his game, I truly do believe he is a Hall of Fame caliber talent.


4. Bo Naylor - C

Really started to show a more advanced feel for hitting in the back half of the season, with an OPS over .800 in each of the last two months. Indians really rave about his prowess behind the plate, and he's absolutely got the athleticism to be an elite defensive catcher going forward.

That makes him incredibly valuable, IMO. For a team whose organizational philosophy is tremendous faith in off-speed pitches and catchers who possess elite mental processing/game-calling, Naylor is a key cog in this organizations future.

Long-term concerns include any further spread between his K/BB rate. Both went in the wrong direction as he moved up a level last season, I'll be seeing if those improve to judge how he's performing as an offensive talent. Should begin the year and spend the full-season at Lynchburg.


5. Ethan Hankins - RHP

Young Hankenstein

Gets the nod over McKenzie because of his potential as a true workhorse and body type. Hankins has one of the best fastball/curveball combos in the minor leagues. Big time run on the FB which is up to 98, big hump on the curve and really will remind you of Verlander at times.

Long-term questions about his health and third pitch will persist and tell the story. His changeup has become something of a weapon but is not quite plus IMO. In high school he used a slider, I'd be surprised if he didn't try to bring that back at some point as he rises up.

Big potential, bigger questions. If he answers them, he's potentially a future Ace.


6. Triston McKenzie - RHP

Much like Hankins, health questions abound. Missed all of 2019 with various ailments, mostly his back.

Wiry, lean frame don't hold up well when thinking about his long-term future, but he's still so young that there is hope to grow out of it.

When he's healthy, he's an advanced RHP with a plus arsenal and doesn't get hit very hard. Excited to see him in 2020, may start out in Lynchburg or Akron depending on how healthy he is and what they want to do with him in his return.

7. Logan Allen - LHP

People forget this guy can pitch because he has really struggled with his command over the last year. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he can right the ship, because he's still only 22 with big league experience.

His walk rate jumped up once he got promoted from Double-A, has struggled with it since. Really needs to take that final leap, but presents a good opportunity to be a long-term workhorse with a good mix of good pitches.

Best pitch is a plus changeup that doesn't work as well if he can't command the fastball. The Indians have a history of getting pitchers to trust their stuff and work off the fastball to set hitters up, I like them to right the ship.


8. Daniel Espino - RHP

Another impressive young righty with big stuff and questions about his long-term viability. Had some injury issues in HS, but jumped onto the scene LY with a big K rate and showed that hitters really struggle to find contact.

True four pitch mix that he seems to have a good early feel for and should be able to keep throughout the minor leagues. Changeup is the worst, but his arm action makes me think he can find that eventually.

Big ceiling, big questions. Pretty constant theme with the RHP in this list.


9. Gabriel Rodriguez - INF

Made his US debut this year and flashed his future potential at just 17, pretty rare dude from a tools perspective.

I've said before that I think he has the most potential of any Indians RHH since Manny Ramirez, and I truly do believe it. Biggest off-season questions were whether or not he could get bigger and stronger entering 2020. He'll open the season with short-season ball when it begins in early June. I'd guess the AZL, but they could send him to Mahoning Valley if he blows them away this spring.


10. Brayan Rocchio - SS

One of slickest defenders at SS for any level, he's a future plus starter there. Switch hitter, flashes offensive potential with power despite his slender frame.

I think he's currently the best of the young middle infielders the Indians have accumulated (Bracho, Valdes, Cairo, etc.), but must perform or he could get passed by the next wave (Rodriguez, Angel Martinez).

He'll open the season in full-season ball for the first time, and should be one of the more exciting prospects in Lake County along with Valera and Bracho (who will likely play 2B).



Just missed:
SS Angel Martinez
2B Aaron Bracho
1B Bobby Bradley
OF Daniel Johnson
SS/2B Ernie Clement
 
I love Valera's potential, but can he at least do something before he is anointed our top prospect? I don't see how the top 2 are not Nolan followed by Freeman

I mean, you just hit it why he’s so high. Potential is such a huge part of looking at prospects.

Valera has the highest offensive potential as a prospect that this organization has seen for maybe 3 decades.
 
In the handful of games I watched in Akron last year, Nolan Jones was very stiff and slow at the hot corner. More so than Lonnie Chisenhall.
 
There was an interesting article last weekend on Rocchio in Fangraphs with some insight shared by Chernoff:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-brayan-rocchio-isnt-francisco-lindor-at-least-not-yet/


Who will man the shortstop position for the Indians once the Francisco Lindor era is over? That largely depends on when Cleveland’s best player moves on, but the down-the-road answer could very well be Brayan Rocchio. The 18-year-old switch-hitter came into last season ranked No.4 on our Indians Top Prospects list.
Borrowing a boxing term, Rocchio punched above his weight in 2019. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds, he slashed a wholly respectable .250/.310/.373 for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the short-season New York-Penn League. Stateside for the first time, the Caracas, Venezuela native put up those numbers against pitchers typically several years his senior.

Moreover, he did so as a comparable flyweight. With that in mind, I asked Indians GM Mike Chernoff just how impactful Rocchio’s bat can ultimately be, given his whippet-like frame.
“We have a lot of young international players who, when we signed them, were sort of undersized,” said Chernoff. “He’s one of those guys. But we see a ton of potential in his bat-to-ball ability, and in his defensive capabilities. He’s also held his own while super young for his level, and to us that’s a huge indicator of future success. We feel that as Brayan matures, as his body gets stronger and can handle the demands of a full season, he has a chance to be an impact guy.”
But again, just how impactful? While Rocchio’s physique will almost certainly fill out, he’ll be doing so from a 150-pound baseline. That’s water-bug territory, not future-thumper. Right?
“Francisco Lindor. Jose Ramirez. We’ve heard the same things on a lot of our middle infielders when they were coming up,” countered Chernoff. “When you’re that young, and playing against guys who are three, four year older, scouts often go in and say, ‘Oh, he doesn’t have that impact.’ But once the player catches up in terms of his physical maturity, he has a chance to be… I mean, nobody ever thought Jose and Frankie would hit 30 or 40 home runs. Both guys grew into their bodies, and their physical skills developed. They ended up having that impact.”

Which isn’t to say that Rocchio will do the same. As bullish as he is on the promising young shortstop, Chernoff was by no means predicting 30-bomb seasons. As he pointed out, Rocchio has a lot of development in front of him. Even so, one can always dream. Could Rocchio one day grow into an offensive force, perhaps as Lindor’s successor?
“I think he’s probably close to what Frankie was when we first signed him (at age 17),” said Chernoff. “I couldn’t give you the exact physical comparison — Frankie was maybe a little bigger — but with any of these young players you’re going see a lot of growth and maturity in their first few years of pro ball. There’s a lot of projecting involved, but we like [Rocchio] a lot.”
 
He had a 142 wRC+ in short-season A as an 18-year-old. That's pretty damn impressive.

That's kind of what makes Bracchio and Bracho guys to watch as well. Anybody who produces above rookie ball as an 18-year-old is worth paying attention to.
He also has a total of 1/3 of a season under his belt.

Like I said, I am very much high on him and love his potential, however, that doesn't automatically make him the best prospect in our system, he needs more time for that.
 
All I have to say is our A ball team looks ridiculously good! Our talent at A ball is making the 2022/23 season looking really good! We may not have Lindor then, but at least we shouldn’t have a long period of rebuilding at the end of the day.
 

Indians just brought in Lefty Gunner Ledger and Catcher Yojhan Quevedo




Gunner Leger LHP University of Louisiana-Lafayette Wareham
Entering the game in the Bottom of the 2nd, Leger immediately caught my attention for his “80” name and prototypical 6-3 200lbs pitcher’s frame. Leger retired the side 1-2-3, needing only 10 pitches to get those 3 outs. In this brief outing, Leger showed his entire 3-pitch arsenal, featuring a 90-93mph fastball with arm-side movement, a 79mph changeup with excellent arm speed and a sweeping 77mph slider with some tilt. With excellent size and the potential for 3 average or better offerings, Leger profiles as an easy top-100 selection next summer.

that was a scouting report from 2016 I found for ledger. He declared he was going to go back to college in 17, Marlins drafted him anyways to convince him not to, but my guess was he got hurt since he missed all of 18, and pitched 30 innings in 19 and wasnt drafted again. This is an interesting signing to me since he was a lot higher ranked at one point than he went in 17 and went undrafted in 19.

Quevedo has gotten released twice in the minors but is a catcher and had a good showing in the winter ball.

Probably both guys report to A ball, just interesting to see these signings actually make MlbTradeRumors when they are so minor lol
 

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