I think Jay’s theory #2 (our scouting is mediocre) of why Cleveland is where it is seems to make the most sense. To take it even further, I’m not sure that the Shapiro regime has been very successful in Latin America

Using Retrosheet, these are the only amateur free agents we have signed since 2001 to make the big leagues:

Argenis Reyes, Edward Mujica, Rafael Perez

My understanding is that Retrosheet only has this information for guys that made it to the big leagues so I can't tell how many guys we signed in those years, only that these are the only players to make it.

Raffy was a valuable member of the pen for two years, but this can't be the kind of production one wants to see. Granted, there is a bit of a lag here as most of these guys are signed when they are 16 so the oldest would be somewhere around 24. Interestingly enough, however, these three guys were all older than 16 when they signed.

In the pipeline, Hector Rondon, probably our best Latin American prospect signed in 2004.  Jeanmar Gomez and Kelvin De La Cruz, assuming they signed when they were 16 were also from the 2004 class. Another fairly prominent prospect, Carlos Rivero signed in 2005. Abner Abreu and Alexander Perez are still a little far away for me to start thinking too much about.

Looking at this, the question is what happened in 2001 (transition year), 2002 and 2003? I’m not sure if they spent a bunch of money and missed or they decided not to spend much in the region. And what about the guys in the pipeline, how much better are they? The problem is, when it comes to Latin America, there is so much that I don’t know. I have no idea how much money it cost to sign these guys, how much money we have spent total, how much comparative to other teams, etc.

In case anyone was wondering, Fausto, Victor, and Jhonny were all signed prior to Shapiro taking over. The other Latin American players, on the team and in the minors, were all received in trades.

I made this a fanpost as the last thread was way too long for my internet connection.

AL Central Recap-May

Sorry, the data is a couple days old and this isn’t incredibly well-researched. My internet connection, currently, is impossibly slow. Hopefully, some of you still find it worthwhile.  For what it’s worth, I like the Twins to take the division with about 85 wins, couple games ahead of the Tigers.

 Detroit Tigers (28-22)

The Offense (256 Runs Scored, 8th in league, .337 OBP, 8th, .422 Slugging, 9th)

Storylines: Brandon Inge, after a torrid April, is back to hitting like Brandon Inge. The offense is decidedly mediocre. Maybe Ordonez heats up and maybe Guillen gets healthy.

The Pitching (216 Runs Allowed, 1st in the league, 350 K, 7th, 166 BB, 5th)

Storylines: A quick and dirty look at the numbers would suggest that the Tigers are due for some regression on the pitching side as the results far outpace their peripherals. Verlander had a superior month. After only two months, the Edwin Jackson trade is paying giant dividends. Rick Porcello is 20. What he’s doing is nothing short of incredible.

Chicago White Sox (25-26)

The Offense (218 Runs Scored, 11th in the league, .324 OBP, 12th, .396 Slugging, 12th)

Storylines: Carlos Quentin has hit the DL with Plantar Fascitis. Josh Fields is struggling at the plate and is not a noted gloveman, either. Coincidentally, Gordon Beckham has played some third since moving up to AAA, though he could easily replace Getz as well. The three old sluggers are the extent of the offense.

The Pitching (228 Runs Allowed, 2nd in the league, 347 K, 8th, 170 BB, 7th)

                Storylines: Jake Peavy had his choice of becoming a member of the rotation and he decided in the negative. Danks and Floyd are struggling to repeat their breakout campaigns of last year. Mark Buehrle continues to take the ball every 5th game, work deep into games, and prevent runs at a better than average clip.

Minnesota Twins (26-27)

The Offense (261 Runs Scored, 7th in the league, .347 OBP, 6th, .430 Slugging, 7th)

Storylines: Joe Mauer is back, oh boy is he back. Justin Morneau, while not as good as his MVP voting totals would suggest, is a very good ballplayer. He never gets hurt. Kubel and Span , and Cuddyer (when healthy) have complimented the Big 2 nicely when healthy.

The Pitching (254 Runs Allowed, 10th in the league, 311 K, 12th, 147 BB, 1st)

                Storylines: The struggles here are surprising. Liriano just can’t seem to find it. Kevin Slowey has been good. His excellent command of the zone allows him to consistently work deep into games. Nick Blackburn’s smoke and mirrors act should expire at some point.

Kansas City Royals (23-28)

The Offense (209 Runs Scored, 12th in the league, .325 OBP, 11th, .405 Slugging, 11th)

                Storylines: This offense, quite simply, isn’t any good, and not likely to get any better. Kila Ka’aihue could probably produce more than Mike Jacobs and they could use Leo Nunez in the bullpen. I continue to be dumbfounded by the trade.

The Pitching (231 Runs Allowed, 4th in the league, 353 K, 5th, 165 BB, 4th)

                Storylines: Zach Greinke is having a special season. Good for him. Soria continues to pitch sporadically due to health. Brian Bannister and Kyle Davies have cooled off, after hot starts.

I am convinced that there isn’t a 90-win team in the division, and there might not be an 85-win team, either, though that seems unlikely. 1997 is an optimistic parallel. We started the season by going 12-13 in April, trailing the upstart Milwaukee Brewers who went 12-11. In April, the Indians both scored and allowed a ton of runs. The Indians only needed 86 wins to win the division.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (12-10)

The Pitching (82 Runs Allowed, 2nd in the league in Strikeouts, 6th in walks allowed, as in fewest allowed)

Starters Used, Total Used: 6, 13

The Good: Zach Geinke is off to a much ballyhooed start (36 IP, .50 ERA), and one that is backed up with excellent peripherals (8 BB, 44 K). Gil Meche has also been very solid (31 IP 3.77 ERA).

The Bad: Sidney Ponson (23.1 IP, 5.79 ERA) is probably just holding this spot until Luke Hochevar gets called up.

The Bullpen: Joakim Soria has been limited by some soreness and has only thrown 5 IP. If he’s not healthy, this could be a big problem as there isn’t much besides Juan Cruz to like. No, I don’t believe Jamey Wright is going to keep this up.

The Offense (97 Runs Scored, 10th in the league in OBP, 7th in Slugging)

Position Players Used: 15

The Good: I think Alberto Callapso (.977 OPS) is obviously going to regress but I like him a lot. Very nifty trade as they sent Billy Buckner to Arizona to acquire him. Coco Crisp is acting like a slugger, drawing plenty of walks (16) and hitting for power (.224 ISO). John Buck has a slugging % of .700.

The Bad: Mike Aviles has been awful (.518 OPS) and it's not really that surprising even though he played really well last year. Alex Gordon was ineffective and now he’s out with a hip injury.

DETROIT TIGERS (11-10)

The Pitching (105 Runs Allowed, 9th in K, 5th in BB)

Starters Used, Total Used: 5, 14

The Good: Edwin Jackson (32 IP, 2.25 ERA) has been a revelation. He’s not this good, 4 unearned runs aren’t calculated in that ERA and the peripherals are merely good. Even so, this has been a very encouraging month or in our case discouraging. It’s hard to believe he’s only 25. Armando Galarraga has  picked up where he left off last year except with an uptick in both K% and BB%.

The Bad: Justin Verlander (28 IP, 6.75 ERA) has been awful thus far in terms of preventing runs and hits but has been missing a ton of bats (34) and issuing few free passes (9). This can’t hold up, either way. The Tigers are probably asking too much out of Rick Porcello (21.2 IP, 6.23 ERA) at this stage in his career. If and when Jeremy Bonderman is healthy, I think we’ll see him go back to the minors. Zach Miner has been predictably subpar.

The Bullpen: No real surprises here as it’s not very good, though Joel Zumaya is healthy, for now. Ryan Perry, coming into the season had pitched (or is it thrown) 13.2 professional innings at any level. I’m interested to see how this plays out.

The Offense (112 Runs Scored, 8th in OBP, 9th in Slugging)

Position Players Used: 15

The Good: Miguel Cabrera has been killing the ball (1.013 OPS) and this is a case of early season success where it might be sustainable. For his career, he has a ridiculous OPS+ of 141(per B-Ref which seems to be a couple of games behind) so for him to better that in his Age 26 is probably a solid bet. Brandon Inge (1.114 OPS), on the other hand, well, you get the point.

The Bad: Magglio Ordonez (.649 OPS) and Carlos Guillen (.594 OPS) are 35 and 33, respectively, and both have a history of injuries. Let’s hope it’s that instead of small sample size.

The Pitching (98 Runs Allowed, 10th in K, 7th in BB )

Starters Used, Total Used: 5, 14

The Good: Mark Buehrle (24 IP, 3.00 ERA) and John Danks (23 IP, 2.74 ERA) are pitching well. Danks, like Cliff Lee, saw his GB% take a big jump last year, and also like Cliff, it was critical to his success. Grain of Salt, but Danks’ GB% has gone up even more this year to 46%.

The Bad: Jose Contreras (22.2 IP, 6.75 ERA) has walked more batters than he’s struck out. Not good. Gavin Floyd (29.1 IP, 5.51 ERA) has been getting strikeouts (26) but is allowing way too many baserunners (52).

The Bullpen: Their Big 4 (Jenks, Dotel, Thornton, and Linebrink) have been very good (30.2 IP, 6 Runs).

The Offense (97 Runs Scored, 9th in OBP, 11th in Slugging)

Position Players Used: 15

The Good: Paul Konerko looks rejuvenated (.902 OPS) and Carlos Quentin (.961) continues to build on last years’ breakout. He’s a great hitter, but he’s also never made it through an entire season healthy.

The Bad: Alexei Ramirez looks to be in the midst of a sophomore slump (.559 OPS). If we were going to read too much into this, we’d say that teams have figured out some holes in his swing and have been exploiting them.

The Pitching (116 Runs Allowed, 11th in K, 1st in BB)

Starters Used, Total Used: 6, 15

The Good: Glen Perkins (29 IP, 2.48 ERA) and Nick Blackburn (31.1 IP, 4.02 ERA) were thought to be the weak links of the rotation going into the season. I’m still skeptical.

The Bad: To make another Cliff Lee comparison, in 2007, he got hurt in spring training and it derailed his entire season. So far, Scott Baker is following the same path (14.2 IP, 9.82 ERA) as he has been awful in his 3 starts since coming off the DL. He has served up an impressive 7 homers in those starts.

The Bullpen: The guy thought to be Nathan’s primary setup man, Jesse Crain, is hurt. On the bright side, lefty Jose Mijares has looked sharp in his 3 appearances.

The Offense (93 Runs Scored, 12th in OBP, 12th in Slugging)

Position Players Used: 13

The Good: Denard Span continues the lineup with much needed OBP (.391) at the top of the order. He’s also been playing a lot of center (10 starts) though I’m not sure how capable he is out there. Jose Morales (.391 OBP) is doing a pretty solid Joe Mauer impersonation. Mauer has not made it off the DL so far, though I do believe he is close to returning.

The Bad: Alexi Casilla (.447 OPS) is trying to cement his status as a slow starter. In his MLB career in April, over 120 plate appearances, he has a .469 OPS. In his minor league career, in 226 plate appearances, he has a .646 OPS. It’s his worth month in both cases. Along with Casilla, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, Nick Punto, Carlos Gomez, and Mike Redmond have all failed to crack the arbitrary .650 OPS mark.

The battle for the fifth spot in the rotation continues, and there may be a new favorite. Scott Lewis has followed up an impressive cup of coffee in September with a fine showing in Spring Training. Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers are still in the mix, but Wedge’s comments seemed to me and Castrovince that Lewis might get the first shot at the rotation.

First shot at the rotation should be emphasized because Laffey and Sowers (and Huff and Jackson) are going to get their shots. Somebody is going to get hurt and/or someone is going to be ineffective so ultimately it may not matter a whole lot who wins the job out of the gate. With that being said, there may be real reasons, other than overall qulaity, to prioritize one guy over the other. Anthony Reyes, for example, is starting in the rotation because he’s out of options.

In Scott Lewis’s case, it might not be more than a case of riding the hot hand, but I think there might be another reason. Lewis is a fly-ball pitcher, a 39.3 career GB% in the minors. The average GB% amongst starting pitchers in the majors last year was 43.45%. This may be significant because conventional wisdom is that the ball doesn’t carry as well at beginning of the season, when the weather is cold. If this is true, Lewis would be benefited by this much more than Laffey.

To see if the conventional wisdom is in fact correct, I looked at some basic numbers. Thanks to Baseball-reference.com, I computed home runs per plate appearance in each month over the past five years in the American League. The lower the number, the more frequent the home runs.

This is obviously a very crude way to look at it and I don’t think it really tells us that much, but three of the five seasons do seem to support the cw, for whatever that’s worth. Even if it is true that fly balls don’t carry as well at the beginning of the season, the overall effect is probably not that great. But given that the difference in quality between the pitchers is small, this could potentially be a tie-breaker. Looking over the schedule, the fifth starter is set-up to get, at least his first few starts in cold weather open-air stadiums.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  ClarkM has done a bang-up job on these run-downs, which I imagine we'll all be referencing in early-season series against the Indians' divisional rivals.  By adding in the navigation above, I wanted to feature not just this final installment but the whole series of team breakdowns. Note that in some browser displays, you may not be able to see the whole width of the tables until you follow the jump. [Jay]

The White Sox won the Central Division last year by beating the Twins in a one game playoff. They finished the season with a record of 89-74, which was also their pythag record. However, the Sox, moreso than any other team in the division, lost some talent in the offseason. Not returning from last season: Javier Vazquez, Orlando Cabrera, Joe Crede, and Nick Swisher.

Let’s start out by looking at their positional players:

There is so much that can go wrong with this offense due to the potential declines of Thome, Konerko, Dye, and Pierzynski and the uncertainty at third, second, and center. The other two players, Ramirez and Quentin, had seasons last year that kind of came out of nowhere, so regression could be expected there as well. Another concern here is depth as they do not have adequate replacements at C, 1B, DH, LF, and RF.  According to BPro’s two team metrics, the White Sox were a little better than average on the basepaths and a little below average in the field last year. The farm system isn’t likely to help the offense this year as most of their position player prospects probably won’t be ready till next season.

Continue reading this post »

The Minnesota Twins finished second in the division after losing a one game playoff with the White Sox. Their record was 88-75, and had a pythag record of 89-74, though that is a little misleading as the Twins scored far more runs than expected due to their abnormally high batting average with runners in scoring position. BPro’s third order wins had them at 83-80.

Let’s start out by looking at their positional players:

This offense is incredibly reliant on Morneau and Mauer.  They need both of them to be healthy and productive if they are to contend. In ’07, they weren’t and they finished below .500. They are a very good baserunning team, but they are not a good defensive team. The farm probably won’t be able to help them much this year as their two stud prospects (Revere and Hicks) are a ways away.

The starters. This time around, I have computed GB+, which is 100 * GB% (player) / GB% (league), K+, which is 100 * K% (player) / K% (league), and BB+ = 100 * BB% (league) / BB% (player). Jay gets the credit for this idea. One thing to keep in mind, these categories aren’t created equally. It is better to be above average in K+ than to be above average in BB+, and better to be above average in BB+ than to be above average in GB+.

The Twins stress throwing strikes and that is reflected by the fact they are all above average in BB rate, with the exception of Liriano. Baker, Liriano, and Slowey make a very nice trio at the top of the rotation, but after them, the quality drops off dramatically. Also, unlike in years past, they don’t have a wave of pitching prospects coming up through the farm system. The other rotation options, which include Boof Bonser, Phillip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey aren’t very good.

The pen is similar to the Royals in that they have a nasty closer but not a whole lot in front of him. Jesse Crain is solid, Matt Guerrier and Craig Breslow are decent, but that’s pretty much it. They have been rumored to be in on Juan Cruz. That would be a good idea.

The Tigers’ offseason looks to be pretty much finished, so here goes. Last season, they finished last in the division with a record of 74-88. Their pythag record was 78-84 and this season, PECOTA projects them to finish 3rd with a record of 77-85.

Let’s start out by looking at their positional players:

This is a pretty good, but old offense. Cabrera is most likely going to be better this season, but I don’t see where else improvements are going to come from. They have some other guys like Raburn, Larish, and Clete Thomas that are decent placeholders, but their system lacks impact positional players. Last season, they were bad on both the basepaths and in the field. BPro’s two team metrics had them at 25th and 24th respectively. The defense should probably be better, if both Inge and Everett are healthy.

The starters. Using Rich Lederer’s criteria for starting pitchers, the average GB% was 43.45%. Average for K/BF% was 16.90%. Average for BB/BF%  7.89%:

There are too many wild cards (4) for the rotation to be a real asset. There is some upside, but I think more likely, this rotation could be a train wreck.  Miner and Dontrelle will probably get some starts as well.

The bullpen, like the last couple of season, will not be good. Lyon is a closer in name only. Rodney and Zumaya have perpetual health issues. Not much to like here, though Bobby Seay is pretty decent.

Continue reading this post »

Ryan Miller (39 IP 23 H 8 R 2 HR 16 BB 42 K and a 2.52 GO/AO) and Kelvin De La Cruz (40.2 IP 34 H 10 R O HR 19 BB 37 K and a 2.22 GO/AO) are off to fantastic starts in Low-A.  These numbers, to me, seem worthy of a promotion, but what factors are important in deciding whether to promote or not to promote, I honestly have no idea. 

How much weight should we place on the guys in front of them at the next level?  In this case, do you promote Steven Wright to clear space and/or move Espino or Carlton Smith to the bullpen? 

How important is it to promote guys who have shown they are superior to the competion?  Is there a danger of guys developing into bad habits if they are facing lesser competition, but what if there are still areas that need to be worked on?  Is there a fear of promoting a guy too soon?  Is this to small of a small sample to promote someone on?

How does Age and projection factor in?  For example, De La Cruz is a year younger and from what limited information I have heard about the two, he's the one with the higher upside, but since Miller is older, does he need to be promoted more?

I am sorry I don't have much insight to provide, but I thought this would be an interesting topic of discussion that some of you could provide more insight on.

The Indians are 7-12, which is good for 4th place in the AL Central.  They have scored 79 runs and given up 90.  They haven't won a series since the first one.  Our Ace has pitched awful and has shown no signs of turning it around.  We owe Travis Hafner 49 million after this year.  That contract looks worse everyday.  Our most productive hitter bats 6th, behind the potent bats of Dellichaels, Hafner, and Peralta.  Seriously, who wants to bet me that Garko won't hit better than both Hafner and Peralta in '08?  Our lineup has little power, 10th in the league in homers and dead last in slugging.  The lineup has made Greg Madduxes out of John Danks, Dana Eveland, Justin Duchsherer, Armando Gallaragga, Joe Saunders, Nick Blackburn, and Scott Baker.  For whatever reason, the Indians kryptonite seems to be young, league average or below starting pitchers.  The approach against these pitchers has been horrendous.  Our 34 year old third baseman has an OPS+ 51 and he has only been given 2 days off.  Andy Marte has gotten one start.  A common criticism of the '08 Tribe going into the season was that they weren't going to get much production at 3rd, Left, and Right.  Good thing that turned out to be totally off base.  Obviously there have been some bright spots to start the season, but I am too frustrated to highlight those, and small sample size is acknowledged for most of the stats.

Seriously, we should sign Barry Bonds.  The man is still a phenomenal hitter, and his defense isn't nearly bad enough to cancel it out.  He would be a big upgrade over the present situation.  I know Bonds brings baggage, but is that enough to ignore the fact that he got avoided making an out in almost half his at bats last year?

Everybody's favorite BP author Joe Sheehan wrote on the subject recently and THT's John Brattain has an article up today.  While I don't endorse everything they say, its worhtwhile reading.

Bonds would help us win more games, and that's the goal, right?

Over the last few days, we have discussed the arrival of Dontrelle and Cabrera.  The debate has seemingly come down to whether or not Cabrera's impact will offset the regression, if any, of some of the returning Tigers.  I haven't seen to much talk of what to expect from the Tigers starters, and with little other than Jamey Carroll to talk about, why not discuss the matter.

Justin Verlander: 25 years old, righthanded, ERA+ the last 2 years, starting with the most recent (125, 126).  The results were very similar for Verlander, but he got there in different ways.  '06 was a lot of luck and last year he was pretty good.  He should be one of the better pitchers in the American League next year.

Jeremy Bonderman: 25 years old, righthanded, ERA+ last 3 years (91, 112, 93).  I'm not sure what to make of Bonderman.  His Babip was the same as last year, so that wasn't an issue, but he did give up more homers and struck out fewer.  He ended the season on the shelf, but I don't believe that it was too serious.  I still feel that he could be very effective, but not as certain as I was last year.

Dontrelle Willis: 26 years old, lefthanded, ERA+ (83, 112, 151).  As I have seen pointed out in a couple of places, the defense behind Dontrelle was really awful last year.  I think he will be better than he was last year, but probably not by much, considering the switch to the harder league.

Kenny Rogers: 43 years old, lefthanded, ERA+ (103, 119, 134).  The gambler only pitched 63 innings last year due to injury.  He might provide more innings next year, but one would expect him to also be less effective.  How much his age will catch up to him, I don't know.

Nate Robertson: 30 years old, lefthanded, ERA+(96, 119, 95).  It appears that he was pretty lucky in '06, as his peripherals haven't really changed.  It is unlikely that he ever has another season like '06, but I would expect him to be right around where he was this year.

Chad Durbin: As far as I can tell, he is their 6th starter.  He is not young or particularly good.  I don't know who they have after him, so the tigers will be praying for health.

Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus, today released his top 11 indian prospects.  I'm not sure what all I can type here, since it is material from a paysite.  He says that even though the Indians don't have many blue chippers, we have lots of depth.  Some LGT favorites make their first appearance on a top ten, and a big surprise (to me) as to who is number 2.  Thoughts on Goldstein's list or Indians prospects in general?

Nobody took more shit than Paul and Larry Dolan over the last six years.  The cleveland sports media made Dolan out to be the worst owner in sports.  But, they believed in Shapiro and never interfered with his work.  It appears that most everything Shapiro asked for, they gave him.  The revenue just ain't there to support the large payroll, but when the Jake(or Cleveland Clinic BallPark) is sold out next year, it could be a different story.  When the revenue goes up, I have no doubt that the payroll will too.  I don't think you can ask for much more out of an owner.

Still work left to do, Go Tribe!

Watching the BoSox Angels game, and the play by play guy asks the color guy, "What do you think of instant replay?"  The color guy responds, "I am totally against it, takes the human element out of the game and the umpires get it right more times than not."

These two reasons don't work for me.  Taking autonomy away from the umps and using technology for the purpose of making sure the game is correctly decided seems like a worthy goal.  Besides, I don't see the umpires as part of the game, so taking them out of it, isn't taking the human element out of the game.  

The second reason is ridiculous.  Is the standard we hold umpires to really as low as, be right more than you're wrong?

To be sure, there may be some legitimate reasons for not using instant replay, but I hope they are better than these? Thoughts?

Jensen Lewis over his last 10 games: 13.1 innings 5 hits 1 run 4 bb 14 k
Joba Chamberlain over his last 10 games: 13.2 innings 8 hits 1 run 3 bb 17 k

I thought this was interesting.  Small sample size, yes, cherry picking the stats, a little, do these guys have different projections, yeah, but seriously this is why people hate the Yankees.  A guy starts doing well, and we get overloaded with the Joba rules, his dad, and what are they going to do with him next year.

With all the talk about the draft deadline, and the porcello signing in particular, I had read some posters complaints of Shapiro's drafts, and I started to get curious about how those drafts have turned/turning out.

I started with the 2006 draft and stopped at the 2001 draft which I believe was the first official Shapiro draft.  I have listed the notable players, along with where they are now, and some very crude commentary.  It seems to me that are drafts haven't been as successful as they could be, but that might have something to do with the excellent job that Shapiro has done in Latin America, aquiring prospects via trades, or a reflection of the difficulties of the mlb amatuer draft.  I don't think these are terrible drafts, but simply average, and given our successes in other areas, I would expect a little more.  I haven't gone through other team's drafts during this time period, so maybe it is better than I than I think. I was wondering what the thoughts were on this?

2006 draft

1. David huff-lhp-High A- hurt
   
2. Josh Rodriguez-ss-high a-won't stay at short, but has hit for some power
   

4. Matt Mcbride-c-low a-lot of doubles, no word on his d, should start next year at Kinston
   
5. Steven Wright-rhp-has gotten hit pretty hard, but nice k/9
   
6. Adam davis-ss/2b-low a-inconsistent year, going nowhere
   
7. Ryan morris-lhp-young, looked good in rookie ball, hasn't had success at low a yet
   
8. Jared Goedert-3b/2b-high a-tore up low a, hasn't had  success at high a yet

1. Trevor crowe-cf-aa-has not had success at aa yet for a full season.  Struggled there to end last year, and first half of this year.  Has picked it up of late, but still a major disappointment.
   
2. John Drennan-of-at high a, young for his level, has struggled at high a, seems to have a hole in his swing, lots of ks.
   
3. Steven head-1b-aa-never had success at high a, but got promoted anyway.  Doubtful that he will ever contribute.
   
4. Jensen Lewis-rhp-Cleveland-is a member of the Indians bullpen, should become a solid middle innings guy.
   
5. Nicholas Weglarz-lf-low a-young and mashing the ball, has tremendous power and good eye, 3 true outcomes guy, might not be able to stay in left.
   
6. Jordan Brown-1b/of-aa-is banged up right now, but has had a good year, high average, lots of doubles, but needs to turn some into homers.  Would help if he can play left also.
   
7. The rest-some college pitchers in high a, pitching okay, and an outfielder struggling in low a.

1. Jeremy Sowers-lhp-aaa-had success with the big league club last year, despite bad peripherals, came back to earth and then some this year.  Has been demoted, and can't seem to find the success he had there the first time around.
   
2. Justin Hoyman-rhp-hurt I guess, haven't heard much from him.
   
3. Scott Lewis-lhp-aa-pitched good, not great, but still only 23.  Not sure if he will start next year in aa or aaa.
   
4. Chuck Lofgren-lhp-aa-has hit a bit of a bump at aa, hasn't been able to match the success he had at lower levels, but still 21.
   
5. Tony Sipp-lhp-hurt, but may still be a contributor from the pen.

1. Mike Aubrey-1b-aa-he is hurt for the 27th time, and is probably done
   
2. Adam Miller-rhp-aaa-hurt again, has massive potential, but needs to stay on the diamond.
   
3. Brad Snyder-of-aaa-hurt, done.
   
4. Ryan Garko-1b-Cleveland-is a major contributor for the tribe.
   
5. Kevin Kouzmanoff-3b-San Diego-was traded, along with Andrew brown for Josh Barfield.
   
6. Aaron Laffey-lhp-aaa-had a brief stint with Indians, should be a member of the 2008 rotation.

1. Jeremy Guthrie-rhp-Baltimore-never contributed to the Indians
   
2. Micah Schilling-2b-flop
   
3. Matt Whitney-1b-high a-has started to play well at Kinston, 23, was set back by a freak accident in which is leg was broken badly.  Hasn't shown plate discipline, but has hit for major power, and decent average this year between low and high a.
   
4. Brian Slocum-rhp-aaa-hurt, but may still contribute, but not likely.

1. Luke scott used as part of trade for Jerome Robertson.  Everything else is pretty much empty.

Feel free to add anyone that I have forgotten and sorry for the long first post.