Cleveland Indians Top 5 Prospects
I’ve always mentally placed the Indians as one of the best-run organizations in baseball. Obviously this season isn’t going quite to plan (or my prediction, for that matter), but I would never lose hope for the future when you have leadership like the Indians do. Even better, when you have a well-run organization these top 5 lists are much easier; all top 5 are in my Top 100.
1. LF Matt LaPorta
Who?: An already good farm system was made even better after the Sabathia trade which brought LaPorta to Cleveland. I’m not sure what I can say here than I haven’t expanded on before. LaPorta’s got monster power and an excellent plate approach gives LaPorta the best bat of any prospect in baseball. An ugly start since the trade looks bad, but that’s ok. I’m sure you could find any great hitter - including LaPorta, this season, who had much uglier 14 game stretches.
Projection: LaPorta is pretty close to being a major-league ready hitter right now. There’s plenty of room for LaPorta in either LF or RF, or even 1B if the Tribe loses faith in Garko. (I wouldn’t). I’d like to see LaPorta start Opening Day 2009 for the Twins, where he’d immediately move to the head of the pack of ROY candidates.
2. 1B Beau Mills
Who?: LaPorta and Mills just might be the best 1-2 punch in terms of hitting prospects in baseball. After getting off to a slow start power-wise (combined 5 HR in April/May), Mills has shown his true colours as a masher. In June and July, Mills has put up 11 HR, with 22 of his 57 hits going for extra bases, totalling a .537 SLG. To go along iwth his very legitimate power is a good plate approach as well. He’s not much defensively, but quite frankly at this point I couldn’t care less.
Projection: Another reason why I wouldn’t give up on Garko just yet, besides Garko’s talent itself, is that even if he turns out to be a complete bust, Beau Mills will come in as the saviour in 2010 or so. Mills isn’t LaPorta, but he’ll be an excellent hitter nonetheless.
3. RHP Rob Bryson
Who?: Bryson accompanied LaPorta from Milwaukee. Scouts describe Bryson as having a great arm, but being quite raw to this point. Really. If 82 K and 26 BB in 66.1 IP is raw, I’d love to see the finished product. Most of those strikeouts are put up by pounding the strike zone with a hard mid-90s fastball in the late innings, but the slider and change-up are starting to catch up.
Projection: Bryson could certainly have a future as a power reliever, but his high ranking on the list is in the hopes that he’ll be moved back into the rotation. If he fails there, which he might, you could always move him back to rotation. If you leave him in the bullpen, you seriously limit his ceiling. Bryson has potential as a three-pitch starter with excellent command and strikeout ability, and I’d like to see him try and tap into that.
4. LHSP Adam Miller
Who?: Miller’s somewhat low ranking (#78) is not so much a reflection of his talent (which is ample), but of his inconsistency, and most of all his injury history. He’s no good to anybody on the DL. Just in the last year, Miller’s had a strained tendon in his finger, an inflamed elbow, two separate blisters, and some more lovely finger tendon problems. In one year. That’s impressive.
Projection: Miller’s certainly a guy who could come in next year and put up a 3.75 ERA or do something else really impressive. He could also not pitch a single major league inning. He’s just a complete mystery.
5. RHSP Hector Rondon
Who?: Rondon is an aggressive righty with a fastball that sits in the ~93 range to go with some pretty good secondary stuff, especially the breaking ball. Rondon was hit all over the park in his pro debut in 2006, showed some improvement last year, and has really looked good this year. The strikeouts go up, the homers go down, and I start to take notice. As a 20-year-old in High-A, Rondon’s put up a 24.7 K%, 8.0 BB%, although he still pitches up in the zone a little too much.
Projection: At this point Rondon looks like a very good starter at the back-end of a rotation. However, a good showing in AA next year would certainly point towards some mid-rotation potential.
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