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2017 Minor League Thread

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Urban said:
Who are the guys to watch for that figure to be in the conversation for the Indians in the near future? By that I mean September callups and at any point in 2018 @BimboColesHair

Just curious as it seems like a lot of these guys are ~2-3 years away with the makeup of our current roster and where they are in development. Could be wrong on that though, don't pay too close of attention.
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Most of our top guys are 2-3 years away. Lot of depth is close though.

But this September and 2018? Diaz and Gonzalez are already up, Mejia will probably be up by September of 2018, Plutko, Morimando, and Merritt are probably up in September. Other than that, its hard to say.

Most of our core is locked up through 2018 though, so not many openings on the 40 man to be made, so its hard to guess who is close or who isn't to getting the call in AAA or AA who are performing well, but aren't on the 40 man just yet.

But for this September in particular, I think we see Naquin, Diaz, Gonzalez, Crockett, Plutko, Morimando, Merritt, and maybe that Moreno guy we grabbed off waivers a month ago.
 
Also, something interesting to watch moving forward.

The Indians have made terrific strides in their Latin American scouting and signing in recent years, and its starting to pay off...and it is paying off in potential power hitters moving into our stateside farm relatively soon.

Going back to 2005, the Indians DSL team has almost always sat middle to bottom of the pack in slugging percentage, HRs, and OPS. Last time they were in the top 10 in all 3 categories was a decade ago in 2007.

This year, they are 8th in slugging, 3rd in HRs, and 6th in OPS.

Some of the major players you should get to know, as they should most likely be either in the AZL or Mahoning Valley next year:

Cristopher Cespedes: 19 years old, 6'3, 200 lbs, RH hitting OF. Has committed 1 error in the OF in 200+ innings, which is rare in rookie leagues, as they are usually filled with poor defensive play. Slashing .314/.362/.527 between both of our DSL teams. 5 HRs, 13 2B, 4 3B, with a high BB rate and a low K rate for a .500+ slugging percentage hitter. Struggled his 1st few years as he battled poor hitting mechanics, but has made strides since he came stateside for a bit last year.

Henderson De Oleo: 19 years old, 6'4, 210 lbs, RH hitting 1B. Like Cespedes, struggled his first few years in the DSL, mostly as he filled out his body and figured which defensive position he was going to play (started out as a 3B). But this year has slashed .263/.410/.451. 5 2Bs, 1 3B, 6 HRs, with a high BB rate.

Jhon Torres: 17 years old, 6'4, 200 lbs, RH hitting OF. First year of pro ball, and the first thing that sticks out is his size for his age. Slashing .257/.368/.421, with 5 HRs, 7 2B, 3 3Bs, and like Cespedes and De Oleo, has a high BB rate for a guy slugging at a pretty good rate. I'm hoping he comes over soon, since there isn't much out there about him, both in writing or in video, so getting him to the states playing in front of more eyes would be good for more info. But you have to be intrigued by the size and apparent plate discipline from a 17 year old.

Jean Montero: 18 years old, 5'11, 175 lbs, RH hitting OF. Second year in the DSL, has made strides all across the board at the plate, and changed defensive positions from 2B to CF this year. Slashing .264/.404/.403, with 3 HRs, 9 2B, and 1 3B...and yet again, another high BB rate hitter. But he adds a different element, in that he has 30 steals in his 100 career DSL games, 14 so far this year. Like Torres, there isn't much, if anything, about him out there, so we should learn more soon when he comes over.

Jonathan Lopez: 18 years old, 6'2, 175 lbs, switch hitting IF. Second year as well, and like Montero, has sweeping improvements at the plate this year. Slashing .265/.368/.379 with 2 HRs, 10 2Bs, 4 3Bs...and, yes, another high BB rate hitter, which is a real theme with this years DSL team, so they must be emphasizing plate discipline down there in preparation for coming over to the states.

If you took time to read all that, one thing is obvious. Indians are stocking up on big bodies in the DSL, and hoping they fill out and develop skills to go with the unteachable body size. Quite a few teens who are 6'0+ and 200+ lbs in their stockpile down there.

And now they are injecting in a few top guys from this years signing period in Valera and Bracho into that stock. Valera, who was touted as the best pure hitter in the 2017 International pool, and Bracho who supposedly generates a lot of pop as a switch-hitter.

Fun goings on at the bottom of the totem pole to keep track of moving forward.
 
BimboColesHair said:
Also, something interesting to watch moving forward.

The Indians have made terrific strides in their Latin American scouting and signing in recent years, and its starting to pay off...and it is paying off in potential power hitters moving into our stateside farm relatively soon.

Going back to 2005, the Indians DSL team has almost always sat middle to bottom of the pack in slugging percentage, HRs, and OPS. Last time they were in the top 10 in all 3 categories was a decade ago in 2007.

This year, they are 8th in slugging, 3rd in HRs, and 6th in OPS.

Some of the major players you should get to know, as they should most likely be either in the AZL or Mahoning Valley next year:

Cristopher Cespedes: 19 years old, 6'3, 200 lbs, RH hitting OF. Has committed 1 error in the OF in 200+ innings, which is rare in rookie leagues, as they are usually filled with poor defensive play. Slashing .314/.362/.527 between both of our DSL teams. 5 HRs, 13 2B, 4 3B, with a high BB rate and a low K rate for a .500+ slugging percentage hitter. Struggled his 1st few years as he battled poor hitting mechanics, but has made strides since he came stateside for a bit last year.

Henderson De Oleo: 19 years old, 6'4, 210 lbs, RH hitting 1B. Like Cespedes, struggled his first few years in the DSL, mostly as he filled out his body and figured which defensive position he was going to play (started out as a 3B). But this year has slashed .263/.410/.451. 5 2Bs, 1 3B, 6 HRs, with a high BB rate.

Jhon Torres: 17 years old, 6'4, 200 lbs, RH hitting OF. First year of pro ball, and the first thing that sticks out is his size for his age. Slashing .257/.368/.421, with 5 HRs, 7 2B, 3 3Bs, and like Cespedes and De Oleo, has a high BB rate for a guy slugging at a pretty good rate. I'm hoping he comes over soon, since there isn't much out there about him, both in writing or in video, so getting him to the states playing in front of more eyes would be good for more info. But you have to be intrigued by the size and apparent plate discipline from a 17 year old.

Jean Montero: 18 years old, 5'11, 175 lbs, RH hitting OF. Second year in the DSL, has made strides all across the board at the plate, and changed defensive positions from 2B to CF this year. Slashing .264/.404/.403, with 3 HRs, 9 2B, and 1 3B...and yet again, another high BB rate hitter. But he adds a different element, in that he has 30 steals in his 100 career DSL games, 14 so far this year. Like Torres, there isn't much, if anything, about him out there, so we should learn more soon when he comes over.

Jonathan Lopez: 18 years old, 6'2, 175 lbs, switch hitting IF. Second year as well, and like Montero, has sweeping improvements at the plate this year. Slashing .265/.368/.379 with 2 HRs, 10 2Bs, 4 3Bs...and, yes, another high BB rate hitter, which is a real theme with this years DSL team, so they must be emphasizing plate discipline down there in preparation for coming over to the states.

If you took time to read all that, one thing is obvious. Indians are stocking up on big bodies in the DSL, and hoping they fill out and develop skills to go with the unteachable body size. Quite a few teens who are 6'0+ and 200+ lbs in their stockpile down there.

And now they are injecting in a few top guys from this years signing period in Valera and Bracho into that stock. Valera, who was touted as the best pure hitter in the 2017 International pool, and Bracho who supposedly generates a lot of pop as a switch-hitter.

Fun goings on at the bottom of the totem pole to keep track of moving forward.
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There has clearly been a change in philosophy in the skill profile the Indians are looking for in their hitters and you can see it at all levels of the organization. I can't help but think Shapiro and Atkins leaving are what triggered the change in philosophy.

The Indians have seemingly gone from looking for well rounded contact oriented hitters to fly-ball hitters. Obviously the contact hitters will put the ball in play more but hit for less power, less XBH. The fly-ball hitters will strikeout more, hit for less average, but hit for more power and more XBH. I have no preference with either philosophy but the latter seems to be the favored approach for the more analytical organizations.

The more analytical organizations also subscribe to the theory that pitchers will always get hurt and thus become devalued by those organizations. Based on their drafting history, the Indians might be subscribing to this theory as well. Between 2010 and 2015, the Indians selected 19 pitchers in the first five rounds of the draft. In the past two drafts (Post Shapiro/Atkins), the Indians have selected just two pitchers in the first five rounds, none this past draft. It could be because the Indians have some pitching depth now or it could be a new approach, time will tell but it's worth watching.....
 
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EdMonix11 said:
There has clearly been a change in philosophy in the skill profile the Indians are looking for in their hitters and you can see it at all levels of the organization. I can't help but think Shapiro and Atkins leaving are what triggered the change in philosophy.

The Indians have seemingly gone from looking for well rounded contact oriented hitters to fly-ball hitters. Obviously the contact hitters will put the ball in play more but hit for less power, less XBH. The fly-ball hitters will strikeout more, hit for less average, but hit for more power and more XBH. I have no preference with either philosophy but the latter seems to be the favored approach for the more analytical organizations.

The more analytical organizations also subscribe to the theory that pitchers will always get hurt and thus become devalued by those organizations. Based on their drafting history, the Indians might be subscribing to this theory as well. Between 2010 and 2015, the Indians selected 19 pitchers in the first five rounds of the draft. In the past two drafts (Post Shapiro/Atkins), the Indians have selected just two pitchers in the first five rounds, none this past draft. It could be because the Indians have some pitching depth now or it could be a new approach, time will tell but it's worth watching.....
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Think the Indians are becoming more confident in their ability to develop pitching, so it's pushing pitchers back on the board come draft time.

Hard not to be, what with Kluber coming out of nowhere, Salazar never being a top guy, guys like Bieber, Merryweather, Civale flying up the pipeline in a short period of time...you still inject your high projection, top rounds guy every once in a while, like McKenzie, Aiken, and Sheffield...but I think you are seeing a franchise very confident in their ability to continually churn out quality starters, and doing that from any spot in the draft, which not many teams feel confident in doing.

Will agree on the fly ball as opposed to contact/high average shift, but only with a certain crop.

College hitters, its all about the opposite. High OBP guys, guys who put the ball in play, guys who work the counts. Then you hope they develop the power to go with it.

High school hitters and international signings, its definitely becoming more about the power potential, and fly ball ratio. All you really have to do to see that is look at the size of some of the guys they are bringing in in recent years. There is an absurd amount of 6'3+ teens in the bottom of our farm right now, brought in in recent years. Benson, Jones, Holmes, Rodriguez, Cooper in the last 2 drafts alone, then guys like Pujols, De Oleo, Cespedes, Torres in the Dominican.

There was shift that became very apparent last year, but was first signaled in their international signing the few years prior, of taking or signing guys with the unteachable skills (height/weight/speed freaks), and then hopefully developing their baseball skills from there.

Will be interesting to see where it has them standing in a few years, cause it can either go incredibly well, or incredibly poor, betting so much on high potential position players.
 
Huber. said:
Bradley seems like a non-factor at this point.
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I completely disagree with the fact Santana is gone after this season and we may not keep EE for his full contract.
 
MirORich said:
2020 INF?:
Meija 3B
Lindor SS
Jose 2B
Bradley 1B
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Gomes played 1B, 3B, LF and RF for Toronto, so this isnt anything uncommon. I don't think he will play 3B long term, but at the same time it is good to find him other positions to keep his bat in the lineup.
 
EdMonix11 said:
That's laugh out loud funny
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If he hits under .250 in the minors then what do you expect him to hit in the majors? His strikeout to walk ratio is way off as well.
sportscoach said:
I completely disagree with the fact Santana is gone after this season and we may not keep EE for his full contract.
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Santana put up way better numbers in the minors. What makes Bradley better than the other guys in the minors that can hit for power but not for average and strike out a ton like Aguilar?
 
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