Thoughts on a Friday night

On a night where we say goodbye to our AZL teams for the season, some of those guys helped Mahoning Valley inch closer to the playoffs in the NY-Penn league.

Lynchburg also moved closed to a Carolina league playoff spot with their magic number now 2 heading into a doubleheader tomorrow.

Columbus holds a precarious 0.5 game lead over Toledo which is on an upswing.   Columbus is also tied with Scranton-Wilkes Barre for the wildcard.   I doubt whether the latter will come into play as the Clippers end their season with 3 against Toledo.  Indianapolis is only a game behind Columbus so they are very much in the thick of it, especially if they finish strong and Toledo and Columbus beat the crap out of each other.

Now, for the big news of the night: Kluber, Allen and Hand looked strong against Tampa Bay. Encarnacion flexed his muscles and Lindor and Greg Allen flexed their legs.  

Now, for the bigger news of the night: The Indians acquired a Cracker Jack box with Josh Donaldson inside.  Like all Cracker Jacks boxes you really don't know how good the prize is until you open the box and examine the contents.  For this they gave the Blue Jays a prospect of some value, whatever that means.   If you are a prospect geek like me that means definitely a top 20 pick and maybe a top 10 pick depending on Donaldson's performance.   I don't know if teams can still do this but, in the old days, the Blue Jays would get two lists to pick from.   If Donaldson is effective they will get a player from List A.  If he is a bust they will get a player of their choosing from List B.    The fact that the Indians would not even pay all of Donaldson's remaining salary is a little more ominous as that generally means that Toronto will get a better prospect.

Time will tell but we hope the prospect lost will not be a high ranking one and that Donaldson will be a huge find.

AZL Playoffs Start

Good luck to AZL 1 and AZL 2.   No matter what happens both teams have had very successful seasons.

To give you an idea of how rare this is here are the AZL Indians finishes since the Indians moved their rookie league team back to Arizona in 2009

2009 - 2nd in division, no playoffs
2010 - Last in division, no playoffs
2011 - 3rd in division, no playoffs
2012 - 2nd in division, no playoffs
2013 - 2nd in division, lost in first round of playoffs (first year playoffs expanded to quarterfinal format)
2014 - 1st in division, won AZL championship
2015 - Last in division, no playoffs
2016 - 3rd in division, lost in first round of playoffs
2017 - Last in division

To have two teams in the top 2 in their division and both teams make the playoffs is pretty amazing.  Note that this is only the second year of ML teams having more than one AZL team and I think only the Padres had two teams last year.

Congrats to the Indians organization.

Minor League Playoff Teams So Far and Updates

Congratulations to AZL Indians 2 who made the playoffs today due to a loss by AZL White Sox.  AZL Indians 1 and 2 both finished in the top 5 in winning percentage in the AZL this year.

Below is a list of the Indians farm teams and how they are doing in their race to try to make the playoffs:

Columbus  - 1 game behind Indianapolis for the lead in the IL West, they are currently 0.5 games ahead of Toledo (who they have now lost to 3 consecutive games) for the wildcard playoff spot.  They have 8 games left in the season with 4 against Toledo.

Akron - MADE THE PLAYOFFS - 1 game behind Altoona in the EL West, they will either be the champion or 2nd place team in that division.  They have 8 games left to play.

Lynchburg - Currently 5 games ahead of Wilmington for the CL North second half championship, they have a magic number of 5 with 7 games left to play including a big 4 game home series with Wilmington starting tonight.  For those of you who remember magic numbers, any Lynchburg win in this series is worth a 2 game reduction in their magic number.   If they would be fortunate enough to win 3 out of 4 from Wilmington this week they would clinch the playoff spot at home.  Otherwise, they would have to clinic it at Salem in their final series.

Lake County - Just playing for pride and better statistics at this point, they currently have the 2nd worst overall record in the Midwest League this year.

Mahoning Valley -  Currently have a 1.5 game lead over Auburn in the NY-P Pinckney Division with 7 games to play.   Putting on my Eeyore glasses, if you think they might lose the division they currently have a 1 game lead over Brooklyn for the wildcard spot.

AZL Indians 1 - MADE THE PLAYOFFS - AZL Central first and second half champions they are in a tight race with the AZL Dodgers and AZL Cubs 1 teams for the top two records in the AZL, which would give them a first round bye.   It will all come down to tonight's final regular season game.   If they win they will finish with the best record in the AZL league and a first round bye.   If they lose tonight they will finish with the 3rd best record in the AZL and have to play in the first round of the playoffs.  As all playoff series in this league are 1 game, there is a big difference between having to win 3 elimination games to win the championship and having to win 2, especially with the extra day to set up your rotation.

AZL Indians 2 - MADE THE PLAYOFFS - On the basis of AZL Indians 1 winning both halves in the AZL Central, the AZL Indians 2 won the other playoff spot in the Central based on having the 2nd best overall record in the division, finishing just slightly ahead of the AZL White Sox and the AZL Cubs 2.  They have one meaningless (except for pride and stats) regular season game left to play tonight and then will jump into the playoffs which I think start Wednesday.

DSL Indians and DSL Indians/Brewers - Neither team made the playoffs but there appear to be a number of exciting prospects on these teams that I hope can blossom next year in the AZL.  

Minor League Playoffs

OK, every year I tell myself it is not important.   But every year I am rooting for the Indians' farm teams to make the playoffs.

Well, we have a week or two, depending on the league, of games left and we have a number of exciting races:

Columbus: 1 game out of first place and 1 game ahead in the wild card race

Akron: 0.5 games ahead in their division and almost a lock to make the playoffs as either the #1 or #2 team in their division

Lynchburg: Looking like they will be the 2nd half champion in their league, thus making the playoffs.

Lake County - Out of the playoff race and, at this point, playing for pride and to pad statistics

Mahoning Valley - 1 game out of both their division championship and the wild card after their recent 8 game losing streak.

AZL 1 - Guaranteed a playoff shot as the first half champion.   Can help out AZL 2 by winning their division.

AZL 2 - 0.5 games behind the AZL White Sox IF AZL 1 wins the second half championship, as well.  So they need to keep winning and hope AZL 1 does, as well.

DSL Indians - Almost never a playoff contender, the same holds true this year.

So, if you root for farm teams of the Indians to make the playoffs then it is as exciting a time as I can remember to be a fan of the Indians' minor league teams.

I know it doesn't matter...but nevertheless it is cool.

Am I dreaming here?

I have been following the Indians minor league teams for a long, long time.

So what I am about to say next comes with a lot of experience behind it.

I have never been so excited about the prospects I am hearing about in the Arizona League.

Every year there are 2, 3, maybe even 5 guys I find interesting. 

But this year, there are just so many guys I am excited about.   Having two AZL teams was the best move the Indians have made in their minor league system in a while.

Forget that both teams have a winning record.

Forget that some of the guys are a little older.

There are exciting prospects putting up great numbers.   Consider this list:

Rainer Diaz - a catcher hitting .400.  Francisco Mejia hit .305 in the AZL and the Indians were extremely excited about him.

Brayan Rocchio - There were supposed to be two guys coming out of Latin America who signed last year who were supposed to be players to watch: George Valera and Aaron Bracho.   Well the latter got hurt and the former has disappeared from the lineup.   In the meantime Rocchio has vaulted up in performance.   As a SS who is hitting, he is a guy to watch.

Bo Naylor - The early returns on this guy are that he can hit and he take a walk.   He looks every bit of a HS first round pick playing in the AZL and they are giving him playing time at different positions, something they should have done earlier with Mejia.

Raynel Delgado - Didn't know what to think when the Indians gave this guy $900,000 when he was projected as only a 3rd or 4th round pick.   But he looks good now, especially as a middle infielder who can hit.

Korey Holland - While he may be a long development process guy, he is showing signs that he can run, hit and take a walk.  He Ks way too much but as a late round pick, he looks worth the gamble we made on him.

Gionti Turner - His performance could be a mirage in the Arizona sun as he isn't exactly an on-base machine.   But the most coarse of stats, batting average, looks really good for him and, like Holland, as a low-round high school signee, he looks worth the money we paid him, especially since he, too, is being trained to play multiple positions.

Marcos Gonzalez - He is becoming a hitting middle infielder and, as such, is exciting.

Jonathon Rodriguez - Another work in progress like Holland, he is perfectly positioned to lag about a year to a year and a half behind the other guys on this list, giving the Indians more of a pipeline if they take the opportunity to let him develop slowly.

Michael Cooper  - Like Turner, basically a lottery ticket late round pick (but in 2017) he is looking solid this year.

Michael Jerez - Old for a Latin player in this league, you still have to like what he is doing in the AZL.   He is starting to hit for average, has shown good power this year (his second in the league) and is taking a walk.   Although not high on my list due to his age and previous experience, I like him.   In previous years he would have been one of my top prospects on this team.

There are other guys who you could name: Quentin Holmes, Valera, Bracho, Lenny Torres, Ethan Hankins, Ignacio Feliz, Yefferson Yannuzzi, Matt Turner, Dante Mendoza and Bryan Lavatisda.  There are probably more Latin pitchers and like Oviedo last year, I can't ferret them out by their raw numbers.  

But when I can pull 20 names out of the air of guys I like on our two AZL teams, it is pretty impressive, especially when none of those guys are extremely old or experienced for this league.

So, for those of you looking years down the road, it is very bright in the distance and it IS from an on-coming train...filled with Indians prospects.

Indians Top 50 Prospects as of today

A first look at what I think the Indians top 50 prospects look like after the July trades.   If I have forgotten anyone (maybe who was hurt all year) let me know.

1. Triston McKenzie
2. Nolan Jones
3. Ethan Hankins
4. Oscar Mercado
5. Tyler Freeman
6. Oscar Gonzalez
7. Luis Oviedo
8. Bo Naylor
9. Marcos Gonzalez
10. Yandy Diaz
11. Adam Plutko
12. Raynel Delgado
13. Lenny Torres
14. Aaron Civale
15. Yainer Diaz
16. George Valera
17. Eli Morgan
18. Andrew Calica
19. Bobby Bradley
20. Yu Chang
21. Eric Haase
22. Brayan Rochio
23. Gabriel Rodriguez
24. Henry Martinez
25. Aaron Braccho
26. Will Benson
27. Yefferson Yannuzzi
28. Zach Plesac
29. Nick Sandlin
30. Jose Baez
31. Junior Sanguitin
32. Ignazio Feliz
33. Jean Carlos Mejia
34. Michael Jerez
35. Jhonkensy Noel
36. Korey Holland
37. Gionti Turner
38. Logan Ice
39. Connor Marabell
40. Shao-Ching Chang
41. Ernie Clement
42. Sam Hentges
43. Richard Palacios
44. Quentin Holmes
45. Roberto Hernandez
46. Mitch Brown
47. Ben Krauth
48. Brady Aiken
49. Jose Fermin
50. Juan Hillman
51. James Karinchak
52. Kirk McCarty
53. Luis C. Garcia
54. Julian Merryweather
55. Ka'i Tom