Wow, something we haven't thought about in while: prospects.
Well, we better start thinking about them because that's what a rebuild needs. So this year we are going to do things a little differently, which you do in a rebuild or reloading or whatever this is going to be.
I am going to list the prospects in order of who will most likely be the most help to the Indians in 2021, who is the best of the next wave (end of 2021, sometime in 2022) and finally, who are the best of the guys 2 or more years away from the majors:
Who will help most in 2021?
1. Triston McKenzie 2. Emmanuel Clase 3. Tyler Freeman 4. Nolan Jones 5. Nick Sandlin
6. Scott Moss 7. Logan Allen (the older) 8. Kyle Nelson 9. Cam Hill 10. Yu Chang 11. Sam Hentges
12. Bobby Bradley 13. Daniel Johnson 14. Trevor Stephan 15. Jordan Humphreys
Summary - Seeing Nolan Jones on this list as #4 is a bit surprising. But, right now, I see him as a platoon player because he hasn't shown that he can hit lefties...at all. I think the guys who will impact the team this year may be minor league relievers and middle infielders. I think these guys may not be the top-rated prospects but will get a chance and are likely to succeed. I find it interesting that Bobby Bradley didn't even get a taste of the majors this year as the Indians were looking for offense and you would have thought they would have thrown Bradley against the wall to see if he stuck. But no. Ditto for Daniel Johnson. He was a marginal prospect, a Greg Allen-type prospect. The Indians think he is more but we will see. I have high hopes for every Cleveland prospect as continued success of our farm system is our only hope right now.
Who will help most in 2022
1. Eli Morgan 2. Gabe Arias 3. Owen Miller 4. Joey Cantillo 5. Cody Morris 6. Tanner Burns
7. Juan Hillman 8. Adam Scott 9. Juan Carlos Mejia 10. Kai'i Tom 11. Oscar Gonzalez 12. Luis Oviedo
13. Kirk McCarthy 14. Mason Hickman 15. Bryan Lavatisda 16. Steve Kwan
Summary - This will be the most interesting group. I think if we have a strong nucleus these guys will fit in as fill-in starters, platoon players, relievers or reserves to help the team win AND keep the payroll down. There is a lot of talent here and, in the best scenario, we will get some quality major leaguess and maybe occasional all-stars from this group. Note that I have put Tom and Oviedo on this group at the end. I think it is likely we will get Tom back but Oviedo is not likely. If we get him back he should help us sometime in 2022.
Who will help most after 2022
1. George Valera 2. Bo Naylor 3. Ethan Hankins 4. Daniel Espino 5. Carlos Vargas 6. Jose Tena
6. Carson Tucker 7. Brayan Rocchio 8. Aaron Bracho 9. Allen Hernandez 10. Andres Melendez
11. Gabriel Rodriguez 12. Yordys Valdez 13. Joe Naranjo 14. Petey Halpin 15. Angel Martinez
16. 23. Logan Allen 17. Junior Sanquintin 18. Marcos Gonzalez 18. Milan Tolentino
19. Christian Cairo 20. Lenny Torres 21. Ray Delgado 22. Matt Turner
23. Jean Mota 24. Aaron Pinto 25. Richard Palacios 26. Will Bartlett
27. Will Benson 28. Jose Fermin 29. Korey Holland 30. Jonathon Rodriguez 31. Jordan Brown
32. Skyler Arias 33. Dakody Clemmer 34. Hunter Gaddis 35. Nick Mickolajchak 36.Victor Nova
Summary - There is a lot to like down here as there is still the aura of star power in some of these gusy and a lot to dream on (Allen Hernandez's age and fastball velocity, Andres Melendez's youth and advanced defensive catching skills). There are a lot of position players who have potential if they can learn to hit and a lot of the pitchers who have closer, setup man potential and a few potential starting pitchers to dream on.
In short, this rebuild will not be painless. However, unlike so many teams that are veteran heavy and prospect poor, the rebuild, with a little luck, should be short and we shouldn't have to endure a long stretch of losing seasons.
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