Mr. Jeff Pearlman - You missed the mark as completely as possible on this one

Reading through Cleveland Indians stuff on the internet today I came across this article:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/opinions/dropping-cleveland-indians-logo-doesnt-solve-this-pearlman/index.html

Now the URL has "opinion" in it so realize this is just someone's personal thoughts on an issue and, as I was told since I was a kid, opinions are like buttholes, everyone has one.   Keep this analogy in mind as we go forward with this blog post.

So the Cleveland Indians are removing Chief Wahoo as their logo.   My thoughts on this are simple:

I can see the points made.  If this logo is offensive to American Indians then it should be replaced with another logo.   Just like the Atlanta Braves, Washington Redskins, Florida State Seminoles or the other 2000+ (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-2128-native-american-mascots-people-arent-talking-about/) school sports teams with American Indian-linked nicknames/logos should be done away with.

So, if these are offensive to American Indians then all of them should be changed, right?  Trump likes to tout how many laws he has passed so why not get the Republicans to pass a law outlawing team nicknames that are offensive to ethic minorities.  I am sure that Notre Dame should change their nickname to another one that doesn't portray men of Irish descent as being violent individuals who brawl rather than settle their disputes in a reasonable, civil manner.  Oh, and it is probably that they were drunk when they were fighting, as everyone knows that Irish men drink to excess (sorry, I will take my tongue out of my cheek now).

We could go on for days discussing which nicknames should go.  Heck, I grew up in a predominantly Catholic, Italian community whose high school's nickname was the Blue Devils!   Blasphemy!  Last I heard, there was no movement to remove this nickname that clearly elevates the devil to a high position and convinces young, impressionable teens that being a devil is a good thing to be!

So, while I support Mr. Pearlman's opposition to the use of Indians as a nickname and logo, that is all I support in his article.  Excerpts from his "opinion" include:

• He rips on Paul Dolan for financially supporting the political campaigns of John Kasich.  While I don't like Kasich and would never support him, I don't hold it against any person about who they want to support politically.   Life and politics is not a one-issue existence.  As someone who grew up as a Catholic, I have seen and heard firsthand how the church will tell you things that will lead to vote for some idiot just because they are against abortion.  While I am against abortion I will NEVER vote an unqualified or unprincipled candidate just because they support one issue. BTW, the Catholic church doesn't like same sex marriage, if you want something else to write about, Jeff.  
• Pearlman rips on the Indians for not transitioning until 2019.  Well, this is a business, Jeff.  You don't just throw away inventory.  Bleeding money is a nice, altruistic position...in a vacuum.   However, if you told Indians fans that the team could not sign Edwin Encarnacion because they didn't have the resources because the team had to take a financial loss on millions of dollars of inventory they had to trash to make a political statement,  I am pretty sure you would have been run out of town on a rail.  Also, I suppose that you would support a law making it illegal to wear already purchased gear that bears such logos, right?   Because you know, Jeff, that at baseball games next year and in the future there will be fans of the Indians wearing gear purchased pre-2019.  Or should those fans trash all that gear and buy new gear without the logo?   But wait, that would give Dolan more money to support Kasich and such candidates in the future!  It literally makes the head explode thinking about it!
• In reading his "opinion" it appears to me that Pearlman rips on every person who wants to make a buck in a democratic society.   He tries to use the most base arguments about how the rich are bad and how poor people are subjugated by the rich, all to support an argument about a freaking team logo.  Hey Jeff, I am not rich, I am middle class and grew up very low middle class in the 60s and 70s and so I am all about civil rights for all but I don't get your arguments here. Unfortunately, we have seen these arguments before.   I think Hitler used the same tactics to dehumanize the Jews who were depicted as rich, unfeeling individuals, responsible for all the things wrong in Germany at that time.   Interestingly, the Holocaust organizations feel it is important to keep those issues in the forefront to make sure they don't happen again instead of sweeping them under the rug with trashed logos.  Removing the logos, Jeff, doesn't remove the problem.  In fact, it helps hide that those problems every existed.   However, if the American Indians feel it helps them, then I support in principle, not using such logos.

I will end by saying this.   IF it is offensive to American Indians, don't use the name or the logo.   However, simply removing these nicknames does not remove the injustices that American Indians faced in the settling of the US.  In fact, a case could be made to LEAVE the nicknames alone.  They represent American Indians as proud and fierce and a group not to be messed with, which is a compliment to the spirit of the American Indian heritage.   Leaving them alone also keeps American Indians in mind and reminds us of the injustices that can occur if one group is subjugated by another.  These nicknames don't represent Indians as suffering from a high incidence of alcoholism and low self worth and also don't represent them as the oppressed, less-worthy-than-the-rest-of-us group that they became after being put on reservations.  However, HAVING these logos/nicknames does remind us that these things did occur and are still occurring.   Maybe reminding us of that isn't such a bad thing. Maybe Jeff should write an article about how we can continue to highlight that.  There is a new movie coming out that addresses that situation, Jeff.   Maybe it's time to fire up the computer for something important.

 

How much should international stats count towards a MLB career?

As any of you who read this blog regularly may know, I think Julio Franco should be considered for the Hall of Fame.

If you count his 3 years of international ball he has over 3000 hits and, for a number of years, did that as a SS.   But somewhere in his career he decided to go for the money and played overseas, presumably because he couldn't get a MLB contract or, at least, one that he thought was reasonable.   I don't actually know as I don't know the man but, for whatever reason, he spent 3 years playing in the Far East.

While he had only 2586 MLB hits, if you add the 442 he had in Korea and Japan he totals out to 3028 hits in individual country's idea of what major league baseball is.

So, in the days when recent players (Alan Trammell) who failed to get enough votes anytime in their eligibility to elected to the HOF are actually still getting in, I think it is time to consider Franco.

In thinking about Franco the case of Ichiro Suzuki comes up.  Hey, the guy is a HOFer for sure as he got to 3000 hits even though he spent some of his productive 20s years in Japan.   So, the question with him is not whether he makes the HOF, it is  (a) is he a first time HOFer and (b)whether he holds the record for most hits in a career.

Right now Suzuki has 4514 hits between his time in the US and Japanese major leagues with 3080 of those coming in US major league.   By contrast, Pete Rose had 4256 hits, all in the US major leagues.  even if you discount the quality of play in Japan to some degree, it is very possible that if Suzuki had played his entire career in the US that he could have and probably would have eclipsed 4256.

The question is, is there any multiplier we can incorporate into OUS stats to determine what that player would have had based on his age, ability, history of MLB  performance and state of baseball at the time when he played abroad?  In this age of advanced statistics I think this has to be possible.  Also, maybe all of our stats records should have a series of records for career stats for guys who have combined US and international careers.

Why is this important to me?

(a) I think Julio Franco deserves to be in the HOF

and

(b) Ichiro Suzuki deserves to be a first ballot HOFer.

Five Questions About The New Tax Law and Baseball Revenue

Let's begin by saying I am not a tax expert and don't have all the answers about the new tax law.   In fact, I have no answers but I do have a lot of questions about how baseball will be impacted by it.  Here are just some of them:

1. Will the cut in corporate tax rate help or hurt in terms of companies buying luxury boxes or blocks of seats this coming season?  I could see this going either way.  If the tax rate does give them more profit, why would they cut back on something like corporate seat purchases?  At the same time, maybe they gained some tax advantage by writing these seats off as a business expense that they don't really need anymore given the lower tax rate.

2. Will individual tax rate cuts give people more disposable income that they can use to go to Indians' games more than they do now?  I think this has to do with the product and the audience.   I feel that the people who will get the biggest tax cuts may already go to games but it is possible that even lower income families might go to a game.   Again, where people spend their disposable income is based mainly on what they like and can afford.   If they can afford more they will go to where they like more.  So, in Cleveland, I don't see this changing the Indians' attendance very much, if at all.

3.  Will the lower corporate tax rate help the Indians by giving them more money to operate their business?   Well, let's hope so and let's hope they put that money toward signing free agents and uber-talented foreign players, with heavy emphasis on the latter.

4. Will the cut in personal tax rate help salaries come down a bit?  I don't think so but you never know.   If your accountant says that $2 million will actually be worth $2.2 million in 2018 dollars maybe teams may get a small discount on free agents still unsigned around the start of spring training....but don't count on it...ever.

5.  Does this mean that beer will cost less at a game now since the beer companies are generally large corporations?  Yeah, big corporations always funnel their windfalls back to consumers (ROFLMAO).

Dos and Dont's of this offseason

Don't trade Danny Salazar.  When discussions about a guy include the phrase "...if he can only reach his potential" it means that his trade value is not spectacular.   Plus, even if he never reaches his potential he provides a great 5th starter.   If you trade him you are in the same boat as with him underperforming, your 5th starter has to slide up to #4.  When you consider that Ryan Merritt would slot in as the 5th starter and compare him to Salazar knowing Josh Tomlin would be that new #4, you don't trade Salazar.

Do sign relievers.   Look, we are at January 4th.   Borderline guys like Dillon Gee are running for Japan for $1 or $2 million deals.   Looking at the list of free agent relievers, if all these guys are truly still available, you have the following:

Addison Reed, Chad Qualls, Glenn Perkins, Seung-hwan Oh, Dustin McGowen, Greg Holland, Sergio Romo, Matt Albers, Matt Belisle, Trevor Cahill, Tyler Clippard, Jason Grilli, Drew Storen, Huston Street, Tony Watson, Koji Uehara, Travis Wood, Neftali Feliz, Bruen Duensing, Kevin Siegrist, Bruce Rondon, Blaine Boyer, Craig Breslow, Eric O'Flaherty, Oliver Perez, Zach Putnam, Bud Norris, Jason Motte, Francisco Liriano, David Hernandez, Ian Krol, Al Alburquerque, Josh Collmentor, Jorge De La Rosa, Jeanmar Gomez, Francisco Rodriguez, Fernando Salas and a few others.

If Dillon Gee is going to another country we should be able to sign 3 of these guys, at least, without breaking the budget.  Instead we bring in guys I have never heard of including Robert Zarate, who hasn't even pitched in two years.    Guys, you have a great team, don't blow it by leaving the end of the bullpen to Louis Head, Josh Martin and Cameron Hill.   While I would LOVE for those guys to get a chance this year, I don't want them as our first option...with no one backing them up if they fail.  

The relievers are out there and at this point they should be attainable at bargain basement prices.   Time to go get some!

Don't sign or trade for hitters - We have enough hitting, enough guys who can play various positions, etc.  If you add more hitters through free agency you stand the chance to lose guys like Gonzalez and Urshela on waivers.   Plus, you trade for a hitter and you lose tradeable assets you may need in July.  

We have enough hitters.   Leave this area alone.

Don't panic -  There is enough that can be done cheaply that we should not panic.   I love the way this team is constructed.   You need to plan for next year and the year after that while winning this year.  If you do the three things above and don't panic you will be fine.

We need relievers...and NOW

NOTE: I have edited this because it is so urgent I think the Indians need to act on this...and now

We lost Bryan Shaw.  We lost Joe Smith who, in theory, could have been Bryan Shaw's replacement if Smith had re-signed with us.  We even lost Shawn Armstrong.  

So, we not only lost bodies but a really good, reliable one in Shaw.  People may not like him but let's face it, folks.  The guy did a great job over his time here and I will go on record as saying he might have even been the best 7th inning guy EVER in Cleveland.  So he needs to be replaced.

So who replaces him (and Smith)?

We have in-house options: Nick Goody, Dan Otero, Zach McAllister and, in theory, would only need to replace the less important roles those guys played last year IF we move up that three to more prominent rolls.  If that is the Indians' thinking then it makes sense.  If they are thinking about moving Clevinger or Tomlin to a role more like Shaw's then I am not on board with that.  

However, next winter Miller, Allen and McAllister all become free agents.   The odds of signing ANY of them are poor, depending how effective McAllister is this year.   So we need to act NOW to be ready for NEXT year.  

We say we are done with significant free agent signings.   OK, I get it.  But there are, by my count, 42 free agent relievers out there of various sorts.  There is just not enough market out there for even the best remaining guys to get 2 year, $15 million or so deals.  Some will have to take a one year deal with an option, some a straight one year deal and a few will have to take minor league deals.  We should be able to get someone decent or good on a one year deal.  But is that what we want to do?

You already have long term investments in Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Lindor, Ramirez, Encarnacion and others.  Maybe Lindor and Bauer will become even longer term investments this spring!   You have to plan to have enough of a bullpen to support these guys.  I don't believe you can just wave your hand and hope that some guy in the minors (or Clevinger in the majors) can magically become a lights out major league reliever.  With your other investments you can't take that risk.

So, if I am the Indians I would reconsider my position.   Yes, you sign a guy or two right now you may not desperately need this year but you will need him (them) more next year and VERY much more in two years.   Plus, it is not like you are signing guys to make your bullpen stronger.  You are really just signing guys to make up for the guys you lost this winter.

As I said above, the market is thinning out and I don't believe that big contracts await the remaining available relievers.   Some of the names available include Glenn Perkins, Addison Reed, Chad Qualls, Duston McGowan, Greg Holland, Sergio Romo, Matt Albers, Matt Belisle, Tyler Clippard, Koji Uehara, Jason Grilli and Travis Wood and there are many more Dan Otero-like relievers out there and even some Nick Goody-like guys to unearth.    The list is impressive and, if we strike now, we can put ourselves in both a good negotiating position with Allen and McAllister for next year AND keep ourselves out of a BAD negotiating position next year.   If we don't we will be the ones offering $27 million, 3 year deals to guys like Shaw or Brett Cecil or $17 million, 2 year deals to 6th/7th inning situational guys like Joe Smith next year.   I don't want to be in that situation and neither should the Indians.

Sign 2 or 3 good relievers now.  You will love yourself in the morning if you do!  

Top 30 prospects

OK, we have had the winter meetings, the rule 5 draft and we are moving into the new year.   The Indians may still make some trades but let's look at the current state of the Indians' farm system.

Overall analysis:  Right now I would say the Indians rank roughly 22nd in baseball in terms of strength of farm system.   In football/basketball language they have one 5 star prospect, one 4 star prospect and a number of 3 star prospects.    They need to up the strength of their farm system as, in a few years, they may be looking at a complete rebuild unless some of their prospects can establish themselves between now and then.  This year and next year will be crucial for that to happen, both in terms of acquisition of prospects through the draft and amateur free agency and graduation of current prospects to the majors.  They have done a good job each year in managing their first year player draft budgets and have started to spend on marquis talents internationally but this needs to continue for them to be in 5 years where they are today.


Indians top 30 prospects

1. Francisco Mejia - C - If there is one prospect in the system that can be the face of the franchise in 5 years it is Mejia.   Yes, you need Lindor and Ramirez to still be here but Mejia has to reach his potential.  

2. Triston McKenzie -  RHP - The road to the majors for a HS pitching prospect is filled with a lot of uncertainty.   The Indians don't need McKenzie to pan out to be successful in 5 years.   However, if he is successful on a par to Carlos Carrasco, it will allow us to budget better to fill holes that always seem to exist on any team.  

3. Aaron Civale - RHP - This is where this list will start to differ from those you see elsewhere.  If we are to be competitive in 5 years you need bodies.   Civale is, to me, a better version of Josh Tomlin.   He should slot in as a quality #4 starter if he can just stay healthy and advance normally.   In 5 years he should be a solid, cost-effective, major league starter.   That is worth about $5-7 million a year we won't have to pay a free agent.   It will also save us from having to count on a question mark, similar to if we had to count on Ryan Merritt this year.   Yes, it may pan out but it is big risk.   Hey, I love Merritt, but in a winning organization he should be a long man/depth starter. 

4. Willi Castro - SS - For the Indians to succeed in the future Castro may have to play a big part.   He plays good defense and if he can hit he could be the next Jose Ramirez.   He is on this list at this point for his upside at a position that is hard to fill.  If he reaches his upside it will make it easier for us to make up for offensive deficits at other positions.  

5. Will Benson - OF - Benson would not even be as high as he is on my list if we had any other sure things.   However, as you will see below, most of our prospects who are close to the majors have some serious warts on them.   Benson needs to become a solid major leaguer in 5 years.   He needs to hit for more average and strike out less while keeping his other stats what they are now.   If he fails it will put a big strain on our budget in 5 years.  In an ideal farm system he would be #10 right now.  The fact that he is #5 shows you that we don't have a lot of depth in this system. 

6. Yu-Cheng Chang - SS - Prospect with warts Part I.  He plays a premium position but he needs to produce more offensively to be useful in the future.  Why?  Because my guess is that he will have to slide over to 3B.  If so, his current production, which is south of where Carlos Santana's is, will not be enough.   If he could stay at SS and be a plus defender he might get by with 20+ HRs and an OPS of .750.  However, if he has to play 3B that won't cut it.   We could get a $6 million, 2nd tier third baseman out of free agency for that...if we wanted to go bargain hunting.   Still, if Chang produces like that or if we go for that 2nd tier guy, it would be a deficit in our lineup in a spot where we need to be above average.

7. Shane Bieber - RHP - Look, no way is this guy supposed to be here.  However, looking at what we will need in 5 years we don't need to be looking for a 5th starter.  Bieber should be able to fill that roll if he stays healthy and on his current trajectory.  Just like Josh Tomlin, we need Bieber to be Mr. Reliable, the starter's version of Bryan Shaw, to save money.   We don't need to be paying $5 million for a 5th starter or rely on an untested rookie.  If Bieber can reach his potential, it is a hole we can cross off our need list.

8. Nolan Jones - 3B - I really like Jones.   He is likely to reach the majors.   The jury is still out if he will be an impact or even above average major leaguer, however.   If we are relying on Jones to suddenly have a bump in production for us to be in good shape in 5 years then we may have a problem.   Jones is the first of what I will call our gravy prospects.   If he pans out it has to be gravy on what would be a solid team without him.   If we COUNT on him improving his production to what we WANT it to be compared to what it is now, it is a recipe for disaster. 

9. Juan Hillman - LHP - This is where this list gets dicey.   Hillman has only modest results so far in the minors, showing no signs of dominance yet.   Although he will begin next season as a 20 year old, his body of work so far predicts a long development time with some uncertainty of how likely he is to reach anywhere close to his ceiling.   He is a true hit-or-miss prospect which, for someone who has been in the system as long as he has, is a little concerning.  Still, the potential is there.

10. Greg Allen - OF - Any farm system that would have Allen any higher than #10 is a farm system in trouble.   He has zero power and speed is his one plus tool.   He has a chance to be a good CFer and #9 hitter (his OB skills don't scream leadoff hitter) on a team that has 8 other guys who can hit the ball out of the park.  He projects well as a 4th outfielder if you have a manager who values defense and pinch-running over being able to come off the bench as a hitter to change a game.   

11. Bobby Bradley - 1B - Here is an interesting guy but one with warts.   His upside now looks like Carlos Santana.  Not bad but this is his upside.  The problem is that he isn't a switch hitter.   He is abysmal against lefties which makes him a platoon player.  As half of a cheap platoon he can be useful.  Think Jesus Aguilar last year with Milwaukee.  We have Yandy Diaz to go with Bradley so, down the road, they both should be in the majors together for a good period of time before free agency so maybe that would work.  Still, the signs are that Bradley will not be a well-rounded player, displaying only one plus tool, power.   

12. Quentin Holmes - OF - Holmes had a dismal start to his professional career.   Truth be told both of Thomas Pannone and Samad Taylor, the two guys traded for Joe Smith, are better prospects to reach the majors than Holmes currently is.  Holmes has speed on his side but the Indians have mixed results, mostly on the negative side, about being able to develop a major league player out of a speed guy.  Right now his upside looks like Greg Allen IF he reaches it.   His development path may be slow enough that he arrives just outside of the 5 year window which is also problematic.

13. Ryan Merritt - LHP - Merritt represents the bird-in-the-hand prospect.   You know what you get from him, which is #5 starter/long man upside but he is likely to reach that potential pretty easily, making him a useful piece in the next 5 years.

14. Julian Merryweather = RHP - A step or two behind Merritt in development is Merryweather.   His upside is as a closer.  His intermediate upside is as a #4 starter on a good team.   He should make the majors and be a useful piece in the next 5 years.   He may, however, turn out to be the second coming of Shawn Armstrong, which would only be useful to a second division team, which we hope the Indians aren't. 

15. Elijah Morgan - RHP - You won't see Morgan on any other prospect lists.  He is a short, right handed relief pitcher, neither of which are in his favor.   He is not likely to close in the majors.  He was a low draft pick meaning his stuff didn't stand out to scouts.   However, his performance at Mahoning Valley was eye-popping and, having seen him in person and on TV (internet feed) I think his stuff will play all the way up to the majors.   If he stays healthy and focused he should have a quick path to the majors and should impact the Indians sometime in the next 5 years both in terms of effectiveness as a 6th/7th inning guy and as a CHEAP option for those roles.

16.   Brady Aiken - LHP - Here is where we start to go totally on hope.   Aiken's numbers at Lake County scream "Wild Thing".   He should have dominated that level but couldn't find the plate.   Even in his games where he limited opponents in runs he still walked a bunch.   I saw him in person and it seemed like he had no clue where the ball was going to go.   One of the bravest things I saw in baseball this year was the home plate umpire standing behind the catcher when Aiken was warming up.   Brave yet not a very smart man!   Aiken has a great pedigree but, at the moment, screams bust after only a couple of years.  Here's hoping for a great turnaround but this clearly shows what we will get on the second half of this top 30 this year: question mark after question mark.  The only difference after Aiken is that the upside of the next 14 guys is not as high as Aiken's, not even close.

17. Connor Capel - OF -  For those of you new to the minors, never...and I mean NEVER...look at power numbers at low A.   They are generally just mirages.   This is why Capel is down this list.   His hit tool is still in question and the power he displayed in 2017 is in question as it was all at low A.   The one plus in his favor is that HS guys from his 2016 draft class, even guys drafted above him, rarely had success at this level at low A ball last year. He make great statistical improvements from his first year to last year so there is hope for him in the future.  He has a good arm and has played CF so he is likely to be an above average OFer at any of the 3 OF positions. 

18. Shawn Morimando - LHP - To me, Morimando is the sleeper in this prospect list.  His stats at AAA were mediocre but he is the kind of guy, I think, who the light can turn on for very quickly.   I think he has a chance to be really impactful for the Indians in the next 5 years.  The only reason he is down this far on this list is that he performance up to this point does not scream success in the majors.  While I disagree with that, the proof is in the pudding and, so far, he has not been as brilliant in the minors as I would have liked to have to seen to give ANY chance of being successful in the majors for a first division team.

19. Mark Mathias - 2B - 2017 was a lost year for this guy but I think he will hit and play defense at an acceptable level and will hit for enough power to be useful as a major leaguer.   I look at him as having Jason Kipnis upside with almost 100% certainty, if healthy, to reach the majors in some capacity in the next 5 years.

20. George Valera - OF - You know that you are rapidly running out of guys who will impact the Indians ML team in the next 5 years when you start listing 16 year olds coming out of Latin America who haven't started playing professional baseball yet.  But that is where we are on this list. 

21. Aaron Bracho - SS - See Valera above.

22. Marco Gonzalez - SS - Like Valera and Bracho but at least Gonzalez has played a year professionally on our DSL team.

23. Tyler Freeman - SS - A 2016 draftee who performed well this year, Freeman is on this list here because he, like the three Latin guys above, have long-term upside.

24. Sean Brady - LHP = Here is a guy who might sneak up on us.   I think, when healthy, he is on a steady yet unspectacular route to the majors.   In order to be impactful in the majors he will need to add something to his arsenal.   I don't know what that is.  Maybe a few mph on his fastball from a move to the bullpen, maybe developing a superior off-speed pitch.   But he knows how to pitch and was successful in the hitter-heavy Arizona Fall League so don't count him out.   If everything clicks for him he could impact the Indians as early as this year and certainly by next year.

25. Ernie Clement - 2B - Like Mathias, he could get to the majors very quickly.   It is too early to tell how impactful he would be once he gets there but he certainly would get there and be established, if he makes it, easily within the next 5 years.

26. James Karinchak - LHP - Scouts apparently like his upside.   2018 will be a year, hopefully if he stays healthy, what we have in Karinchak.  

27. Rob Kaminsky - LHP - You can't forget about this guy.  Yeah, he was injured last year but he still has upside and, in this system, an ETA in the next 5 years is a plus.   Kaminsky, if healthy, should impact this team for most of the next 5 years, making him a veteran at the end of that period.   IF is the big, important, keyword.   Time will tell if he even makes it out of spring training without being traded or released.  However, you can't knock his performance when healthy as an indicator that he likely could pitch in the majors.

28. Eric Haase - C - Normally he would not be on this list but given that the Indians added him to the 40-man roster means, to me, that they saw upside in him after his power surge this year.   They always thought he could hit but now it appears they think his power-defense combination is at least giving him a chance to be a solid backup in the majors.   I don't know if we need that in the next 5 years and I don't know what trade value a guy like Haase could have but he at least gets a mention on this list.

29. Luke Wakamatsu - SS - Sons of big leaguers, if they have any talent at all, seem to do well in pro ball.  Maybe it is because they are already trained in the ups and downs of professional baseball and the grind it takes to make it.   Wakamatsu was just plodding along until the second half of 2017 when he added power to his polished small ball game.  Again, low A ball is deceiving, especially in terms of hitters.  Still, for a classic defense-first SS to have this kind of power surge is intriguing.

30. Eric Stamets - SS - Talk about power coming out of nowhere!  This guy, like Haase a surprising add to the 40-man this winter, has come out of nowhere.  Still, power is the last tool to normally develop for a hitter and a defense-first middle infielder who develops power at AAA is intriguing.

Final note: Lots of guys got left off this list that I like.   Guys like Cameron Hill and a slew of other high minors relievers (and even 2017 college arms who played at Mahoning Valley) have a shot to impact our team in the near future.  Also, guys like Matt Esparza and Francisco Perez could have that same impact if switched to the bullpen.   A number of hitters like Tyler Krieger, Ka'ii Tom and others could have an impact in the next 5 years if they find one tool in their game they can make plus.   Also, low level hitters like Oscar Gonzalez, Ulysses Cantu, Jonathon Rodriguez and others are too far away to be very impactful in the next 5 years but may be useful add-ons if the core of the major league roster is set and solid in 5 years.  Guys will always pop up and drop off of prospect lists as that is the nature of player development.   Some guys fail and some overachieve beyond all expectations.  Let's hope we have more of the latter as, like all minor league systems, there are also a bunch of guys who look like they are currently going nowhere but, with one good year, could bolt into the Indians top 30 list next year.

Way down Yonder

Ever since Yonder Alonso came to the majors I wanted to use that line and now I have my chance.  

If you consider the prediction of the structure of the Indians April 25 man roster like an NCAA basketball bracket prediction, well, consider my bracket busted!

This is not to say that I don't like the Alonso contract.   I actually like it.  Not too long, not too short, 3rd year option, not too pricy this year.   Yeah, it looks about right.   Alonso cashes in on his beyond-all-expectations-career-year.  We get a guy who we hope matches last year when the rest of the league

So what's not to like?

Alonso is a lefty hitter who can't hit lefties.   Thus he is a platoon player.  We will need to add another hitter to platoon with him.   Maybe we have options in house (Diaz, Guyer, Mejia) or maybe we go out and get another veteran.   If we do the latter guys like Gio Urshela and Erik Gonzalez are at risk as they are out of options.  Plus, if we added a veteran right hand bat you would have liked him to be a full-time starter like maybe a thirdbaseman instead of just a platoon firstbaseman.

You see the issue.   By adding Alonso you likely will add another veteran, pushing back younger players.

For me, I would have rather just kept Mejia on the roster as the third catcher/DH.  Chisenhall can play some 1B and so can Brantley.  With the guys we have returning, I think that works better than signing Alonso.  Plus we have Yandy Diaz.   I know what they were doing in getting Alonso but I just don't like it.   Young guys get kicked to the curb or jettisoned because they are not Lindoresque and we get little or nothing for them.   A perfect example is Jesus Aguilar, who was out of options last year.   He ended up on waivers and picked up by Milwaukee.   Well, he hit 16 HR last year in Milwaukee.   His LH splits were .303 BA and .889 OPS and he wasn't terrible against RHP, either.   We jettisoned him for nothing because we didn't have room for him when, if we would have kept him, we could have used him to help, in a platoon situation, to replace Santana this year.  To me that would have made as much sense as signing Alonso as we wouldn't have to look for another FA signing to platoon with Alonso and it would have been MUCH cheaper.

Hey, I am OK with signing certain veterans when needed.    However, the last two years we have made moves that gave away young players for little return.   Signing Alonso might cause us to do the same again.   I just don't like that when we are in a weak division and all that our in-house options may need is just need a chance to be successful.  Filling your roster with veterans really doesn't give the young players that opportunity and, as I said, you wind up throwing away for nothing prospects just because they are not the next coming of Francisco Lindor.   Bad business for a small market team, in my opinion.