In honor of my TCF colleague Al Ciammaichella’s Top 61 Prospects countdown, which is now deep into the top 25 after covering #25-21, and #20-16, and #15-11 which will posted by mid-afternoon Saturday, I wanted to rank the players on my projected Indians 25-man roster. To do this, I’m going to consider offensive and defensive value for position players and performance and importance for pitchers. The Indians’ organizational strength at that position will also be considered because players that are replaceable will be ranked lower.
This is entirely subjective and your personal rankings may differ drastically from mine. A lot can change between now and April 2, so the 25-man roster may be affected by injuries, late free agent signings or trades, and guys really making a positive impact the rest of the spring. This, however, is the roster I fully explain the Indians to break camp with.
To avoid a 4,000+-word article, I split this up into two parts running on consecutive Saturdays as my weekly View from the Porch article. The first part, #25-13, can be viewed here.
The top half of this roster is going to be critically important to the Indians success this season. These are guys that absolutely must perform to their full potential for the Indians to have any shot at contending. The team, as a whole, looks a lot better than it has in a long time, but it is still not good enough to withstand a letdown from most of these players.
In descending order, here is a rank of my #12-#1 on my projected Indians 25-man roster:
For all of the great things that General Manager Chris Antonetti did this offseason, the key to the 2013 season may be a move that was made in 2010. Originally labeled as “PTBNL”, player to be named later, Zach McAllister was acquired on August 20, 2010 to complete a trade deadline deal that sent Austin Kearns to the New York Yankees. It wasn’t a blockbuster trade, nor did it make waves. Frankly, at the time, it barely sent a ripple through the water.
Well Tribe fans, we're about to break into the top 20 prospects in the Indians organization. A sincere thanks for following along on our little ride, and I promise we're on the home stretch here. Today, we'll look at a power hitting 1B who has a little trouble with the slider, a tantalizing young OF from Venezuela, a 2012 draftee with a heart of gold, a(nother) power righthanded reliever who's dealing with some injury issues and a southpaw starter who is one of the most entertaining interviews in the entire organization, even if he is an LSU fan.
Yes we love the Cleveland Indians and we focus on them 99 percent of the time. The one percent representing whoever they face or are involved with.
One of my personal favorite prospects will be highlighted in today's installment of the prospect countdown. I'll give you a hint; he plays a position that starts with "C" and ends with an "R." In addition to another backstop with a bright future, we'll look at a 2012 draft pick who grew up in Alaska and is trying to buck the trend and play professional baseball, a player who missed all of 2012 due to injury, another power righthanded reliever and a 3B-turned-OF who has one of the prettiest swings in the entire organization, non-Chisenhall division.