Written by Al Ciammiachella

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Well, the end of the minor league regular season is upon us. Columbus and Kinston will carry on in the playoffs, but for the other Indians affiliates, it’s time to pack it in and head home. Some players will head to instructs, some to the various fall leagues around the hemisphere, and some will simply head home to rest and recuperate during the offseason. These guys will have about six months until they have to report for spring training, and most have plenty to work on during the offseason.

As for me, it was a great first year covering the minors here on TCF. I’m ever-thankful to Swerb for the opportunity, and hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I have. As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, criticisms or even compliments, shoot me an e-mail and let me know how to get better. I’ll be doing recaps of each affiliate’s season, hand out some end of the year hardware (figuratively of course) and before we know it, it will be time to put together the top-50 list again. But without further delay, on to the final ATF of the year…

LeVon Washington, CF-LCC: 1-4, HR (4), RBI, R, K

Washington was a top-10 prospect in the organization going into this year, and people (myself included) were expecting big things from him at low-A Lake County. He suffered a couple of nagging injuries in spring training, and was never really able to get untracked. He spent some more time on the DL during the season, and was just never able to play consistently enough to show off his talent. His final line of .218/.331/.315 with 4 HR, 20 RBI and 15 bags is somewhat disappointing, but you have to remember that Washington turned 20 years old this past July. He’s still somewhat young for full-season ball. Washington still has all the tools to be an impact player at the big league level, and will still be a top-10 prospect going into next season.  

• Beau Mills, 1B-COL: 2-4, 2 2B, R, K. Mills is hitting an even .500 in his last 6 games (12-24) with 3 HR and 5 RBI. He finished the AAA regular season hitting .269/.326/.496 with 7 HR in 119 at bats for the Clippers.
• Rob Bryson, RP-AKR: 2 IP, H, 2 K. In his last 10 outings, Bryson has thrown 16 1/3 innings, allowing 5 ER (all in one outing), struck out 18 and walked 7.
• Chun Chen, C-AKR: 1-4, 2 K. Chen didn’t follow up his breakout 2010 quite the way I’d hoped, but still turned in a solid season for AA Akron. He finished the year on a 8-game hitting streak, going 10-31 with 2 HR and 7 RBI over that span.
• Mike Rayl, SP-KIN: 3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 3 K, BB. Between two A levels this year, Rayl has gone 6-8 with a 3.42 ERA with 121 K and 26 BB in 123 2/3 IP.
• Cody Allen, RP-KIN: 3 IP, H, 3 K. Allen’s first action in the Carolina League was a success. Between the NYPL, Lake County and now Kinston, Allen has thrown 53 2/3 innings and recorded 73 strikeouts while allowing just 8 ER.
• Bo Greenwell, LF-KIN: 2-5, 2B, R. Greenwell finished up the regular season on a 5-game hit streak, going 6-16 with 3 BB over that span.
• Danny Salazar, RP-LCC: 3 IP, ER, 2 H, 5 K. Signed in 2006 out of the Dominican Republic, Salazar is back on the mound after missing a significant chunk of time with a UCL reconstruction. He threw 14 2/3 innings between Arizona and Lake County, striking out 18 and walking 4.
• Ronny Rodriguez, SS-LCC: 2-4, RBI. The 19-year old Rodriguez turned in an impressive season for Lake County, finishing with a .246/.274/.449 line in 98 games. He popped 11 HR, drove in 42 runs and stole 10 bases.
• Gio Urshela, 3B-LCC: 1-3, 2B, BB, R. Urshela finished 2011 with hits in 8 of his last 10 games, including a HR and 4 2B. Already a gold glove caliber fielder at the hot corner, Urshela needs to add strength and work on barreling the ball with

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