top prospects: indians
like the blue jays, the indians have a healthy system. they're a little light on top talent, but they already have a strong, young core in the majors, so all they need is support. that will come from depth. the indians will develop role-players and position replacements as needed in the pennant races to come.

1. Adam Miller, rhp
2. Jeremy Sowers, lhp
3. Brad Snyder, of
4. Fausto Carmona, rhp
5. Ryan Garko, 1b/c
6. Franklin Gutierrez, of
7. Fernando Cabrera, rhp
8. Trevor Crowe, of
9. Stephen Head, 1b
10. Michael Aubrey, 1b

i think they're the favorite in the central.

Career Pitching Statistics for Adam Miller:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2003 Burlington   App  18 Cle Rk   32.2  30   2   9  23 .066 .820 .019  4.96
2004 Lake County  SAL  19 Cle A    91.0  79   7  28 106 .074 .699 .028  3.36
2004 Kinston      Caro 19 Cle A    43.1  29   1  12  46 .070 .711 .009  2.08
2005 Mahoning Val NYPL 20 Cle A    10.2  17   0   4   6 .075 .878 .000  5.06
2005 Kinston      Caro 20 Cle A    59.2  76   5  17  45 .063 .824 .024  4.83

adam miller missed the first half of the season last year with an elbow strain. he wasn't great when he came back, but he was pretty damn good in 2004. and he's young. hopefully he'll stay healthy.

Career Pitching Statistics for Jeremy Sowers:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2002 Vanderbilt U NCAA 19 0   NCA 101.0 104   9  31  85 .071 .791 .028  4.37
2003 Vanderbilt U NCAA 20 0   NCA 115.0  94   7  29 123 .062 .720 .022  2.50
2004 Vanderbilt U NCAA 21 0   NCA 122.2 105   7  26 119 .052 .748 .020  3.08
2005 Kinston      Caro 22 Cle A    71.1  60   5  19  75 .065 .726 .025  2.78
2005 Akron        East 22 Cle AA   82.1  74   8   9  70 .027 .782 .032  2.08
2005 Buffalo      IL   22 Cle AAA   5.2   7   0   1   4 .040 .833 .000  1.59

jeremy sowers made it all the way to triple-a last year. a year out of college. that's pretty impressive. his control was excellent. contact rates are decent. and he's a lefty. he's going to make it.

Career Batting Statistics for Brad Snyder:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2002 Ball State U NCAA 20 0   NCA 202  25  48  13  18 .110 .762 .201 .386
2003 Ball State U NCAA 21 0   NCA 203  52  45  14  28 .204 .778 .266 .405
2003 Mahoning Val NYPL 21 Cle A   228  42  82   6  17 .156 .640 .158 .284
2004 Lake County  SAL  22 Cle A   308  53  78  10  20 .147 .747 .130 .280
2004 Kinston      Caro 22 Cle A   107  14  28   5   8 .116 .738 .165 .330
2005 Kinston      Caro 23 Cle A   211  30  64   6  12 .124 .697 .122 .278
2005 Akron        East 23 Cle AA  305  31  94  16  26 .092 .692 .199 .280

i'm not so sure about brad snyder. he has trouble with contact. he's old for his level, and he struck out 158 times in 516 at-bats last year. the power is good, but it may not be enough.

Career Pitching Statistics for Fausto Carmona:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2002 Burlington   App  18 Cle Rk   76.1  89   4  10  42 .030 .868 .014  3.30
2002 Mahoning Val NYPL 18 Cle A     4.0   2   0   1   0 .067 1.00 .000  0.00
2003 Lake County  SAL  19 Cle A   148.1 117  10  14  83 .024 .852 .021  2.06
2003 Akron        East 19 Cle AA    6.0   8   1   0   3 .000 .885 .043  4.50
2004 Kinston      Caro 20 Cle A    70.0  67   6  20  57 .067 .794 .027  2.83
2004 Akron        East 20 Cle AA   87.0 114   3  21  63 .053 .832 .010  4.97
2005 Akron        East 21 Cle AA   90.2 100   7  20  57 .051 .847 .022  4.07
2005 Buffalo      IL   21 Cle AAA  83.0  76  10  15  49 .044 .849 .036  3.25

fausto also has good control. and he pitched in triple-a last year. he's thrown a lot of innings though. sowers did too. i know, it's not just the innings you throw, but i worry, ok?

anyway the question about fausto is can he make it with less than optimal strikeout rates. optimal doesn't make sense here because optimal would be 100 percent and nobody strikes out 100 percent of batters. but you know what i mean. that's the question. the answer i don't know.

Career Batting Statistics for Ryan Garko:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2000 Stanford U.  NCAA 19 0   NCA  42  12   4   0   2 .222 .905 .053 .143
2001 Stanford U.  NCAA 20 0   NCA 207  34  22   7  17 .141 .894 .130 .368
2002 Stanford U.  NCAA 21 0   NCA 246  54  24  14  18 .180 .902 .144 .314
2003 Stanford U.  NCAA 22 0   NCA 259  40  17  18  24 .134 .934 .174 .402
2003 Mahoning Val NYPL 22 Cle A   165  16  19   4   9 .088 .885 .089 .273
2004 Kinston      Caro 23 Cle A   239  41  34  16  18 .146 .858 .166 .328
2004 Akron        East 23 Cle AA  174  20  28   6  15 .103 .839 .144 .331
2004 Buffalo      IL   23 Cle AAA  26   2   4   0   1 .071 .846 .045 .375
2005 Buffalo      IL   24 Cle AAA 456  62  92  19  28 .120 .798 .129 .303
2005 Cleveland In AL   24 Cle MLB   1   0   1   0   0 .000 .000 .000 .000

garko. garko garko. what can we say about ryan garko. what we can say is why is he a prospect? he tore it up at stanford, which makes me question other people's numbers at stanford, but that's beside the point. he's getting old, and he just wasn't that great in triple-a. let's see. ok. he shredded the carolina league. then he performed decently in double-a that same year. so he's moved up quickly. and his triple-a numbers have him on the threshold of breakout in all three skills. so ok, he's a prospect.

you can see why the indians haven't sought out a first baseman with what they have in the minors.

Career Batting Statistics for Franklin Gutierrez:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2002 South Georgi SAL  19 La  A   367  37  88  12  22 .092 .760 .122 .282
2002 Las Vegas    PCL  19 La  AAA  10   1   4   0   2 .091 .600 .333 .300
2003 Vero Beach   FSL  20 La  A   428  42 111  20  33 .089 .741 .167 .282
2003 Jacksonville Sou  20 La  AA   67   8  20   4   5 .107 .701 .191 .313
2004 Akron        East 21 Cle AA  266  32  77   5  26 .107 .711 .164 .302
2004 Buffalo      IL   21 Cle AAA  27   1  11   1   1 .036 .593 .125 .148
2005 Akron        East 22 Cle AA  388  37  77  11  27 .087 .802 .122 .261
2005 Buffalo      IL   22 Cle AAA  68   7  13   0   8 .093 .809 .145 .254
2005 Cleveland In AL   22 Cle MLB   1   1   0   0   0 .500 1.00 .000 .000

you can also see why they traded coco crisp. the indians have a plethora of young outfielders, one of whom should make it.

i can never say plethora without thinking of the three amigos.

yeah. franklin gutierrez. he's had trouble with contact, but he has hit bombs. vero beach, for example. and it looks like his contact is coming around. stole 14 bases last year, so it looks like he has some speed. good chance to be a guy. what does that mean. major-league regular for a few years.

Career Pitching Statistics for Fernando Cabrera:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2000 Burlington   App  18 Cle Rk   68.1  64   4  20  50 .069 .814 .018  4.61
2002 Akron        East 20 Cle AA   27.0  26   1  12  29 .101 .729 .013  5.33
2003 Akron        East 21 Cle AA  109.0  96   8  40 115 .086 .728 .026  2.97
2004 Buffalo      IL   22 Cle AAA  75.0  57   9  43  92 .132 .674 .047  3.84
2004 Cleveland In AL   22 Cle MLB   5.1   3   0   1   6 .050 .684 .000  3.38
2005 Buffalo      IL   23 Cle AAA  51.1  36   3  11  68 .055 .642 .025  1.23
2005 Cleveland In AL   23 Cle MLB  30.2  24   1  11  29 .087 .750 .011  1.47

ok. this kid's already made it. those strikeout numbers are fantastic, and the walks are impressive. he's a reliever. that's a lot of innings for a reliever. 82.

Career Batting Statistics for Trevor Crowe:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 U. of Arizon NCAA  0 0   NCA 190  10  32   2  16 .050 .832 .114 .316
2004 U. of Arizon NCAA  0 0   NCA 203  23  39   5  22 .102 .808 .165 .350
2005 U. of Arizon NCAA  0 0   NCA 266  40  30   9  40 .131 .887 .208 .403
2005 Mahoning Val NYPL  0 Cle A    51   7   8   1   3 .121 .843 .093 .255
2005 Lake County  SAL   0 Cle A   180  19  25   0  10 .095 .861 .065 .258
2005 Akron        East  0 Cle AA   10   0   3   0   0 .000 .700 .000 .100

trevor crowe had outstanding numbers at arizona, but that's altitude and we've seen similar things at similar schools. parks. locations. so we don't have a lot of data. but he was clearly able to make contact in the sally league. he has some speed, but probably won't steal bases in the majors. right now, i'm not optimistic, but anything could happen. if he's left-handed, it's a lot better. lefties with contact and speed can get on base. does anyone know his handedness?

Career Batting Statistics for Stephen Head:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 U. of Missis NCAA  0 0   NCA 209  17  33   6  12 .075 .842 .102 .337
2004 U. of Missis NCAA  0 0   NCA 233  32  37  13  14 .121 .841 .138 .346
2005 U. of Missis NCAA  0 0   NCA 270  35  38  18  17 .115 .859 .151 .333
2005 Mahoning Val NYPL  0 Cle A    37   8   5   6   4 .178 .865 .313 .432
2005 Kinston      Caro  0 Cle A   205   8  33   4  15 .038 .839 .110 .286

good contact and power. needs to stop swinging at everything.

Career Batting Statistics for Michael Aubrey:
Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2001 Tulane U.    NCAA 19 0   NCA 279  40  40  13  21 .125 .857 .142 .361
2002 Tulane U.    NCAA 20 0   NCA 216  24  26   7  17 .100 .880 .126 .316
2003 Tulane U.    NCAA 21 0   NCA 247  46  13  18  21 .157 .947 .167 .420
2003 Lake County  SAL  21 Cle A   139  15  22   5  13 .097 .842 .154 .348
2004 Kinston      Caro 22 Cle A   219  39  26  10  15 .151 .881 .130 .339
2004 Akron        East 22 Cle AA  138  18  18   5   7 .115 .870 .100 .261
2005 Akron        East 23 Cle AA  109  10  18   4   6 .084 .835 .110 .283

this kid was a complete wrecker in college. .947 con and .167 pow. with good patience. he had no trouble in the pros either. but he's had injury problems.

michael aubrey was almost certainly the indians' first baseman of the future before his injuries. we all have our battles to fight.
- posted by julien @ 9:47 AM