The rains held off in the minor leagues Wednesday night, not subjecting those games to the wet quagmire the major league team had to slog through. Akron hosted Rehab Wednesday with two major league pitchers on rehab assignments, Carolina had a hard time scoring runs, and Lake County furiously tried to come back from a 9-3 deficit with a five-run ninth. The highlight of Wednesday, though, was a top prospect maybe, just maybe, beginning to break through after a season of struggle. To find out who this is and read all about the night in the minors, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

The Captains went 3-4 this past week but the losing record is misleading of the progress the team has made. The team’s offense has started to catch on and even the likes of Claudio Bautista and Dorssys Paulino, who have been miserable at the plate, have started to swing better bats. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger gets us all caught up on the week that was for the Captains...

Enough with the kids' gloves with regards to Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco. The time to get these kids into the rotation is now, and not later. This new version of the Indians is standing at a precipice that they've been at in both 2011 and 2012. Jim Pete takes a look at why the Indians should bring these kids up sooner, rather than later. He also opines about why this team may just be a contender, and ponders the importance of Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Justin Verlander tonight...

By now, most of us are well acquainted with the “Bullpen Mafia” moniker as the Indians relief corps has established itself as the team’s strength over the past several seasons. Well now allow the IBI's Jake Dungan to introduce you to quite possibly the next group of guys to earn a nickname branding: "The Bench Mob".

By coincidence, the same two pitching matchups from the first series between Detroit and Cleveland meet again this week. In round two of Max Scherzer against Corey Kluber, Sherzer prevailed again despite an improved performance by Kluber, who pitched six and a third innings and only allowed three runs. The IBI's Jake Dungan shares his second thoughts on the game...

There was plenty of action around the Indians farm system Tuesday as Chun Chen continued to impress since his promotion to Triple-A Columbus while Richard Stock continued to turn some heads at Lake County. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco was also in action for the Clippers. Join the IBI's Arthur Kinney as he recaps all the action and takes you Around the Farm.

There have been plenty of good nights for the Cleveland Indians as of late but unfortunately Tuesday was not one of them. The Tribe mustered only three hits and fell 5-1 to the Detroit Tigers. Max Scherzer did his best Justin Verlander impression, and the Indians' offense was stymied all night. Join Jim Berdysz as he looks back at all the action after the jump...

Things just did not come together for the Akron Aeros over the past week as the team dropped five out of six games and fell to 20-24 on the season. This Akron team remains young and talented, though it lacks the consistency needed to rise to the top of the Eastern League standings. Despite the losing, there were plenty of exemplary performances, major league pitchers making cameo appearances, and an outfielder risking life and limb to make plays. To read all about the week in Akron and find out all you need to know, join Jim Piascik and go Launching off with the Aeros.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings in the Indians’ farm system, Tony touches on the strides that Cody Anderson is making as a prospect, provides tons of comments from the front office on some of the pitching options at Triple-A Columbus like Danny Salazar, Preston Guilmet, Matt Langwell and Giovanni Soto, and also touches on a few hitters with the return of Tony Wolters to Carolina and the strides he is making as a hitter and catcher and also an in depth look at the promotion of Chun Chen and his future in the organization. In addition to that, he provides lots of insight and information on several other prospects in the organization.

The wins continue to roll in for the Cleveland Indians, who currently sport a 26-17 record and sit atop the American League Central. Jason Kipnis, Justin Masterson and Yan Gomes all had strong performances during the past week, and the Tribe currently brings plenty of momentum into its two-game series with the Detroit Tigers, which begins tonight. Join the IBI's Steve Orbanek as he looks back at the week that was in the weekly IBI staple, Notes from the Wigwam.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Indians put themselves in a position to sweep an ever-difficult four-game series. In a game where their starter got through just three innings and their three impenetrable backend relievers all faltered, naturally, they pulled it out. In game-winning fashion. Again. Kevin Dean shares his second thoughts on a thrilling come from behind walkoff 10-8 win for the Indians.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST. In tonight's episode, Tony and Jim discuss the results of the first game of a brief but big two-game set with the Detroit Tigers. In addition to that they will discuss what may have been the best offseason move by the Indians flipping Esmil Rogers for Mike Aviles and Yan Gomes, the rebound of Ubaldo Jimenez and his important start coming up against Justin Verlander on Wednesday, who is hot in the minors, and more!

There are players every year that seem to come out of the woodwork to become good-to-great prospects. The first guy that comes to mind is Jose Ramirez last season. Ramirez struggled tonight, but the guy at the top of ATF is someone who's surprising this year, and has surprised in the past as well. Join Jim Pete, as he winds us through the daily baseball tidings in Monday's ATF.

Crazy may be in fact an understatement to describe the series finale between the Indians and Mariners Monday afternoon. Ten innings and three hours and forty-eight minutes later, Cleveland would come out with their biggest win of the season, defeating Seattle 10-8 pulling it off once again in dramatic fashion. Tribe catcher Yan Gomes delivered on a walk-off three run homer to give Cleveland a victory and a four-game series sweep of Seattle.

Routine is one of baseball’s most imperative elements, especially for a pitcher. From workouts to repeating motions within deliveries to maintaining a healthy diet, continuity is key. Low-A Lake County right-handed pitcher Josh Martin recognizes the importance of such consistency and is off to a fine start at Lake County. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger gets us caught up with the big righty....

The 2013 MLB Draft is less than three weeks away. The IBI's draft guru Jeff Ellis has been studying all of the players and knows all of the teams' tendencies inside and out, and today provides his first mock draft of the entire first round. He provides lots of insight and analysis on each pick....no one knows the draft better than Jeff! Check out who he has the Indians selecting and more...