The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with the latest edition of his Winter Ball Notebook. Carlos Moncrief was removed from the taxi squad this week and should be performing regularly for the remainder of the AFL season. Plus, Steve touches on catcher Alex Monsalve and how he has started to heat up at the plate and first baseman Jesus Aguilar's surprising absence this past week in the VWL.

T.J. McFarland just completed an up-and-down season for the Akron Aeros and Columbus Clippers. Now, the left-handed starter is very much on the radar of the Major League club. But what does the future hold for McFarland? Is he a pitcher in the mold of Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers? Or is he something more? The IPI's Steve Orbanek looks back at McFarland's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

The calendar may say November, but that does not mean baseball has stopped. Plenty of current and former Indians prospects were making waves Thursday night, including Alex Monsalve, Juan Diaz, and more. Join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm to catch up on all of last night's action.

The IPI's Jim Piascik completes his final look at the Indians' roster in his year end quarterly rankings with the second half of his piece ranking the #1-24 players of the 48 that played in Cleveland this past season. Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana, Shin-Soo Choo, Vinnie Pestano and others are all key members to the team, and see where they as well as others rank after the jump.

The IPI's Jeff Ellis is hunkered down in New York City in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, but that hasn't stopped him from looking at how the Indians can improve their roster this offseason. Earlier in the week he touched on President Mark Shapiro's use of WAR (wins above replacement) to evaluate the core players on the current roster, and this time around he looks at 12 free agents that the Indians might be able to sign this offseason using the same WAR approach.

Lots of Indians players were trick or treating on Halloween night in the various offseason leagues in Arizona and Latin America. Some new players debuted this offseason, while some others like T.J. House continue to impress this offseason. Details on all the action from last night as well as the players named to the Rising Stars game in the Arizona Fall League....after the jump.

It was a busy Halloween for the Indians as not only did they announce their 2013 Major League coaching staff and their decisions on the club options for Ubaldo Jimenez, Roberto Hernandez and Travis Hafner, but they also made three moves to clear space on the 40-man roster. See who was removed after the jump...

The Indians made a series of announcements on Wednesday afternoon as they made it official declining the club options for Travis Hafner and Roberto Hernandez and picking up the club option on Ubaldo Jimenez. That was not the only major announcement as they also released their complete 2013 Major League coaching staff. See all the new coaches and more after the jump...

Halloween is a day of celebrating for many every October 31st, and that isn't any different on the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario. While many are dressing up in their favorite costumes, carving pumpkins and eating candy corn, Tribe fans are busy egging enemy players' houses, and dodging SUV's. Join Jim Pete on this Halloween look at the Hot Stove League's unofficial start on the last day of October...

In today's recap of the happenings in the Indians organization around winter ball on Tuesday night, Tony talks about the dominance being shown by Trey Haley so far in the AFL, the new role for Carlos Moncrief, the slow start this offseason for Tim Fedroff, and lots more. Happy Halloween!

After a long hiatus, Jim Pete and Steve Orbanek return to the cyberwaves tonight with CSI: Cleveland Sports Insiders. The show will now air in two half-hour increments every Tuseday night from 11:00 to 11:30 p.m. EST and 12:00 to 12:30 a.m. EST. The guys will touch on many topics tonight including the debut of this year's Cavaliers as well as the recent resurgence shown by the Browns. All this and more when the guys go live tonight at 11:00 p.m.

Tony recently had a chance to sit down with High-A Carolina pitching coach Scott Erickson to discuss his first season coaching and some of the pitchers he worked with this past season, namely Danny Salazar, Grant Sides, Jordan Cooper, Will Roberts, Mike Rayl, Michael Goodnight, and others. This is the first "Coach's Corner" of the offseason, and a new interview with an Indians' coach will post here at the IPI every Tuesday through the end of the year.

The “AFL Spotlight” is a weekly feature that highlights an Indians' prospect participating in the Arizona Fall League. In this week's spotlight, Tony talks about outfielder Carlos Moncrief who is returning from an injury and surgery in August and gives an update how his recovery is going, what he is doing in the AFL, and his offseason plans.

While Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the East Coast on Monday (we at IPI hope everyone is safe and sound!), things went on as usual in the Arizona Fall League and Dominican Winter League. Tyler Holt continued his solid play of late, and a former Indians prospect that was part of a big trade some time ago was also in action.

With the offseason officially here thanks to the Giants finishing off their sweep of the Tigers in the World Series last night, it is time to start tracking what the Indians do this offseason. IPI will be all over all the news and developments with the Indians this offseason on the trade and free agency market, and to help prepare for what is coming (or not coming) here is their current payroll and player control situation for the next six years.

Now that the Indians season is over - and the MLB season for that matter with the conclusion of the World Series last night - the IPI's Jim Piascik takes a final look at the Indians' roster in his quarterly rankings. In part one of two pieces that will post this week he takes a look at the bottom half of the 48 players that played and donned a Cleveland uniform this season.