Tony%20Lastoria Archive

As we all get set to enjoy the company of family and friends on this Christmas holiday, we wanted to take a little time to give thanks and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. In this collaboration piece, several IBI staff members explain why they love baseball and the Indians.

Today we continue on with the fourth batch of 2013 scouting videos. We shot tons of video of over 135 players this season, and in today's batch of videos we feature Xavier De Los Santos, Luis DeJesus, Carlos Diaz, Juan Diaz, Paolo Espino, Evan Frazar, Anthony Gallas, Robel Garcia, Erik Gonzalez, and Michael Goodnight.

Wow, what a crazy month it has been for the Indians. It feels like the winter meetings were two months ago when in fact they were just getting underway three weeks ago. Anyway, as we all get set to open our presents under the Christmas tree and spend time with family, the Indians unwrapped their big gift early signing free agent outfielder Nick Swisher yesterday to a big deal. Tony provides tons of thoughts and insight on the signing, and also looks at whether their offseason shopping is done and where they may go from here.

With Christmas two days away, talk about putting a little something big in the stockings of Indians fans. The Cleveland Indians and free agent outfielder Nick Swisher have reportedly agreed to terms on a four year $56 million option. The contract also includes a vesting club option for 2017 for $14 million, which could bring the total contract to five years $70 million. Details after the jump...

We will be posting lots of videos to the site over the next several days, and today we continue on with the third batch of 2013 scouting videos. We shot tons of video of over 135 players this season, and in today's batch of videos we feature Leonardo Castillo, Chun Chen, Shao-Ching Chiang, Dwight Childs, Delvi Cid, Joseph Colon, Clayton Cook, Cole Cook, Jordan Cooper and Geoff Davenport.

In today's notebook Tony gets us up to speed on where things are with Nick Swisher. It has been a LONG process but the Indians continue to hang in and they still look like the most likely destination for him. Tony also provides some thoughts and insight on how the Mark Reynolds signing can help, what recent signing Scott Kazmir's real value is, whether the Indians lost anything of value in Russ Canzler, and lots more.

We will be posting lots of videos to the site over the next several days, and today we continue on with the second batch of 2013 scouting videos. We shot tons of video of over 135 players this season, and in today's batch of videos we feature Eric Berger, Kyle Blair, Brett Brach, Marcus Bradley, Mark Brown, Rob Bryson, Andrew Campbell, Tyler Cannon, Manny Carmona, and up-and coming shortstop prospect Ivan Castillo.

According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians have reached an agreement with free agent left-handed pitcher Scott Kazmir on a minor league contract with an invite to Major League spring training. He is expected to compete for a spot in the Indians rotation, but will probably be a depth option that opens the season in the minors.

Today is the first batch of 2013 scouting videos we will be posting to the site over the next several days. We shot tons of video of over 135 players this season, and in today's batch of videos we feature Adam Abraham, Jesus Aguilar, Cody Allen, Cody Anderson, Elvis Araujo, Shawn Armstrong, Robbie Aviles, Scott Barnes, Ryan Battaglia, and Kyle Bellows.

We continue with our 2013 prospect coverage here at the IPI with a look at the right fielders in the Indians system. With the Indians recent trade of outfielder Shin-Soo Choo they have a glaring hole they need to fill in right field in the short term and long term, and while the internal options in the short term are limited, the Indians have some interesting prototype right field prospects moving up the minor league ladder. Tony looks at all of the right field options the Indians have in their system all the way to the Dominican Summer League, and breaks down the potential and future for the likes of Hector Caro, Victor De Jesus, Josh McAdams, Carlos Moncrief, Bryson Myles, Juan Romero, Brian Ruiz, Jordan Smith, Omar Sanchez, and several others.

Free agent outfielder Nick Swisher left Cleveland yesterday afternoon. What destination he was heading to next on his free agent tour is still a mystery, but even though he departed without signing a contract the Indians still appear the frontrunner to sign him. Tony discusses how draft pick compensation may be limiting his market and why the Indians are still his most logical landing spot.

The Cleveland Indians today announced they have signed free agent right-handed pitcher Joe Martinez and catcher Brian Jeroloman to minor league contracts with non-roster invitations to Major League camp. Martinez returns to the Indians after pitching for Triple-A Columbus in 2011 and Jeroloman will provide much needed upper level catching depth.

Today the Indians officially announced the signing of first baseman Mark Reynolds to a one year contract. The deal is for a reported $6 million and includes an additional $1.5 million in incentives. To make room on the 40-man roster the Indians designated first baseman/outfielder Russ Canzler for assignment.

We continue with our 2013 prospect coverage here at the IPI with a look at the left fielders in the Indians system. It is no secret that left field is a position of immediate need at the big league level for the Indians, but the options in the upper levels of the Indians system are limited. Tony looks at all of the left field options for the Indians now and in the future and breaks down the potential and future for the likes of Victor Cabral, Tim Fedroff, Anthony Gallas, Bo Greenwell, Jorge Martinez, Thomas Neal, Anthony Santander, Jeremie Tice and many others.

The Indians have been talking to free agent outfielder Nick Swisher for several weeks now, and today they reportedly have intensified what was already a very aggressive pursuit. According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Indians “are making a push in their effort to sign Swisher”.

In today's final edition of "Coach's Corner" this offseason, we saved the best for last. Tony recently had a chance to sit down with former High-A Carolina hitting coach and new Low-A Lake County manager Scooter Tucker and discuss a lot of the players he worked with this past season at Carolina. The Indians had a lot of very intriguing position player talent at Carolina this past season, and Tucker went into great detail on things they worked on over the course of the season. They talked about Carlos Moncrief, Ronny Rodriguez, Tony Wolters, Jesus Aguilar, Giovanny Urshela, Anthony Gallas, and more.