Tony%20Lastoria Archive

As some of you may have seen in a tweet I sent out last week, Indians Prospect Insider will soon be no more. No, it is not closing up shop and going away. Instead, this site will become Indians Baseball Insider. We are going from the IPI to the IBI, and the change should occur sometime between now and the next two weeks. Tony explains why the change was made and what it means for the site.

The Indians continue to be extremely active this offseason on both the free agent and trade fronts, something that a lot of fans have taken notice of and been happy to see for a change. But there is still a large segment of naysayers that will not believe anything has changed until ownership and the front office get a notable free agent to sign on the dotted line. Tony discusses how a big free agent signing may actually help the team more off the field than on it, he compares the James Shields and Ubaldo Jimenez deals, and much more.

The Nick Swisher and Edwin Jackson watch continues, and at the moment, an conclusion does not appear imminent. Swisher is said to be in no rush to sign with anyone and will spend next week visiting all the teams interested in signing him. Jackson does not appear close to signing with anyone, but that should change now that Anibal Sanchez resigned with the Tigers. The free agent spotlight is clearly on both Swisher and Jackson, and the Indians are in on both, but it remains remote they end up with either one.

It has been awhile, and thanks to the nudging from some readers, we decided to dust off this old feature and bring it back to the site. Things with the Indians have been pretty busy of late and a lot of fans want to know what the Indians are up to. Tony answers questions from fans asking about their pursuit of Nick Swisher, what other options they should consider if they don't sign him, whether the reload approach is the right one, and lots more.

With Justin Hamilton, Ryan Dempster, and Anibal Sanchez all signing today, the free agent spotlight now shines on Nick Swisher and Edwin Jackson. The Indians have offers out to both and have been aggressive in their attempts to sign them, but other teams are interested and more could join the mix after the three big signings today.

We continue with our 2013 prospect coverage here at the IPI with a look at the center fielders in the Indians system. The Indians have Michael Brantley and the newly acquired Drew Stubbs as current options at the big league level, but they have stockpiled some good prospects and depth at the position in their minor league system. Tony talks about the potential and future for the likes of Tyler Booth, Delvi Cid, Jordan Henry, Tyler Holt, D'Vone McClure, Tyler Naquin, Luigi Rodriguez, Logan Vick, LeVon Washington, and many others.

Wow, what a night for the Indians. They came away as big winners in the three-team trade last night that saw them pickup highly coveted pitching phenom Trevor Bauer. Tony chimes in with his thoughts on all the players in the deal, what may happen next for the Indians, what it means for a possible Perez or Cabrera trade, the immediate impact Francona has had on the organization, and lots more.

The Indians have received right-handed pitcher Trevor Bauer, right-handed pitcher Matt Albers, and right-handed pitcher Bryan Shaw from the Diamondbacks and outfielder Drew Stubbs from the Reds. To complete the deal the Indians sent outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, infielder Jason Donald and cash considerations to the Reds, and sent left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp and first baseman Lars Anderson to the Diamondbacks.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight for a special half hour edition from 11:00pm – 11:30pm EST. In tonight's special show, Tony Lastoria, Jim Pete, and Steve Orbanek will discuss the just completed mega three team nine-player deal that saw the Indians part with Shin-Soo Choo and add Trevor Bauer. They will discuss the specifics of the deal, what it means for the Indians, what they gained and lost, and what this may mean going forward.

According to a report from Danny Knobler of CBS Sports, the Indians and Reds are deep in trade talks for Shin-Soo Choo. The reported players the Indians could receive in the deal are young shortstop Didi Gregorius and outfielder Drew Stubbs. There is also talk that the Indians may send another player to the Reds to complete the deal.

We continue with our 2013 prospect coverage here at the IPI with a look at the catchers in the Indians system. With Carlos Santana seemingly locked into the position for the next few years, the Indians do not appear to have an immediate need at the position, but they have several prospects at the system and have created a lot of depth and upside at the position. Tony talks about the potential and future for the likes of Alex Monsalve, Yan Gomes, Eric Haase, Alex Lavisky, Jake Lowery, and Roberto Perez, up-and-comers Yiober Marquina and Francisco Mejia, and many others (16 catchers in all).

All the winter leagues were off last night either because no games were scheduled or they were postponed. With no games, Tony provides an "ATF Six-Pack" and takes a quick look at six players of interest. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is still playing even in the midst of trade rumors, first baseman Mike McDade could be on the chopping block with the recent pickup of Mark Reynolds, and more.

The IPI's Tony Lastoria recently had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with former Double-A Akron pitching coach and new Triple-A Columbus pitching coach Tony Arnold about some of the pitchers he had at Akron this past season. They talked about the strides made by the likes of T.J. House, Trey Haley, Preston Guilmet, Rob Bryson, Shawn Armstrong, Danny Salazar, Brett Brach, Toru Murata and others.

According to several reports, the Indians have agreed to a deal with free agent third baseman/first baseman Mark Reynolds pending a physical. It is being reported that the terms of the deal are a one year deal for $6 million with an additional $1.5 million in incentives.

It was quite a busy week for the Indians in the winter meetings out in Nashville. They did not come away from the meetings making any signings or trades, but the foundation was more than laid on a lot of deals. They missed out on a few players they wanted to sign and they have a few deals on the table to some others, and Tony says it is time to seal the deal and get some of these signings and trades to go through to help change the perception of the team not only for the fans, but the players, agents and teams around the league. All that and more in today's Happenings...

The winter meetings are over and everyone has gone home. The Indians were very active on the free agent and trade fronts, but were unable to come away from the meetings with any new acquisitions in tow. But the offseason continues on, and the Indians are clearly looking to sign both Nick Swisher and Kevin Youkilis and trade Asdrubal Cabrera.