Tony%20Lastoria Archive

The offseason got started in a busy way with the Indians making a flurry of roster decisions last week. On Saturday they made their opening salvo in what is expected to be a busy offseason and traded Esmil Rogers to the Blue Jays for Mike Aviles and Yan Gomes. Tony recaps the trade and gives lot of insight on the variety of things the move may mean for the club, and also discusses all the other roster and coaching decisions from earlier in the week.

Outside of right-handed reliever Cody Allen, no other player moved through the Indians’ system so quickly and at the same time saw his value soar more than right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong. He piggybacked his strong 2012 campaign with a trip to the Arizona Fall League to continue to test his abilities, develop his stuff, and prove he is ready for a big league opportunity at some point in 2013. Tony recently spoke to him out in Arizona and has all the details on how things are going for him.

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...

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!

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.

Tony chimes in with his weekly Tribe Happenings piece and this week discusses how much he has disliked the Indians' "what if" tagline the past two seasons and takes a look at key moments in Indians history over the last 20-25 years and looks at what if things would have ended up different. He also talks about the hiring of Mike Sarbaugh to new manager Terry Francona's staff and what it means and lots more!

The 2012 Rule 5 Draft is exactly six weeks from today. The draft will be held on December 6th in Nashville, TN and there are lots of interesting Indians minor league names that are up for roster protection. While there are few if any slam dunk roster decisions this offseason, there are a lot of players that could get consideration and be plucked from the Indians system in the draft. Check out the full list after the jump...

The World Series kicked off last night, but there were other games going on involving professional baseball players out in Arizona, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Jesus Aguilar's struggles continued last night, Alex Monsalve is still adjusting to more advanced pitching, Matt Packer is on the mend, and old friend Vidal Nuno continues to impress in winter ball. That and lots more after the jump.

Tony wraps up his coverage from his recent trip to Arizona to see the Instructional League and the Arizona Fall League firsthand with his fourth and final notebook today. In today's notebook he looks at all eight players participating in the Arizona Fall League and provides news, updates, and insights on T.J. House, Trey Haley, Shawn Armstrong, Matt Packer, Carlos Moncrief, Ronny Rodriguez, Tyler Holt, and Alex Monsalve.

All three of the major offseason winter leagues were back in action on Tuesday night, and several players throughout the Indians' organization played. Trey Haley, Tyler Holt and Ronny Rodriguez continue to hold their own in the AFL, while Jesus Aguilar went deep for the first time this offseason and Hector Rondon continues his road back to the Major League radar. See how these players and others did after the jump...

Tony continues with his third notebook from his recent visit to Arizona for Instructional League and the Arizona Fall League. In today's notebook he looks at the players that played on the Arizona Parallel League team (advanced Instructs) and provides news, updates, and insights on players like LeVon Washington, Jordan Smith, Bryson Myles, Jerrud Sabourin, Mason Radeke, Kyle Bellows, and many others.