Tony%20Lastoria Archive

In Tony's regular Sunday notebook he takes a look at starting pitching being the main area of focus the Indians will look to upgrade this offseason and how they will attempt to do it. He also discusses the latest injury and surgery to Matt LaPorta which could be the final nail in the coffin to his Indians' career, the coaching options for Francona's staff, the much different manager search this time around than three years ago, and lots more.

Here are the full stats for both Double-A Akron and Low-A Lake County during their playoff run this season. In doing the Instructional League and Arizona Parallel League stats we realized we forgot to post the final stats for the two playoff teams, so without further ado here they are. They may be a month late, but better late than never!

While the Indians have already been hard at work this offseason with changes to their coaching staff and organizational philosophy, the player procurement process does not start for another few weeks. As the Indians prepare to add talent to the roster this offseason, they also need to decide which players to remove from it, and Tony breaks it all down with which players leave as free agents, have club options declined, are non-tendered, or designated for assignment.

Tony and his IPI staff have compiled all the stats from the Arizona Parallel League (AZPL), otherwise known as the advanced Instructional League. The complete stats for all players that participated in the AZPL such as Anthony Gallas, Alex Lavisky, Bryson Myles, LeVon Washington, Jeff Johnson, Mason Radeke and others are included. One final notebook will post either tomorrow or Monday to wrapup the 2012 Instructional League coverage here at IPI.

Several Indians players were in action on Wednesday night in Arizona, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. Tyler Holt and Shawn Armstrong continued their early strong showing in the AFL, Hector Rondon leaves the DR after just one pitch, Danny Salazar continues to dominate in VZ, and much more!

Tony continues with his second notebook including all of his news and updates from his recent visit to Arizona for Instructional League. In today's notebook he provides a major injury update on Clayton Cook, a surprising injury and surgery for Tony Wolters, and tons of news, notes and comments on players like Kieran Lovegrove, D'Vone McClure, Dorssys Paulino, Logan Vick, Jorge Martinez, Francisco Mejia, and others.

Several Indians were in action on Monday in fall and winter ball out in Arizona and Venezuela. Ronny Rodriguez and Alex Monsalve continue to adjust to the much higher caliber competition than they are used to while Eric Berger shined in his offseason league debut and Jesus Aguilar continues to struggle out of the gates.

Fresh off his trip home from his visit to Arizona last week to see Instructional League, Tony chimes in with his first of three planned notebooks this week. In today's notebook he gives lots of news, notes and comments about players such as Luis Lugo, Claudio Bautista, Nelson Rodriguez, Luis Gomez, Josh McAdams, Joe Sever and more, and also provides injury updates on Austin Adams, Geoff Davenport, Owen Dew and others.

While the Major League Baseball postseason is in full swing, the offseason baseball leagues are also a week into their season's. The Indians continue to put up some good showings in the Arizona Fall League, Dominican Winter League and Venezuela Winter League this offseason, and yesterday Tyler Holt and Trey Haley both continued that trend with good showings.

Minor league free agency opens tomorrow, Tuesday October 16th, and with that Tony provides a listing of the Indians current 2012 minor league free agents. A few former top prospects that have struggled with injuries are included in that listing, and some recent good performers as well.

Fall Instructional League (FIL) is over and the players have departed and gone home for the offseason. Tony and his IPI staff have compiled all the stats from the four week Instructional League period and today the FIL stats and team leaders are posted. Later this week the Arizona Parallel League (AZPL) stats will be posted and Tony also have two in-depth notebooks coming to wrap up Instructional League coverage for 2012.

Today we wrap up the 2012 Tony Awards with the announcement of the All-Tony teams for 2012. These are the first, second, and third teams as I see them in the Cleveland Indians organization based on their performance this past year. Again, this is not a top prospect listing by position, but a listing based 100% on performance from the 2012 season.

Today we continue the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Offensive Player of the Year. This award goes to the position player in the Indians organization that had the best year offensively and like with all the awards so far is 100% based on performance and not on prospect standing. This is the final “Tony Award” to be handed out, but this weekend the "All-Tony" team will be posted as Tony lists the best players this season position-by-position in a “1st team” and “2nd team” format.

The Arizona Fall League started up on Tuesday, the Dominican Winter League starts up tonight, and several other offseason fall and winter leagues start up in the coming weeks. Here is a listing of players that are currently set to play in all of the offseason fall and winter leagues as well as an update on the coverage coming from the IPI over the next three months with all the action this fall and winter.

Today we continue the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Pitcher of the Year. This award goes to the starting pitcher in the Indians organization that had the best year from a performance perspective, not necessarily from a prospect standing. Later this week the Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we continue the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Comeback Player of the Year. This award goes to the player who came back from a rough 2011 season – be it due to injury or performance – and any other obstacles to put up a very good 2012 season and reestablished and/or solidified himself as a prospect for the Indians. In the coming days the Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.