Tony%20Lastoria Archive

Instructional League carries on as today ends the third week of the four week period. The Fall Instructional League players had morning practice and no game yesterday, but the Parallel League team was in action. Tony recaps the game with all the stats and highlights including a big day at the plate from catcher Alex Lavisky and another dominating relief appearance by right-hander Grant Sides.

Both the Fall Instructional League and Parallel League teams were in action on Monday, and Tony has all the stats and information from both games. Ronny Rodriguez had a big day as he gets ready for Arizona Fall League action and several players in both games made their fall debuts.

Today we continue with the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Defensive Player of the Year, an award given to the Indians minor leaguer who had the best season defensively. Prospect standing is not considered with these awards as they are 100% awarded based on performance. In the coming days the Biggest Disappointment, Biggest Breakthrough, Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we kick off the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Rookie of the Year, an award given to the Indians minor leaguer who had the best professional stateside debut this year. Prospect standing is not considered with these awards as they are 100% awarded based on performance. In the coming days the Defensive Player of the Year, Biggest Disappointment, Biggest Breakthrough, Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 9:00pm – 11:00pm EST. Tonight’s special two-hour show is hosted by Tony Lastoria and Jim Pete and is the final show of the season. This is one of the most critical offseasons for the Indians in some time, and Jim and Tony will wrap up the 2012 season discussing the firing of Acta, the the return of Antonetti, and give some final thoughts on the roster before they wrap up the show discussing the offseason and what strategy the Indians will and should use to improve and predict what the roster will look like next spring. Give then a listen!

In Tony's weekly Sunday notebook he touches on the firing of Manny Acta with his thoughts on why he was fired, if the reasons were legit, and where the Indians go from here in their search for a new manager. He also discusses the decision to retain Chris Antonetti as GM of the team and what he needs to do differently to get the Indians back on track, wonders where the Dolan's have been the past two months, and lots more.

Today, Tony provides his sixth and final piece of his six-part series recapping all six of the Indians' stateside affiliates. In Tony's review of the Indians' Double-A affiliate the Akron Aeros, he sat down with the Indians front office earlier this week and discussed their season, the resurgence of prospects like Thomas Neal, T.J. House, Matt Lawson and others, the emergence of the likes of Shawn Armstrong, Danny Salazar, Giovanni Soto and others, and the seasons of others like Rob Bryson, Adam Abraham, Roberto Perez, and many more.

The Cleveland Indians today announced that manager Manny Acta will not return as manager. The decision is immediate and he will not manage the team the last six games of the season. Bench coach Sandy Alomar will serve as interim manager for the remainder of the season.

Both the Fall Development Program and the Arizona Parallel League were in action yesterday in Instructional League, and Tony provides the full breakdown of both games with stats and information from all the players in both games. Players like Alex Monsalve, D'Vone McClure, Jake Lowery, Jake Sisco, Grant Sides, and others all had good games yesterday.

The Fall Development League was off yesterday, but the Parallel League which has the older more advanced players in Instructional League was in action. Tony recaps the good showing from the likes of LeVon Washington, Todd Hankins, Jerrud Sabourin, and others in this ongoing special edition of Around the Farm.

There was more action out in Arizona yesterday as both the Indians' Fall Development League and Parallel League teams were in action. Tony provides all the stats from each game and the updates on how some players are doing out in Instructional League. Newcomer Naoki Hashimoto struggled once again, Jose Ramirez continues to set opposing pitchers ablaze, Elvis Araujo is finishing very strong, and lots more.

Smoke Signals is back on the cyberwaves tonight from 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST. The Indians season has a little over a week remaining, and that is the same thing for “Smoke Signals” as this is our second to last show of the year before our two-hour season finale on a special night next Monday. Tonight, Jim and Tony will hit on a bunch of random topics surrounding the Indians as they look to tie up loose ends before they break down the season and preview the offseason next week.

Tony continues with his fifth piece of his six-part series recapping all six of the Indians' stateside affiliates. In Tony's review of the Indians' Low-A affiliate the Lake County Captains, he sat down with the Indians front office over the weekend and discussed their season, the exceptional seasons from the likes of Jordan Smith, Cody Anderson, Francisco Lindor, and others, the breakout performances of Cole Cook, Jerrud Sabourin, Jose Ramirez and others, and some of those like Felix Sterling, Jake Lowery, and others that fell short of expectations but much is still expected of them.

Tony chimes in with his weekly Sunday notebook and touches on how he believes that the Matt LaPorta Era in Cleveland is sadly (or mercifully) coming to an end this year, notes the lack of faith the fans have in the organization from top to bottom, looks at Terry Francona as a managerial candidate, gives an update on Roberto Hernandez and his future, plus lots more.

The minor league season may have ended, but that does not mean there are no more games to report on this year as Instructional League is in full swing and the first games were played yesterday. Tony recaps how every player did for both the Instructional League and Parallel League teams in today's ATF, and provides the stats and information from the games you won't find anywhere else.

The minor league 2012 season officially ended for the Indians over the weekend with Double-A Akron winning a league title, but the beat goes on with Instructional League already in session and other fall and winter leagues set to start in the next few weeks. Today, Tony checks in with another Minor Happenings piece and takes a deep look into first baseman Chun Chen's future with the Indians and also provides tons of comments from the Indians front office on the likes of guys named Salazar, Guilmet, Urshela, Radeke, and more. Also, be on the lookout for the first Instructional League game recap later today or first thing tomorrow.