Tony%20Lastoria Archive

In this week's Tribe Happenings, Tony reviews the week that was for the Indians starting five in the rotation and wonders if we learned anything from each starter getting one start and if there are any encouraging signs or some areas of concern. He also touches on how the Indians will handle getting Kazmir back into the rotation, controlling and developing Bauer, surgery for Alex White, and much more!

The first edition of Minor Happenings each year typically does not post until the first Thursday after the season opens, but there is a lot to talk about and get everyone caught up on. In today’s special edition of the Happenings, I give an update on Tony Wolters’ move to catcher, introduce Robert Whitenack, break down Tyler Naquin’s great opening night showing, and have all kinds of quotes from the front office on the catchers in the system and where some of the missing players are to start the season.

Opening night is here for the minor leagues. The Minor League Baseball season kicks off tonight as all of Triple-A Columbus, Double-A Akron and Low-A Lake County open their seasons. High-A Carolina has to wait a day as they open their season on Friday. We polled several of the site writers to get their take on things as the season gets ready to begin. Which affiliate and prospects are the most exciting? Who is due for a breakout? All of that and more are shared in the annual IBI roundtable...

The Cleveland Indians today have claimed right-handed pitcher Robert Whitenack off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs and optioned him to Double-A Akron. To make room on the 40-man roster the Indians have moved right-handed pitcher Frank Herrmann from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list.

Here it is, the annual IBI Roundtable. We pooled together 14 writers on the site to get their quick thoughts on the Indians outlook this season and make their predictions on the playoffs and the winners of all the postseason hardware. Optimism abounds this season for the Indians, but what do the various contributors on the site predict happens with the Indians this season? Who wins the World Series? Cy Young and MVP award? Jump inside and find out....

Opening Day is here Tribe fans. Expectations are through the roof after the Indians had one of the most exciting and interesting offseasons in the their history. But while Tony is excited for this season and feels the Indians will be much improved, he also wants everyone to be make sure that they manage their expectations and don't expect too much too soon. Problems still exist and they were unable to fix all of them on one offseason. Tony explains that and more in a special edition of Tribe Happenings!

On Sunday the Cleveland Indians announced their opening day roster. In order to get to the final 25-man roster and make room on the 40-man roster, the Indians announced several transactions, including lefty David Huff being designated for assignment.

And that's a wrap! As you are reading this all of the Indians' minor league players are now in the air spending their Easter Sunday traveling to their new destination in Columbus, Akron, Zebulon, or Eastlake, while some others have departed Arizona for home before returning to the Goodyear complex in the next few days to begin extended spring training. There were quite a few impressive offensive performances on Saturday, and Tony lists them all...

Spring training wrapped up for the Indians on Saturday. Not only has the big league team broken camp and are on their way to Toronto for their opening day series which gets started on Tuesday, but about 100 minor leaguers are also in transit to Columbus, Akron, Zebulon and Eastlake to begin their minor league seasons which kick off on Thursday next week. Here are the rosters!

Friday represented the final day of inter-organization exhibition games for the Indians' farmhands. Players will practice and play a camp game on Saturday, and then by the time they leave the complex they will know where they have been assigned. Tony has all the stats from the five games played on Friday and provides some insight on where some players are going this season and more.

It was another busy day at camp for the minor leaguers on Wednesday as releases were announced first thing in the morning, and then the rest of the players went out for morning workouts and then games in the afternoon. With camp winding down the rosters for the four full season teams are really starting to come into focus, and Tony discusses how those are shaping up and also some of arms set to open in the Carolina and Lake County rotation, plus much more.

The Indians today announced that have released five players from their minor league contracts: shortstop Jairo Kelly, outfielder Chia-Ching Lin, outfielder Andrew Campbell, catcher Dwight Childs, and infielder Davis Stoneburner.

Tuesday was a camp day for the Indians' minor leaguers, which means more roster decisions could be coming. With more releases on the horizon and full season rosters set to be announced by the end of the week, Tony reviews all the stats from the games on Tuesday and provides some insight into which players may be on the roster and release bubble, and where some players may be assigned to start the season.

Spring training is less than a week away from concluding, and Tony's trip to the desert will wrap up with his final trip to camp today. Tony shares several news items with things he learned over the past few days in camp including a talk with a front office about several players in camp from the Pacific Rim, the likely setup of the starting rotations at Columbus and Akron, updates on the health of Elvis Araujo, Alex Monsalve, and Anthony Santander, and much more.

The Indians minor league complex was very busy on Friday as it was not just a camp day, but a potential cut day as well. The Indians not only had all four affiliates in action, but they had two extra B-games on the back fields so that everyone could play so that the Indians could get a "last look" at players before making some roster decisions. All the outcomes from these games are included in today's recap...

Things got a little crazy on Thursday at minor league camp as the Diasuke Matsuzaka circus came to town. He threw four innings for Akron and Zach McAllister threw six innings for Columbus. Tony provides the details on how they did, and he also gets into the good showings from Aaron Siliga, Jairo Kelly and several more players.