Jeff%252520Ellis Archive

We are about a month until the 2013 MLB Draft and things are starting to crystallize. The top two picks are all but confirmed to be Mark Appel and Jonathan Gray, though the order they are taken is yet to be determined and won't be known until draft night. Both Appel and Gray will be redrafts, and IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis discusses four former Indians picks that should be redrafts in the top ten rounds this year.

After a week hiatus, The Inside Pitch returns for a condensed half hour version of the show. Andrew and Jeff will discuss the Tribe and the hot bats in the lineup. They'll discuss the recent NFL draft and making sense out of the Browns selections. With any time remaining, they'll jump into the upcoming MLB draft.

The 2013 MLB Draft is less than six weeks away, which means all 30 MLB organizations are busy scooting all across the country getting several final looks at some of the top talents in order to finalize their big boards for draft day. IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis has put together his first big board of the Top 30 players in the draft and provides some insight and commentary on each.

As the 2013 MLB Draft approaches, IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis has been a bit surprised by the amount of fans who want to push the Indians draft in a certain direction based on need. Jeff would say at this point that 90% of the questions he fields are based on pitching and how the Indians have to draft pitching because they lack impact pitching in the system. But he says that it should not be that cut and dry...

The draft season is in full swing and the MLB Draft is just a matter of weeks away. As teams frantically scatter their scouts across the country to get second, third and fourth looks at several college and high school players, IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis steps in with his first 2013 Mock Draft. There are some intriguing names at the top of the draft, and the Indians should get a blue chip player with their #5 pick this year.

The college and high school seasons are both in full swing. This means we have hit the time for teams to evaluate their boards and start shifting guys around with the draft now less than two months away. As always, IBI will be all over the MLB Draft, and the IBI's draft guru Jeff Ellis updates us on three guys whose stock is rising and falling.

The Inside Pitch is back for 2013. The on-line radio show is hosted by Andrew Zajac and Jeff Ellis, who are two contributing members of IndiansBaseballInsider.com. The show debuted in April of 2012 and has a heavy focus on fantasy baseball, though depending on the time of the year the show also focuses on other subjects like the Cleveland Indians, the Major League Baseball Draft, trade and free agent rumors, and lots more.

The college baseball season is getting into full swing, and there are some big games on the docket this weekend. The biggest of which pits #5 Florida State against #11 Georgia Tech. IBI Draft guru Jeff Ellis previews the weekend and lists the top three games to watch and lets us know which players we should pay extra special attention to.

Amazingly, we are only about 11 weeks from the 2013 MLB Draft. It is coming fast and furiously, and the IBI's Jeff Ellis will be providing more and more draft updates as it gets closer. In today's piece, Jeff takes a look at five names you should keep an eye on as players that are generating some buzz and moving up draft boards, and could figure into things with the Indians first or third round pick.

As the college baseball season gets into swing it seemed like the perfect time for IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis to look back at his first draft for the site and do a redraft of the 2008 Draft. Using hindsight with what we know now, he completely redoes the entire first round and some of the picks may surprise you. The Indians selected third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall with the 29th pick in the first round that year, but is that who Ellis has them taking this time around?

The Indians made the most surprising signing that the IBI's Jeff Ellis can ever recall when they signed Michael Bourn on Monday. When the talk came about that Bourn might even be on the Indians' radar, like most fans Jeff thought it was just Scott Boras trying to drum up offers. But all that changed at 9 PM on Monday, and Jeff takes a look behind the numbers why he was a coup for the Indians.

It is officially draft season. The football draft season is gearing up with the combine occurring this month, and the baseball draft season is just kicking into gear as the college and high school seasons will soon begin. Everyone is releasing their top 100 lists, and we are beginning to see the crystallization of draft boards. IBI draft guru Jeff Ellis puts together his first list of top 2013 Draft prospects, and gives us an idea of the talent the Indians may have to choose from with their first pick this iJune.

It is one of the biggest questions leading into spring training for the Indians: who should lead off? With the departure of Shin-Soo Choo in a trade, the Indians lost their best lead off option, and the IBI's Jeff Ellis breaks down all the schools of thought with regard to what kind of player should hit lead off before finally settling on an obvious solution to this question.

When the IBI's Jeff Ellis first heard that the Indians had signed right-hander Brett Myers his initial response was that he should be a guy who eats innings and not do much else. After spending all of last season in the bullpen Jeff and others kind of overlooked him as a starting option for 2013; however, after Jeff did his usual research he found that Myers could be a pitcher that adds great value for the Indians in 2013.

The IBI's Jeff Ellis missed the Nick Swisher press conference on the radio and TV on Thursday, but he followed it via Twitter and was impressed with the way his words sparked excitement and energy among the fans and media. He talks about how it was nice for once to have a player happy to come to Cleveland rather than cutting bait and leaving town like so many others have before him.

The Indians camp is buzzing at the signing of Nick Swisher. As the news settles on the newest member of the Tribe, IPI's Jeff Ellis takes a closer look at the potential improvement. Is Swisher truly better than the player he replaced in Shin-Soo Choo? Join one of our best analysts as he takes a closer look at the advanced numbers, and whether or not the Indians truly did improve.