Indians Prospect Insider

In 2012, the Indians finished with the fifth-worst record in all of baseball at 68-94. The Indians have upgraded their on-the-field management with Terry Francona and revamped their on-the-field product with multiple, high-level, free-agent signings.The Indians are clearly improved on paper, but how much have they really improved? The black & white of true improvement lies in one area, and one area only: wins. How many wins will the Cleveland Indians end up with in 2013?

Goodbye Goodyear. Hello Cleveland. The Cleveland Indians officially completed Spring Training with a strong 9-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday. The win ensured that the Indians finished the spring season with a winning record, and the Tribe left Goodyear with a 17-16-2 record. With that said, let’s take one close look back at Goodyear before the Indians officially begin the Major League season on Tuesday…

The Indians opening day roster has been set, the schedule released, and the season is on our doorstep. The promise of a new season brings lots of excitement, so much so, that new IBI writer James Keene peers into his crystal ball and tells us how he see the Indians season going this year.

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.

September in the Nostalgia League opened with the 2005 Indians holding a three game lead over the 1920 Indians in the Speaker Division in a race that may go down to the wire. Over in the Boudreau Division the 1995 Indians look to be in control as they hold a 12 game lead with only 22 games to go. The IBI's Rick Lamborn recaps the September pennant race and gets us setup for the playoffs.

With opening day almost upon us, it’s time to finish the 2013 Cleveland Indians Key Players series. When the IBI's Michael Goodman discussed Justin Masterson back in early February, he labeled him as quite possibly the most important player on the entire team. The fact is, Ubaldo Jimenez is right there with him. With question marks surrounding every Indians starter, the team absolutely needs at least one of the two to come through in a big way this year.

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...

Building a team capable of winning a World Series used to be Mark Shapiro’s responsibility, but when he was promoted to team President in 2010 he has been responsible for a re-branding effort of the Cleveland Indians’ public image. Under Shapiro, the Indians have made a concerted effort in improving the game day experience for fans and making Progressive Field a family-friendly environment, and he goes into detail on a lot of things in this IBI exclusive.

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!

It was a great day to be an Indians minor leaguer at Goodyear Ballpark as the fledgling featherheads lit up Reds pitching in the latter innings of Saturday’s Cactus League finale between the interleague Buckeye rival Reds and Indians as the Tribe came out on top big time 9-1 over Cincinnati.

August saw several teams eliminated from playoff contention in the Nostalgia League. One team is running away with the Boudreau Division, but first place in the Speaker Division changed places again and it represents the closest race for a division title. History guru Rick Lamborn provides the recap of the month of August in the league and gets us all up to date on some of the noteworthy game outcomes, stats, standings and more.

The IBI Digest catches you up on anything you might have missed over the past week at Indians Baseball Insider and also notes some of the more popular columns posted at the major news sites and blogs.

Finishing his series of looking at the Cleveland minor league system with varying adjectives, Jim Piascik lists the most intriguing prospects as we head into the 2013 season. Sometimes a pitcher lacks raw stuff but always seems to get results anyway. Sometimes prospects have ridiculous tools that simply have not translated into game action yet. Sometimes it's something else entirely. Find out who Jim thinks the most intriguing prospects are after the jump.

Two important dates are quickly approaching – Easter Sunday and Opening Day!
Both of these days will always be remembered in Tribe history. On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960 – the day before Opening Day – Frank “Trader” Lane made the most hated trade in Cleveland Indians franchise history. Rocky Colavito, the 1959 A.L. home-run champ (42) was traded for Harvey Kuenn,...

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.

Friday's outing by Ubaldo Jimenez was nothing if not unusual. If not for three solo homers that he allowed, he pitched well. The lineup was loaded with minor leaguers filling in so regulars could be well rested and not risk injury before the start of the season. Saturday is the final day of spring training before the Indians break camp and get this party started for real!