Indians Prospect Insider

Kinston was rained out and Lake County was off on Thursday.
Clippers win in extras
The Clippers scored a run in the tenth inning to beat the Iron Pigs 5-4 Thursday night. The Clippers opened the scoring in the first as Josh Barfield and Jordan Brown hit back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead. The Clippers advantage would be short-lived however as the Pigs crossed the plate three times...

Paul Cousineau, my co-host on our radio show Smoke Signals and colleague who writes for SportsTime Ohio and The Cleveland Fan, absolutely knocked one out of the park today with his piece on the Lee deal.
Pretty much hammers home what is really going on and takes a good, rational approach at the deal. Kudos to Paul on an excellent piece.

Get ready for some potentially stormy weather Tribe fans, as yesterday's trade that sent left-hander Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Philadelphia Phillies for four minor leaguers may open up the floodgates for even more trades involving some Indians fan favorites in the coming hours.
With a little more than 24 hours until the trade deadline this Friday at 4:00 p.m. ET, the Extreme...

Clippers fall again
Lehigh Valley won a 4-2 decision over the Clippers for the second straight day at Coca-Cola Park. Carlos Carrasco was scheduled to start for the Iron Pigs, but was pulled about 35 minutes before game time. Several media outlets reported that the Phillies were in serious negotiations with the Indians to acquire lefty ace Cliff Lee, with Carrasco as a part of the package....

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has acquired RHP CARLOS CARRASCO, INF JASON DONALD, RHP JASON KNAPP & CA LOU MARSON from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for LHP CLIFF LEE & OF BEN FRANCISCO.
“At the root of this deal was balancing the conviction of our ability to compete in 2010 with the opportunity to impact the team’s construction for years to come,” said Cleveland...

The Indians today have traded LHP Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco to the Philadelphia Phillies for four prospects: RHP Carlos Carrasco, RHP Jason Knapp, SS Jason Donald, and C Lou Larson. In the preseason rankings by Baseball America, Carrasco was ranked #2, Larson #3, Donald #4 and Knapp #10.
Carrasco, 22, is an immediate option to replace Lee in the Indians starting rotation the rest of the...

As noted last night, Connor Graham and Scott Barnes make their Indians debuts today.
Columbus: Chuck Lofgren at Lehigh Valley @ 11:05 am
Akron: Connor Graham vs. Erie @ 7:05 pm
Kinston: Scott Barnes at Winston-Salem @ 7:00 pm
Lake County: Danny Salazar at Bowling Green @ 1:05 pm
Mahoning Valley: Preston Guilmet at Auburn @ 7:05 pm
AZL Indians: Gregorio Rosario...

While the early returns from the Indians 2009 Draft have been so-so to date - largely because their top three picks have yet to play - one player in particular has been very impressive through his first month of play for short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley. That player is Jordan Henry, a scrawny, lightning quick outfielder who has been a catalyst at the top of the Mahoning Valley lineup all season.

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Rondon struggles early; Clippers drop series opener
Lehigh Valley beat Hector Rondon and the Clippers 4-2 in the series opener at Coca-Cola Park. Columbus was looking to surpass the .500 mark in July and sent Rondon to the mound looking for his fourth consecutive win in triple-A, but the young right-hander struggled for the first time since his promotion to the Clippers.
Rondon allowed...

On Wednesday evening, recently acquired pitching prospects LHP Scott Barnes and RHP Conor Graham are expected to make their first starts as members of the Indians organization. Barnes joined his Kinston teammates late on Tuesday in Winston-Salem and will start for them on Wednesday. Graham joined Akron a few days ago and is expected to make the start on Wednesday as well. Official roster moves will...

(Courtesy of the Indians and through Monday 7/27)
CLUB NOTES & AWARDS
· The Carolina League announced that LHP ERIC BERGER was named the Pitcher of the Week for July 20-26. Berger went six scoreless innings on July 25 vs. Wilmington (his only game of the week)…He gave up just three hits, walked two and fanned a season-high 11 batters but wasn’t a factor in the decision…His...

strong>Columbus: Hector Rondon at Lehigh Valley @ 7:05 pm
Akron: Jeanmar Gomez vs. Erie @ 7:05 pm
Kinston: Michael McGuire at Winston-Salem @ 7:00 pm
Lake County: T.J House at Bowling Green @ 8:05 pm
Mahoning Valley: Brett Brach at Batavia @ 11:05 am
AZL Indians: Rob Bryson at Dodgers @ 7:00 pm MS

Clippers earn series split with win
The Clippers garnered a split in the series at Pawtucket, winning 4-3 Monday afternoon. Lefty Kris Johnson (3-11) shut out the Clippers for five innings and fellow southpaw Zach Jackson (4-7) allowed just two runs on five hits. Though both pitched well, neither factored in the decision.
Pawtucket broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning. After a...

BREAKING NEWS: 1B Ryan Garko has been traded to the San Francisco Giants for Class A LHP Scott Barnes.
Scott Barnes is 21 years old and has made 18 starts in Class A Advanced for the Giants, going 12-2 with a 2.85 ERA. In 98 innings pitched, he's struck out 99 while walking 29. Batters are hitting .227 against him. He leads the league in wins, is second in ERA and his 99 strikeouts are tied...

Kinston Indian’s starter Eric Berger is the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week. The Carolina League All-Star struck out a career high 11 batters in just six innings on Saturday, earning a no decision in his only start of the week. Berger gave up just three hits and walked two without giving up a run Saturday against Wilmington.
Berger (7-7, 2.29 ERA) has the lowest ERA among active pitchers...

This week’s Diamonds in Single A will focus on a player who hopefully never plays an inning with the Indians single A farm teams. This week will focus on the newest Indian, Connor Graham. The Indians have stated that Graham will report to Akron, which will be his first time above A ball. So, for the time being he is still eligible for this column. He was acquired this week when the Indians traded...