Indians Prospect Insider

Indians GM Mark Shapiro has a history of taking borderline middle of the road players such as Ben Broussard, Eduardo Perez, and Casey Blake and turning them into prospect gold with the likes of Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, and Carlos Santana.
It

Clippers lose to Indy
Matt LaPorta's solo blast in the second inning provided the only bright spot for the struggling Columbus offense.
Virgil Vasquez went seven innings, allowing only three hits to Clippers batters. The Clippers reached third base only once following LaPorta's 15th homer of the season. Juan Mateo and Jean Machi each tossed a scoreless inning of relief for Indy.

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(from the Indians)
Baseball America revealed their 2009 Mid-Season Best Tools at the threefull season levels. Below are current Indians who were recognized intheir respective leagues (included are those acquired via trade):
Triple-A
Best Strike Zone Judgment (IL) - OF Michael Brantley
He has struck outonly 43 times in 477 plate appearances and has struck out just three...

Shortstop Kyle Smith, outfielder Jordan Henry, right-handed reliever Cory Burns, right-handed starter Marty Popham, and right-handed starter Clayton Cook all named to NY-Penn League All Star Game. The game will be played this coming Tuesday August 18 at the State College Spikes ballpark, right on the campus of Penn State University.

The Indians kept busy with their management of the 40-man roster today deciding to add left-hander R.J. Swindle off outright waivers from Tampa Bay. Swindle has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. The 40-man roster is now at 34 players.
Swindle has split the season between AAA Nashville and Milwaukee before being designated and claimed by Tampa Bay on August 7th and then designated by them...

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Ryan Fay over at ProjectProspect.com and did a Q&A on the Indians farm system. We touched on the the players the Indians received in return in the Lee and Martinez trade, and also took sort of a midseason view of some of the blossoming and struggling prospects in the system. Check it out by clicking on the hyperlink. Here is the full link as well:
http://www.projectprospect.com/article/2009/08/12/minors-only-indians-system-qa

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LHP Nick Hagadone makes his second appearance with Lake County. He is scheduled to only go three innings or 50 pitches, and then LHP Chris Jones will piggyback him.
Columbus: Ryan Edell at Indianapolis @ 1:05 pm
Akron: Scott Barnes at Connecticut @ 6:35 pm
Kinston: Russell Young at Lynchburg @ 7:00 pm
Lake County: Nick Hagadone vs. Augusta @ 7:05 pm
Mahoning Valley:...

Clippers score early in 4-2 win
The Clippers evened the series at Indianapolis with a 4-2 win Tuesday night.
Michael Brantley reached on an error to start the game and scored on a Jesus Merchan triple. Tony Graffanino plated Merchan with a sacrifice fly for a quick 2-0 lead. After a fly out, Wes Hodges doubled and scored on a Lou Marson single. Marson crossed the plate one batter later...

Infielder Josh Barfield was outrighted to the Triple-A Columbus roster on Tuesday as he cleared waivers and was removed from the 40-man roster. He was already in Columbus, but this was more of a paper move to remove him from the 40-man roster. The 40-man roster currently stands at 33 players (three more are on the 60-day DL).

Today the Indians signed left-handed pitcher Matt Packer, their 2009 32nd round pick out of the University of Virginia. As a sophomore Packer led the NCAA with a 1.14 ERA, and as a junior this season went 3-5 with a 4.13 ERA (61.0 IP, 59 H, 28 ER, 59 K). Packer pitched well in the Cape Cod League this summer for Orleans (2-0, 1.90 ERA, 11 G, 23.2 IP, 16 H, 5 ER, 29 K). With this signing the Indians...

When you think of the Indians very good 2008 Draft you immediately think of names like third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall (1st round), right-handed pitcher Zach Putnam (5th round), and left-handed pitcher T.J. House (16th round).
Another player from that draft who is impressing and could quickly become one of the first names you think about is 19-year old right-hander Clayton Cook. The 6'3" 175-pound...

A couple quick updates:
- Triple-A Columbus outfielder Matt LaPorta sat out last night's game because of a tweaked hamstring that he hurt during the game on Sunday. He is day to day.
- Recently acquired left-hander Scott Barnes has been promoted from High-A Kinston to Double-A Akron. He is expected to make his first start with Akron tomorrow (Wednesday).
- Barnes is replacing...

Akron, Kinston, and Mahoning Valley all had scheduled off days on Monday.
Indianapolis downs Columbus 2-1
The Clippers opened a stretch of seven consecutive games against Indianapolis with a 2-1 loss at Victory Field. Indy opened the scoring with a Tagg Bozied solo homer in the second off Columbus starter Mike Gosling. It would be the only run Gosling allowed over four solid innings.

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Short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley right-handed pitcher Preston Guilmet has been named the New York Penn League Pitcher of the Week for the period of August 3 to August 9. For the week, Guilmet made two starts going 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA and in 10.0 innings allowed seven hits, one earned run, one walk, and had 13 strikeouts. On Saturday, Guilmet struck out a career high ten batter in just five innings...

Jerad Head is like that handy friend or relative who knows how to fix anything. He may not be greatly skilled in one particular trade, but knows all the trades well and how to do anything.
This is much how the Double-A Akron Aeros have used Head this year in the lineup, either filling in at a position full time because of injury to someone else or playing almost everyday but moving around the...

FYI, Gosling is being stretched out and going into the rotation the rest of the year. He will piggyback with Ken Ray while he stretches out.
Columbus: Mike Gosling at Indianapolis @ 7:05 pm
Akron: Off day
Kinston: Off day
Lake County: Danny Salazar vs. Augusta @ 7:00 pm
Mahoning Valley: Off day
AZL Indians: Scott Lewis vs. Dodgers @ 7:00 pm MST