Indians Prospect Insider

Runs were at a premium in the Indians' minor league system on Friday night as all four affiliates managed to score a total of five runs on the night. Even with the lack of offensive production, some players contributed offensively, and there were plenty of good pitching performances to boot. Kevin recaps the highlights from last night's action in IPI's own "Around the Farm".

"IPI on Site" is a new feature for the site that should air every Friday afternoon during the season and will be an on-air interview with a player in the Cleveland Indians organization that also includes some highlights of them in action. Today we we touch base with #1 prospect Francisco Lindor!

Minor Happenings is back and with tons of updates on players throughout the Indians' minor league system. Today, Tony provides updates on the plans for both Matt LaPorta and Lonnie Chisenhall at Triple-A Columbus, a big update on the health of Jason Knapp, Chun Chen's move to first base, Cody Allen's brilliance so far, injury updates on players in extended spring training and lots more!

The Indians offensive woes of last season have been come back up to start the 2012 season. With the Indians desperate for help in the outfield the Indians reportedly have signed Johnny Damon. Andy Nichols takes a look at what Damon can bring to the Indians lineup, a lineup badly in need of stability and leadership.

The Indians farm system was only 75% operational yesterday as Carolina had a scheduled day off, but both Lake County and Akron had their home openers and Columbus had an early day game before setting sail for an 11-game road trip. Last night T.J. McFarland, Alex Lavisky, Chad Huffman and more shined, and they as well as many others are featured in today's ATF!

The Akron Aeros opened the 2012 season at Canal Park with a potent offense led by third baseman Kyle Bellows as the home team beat the Trenton Thunder 6-1. After back-to-back singles by left fielder Nick Weglarz and second baseman Ryan Rohlinger to open the bottom of the second inning, Bellows hit a long home run to left. One batter later, center fielder Tim Fedroff singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Thunder starter Brett Marshall. Fedroff scored on shortstop Juan Diaz’s single, stretching the lead to four runs.

The Lake County Captains opened the 2012 home schedule with their third consecutive loss in front of 4,388 fans at Classic Park, losing 5-2 to the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Hot Rods jumped out to an early lead against lefthander Elvis Araujo when designated hitter Jeff Malm hit a solo homerun to right field, his first of the year.

The Cleveland Indians have apparently signed free agent Johnny Damon to a one-year contract as a stop-gap measure to a struggling offense. While many see this as a reactionary deal, the road to signing Johnny Damon actually began last July, when the Indians first tried to address their offensive issues. Here's a look at the path to Johnny Damon.

The fourth and final game of the series between the Indianapolis Indians and Columbus Clippers had an 11:35am first pitch, but Columbus' bats were awake and ready. The Clippers bounced back from their first loss since Opening Day on Wednesday night with a 5-4 win on Thursday, taking three games of the four-game set.

The Lake County Captains are off to a 3-3 start and are set for their home opener on Thursday against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. They are a young and exciting team with lots of prospects and potential and will be fun to watch this season. Lianna Holub checks in with here weekly Captains notebook.

Reports are circling that the Indians are close to signing free agent outfielder Johnny Damon. No official announcement has been made, but with an off day on Thursday a lot of ground could be covered in getting to a deal and a signing could even be announced later in the day. Damon, 38, will be entering his 18th Major League season, as he spent 14 of the previous 17 seasons with the Royals, Red Sox and Yankees.

The Carolina Mudcats (3-2) were able to pull off a 5-3 win to take the series against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (2-3) on a chilly evening at Five County Stadium Wednesday to wrap up their three game set. The Mudcats now have opened up the year with two straight series wins as they were able to take two of three from both the Blue Rocks and the Winston Salem Dash to open the year.

Might a Crowe be perched in the outfield in Cleveland? Might there be a new Cook in Akron? Which top prospect drilled his third home run and fourth multi-hit game of the season? Kevin take a tour of the minor leagues from last night's games in the latest and greatest installment of Around the Farm, originated right here at IPI.

The Lake County Captains topped off their three-game series with the Great Lakes Loons in an extra-inning 5-4 loss Wednesday afternoon. Great Lakes jumped on Lake County starter Felix Sterling early in the first inning. Designated hitter Jesus Alberto Arredondo laced a line-drive single to center and advanced to second when first baseman Joseph Winker reached on an error.

The Clippers fell to the Indianapolis Indians on Wednesday night 8-6 in game three of the series despite getting five home runs by five separate players. The loss snapped their five game win streak as lefty Justin Wilson picked up the win making the Clippers 1-2 on the season versus left handed pitchers. A rough third inning where the Clippers gave up three runs on two errors took the wind out of them as they were not able to recover.

The Carolina Mudcats are full of potential. This scrappy and talented bunch just might be as good as Lake County. Jim Pete starts a new season with Fishing for Mudcats, the weekly Carolina Mudcat notebook.