Indians Prospect Insider

In Tony's regular Sunday notebook he takes a look at starting pitching being the main area of focus the Indians will look to upgrade this offseason and how they will attempt to do it. He also discusses the latest injury and surgery to Matt LaPorta which could be the final nail in the coffin to his Indians' career, the coaching options for Francona's staff, the much different manager search this time around than three years ago, and lots more.

Today's special edition of Carnegie and Ontario will take a look at the Detroit Tigers starting rotation, and showcase just why it's more than just the Benjamins.The Indians will never be able to compete with some of the clubs because of cash flow, so they better be the smartest team in the room.

The AFL and Caribbean Winter Leagues proceeded, and IPI was there bringing all the Indians' action. There was a distinct smell of the Carolina League, with eight of nine Indians players mentioned today all with CL experience. One of Jim Pete's favorites returned to action after being out since August, and racked up two hits on the night. Find out who it was, after the jump (Ken Inness/MiLB.com)...

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

Winter leagues continued on Friday, which means a number of Indians players were in action. Jesus Aguilar and Tim Fedroff each recorded hits for their respective teams, and T.J. House put together a brilliant performance in the AFL. The IPI's Steve Orbanek provides all the stats and recaps all the action after the jump.

Here are the full stats for both Double-A Akron and Low-A Lake County during their playoff run this season. In doing the Instructional League and Arizona Parallel League stats we realized we forgot to post the final stats for the two playoff teams, so without further ado here they are. They may be a month late, but better late than never!

It's hard to believe but numerous winter leagues have already been in action for over a full week now. The Indians have a handful of players competing in the different leagues, so there's certainly plenty of reasons for fans to pay close attention. Though sometimes that can get pretty difficult, so the IPI's Steve Orbanek is here to help as he recaps all the action and provides all the stats in his Winter Notebook.

The offseason Winter Leagues continued last night with Tyler Holt hitting well, appearances from Matt Packer and Trey Haley in the Arizona Fall League, and continued struggles for Jesus Aguilar in Venezuela. Join Jim Piascik as we go Around The Farm and analyze the action from last night.

While the Indians have already been hard at work this offseason with changes to their coaching staff and organizational philosophy, the player procurement process does not start for another few weeks. As the Indians prepare to add talent to the roster this offseason, they also need to decide which players to remove from it, and Tony breaks it all down with which players leave as free agents, have club options declined, are non-tendered, or designated for assignment.

Tony and his IPI staff have compiled all the stats from the Arizona Parallel League (AZPL), otherwise known as the advanced Instructional League. The complete stats for all players that participated in the AZPL such as Anthony Gallas, Alex Lavisky, Bryson Myles, LeVon Washington, Jeff Johnson, Mason Radeke and others are included. One final notebook will post either tomorrow or Monday to wrapup the 2012 Instructional League coverage here at IPI.

Several Indians players were in action on Wednesday night in Arizona, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. Tyler Holt and Shawn Armstrong continued their early strong showing in the AFL, Hector Rondon leaves the DR after just one pitch, Danny Salazar continues to dominate in VZ, and much more!

Terry Francona was the first move in an intricate offseason that will see a front office try to reinvent themselves on the fly. Each move this team makes will carry a massive amount of weight. Phase one was the hiring of a credible manager. Phase two begins as that manager shapes his coaching staff. Join Jim Pete as he takes an inclusive look at potential candidates, talks bullpen, Michael Brantley and playoff baseball, after the jump

Tony continues with his second notebook including all of his news and updates from his recent visit to Arizona for Instructional League. In today's notebook he provides a major injury update on Clayton Cook, a surprising injury and surgery for Tony Wolters, and tons of news, notes and comments on players like Kieran Lovegrove, D'Vone McClure, Dorssys Paulino, Logan Vick, Jorge Martinez, Francisco Mejia, and others.

Several Indians were in action on Monday in fall and winter ball out in Arizona and Venezuela. Ronny Rodriguez and Alex Monsalve continue to adjust to the much higher caliber competition than they are used to while Eric Berger shined in his offseason league debut and Jesus Aguilar continues to struggle out of the gates.

The lack of impact arms in the Indians farm system has been addressed on many occasions. However, thankfully, there does seem to be one pitcher that currently projects as an "impact arm." Danny Salazar just completed a brilliant 2012 campaign and is now very much on the radar of the big league club. The IPI's Steve Orbanek looks back at his career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

Fresh off his trip home from his visit to Arizona last week to see Instructional League, Tony chimes in with his first of three planned notebooks this week. In today's notebook he gives lots of news, notes and comments about players such as Luis Lugo, Claudio Bautista, Nelson Rodriguez, Luis Gomez, Josh McAdams, Joe Sever and more, and also provides injury updates on Austin Adams, Geoff Davenport, Owen Dew and others.