Indians Prospect Insider

The Cleveland Indians today announced that they have claimed first baseman Mike McDade off outright waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Indians made room on the 40-man roster by designating left-handed pitcher Chris Seddon for assignment.

Indians players continue to toil away in winter ball as the various leagues enter the final month of the season. Indians catcher Carlos Santana made his winter ball debut this past week while a number of Indians players, including Hector Rondon, Jesus Aguilar and Giovanni Soto, continue to put up impressive numbers. The IPI's Steve Orbanek recaps all the action for you in this week's edition of the Winter Ball Notebook.

As November comes to a close, the Transaction Rundown's year-in-review reaches it's halfway mark with a look back at the year's moves in High-A Carolina. Every Friday between today and December 21st we will look back at the roster movement over the past season for one club in the Cleveland Indians organization.

A few leagues may have taken the night off, but there was still plenty of minor league action to follow. Giovanni Soto had his best outing of the winter, Ezequiel Carrera continued his solid offseason, and Eric Berger dominated in his start. For all this and more, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

The Rule 5 Draft commences a week from today out in Nashville, Tennessee. What kind of players are typically drafted and what levels do they come from? What positions are the primary focus of the draft, and what positions rarely get selected? The IPI's Jeff Ellis chimes in with his yearly Rule 5 Draft review where he analyzes all that and more.

The Cleveland Indians have announced their organizational staff alignment within the Player Development System for the upcoming season. Several coaches, managers, coordinators, and special assistants have changes roles for the 2013 season, and we recap them all after the jump.

Indians players were back at it on Wednesday in various winter leagues. Carlos Santana had his best game so far this winter, and in a rare feat, second baseman Jose Ramirez went hitless in a winter ball game. Plus, Rob Bryson and Matt Langwell continue their string of impressive performances. All this and more as the IPI's Steve Orbanek takes you Around the Farm.

With Jim Pete getting a well-deserved break, the IPI's Steve Orbanek mans the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario this week. The hiring of Terry Francona seemed to signal a new approach for the Indians, but so far, the team has been relatively quiet this offseason. And as the Indians remain quiet, the team's competitors in the AL Central have set out to improve their clubs. Is this so-called new approach all it's cracked up to be? Steve ponders after the jump.

The Cleveland Indians today announced that they designated left-handed reliever Rafael Perez for assignment. Health issues and his contract status were the primary reason behind the decision.

Today we continue on with our year end stock report on all of the players in the Indians minor league system, and this time look at each player that finished the season at Double-A Akron and the value in the industry each player has. Over the course of the season Tony has spoken to various people in the Indians organization as well as scouts and personnel outside the organization, and shares those insights and more.

It was a busy night in the winter leagues on Tuesday as a number of Indians players were in action. First baseman Jesus Aguilar hit his third home run of the winter season and Hector Rondon continued his recent string of dominant performances. Plus, Jose Ramirez continued to put on a hitting clinic in the Dominican Winter League. The IPI's Steve Orbanek recaps all the action as he takes you Around the Farm.

Low-A Lake County had a very good season, particularly a second half showing that saw them go 40-30 and qualify for the Midwest League playoffs as a wildcard team. Tony recently had a chance to sit down with Lake County pitching coach Jeff Harris and discussed how some of the pitchers on his staff improved over the course of the season and what changes were made. Players discussed include Mason Radeke, Shawn Morimando, Elvis Araujo, Cody Anderson, Cody Penny, Nick Pasquale, Joe Colon, and more.

The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with this week's edition of Then & Now. Steve takes a look at the career of Adam Abraham, who just completed his fifth season in the Indians system. Because of his right-handed power and versatility, Abraham is somewhat of an intriguing option, but is there any guarantee that Abraham will ever get a chance to prove himself on the Major League level?

On Monday the Cleveland Indians announced that they signed free agent infielder/outfielder Nate Spears to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to 2013 Major League spring training camp. They also outrighted right-handed pitcher Fabio Martinez to the minors.

The Indians continue to get good showings from their players that are participating in the various winter ball leagues this offseason. Nick Hagadone had a dominating performance last night and Jose Ramirez continues to rack up the hits and get on base. Check out how both of them did as well as a few other players....after the jump.

Outfield prospect Anthony Gallas completed his second full season with the Indians’ organization this past year and put together a strong campaign for himself at High-A Carolina. With the offseason in full swing, the IPI's Stephanie Metzger had a chance to catch up with Gallas a few days ago and see how things are going this offseason and reflect on his 2012 campaign.