February 5, 2009

Attn: Serious Tribe Fans

Tony Lastoria, one of our colleagues writing at The Cleveland Fan, must be the foremost authority on the talent in the Cleveland Indians minor league system outside of a handful of the club's own employees. A quick look at his blog, Indians Prospect Insider, will attest to the encyclopedic level of detail he lavishes on his subject. Tony is currently counting down his top prospect reports a few at a time at the blog, and also in article form at TCF.

For the second year in a row, Tony has compiled his Indians "Top 100 Prospects" listings in book form, and that new and improved item is now available for immediate shipment via Tony's blog. I got mine today, and it's a great looking publication. It's only $17.95, which includes (domestic) shipping, with additional copies at $14.95 ea. With Spring Training so close we can almost hear the crack of the bat, the serious Tribe fan shouldn't be without this information.

Tony has detailed scouting reports, including expanded information and analysis on the top prospects. And no, I'm not telling who those are. I will say that some of the top players in Tony's listing are first-timers in the Tribe organization in 2009. He says that as an organization, the Indians minor league system has moved up from a middle-of-the-pack team in 2008 to the top 5-7 teams in all of baseball for 2009. The upgrade results from several acquisitions at the high-minors levels along with the positive development of many of the lower and mid-minors players into legitimate major league prospects within the last year or two.

Here's a handy depth chart that shows how the Tribe's top four minor league affiliates are likely to line up this season. There's lots of excitement this spring with new team facilities in Goodyear, Arizona for Spring Training and year-round player development, plus a new ballpark in a new city for the AAA franchise...the new Columbus Clippers. What's even more exciting for baseball in Columbus is that the Tribe AAA team is loaded.

It's important to note that Tony is not sitting at a computer at home in his pajamas compiling data on these players from the scouting reports of others. He travels to see all the Indians minor league teams play in person every year. He personally interviews hundreds of players and coaches in the Tribe system, so the evaluations you read are all his. How the guy pulls it all off with a young family and a real job is beyond me. The least I can do is plug the hell out of his book. Nice job, Tony.

Posted by dan at February 5, 2009 12:43 AM