I can understand your concern about Ness, but chances are, they're probably working on a third pitch with him, probably a changeup, to go with that mid-90s fastball and hard slider.  I would presume he must have had a third pitch at college because he was a starter for the most part at Ball State (36/49 appearances were starts.)  

Besides, a starter is considered more valuable than a reliever, and being how long they allowed Jason Davis to remain a starter, I highly doubt they'll give up on Ness that quickly, not with that type of stuff.  Many Minor League pitchers need to learn a 3rd pitch that is slower, such as a changeup.  Heck, look at Adam Miller when he came into the Indians system - he had a very rudimentary changeup at best; he just had a low-90s fastball and a very good slider (sound familiar?  :-)  

My point is not that I think Ness will become the next Adam Miller, but rather that pitchers can develop a ML-average changeup more easily than other types of pitches, and I suspect that's what the Indians will attempt to do with Ness, so I'll be a bit surprised if Ness is turned into a full-time reliever this year, especially after how long they stayed with Davis as a starter.  In fact, looking at the numbers, Ness' peripherals look very similar to Davis' at the same age, and actually, outside of the BB rate being a bit higher, Ness' other peripherals are actually a bit better than Davis' were in the Carolina League at age 22.

So, based on past history, I would think the Indians will stick with Ness as a starter and try to help him develop a changeup to go with that mid-90s fastball and hard slider.  Davis wasn't able to stay as a starter at the ML level; only time will tell whether Ness will be able to stay as a starter or become a reliever, but I doubt the Indians will decide to make Ness a reliever this season - they'll keep him as a starter as long as he shows progress in developing that 3rd pitch (changeup) into a ML-average pitch.

Just my 2 cents on that.

I'll post another post on your other thoughts in a few moments - stay tuned!  :-)

Regarding Jensen Lewis, you're right that the Indians drafted him twice (in the 33rd Round out of HS in the '02 Draft; in the 3rd Round out of Vanderbilt in the '05 Draft); besides liking his stuff and makeup, I'm guessing the Ohio connection also had something to do it, not just because he's from the area, but probably because they were able to scout him extensively, and they must have received feedback from the scout or scouts that followed him that they really believe this guy has the profile to become a very good ML pitcher - hopefully, they're correct.  Like I said, I was surprised he was called up to AA Akron, and even a bit more surprised that he did pretty well there, better than I thought he would.  Outside of I think two bad starts (and they were on the bad side,) most of his starts were solid to good, with a higher-than-expected K rate compared to what he was doing down at Kinston, so I think there's a chance he could be a solid pitching prospect down the road.  

That's why I think the Indians probably won't give up on him as a starter right away either, because again, starters are more valuable than relievers, and I'm not sure Pesco will hold up after the arm surgery, plus, if I'm correct, Lewis has better velocity and stuff over Pesco, so it would seem to make more sense to me at this point to allow Pesco to work his way back in the bullpen, while allowing Lewis to explore his full potential as a starter, since they have less data on Lewis' abilities than they do Pesco's (who started pitching in the Indians' system in 2003; Lewis started pitching in the Indians' system in 2005.)  

From what I've read and heard, the Indians didn't want to promote Lofgren last year because they felt he still needed to follow through on his delivery more consistently to have success at AA.  Plus, he had had a great year at Kinston, plus Kinston was headed to the postseason as well, and being that he was only 20 at High-A, they felt there was no need to rush him.  Conversely, Lewis was already 22, so they felt they should speed up his timetable, plus felt that he could handle it, and for the most part, he did.  

To be honest, I forgot about Sean Smith - darn, first Laffey, now Smith?  And BA ranked us #10 in organizational depth?  The more I review our system, the more I'm convinced that BA was way off, and that's unusual for them, as I usually find their rankings to be pretty accurate, but in this case, I don't agree with their rankings.

At any rate, back to Smith - I don't think he's ready for Buffalo; personally, I'd rather move J.D. Martin up to Buffalo, if not immediately to start 2007, after a month or so, presuming that J.D. continues from where he left off in 2006.  J.D. has already shown success at AA Akron twice, and while J.D. still has to show his arm is healthy and prove that he can get AA hitters out after surgery, I don't think he has to prove much more at AA, and one more good month would convince me to send him up to AAA Buffalo to relieve the pitching logjam at Akron.  In the meantime, I'd move Smith to the bullpen, where he has some experience, then move him, Pesco, or Laffey (the three I would have in the bullpen) in the rotation to take Martin's spot, at least until someone from High-A is ready to come up (presuming they are more highly regarded than Smith, Pesco, or Laffey, who I think are all sort of fringy, especially Laffey and Pesco.  Smith might be solid, but I'd like to see him make some more adjustments at AA before I consider him a solid prospect, especially being that his stuff and velocity are only around average.)

Just my 2 cents.  :-)