Hello hans & peter,

I too am not that enthusiastic about Jackson’s future, although admittedly, he did do better in his brief time in the Majors than I thought he would. Arguably, I think his biggest problem outside of his last 2 starts or so, was that he would allow 1 big inning (3-4+ runs), not being able to minimize the damage. Despite his better-than-expected results, still, at best, I think he’s a serviceable starter who could fill in for short periods reasonably well, but I think Lewis and even Sowers may be better bets long-term than Jackson.

Jackson may have the first-round pedigree and such, but I’m not sure he truly has an out pitch that he can rely on to get guys out. While Sowers may not have an out pitch as such either, he’s younger and has shown some increases in velocity. Plus, Sowers showed more potential in the Minors than Jackson did, which is why I’d give him an edge. As for Lewis, he certainly has an out pitch (curveball, I think; or is it the changeup?) and pitched arguably as well or better than Jackson did. Granted, it was a SSS, but it was also a SSS for Jackson as well, and of the two, the Indians would likely go with Lewis long-term over Jackson, being that Jackson was basically a throw-in (that the Indians wanted, granted) in the Sabathia trade, while Lewis was a 3rd-round pick (and considered a 1st-round talent by the Indians if not for the TJ surgery while Lewis was at OSU), who the Indians have invested a lot of time in.

Therefore, I see the Indians seeing a lot of viable potential in Lewis, so obviously, they see something in Lewis that makes them think he has good potential of being a viable ML starter for years to come (provided he stays healthy), and based on his early results, I can’t see why he can’t produce at a solid level over the coming years, growing pains understood.

As for Cabrera, I think many scouts think that Cabrera’s best value is at SS, not 2B; the extra weight he had earlier in the season could have perhaps skewed this scout’s perspective, but I’d think he’s in the extreme minority of scouts who think that Cabrera can’t handle SS at the ML level. To me, it seemed like he played the position very well, especially as the season went along. Only time will tell (and the opportunity to play there regularly) if Cabrera can handle SS, but to me, he seems like he would fit perfectly there and would allow the Indians to move Peralta to 3B if they want to go that route in the near future.

Just my 2 cents.

Hans, could you elaborate on this comment?