Down on the Farm Report from Ross Atkins!

by indiansfan on Apr 2, 2008 6:54 PM EDT Comment 28 comments

Hello everyone,

The first farm report from Ross Atkins revealed the following:

- Looking for ML protection at AAA Buffalo; really came in handy last year. Have much protection at Buffalo this year, especially in the rotation and with position players. Laffey and Sowers, along with Adam Miller. You also have Francisco and Barfield.

- AA Akron and High-A Kinston have several power-hitters and many good offensive players; the position-player front for both teams is strong. You have athleticism and a quality prospect at almost every position. Hodges, Rodriguez, Mills (who will start at Kinston,) Goedert, Todd Martin, Crowe (who will start at Akron.)

- Good, young pitching prospects; 5 exciting ones at Low-A Lake County, including 6'5", 19-YO LHP Kelvin De La Cruz and RHP Santo Frias.

- Looking forward to getting "under the lights" after spending a week in Spring Training games for the Minor Leagues and 6 weeks in Spring Training total.

- Buffalo, Akron, and Lake County begin Thursday, while Kinston begins Friday.

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I think you're moving a little too fast, ifan. Hodges, Rodriguez, and Crowe should start at Akron, Goedert, Martin, and Mills at Kinston. Cheers.

by ken from alexandria on Apr 2, 2008 7:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hello Ken,

No offense, but I (and Ross) did say "AA Akron AND High-A Kinston" in that statement above.

If you're referring to not being able to count on Goedert, Martin, and Mills right away, I agree, but I think Ross meant that we have some nice position-player prospect depth in our system. Sorry I didn't make this clearer and for any confusion caused.

Rereading it once more, the parentheses for Mills and Crowe were for them specifically only, not for all those players. I should have made that clearer - my bad. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 2, 2008 7:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Aha, I get it now.

by ken from alexandria on Apr 2, 2008 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello Ken,

No problem; like I said, I didn't put that too clearly because I rushed it. If I had reread it, I probably would have reorganized the order to make it clearer. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 2, 2008 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So where do 24 year olds that succeed in short season fall on the Prospects that Matter ?

by ClarkM on Apr 2, 2008 8:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Too Old To Matter

by Jay on Apr 2, 2008 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello ClarkM,

I didn't realize Martin was that "old" (probably because TheBaseballCube doesn't list his age. :-)

Tony Lastoria of TheClevelandFan thinks he'll start at High-A Kinston, which I think is likely. Besides being behind in terms of age to league, he has also dealt with injuries, including an injury in mid-July, a sprained knee in mid-August, and then a wrist injury in the Hawaiian Winter League.

Therefore, I think the only way Martin makes an impact in the "Prospects That Matter" list is if he stays healthy and excels at High-A AND AA this season, with a nice debut at AAA on top of that for added emphasis.

The Indians like his powerful bat and approach at the plate, including using the whole field, but obviously, he'll need to move very quickly to really factor into the Indians' future. Of course, staying healthy will be essential for him to even have a chance of doing that.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 2, 2008 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I met with my accountant last night, and it looks like you owe me about $700.

by Jay on Apr 3, 2008 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't see why you get it all. I'm feeling an even split for everybody. This is a community right? It may not be much, but it will be more cents than the Tigers have wins or the number of hours of sleep i'll get tonight. Unfortunately, it also will fall well under mark buerhle's ERA.

Free Chan Perry!

by TheVanillaGorilla on Apr 3, 2008 2:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's nice. But I'll be drinking your milkshake.

by Jay on Apr 3, 2008 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

drink it all up.

¡Free Chan Perry!

by TheVanillaGorilla on Apr 3, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

$700?! I thought it was $7! :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 3, 2008 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, it's in between. You've made 4,228 posts so far, so that's $85.56.

I'd be happy to send a PayPal money request if that works for you.

by Jay on Apr 3, 2008 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mis-typed the amount, it's $84.56.

by Jay on Apr 3, 2008 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If we are going for accuracy, you should probably go back and read every post from indiansfan. I remember back when I first joined the site, he would offer his 5 or 10 cents for his more verbose discourses. His two cents was offered for the standard 3-5 paragraphs.

by Roger Dorn on Apr 4, 2008 8:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello Roger,

Thanks for the reminder - I think I should actually send Jay the PayPal Money Request Form. :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 4, 2008 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

GAWD

IT'S ADKINS.

by afh4 on Apr 3, 2008 2:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe we can convince him to change it to Adtkins?

by NickFantana on Apr 3, 2008 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Darn - I did it again!

And you know - I double-checked via Google and actually had it "d" to start with, but then thought it was "t."

As you can tell, I'm confused! :-) Thanks for the correction!

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 3, 2008 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, unless the Indians.com Front Office page has it spelled wrong, it IS "Atkins."

I'm still confused, but for now, I'll keep it "Atkins" until I'm no longer confused! :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 3, 2008 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he's messing with you.

by Jay on Apr 3, 2008 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hello Jay,

Yes, I think you're right. :-)

I was a bit "preoccupied" yesterday and my humor/wit took most of the day off - it didn't arrive back until early this morning - sorry about that. I have to keep on my toes!

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 4, 2008 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Quick question

I went to the same high school as Michael Aubrey, a first round pick of the indians a few years ago. I was wondering if anyone knew how he has been progressing. Is he still a prospect? Has he been disappointing?

Glenallen Hill hit that ball 600 feet.

by BigDumbFace on Apr 3, 2008 1:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He's been injured most of the time and hasn't been able to develop. The Indians seem to believe he can just stay healthy, he can still make it, but on the other hand, they've been saying that for four years solid at this point.

by Jay on Apr 3, 2008 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Every credible source I can find spells it Atkins, so that's what I'm going with. Don't listen to Andrew. He can't even spell Gawd.

I can't believe I just researched this.

What I wanna know is, if 4 out of every 5 people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean 1 person enjoys it?

by jhon on Apr 3, 2008 6:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You will now be responsible for me grossing out all of peers for the next week.

by supermarioelia on Apr 3, 2008 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Umm.

I was kidding because he finally spelled it right.

by afh4 on Apr 3, 2008 7:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hello Andrew,

Sorry about that - as mentioned above, my humor/wit took most of the day off, so I didn't figure that out until later when it returned from its day off. I thought you might be confused because I confused you last year. :-)

I remember that I couldn't spell Atkins right to save my butt - after thinking about it for a bit, it brought about a good laugh - thanks!

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Apr 4, 2008 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs