Cleveland Sports Forum

Halpin, Petey Akron RubberDucks Guardians 3 2 2 2 2 0 3B
Rodriguez, GabrielAkron RubberDucks Guardians 4 1 0 0 0 2
Arias, Gabriel Cleveland Guardians Guardians 4 1 1 2 0 1 HR
Rocchio, Brayan Cleveland Guardians Guardians 3 1 1 0 0 1 2B
Lavastida, Bryan Columbus Clippers Guardians 4 1 1 2 0 1 HR
Martinez, Angel Columbus Clippers Guardians 3 0 0 0 0 0
Noel, Jhonkensy Columbus Clippers Guardians 3 0 0 0 0 2
Valera, George Columbus Clippers Guardians 4 0 0 0 0 3 K highly unimpressive season continues
Genao, Angel Lynchburg Hillcats Guardians 4 0 0 0 0 0

Curry, Xzavion Cleveland Guardians Guardians 5.0 4 2 2 0 0 4
Morris, Cody Columbus Clippers Guardians 3.2 0 0 0 0 1 3

Morris combined with Plesac 5 innings and Karinchak one batter for a shutout

Our No. 2 prospect Valera 185/329/277 in AAA. including 2 homers in 158 plate appearances

Almost exactly one year older and not among our top 30 prospects: Jonhathan Rodriguez only got his promotion to Columbus a couple weeks ago. He's matched Valera's 2 homers. Much worse at selectivity: only 1 walk and 17 strikeouts. That kind of offense does not appeal to the Guardians

Today's prospect report includes, naturally

Gavin Williams, RHP, Guardians: The Cleveland pitching factory continues unabated. The Guardians’ top prospect put forth the best effort of his young career on Monday night, going seven strong innings and striking out a dozen hitters against the Blue Jays. He got 17 swings and misses during the course of the outing and put himself two outs away from graduating from the world of prospects.

Revised Top 30 prospect lists at BA including draft picks and trade results

Cleveland starts with 3 who will all soon have lost their prospect status:

1 Williams
2 Rocchio
3 Naylor

Which means the following will become 1 to 27 assuming no other changes; vastly different from preseason which also had included Bibee and Allen and Brennan. Only holdovers are marked in bold

1 Manzardo 1st base Columbus IL
2 Espino injured for life I fear RHP Akron IL
3 DeLauter RF or CF Lake County
4 Brito 2b Akron
5 Velazaquez C 2023 draft from high school
6 Clemmey LHP 2023 draft from high schoo
7 Cantillo LHP Columbus
8 Valera OF Columbus sinking on this list as do most of the OFs we are unable to develop
9 Martinez IF Columbus but maybe just temporarily while Tena is in CLE
10 Chourio OF Arizona summer league; could have the highest ceiling of anyone

11 Watson SS from Tampa, not the Browns QB Lake County
12 Fox CF/2b Lake County
13 Mooney SS 2023 draft 2 years of college
14 Morris RHP Columbus, has debuted in the majors
15 Walters RHP reliever college kid 2023 draft
16 Tena IF temporarily in CLE
17 Justin Campbell RHP our 2nd pick in 2022 draft injured and missed his career start
18 Angel Genoa IF Lynchburg
19 Halpin CF Akron
20 Noel 1b/eB/lf/rf/DH Columbus

21 Gaddis RHP Columbus
22 Kayfus OF college kid 2023 draft
23 Ingle C college kid 2023 draft
24 Jackson Humphries Arizona summer league, high upside
25 Parker Messick LHP Lake County
26 Antunez Lynchburgh OF his 5-5 game recently added plenty to so so stats
27 Welbyn Francisca Dominican League

28-29-30 3 spots to fill to replace the top 3

Civ

Any thoughts on Jose Devers in Lynchberg? Cousin of Rafeal Devers. Power has increased this year. Signed in 2019 for $450,000. He seems to only play 4-5 times a week because of all the middle infielders. Power seems to be increasing.

There is a lot more information on Miami's Jose Devers.

https://www.milb.com/player/jose-devers-691410
SummaryStats
Jose Daniel Devers
Status: Active
Born: 5/17/2003 in Samana, Dominican Republic
Year
AB
R
H
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OBP
OPS
2023 MiLB Stats 317 51 80 8 48 30 .252 .330 .724
MiLB Career Stats 528 89 124 12 78 42 .235 .321 .675
Year
2023 MiLB Stats
MiLB Career Stats Next LYN Game: 8-10 vs FBG

Other than Devers, I have not heard of many of the 2019 International signings.

Indians to sign No. 25 int’l prospect Pastrano
July 2nd, 2019
Jesse Sanchez
Jesse Sanchez

@JesseSanchezMLB
Share

Top Int'l Prospects: Pastrano, SS
May 7, 2019 · 0:46
Top Int'l Prospects: Pastrano, SS
The Indians have emerged as one of the most aggressive teams on the international market in recent years, and that trend is continuing during this year’s international signing period.

The Tribe announced the signing of 15 international free agents on Tuesday evening, but none of which were shortstop Jose Pastrano. According to industry sources, the club has agreed to a $1.5 million deal with shortstop Pastrano, ranked No. 25 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 International Prospects list. The club also has an agreement with outfielder Luis Durango of Panama, the son of former Major League player Luis Durango, for an estimated $550,000 and a $450,000 deal with Dominican shortstop Jose Devers.

While the club has not confirmed the deal for Pastrano, it’s likely that he will sign with Cleveland this week.


• Top international prospects signings

At 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, Pastrano is best known as an agile middle infielder with a chance to be a good hitter. He already has quick feet, soft hands and solid defensive actions. Add a strong arm that could become above average and the teen has a chance to be a plus defender.

At the plate, he is a line-drive hitter who shows a good feel for the strike zone. He drives the ball to the opposite field particularly well and has enough bat speed to compete against average and slightly above-average fastballs. He’s a good runner now and is expected to be a plus runner in the future.

• Top 30 International Prospects

The 15 newest additions to the Indians' farm system include eight players from the Dominican Republic, four from Venezuela, two from Panama and one from Columbia.

“Really excited to be able to add 15 players to the organization today,” assistant general manager Matt Foreman said. “Our scouts worked diligently over the last several years, really to build history on this set of players and get to know them. And to be able to matriculate a group of 15 players to the organization today is obviously really exciting for the players, their families, their agents and for our scouting staff.”

Here are all 15 signees:

Juan Benjamin, Dominican Republic, SS

Maick Collado, Dominican Republic, SS

Angel Contreras, Columbia, SS

Jose Devers, Dominican Republic, SS

Luis Durango, Panama, CF

Victor Garcia, Dominican Republic, RHP

Jhoan Gomez, Venezeula, SS

Esteban Gonzalez, Venezuela, OFC

Danny Medina, Dominican Republic, RHP

Angel Mendoza, Venezuela, CF

Kenny Pinto, Panama, LHP

Adrian Rodriguez, Dominican Republic, RHP

Juan Rodriguez, Venezuela, CF

Erickson Sarita, Dominican Republic, CF

Adalberto Vargas, Dominican Republic C

The Indians also inked Collado, who’s brother Offerman is in the Royals’ farm system, and Devers, who’s cousin is Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers.

“The fact they grew up around the game is evident in the way they play and kind of their personalities, character and make up,” Foreman said. “In each of those cases, they have a really advanced feel for the game, a really good baseball IQ, and it’s pretty neat to see the passion they have for the game that runs in their family bloodlines.”

Of the Indians' Top 30 Prospects, as ranked by MLB Pipeline, three have come from the international market over the last few years: No. 5 George Valera, No. 7 Brayan Rocchio and No. 14 Aaron Bracho.

“The international market is incredibly complex and incredibly challenging to navigate,” Foreman said. “And our scouting group led by Paul Gillispie and our scouts throughout the world do an incredible job of building history on players.

“That’s really been a disproportionate focus of ours to see players in game settings over an extended period of time, so we have a track record of performance and a track record of how they handle themselves as individuals. So, considering the market dynamics, it’s been impressive to see the work that our scouts have done in navigating the landscape to be able to add impactful players through the international system.”

According to the rules established by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, clubs like the Indians that receive a Competitive Balance Pick in Round B of the Rule 4 Draft have the most money with a pool of $6,481,200 for spending on international prospects, while clubs that receive a Competitive Balance Pick in Round A of the Rule 4 Draft receive the second most at $5,939,800.

Teams are allowed to trade as much of their international pool money as they would like, but can only acquire 60 percent of a team's initial pool amount. Additionally, signing bonuses of $10,000 or less do not count toward a club's bonus pool, and foreign professional players who are at least 25 years of age and have played in a foreign league for at least six seasons are also exempt.



Get the Latest From MLB
Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball.

Enter your email
Sign up
Under the previous system, teams were penalized for exceeding their bonus pools with consequences that ranged from taxes on their spending to the maximum penalty, which was being prohibited from signing any prospect for more than $300,000 during the next two signing periods. That’s no longer the case and there are no longer penalties. Teams can only spend their allotted bonus pools and the monies acquired via trad

Devers and Juan Benjamin from that bunch have had not bad numbers this year but neither makes it onto a 30 man prospect list. They're both only age 20 so they have plenty of time to develop; or not. Devers is listed at 6 feet, 140, which if correct means he has plenty of opportunity to fill out and maybe add more strength. 8 homers this year along with 30 steals and even his 253 average are all big improvements over his first two years as a pro, That should be good sign, So is the fact that 6 of the homers have been since July 1.

Benjamin is a little 5-8 150.
Durango is one of those great basestealers who can't steal first base.
Pastrano got good writeups when first signed and turned up on the bottom of Top 30 prospect lists, but has been a total bust once he started playing

unlike last season, Cleveland is getting nearly all its draft picks into game action.

Catcher Cooper Ingle is at Lake County
Catcher Tincher; 1b Kalfus; SS Mooney are at Lynchburg
Many others are on the Arizona team including OFs Hawke and Advincula;
1st pick Ralphy Velazquez on Wednesday had a double and homer
Jacob Zinn starting Thursday's game, walked 4 of 6; reliever cleared the bases and Zinn's pro ERA is now 54.00
the day before Bresnahan opened the game with a scoreless inning

Lefty Parker Messick at Lake County who is always either very good or very bad was on his game yesterday.

Parker Messick (1-3), Cleveland’s No. 16 prospect according to MLB.com, had arguably the best outing of his Minor League career. In his first career High-A win, the left-hander pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits and one walk, while throwing a career-high 11 strikeouts in 94 pitches (58 strikes).

The 22-year-old’s 11 strikeouts tied the most in a game by a Captains pitcher this season, which was previously achieved by current Akron RubberDucks pitcher Tommy Mace on June 8th.

After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 1st inning, Messick allowed just 3 baserunners in his remaining 4 innings of work. These were courtesy of a single in the top of the 2nd inning, a hit-by-pitch in the top of the 4th inning, and an infield single in the top of the 5th inning. The left-hander struck out 5 of the final 6 South Bend hitters he faced.

Thanks Civ

I've been a fan of Johnathan Rodriguez for years and he's finally rewarding my patience: the 2017 draft choice at age 17 suddenly found his power about June 1 2022 and hasn't let up. Promoted to Columbus his bat has continued to excel. Last night was one of his best: all he did was double, triple and homer and bat in 5. At AAA he's ow hitting 313/353/688
For the year he has 21 homers [26 last year between High A and AA] 4 triples [4 last year] 19 doubles [23 last year] 70 rbi [74 last year].
K/BB last year were 5 to 1; this year at higher levels it's 2.8 to 1,

Although never ranked by BA, MLB.com now has him at No. 24 on Cleveland's list and reports:

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 55 | Run: 40 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

One of the youngest players in the 2017 Draft, Rodriguez didn't turn 18 until five months after Cleveland made him a third-round pick out of Carlos Beltran's baseball academy in Puerto Rico. He spent his first two pro seasons in the Rookie-level Arizona League and because of the pandemic, he didn't reach full-season ball until his fifth year in 2021. He broke out with 26 homers in 2022 and has continued to pound the ball this summer while reaching Triple-A.

Rodriguez entered pro ball as a switch-hitter but has batted exclusively from the right side since 2019. He's an exception in a Guardians system loaded with hit-over-power guys, producing the highest exit velocities among Cleveland farmhands and well-above-average raw pop thanks to his strength and bat speed. A club official likened him to 2022 rookie standout Oscar Gonzalez with better swing decisions, though Rodriguez is still more aggressive than disciplined at the plate.

Though Rodriguez is a below-average runner, he covers a decent amount of ground on the outfield corners. His solid arm strength is a deterrent to baserunners. The Guardians aren't getting much offensive production and very little power out of their outfielders, so he could get a look in the big leagues in the near future.

Signs of decline of Cleveland farm system, now that so many guys have successfully graduated to the majors, the remaining CLE guys on the mlb.com top 100 are


No. 52 Rocchio, could graduate off too by the end of the year
No. 63 Manzardo
No. 86 Espino
No. 91 DeLauter

Valera has slipped dramatically although they still rate him no 5 on the CLE list but not sure that will last.
The next three have promise to rise up
Juan Brito acquired for Nolan Jones 2B
Ralphy Velazquez this year's No. 1 pick C
Jaison Chourio OF

Friday highlights, sorry I haven't done this regularly.

Lynchburg: Genoa, another 2b, who has not performed up to expectations had a 3 it day with 2 doubles
an OF named Zarate had 3 hits and 3 rbi and is hitting 297 but he's 24 years old in Low A and thus by definition not a prospect
Yorman Gomez is 4.90 with a 1.52 whip but was good yesterday: 6 5 2 1 2 5

Lake County only got in 2 innings; Fox with his 17th double. C Ingle, a 2023 draft pick, keep his average at 1000 but his OPS dropped to 2333
Ryan Webb ERA 3.18 after 2 scoreless innings. Round 4 pick in 2021. He's 24 by now. Nothing statistically impressive.

For Akron Aaron Bracho a top prospect when he excelled in rookie ball but has been a vast disappointment since continues with his possible return to prospectdom. Started the season batting 9th; not he hits 4th; his 12th home run yesterday is pretty decent; avg only 246; OPS pretty good 777
Jose Brito a serious prospect his his 7th homerun, with 2 rbi; 310 876 at Akron since his promotion
Will Dion: 5 innings 7 2 2 2 4 3.42. 23 year old short lefty

Jack Leftwich 4 2 1 1 1 4 ERA is an unimpressive 5.94 but is deceiving since he had a series of 4 really bad starts from May 17 to June 9 in which he allowed 22 runs in 15 innings. In the midst those starts he had one in which he threw 6 hitless innings. From June 15 on he's been working in relief gradually increasing his performances from 1 to 2 to 3 to yesteday's 4 innings. In those 12 innings he's allowed 2 runs on 10 hits 4 walks and 9 strikeouts. Leftwich seemed like a possible breakout prospect his year and Keith Law overdid rating him among his top 10 Guardian prospects. May still be worth keeping an eye on.
"Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 216 in 2021
Leftwich pitched mostly in relief as a fourth-year junior at Florida in 2021, sliding to the seventh round, where Cleveland took him with the intent of returning him to the rotation. His first full year in pro ball was a huge success — he struck out 33 percent of batters he faced, walked just 5.6 percent, and posted a 2.72 ERA between Low A and High A. He’s always had a good arm, so Cleveland worked with him after the draft to develop a better changeup (ditching his split grip) and refine the slider to tighten its spin. He’s got some natural deception to the delivery as well, which should help him as he faces more disciplined hitters. He looks like a clear starter, at least a No. 4 and trending up from there.

for the Clippers,

Tyler Freeman rehabbed, three appearances, played 3B, drew a walk
J.Rodriguez a single in 4 at bats and 2 K threw out a runner at home
J. Noel ditto
Angle Martinez 2 singles and a strikeout
Valera drew a walk and struck out twice. Hitting 182. Threw out a runner at second


On the mound:
Battenfield finally looked good 5 4 0 0 2 1 He'll never be a strikeout machine
Cody Morris again did not look good 1 2/3 3 3 3 4 2 and 2 homers
Karinchak 1 2 1 1 0 0 4.57 delete the one real disaster and his ERA is 2.70. 17 1/3 innings; 9 walks; 30 strikeouts.

speaking of Keith Law, I see his mideason top 60 prospects had Rocchio way up at No. 8. Valera was honorable mention. I guess he had deleted Bibee, Williams, Allen and Naylor from consideration by then.