Cleveland Sports Forum

Take a lot more than that Civ....

Thursday:

CLE ABL Shorto, Ben PR-LF 0 0 0 0 .000
CLE DL Gonzalez, Erik SS 3 0 0 0 .158 BB (1) [not enhancing his trace value]
CLE MPL Fedroff, Tim CF 4 0 1 0 .275
CLE PRL Pantoja, Alexis SS 1 0 0 0 .000 [slick fielder, questionable hitter]
CLE VL Gallas, Anthony RF 3 1 0 0 .000 BB (1) [Indians' 2014 Most Valuable Organizational Player]
CLE ABL Grening, Brian 6 10 5 5 1 4 4.66 L (2 - 4)
CLE DL Tejeda, Enosil 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 10.13
CLE PRL Soto, Giovanni 5.2 2 0 0 0 3 1.82 W (3 - 1) [hasn't been a starter in a few years]

Minor League Free agent signing

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians have signed veteran catcher Adam Moore and outfielder Destin Hood to minor league deals. They will be invited to big league camp if they pass their physicals.

Moore, 30, has played in the big leagues with Seattle, Kansas City and the Padres. He played nine games with the Padres last season, hitting .200 (2-for-10). Moore's longest stay in the big leagues came in 2010 when he played 60 games for the Mariners.

The Mariners drafted him in the sixth round in 2006.

Washington drafted Hood, 24, with its second pick in 2008. He's a right-handed hitting outfielder who slashed .298/.348/.460 at three different levels for the Nationals last season.

Hood spent most of the season at Class AAA Syracuse where he hit .294 (41-for-309) with 10 homers and 36 RBI.
Moore, like Hood, bats right-handed.

[2nd round pick, age 24, RH OF, decent stats; sounds better than he must actually be, to be minor league free agent]

Early in 2014 Destin Hood was on a roll:

WASHINGTON—Coming off his worst statistical season in 2013, outfielder Destin Hood has turned a corner and is playing his best baseball since he was drafted in the second round in 2008. Hood not only played his way up from Double-A Harrisburg in short order, but he also made a strong first impression on Triple-A Syracuse manager Billy Gardner Jr.

In his first 13 International League games, the former Alabama football recruit hit .311/.396/.467 with six walks, 12 strikeouts and two stolen bases without getting caught.

“I really like his bat,” Gardner said. “He has a quick bat, and he’s short to the ball. I’ve been most impressed with his ability to identify pitches.”

The 24-year-old Hood could be playing his way on to the 40-man roster at the end of the season. The righthanded hitter was unable to achieve that status last year, when he hit .224/.278/.327 in 392 at-bats at Harrisburg.

Early this season, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Hood put the strength he gained in the winter to good use. He hit .329/.355/.384 in 73 at-bats while going 6-for-6 on stolen-base attempts with the Senators.

“He’s usually on time, and he can also hit a fastball,” Gardner said. “You have to be able to hit the fastball, and he can. He also makes good adjustments.”

Hood signed for $1.1 million out of St. Paul’s Episcopal High in Mobile, Ala. He hit at least .276 in his first three full seasons but bottomed out at .224 last year while his strikeout rate spiked to 27 percent. Though Hood still struggles against righthanders—he’s hit .221 and slugged .308 against them in more than 650 plate appearances since 2012—Gardner sees a lot to like about his game.

“He’s played a solid left field for me,” Gardner said. “He could play right field, but I think he’s more of a left fielder.
He does all the right things. He’s good at throwing to the right places and running good route.”

He finished the season at Syracuse with 24 doubles, 2 triples and 10 homers in 309 AB. Slash line: 294/344/482/826. 65 strikeouts, 22 walks. Only 4/7 in steals.

Before his awful 2013, he had been rated a fairly good prospect:

Ranked Washington Nationals #7 prospect after the 2008 season Premium
Ranked Washington Nationals #10 prospect after the 2009 season Premium
Ranked Washington Nationals #12 prospect after the 2010 season Premium
Ranked Washington Nationals #11 prospect after the 2011 season Premium
Ranked Washington Nationals #17 prospect after the 2012 season Premium

Indians have offered Travis Hafner a job as minor league hitting coach, if he wants it.

Hillbilly wrote:Indians have offered Travis Hafner a job as minor league hitting coach, if he wants it.

Must have an opening on the Clippers DL.

Ha, yeah. He'll probably turn it down. Doesn't want to sprain his tongue telling someone else how to hit.

Here's the kid we drafted in the AAA portion of Rule 5. There is no obligation to keep him at any particular level, so he's ours no matter how bad he looks in the spring.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minor ... anci001del

The following is probably illegible, so if you're interested try the link above

2012 19 -1.4 Phillies GULF Rk PHI 0 0 1.53 12 0 8 0 0 5 17.2 8 4 3 0 9 0 24 3 1 1 71 0.962 4.1 0.0 4.6 12.2 2.67

2013 20 -1.7 Lakewood SALL A PHI 4 5 .444 3.18 46 0 33 0 0 9 62.1 55 36 22 2 46 0 75 4 0 8 294 1.620 7.9 0.3 6.6 10.8 1.63

2014 21 -0.5 Williamsport NYPL A- PHI 2 0 1.000 5.14 8 0 1 0 0 0 14.0 13 8 8 2 11 0 8 1 0 4 63 1.714 8.4 1.3 7.1 5.1 0.73

2014 21 -0.8 Lakewood SALL A PHI 1 3 .250 8.29 22 0 9 0 0 2 38.0 43 41 35 0 21 0 39 4 1 5 186 1.684 10.2 0.0 5.0 9.2 1.86
[/quote]

Delvi Francisco, a right-handed reliever, had been converted to the mound after spending two seasons in the outfield. The 22-year-old sported an 8.29 ERA in 22 games with Class A Lakewood last year. -

Some winter ball activity:

CLE ABL Campbell, Andrew RF 2 0 1 1 .258 2 BB (10), CS (2)
CLE ABL Nilsson, Mitch 3B 4 0 1 0 .214
CLE DL Rodriguez, Ronny 2B 5 1 2 0 .400
CLE MPL Branyan, Russell DH 4 0 0 1 .148 [excited to have him back on our side, although I doubt he'll last till ST]
CLE MPL Fedroff, Tim RF 4 1 2 0 .286 2B (2)
CLE VL Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 0 2 0 .303
CLE VL Gallas, Anthony RF 5 1 2 2 .237 2B (4)
CLE VL Padron, Raul 1B 3 0 0 0 .171 BB (6)
CLE ABL Shorto, Ben 3.2 8 4 4 2 2 3.38
CLE DL Tejeda, Enosil 1.2 1 0 0 0 4 5.79
CLE PRL Romero, J.C. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.61

I wonder if Mitch Nilsson was related to Dave, the former all star catcher for Milwaukee who is famous for turning down big money contract to play baseball for Australia in the 2000 Olympics. I looked and see that Mitch is from Australia too, so I assume so. Mitch looked pretty good in rookie Arizona year before last, but stunk up the joint in NY Penn last year.

says Wikipedia, and they know everything:

He is the son of Gary Nilsson, cousin of Jay Nilsson and nephew of Bob Nilsson and former All-Star, Dave Nilsson.

[No mention of his mom, his sister, or his next door neighbors]

Some winter results:

CLE ABL Campbell, Andrew RF 4 1 2 0 .267 2 BB (12), 2 SB (4)
CLE ABL Nilsson, Mitch 3B 5 1 3 3 .273 HR (1), BB (5)
CLE DL Ciriaco, Audy 3B 3 1 1 1 .244 HR (2)
CLE DL Gonzalez, Erik SS 3 0 0 0 .162
CLE DL Rodriguez, Ronny 2B 4 0 1 0 .333
CLE MPL Branyan, Russell DH 3 0 1 0 .205 BB (12)
CLE MPL Fedroff, Tim PR-RF 2 1 0 0 .288
CLE PRL Myles, Bryson LF 4 1 1 0 .250
CLE VL Gallas, Anthony RF 3 1 2 1 .250 HR (2), 2 BB (9)

CLE ABL Grening, Brian 5 4 3 3 2 3 4.54
CLE DL Beras, Wander 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
CLE VL Murata, Toru 4.2 4 4 4 5 5 2.84 L (0 - 2)
CLE VL Rodriguez, Ramon 1 2 1 1 0 1 3.22

and the day after:

CLE ABL Campbell, Andrew RF 5 1 4 2 .304 HR (1)
CLE DL Bautista, Claudio 2B 2 0 0 1 .000 BB (1)
CLE DL Ciriaco, Audy 3B 4 0 2 3 .256
CLE DL Gonzalez, Erik SS 3 0 2 2 .200 2B (1)
CLE DL Rodriguez, Ronny PH-2B 1 0 1 0 .385
CLE DL Valerio, Charlie C 4 1 1 1 .333
CLE MPL Branyan, Russell 1B 4 0 0 0 .196
CLE MPL Fedroff, Tim RF-CF 3 1 2 0 .295
CLE PRL Myles, Bryson LF 3 0 1 1 .286 BB (1), CS (1)
CLE VL Gallas, Anthony RF 4 0 0 0 .259 BB (10)
CLE VL Padron, Raul 1B 4 1 2 1 .191 2B (2), HR (1)

CLE ABL Shorto, Ben 4 5 2 2 2 3 3.63 L (1 - 1)
CLE DL Beras, Wander 0.2 2 0 0 1 2 0.00
CLE DL Paredes, Edward 2 1 0 0 0 1 4.76
CLE DL Polanco, Anderson 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
CLE DL Tejeda, Enosil 0 2 3 3 1 0 11.57 L (0 - 2)

we certainly don't have any significant pitchers working this winter