2008 Cleveland Indians Organizational Depth Report

rank...name...position...ETA
1. fausto carmona, RHSP
2. aaron laffey, LHSP
3. jensen lewis, RHRP
4. adam miller, RHSP
5. jeremy sowers, LHSP
6. edward mujica, RHRP
7. chuck lofgren, LHSP
8. david huff, LHSP - september 2008
9. scott lewis, LHSP - may 2009
10.paolo espino, RHP - september 2010


where once, adam miller was the gem of the organization, fausto carmona now has that distinction. There is a lot of fringe-average left handed pitching in the organization, and with aaron laffey and CC sabathia already in their rotation, cleveland might be better off trading the bulk of their depth to help augment their aging lineup.

jeremy sowers was effective in 2006 with a GB% in the 50-54 range. in 2007, he was around 45. i think this is a huge difference, and after looking at zach duke, i think a lefty's value is not just related to his velocity or his breaking ball, but i feel that a whole lot of value can be derived from limiting BBs, SBs, and getting a lot of groundballs with a runner at 1B. that is what drives my very high opinion of aaron laffey, whose GB% sits in the 60-65 range, and who.

i'm not a huge fan of david huff, but i'm starting to warm up. i'd like to see him pitch in live action before moving him up too far on this list, as i'm unimpressed by his draft video on MLB.com.

i like mujica a lot more than his ERA indicates i should, but i doubt i'm the only one who is more impressed by his peripherals, than scared off by his ERA.

jensen lewis' FB sits in the low 90s, his changeup hits 80 MPH with late fade away from LHB. He does not have a true out pitch, but should be able to fill a middle relief role in a good bullpen.


Spotlight: Aaron Laffey

laffey is a big favorite of mine, but it appears as though the secret is out. well, partially at least, as my opinion of laffey seems to be much more bullish than that of kevin goldstein, BA, or john sickels. in my opinion, and on those scales, laffey is a 4 star, B+ prospect that would be number 1 in the system on all three scales.

i've already opined on some vagaries in the paragraph starting with jeremy sowers, but to reiterate, i think laffey does everything he can possibly do outside of the battery to help his cause. but since this piece is usually focused on what goes on inside the battery, let's take a gander at aaron laffey, on the mound.

laffey's sinker comes in around 86-89 MPH, and he can get up to about 91, when he forgets who he is. his slider is more of a changeup than an outpitch, and it comes in around 78 MPH. his 81 MPH changeup is used exclusively against RHB, and it does a good job of keeping them off balance.

his MLB splits show a negative effect as he was better against RHB than LHB, and this was not a one time phenomenon, as he had excellent splits versus RHB at both AAA and AA in 2007, plus in AA in 2006, and low A in 2005.

assuming that laffey can take another step forward in 2008, which i actually think could just mean that he pitches 200 innings, i see laffey as a HUGE breakout candidate, and i see him providing a big boost to cleveland's rotation behind C.C. sabathia and fausto carmona.