Must be something else going on. The kid is young and cheap. He had good numbers before the injuries.

Aaron Cunningham is hitting .176 in his early play in AAA. Sounds familiar.

Early game news tonight:

2 shutout innings for Jeanmar Gomez, 3 by Michael Goodnight, 3 by Cody Anderson. Lindor with a hit a walk and a steal. Lars wasting space at 1st base. I guess he's the guy they'll call up since they don't like LaPorta or Canzler. Apparently he is not klutz at first. Another lf hitter which we need like hole in the head. Speaking of RH 1B's, Jesus Aguillar has slipped to mid-280s and has had only 1 homer in numerous weeks. Speaking of other RH iB's, Chun Chen continues to rap out singles and doubles; his line is 322/412/447, 27 doubles and 4 homers. Don't know if he's beyond the klutz stage at 1st base, which fellow-converted catcher Ryan Garko never achieved.

And speaking of one of my least favorite Indians of all time, here's some updates on Garko's recent career:

2011 season

On December 10, Garko signed a one-year deal with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization.[66] Due to injury, he was released on July 12.[67]

2012 season

Garko signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in March 2012. He started well, leading the league in OPS and placing among the league leaders in batting average, and was signed to a minor league contract by the Tampa Bay Rays on May 14, 2012[68]. Garko is currently playing for the AA Montgomery Biscuits[69].

So in the past season he's been a Lion, a Duck and a Biscuit

Sounds like MGM, DISNEY, and GENERAL MILLS.

I was sure wrong on Garko and this is at least my 10th admission of it.

Tony Lastoria ‏@TonyIPI
Knapp is one of the good guys. Sad it didn't work out for him. Just another example of why there is no such thing as a pitching prospect.

Tony Lastoria ‏@TonyIPI
Bottom line is Knapp wanted third shoulder surgery, but Indians did not want to go down road of third surgery.

Tony Lastoria ‏@TonyIPI
Indians have released RHP Jason Knapp.

Cheap bastards!!!

Pay for the freakin' surgery.

Guys if you want to understand why Cleveland is struggling in a small market start with the Lee and CC trades. this has little to do with Dolan and A LOT to do with Shapiro!!!!

"Yes, but it was Dolan that hired him, or at least it's Dolan that won't fire him or anybody or anybody else."

Yes, but would a top GM want to work for Dolan if he could get a similar position in an organization that is willing/able to spend money ( = make a sound investment) ?

last night's performances noted by BA

CLE AA Chen, Chun 1B 3 0 1 0 .322 BB (50), SB (5)
CLE AA Weglarz, Nick LF 4 2 2 1 .245 2B (19)
CLE AAA Anderson, Lars 1B 3 0 1 0 .252 2B (23), BB (59)
CLE AAA Phelps, Cord 2B 5 1 3 0 .275 2B (29)
CLE HiA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 1 1 3 .285 HR (12) [homers since I had noted that he hadn't for awhile]
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Ronny SS 4 1 1 1 .268 HR (14) [more longballs than older, much larger Aguillar]
CLE HiA Wolters, Tony 2B 4 1 1 1 .267 HR (5)
CLE LoA Lindor, Francisco SS 4 2 1 0 .262 BB (51), SB (24)
CLE LoA Myles, Bryson LF 3 0 1 1 .279 BB (24)
CLE LoA Smith, Jordan RF 4 1 2 2 .310 2B (19)

Not much pitching to look at:
CLE AA Van Mil, Loek 1 0 0 0 0 1 2.11
CLE R Sterling, Felix 4 3 3 0 1 7 2.79 W (2-0)

Shouldn't that headline have read "Knapp-sacked"?

We may have an OF far away from Cleveland who actually has a variety of skills. Anthony Santander, another 17 year old Latin pick last year, BA rated as our possible breakthrough player of 2012. Last night he singled, doubled, homered and stole a base. For the summer he's 303/364/486 with 5 steals in 5 tries. Of course he fans too often for his BBs; 30/7 ratio. Santander is a 6-2 187 pound switch hitter who turns 18 in October. He's supposed to be a good OF. Doing much better as a LH batter (OPS 911) than a RH (625).

The other OF prospects are LuigiRodriguez who is 19 at Lake County, a CF with speed and some power. And Naquin our 1st rounder currently hurt at Mahoning Valley and without a homer in his pro debut.

Anthony's teammate Dorsyss Paulino with his first multihit game in awhile, had 2 doubles and a single last night. OPS has slipped to 952 for this 17 year old SS.

Baseball America has posted its "Best Tools" report for all the full season minor leagues and guess what we don't get many players listed. Not a single tribesman rates as best in any offensive category in his league. We do rate some good defenders:

Eastern League: catcher, Roberto Perez,always gets this rating, bats just over 200 OPS around 600
Carolina League: SS, Ronnie Rodriguez, despite a ton of errors. 14 HRs, avg about 270. K's too much.
Midwest League: 1b, Gerald Sabourin, avg about 290, little power, sort of old for the league
2b: Jose Ramirez, also hitting like a house on fire, about 320, steals some, age19

ss: Francisco Lindor, hitting about 265, some power, lots of steals

only pitcher rating anywhere:
International League: best breaking ball: Corey Kluber

Last 2 starts by Jeanmar Gomez total 15 innings, 8 hits, no walks, no runs, 13 K. We could reinstall him in the rotation, add Seddon to the bullpen for a second lefty.

Not really attempting to rank the thin ranks of Tribe prospects, but reviewing the rosters of the farm clubs for candidates, this is all I come up among position players:

Catcher, no one really. Lavisky and Lowery are having bad years. Monsalve hitting 270.. Roberto Perez is big league defender but can't hit; he could become of those career AAAA catchers. Charlie Valerio is hitting well and for power, splitting time between C and 1B; check back next year on him.

1b: Agullar's a slugger who doesn't slug that much. He has kept his average up and his strikeouts are not terrible. Not much of a fielder. Chen hasn't been a slugger since he got out of Class A. But he's hitting about 320 with lots of doubles; walks enough. Has this converted catcher learned to play 1st? Jerud Sabourin is hitting 300 with little power and is rated the best defenser in his league; that doesn't add up to much.

2b: Cord Phelps is hitting for lots of power this year. Tony Wolters has progressed well as one of the youngest in his league. Jose Ramirez didn't out of camp until June but has performed very well. Joe Wendle is hitting well for Mahoning Valley; I assume he'll have a career arc like Scott Pratt and other high round college middle IFs we have specialized in picking and not developing.

ss: Lindor has been rated our No. 1 prospect. Great fielder, hitting well enough at age 19. Ronnie Rodrigurez rated best ss in his league but makes beaucoup errors, lots of power for age 20. Dorsyss Paulino hitting up a storm at age 17 in Arizona. Juan Diaz had a cup of coffee with the Indians; he's hitting for power, avg 260, good defense.

3b: Giovanny Urshela rated a stellar defender is hitting much better in High A than he did in low A. Only 20. Jorge Martinez hits for average and power, not sure about his defense, hasn't graduated to a full season team in 3 years.

lf: Tim Fedroff. Breakthrough at AAA, hitting for great average which he's done before and uniquely demostrating power, doesn't steal much or walk much. Forget about Weglarz.

cf: Delvi Cid has been around for awhile in Class A but still young enough and having a decent year with the bat, still a fine basestealer although not up to his earlier pace. Don't know about his defense. Luigii Rodriguez 19 year old in Lake County runs well, surprising power, not great season but solid for his age. Tyler Naquin our 1st draft choice this year which usually guarantees failure; hasn't hit a pro homer and hasn't been promoted to a full season league. Bryson Myles probably is a little weak at all 5 tools, although should reach AAA.

rf: Anthony Santander, 17 year old RBI machine playing in Arizona, has all 5 tools to some extent. Jordan Smith is a good RF, hitting 300, not much power. 5 years older than Santander and just in Lake County.