Tyler Naquin was named AFL position player of the week and followed that honor with a 3-4 game and his first homerun of the fall. Last I saw he had only one extra base hit,l a double. Yesterday he added an outfield assist

BA is beginning to publish its Team Top 10 lists (and their prospect book includes 30 names per team). Not sure when they'll get to the Tribe, probably a month or more.

I have trouble coming with 10 real prospects on this team. Nos. 1 and 2 are Lindor and Frazier. Ramirez and Naquin come next, I guess. Kyle Crockett should be in the Top 10. Oh, Trevor Bauer probably still rates about No. 5. Chen Lee fits up there, too. Perhaps Luis Lugo and Nellie Rodriguez? Kid catcher Francisco Mejia. Starter Cody Anderson. RBI king Jesus Aguillar. SS Dorsyss Paulino. I hope I'm overlooking some significant players, but I'll review the rosters when I have some time and offer my inexpert list.

Name changes are all about selling more hats, uniforms, and gear. Going to happen every 5 years these days.

Our other farm clubs have been pretty steady with their names, but change logos from time to time: Scrappers, Captains and Clippers. Mudcats are newish since they just moved the team from Kinston a couple seasons ago.

BA's lines of the day include:

CLE DWL Jose Ramirez, 3B 5 2 3 0 .278 2B (4)
CLE PUR Carlos Moncrief, RF 4 0 0 0 .143
CLE VWL Jesus Aguilar, 1B 4 2 2 3 .357 HR (8)
Pretty solid work by Aguilar. I think he's clinched his spot on the 40 man roster. Moncrief will probably get a spot, too, since there are not a lot of OFs to compete with him.

Naquin certainly did better in Arizona than in Carolina and Akron.
Needs to draw walks as well as get hits.

Tyler Naquin loves the fresh air of rural life away from buildings and crowds. I'm confident, however, that the Cleveland Indians outfield prospect will likely be happy to be spending some time surrounded by skyscrapers and cement as his career progresses.

Naquin -- from Spring, Texas -- was an All-Texas player for Klein Collins High School. While tempted to sign with the Baltimore Orioles after they selected him in the 33rd round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, he chose to enroll at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Naquin really took off as a hitter in his sophomore season when he hit .381 as an Aggies outfielder. His play earned All American and Big 12 Player Of The Year honors in 2011.

The Indians chose Naquin with their first round selection in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. He has now completed parts of two seasons in the Tribe's farm system. Naquin is No. 5 on the Indians' Top 20 Prospects list.

This past season, Naquin played for Class A Advanced Carolina, where he hit .277 in 498 plate appearances. He scored 69 runs. Naquin finished the season playing for Double-A Akron in the Eastern League. In his 18 games, Naquin hit .225 in 85 trips to the plate.

The left-handed-hitting and right-handed-throwing Naquin, 22, has a number of above-average tools that serve as the framework for his future. His short, compact swing lends itself very well to him becoming a top-of-the-order table setter and rally starter. Naquin's line-drive stroke has just a slight uppercut. His hitting mechanics are very quiet and uncomplicated.

Naquin has very good eye-hand coordination, allowing him to hit breaking balls well by letting the pitch travel to him a bit. He isn't fooled at the plate by fastballs or offspeed pitches.

Naquin seems very content to get on base with a single or a walk. He uses the entire field in his consistent approach.

Perhaps power will generate, but at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Naquin's frame and mechanics lend themselves more to being a high average run scorer rather than a power hitter. I do project him hitting the gaps and legging out doubles.

Naquin has slightly above-average basestealing type speed. He isn't a burner, but he can get his motor going well enough to take an extra base when needed.

Perhaps Naquin's best tool is a strong and accurate arm. He has the type of arm strength and carry that is generally used in right field. That would be a familiar position for Naquin, but his limited power projects a role as a good hitting, average fielding center fielder.

Naquin is still learning and refining his technique to taking sound routes in the outfield. He has the speed and first-step quickness needed to close on balls as well as throw out baserunners looking to take liberties. I do not foresee problems with Naquin playing Major League quality defense.

I have been scouting Naquin in the Arizona Fall League, where he is playing with energy and enthusiasm for the Surprise Saguaros. He is having a fine fall, and in October was named an AFL Player Of The Week. Naquin has consistently been among the league leaders in hitting. He is making contact while being selective and patient at the plate.

Naquin was named to the AFL Fall Stars team. He batted second as the designated hitter and tripled in the early November game. Not only is he a Fall League leader in scoring runs, Naquin has driven in runs with timely hitting, a bonus for a top-of-the-order hitter.

Eventually, the Indians may have a combination of recent first-round selection and No. 3 Indians prospect Clint Frazier and Naquin in the same outfield. Their skills complement one another very well.

Naquin will have to find time to return to the open spaces and beauty of nature in the offseasons. For now, he is otherwise engaged developing his skills as a solid hitter and good defensive outfielder.

Ex-Indians infielder Juan Diaz heads to the Marlins on a minor league deal.

No. 3 Indians prospect Clint Frazier

someone has posted a Top 10 list? I haven't seen them yet. I'd be surprised that someone would be rated between Lindor and Frazier, they certainly seem like the kids with the highest "ceilings".


I'd list them something like:

1. Lindor
2. Frazier
3. Ramirez, but way behind No. 2
4. Bauer, I suppose some people could still list him as high as No. 2 but that's expecting to use his arm not his brain
5. Naquin
6. Paulino
7. Mejia
8. Lee
9. Aguillar
10. Lugo
11. Rodriguez
12. Rodriguez
13. Rodriguez

So I found the list, at mlb.com.




Prospect Watch



Top 20


1 Lindor


2 Bauer


3 Frazier


4 Paulino


5 Naquin


6 Cody Anderson, maybe, he's one of very few starting pitchers we have in full season leagues


7 Ronny Rodriguez, didn't have a great 2013


8 Dace Kime, I suppose he'll rate this high on all lists, but he hardly pitched in 2013


9 Mitch Brown, terrible at lake County, OK back in Arizona


10 Luigi Rodriguez, DL nearly all season


11 Tony Wolters, could be; is he now a catcher of a utility man?


12 Jose Ramirez, Joe won't like this ranking, but they have a point: he's developed very quickly but still looks a utility player, but why not think he'll improve some more? or grow a few inches?


13 LeVon Washington decent bounce back 1/2 season, but needs a full healthy year in 2014


14 Chen Lee solid back of bullpen reliever should be higher


15 Kyle Crockett should be higher too; I would insert him in my list at No. 9 or higher


16 D'vone McClure has been pretty bad so far in each of his 2 seasons in Arizona, he has "tools"


17 Jesus Aguilar how many good power hitting RH hitters are there out there?


18 Alex Monsalve had a good comeback from DL; this about where he should be rated


19 Sean Brady looked good in Arizona; could be higher


20 Dylan Baker was OK. 20 is about his rank.

MLB doesn't include my picks Mejia, who BA drooled over, a 17 year old catcher with power and good receiving skills; Lugo, a solid LH starter who was very effective at age 19 in NYPL; and power hitting 1b Nellie Rodriguez who was no good at Lake County but very good at bat, at least for awhile, in NYPL.

Jose Ramirez has dropped in those rankings from No. 9 to No. 12 prospect. that's a bit weird after he skipped High A to play in AA and skipped AAA to play in the majors.

The only guys on that list that could significantly improve the big club are pitchers. The position players are a dime-a-dozen, especially the middle infielders.

Ramirez came from obscurity to instant success in one year. That's a lot of expectations to live up to. If I'm Ramirez, I'm wondering what do I have to do to continue climbing the ladder. About the only thing holding him back in my opinion are his power numbers.

Ramirez was never considered a serious prospect in the first place. It wasn't like he was selected in the June draft. He was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 2009. He made his mark in a short period of time shocking a lot of people in my opinion. I don't think this organization ever thought Ramirez would rise this quickly if at all.

I think its way to early to give up on him. He just turned 21. Most player don't develop until they are two or three years older.

I also think that Ramirez is still trying to find out who he really is. I watched him play all of last season. When he was promoted to Cleveland, I noticed a significant change in his approach at the plate. He was being more aggressive and taking much bigger cuts.

I've seen all of his games so far this winter and I'm noticing the same approach. I think that's the main reason for his 3-12 walk to k's ratio and his sub-.300 (.287) batting average. I don't know if the hitting instructors in Cleveland have him working on changes or not, but he seems out of "character".

Kind of tough to think that those number are that bad but I guess the bar has been raised. It's tough enough to hit better than .300 in any league but for Ramirez, I guess its become expected. His walks to k's ratio isn't that bad, but for Ramirez it is. I guess the bar has been set. Gotta be a lot of pressure on the kid.

Bottom line is these silly lists mean bull crap. Who cares how BA or any other group rate the minor league players ?

It's one of my offseason entertainments. I don't care in the slightest that you don't care in the slightest.

The Indians today named INF JOE WENDLE the Lou Boudreau Award winner (top organizational position player) and RHP CODY ANDERSON the Bob Feller Award recipient (top pitcher) for the 2013 Minor League season.

Wendle hit .295 with 16 HR, 64 RBI, & an OPS of .885 in 107 games for the Carolina Mudcats. His 16 HR were second in the Indians Farm system.

Anderson went 9-4 with a 2.65 ERA -- the best mark in the entire Indians Player Development system -- between Akron and Carolina.

For more info on our top prospects, join VP of Player Development Ross Atkins for a conference call on Friday: http://atmlb.com/1hZVIEi