Carlos Santana Tops Tribe 2010 Prospect List

Baseball America has come through once again with their annual release of the top prospects within the Cleveland Indians farm system.  In the report that was issued one week ago, it comes as little surprise that catcher Carlos Santana finds his name at the very top of that list following a season that came with a considerable amount of hardware.

Since coming over in the Casey Blake trade, Santana has done nothing but impress.  After succeeding in the minor leagues in the years prior, Santana set career marks in home runs and walked more times than he struck out.  But the rest of the list has some new names at the expense of a few prospects that have either gotten the call up to the big leagues or have fallen back in the pack.

New kids on the block include Nick Hagadone, Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco – three players who came over in the deals for Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez last summer.  Hector Rondon is a new name on this list, but one that fans should be familiar with by now.  He’s the only pitcher on the list that was actually in the Tribe farm system at this point last year.  And finally, the first two selections in last year’s draft bring up the ninth and tenth slot on the list.

Lonnie Chisenhall, Michael Brantley and Nick Weglarz were sixth, ninth and third respectively on the 2009 list. 

Players that are no longer considered the top prospects within the organization include Matt LaPorta and David Huff, both players that will be featured among the big league squad for 2010.  Adam Miller’s long reign among the top prospects has also come to an end.  After holding down the top spot between 2005-2008, it is growing more and more likely that Miller will never see an inning of work within professional baseball.  Left-handed pitcher Kevin de la Cruz and infielder Carlos Rivero are still among the Tribe minor league system, but are no longer considered top tier prospects.

For what it’s worth, Baseball America forecasts Nick Hagadone to be the Tribe’s number one starter come 2013 and credits him with having the best fastball and best slider amongst the farm hands.  This is a bit of a difference in what he was projected to become when acquired by the Indians.  In our trade analysis piece, we had the following to say on Hagadone’s future:

A hard-throwing left-hander coming off season-ending Tommy John surgery in 2008, Hagadone now would project in the pitching-stacked Indians system as a reliever with back-end potential. His fastball tops out at 98 mph and since he has never really been let loose in the minor leagues (59.1 IP in 23 starts), the Indians will probably be uber-cautious as always with his handling and arm delivery. […] Projecting him as a reliever means that he will arguably shoot up the system, finishing this year with Lake County and Kinston (if he is healthy enough to even pitch) and then going strong with Akron and Columbus in 2010. As a reliever he would be yet another hard-throwing lefty that can strike guys out at will.

And striking out, he did.  Pitching for three different minor league teams last year (Greenville, Lake County and Kinston), Hagadone amassed 59 strikeouts and 24 walks through 45 innings of work.  He had an ERA of 2.80 and a WHIP of 1.111.  Hagadone will have to provide quite a career with the Indians to get fans to get over the trade of Victor Martinez.

White, who Baseball America projects to be a closer, will join Chisenhall in Goodyear, Arizona this spring as both players received minor league invites to camp.  Fellow first-year professional Jason Kipnis will have to wait his turn despite putting up some pretty impressive numbers for Arizona State.  Kipnis amassed a batting average of .384 and is one of those players who tends to walk more than strike out, leading to an on-base percentage of .497.  He projects to be a centerfielder with the rare combination of power and speed.

The ten names on the list above will have an above average importance on the Indians over the next two-to-three seasons as the team rebuilds once again.