Indians announce MiLB and player development changes

One of the eternal questions in sports is the importance of talent versus development. Truly, the question goes back to any nature versus nurture debate such as the one depicted in the great American film Trading Places. Regardless, there are few who believe there is not some important element to nurturing the talent through development, and the Cleveland Indians continue to fine tune their already well-respected development program as they announced changes for the 2016 season.

[Related: Fully immersed: Diving into baseball’s player development culture]

Here are some of the key changes for 2016:

• Alex Eckelman is moving back to the player development side as he becomes the Assistant Director of Player Development in a parallel role to Eric Binder. While Binder focuses on the pitchers in the organization, Eckelman will take on the design and creation of programs, policies, and curriculums for all other players.
• Bruce Chen starts his post-playing career as the directory of cultural development where he will attempt to help ease players who have to transition into the country.
• John McDonald is expanding his role with the team as he takes on the title of Infield Coordinator where he will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of individual infielder plans throughout MiLB, while serving as a resource for all coaches.
• Matt Blake was hired into the Indians to assist Pitching Coordinator Ruben Niebla with implementation of organizational philosophies, systems and processes. Blake has been on the cutting edge of pitching development outside the organization with Cressey Sports Performance and his own company Elite Pitching Development.
• Steve Karsay continues his advancement through the minors as he takes over as pitching coach for the AAA Columbus Clippers.
• Travis Fryman is giving up his post as manager of the short-season A Mahoning Valley Scrappers to move back into an advisory role.
• Edwin Rodriguez takes over as manager for the Scrappers. He managed Class-A Carolina in 2012 and AA Akron in 2013.
• Tighe Dickinson will be the pitching coach for the Scrappers. Dickinson was a highly respected pitching coach for Florida International University last season.

Additionally, Latin American director Ramon Pena is no longer with the team. Pena had been in his post since 2009 and was responsible for international signings that included Dominican middle infielder Jose Ramirez, Cuban third baseman Yandy Diaz, Venezuelan left-handed pitcher Luis Lugo, and many more. The Indians have not announced his replacement.

Indians are making changes in international scouting. Latin American director Ramon Pena is no longer with the team: https://t.co/augVdqDd53

— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) January 11, 2016