The Indians continued their run of filling out their 40-man roster with a pair of moves Friday. Outfielder Grady Sizemore and catcher Carlos Santana both were placed back on the roster after spending the past several months on the 60-day disabled list. That number does not count against the 40-man, thus the activation brings Cleveland’s total roster to 35 players right now.
Over the course of the next week, no more than five players will be added to the final roster for the Indians as the team prepares for the 2010 season and the impending Rule 5 Draft. The roster deadline is Friday, Nov. 19 at midnight EST, and thus decisions will have to be made throughout the organization on how to approach the status of many top prospects.
This will be a guide to looking at some of the hot candidates for the roster, as well as who could be cautiously left out for the Rule 5 Draft in early December.
Nick Hagadone – The prize of the Victor Martinez trade with Boston, Hagadone has had a rough stint in the Indians organization thus far. Converted to being a left-handed reliever specialist during the 2010 season with Double-A Akron, he has struggled with the strike zone ever since his Tommy John surgery in 2007. He will also turn 25 on New Years, quite old for a top prospect yet to reach Triple-A but could be too big of an investment to let go.
Corey Kluber – A decent prospect acquired in the Jake Westbrook trade via Colorado, Kluber again is old for his playing level but has had much more qualified success than Hagadone. He finished the 2010 season between Double-A San Antonio, Akron and two starts with Columbus as having a 3.49 ERA and 165 strikeouts in 160 innings, proving his potential as a consistent strike-thrower. He’ll probably stay around as this was one of the more recent investments made in the system.
Zach McAllister – McAllister is another intriguing arm added this year by the Tribe, joining late in the season as a player-to-be-named through the various New York Yankees trades. He had a great season in 2009 with Double-A Trenton, but fell back slightly in Triple-A a year ago (5.29 ERA in 27 starts). Just like the previous two, he was a high draft pick with projectable size for the big leagues, but I’m not sure where I stand on his roster credentials after his iffy season last year.
Josh Judy – In an organization filled with interesting arms in the bullpen, Judy even probably deserves some love for another roster spot. A late draft pick in 2007, he has had success at every level of his minor league career, posting a 20-6 record with a 2.74 ERA and a 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings ratio. He struggled earlier last year with Columbus, but settled down to again post some impressive numbers. He might be the most ready to contribute for Cleveland in 2011.
Jared Goedert – Here is where things start to get a little spicy. Everyone knows about the incredible year produced by Goedert in 2010 (37 doubles, 27 home runs, 83 RBI, .283/.358/.532). But the question here is what direction do the Indians want to take with the third base position. Goedert had struggled with injuries and consistent hitting in 2008 and 2009, and it would be a gamble to hand him the reigns now over some of the other more proven options available.
Josh Rodriguez – This is what I mean by a potentially more proven option. Although with much less career playing time at third base, Rodriguez had always fallen short in the Indians system. He was an Eastern League All-Star in 2008 for Akron, but was injured early in 2009 and missed nearly the rest of the season. Last year, he nearly had as much success (30 doubles, 13 home runs, 57 RBI, .297/.378/.484) as Goedert and his versatility could give him the slight edge.
Others: Paolo Espino (doesn’t have prototypical size), Connor Graham (struggling with control in Double-A), Yohan Pino (not a prospect, struggled in 2010), Danny Salazar (expected to have breakout year in 2010, very raw), Beau Mills (bust of a first round pick, still average in Double-A), Matt McBride (starred late in 2010, but might not be ready for MLB), John Drennen (only just this season started to hit consistently for Akron), and Jerad Head (fills a huge need in the minor league system).
So there you have it. If I had to pick just four, I’d go with Judy, Hagadone, Rodriguez and Kluber to fill those spots.
Expect the Indians to fill three to five of those places remaining on the 40-man roster in the next five days. Some others might still be DFA’d, outrighted or released as well, adding some extra space for some worthy contenders listed above.
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Photos via Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer and Tony Lastoria/Indians Prospect Insider