Hello GregJP,

Besides the incredible power Weglarz is reported to have (sdtribefan reminded me that Weglarz was hitting HR balls easily into the Mezzanine level at Jacobs Field when he was introduced as a signed draft pick - granted, it was with aluminum bats, but I believe he was only 17-YO at the time, so still not a bad feat, even with aluminum, in my opinion,) Weglarz also has the ability to be patient, as evidenced by his 82 BBs in 439 ABs last year, at age 19.

His K rate is a bit high (129 Ks in 439 ABs,) but as you mentioned, he came from a Canadian HS in Ontario, which means their baseball seasons aren't all that long (certainly not as long as the southern US HSs, and I'm guessing, not as long as the northern US HSs either.)  He was reported to be a bit raw and inexperienced when he was drafted, especially when it came to quality breaking balls, so I don't think his high K totals are really out-of-the-ordinary for someone with his background (see my post at LGT for what I mean by "background",) and certainly not a guarantee he'll always have that extreme a problem with Ks, now that he has seen better breaking balls over the course of a full season.  And, he was reported to be very good at hitting good fastballs even when he was drafted.

As for his defense, keep in mind that this was his first year playing the OF on a regular basis (he was a 1B when he was drafted.)  He did play some OF when he was at Burlington in 2005, but I'm not sure he played OF full-time, and even then, it was only 41 games maximum.  Plus, in an interview I heard or read last year, Weglarz said it took some getting used to reading the ball off the bat and taking the proper routes to the ball, so I suspect he'll get better with more experience, enough to be adequate to solid out in LF, so I'm not too worried about his defense being a liability at this point.

I think his ceiling is quite high - a patient, selective power hitter that put up solid to above-average numbers at Low-A at age 19 - that it warrants Goldstein's #5 ranking on his Top 11 Indians List.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!

Regarding Mills, the plan right now is to keep Mills on 3B, as the Indians are pleased enough with his recovery from his injured shoulder and resulting shoulder impingement, as well as his work at 3B to keep him there, which certainly would raise his value (not saying he'd necessarily be higher than #3 on that list, though you could probably make a solid argument for #2, maybe even #1 if you really have doubts about Miller's ability to stay healthy long-term.)

As for Barton, keep in mind he was an undrafted FA out of Miami (FL) from 2004, mostly due to the fact that virtually all ML organizations thought he was going to finish his degree of aerospace engineering, which dropped him off most organizations' radars.  The Indians took a chance on him after sending a scout out to look at him, and so far, has been a pleasant surprise.  

Keep in mind though that he didn't begin play in the Indians' system until the age of 23 in 2005 at Low-A, so he's only spent 3 full seasons in the Minors after the 2007 season.  And, he's only had 87 ABs (25 games) at the AAA level to this point - I'm suspecting the Indians kept guys like OF Jason Cooper and Jonathan Van Every as an insurance policy for the 2007 season in case they needed another OFer with extensive AAA experience (this was before they acquired Lofton to replace the injured Dellucci in LF.)

I would suspect one or both of Cooper/Van Every would be let go, allowing Barton to begin at AAA in 2008, as it seems he doesn't have much left to prove at AA, and besides younger than those two, Barton can play all 3 OF positions (Van Every can also, but not Cooper, who's mostly a corner OF, and usually, LFer.)  

Therefore, I don't think Barton is quite ready to come up to the Majors yet - I know he's older than ideal at age 26, but if he's going to provide any meaningful ability at the ML level for the Indians, I think it will take more AAA experience before he's ready, and personally, I think it would be better for him to come up after having enough AAA experience, even if he's 27-28-YO, then rush him up to the MLs now at 26-27, as I don't think he'd be more than a 4th-5th OFer at best, and mostly for his defensive ability and baserunning, at this point.  I think with more AAA experience, his ceiling can be higher than just a 4th-5th OFer, either as a possible starter in LF for the Indians, or at least, be part of a platoon that plays 2-4 or 3-5 times a week.  Plus, if he plays at AAA and does well, it could also boost his trade value a bit (could probably be a solid RFer if he can hit for consistent power or be a CFer for another ML team,) moreso than just being a 4th-5th OFer on the ML roster to start the 2008 season.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!

Hello overlord,

The farm system isn't totally barren of pitching at the lower levels:

Low-A:

20-YO RHP Paolo Espino - link  (Has great stuff and could either be a solid to good starter or good to great reliever, as he was even more dominant as a reliever in 2007, as you can see here.)
19-YO RHP Jeanmar Gomez - link  (Held his own in Low-A at age 18.)
19-YO RHP Hector Rondon - link  (Held his own in Low-A at age 19; has a fastball that reaches the low-90s, according to this BA blog post, plus has plenty of projection.)
19-YO LHP Ryan Morris - link  (Highly regarded coming out of the 2006 Draft and has already reached Low-A.)

SS-A:
19-YO LHP Kelvin De La Cruz - link (command an issue for the 19-YO Dominican, but has great stuff.)
19-YO RHP Santo Frias - link (has solid to great stuff and jumped from the GCL to Low-A in 2007, and could possibly start in Low-A in 2008.)

This doesn't include prospects like RHP Christopher Archer (highly thought of coming out of the 2006 Draft and has great stuff, but will likely be a long-term project due to inconsistent command,) LHP T.J. McFarland (highly-thought of HS pick from the 2007 Draft, but signed too late to play in 2007,) and LHP Christopher Jones (HS draftee out of Tampa, FL who was also a highly-thought of 2007 draft pick and just turned 19 this past September.)

There are also some nice reliever prospects, including AAer LHP Reid Santos and RHP Jeff Stevens, High-Aers RHP Neil Wagner (see the Rondon link above for info. on Wagner) and LHP Ryan Edell, and Low-Aer RHP Mike Pontius, among others, including AAA LHP Tony Sipp, if he can recover fully from TJ surgery he had this past season, and SS-A Kyle Landis, who had a great debut and could move quickly.

Therefore, the farm system is not barren of pitching, though many are not well-known, and many are a distance off, but there are a decent number with high ceilings, and several others that could fill roles for the Indians in the future.  Keep in mind that LHP Rafael Perez and RHP Jensen Lewis were not expected to be shutdown relievers when the season started, as they were only considered as decent to solid prospects at best, but neither in the "great" category.  RHP Fausto Carmona himself had not been considered a great prospect outside of his 2003 season at Low-A Lake County, yet has done pretty well in his own right to this point as well, so the possibility of one or a few emerging from the system when you wouldn't expect it is always a possibility, even though they might not jump out at you right now.  A tweak of the mechanics here, the refined development of a pitch or command there, and a prospect you wouldn't expect to be much of a factor suddenly becomes one; I think there's enough intriguing possibilities in the Indians' system to yield a few more surprises in the coming years.

Also keep in mind that the Indians will have Carmona and Westbrook into the next decade; if they can resign Sabathia (a sizable if, but a "realistic" possibility, according to GM Mark Shapiro,) that's three Indians pitchers that will be around into the next decade.  They'd only need two (presuming they don't sign a veteran comparable to Byrd to fill one spot, which is a possibility,) to develop from Miller/Lofgren/Sowers/Laffey/Slocum/S. Lewis to take them through 2009.  By that time, it's possible others could emerge or be on the verge of emerging (AA or AAA) from the Low-A group I mentioned above.  So, I think the farm system could have enough candidates to supply the rotation and keep the Indians strong after 2009, and that's presuming that no one else steps up between now and then.

Therefore, while the number of pitching prospects the Indians have now is arguably not as many as they've had the last few years (especially due to the graduation of guys like Jensen Lewis, Aaron Laffey, and Rafael Perez,) some over at LGT (including me) think that we might have more higher-ceiling pitchers than we've had in a while, especially since many of the ones at Low-A Lake County this past season were in their late teens (Gomez, Rondon, Morris) or 20 (Espino.)  In the last few seasons, most of the starting pitchers at Lake County were college draftees with low ceilings, with a few Latin American pitchers that were older than the group that was there in 2007; in fact, the last young SP prospect I can think of that was young (late teens to 20-YO) and considered a highly-thought of pitcher at Low-A Lake County was RHP Fausto Carmona in 2003 at age 19.  Even LHP Rafael Perez was 22 when he put up a solid season at Low-A in 2004.

Therefore, I think there is some pitching depth in the Indians' farm system, but most of the higher-ceiling ones are in the lower Minors (Low-A and below.)  The ones at High-A and above are more of the middle- to back-end of the rotation and/or solid to good relievers, outside of Miller and maybe Lofgren.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!