Mining for C+ Gold

Any of these guys interesting for the future?

At the very least, he can be a #4 on a decent team.

Colonel - I'm here!  :-)

Regarding Francisco, he's likely to begin back at AAA Buffalo again - to get more at-bats and also to improve his defense a bit, especially in terms of consistency and getting better reads on balls.  Mind you, he hasn't done a bad job in the OF, but the Indians would like him to work a little more on his defense while at Buffalo - like most players, he has put more focus on his offense rather than his defense as he's moved up the ladder.

Being that Sizemore, Dellucci, Michaels, Gutierrez, and Blake(?! - depending on whether Marte is the starting 3B,) there's virtually no room for Francisco at this point.  There's also Choo, who supposedly has made good progress in recovering from the arm/shoulder injury he suffered last season.

Regarding Jensen Lewis, he has a fearless demeanor and goes right after the hitters.  His fastball can reach between 93-95 MPH and his slider has very good movement to it.  I think he's still working on a changeup (I think) to combat lefties better, but he showed some progress even with that late last season.

Long-term, I think he could be a good setup man or possibly even a solid to good closer, since he has above-average stuff (better than Borowski's) and has the mindset to go right after hitters.  That's partly why he did so well in a relief role last year for the Indians, and is one of the main reasons why he will remain in the bullpen long-term (he was originally a starter prospect when he was drafted, but his FB velocity increased and his slider became much sharper out of the bullpen, thereby making the move to the bullpen in all likelihood permanent.)

A quick thought on Laffey - I agree with lenred - I think Laffey can be a solid back-end of the rotation guy (#4-#5,) possibly a #3 at his very best, similar to Jake Westbrook.  It's amazing to see a LHP get as many groundballs as he does, as most groundball pitchers are RHP.  I think he will get a good chance to stick as the #5 pitcher to begin the 2008 season - some might even say he is the favorite amongst himself, Lee, Sowers, and Miller (though Miller might be the favorite if not for his questionable health in 2007, so Miller could be a darkhorse wild card to be the #5 starter, but I suspect the Indians will be cautious with him and allow him to return to AAA, especially since they have three other decent to solid options to fill that #5 spot to start 2008.)

One C+ prospect who I think should be on the list you presented is OF Jordan Brown; in my opinion, he is probably one of the most underrated prospects in baseball, mostly because his tools don't stand out and wow you, but he gets the most out of his tools and skills - Baseball America named him as the prospect with the best tools in the Eastern League this past season.

He is originally a 1B, and I've heard reports he is above-average, though he could use some more work there, but being that Garko is blocking him at the moment and the Indians also have Head at AA, not to mention some other possibilities (Whitney if he returns from the Nationals as several think he will, Mills if he eventually moves to 1B, Weglarz if he can't stick in LF long-term, Chris Nash down at SS-A Mahoning Valley, etc.,) Brown has been splitting time between 1B and LF.  He still needs more repetitions in LF, but looks pretty solid out there.

He doesn't have the prototypical power you'd expect out of a 1B or LF (he might hit 20-25 HRs at most for a few seasons,) which is likely another reason why he gets overlooked and underranked, but he's won the Carolina League and Eastern League MVPs the last two seasons, not being that much older than league average, especially for a college draftee (out of the Univ. of Arizona.)

Brown has a very good batting eye (nearly a 1:1 BB/K career ratio, including a 63 BB/56 K ratio in 483 AA ABs in 2007) and can hit for average (career .307 BA, including .333 at AA in 2007.)  Because of his good batting eye, he doesn't swing at many bad pitches and can post high OBPs (.421 at AA in 2007; combined with a .484 SLG, it led to a .905 OPS at AA in 2007.)  

One of the reasons why many think he could hit 20-25 HRs in his prime is due to the fact he hits a lot of 2Bs (36 in 483 ABs at AA in 2007, along with 26 2Bs in 473 ABs at High-A in 2006.)  

While not extremely fast, he's a smart baserunner, stealing 11/13 bases in 2007; he might have stolen more bases if not for a bad knee he had for all of the second half, as he only attempted a few stolen bases in the second half of last season.  I believe his knee is reported to be 100% now, as I think he had surgery on it this past offseason if I remember correctly.

He'll begin 2008 at AAA Buffalo, playing both 1B and LF (mostly LF I suspect since I think 1B Ryan Mulhern is still in the Indians' organization, plus the fact Garko will very likely be the Indians' starting 1B in 2008); presuming he does well at AAA Buffalo in the first half, it's possible Brown could see time with the Indians in the second half of 2008, and especially if the Dellucci/Michaels platoon doesn't live up to expectations again in 2008.

I think Brown is one who should be a B- or a B, based on his production the last two seasons, plus the fact he's not all that old (just turned 24-YO in December.)

Nick Weglarz is another C+ prospect to keep an eye on - he hit .276 as a 19-YO in the SAL, has plus-plus power potential (hit 24-HRs in 2007 after breaking his hamate bone in 2006 and is projected to be as high as a 35-40 HR power threat in the future,) and drew 82 BBs in 439 ABs in the SAL, showing that he has an advanced eye and the discipline to work a walk at a young age.  He was talked about quite a bit in John's Top 20 Indians thread.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!