Cleveland Indians Roundup: Michael Brantley Could Return for Opening Day; Time to Permanently Expand Rosters; KATOH Top-100 Prospects

KATOH’s new top-100 prospect list includes four Cleveland Indians

News broke yesterday that Michael Brantley considered Opening Day as his “target date” to return from his shoulder surgery; and as Nicholas D. Blazek commented, this only added more to the heap of confusion surrounding the outfield. First, we thought that Brantley would be back in May, then June, but now Opening Day? Surely this statement must’ve had some value considering it is straight from the horse’s mouth?

Perhaps what we should take away from this, as noted in the post, is that the Cleveland Indians really need Brantley for their lineup. The offense was not looking too great before losing one of its best hitters, and it most certainly has not improved over the off-season. Frankly, replacing any, at-bats of a platoon between Collin Cowgill and Abraham Almonte will be a sizable improvement for a team with playoff dreams.

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On a different note, Jeff Mount writes that expanded rosters would benefit baseball by making games more entertaining. He notes that fewer pitchers are throwing complete games than they were just 30 years ago, but the roster size has remained constant. With many teams employing deep bullpens, there are few bench players for managers to substitute late in the game. Once one accounts for the backup catcher and who can truly play the needed position, most managers only have one option to make a substitution. Expanding the roster, so argues Jeff, would introduce a little more strategy.

Finally, Chris Mitchell of FanGraphs updates his KATOH Top-100 list with a better algorithm. KATOH is a prospect evaluation system that projects a player’s wins above replacement through his age-28 season (or for the next six years if a player is 23 or older). While this system is certainly less than perfect, it is yet another way to analyze young players and team futures. Four Indians make the list, with shortstop Willi Castro leading the way at number 82, and Francisco Mejia (87), Bobby Bradley (91), and Bradley Zimmer (92) following suit.

Although the lack of Clint Frazier, the inclusion of Willi Castro, and the pessimism of the list may cause some to ignore its results, it is important to remember that the only things included in the calculations are minor league statistics. KATOH cannot see a player’s batting stance, swing speed, or fielding abilities. This system is simply a different way to look at players, and perhaps it will find some diamonds in the rough that the typical fan would ignore for physical blemishes.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians: Could Michael Brantley Be Ready for Opening Day? – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians: Expanded Rosters Would Benefit the Game – Wahoo’s on First

KATOH’s Top-100 List: Now Incorporating Multiple Years – FanGraphs

‘Time for Bauer to focus on baseball, not Twitter’ – Wahoo’s on First