Cleveland Indians 2011 Minor League Review

Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America:

2012 (29) | 2011 (7) | 2010 (3) | 2009 (7) | 2008 (19) | 2007 (10) | 2006 (9)

2011 Affiliate Records

MLB: [80-82] AL Central

AAA: [88-56] International League – Columbus

AA: [73-69] Eastern League – Akron

A+: [76-62] Carolina League – Kinston

A: [53-86] Midwest League – Lake County

A(ss): [41-34] New York-Penn League – Mahoning Valley

The Run Down

A lot has been made out of how horrendous the White Sox farm system is, how there’s a sizable gap between them at #30 and the systems ranked ahead of them.  And while I would by no means rank Cleveland’s system beneath that of the White Sox, I don’t necessarily think they’re too far apart.  And from a fantasy perspective, the Sox probably have more pieces who’re ready to contribute.  Certainly the Tribe’s woes in this regard can be attributed to their having graduated a nice crop of guys last year, as well as a few trades (Pomeranz to Colorado).  But the upper levels of the Cleveland farm system are almost entirely void of genuine big league talent.  For chrissakes, their top two prospects – Francisco Lindor & Dillon Howard – have only five games of pro ball experience between them.