Impact Rookies: Cleveland Indians

Written by Andrew Kneeland | 25 March 2010

By unloading their major-league team of established stars, the Cleveland Indians have netted quite a few elite prospects.

With one of the best farm systems in the league and a major-league roster almost completely bereft of talent, plenty of prospects should see playing time in 2010. Here are four the Twins should keep their eyes on:

Carlos Santana, C, 23 years old

Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic, Carlos Santana is one of the best hitters in the minor leagues. Spending 2009 in Double-A Akron, Santana hit .290/.413/.530 with 23 home runs and 30 doubles. Santana also displayed great patience by drawing 90 walks, compared to his 83 strikeouts.

Lou Marson has the catcher job locked up for 2010, but Santana is storming through the system and could make his major-league debut this season. Santana still needs refinement on some of areas of catching, but all reports indicate that he will be able to hold his own defensively.

Baseball Prospectus ranked Santana as the 8th best prospect in baseball. If he wasn’t a catcher, Santana would still probably be among the “elite” prospects. The Indians are clearly in a good situation with their abundance of young catchers, as both Santana and the player below will battle for playing time in 2011.

Lou Marson, C, 23 years old

Lou Marson was a 4th round pick of Philadelphia’s in 2004, and was part of the trade that sent Cliff Lee to the Phillies. Marson was a top prospect with the Phillies, and was largely designated as the catcher of the future.

Defensively, Marson is very good. He is very athletic, and will perform just fine for the Indians in 2010. When in the batter’s box, though, things get a little muggier. Marson’s greatest offensive asset is his ability to get on base, though he has virtually no power.

Marson has great patience at the plate, though, and is very capable of drawing a walk. He can hit singles with the best of ‘em.

Hector Rondon, RHP, 22 years old

Rondon was signed out of Venezuela by the Indians, and has been a starting pitcher ever since. Posting a career ERA of 3.92, there is clearly upside in this young right-hander’s arm. He will likely start the 2010 season with Triple-A Columbus, but could contribute to the Indian’s bullpen at some point.

Rondon strikes out quite a few batters per nine innings. In 2009, his K/9IP was 8.4, which would rival many relief pitchers. Rondon has thrown a ton of innings in his four years of professional ball, though, and is a prime candidate for a drop-off year.

Carlos Carrasco, RHP, 23 years old

In the wide-open Indian’s starting rotation, Carrasco will compete for one of the back-end jobs in 2010. Carrasco was also brought over in the Cliff Lee trade, and was originally signed out of Venezuela in 2003.

Carrasco was awful in the majors last year, but still shows some promise with several good pitches. Like Rondon, Carrasco is also a strikeout pitcher, but has a ton of innings under his belt for someone of his age. 2010 will be his age-23 season, but he already has six seasons of professional baseball to his name.

If he finds himself in Cleveland’s rotation, Carrasco will need to work on his performance in pressure situations. With a potent Twins’ lineup, Carrasco could create more problems than he is able to solve.