International League preview
Tribe prospectors strike gold in Columbus
The billboards say "It's a Baseball State of Mind" with the New York Mets now in town but Buffalo fans are going to miss out on one of the better Triple-A teams the Cleveland Indians have featured in recent years.
The Bisons went to the playoffs nine times between 1995 and 2008 and Cleveland's top prospects appear to be a good bet to be a favorite for the International League's Governors' Cup in the Tribe's first season as the parent of the Columbus Clippers.
Manager Torey Lovullo, the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer, and pitching coach Scott Radinsky have both moved from Buffalo to keep their same jobs in Columbus. They'll be joined by ex-Bisons such as pitchers Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers, infielders Jordan Brown and Michael Aubrey, outfielder Trevor Crowe and catcher Chris Gimenez. So it should be like old home days when the Clippers come to Buffalo for a reunion series May 21-24 and meet again in Columbus' new Huntington Park on Aug. 6-9.
What makes the Clippers a potentially special team in the first season at Columbus' 10,000-seat downtown ballpark is a bevy of Cleveland prospects.
Outfielders Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley were acquired from Milwaukee for CC Sabathia. Catcher Carlos Santana, who will start at Double-A Akron but could move up quickly, came from the Dodgers for Casey Blake. And the next big homegrown talent is third baseman Wes Hodges (18 HRs, 97 RBIs last year at Akron).
Lovullo has a veteran reliever in Matt Herges, who pitched in the World Series for the 2007 Rockies, as well as plenty of motivation. He won championships at both Class A Kinston and Akron and was very unhappy to not make the playoffs three years running in Buffalo.
The Clippers, defending champion Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Pawtucket look strong on paper. Here's a glance at the IL:
THE NORTH
Scranton has the best rotation, featuring Yankees phenoms Phil Hughes, Alan Horne and Ian Kennedy and $46 million Japanese flop Kei Igawa, who was solid last year in Triple-A (14-6, 3.45 ERA). ... Pawtucket returns IL MVP Jeff Bailey (.301-25-75) and ex-Bison Jonathan Van Every to its outfield and knuckleballer Charlie Zink to the rotation. He was the IL's Pitcher of the Year in 2008 (14-6). ... The big story in Rochester is that the Red Wings will be the subject of seasonlong filming of a PBS reality series called "Minor League" that will debut in early 2010. Look for plenty of conversations from inside manager Stan Cliburn's office. ... Lehigh Valley's roster will feature C Lou Marson, a top Phillies prospect and U.S. Olympian, as well as defending PCL batting champion Terry Tiffee, who hit .378 at Las Vegas and is a noted Bison killer from his days in Rochester. ... After failing to land the Mets, Syracuse settled for Washington as a parent. The Chiefs' lineup features 1B Brad Eldred, who led the league with 35 homers and 100 RBIs last year at Charlotte.
AROUND THE IL
• Three mega prospects to watch in the South are Norfolk catcher Matt Wieters (Baltimore), Durham pitcher David Price (Tampa Bay) and Gwinnett pitcher Tommy Hanson (Atlanta). Wieters is baseball's No. 1 prospect, Price is the lefty who got the final out of last year's ALCS and Hanson is the next great Braves starter.
• Best prospect in the West is Indianapolis outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who should be in Pittsburgh soon.
• The Richmond Braves have moved to Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta and a new 10,400-seat ballpark was built in less than a year just 37 miles from Turner Field (the Bisons visit June 23-26).
• Former Yankees ALCS hero Chris Chambliss takes over as manager at Charlotte. ... Pawtucket meets Syracuse on June 14 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown and Norfolk on Aug. 8 in Fenway Park.
• The IL champion once again plays the PCL winner in the Bricktown Showdown in Oklahoma City on Sept. 22.
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