Clevelinks, February 19: Terry Francona Texts Michael Jordan

Here are Monday’s Indians highlights:

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Indians News

• Terry Francona still hasn’t sorted out how the 2013 lineup will look after leadoff hitter Michael Bourn, but apparently Asdrubal Cabrera is in the mix to hit second.
• Francona also texted his former player Michael Jordan to wish him a happy birthday. (It was a slow news day.)

Wahoo’s on First Highlights

• Geordy kicked off his 2013 top prospects list with his five honorable mentions.
• Brian looked at the potential fantasy impact of Jason Kipnis.

Tribe Analysis

• Indians Baseball Insider’s Jim Pete kicks off the ambitious project of ranking the best pitchers in Cleveland franchise history.
• Chris Gehring at Believing Since 1999 looks at the Indians’ many organizational options at shortstop.
• Stephanie Liscio from It’s Pronounced “Lajaway” explores one of Progressive Field’s most underappreciated features: its renewable energy generators.

Shameless Self-Promotion

• Voting ends this week for the 2013 SABR Analytics Research awards yesterday at SABR.org, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, and The Hardball Times. I am among the nominees in the “Contemporary Baseball Commentary” category (the second one on the ballot) for an article I wrote entitled “Did Hall of Fame’s Founders Want Voters to Judge With Their Eyes?”. If you like my work I would appreciate your support; either way, please take a few minutes to read and support some of the best baseball writing around.

Top Prospect Crowdsourcing

• Voting is also underway in our 2013 Cleveland Indians top prospects crowdsourcing project. Please take a few minutes to help us pick the most promising young players in the organization!