Cleveland Indians: Brady Aiken working back from Tommy John

The Cleveland Indians’ Brady Aiken continues to work back from Tommy John surgery, and he’s another cog in the wheel of pitching that continues to roll for the Tribe.

The Cleveland Indians didn’t feel they were “taking a chance” when they drafted Brady Aiken in last year’s draft.  After being the top pick the prior year by the Houston Astros, the two teams were unable to come to terms as the Astros had concerns about the health of Aiken’s arm. With a great medical staff behind them, the Indians believed they were a perfect place for Aiken to return, and that road began last week in Arizona.

The questions surrounding Aiken by the Astros turned out to be valid, after deciding to remain unsigned and take his chances in the draft the following season he tore his UCL several months later. If it was strictly a decision based on money, many believe Aiken lost out. But in reality, that’s not the case at all.

After finding concern following Aiken’s physical, the Astros made the decision to drop the offer significantly–from $6.5 million to $3.1 million. Aiken signed for around $2.5 million, estimating his “loss” at around $600K. Now Aiken finds himself in an organization that has shown a propensity to develop top pitching, and he entered while being somewhat ahead of the curve as it was. Even after failing to reach terms with Aiken, Astros GM Jeff Lunhow:

"“[He’s] the most advanced high school pitcher I’ve ever seen in my entire career,” Luhnow told ESPN.com. “He has command like I’ve never seen before of his stuff.”"

The road back will be a slow one as the Indians won’t press him too hard this spring. But before the 2016 season is complete, Aiken should be at full-strength. At just 19 years old, there is no hurry to move him through the system. With a history of success with guys coming off arm surgery, the Indians will proceed cautiously as they essentially got a No. 1 pick in the middle of the draft.

With Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco AND Trevor Bauer under team control through 2020, there’s a legitimate chance Aiken could join that staff before they have moved on from Cleveland if things work out as we all hope.

The decision not to trade any starting pitching was not an easy decision by any means. If the Tribe wanted the most value in return, that’s what it was going to take. But they stayed firm on their “demands”, and didn’t buckle in discussions. Most teams have realized how high of a price they will have to pay and have stopped calling the batphone in Cleveland.

With pitchers like Aiken and Rob Kaminsky who the Indians scored from the Cardinals in a trade for Brandon Moss last season, there is solid potential on the horizon for the Tribe and their pitching staff. If a need for hitters remains over the next few years (isn’t there always?) they may have other pieces to move for a bat if needed.

Next: Tribe finish arbitration signings

When you look over to Chicago and see what the Cubs did drafting and stockpiling hitters, you see the Indians are using a similar concept–just the other way around. Even with a “need” for offense, the Indians used the Moss trade to snag the Cardinals top pitching prospect, much in the same way the Cubs acquired Addison Russell from the Athletics when they had their “shortstop of the future” in Starlin Castro. It’s a smart play by the front office, but now they need to follow through with the trickle down pieces of the plan to make it work.