Dave Gershman still sees Nick Weglarz as one of the Indians' top prospects despite his injuries and setbacks. (Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE)

Dave Gershman, my esteemed colleague over at Beyond the Box Score, has been working on top prospect lists for each MLB team. Last week, he unveiled his picks for the most promising youngsters in the Cleveland Indians organization.

Rather than offer a straight numerical ranking of each team’s prospects, Gershman identified his top 12 picks from each organization, then split them up into four categories based on how he projects their careers to pan out.

Players in the first tier are those who Gershman sees as “Major League Star(s)” or “Number One Starter(s).” Only one Indians prospect made this group, and his identity shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: (more…)

There is some hope for the Tribe’s future in the top three prospects in the farm system—Francisco Lindor, LeVon Washington and Dillon Howard—and pitching is routinely considered a strength for the Tribe.

But looking at the organization’s young bats—this is where things get a little shaky. (more…)

That’s where we come in. Here’s a list of seven players we might see in a Tribe uniform at some point this season.

Chun-Hsiu Chen. Probably the player with the most offensive upside at Triple-A Columbus, Chen could finally do what so many Indians fans have been trying to: force Lou Marson out of town. I’m a fan of Marson despite his light hitting ways, but Chen has enough power potential to warrant a chunk of playing time at the major league level.

With Matt LaPorta continually struggling in Cleveland, Carlos Santana taking away more and more of his playing time is a realistic possibility, which would make Marson a regular in the lineup. But is Marson really an upgrade over LaPorta? Chen could be, though it has yet to be seen if Chen could succeed at the top level (he has strikeout issues and only one spectacular season in the minors). (more…)