Jared Goedert can see the writing on the wall.

After spending the past six seasons in the Indians’ farm system primarily as a third baseman, the 26-year-old Goedert transitioned to the outfield this past spring training. The move seemed to be a logical one.

With Jack Hannahan entrenched as the Indians everyday third baseman and Lonnie Chisenhall pegged as the team’s third baseman of the future, the move allowed Goedert to improve his versatility and potentially his prospect standing with the Indians. It’s also a move that Goedert relished.

“(I’m) extremely open to it. I haven’t played out there a lot, but I feel comfortable enough to play out there,” said Goedert, who played a combined five minor league games in the outfield prior to the 2012 season. “I know that it will not only be beneficial to whatever team I’m playing for, but for me as well hopefully. I welcome it.”

So far, the transition has been seamless. The No. 60 ranked Indians prospect by Indians Prospect Insider has played left field in 20 games and right field in 5 games at Class AA Akron while committing no errors. Also, because of his previous experience, Goedert is comfortable playing a number of different positions.

“Just because I have played more third base than anything else, [I’m probably most comfortable there], but honestly, I feel almost equally as comfortable at first, but like I said I feel comfortable enough to be in the outfield for game action,” said Goedert, who has played third base in five games and first base in one game this season.

Perhaps even more impressive than Goedert’s versatility is the way his bat has performed in the early going of the 2012 season. The former Kansas State Wildcat has compiled a .383/.468/592. line with a 1.060 OPS in 34 games at Akron. Goedert has also recorded five home runs with 17 RBI while showing good plate discipline (20 walks compared to 20 strikeouts). The numbers include a dominant Tuesday night performance this week, which saw Goedert go 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI.

Strong offensive numbers are nothing new for Goedert, though.

In 2010, while splitting time between Akron and Class AAA Columbus, Goedert compiled a .283/.358/.532 line with 27 home runs and 83 RBIs. Also, in 2011, while again playing at Akron and Columbus, Goedert had a .272/.350/.508 line with 18 home runs and 48 RBIs.

Something that is new to Goedert, however, is being back at Class AA. After a strong 2011 campaign in Columbus (.271/.346/.493 with 15 home runs and 39 RBIs), Goedert appeared poised to start the season at the Class AAA and position himself for a potential Major League call up down the road. However, the acquisitions of Russ Canzler and Andy LaRoche combined with the designations of Matt LaPorta and Chisenhall to Class AAA created an overabundance of infielders/outfielders, and Goedert was forced to begin the season in Akron.

Goedert’s confidence never swayed.

“If nothing else, in Triple A, it’s nice to know there’s not, in my opinion, that big of a jump between Double A and Triple A compared to maybe High A to Double A," Goedert said. "I know that being here now, but also just the nice thing about Columbus is you see how close the big leagues are. It’s right there and then knowing that there’s not that much of a difference between here and there. You’re still pretty close to the big leagues.

Ultimately, as is the case with every minor league player, Goedert said he hopes to make it back to Class AAA and then to the Major Leagues. Ideally, Goedert would catch on with the Indians as he fills a number of the team’s needs.

For one, he has power. Also, he can play the outfield. Thirdly, he has versatility. All three things are desirable traits for a Major League player, especially one for the current Indians.

Oh, one more thing. He hits right-handed. It’s not as if the Indians desperately lack right-handed hitting at the moment, right?

Yet, before Goedert can make it to Cleveland, he must first get back to Columbus, and he has a particular mindset of how to attain those goals.

“(Class AAA is) where you want to be and when you’re there, you want to be in Cleveland," Goedert said.  "I have to go out and play and do well and those sort of things are usually out of someone’s hands, so I’m gonna go try to focus on what I can do on the field."

If his early season numbers are any indication, Goedert could be well on his way.

Follow Tony and Minor Happenings on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his new book the 2012 Cleveland Indians Prospect Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Former Indians third baseman Casey Blake recently retired. He leaves after a 13-year career where he played in 1265 games and hit .264 with 167 homers, 616 RBI, and .778 OPS in his career. Not too bad for a minor league castoff that played in three different organizations before signing with the Indians prior to the 2003 signing on a minor league deal.

Given a chance to play every day with the Indians in 2003, Blake became a core piece to the team from 2004-2008 when they competed for the AL Central crown on a yearly basis and in two seasons were serious World Series contenders. In six years with the Indians he hit .266 with 116 homers, 417 RBI and .787 OPS in 810 games, production that was often maligned because of a poor 2005 season where he was awful hitting with runners in scoring position (.171 AVG, .491 OPS).

For what the Indians paid Blake and how he performed over his entire career, he was a solid piece to those teams from 2003-2008 and was a very under-rated Indian. Even for those that may disagree on his true value to the team during that period, one thing is certain, and that is every time Carlos Santana steps onto the field all Indians fans are happy that Blake was once an Indian.

The reason being is back in July of 2008 the Indians traded Blake to the Dodgers for Santana, who was a little known catcher in High-A at the time. Since then Santana became one of the best prospects in baseball, and is now an integral piece to the Indians future and arguably the face of the franchise the next several years.

So thanks for the memories Blake, congrats on carving out a solid career, and oh yeah, thanks for Santana too.

Roster shakeup

Prior to the game on Saturday the Indians scratched right-hander Josh Tomlin from his scheduled start. An MRI on Saturday revealed that he has inflammation of the soft tissue in his wrist, so he was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 8th. He will be eligible to come off on May 23rd, so he will miss two more starts.

With Tomlin sidelined, the Indians called up right-hander Zach McAllister to make the start on Friday and he pitched a solid game going 7.0 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, but did not walk anyone and had 8 strikeouts. He is expected to stay up with the team and assume Tomlin's spot in the rotation which he is out.

The Indians also made a change to their bench as infielder Jason Donald was optioned to Triple-A Columbus and infielder Jose Lopez was called up from Columbus. Lopez had been designated for assignment back on May 1st when Johnny Damon was added to the roster and then he was outrighted to Columbus, so he was not on the 40-man roster.

With the purchase of his contract the Indians had to remove a player off the 40-man roster to make room for the addition of Lopez, so the Indians designed Double-A Akron outfielder Nick Weglarz for assignment. The Indians have ten days to trade, release or outright him to the minors. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he will have no choice but to accept an outright assignment to the minors by the Indians and would still be their property for the rest of the season.

The Indians made one more move on Sunday when they designated right-hander Dan Wheeler for assignment and purchased the contract of right-hander Jeremy Accardo from Triple-A Columbus.

Follow Tony and Minor Happenings on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his new book the 2012 Cleveland Indians Prospect Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Indians first baseman Casey Kotchman has played a little better of late, but his numbers are still nowhere close to respectable for an everyday player. He is a very sound defender and has saved the Indians many runs with his defense at first base, but he has just as easily cost the Indians several runs with the poor production in his bat.

Unfortunately, the Indians are probably not going to be able to “fix” the problem at first base with a trade until closer to the July 31^st deadline. Hopefully by then Kotchman is playing better, or an internal option fills in and does a good job.

At the moment the Indians internal options are Matt LaPorta and Russ Canzler who are both playing at Triple-A Columbus. Shelley Duncan would appear to be an option as well, but he has already proved he is not an everyday player and he is a below average defender at first base, so the Indians are not inclined to use him there unless in an emergency.

LaPorta got off to a hot start in Columbus but he has cooled considerably this month and he has not been able to hit anywhere outside of Huntington Park. He is still not ready to return to Cleveland. Canzler is a human windmill in Columbus where he is striking out basically once every three times he steps up to the plate, and he is proving to be the journeyman four-A player a lot of people thought he was prior to his big season last year for Triple-A Durham.

So what other options do the Indians have internally at first base?

What about third baseman Jack Hannahan? Once Lonnie Chisenhall is ready to come up, the Indians may explore playing Hannahan at first base in order to keep his bat in the lineup and also to get Chisenhall’s promising bat in the lineup as well. The Indians would lose some defense with Chisenhall at third base, but would gain much more offensive firepower with him in the lineup rather than Kotchman. Plus, Hannahan should be able to handle first base almost as well as Kotchman, a position he does have some limited experience at in the past with 69 career games there between minors and big leagues.

Another off the wall idea would be to put Sizemore at first base. Now, this would not be an option for this season as he would need a full offseason and spring training to adapt to the position since he has never played it, but it may be a position the Indians or a team that signs him next season considers playing him at. It would keep him healthier by removing him from all the rigors and pounding his legs and body take patrolling the outfield and also take his poor arm out of the equation.

If Sizemore can still hit, then why not try it?  Like I said, it is a wild and crazy idea.

Follow Tony and Minor Happenings on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his new book the 2012 Cleveland Indians Prospect Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore is nearing a return to the team. On Tuesday he worked out at Progressive Field and did some running and agility drills on the field, and then threw some long toss. It is the next step in his gradual progression in the recovery from a procedure to repair a herniated disk in his back on March 1st.

Sizemore, 29, has also been hitting balls off a tee and is expected to progress to soft toss and live batting practice this week when the team returns home on Wednesday. With each step in his rehab process he moves a little closer to a return to the lineup, though there is still a long way to go.

Right now the target for Sizemore’s return is mid-June. Since he is on the 60-day disabled list, the earliest he can be activated is June 3^rd, but it would appear to be too optimistic that he would be ready by that date. Once he is cleared to play he will need to go on a minor league rehab assignment and the Indians will probably give him close to the full 20 days allowed to make sure he is 100% and ready to go not only physically, but with his bat as well.

Assuming all continues to go well with Sizemore’s rehab and he does not have any hiccups he would help bolster a lineup in desperate need of a punch. If he is able to return it will be interesting to see what the Indians do with the recently signed Johnny Damon, though at the moment Damon is making that decision easy with his poor play.

But if Damon’s play picks up between now and mid-June and Sizemore is healthy and ready to return, I could very well see a situation where both are on the team. Sizemore can no longer play every day and will need his workload monitored, and Damon is not an everyday player going forward either.

I could see Sizemore sharing center field duties with Michael Brantley and also seeing some time in left field, Damon playing left field and some time at designated hitter, and Brantley playing all three outfield positions as a super fourth outfielder (which means Aaron Cunningham would be gonzo).  With such a rotation, Brantley could play five to six days a week, Sizemore four to six days a week, and Damon four to five days a week.

Follow Tony and Minor Happenings on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his new book the 2012 Cleveland Indians Prospect Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.