Part one of this series can be viewed here.

AAA Reinforcements

Indians beat writer Anthony Castrovince recently announced that Adam Miller, the much hyped (and injured) Indians top-prospect, is not only once again registering as high as 97 MPH on the Jugs speed guns, but will be officially moving to the bullpen to end Arizona Fall League. This has major implications for the Indians and the 2009 bullpen.

Should Adam Miller actually stay healthy as his workload lightens, and he gets to “let it fly” in the bullpen two to three times a week rather than having to pace himself in the rotation, the Indians may have a dynamite piece to the puzzle. He has a nasty two-seamer/slider mix that would fit right in late in games.

He undoubtedly will start in AAA Columbus, who as we will soon see will have quite a depth of quality bullpen arms, but depending on health Miller, he will be a part of the Indians bullpen at some point during 2009 as he gains the confidence of the coaching staff. Who knows, maybe Miller is the Indians closer by 2010.

There also other excellent options that all may develop into closing options later in their careers from this likely initial AAA roster. Jon Meloan, Jeff Stevens, and Tony Sipp all have prior closing experience, or project to have the tools to become a closer-type. These are real viable options that the Indians did not have ready to go a year ago when the injuries and problems in the bullpen hampered the team.

Jon Meloan is an interesting case of a pitcher who the Dodgers successfully propelled into one of the elite reliever prospects in the game before deciding to curb his career into a starting role. That failed, and Meloan was sold low to the Indians.

If he can hold down high walk rates, he will find a home in the Indians bullpen and utilize an excellent strikeout rate to be a high ceiling reliever. If not, he will still be on the roster sporadically, and will be on a bus down I-71 and back just as Eddie Mujica has been to Buffalo the past few years.

Though, having Meloan doing that is step up in my opinion from Mujica being that guy.

Of less risk is the “bag of balls” from the Brandon Phillips deal, Jeff Stevens. Stevens has gone from a no name prospect to highly touted bullpen option in only a couple of seasons. He has a tremendous 11.6 K/9 the last two seasons and is typically a groundball pitcher with 46 percent

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