Changes

I've recently switched over to Mozilla Firefox, and viewing my blog with it saw that the "table" setup looked awful. So over the weekend I cobbled together a table-free blog through a lot of trial and error. So far it looks pretty good in IE and Netscape, although it's optimized for Firefox.

The blog may change a bit over the next couple days (I'm trying to find the perfect font for my title), but the main part of the shift has been completed. During the changeover, I've added the Arizona Fall League and Florida Instructional League rosters. Most of the players you see on those two rosters are the teams' best prospects, and sometime in early November I'll try to start ranking the top 30 or so.

Enough about the blog itself; onto the Indians:

Corey Smith is finally moving to the outfield, according to player development director John Farell:

Two highly touted prospects, third baseman Corey Smith and second baseman Micah Schilling, haven't panned out as previously expected.

Smith has been an inconsistent hitter and has struggled mightily in the field -- so much so that Farrell has plans to move him to the outfield.

"The defensive aspect has not progressed where his overall talents show they can," Farrell said. "Sometimes his thought process gets in the way of executing. We're trying to take away the distraction of the defensive aspect, which may allow him to think more positively about his overall game."

For Smith, this gives him one last fresh start with the organization. Since being drafted in 2000, Smith simply hasn't performed to the level the organization thought he would. Compounding his struggles at the plate has been his horrendous defense at third base. Every scouting report I've seen raves at Smith's physical abilities, and hopefully a move to the outfield will allow him to relax. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Pat Osborn (when healthy) are better third base prospects in the organization, not to mention Matt Whitney, who's been out effectively two years after breaking his leg in March 2002. Smith is no longer on the prospect radar, although he's still young enough to make himself into a major-league outfielder.