Cleveland Indians: Recapping the 2017 top prospect countdown

We take a look back at the players in the Cleveland Indians organization who made our list of the top prospects heading into the 2017 season.

The Cleveland Indians are nearly ready to play some meaningful baseball, and that holds true all throughout the organization.

The minor league teams in the system will feature some great talent, some of which could be seen in Cleveland in the near future.

Our own Matt Bretz recently went through and ranked his top 30 prospects, including those who just missed out on making the list. His list went as follows (with links to each piece):

1. Bradley Zimmer
2. Brady Aiken
3. Triston McKenzie
4. Francisco Mejia
5. Bobby Bradley
6. Nolan Jones
7. Yandy Diaz
8. Yu-Cheng Chang
9. Greg Allen
10. Will Benson
11. Juan Hillman
12. Mark Mathias
13. Tyler Krieger
14. Rob Kaminsky
15. Ryan Merritt
16. Adam Plutko
17. Erik Gonzalez
18. Nellie Rodriguez
19. Shane Bieber
20. Mike Papi
21. Julian Merryweather
22. Luke Wakamatsu
23. Ka’ai Tom
24. Shawn Morimando
25. Hoby Milner (Sent back to Phillies)
26. Willi Castro
27. Tim Cooney
28. Gabriel Mejia
29. Conner Capel
30. Logan Ice

This list is filled with some great talent, which is great for the Indians in more than one way. Not only is the future bright, but some of these players could be used in trades to bolster the major league roster. It was done last year to acquire Andrew Miller, and was almost done to get Jonathan Lucroy.

Fans may not want to see certain players leave, but it is part of the game. For now, fans can get excited about some players on this list who may make it to Cleveland in 2017. Bradley Zimmer and Yandy Diaz are early favorites, while a player like Erik Gonzalez may be needed at some point for some depth in the infield.

Next: Previewing the starting rotation

We will be doing a recap of this list later in the year, and hopefully some of these prospects will have turned into starters for the Indians.