A look back at the 2014 Columbus Clippers (Indians AAA Affiliate)

AAA is a weird place in the minors, as it serves as both the penultimate stop in a prospect's journey to the majors, and also the landing spot for older players who wash out of the majors. Because AAA is primary source of major-league depth, the AAA roster turns over often, with fans of the Clippers needing a scorecard to determine who they were rooting for.

Hitting

It's rare that a AAA club has this many major-league prospects, and most of Columbus' prospects were position players. On some nights in the middle of the season the Clippers had seven or even eight legitimate major-league prospects in the lineup. But Francisco Lindor was the headliner, as he made his AAA debut as a 20-year-old. Giovanny Urshela spent most of his breakout 2014 with the Clippers, and both James Ramsey and Zach Walters were added to the mix in late July after they came to the organization via trade.

Pitching

At times the Cleveland and Columbus rotation was indistinguishable. Five Clippers who made starts also spent time in the Cleveland rotation. Tyler Cloyd was the one pitcher who remained in the rotation the entire season, though his upside is pretty much what we saw in 2014. Travis Banwart parlayed a successful first half into a nice contract in Korea.

Mid-season Prospects That Matter: LHP TJ House, C Roberto Perez, RHP CC Lee, LHP Kyle Crockett, 1B Jesus Aguilar, 3B Giovanny Urshela, SS Francisco Lindor, CF Tyler Holt, 2B Jose Ramirez, RHP Bryan Price, CF James Ramsey, IF Zach Walters

Prospects of Interest: RF Carlos Moncrief, RHP Austin Adams

Rule 5 Eligibles: 3B Giovanny Urshela, C Chris Wallace, RHP Toru Murata, RHP Tyler Sturdevant

From this group, only Urshela will be added to the roster. Usually most of the Rule 5 eligibles in an organization at least appeared briefly in AAA, but this season the Indians' AAA prospects were either on the 40-man roster or hadn't yet spent the requisite 4 (or 5) seasons in professional baseball.

Minor-league Free Agents: IF Ryan Rohlinger, OF Tim Fedroff, UT Elliot Johnson, OF Matt Carson, 1B David Cooper, IF Adam Abraham, C Dusty Brown, 1B Bryan LaHair, DH Russell Branyan, RHP Tyler Cloyd, RHP Kyle Davies, RHP Gabriel Arias, RHP Mark Lowe, RHP JC Ramirez, RHP Shaun Marcum