Carlos Carrasco has it all figured out

Happy Thursday, LGT. It's fairly quiet around the baseball world, but here's what's going on:

Indians news & notes

The last key for Carrasco | Fangraphs - Carlos Carrasco's 2014 started as a raging dumpster fire. He was soo relegated to the bullpen and many, including myself, thought he was finished. But then something clicked. That something turned him into arguably the best starter in MLB over the second half of the season. A simple mechanical fix leaves Cookie looking like a legit #2 heading into 2015.

Allen a well-rounded bullpen weapon | Indians.com - Tito doesn't like to use the word "closer" when talking about Cody Allen, but given our history of post-Wickman closers, maybe that's a good thing. Allen is versatile enough to be trusted in any high-leverage situation, and both Cody and his manager prefer it that way.

Swisher is ready to bounce back | Indians Baseball Insider - The story of Nick Swisher and his decline is well known around these parts, and projections for his 2015 season don't show signs of a return to form. But IBI's Corey Crisan takes issue with these projections. He thinks Swisher is being undervalued, and has a shot at getting close to the form he was in during his last year as a Yankee.

Is Kipnis really that bad at defense? | Burning River Baseball - Before the advent of modern defensive metrics, Jason Kipnis would have been considered a fantastic defensive 2B based on fielding percentage. But even with new ways to evaluate glovework, things can get tricky. The eye test gives Kipnis more credit than some advanced metrics, so what can we trust? And if the shift is banned, will Kip be hooped?

Lindor ranks 2nd among SS prospects | MLBpipeline.com - In a strong list of the ten best shortstop prospects, our own Francisco Lindor comes in at #2 according Jonathan Mayo.

Urshela on track for spring training | Cleveland.com - Just days after Giovanni Urshela received the prestigious honor of being named LGT's #4 prospect, we've got news that he's nearing readiness for spring training. The third base hopeful has been taking grounders, but hasn't been cleared for batting yet.

Tidbits from around MLB

• Ken Rosenthal sat down for a one-on-one with the new commish, so here's the transcript
• CBS' Jon Heyman discusses his offseason winners, with the White Sox topping the list
• Anthony Castrovince is tired of discussing the best offseason moves; he's so hip, he's discussing offseason moves you've probably never even heard of
• Fangraphs on Fox wonders if it's possible to have shorter games but also more runs in MLB