Guardians of the Future

Justin Lada and Willie Hood finish talking about IBI's new Cleveland Indians top prospect rankings #30-#1 from Angel Martinez, Cody Morris, Petey Halpin, Tyler Freeman, Daniel Espino and more.

Justin Lada and Willie Hood give their insights into new bullpen call-up Kyle Nelson, the Tribe's newest prospects Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo and Owen Miller. They also get into the freshly updated IBI top prospect rankings from 54-30 with a part II coming soon 29-1.

Justin Lada and John Fanta discuss Cleveland's trade deadline deal to trade Mike Clevinger to the Padres for six players and break it all down. Padres wrapup show host Jim Russell of 1360 Fox Sports San Diego joins us to talk about Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo, and Owen Miller.

Lake County Captains broadcaster Andrew Luftglass joins Justin Lada and John Fanta to talk about Triston McKenzie's time in Lake County in 2016 and some time at the Tribe's Alternate Training site as well some other great insight and notes on the Cleveland Indians pitching development and the arms that have come through Lake County over the last four seasons.

Justin Lada and John Fanta discuss the Cleveland Indians dominance over the Detroit Tigers, the six game winning streak, how ridiculously good Shane Bieber continues to be and how he's kept getting better every year since college. They also touch on how big the series with the Minnesota Twins will be next week and if we could see a resolution to the Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac situation soon.

Justin Lada, John Fanta and Willie Hood discuss Zach Plesac's ill-advised Instagram bashing of the media, the situation in the Indians clubhouse because of Plesac and Mike Clevinger's decisions, the anemic offense and how critical the next week might be for the team.

Justin Lada and Willie Hood talk about the Tribe's pitching staff, the evolution of Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac, Mike Clevinger's inconsistencies, the 2.6 runs a game the team was averaging through 12 games and the surprisingly good bullpen.

On this episode of Smoke Signals, Justin Lada and Willie Hood are joined by Matt Trueblood from Baseball Prospectus, Penning Bull, and Twins Daily to get a rundown on the Tribe's biggest competition in the Al Central and how they're prepared for the 60 game sprint. Justin and Willie also discuss the Tribe's rotation, bullpen and the battle for the final infield and outfield spots. Follow Matt on T...

Justin Lada and IBI's Tribe beat reporter John Fanta go over the latest developments in Summer Camp, if Yu Chang's hot streak matters, and the outfield situation.

Veteran sports PR pro Adam Liberman, most recently with the Akron RubberDucks, joins Justin Lada to talk about the minor league season being cancelled and the impact that will have. Adam also shares his experience and stories from his time working with the Atlanta Braves as well as Akron. We also touch on team name changes, what it's like to work in sports and a lot more.

Justin Lada is joined by John Fanta to talk about his role with IBI covering the Tribe the vibe around the team at the start of Summer Camp, some pitching strategy, the news about changing the team name and the 2020 MLB schedule

Justin Lada and Willie Hood look at the roster rules and stipulations for baseball in a pandemic in 2020, how the Indians put together their roster and how they'll utilize it.

Justin Lada and Willie Hood discuss the details of MLB's 2020 season that is going to happen during the pandemic, what players might be on the taxi squad and details about the Indians undrafted free agents

Sleep-deprived Justin Lada and Willie Hood recap the Indians 2020 draft class and throw out some names the Indians could sign as UDFA on Sunday

Justin Lada and Willie Hood quickly debate the MLB owners non-offer to have a 2020 baseball season and then turn their attention to the draft. We go deep on players mocked to the Indians and other names to know, breaking all of them down.

Justin Lada and Willie Hood discuss the fight between MLB and the MLBPA on having a 2020 season, players the Tribe cut recently and bringing the draft into focus.

Willie Hood and Justin Lada talk about news and notes about the upcoming MLB draft, how the Indians are affected by the new 'rules' and some other Indians draft strategy and targets.

Justin Lada and Willie Hood debate the latest proposal from the MLB to the MLBPA for a potential 2020 season and who's benefits would be sacrificed? We also give our 15 Indians players we would protect in a hypothetical expansion draft in a recent series done by MLB Trade Rumors

Justin Lada and Willie Hood recap IBIs picks in the Prospects Live mock draft from May 1 and share their disappointment in the MLB cutting the draft to five rounds.

Justin Lada and Willie Hood discuss the rumored new plan for the 2020 MLB season, Fransisco Lindor reportedly not wanting to talk contract extension, the hypocrisy of Emmanuel Clase's suspension compared to the Astros punishment and some news about new IBI features and content

Justin Lada and former WKNR Indians reporter Chris Coon continue the look back at the early 2000s Cleveland indians. Part II focuses on 2006-2009 and then some extras.

On this edition of Smoke Signals Justin Lada is joined by Chris Coon, former WKNR Indians reporter to talk about the Cleveland Indians of the early and mid-2000s from 2002-2008 and then some. In Part I of this two part podcast Justin and Chris talk about the 2002-2005 Indians, how the teams were built and what went wrong with those teams. Look for Part II (2006-2008) early next week.

IBIs Justin Lada and Willie Hood discuss the affects of the Indians sending Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and James Karinchak to AAA and MLBs Arizona/Florida plan and all its flaws.

On a special episode of the Smoke Signals Podcast, Justin Lada of Indians Baseball Insider is joined by Tim Shirer of the Lake County Sentinel to dive in to how the Lake County Captains won the 2010 Midwest League title with a roster of names that you may or may not remember and a pretty famous coaching staff. Well remind you of names you may have forgotten and give you some behind the scenes stor...

Justin Lada and Willie Hood discuss the impact of the changes to the MLB draft that were agreed on by the MLB and MLBPA. They also rant about how the MLB is using the virus to potentially eliminate minor league teams as well as the negative impact it will have on college and high school players, minor leaguers and teams.