Gerut, Claussen the centerpieces of youth in Ohio - MLB - CBSSports.com Live Scores, Stats, Schedules

Miller's camping trip

Drove to see the Cincinnati Reds in Sarasota, Fla.

Drove to see the Cleveland Indians in Winter Haven, Fla.

Haven't driven through Ohio since August, and my memory is hazy. So help me out here: Is everybody in the entire state as young as the fresh-faced, peach-fuzzed, wide-eyed kids wearing Reds and Indians uniforms?

Chances are, you have tires older than most of these guys.


Former Yankees top prospect Brandon Claussen now is a key to the Reds.(Getty Images)

Other than old fogies Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin in Cincinnati, Omar Vizquel in Cleveland and perhaps a couple of random others too wrinkled to notice, the MTV generation is alive, well and thriving. And much of it appears headed for Ohio, directly to the clubhouses in Cincinnati and Cleveland.

From north to south, the only construction more visible than that on Interstate 75 throughout Ohio is the jack-hammering in the state's two major-league clubhouses.

It's too early, of course, to know whether either Ohio team ultimately will be successful in building another winner.

Certainly, the Indians appear to be in the right place at the right time in baseball's weakest division, the A.L. Central. The Reds are in embarrassing financial straits despite opening a new ballpark last year, and their pitching cupboard isn't exactly overstocked. But there is this one particular fellow. ...

In fact, as they pour the concrete and order the lumber, you could do a lot worse than using these two kids as cornerstones:

Brandon Claussen, Reds

No pressure here or anything, but within days after acquiring him from the Yankees in the Aaron Boone trade last July, the Reds purchased a full-page advertisement in the Cincinnati Enquirer to explain their team-whacking strategy to angry fans, and within the ad was a mention of several young players upon whom the club will build around.

Including Claussen, the left-hander who was the No. 1-rated pitching prospect in the Yankees' organization (Baseball America) and who had thrown a grand-total of 6 1/3 major-league innings upon his arrival.

Claussen said he was unaware of the advertisement at the time. Still, moving from where he was to where he is, it's hard not to hear some of the Savior talk.

"I try and worry about my job," said Claussen, 24, who has a chance to win a job in Cincinnati's rotation this spring. "I don't feel any pressure from that at all. You can only go out and do your job. Some days are going to be good, and some days are going to be bad.

"In baseball, you're never going to have all good days -- you're going to have some bad. It's what makes the story good. Anything in life, if you get it easy, it's not as good.

"I'm very young and I have a lot to learn. And you can learn by failure, also."

Claussen, a cautious and thoughtful 24-year-old, was born in Rapid City, S.D., and raised in Roswell, N.M. -- the nation's hotspot for UFO sightings.

No, Claussen said, he didn't spend much time looking for UFOs.

"Can't say I did," he said. "I never was keeping my eye out for 'em."

Which is probably a good thing, anyway, because UFOs can be a pitcher's worst nightmare.

"You want to keep the ball down, man," Claussen said, chuckling. "You want to keep the ball on the ground."

Cincinnati fans haven't gotten much of a glimpse of Claussen yet, if only because the Reds shut him down for precautionary reasons after he made only three starts for Triple-A Louisville after his acquisition last summer.

He was only 14 months off of ligament replacement surgery on his elbow -- the operation was June 25, 2002 -- he was tiring, and he's so important to their future that the Reds didn't want to take any chances.

Along those same lines, they also don't want to rush him this spring.

He has looked good, and Lord knows the Reds have rotation spots open, but the way they figure it, if Claussen blows them away over the next few weeks, great, he'll be one of the five starters they take north with them. And if it looks like he needs some work, that's fine, too, he can get some more innings in at Louisville.

Currently, Cory Lidle, Paul Wilson and Jimmy Haynes look like rotation locks. Aaron Harang, Jose Acevedo and Claussen appear to be the top three candidates for the final two spots.

"If he's ready to pitch at the major-league level, he'll get that opportunity," Cincinnati pitching coach Don Gullett said. "Our philosophy is, we're going to take the best five guys we have, and then the bullpen will go out and get after it."

Claussen not only knows there are rotation spots open in Cincinnati, he also knows they won't close as quickly as they did in New York. It's easy for minor leaguers in the Yankees' system to lose hope of seeing the big leagues in the near future. Every time a Claussen thinks he's close, the Yanks are acquiring a Kevin Brown. Or a Javier Vazquez.

Not so in Cincinnati, where the Reds lost 93 games last season.

"I'm giving it 100 percent, and if I don't make it, it's something that just wasn't meant to be," said Claussen, who has been impressive in his spring outings so far. "I won't be devastated. I'm still getting an opportunity to play a kid's game, and that's all I can ask for."

He has made no significant physical changes since his elbow surgery. Mentally, sure.

"Before the surgery, it was like, 'Here, I'm going to try and throw everything as hard as I can,'" Claussen said. "It's made me learn how to pitch. It's made me establish better command of my numbers two and three pitches, which is very beneficial."

His fastball ranges from the upper 80s to the low 90s. The other pitches he is talking about -- his No. 2 pitch is a change-up and his No. 3 a slider -- remain crisp. He cuts his fastball at times now, which is another weapon.

"I can tell why he's one of the top left-handed prospects in baseball," Cincinnati manager Dave Miley said.

Said Gullett: "He's very polished from what I've seen. He realizes there is value in keeping the ball down in the zone, changing speeds and keeping the ball down."

Not bad for a guy from UFO territory who got word on Alex Rodriguez joining his former team late because he doesn't even bother getting cable television at home.

"I don't know," Claussen said. "With what channels we get, we seem to be pretty entertained."

Jody Gerut, Indians

The exodus over the years of such Indians luminaries as Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome still stings, but the emergence last summer of Gerut allowed those in Cleveland the hope of better days ahead.

Posting a .279 batting average, 22 home runs and 75 RBI for the Indians last season - enough to be named as the AL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News -- was impressive enough.

But to do that just two years after missing the entire 2001 season because of knee surgery. ...

"He was fantastic here last season," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "He prepares as well as any young player I've ever seen. He's still learning about the game, and he should get better."

Not only because Gerut -- pronounced "Garrett" -- is talented, but because he is as cerebral a player as you will find.

Cleveland acquired him from Colorado in June 2001, when he was laid up following the two knee surgeries. He spent the first two months of that season in Vail, Colo., rehabbing right there with the doctors who did his second surgery and watching every Rockies game on television.

Following the trade, beginning in August, Gerut moved to Cleveland and not only personally attended every Indians home game, he charted each pitch and, essentially, played the season in his head. He sat right with the scouts behind home plate -- until the Indians made the playoffs that season, when he was bumped out to outfield seats.

This approach wasn't exactly a surprise. Gerut, a second-round pick out of Stanford in 1998, always has come at things from an intellectual perspective.

At Stanford, he majored in history with an emphasis on the United States and Russia in the 20th Century. His senior paper focus was on Soviet Patent Law.

"You wouldn't think you could get 20 pages out of that," said Gerut, 26. "But it was pretty interesting."

He also became acquainted with former first daughter Chelsea Clinton at Stanford.

"She uses huge words," Gerut said. "She's got an unbelievable vocabulary. I was blown away."

The Rockies and, later, the Indians, were blown away by Gerut's preparation for his job.

"When we had him in Colorado, and the first thing everybody talked about was his preparation, his intelligence, his understanding of the game," said Buddy Bell, the former Rockies manager who this spring joined Cleveland as Wedge's bench coach. "The last year-and-a-half, he's gotten a lot stronger.

"He's able to drive the ball a lot further than a lot of us thought he ever would. I think sometimes intelligence is underrated in this game."

At least one Indians veteran -- and there aren't too many of those in the Cleveland clubhouse -- is very impressed.

"He's got the potential to be an All-Star player," Vizquel said. "Not just because of the way he hits the ball, but his instincts of the game are really, really good.

"He has a good arm, very accurate, and he's not a bad base runner. He has all of the tools to become one of the best players in the game."

Gerut is very aware of -- and isn't concerned by -- the so-called sophomore slump. In fact, he wrote at length on the subject in a diary he keeps for the Cleveland Plain Dealer's website. Which is another interesting angle to Gerut. He doesn't keep strict deadlines for this diary, and it could be weeks before he posts something new.

"Whenever I need to get something off of my chest or whenever I have something I think the fans would be interested in," Gerut said. "I have no deadlines. I have no schedule. It works out really well for me.

"People seem to like it. As long as I'm not stepping on anybody's toes but my own, I'll continue to do it."

With one full season in the majors now on his resume, Gerut above all now wants to prove he can be consistent in the majors. Last year's numbers didn't surprise him, he said -- "I always figured I could be that kind of player" -- but he wants to do it again in 2004, and then again in 2005.

He also is happy to keep doing it in Cleveland. He really wants to be a part of the next baseball Renaissance in town.

"Cleveland is a great city," Gerut said. "It's a very underrated city. If I was a real estate developer in town, I'd feel pretty fortunate. It's national reputation is that of a dirty city, but it is not a dirty city at all. It is very nice. It's quite the opposite of dirty -- especially in the downtown area. They've done a fantastic job."

Furthermore, while the Indians attempt to right the ship -- Gerut thinks they can contend again within the next two years -- their developing star outfielder swears he isn't feeling any pressure heading into 2004.

"Given that we've got so many potential offensive weapons in here, I think it would be kind of foolish and self-centered of me to even feel any pressure," Gerut said. "This is a team that will be able to lean on each other for offensive support."

Meanwhile, Gerut has made so many adjustments since those early days in Colorado that Bell is reluctant to even try to pinpoint his ceiling.

"Only time will tell, but I'll guarantee you he'll get everything out of his talent," Bell said. "I don't think we can put any limitations on Jody because of the way he is."