Well, we've finally made it. The long and exciting journey that began almost two weeks ago is complete, and we've reached the cream of the crop in the Indians organization. Most of you can probably guess who the five prospects are that we're going to look at today, but do you know in what order they will appear? Remarkably, we're going to look at no fewer than three players who could end up as major league shortstops down the road, a remarkable number of elite SS prospects for one organization. In addition to the middle infielders, we have a pair of righthanded starting pitchers, one who came over in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks and one who was selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft out of a Minnesota high school. Thanks for following along with me here on The Cleveland Fan during the 2013 countdown, and I can only hope that you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to pack for Goodyear!

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And then there were ten. From here on out, we're looking at players who are going to be counted on to fuel the Indians next "window of contention," whether that window cracks open in 2013 or beyond. One of the players that we're looking at today has already pitched at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. One should be there as early as 2014, injury permitting. We're also going to look at a pair of centerfielders from drastically different backgrounds; one a 1st round pick out of Texas A&M who is making the transition from RF, and one who was an infielder in the Dominican Republic until the Indians decided his athleticisim and speed would be of better use in CF. Finally, we'll break down the details on a Dominican SS/2B with surprising pop for his size, and who doesn't stop smiling as long as his feet are on a baseball diamond.

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We're really getting into rarefied air now, as we look at the #15-11 prospects in the entire Indians system. Unsurprisingly, we're going to take a look at another power righthanded reliever, but this time it will be the best power righthanded reliever who has yet to grace the mound on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. Additionally, we'll look at a lefty who has already seen time with the big club, a 2011 draft pick looking to pick up the pieces after a disasterous 2012, a breakout 2B who went from unranked last year to just shy of the top-10 this year and finally...#WASHTIME!

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In honor of my TCF colleague Al Ciammaichella’s Top 61 Prospects countdown, which is now deep into the top 25 after covering #25-21, and #20-16, and #15-11 which will posted by mid-afternoon Saturday, I wanted to rank the players on my projected Indians 25-man roster. To do this, I’m going to consider offensive and defensive value for position players and performance and importance for pitchers. The Indians’ organizational strength at that position will also be considered because players that are replaceable will be ranked lower.

This is entirely subjective and your personal rankings may differ drastically from mine. A lot can change between now and April 2, so the 25-man roster may be affected by injuries, late free agent signings or trades, and guys really making a positive impact the rest of the spring. This, however, is the roster I fully explain the Indians to break camp with.

To avoid a 4,000+-word article, I split this up into two parts running on consecutive Saturdays as my weekly View from the Porch article. The first part, #25-13, can be viewed here.

The top half of this roster is going to be critically important to the Indians success this season. These are guys that absolutely must perform to their full potential for the Indians to have any shot at contending. The team, as a whole, looks a lot better than it has in a long time, but it is still not good enough to withstand a letdown from most of these players.

In descending order, here is a rank of my #12-#1 on my projected Indians 25-man roster:

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