After career in football, Indians farm director Harris fitting in

Organizations are continually looking for ways to better develop talent, and the Indians, with the recent hiring of James Harris as farm director, are focusing efforts on the body — both physically and mentally.

“The first pillar of life is heath,” Harris said. “No matter whether you’re a coach, staff member or player, healthy people succeed at a higher level. It’s a simple fact of life.”

Harris’ mindset meshes well with the Indians — an organization already heavily focused on nutrition. The shared belief system appealed to Harris, who is looking forward to expanding and hopefully improving upon a system already in place, rather than rebuilding an entire system.

Similarly, the Indians have been impressed with the development work Harris has done in the past, making Harris’ addition an easy decision for club president Chris Antonetti.

“We’ve tried to do a lot of work organizationally in the performance service area, from mental skills, to strength and conditioning, to nutrition and medical areas,” Antonetti said. “James has a lot of experience in each of those areas, and as importantly, not only in the individual domain, but how you integrate those domains and how you help athletes produce at an optimal level.”

Harris has only been in professional baseball for a year, serving as a special assistant to baseball operations …

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