WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Travis Fryman was a five-time All-Star and a Gold Glove winner. He has a comfortable family life in Molino, Fla., with his wife, Kathleen, and three sons, Mason, Branden and Cole. He really has nothing left to prove in the game of baseball.

So what is the 38-year-old Fryman doing on the back fields at the Chain of Lakes complex, gearing up for his rookie managerial season in the New York-Penn League?

"I love the game of baseball, so that's the main reason I'm here," Fryman said. "I also really enjoy working with young players and the idea of being a part of watching these young men achieve their dreams."

Fryman will be at the helm of the Tribe's short-season Class A team in Mahoning Valley this summer, taking over for Tim Laker, who is now a roving instructor in the organization. If he didn't have a wife and three kids, Fryman probably would have gotten into coaching immediately after his 13-year playing career ended with the Indians in 2002.

"Family life and professional baseball are not easy to balance," he said. "So [managing] half a season is a nice compromise. It worked with my children's school schedules. It was a way I could stay in the game, have an impact in the organization and, at the same time, have the least impact on my family life."

But that's not the only reason Fryman was interested in managing at the rookie level.

"I understand how important it is to lay a foundation in a player's career and help him understand that what he's getting the opportunity to do is very special," he said. "You have a great opportunity to mold and shape these guys and have an impact in their lives. You're their first coach. Because of that, you have an impact."

Fryman was a first-round Draft pick of the Tigers in 1987 and made his big league debut with Detroit three years later, when he was only 21. Because he was rushed through the system, he didn't feel his introduction to pro ball was quite what it should have been.

And perhaps because his talent and hard work helped him rise to the Majors so quickly and prosper, Fryman admits he's not the most patient coach on the planet.

"When you're a person that worked hard, you have high expectations," he said. "We're going to work hard, so I would expect a lot out of these guys. Patience is not something I'm blessed with a lot of. That's why I'm there. I'm there to learn how to have patience."

Though the bulk of his career was spent with the Tigers, Fryman quickly grew attached to the Indians, for whom he played his final five seasons. He helped out as a special instructor during the Indians' spring camp last year and was hungry for more.

"My father was a high school basketball coach for 25 years," Fryman said. "I'm a coach's son. When I go to a sporting event, I watch the coach. I don't watch the game. I'm that kind of guy."

He's No. 1: Brad Snyder, the 18th overall pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, has been in the Indians' organization since 2003, and saw significant time at the Triple-A level last season. But he's yet to find himself on the immediate Major League radar because of his inconsistencies in plate discipline.

Still, Indians manager Eric Wedge has seen some improvements in Snyder.

"He's come along this spring," Wedge said. "It's been nice to see. He has a tremendous amount of ability, and he's doing a better job of getting the barrel to the baseball."

But Snyder, who is in his final option year, is still below Ben Francisco, Shin-Soo Choo and Trevor Crowe in the pecking order, and will have to work his up.

"He's on the roster, he's been on the roster, he's got some Triple-A experience now, and he's working through things," Wedge said. "He continues to get better, and that's what you want to see."

Class of '07: Some young guys impress simply with the way they don't seek to impress. They don't try to grab the spotlight, nor do they hide in the shadows.

In this year's camp, infielder Beau Mills, the Tribe's No. 1 pick from the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, undoubtedly had that "it" quality.

In large part because of his big league pedigree -- his father, Brad, played for the Expos and is the bench coach for the Red Sox -- Mills, who was reassigned to Minor League camp last week, never appeared out of his element.

"It's very obvious he came from a baseball family," Indians hitting coach Derek Shelton said of Mills. "I think it's a credit to his dad, with the way he handles himself."

This was Shelton's first opportunity to get to know Mills as a hitter. The youngster has obvious room for improvement, particularly at first base, which is still a new position for him, but his power swing is impressive.

"There is some definite strength to his swing and some definite things he's working on," Shelton said. "We've seen him drive the ball and impact the ball from left-center field over to the pull side [right field], which is good."

What they're saying: "No surprises, I feel comfortable. I kind of understand the Major League clubhouse and how to carry myself. I've been around it my whole life. It's the same game wherever you go. It's just that, at the Major League level, the game's a little faster and you have to slow it down for yourself." -- Mills, on his first big league camp.