May 21, 2013

MLB Draft: Cleveland Indians Sign Top 16 Picks, 22 of First 24

July 13, 2012 by 3 Comments

The deadline to sign players from last month’s MLB Draft was this evening at 5 p.m., and the Cleveland Indians announced a few high-profile signings in the final day. Although final-day signings were way down this year compared to the past (hat tip to Baseball America’s Jim Callis), three new Indians joined the organization in the last 24 hours.

Last night, the Tribe reached an $765K agreement with fourth-rounder OF D’Vone McClure, one of the highest-potential guys they picked in the draft. The Arkansas high school product has good speed, a positive bat and projects to make a big impact down the road. Also yesterday, the team signed RHP Caleb Hamrick for $185K. Hamrick, an eight-round pick, is a Texas high school product who has a low-90s fastball and a possible plus-slider.

The last guy to sign today was OF Logan Vick, the team’s 11th-rounder out of Baylor. He was first-team All-Big 12 this year, and the switch-hitter projects to have good speed and contact ability, but not much power. He reportedly signed for $125K. Overall, that means that Cleveland was able to sign all of its first 16 picks, 22 of its first 24, and 26 out of 40 overall.

 [Related: The Skinny on Tyler Naquin, Your CF of the Future]

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MLB Draft: Indians Gamble on Young Upside in Day Two

June 6, 2012 by 11 Comments

For most sports fans, the MLB draft is a lot a buzz with no real substance. For the dedicated baseball lovers, however, there’s plenty to analyze and share with the public.

Of note in particular, it’s intriguing first to see where the new members of the Cleveland Indians organization will land in the coming 12 months. Of course, fans have enjoyed the quick progressions of prospects drafted in 2008-10, so what does that mean for the class of ’12 (including the pictured RHP Mitchell Brown)?

After that today, I’ll take a look at how the dynamics of being a small-market team have changed with the new MLB draft rules (something TD mentioned briefly yesterday). Draft bonuses are no longer unlimited or even just suggested as they were in the past – there are now strict penalties for going beyond certain spending boundaries. So this clearly changed around the Indians strategy, and this is evident in their top five picks alone.

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MLB Draft: Indians Select Lovegrove, McClure, Baker

June 5, 2012 by 12 Comments

The MLB Draft is continuing forward today, and the Indians have now made their first five selections. Let’s learn a bit more about the latest three selections since second-rounder RHP Mitchell Brown.

At pick No. 110 overall in the third round, the Tribe picked RHP Kieran Lovegrove from Mission Viejo HS (CA). He is 6-foot-4 and was a big favorite of ESPN’s Keith Law, who ranked him 47th overall. Lovegrove went 6-3 with a 1.58 ERA during his senior season, and is committed to play at Arizona State.

After that, Cleveland stayed in the high school ranks in picking OF D’Vone McClure from Jacksonville HS (AR) at the No. 143 pick in the fourth round. The right-handed hitter, who is 6-foot-3 and a solid athlete, batted .412 (35-for-85) with 12 doubles, one homer, 15 RBI, 26 steals and 28 runs scored during his senior season. He is committed to play at Arkansas.

The team’s fifth round selection (No. 173 overall) then was RHP Dylan Baker from Western Nevada Community College. Baker, who is 6-foot-2 and also was initially though to be a second-round prospect, was the Scenic West Athletic Conference’s Pitcher of the Year this season. He finished with a 13-0 record and a 1.91 ERA, striking out 126 batters in 84.2 IP.

 [Related: The Skinny on Tyler Naquin, Your CF of the Future]

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