Doesn' the bonus count as earned income? Plus he'll make a few hundred bucks a month for his 2 month minor league season. Get them investing early.

The max each year is something like $6000 for a single individual. That won't save him much.

Many times, low signing bonuses are accompanied by education guarantees. Clubs will pay tuition for college when playing career is over.

Worth a few bucks.

Wont' save much tax this year, but he'll get in the habit of saving, so he can retire early even if he doesn't become a $1 million a year middle reliever.

We signed 5th rounder, pitcher Will Roberts. That means all college and junior college picks from the top 12 rounds are under contract. Outstanding are picks No. 1, 2, 7, 8 all high schoolers.

Yep and those remaining 4 picks will be well over slot so it's unlikely those signing will be announced before he deadline.

Tony seems confident that all top 10 selections will be signed. This was a forum post from a few days ago:

FYI, Indians almost without a doubt will sign all of remaining Top 10 picks. Just almost all will be on or just before Aug 15th deadline. Dillon Peters though is not a sure thing, and more 50-50 or maybe more like 40-60 (as expected). Roth unlikely too.

Here's the BA report on Roberts:

Righthander Will Roberts was a midweek starter at the beginning of the year and forced his way into the Sunday role after throwing a perfect game against George Washington in late March. He didn't lose a game until the last series of the regular season, going 10-1, 1.67 in 81 innings. Roberts ranges from 88-92 mph with his fastball, and offers a good slider and solid changeup.

Doesn't sound too exciting but it all depends on how he uses, mixes and commands those pitches. Nowadays we can hope any not-too-hard-throwing RH can be the next Josh Tomlin.

I am prejudiced about the prospects of a RHP named Roberts after the lack of success of 4th rounder David Roberts of a few years ago. And some other 5th-9th round college pitchers who've never made to AA.

Don't see any new signings reported as we get within a week of the signing deadline with lots of big contracts to go. I suppose we'll get the No. 1 and 2 choices done, but the biggest question is how many of the high cost lower picks will get deals.

Indians sign Anderson, Medina
11:59 AM TONY NO COMMENTS

Yhoxian Medina
The Indians today have announced that they have signed two more picks from the 2011 Draft, 14th round right-handed pitcher Cody Anderson and 38th round infielder Yhoxian Medina.

Anderson, 20, just completed his sophomore season at Feather River CC (CA) going 6-1 with a 2.15 ERA (46.0 IP, 32 H, 22 R (11ER), 18 BB, 42 K, .194 AVG) in 17 games (4 starts) as he was named a 1st Team Golden Valley Conference selection.

Medina, 21, also completed his sophomore season at Southeastern CC (IA) where he hit .404 with 15 doubles, 2 triples, 5 HR and 50 RBI while also going 47-for-48 in stolen base attempts. He was named a NJCAA 1st Team All-American and the ICCAC Conference Player of the Year.

With the signings the Indians have now officially signed 21 of their 50 Draft picks, and have also signed six undrafted free agents. Only five of their top 15 picks remained unsigned, including four in the top ten who are all expected to sign on or just before next Monday's August 15th signing deadline.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).
Posted in: 2011 Draft News,Cody Anderson,Yhoxian Medina

Anderson signed for $250,000 which is a lot more than typical 14th round money. Here's the BA scouting report:


14 428 Cody Anderson RHP Feather River (Calif.) JC Calif. $250,000
Feather River CC has six players who have been drafted previously, including righthander Cody Anderson, a 17th-round pick by the Rays last year. Anderson, who is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, has steadily boosted his fastball velocity. At Quincy (Calif.) High, he was mostly in the 86-88 mph range. He touched 92 last spring and was mostly 92-94 mph this year, topping out at 96. He has the size and velocity scouts like, but needs to refine his delivery and secondary pitches: a curveball, splitter and changeup. He could go as high as the third to fifth round, and is committed to Texas Christian.

The Indians today announced that they have signed 41st round pick outfielder Brian Ruiz, a 2011 graduate from Lincoln West High School in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ruiz was named Player of the Year in the Senate Athletic League for the second straight season, hitting .600 with 22 RBI while using a wooden bat all season. The right-handed hitting centerfielder led the Wolverines to the Division I district semifinals, the farthest a Cleveland public school has advanced in 24 years. He was a member of the Senate All-Star team for three years.

The Indians had been following Ruiz while he was playing summer ball, and what they saw combined with his local ties was a perfect match for the two sides to strike a deal and get him into the fold. The wooden bat he used all season was given to him by fellow Tribe farmhand Alex Lavisky, and he wears #24 in honor of Willie Mays.

Here;s one from a few days ago.

According to Baseball America senior writer Jim Callis, the Indians have signed 16th round pick left-handed pitcher Ryan Merritt for $150K. He likely will be assigned to Arizona where he can start working out and ramp up his pitching so he can throw in games at the end of the year in the Arizona League or in Instructional League in the fall.

[That's the same bonus money the Indians gave to Will Roberts, 5th round pick, so is another major over slot signing.]

Merritt was considered a potential 3rd round selection by Baseball America and looks like that's what he got to sign.