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Julian Merryweather (Photo: OBU Athletics)

2014 MLB Draft: Scout's take on the Indians draft

By Tony Lastoria

June 10, 2014

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As always, we have tons of post-draft articles here at the IBI. We are not the typical place that just loads up on draft info on the days surrounding the draft; we cover it all the way through with tons of articles before and after. We will have several post-draft pieces over the next several days with articles providing signing updates, day 2 and 3 thoughts, a post-draft Q&A with John Mirabelli and more.

Today, we let the scouts do the talking. Like last year, I have contacted over a dozen scouts in the game to provide comments on some of the picks the Indians made. I have well over a dozen comments on over a third of the picks the Indians made. In tomorrow’s piece Jeff Ellis and I will break down the draft with thoughts and analysis on the picks on Day 2 and 3. The Mirabelli Q&A will go up sometime between Thursday and Monday.

Unfortunately, for fans of the weekly Minor Happenings piece, this means I may not be able to get Happenings up this week; however, I am going to try and get one up on Thursday or Friday if possible, even if it is a shorter piece (shorter as in 3000 words and not the regular 5000 words ha!). Things should get back to normal next week with all the post-draft stuff out of the way and several signings in the books and we can once again put the focus back on the minor leagues.

Anyway, as a reminder, I posted my Day 1 recap on Friday so be sure to check that out if you missed it.

Scout comments

On 1st round pick Bradley Zimmer: “Bradley Zimmer was in my area in high school and I was able to see him play early in the year in So Cal. He is a toolsy player that can run, throw and hit. He has a tall wiry frame that still has some room to add strength. For a college player he still has some projection left. Power is the only question mark, but he has shown some power and if he continues to get stronger and develop it he could be a force.”

On 2nd round pick Grant Hockin: “Hockin is a polished high school righty with a good delivery and clean arm action. He can throw strikes with four pitches. He has been up to 94 but pitches at 88-92. His slider is a plus pitch at times and his changeup and curveball have a chance to be average offerings.”

On 3rd round pick Bobby Bradley: “He is a polished high school bat with a feel to hit and chance to hit for power. He is a first base only guy. He has tightened up his body since last year and looks real strong. He has improved looseness to his swing. He is an interesting guy that’s going to have to hit his way up there, but was one of the more advanced bats in the draft.”

On 3rd round pick Bobby Bradley (another scout’s comment): “He is a good kid. He is a strong, physical left-hand hitter. He has a short, compact stroke with bat speed and leverage for future power potential. He is an adequate defender with average arm strength though there is not much projection defensively. He will need to watch his weight.”

On 5th round pick Juilian Merryweather: “He is a senior from an NAIA school in Oklahoma. He has a large frame with a strong, athletic build. He was 90-95 with a good delivery. He has a fringy to average curveball and solid changeup. He is competitive.”

On 6th round pick Greg Allen: “Allen is a switch-hitting centerfielder who does not possess much power. He has a line drive stroke from both sides of the plate. He plays a solid centerfield and has a strong arm for centerfield. He runs above average but is not a plus-plus runner. He gets solid jumps and is a smart player.”

On 13th round pick Austin Fisher: “He is a line-drive hitter with a solid feel to hit. He is a good defender though he probably has to move to second base.”

On 14th round pick Grayson Jones: “He is from Shelton St Community College. He has good arm action and a good delivery. He has a fastball that is 90-95, and sits 92-93. He is more of a thrower. He shows an occasional feel for a hard, tight slider.”

On 14th round pick Grayson Jones (another scout’s comment): “He is a 6’0” righty with a potential plus fastball and plus breaking ball to fill a back of bullpen role. He is a competitive kid. He has a strong, stocky and durable body. He made big jumps from high school to this spring. He has questionable signability and may end up back at Shelton for his sophomore year.”

On 17th round pick Cameron Hill: “He is a lean, athletic junior college right-handed pitcher from Oklahoma. He was at 89-94 and has touched 95. He has a fringy curveball and average changeup.”

On 19th round pick Argenis Angulo: “He is a big bodied junior college right-handed pitcher from Venezuela. He was at 90-93 with an average breaking ball. He is competitive and aggressive.”

On 32nd round pick Jared West: “He is a tall left-handed pitcher with a good projectable frame. His fastball was 88-90 with average control. His breaking ball has a chance to be average; most were pretty sweepy for me. I never saw a changeup. He's the younger brother of Marlins' former 1st round pick Sean West.”

On 36th round pick Max Bartlett: “I did not see Max Bartlett this year, but I've had him in the past. He is the son of Cleveland area scout Chuck Bartlett. He has decent actions at shortstop.”

On 36th round pick Max Bartlett (another scout’s comment): “Max is the son of Indians scout Chuck Bartlett. He’s going to be a really solid college baseball player. He may turn himself into a good senior sign in a few years. He is just a little ways from competing at the professional level right now.”

On 38th round pick Cody Jones: “He is a switch-hitting centerfielder with a compact frame. He is a leadoff type. He can really run and plays good defense in centerfield.”

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

2nd round pick Grant Hockin is reported to have signed, I think I read for $1.6M.

Bobby Bradley (Photo: Clarion Ledger)

2014 MLB Draft: Post-draft thoughts

By Tony Lastoria

June 11, 2014

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Here are a bunch of random thoughts from myself on the Indians’ draft this year. I already touched on what the Indians did on day one, so I won’t talk much about the Bradley Zimmer, Justus Sheffield, Mike Papi and Grant Hockin selections, and instead will focus on their overall philosophy and talking about picks made on the second and third day of the draft.

This was by far one of the most exciting drafts the Indians have had in recent years, both by the anticipation of what they would do with their top picks and who they actually ended up picking in the top rounds of the draft. I provide thoughts, insight and tons more below. Also, in case you missed it, be sure to check out the piece I posted yesterday which had a lot of scout comments on several Indians selections in the draft.

As my old friend Hal Lebovitz used to say: A little bit of this, and a little bit of that….

- The Indians brought in 42 new names to the franchise over the three days of the draft, roughly 22-27 of which will be signed and brought into the organization. This was one of the deeper drafts in recent years as the talent pool was better than the last two years, mostly because we are now seeing the fruits from the recent CBA change. Starting with the 2012 Draft teams had a limited amount of bonus pool money to spend thus sending a lot of high school players that teams at one time took fliers on in late rounds and gave big bonuses to that are now going to college and improving the future college draft crop.

- In total the Indians drafted 19 pitches (15 right-handed and 4 left-handed), 9 outfielders, 4 catchers, 4 third basemen, 3 shortstops, 2 second basemen and 1 first baseman. They took 27 players out of college and 15 high school players with the breakdown of college players as follows: 5 seniors, 11 juniors, 1 draft eligible sophomore and 10 junior college players. This ratio is not all that different from last season when they took 27 college players (18 four-year, 9 junior college) and 12 high school players, but of note they did not select one single junior college player with any of their 12 bonus pool picks.

- While the Indians drafted less on need and much more on best player available for the first 15 or so picks, it is clear that later in the draft when they were looking for signable players to fill rosters that they opted to avoid taking any shortstops and catchers since those positions are such a strength and they have so much depth there throughout the system. Most of the signings in the late rounds will probably be the right-handed pen arms and outfielders they drafted since these are two weak spots in the system, particularly in the lower levels.

- The talent the Indians brought in from this draft is pretty exciting. Now it is very early and these players still need to be signed and we have to see how they translate to the pros and develop going forward, but at least on paper and going by what talent evaluators are saying, this is one of the strongest drafts the Indians have had in some time. Obviously, having four first day picks compared to just one last year will make things look a lot better, but the general feeling I am getting after talking to scouts around the league is that they really did a nice job and it was one of the best drafts top to bottom of anyone in the league. The Indians themselves are even cautiously optimistic that they had a very strong draft. They won’t say much about it publicly, but after talking to Indians Director of Scouting John Mirabelli for about 40 minutes on Tuesday I came away with a belief that they really hunkered down on their process this year and there is a feeling that things will be different with the results. I will post my Q&A with Mirabelli later this week or early next week….he says a lot of interesting things regarding the process and their philosophy changes.

- The Indians took 23 position players in total and the breakdown was pretty normal as far as what side of the plate they hit on with 11 of them right-handed, 8 of them left-handed and 4 of them switch-hitters. But looking deeper you can really tell how early on the Indians drafted to the strength of this draft and avoided its biggest weakness which was right-handed bats both at the college and prep level. With their first 21 picks they did not select a single right-handed hitting position player but selected 7 left-handed bats and 2 switch hitters. Then in the second half of the draft and their remaining 21 picks they did almost the complete opposite selecting 11 right-handed bats, 2 switch-hitters and 1 left-handed bat.

- I know everyone dislikes the Indians current roster makeup at the big league level with too many left-handed bats. I dislike it myself. But the makeup of the roster at the big league level should have no bearing whatsoever on what players you draft. Almost of these drafted players will take at least two to four years to even get to the big leagues, and the roster in Cleveland will undoubtedly change a lot over the next two to four years. This is why you don’t draft on need because trades, free agent signings, injuries and other things at the big league level will result in a lot of changes by the time any of these picks are ready to help. You take the best talent, and if that means left-handed bats are the strength of the draft, you take them.

- The biggest change in the draft this year was the Indians going for more power corner bats early and focusing on pitchability and polish with their high school pitching selections. In years past the Indians really honed in on arm strength and raw talent in their high school picks to get the biggest upside possible, but those picks also came with a great deal of risk since there was so much projection involved. This time around they focused on high school pitching that had more “now” stuff that was more advanced and still have some upside but are more sure things. This is something that Mirabelli will go into greater detail in the Q&A I post. Also, they stepped away from their up-the-middle approach with their top 10 round picks and took some corner bats with some good upside. In the past five drafts from 2009-2013 they drafted just one corner bat in the top 10 rounds (Jordan Smith) and instead used 49 of their 50 picks on middle of the diamond talent. Yet in this draft they took two corner players in Mike Papi and Bobby Bradley with two of their first five picks. This is a welcomed change to me.

- I still dislike the draft running from Thursday-Saturday as I think it interferes way too much with the players still participating in postseason play. Last year was the first time it was moved to Thursday-Saturday and I can’t tell you how many players and college coaches I have talked to out of that draft that really disliked the setup as it was a real distraction while players and teams prepared for their Super Regional series. I know this is about TV and all, but I see no harm in moving it back to the old Tuesday-Thursday format when it has almost no effect on any player or team since they are not playing during the week and still have time post-draft to prepare for their big weekend Super Regional series if needed. Ultimately, Major League Baseball is going to do what it is best for them, but I think this is an issue that is going to continue to pick up steam and result in some sort of adjustment to the days the draft is run. Maybe a compromise of Wednesday-Friday works out well for all involved.

- While I really like what the Indians did in this draft and am very excited to see how all of these players shake out, it is important to remember that a very high percentage of these picks will not make the major leagues let alone get above the A-ball level. Injuries are bound to crop up and some players will perform and develop above or below expectations. I have said it before, but of the three major pro sports leagues the NFL, NBA and MLB, baseball’s draft is by far the toughest to follow since a high percentage of fans have never heard of any of the players or ever seen them play. On top of that, as soon as a player is selected, they go to the minor leagues for two to five years before they are ever seen in the big leagues whereas in the NFL and NBA the players are in the mix from day one.

- One quick note on day one picks Bradley Zimmer and Mike Papi is that the Indians are committed to developing Zimmer as a center fielder and Papi as a corner outfielder. There was some thought that Zimmer's skill set fits better in right field - and it may be where he ends up down the road - but the Indians are going to play him in center field at the outset of his minor league career and believe he can stick there. There was some thought that Papi would come in and go right to first base, but that is not the case as the Indians will develop him as a corner outfielder and only on an occasional basis play him at first base if needed. It is going to be interesting to see how they mix them into the outfield this year, especially if both get to Lake County at some point as expected.

- The Bobby Bradley pick in the 3rd round is probably one of the more exciting picks. This is a guy who is only a first baseman and limited defensively, but who could potentially emerge as a frontline first base prospect because of the power in his bat. There is big power potential to all fields and he could really end up being a hammer in the middle of the lineup at some point. Of course, he is young and a lot of his future is still projection based, and it will depend on how he translates to the pro game, how quickly he adjusts his routines, how disciplined he can be and if he can develop his approach. There are certainly a lot of question marks, but hopefully he answers them over the next few years and that power really emerges because the Indians need it.

- The pick of Sam Hentges in the 4th round and Micah Miniard in the 8th round are probably closer to their philosophy of years past as high school arms with arm strength and huge upside but little polish. Miniard is huge at 6’7” and has a low 90s fastball that can improve as he fills out his body and gets on a professional strength and conditioning program. Hentges is 6’6” and won’t even turn 18-years old until July. He has a low 90s fastball with the arm strength to add more velocity. Both of these guys are going to get a lot of foundational work early in their careers which means they probably will be in Arizona all of this year for rookie ball and Instructional League, and all of next year for spring training, extended spring training, rookie ball and Instructional League before they are moved to a regular affiliate the next season.

- The Indians picked up a couple of seniors early drafting Julian Merryweather in the 5th round and Steven Patterson in the 10th round. Of no surprise both signed quickly as Merryweather got a $20K signing bonus and Patterson got a $10K signing bonus, which saved the Indians a total of $407,200 in bonus pool money to use for other picks. Taking seniors in the top 10 rounds is a tactic used by all teams to create more flexibility with their bonus pool so that they can sign more upside guys in the top 10 rounds and even in rounds 11-40. Even though they are senior signs and their prospect standing is not as high, both are interesting players. Merryweather will probably be given a chance to be in a rotation right out of the gates as he has good size and has a good fastball with some developing secondary stuff. Patterson should be a regular in the lineup as well in the early going thanks to his good approach and eye at the plate and some positional versatility the Indians may tap into initially.

- One of the more intriguing picks and maybe my second favorite Day 2 pick was outfielder Gregory Allen in the 6th round. He has top of the lineup potential with some good speed and a good approach, and is a switch-hitter to boot. That speed along with his ability to play above average defense and provide versatility to play any outfield position and hit from both sides of the plate is very valuable. The biggest question mark with him is whether or not he will hit enough, which will be the biggest determining factor for him establishing himself as an everyday player or role player.

- The other picks taken in the top 10 rounds were 7th round catcher Simeon Lucas and 9th round pick shortstop Alexis Pantoja. Both are young players with lots of upside and should add some good projection-type players to the lower levels of the system. Pantoja is an impact defender and should have a regular home at shortstop in the lower levels of the system up through at least Lake County. From there his bat will likely determine whether he sticks as an everyday option or becomes a role player or much worse. He doesn’t hit a lot so that is an area of his game the Indians are really going to focus on developing the next few years and see what happens. Lucas has a lot of upside with the bat and that is something the Indians really seem to be banking on taking him where they did. He was drafted as a catcher but there are significant questions as to whether he can stay there as a pro, but nonetheless the Indians plan to initially develop him as a catcher and see where he goes from there. He has the tools to play first base or outfield if needed down the road.

- In rounds 11-20, the ones that really stood out to me are 12th round right-handed pitcher Jordan Dunatov and 14th round right-handed pitcher Grayson Jones. Dunatov is going to sign and has a pretty uniqe backstory having been drafted pretty high out of high school by the Pirates as an outfielder and then passing through three different schools the last three years before being drafted this year. This is a guy looking for some stability and who is new to the mound who might be a longshot, but considering he will be signed for somewhere around $100K is worth the gamble. Jones on the other hand is a guy the Indians probably will be unable to sign as they probably won’t have enough bonus pool money left over after they sign all of their top 10 round picks to sign him – and even that may not be enough. He has some good power to his stuff with a fastball reaching the mid-90s and gets some good movement on his ball. I’d love to see the Indians bring him in if there is any way possible to do it.

- In rounds 21-30, the picks that stood out to me were 21st rounder outfielder Bobby Ison and 23rd rounder outfielder David Armendariz. Ison is going to sign and is a lightning rod to a roster with his all-out play style, hustle, well rounded tools and ability to hit. Once he gets into the system he should be a regular in the Mahoning Valley lineup and be a sparkplug to that team. Armendariz is a senior sign and has very limited upside, but the swing is interesting and there may still be some untapped power in there that a pro coaching staff can bring out of him. The bat is questionable, so even if that doesn’t work out he has a pretty good arm where I could see the Indians giving him a look on the mound.

- In rounds 31-40, the picks that stood out to me were 32nd round left-handed pitcher Jared West and 39th round right-handed pitcher Jake Morton. The Indians probably have little shot to sign West, but he is left-handed, has big size, has the bloodlines, and has some impressive stuff. He might be my top target in rounds 11-40 to throw any left over bonus pool money at to see if he bites. Morton is a guy who was a catcher his entire college career but the Indians like him as an arm and would develop him as a pitcher if he signs. He has the option to return to school, but he is an older player at 22-years old and will have a limited opportunity at the draft next year so chances are he signs.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

More confirmed signings of lower round picks including 22 round RHP Jordan Carter, 27th round LHP David Speer (from Columbia, he can confer with Frank Herrmann on private equity firm jobs postbaseball), 29th round 2B Drake Roberts.
Scrappers season begins tomorrow so it looks like they may have enough players to field a team. The OF and catcher ranks are filled with 2013 holdovers, IF was thin, but three have been signed this week.

Roberts did sign, as did Lucas.

Cleveland Indians ‏@tribeinsider · 13m
#Indians today signed 2 more picks from the 2014 #MLBDraft (now 6 signed)

Round 7
C/INF Simeon Lucas

Round 29
INF Drake Roberts

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So what did you think of the draft, Civ?

I'm actually pretty happy with it for a change. Loved the fact that we got away from the small middle fielders for a while and selected some hitters with good eyes, patience, and power potential. I really like the potential of Zimmer, Bradley, and Papi. Even if power doesn't develop for Zimmer if he can stick in CF his bat will be good. I feel like his floor is like a Sean Casey with speed, and for CF I would take that.

Bradley has a chance to be a special power hitter.

By the way, you or Joe may have already spotted him, but one of the pitchers we drafted, Luke Eubank, is a submariner that has drawn comparisons to Joe Smith. I miss Joe Smith, so have hopes for this kid.

The group of outfielders and corner players does look promising. The system has been extremely weak in such for years and this is a nice change of pace.

We have a very poor record of developing high school pitchers so not sure if Sheffield and Hockin will wind up of much value but just because Dan Denham and Dillon Howard among many others were flops doesn't mean they will too.

Am surprised, however, at the lack of college pitchers anywhere near the top of the draft. We certainly can use some more starting pitcher prospects in the farm system and waiting around for all the high schoolers is a long wait. A lot of the mock drafts had us picking a college starter as one of our 2 first round picks. House and Salazar are AAA prospects and at least Danny is a good one. AA we have only one starter Cody Anderson who was rated highly and he's pitched poorly; and Joe Colon who was unrated and has pitched well. At Carolina we have Morimando a hard throwing short lefty with command issues and Ryan Merritt a very successful lefty who has not been given much publicity so I have to doubt his ceiling. Last year's draftee Adam Plutko has recently moved up to Carolina after excelling at Lake County. There are some canddates several years away in Lake County or below. That adds up to not much in the next three to four years.

Justus Sheffield (Photo: The Tennessean)

2014 MLB Draft: June 12th signing update

By Tony Lastoria

June 12, 2014

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Short season Single-A Mahoning Valley has their media day today (which I will be attending) and they open up play tomorrow on the road. The Indians have yet to officially announce several deals that have been signed for 24-72 hours but with several of those players already listed on the Mahoning Valley roster I would expect an official release from the team sometime today with several signings.

Make sure you check out the previous signing updates as they were overfilled with information on several picks and the signing status of others not listed in today's update:

June 9th signing update
June 10th signing update
June 11th signing update

I will continue to post these signing updates on a daily basis on things I see and hear, though as we get further away from the draft and players officially sign or decline to sign, the updates will become much less frequent.

* Note - I probably will not have another signing update until Monday as I am traveling to Columbus for the weekend, though may post an update sometime this weekend.

- 1st round compensation-A pick left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield is scheduled to arrive in Cleveland next week and attend the home games on Monday and Tuesday against the Angels. He says that he has not agreed to any terms and has not decided whether to sign or go to school at Vanderbilt. The arrangement for next week is to meet everyone in the organization on Monday and on Tuesday to go over details with the contract. If he signs he would fly straight to Arizona on Wednesday where he would get acclimated to pro ball and then start pitching in rookie league games later in the summer. [My opinion? He’s signing. I don’t know why there is all this secrecy and denial about him agreeing to a deal, this is not the old CBA where it was frowned upon teams and players announcing deals before MLB approves them. It would be a major upset if he leaves Cleveland and flies home to Tennessee rather than Arizona.

- 2nd round pick right-handed pitcher Grant Hockin has signed with the Indians. The organization has still not made it official – probably because he still has to clear a physical even though he has already signed his deal. He met his area scout earlier in the week and signed his deal and today will fly to Arizona where he will workout and eventually get into rookie league games. He will probably take that physical today or tomorrow at which time the deal will be officially announced by the Indians. His deal is for $1.1 million.

- 4th round pick left-handed pitcher Sam Hentges and his Mounds View High School teammates continue their postseason play today in the Minnesota Class 3A state tournament. The Indians are scheduled to arrive in Shoreview early next week to finalize a deal and the expectation is still that he will sign.

- 7th round pick catcher Simeon Lucas has signed with the Indians. The deal is still not official as he has to pass his physical but he announced the signing on Twitter yesterday.

- 18th round pick outfielder Taylor Murphy has signed with the Indians. I had noted in a previous update he was going to sign, well he has signed his deal and he just needs to complete a physical before the Indians make it official and announce it. He will leave early next week for Arizona where he will report and play with the rookie ball team.

- 22nd round pick right-handed pick Jordan Carter has signed but the deal is still not official. I previously noted it but the Indians have still not announced it even though he is already on their short season Single-A Mahoning Valley roster. I would expect that he along with several other signings are officially announced today.

- 24th round pick outfielder Jodd Carter is going to sign with the Indians. He made it known earlier in the week that he was leaning pro and yesterday he decided to pass on his scholarship to the University of Hawaii and sign a contract with the Indians. It will be some time before the deal is officially announced since he won’t arrive in Arizona until next Wednesday where he will sign his contract and take his physical.

- 27th round pick left-handed pitcher David Speer and 29th round pick second baseman Drake Roberts have both signed with the Indians and are even listed on the Indians transactions page on their official site. I noted in a previous update that they would sign or had signed, though no official announcement has come from the team.

- 32nd round pick left-handed pitcher Jared West is transferring from the University of Houston to LSU Shreveport, an NAIA school which will allow him to not have to sit out a year after transferring. He transferred because of a lack of playing time and because he wants to start. He is not expected to be signed by the Indians.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

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2014 MLB Draft: June 9th signing update

That was fast. The 2014 MLB Draft came and went and with that the Indians now have 42 new players who could potentially become Cleveland Indians in the next few weeks. Now the next stage begins which is signing and getting a lot of these players into the organization, and that is what this daily signing thread will provide.

As a quick note, I will be posting my 2014 MLB Draft day 2 and 3 recap tomorrow. I already have a ton of info for it but have a few texts and emails out there that I am awaiting a response to, so this is why it has been pushed back a few days. With the draft on a weekend it really made it difficult to get in touch with people and for them to respond in a timely manner.

In the meantime I have been calling, texting, and emailing scouts, advisors, agents and players for information on the signing status of several of the Indians picks. I have even linked a few noteworthy articles with news on the picks.

This is the first of many daily reports on the signing status of players leading up to the July 18th signing deadline. I would expect a daily signing update for most of the rest of the week as many picks are brought in and then this piece will post sporadically after that depending on news and intel I receive.

- 1st round pick outfielder Bradley Zimmer is going to sign. I have not heard this from anyone with the Indians nor from his camp yet, but he is going to sign. The Indians took him not just because he is talented but because they knew he was signable, and it would not be a surprise if he is inked rather quickly so that he can go out and play with short season Single-A Mahoning Valley right away and then move quickly to Low-A Lake County so he is in line to open next season at High-A Carolina.

- 1st round compA pick left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield is also going to sign. MLB.com’s Jim Callis shortly after Day 1 that Sheffield agreed to a $1.6 million signing bonus; however, Sheffield’s dad quickly refuted that saying his son has not signed or agreed to anything. You often don’t see the player’s side denying a signing as it is often only the team, so perhaps the signing info Callis acquired was leaked from someone with the Indians rather than Sheffield’s camp since the player’s side is often where this info leaks. The Indians are like Fort Knox when it comes to getting signing information on players before anything signed by the player, so this will be interesting to monitor. That said, I think both camps are just downplaying things which is often the case at this time of the year. He did talk to his area scout Chuck Bartlett on draft night which is common as the area scout will often call a few picks beforehand to talk basic financial parameters so they know if a player is signable.

- 3rd round pick first baseman Bobby Bradley will sign with the Indians. He has a commitment to play baseball at LSU, but since being drafted he has been pretty open about his desire to sign. He has to sit down and finalize things with the Indians, and sometimes those negotiations can create a hiccup and delay things, but he should sign soon and go to Arizona where he can get his pro career started in rookie ball.

- 4th round pick left-handed pitcher Sam Hentges will be a harder sign for the Indians and not as much a sure thing as the other players in the top 10 rounds, but like everyone else in the bonus pool rounds the expectation is that he will sign. It will take an overslot deal to sign him, something that the Indians have reportedly already offered him. Slot for his pick is $463,200 so it may take something at or above $500K to get him into the organization.

- 5th round pick right-handed pitcher Julian Merryweather will no doubt sign. As a college senior he has no leverage and really no other option but to sign for what the Indians offer him. In 2012 the Indians had three seniors in Joe Wendle ($10,000), Jacob Lee ($2500) and Josh Martin ($5000) in the top 10 rounds that they inked for a total of $17,500 and gave them a few hundred thousand dollars to use on other picks. That should be the same case here as Merryweather probably signs for $10—50K, which is well below his $347,100 slot value, so the Indians could save as much as $300K to use on other picks.

- 7th round pick catcher Simeon Lucas will sign according to some comments from him in his hometown paper. He has a commitment to Illinois State, but a deal sounds imminent as he and the Indians just need to finalize terms.

- 8th round pick right-handed pitcher Micah Miniard is another top 10 round pick who is set to sign. He has a commitment to Western Kentucky but plans to forego college and sign for overslot. His slot value is $158,300, so perhaps he gets something in the $175-200K. Once he signs he should report to Arizona to begin his workouts and get ready to play in rookie league games.

- 12th round pick right-handed pitcher Jordan Dunatov should be another quick signing. After being drafted out of high school three years ago in the 14th round by the Pirates and not signing he has since moved around the college scene the last three years at Oregon State, Central Arizona Colege and Nevada. He has had some struggles over his college career so he is more than ready to sign and move on. He moved from the outfield to the pitching mound in December and that move seems to have paid off as scouts have been very impressed with his velocity as he has been up to 97 MPH with a hard slider.

- 21st round pick outfielder Bobby Ison is unsure what he wants to do. He will talk with the Indians over the next few days and if the terms are right will probably go pro. But the question is what “terms” are right as the Indians can only offer him up to $100K. If he signs he has been told that he will open in Arizona and then go to Mahoning Valley later in the year.

- 22nd round pick right-handed pitcher Jordan Carter will sign if the Indians offer him a contract.

- 23rd round pick outfielder David Armendariz is another player who will likely sign if the Indians offer him a contract. He transferred out of Cal Poly to Cal Poly Ponoma for his senior season this year. For anyone wondering, I myself don’t know the difference between the Cal Play schools, but know there are several different ones in the state.

- 24th round pick outfielder Jodd Carter says he is leaning on turning pro. This would be one of the more interesting day three signings as he has some upside and is a pretty good prospect to get late in the draft. He has a scholarship to play at the University of Hawaii but that commitment sounds soft based on his comments. His area scout Don Lyle has been in contact with him and told him that he would go to Arizona in 10 days if he is signed.

- 25th round pick catcher KJ Harrison has a pretty strong commitment to Oregon State and is all but certain not to sign.

- 27th round pick left-handed pitcher David Speer is expected to sign very soon. When he signs he will likely be assigned to rookie level Arizona.

- 33rd round pick infielder Peter Dolan is not signing and will attend the University of Michigan where he will try to earn a spot on the baseball team as a walk on.

- 34th round pick shortstop Cody Callaway is weighing his options. He is to report to Bowling Green on June 28th to get prepared for the football season where he is coming in as a QB. He should have more clarity on his signing status in a few days once he talks to the Indians. Considering the limitations of signing guys after the 10th round to a $100K signing bonus or lower, he probably doesn’t sign.

- 36th round pick shortstop Max Bartlett may be the son of Indians area scout Chuck Bartlett, but there is no guarantee he will sign, in fact he probably won’t. He is playing in the Northwoods League this summer and just finished his freshman season so there is a good chance he will go back to school to try and improve his draft stock.

- 37th round pick catcher Juan Gomes plans to turn pro but the Indians want to see him play over the summer before considering bringing him into the organization. He did not play with Odessa this season because he was ineligible, so they need to see him on the field before fully committing to him. That said, he won’t cost a lot to sign, he really wants to sign and his brother Yan is in the organization, so he should sign at some point.

- 39th round pick right-handed pitcher Jake Morton will work out for the Indians on the mound before they consider signing him. The Indians plan to come out and watch him throw a few bullpens and then monitor his performance in some summer league games. He has been working out on the mound for the past month and is working on a curveball. He has never thrown a pitch in college as he was a catcher, but the Indians like his arm and body type to make him a pitcher. He has already graduated, but if he doesn’t sign he will go back to school at Oakland and play his senior year of baseball and pursue a master’s degree.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

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2014 MLB Draft: June 10th signing update

Another day, another signing update. That’s how things will be this week as a flurry of decisions will be made by Indians 2014 draft picks on whether to sign or go to or go back to school.

If you missed yesterday’s big signing update, make sure you go there as I had news, notes and firsthand information on 19 of the Indians 42 draft picks:

June 9th signing update

I will continue to post these signing updates on a daily basis on things I see and hear, though as we get further away from the draft and players officially sign or decline to sign, the updates will become much less frequent.

- Don’t expect much news in the next week regarding 1st round competitive balance pick first baseman Mike Papi. He and his University of Virginia teammates clinched a berth in the College World Series with an 11-2 win over Maryland in the deciding third game of their series on Monday. They will open play in Omaha on Sunday when they face off with Ole Miss. The game is at 8:00 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN2. Until his college team is done playing in the CWS we won’t hear any news about him signing – but he is still expected to shortly after the conclusion of his team’s season.

- 5th round pick right-handed pitcher Julian Merryweather has officially signed with the Indians. Barring something surprising, he is expected to open the season at short season Single-A Mahoning Valley.

- 7th round pick catcher Simeon Lucas will sign with the Indians. He said the Indians called him prior to taking him with their seventh round pick to gauge his interest in signing and they agreed to the parameters of a deal. Once he puts his name to paper within the next few days he will go to Arizona and play with the rookie level team there at some point.

- 10th round pick second baseman Steven Patterson was the first official signing for the Indians. While the team has yet to formally announce his signing, he tweeted that he had signed his contract and will report to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley in a week. The slot value for his pick was $138,100 and he signed for just $10,000 because he was a senior sign with no leverage, so the Indians have saved $128,100 in their draft pool for tougher to sign picks.

- 12th round pick right-handed pitcher Jordan Dunatov told me that he plans to sign with the Indians. He hopes to know more on that front by the end of this week.

- 13th round pick shortstop Austin Fisher has officially signed with the Indians. While there has been no confirmation from the team where he will go, he should open the season at short season Single-A Mahoning Valley.

- 16th round pick right-handed pitcher Jonathon Feyereisen has signed. I talked to him on Monday evening and he said he signed his contract on Monday afternoon. He received an $80,000 signing bonus plus three semesters of college and will be assigned to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley.

- 19th round pick right-handed pitcher Argenis Angulo told me he is signing very soon, though he is not sure if he will go to rookie level Arizona or short season Single-A Mahoning Valley to start his career. Considering his age and where he was selected, my guess would be Arizona to start.

- 21st round pick outffielder Bobby Ison told me he is very interested in signing. He and his scout will meet in the next few days and his expectation is that he will sign a contract.

- 22nd round pick right-handed pitcher Jordan Carter told me he is signing. The exact timeframe is unknown but it should be pretty quick and he will likely go to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley.

- 30th round pick right-handed pitcher Nick Hynes told me he is undecided and still awaiting word from the Indians. He has yet to get a formal offer to sign though it sounds like he has an interest in what kind of offer is made. There really is not a lot the Indians can do as they can only go up to $100K since he is a post-10th round pick.

- 38th round pick outfielder Cody Jones is another player we probably won’t get much news on about his signing status since he and his TCU teammates are off the Omaha to play in the College World Series. They won the deciding game three 6-5 over Pepperdine on Monday and will play Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. He is a college junior and even though he has low leverage now will have even less next season as a college junior, so he is a very real possibility to be signed.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

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2014 MLB Draft: June 11th signing update

The short season Single-A Mahoning Valley team is set to open play on Friday and will conduct a meet and greet tonight and media day tomorrow, so several signings will be "officially" announced in the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, other players are still playing postseason ball in college or high school which has delayed the signings of some big picks. I provide several updates on some new players that have agreed to sign and more.

Make sure you check out the previous two signing updates as they were overfilled with information on several picks and the signing status of others not listed in today's update:

June 9th signing update
June 10th signing update

I will continue to post these signing updates on a daily basis on things I see and hear, though as we get further away from the draft and players officially sign or decline to sign, the updates will become much less frequent.

- 1st round competitive balance pick outfielder/first baseman Mike Papi is concentrating on his team’s trip to the College World Series in Omaha. He and the Indians talked briefly after they selected him but they said that they would wait until after his team’s season is finished before finalizing a deal (the general parameters of a deal have already been discussed and verbally agreed to). “They (the Indians) gave me a call to offer congratulations and to see how I was feeling, but said to take care of what we have going and after that we’ll handle business,” Papi said.

- 2nd round pick right-handed pitcher Grant Hockin has signed for $1.1 million according to Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Indians have not confirmed the signing. The slot value for the pick was $928,700 so the Indians signed him for $171,300 over slot. No doubt some of their savings from the Merryweather and Patterson picks were used on him.

- 4th round pick left-handed pitcher Sam Hentges is still playing for his high school team as they are participating in the state high school baseball tournament this week. He has a commitment to play baseball at the University of Arkansas but is expected to forego that opportunity and sign with the Indians. Once his high school season finishes this week he and the Indians will sit down and talk about a deal and then he will discuss with his family and advisor what is best for him.

- 8th round pick right-handed pitcher Micah Miniard told me he is going to sign but that it will not be until next week. There is no rush to bring him in right away since he is a high school arm and he will be eased into things in Arizona and then appear in rookie level games shortly thereafter.

- 17th round pick right-handed pitcher Cameron Hill told me he is signing. He said he had signed to play baseball at the University of Pittsburgh but that he will not attend and wants to get his pro career started.

- 18th round pick outfielder Taylor Murphy told me he would make a decision sometime yesterday whether or not to sign. From what I have heard and seen he has decided to sign though I am still awaiting confirmation directly from him.

- 23rd round pick outfielder David Armendariz told me he is 100% signing. He is finishing up finals at school and will sign on Saturday and then be assigned to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley.

- 27th round pick left-handed pitcher David Speer is set to sign and will be reporting to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley.

- 29th round pick second baseman Drake Roberts has signed with the Indians. He will report to either Arizona or Mahoning Valley sometime today.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

@tribeinsider: Four more #Indians picks signed today,10 total

Rd 18
OF Taylor Murphy

Rd 22
RHP Jordan Carter

Rd 27
LHP David Speer

Rd 28
INF Nathan Winfrey

Bradley Zimmer (Photo: Larry Goren)

2014 MLB Draft: Final draft thoughts from Jeff Ellis

By Jeff Ellis
June 12, 2014
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So another draft is in the books and it’s time to review the draft in whole and shape up my thoughts and ideas on the draft this year. I will also do my draft tools article and my shadow draft later this month, but for now I wanted to just focus on this draft as a whole and particularly the top 12 selections.

I thought the first day was incredibly interesting for the Indians. They had four picks and completely ignored college pitching which earlier in the year had been viewed as a draft strength before several guys really regressed over the last few months. College bats - specifically right-handed bats - were viewed as the weakest position in this draft. While the Indians didn’t grab any right-handed bats they did go with college bats earlier.

I was a big fan of Bradley Zimmer leading into the draft. I had him in the top 10 and if not for a cool off at the end of the year I have little doubt he would have been long gone before the Indians picked. The Indians stayed put and grabbed a big outfielder who has five tool potential. I don't understand the number of people comparing him to Naquin who is three inches smaller and weighs the same. Naquin at the time had a better current hit tool, but Zimmer has shown a better eye at the plate and he hit more home runs this year than Naquin hit in his entire college career. Naquin was viewed by many as having the best arm and hit tool in his draft, and yet he was still rated in the 30’s on most boards. On the other hand Zimmer was a top 20 guy on every board in a draft I thought was deeper and stronger. This comparison makes no sense, and is basically a way for people who don’t like the pick to shoot it down. I guess I am crazy but a 6-feet-5 centerfielder who is growing into his frame and has a legit five tool potential is something I am always happy to see added to the minors.

The Indians then took Justus Sheffield and I will also mention Grant Hockin because they both showed a change for the Indians when it comes to pitching. The Indians have taken a lot of upside arms the past few years. I won’t go into names, but they haven’t all worked out terribly well yet. Hockin and Sheffield are steady arms as they don’t have massive upside, but both are safer bets with already well developed secondary stuff for high school arms. The thought seems to be that secondary pitch development is the biggest thing which hinders high school arms from advancing and making it in time to the majors. So instead the Indians grabbed two guys whose secondary stuff is well beyond the typical high school arm. I think they both profile as mid-rotation arms, but a much better chance they get there than some of the players taken before them.

The Indians in the last five years had taken exactly one player who they didn’t either play up the middle or who they weren’t planning on trying up the middle, and that was Jordan Smith, who has never been a top 10 guy, but has been a steady bat in the minors. This year they broke that mold quickly when they selected Mike Papi and then followed it up with Bobby Bradley who was one of the most limited defensive players in this draft.

Mike Papi went #38 and his future is either as a corner outfielder or at first. Now what I don’t get is how Michael Conforto can go 10th and Papi some how goes nearly 20 picks later. They are both left-handed hitters at roughly the same size whose major tool is their eye at the plate. This year they actually had identical walk totals and Papi only struck out five times more. Papi had more home runs but Conforto had more doubles. I do understand Papi was better last year in terms of average and number of strike outs, but there is no denying he is one of the top hitters in college baseball. I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that Papi did this all in a much harder park, one of the worst parks for college baseball hitters in the country. Basically I am saying Papi was an incredible value who profiles to be a very similar player to a guy who was a top 10 pick.

Bradley on the other side could be something very special. Bradley is a guy who is likely to stick at first base. I don’t see him profiling anywhere else. The Indians took him in the third round and promised him second round money, basically entirely on his bat. He flashes plus power and a plus hit tool. He is a special talent, who if he could have caught or played anywhere else than first would have been a first round talent. Once he signs his bat will have the second highest ceiling in the Indians system to me. I think in three years his scouting report could have read very similar to Kyle Schwarber from Indiana who went fourth this year.

The Indians drafted three seniors, which surprised me. This seemed low, especially since Bradley, Hockin, Miniard, Lucas, and Hentges will all more than likely be over slot guys to sign. I expected them to take a few more seniors than they did to cover the cost. Merryweather is a right hander with some upside, which is why the Indians grabbed him first. Then they took Greg Allen who was one of the top seniors in the draft who might command slot as he was a top 100 guy on every draft board. The last guy is Stephen Patterson who has performed well in college. The comparison if he performs will be to Joe Wendle as another smaller senior sign.

Miniard and Hentges are bigger guys who are the Indians high ceiling selections in the draft. They decided to hold off then take the risk with later picks. They are both big bodied players who have just started to show their talent. It might be smarter to take these risks later as it costs less money. Either way both players have some exciting upside. The risks are high but well worth it especially when they were taken.

This leaves just two more players from the top 10 to mention, a pair of high school kids who are kind of polar opposites. Alexis Pantoja was considered the top Puerto Rican player in the draft this year and he compares to me to Indians current top prospect Francisco Lindor. It might be fairer to say he is half a Lindor because in terms of work ethic and defense he is very similar to his country man. I am not sure if the bat will ever develop enough to make him a regular but his defense will guarantee he kicks around the minors at worst for a long time. The opposite player is Simeon Lucas whose offensive side is his strength but the concern is can he stick behind the plate where his value would be maximized. His bat could play anywhere, but he profiles out as a plus hitter behind the plate.

So what about the other 30 picks? Well, in all honesty, I don’t expect the Indians to sign more than a handful. This isn’t like last year where the Indians saved a bunch of cash to save on later picks, this year they are going to max out on their top 12 picks. As mentioned before I just don’t see how they can spend more than $105K on any of these picks. I expect the Indians to go over pool just to sign every pick in the top 10 rounds. They will sign the seniors, but I think for the most part they are going to just use this time to talk with the other players they drafted and get to know them a bit. I expect them to add maybe six to ten guys from rounds 11-40 to minors this year.

Rather than rehashing all those picks, I thought I would just pick five who intrigue me the most and seem like players who they could possibly sign:

- Jordan Dunatov is another high upside player for the Indians. He hit 97 this year but was rarely used. He is about as raw as a high school arm, but the potential is there in a big frame kid who already brings some heat.

- Bobby Ison struck out less in a year than some guys do in a week. He was an on-base machine who lacks ideal height which hurt him on draft day.

- David Speer was the top pitcher the Ivy League has seen in a long time. He works more in the mid to high 80’s which hurt his value, but I see a guy who has a great chance to be a left-handed reliever out of the pen in time with his mix of secondary stuff and control.

- Luke Eubank is a smaller righty with a great sinkerball. His size and velocity hurt him, but his sinker is a legit plus pitch which like most sinkerball guys is really just about the only pitch he needs. The bonus is his slider does flash plus as well, which would be a devastating combo against hitters. He goes to Oxnard College so there is a chance he signs, but it won’t be easy.

- The last guy is Jodd Carter from Hawaii who has expressed some interest in signing with the Indians. He is a guy who profiles as a centerfielder or fourth outfielder. He brings speed and an arm to the outfield. The speed and hit tool are enough to make him an interesting prospect if he can be signed. I originally thought him unsignable but his recent comments made me wonder if the door is not open just a bit for him to join the Indians.

So there are my 1800 or so words on the Indians post draft. Now is the waiting game to see who signs and who doesn’t. If you need any information on any of the picks, I have capsules up on every Indian pick up on the site. The history is so deep now that you can go read about other former draft picks like Taylor Sparks, Ben Wetzler, and Dillon Peters who were all selected this year.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffmlbdraft, or email him at jellis121@yahoo.com

this link is to a video recap of Draft for AL Central teams from Baseball America. I didn't view it so cannot share any insights offered.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/20 ... ral-recap/

Cleveland Indians ‏@tribeinsider
Three more #Indians picks signed from 2014 #MLBDraft

Round 6
CF Greg Allen

Round 9
SS Alexis Pantoja

Round 31
RHP Dominic DeMasi

6 and 9 had interesting write-ups. This is a good draft . Now let's see if we can develop them.

Word came during the draft that we had signed our second pick, Sheffield. Then I heard some mumbling that maybe he wasn't signed afterall. Well, I guess it is official now.

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Indians sign first round pick Sheffield

Joe Reedy FOX Sports Ohio

JUN 16, 2014 8:32p ET

The Indians have signed one of their two first-round picks from the MLB Draft as pitcher Justus Sheffield has joined the organization.

Sheffield was selected as the 31st overall pick in the June 6 draft. The selection was compensation for Baltimore signing Ubaldo Jimenez in free agency.

The 18-year old left-hander recently completed his senior season at Tullahoma (Tenn.) High School, going 10-0 with a 0.34 ERA (three earned runs in 61 2/3 innings pitched) and 131 strikeouts. He also was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year after leading the Wildcats team to a third straight district championship and a second-round appearance in the Tennessee state playoffs. Past pitching recipients of the award include Zack Greinke ('02), Clayton Kershaw ('06) and Rick Porcello ('07).

Clint Frazier, who was drafted by the Indians with the fifth-overall pick, was the Gatorade winner last year.

"We've got an athletic left-hander with a real good combination of pitches. A fastball up to 95, a power slider, a feel for a changeup," said Indians Director of Amateur Scouting Brad Grant when Sheffield was drafted.

Bradley Zimmer (Photo: SFGate.com)

2014 MLB Draft: Post-draft Q&A with John Mirabelli Part 1

By Tony Lastoria

June 17, 2014

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Amazingly, the draft is already about two weeks in the past. A very large percentage of players have already signed and gotten their pro careers started, and in the coming days several more will get their careers going.

As I do after every draft, I had a chance to sit down with Indians Director of Scouting John Mirabelli and talk at length about a great many things pertaining to the Indians draft this year. We talked about a draft process that he is very confident in that they have refined and why he thinks this Indians draft is different from previous years, some philosophy changes with their approach to drafting high school pitching, how they manage their bonus pool on the fly while the draft is going on, why they were so sold on players like Brad Zimmer, Justus Sheffield, Michael Papi and others when they selected them, and much more.

As usual, I am posting this in a Q&A format in order to provide his raw, unedited comments in full. Part two of this Q&A will post tomorrow.

Q: Another draft is in the books. What do you think about your draft?

John Mirabelli (JM): I feel good about it. I felt it was a deep draft and a nice blend of college guys and position players and some arms. I think high school and college arms were probably the strength of this draft, so I think we did well. I think we had a great process, which is the most important thing. A process that began about eleven and a half months ago and sometimes maybe three years ago. There was a lot of information and a lot of great efforts by our scouts, by Brad and our crosscheckers. Overall, I was very pleased with the process and where we ended up. That’s really all you can control.

Q: What have you learned from past drafts and do you keep learning things every year?

JM: Oh yeah, I think in any organization or any industry you have to continue to develop and continue to learn and continue to get better. There are so many aspects of scouting and with player evaluations, especially with amateurs who are 17-21 year old guys. There are so many things to learn and so many ways to get better that it is a continual ongoing process year after year. No team in baseball has this figured out, including us, so we are definitely trying to get better every year.

Q: This was the third year since the new CBA was adopted which limited spending on later round picks. As a result, some high school and junior college talent in rounds 11-40 that may have signed under the old CBA have now almost been forced to go to college if they want to get a big bonus. We are still about a year away from seeing a true impact of those non-signings from the 2012 Draft who will be eligible next year, but there were some players who were eligible this year. Do you think this will improve the depth of the draft in upcoming years?

JM: I would agree that the Major League baseball teams the last few years have done a pretty phenomenal job of signing the elite high school players, particularly the elite position players. I think that was probably reflective in how the draft went and why there were more arms than there were bats. I think there were a lot of guys - maybe like four or five guys - that would have signed as later guys out of high school and they went to school and some of them got better. I think you are starting to see a nice combination of some of these guys that probably need to go to school end up at school and getting better, and that improves the overall depth of the draft itself. We did start to see some of that effect for sure.

Q: You took outfielder Bradley Zimmer with your first pick. What sold you the most on him?

JM: I think what we liked most about Brad is his solid package of speed, defense and athleticism. I think that is what put us over the top with him. He is a very versatile player. He gives you good instincts and a chance to be elite on the basepaths and elite in the outfield as a middle of the diamond player. I think his overall game is pretty enticing. If we were picking higher we probably still would have drafted him.

Q: You had the luxury of four first day picks so it gave you an opportunity to be flexible and go in really any direction you wanted to go with your first overall pick. If you had just one pick on the first day like last year, would it have been hard to pass on a pitcher with that first pick or do you simply just stick to your draft board?

JM: We line up the players in the order that we like them best. It is a combination of upside, risk and talent, and at the end of the day when it was our turn to pick at No. 21 that is who we took. We have kind of always done it that way. Now, there are some points in this pool system where there are some strategies involved with the application of your dollars, but for the first five picks we took them as we lined them up. It was a long detailed and thorough process to get them all lined up so we stick to the process.

Q: Brad Grant mentioned that Justus Sheffield was rated very closely to Zimmer on your draft board. That had to be a tough choice.

JM: Oh yes, absolutely. I don’t have the board in front of me right now but we thought very highly of Justus. I saw him in the World Championships last year in September in Taiwan and our area scout has a long history with him, so we felt pretty good about our assessment of his ability.

Q: What did you like most about Sheffield?

JM: It is kind of now stuff. He has a 92 MPH fastball and an above average curveball and an average changeup, so you are not projecting a lot of things with this kid. Obviously he is an above average athlete, we liked his delivery, we liked his arm action and we liked his strike throwing ability. It is just a lot of now stuff that you don’t really have to dream on like with a lot of these high school pitchers. He has been in big time competition and been all over the circuit. We just felt good about everything we were getting in the player. And of course the makeup.

Q: How much did you consider makeup when evaluating who to take with your top picks?

JM: Makeup was probably the key point in this draft. We were going to take players that we knew and knew that were competitive and had the work ethic. We didn’t leave any of that to chance. We did a very thorough job of getting to know the players this year.

Q: What about the flow of the draft and what teams are doing in front of you or behind you, do you ever have an idea of what teams are doing so that you can really narrow down your choices with your pick?

JM: We have no idea. We are completely blind. Most teams are not going to show their hand at all. I know we don’t give any information to the teams behind us and we don’t expect any from the teams in front of us. You are completely blind to what is going on, but that is why you have to be so thorough going into the draft. That is why we meet for 10 days and go over this thing with a fine tooth comb. We have all sorts of opinions and video and information and data, and that is why we spend so much time trying getting those top 150 guys in order. You have to trust the work you put into it because you don’t have time to figure out on the run what is going on in front of you. You just have to trust the way you put them together. There is no inkling whatsoever of who is going where. I mean, you can guess. Of those 20 picks in front of us we probably knew of 10 or maybe 15 of them that would be gone but we had no idea what order. It is a blind effort Tony.

Q: So because you have no idea who is coming off the board you just have to stay true to your board and take the top guy on your board once your pick comes up in order to avoid confusion and second guessing at the time you make your pick?

JM: You have to. You have to trust your process and how you put it together. All of that time and conversation and dialogue you had to put that board in order, that is what you have to go with. If you start waffling and are just not sure of yourself and wait to react to the pick in front of you, that is too late and you usually don’t make good decisions when you do that.

Q: How excited were you and the rest of your staff to get the extra day one picks this year compared to last year?

JM: I actually think it was a pretty good year talent-wise to have them. I think the value of those picks at 31, 38, and 61 is where the strength of the draft was. I think there was a lot of depth in that area. Maybe not a lot of top end guys like at the top of this draft, but in the areas where we picked there was a lot of depth and it was a pretty deep draft from that standpoint. I had a number of scouting directors who were picking in the top 10 and just outside the top 10 who told me this would be a good year to trade down like in the NFL and get into the 30s, 40s and 50s because there was really some good depth. What I mean by that is maybe the player you get at 19 or 22 that is pretty similar talent to the guy who is going 61 or 62. So there was a lot of depth and we were excited about the opportunities and where our picks fell and it shaped up as a good year to have those picks.

Q: Did those picks in the higher rounds allow you to be a little more creative and aggressive, get more certainties, or was it a blend of both?

JM: I think it was an opportunity to get some depth and more chances at upside, and that is really all you are trying to do. The deeper you go and the more picks you put on the board, you get later into the draft in the fourth or fifth round you have a good idea where you can maybe take some chances or roll the dice. It gives you a lot of flexibility as you go into the draft having those extra picks. You never know what is going to happen, who is going to fall, how much pool money you are going to have or where you can get creative, but I think generally speaking the extra picks are always a good thing. I wouldn’t want a pick because we didn’t sign a guy the previous year, but I think the more of these picks we can get in our situation as a smaller mid-market team that relies on the draft, I think that is to our advantage to be honest with you.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

CLEVELAND -- The Indians have signed first-round Draft pick Bradley Zimmer, the team announced on Tuesday.

Zimmer, an outfielder from the University of San Francisco, was taken with 21st overall pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. He joins southpaw Justus Sheffield as the second of Cleveland's four Day 1 selections to reach an agreement with the organization. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

A left-handed hitter measuring 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, Zimmer was ranked the 10th-best prospect in this year's class by MLB.com. As a junior, he hit .368 with seven triples and seven home runs while nabbing 21 stolen bases. He projects as a center fielder and top-of-the-order hitter at the Major League level.

"It's the combination of tools that are really exciting with Bradley," Indians director of amateur scouting Brad Grant said. "[He's] a plus runner, a chance for a plus center fielder, plus arm and then just an advanced feel to hit. Despite the thin athletic frame, there's power in the bat as well. [He's] an exciting player that brings a lot of tools to the table."

The Chicago Cubs drafted Zimmer in the 23rd round coming out of high school, but he opted not to sign and instead followed his brother Kyle, who was the fifth overall Draft selection in 2012, to San Francisco.