Cleveland Sports Forum

He didn't make BA's top 500 prospects so no available scouting report.

One year at ST, a guy on the Indians staff(can't remember who) told me there were 3 types of players in camp....prospects, organizational players and favors.

Maybe the guy with no scouting reports was in the favors category.

Oh, c'mon now. How many players are drafted? a million? I dunno.

Can't imagine it's too awfully unusual for a player drafted in the 25th round or later to not be on a top 500 list.

Since there are 30 teams, by the time we get to the 25th round, you wouldn't expect any of the top 500 to be left on simple math. The last few rounds tend to feature unsignable high school kids who might be prospects, so cannot be more than about a dozen rounds of signable top 500 players.

2016 Cleveland Indians Draft: June 17th signing update

Tony Lastoria

Friday at 10:01 AM

The IBI's Tony Lastoria provides updates on draft picks Will Benson, Hosea Nelson, Zack Collins and Michael Letkewicz, as well as signing decisions from Tanner Tully and Danny Sinatro.

Note, the IBI's Corey Crisan contributed to this report.

- 1st round pick outfielder Will Benson has agreed to terms on a $2.5 million signing bonus per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. The bonus comes in $473,700 under the $2,973,700 slot value for the number 14 overall selection. The savings is something that was expected after the Indians surprised many and reached for Benson in the first round. In theory, the savings with the first round pick allowed the Indians to take some tougher signs in the other bonus pool rounds and will give them the flexibility needed to sign some high profile players they selected that could have gone much higher in the draft (one such player being Nolan Jones).

- 9th round pick outfielder Hosea Nelson’s signing bonus is $125,000, which is $41,700 under the $166,700 slot for the Indians 9th round pick (No. 272 overall). Again, the Indians are going to use this savings on some of their big names near the top with Jones and Capel, and then perhaps use some savings on a guy or two in the post-bonus pool rounds.

- 15th round pick catcher Zack Smith is still weighing his options on whether to sign or enroll and play for UNC Charlotte this fall. I will take a guess and say he doesn’t sign since the Indians selected a lot of catchers, they are limited in the amount of money they can give him and he can go to school and perhaps drive up his draft stock with three good years at UNC Charlotte.

- 23rd round pick right-handed pitcher Michael Letkewicz has officially signed. I do not have word on the bonus amount, but I have heard is it somewhere between $1,000 and $10,000. If I get an exact figure I will pass it along.

- 26th round pick left-handed pitcher Tanner Tully has agreed to terms with the Indians. I do not know the signing bonus amount but I would venture to guess it is at $100,000.

- 40th round pick shortstop Danny Sinatro looks like he is not going to sign and will go on to school and play baseball at Washington State University. The IBI’s Corey Crisan spoke to him and he pretty much made it clear he won’t be signing with the following statement: “Well the draft process was quite an experience for me. I was lucky enough to be able to participate in two pre-draft workouts at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, let alone be drafted by the Cleveland Indians. Not many kids my age can say the same. I'm just honored and fortunate for the opportunity presented to me. Regarding the signing process if they show me the green I'll be at the scene. This is a business and I have to think diligently about my future. Otherwise, I plan on developing as a Coug under Marty Lees and will hopefully get the best of both worlds by getting drafted my junior year out of college.”

2016 Cleveland Indians Draft: June 18th signing update

Tony Lastoria

Saturday at 8:25 AM

The IBI's Tony Lastoria provides bonus details on four signings from Friday plus provides an up-to-date listing of where the Indians are with all of their picks...

- On Friday the Indians officially announced the signing of 1st round pick outfielder Will Benson ($2.5 million), 2nd round competitive balance pick catcher Logan Ice ($850K), 3rd round pick right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale ($625K) and 10th round pick shortstop Samad Taylor ($125,000).

- Including 9th round pick outfielder Hosea Nelson ($125K), the Indians have signed five of their eleven bonus pool picks to underslot deals. Benson’s slot was $2,973,700 ($473,700 savings), Ice’s slot was $892,200 ($42,200 savings), Civale’s slot was $655,500 ($30,500 savings), Nelson’s slot was $166,700 ($41,700 savings) and Taylor’s slot was $156,600 ($31,600 savings). In total, the five signings have saved the Indians $619,700.

- The Indians are going to need all of these savings and it is not a mere coincidence that they are announcing all of these underslot deals right now. There are some overslot deals coming which are going to eat up nearly all of those savings, if not all and then some. Of the remaining six unsigned bonus pool picks, 7th round pick catcher Michael Tinsley and 8th round pick right-handed pitcher Andrew Lantrip are both set to sign and will likely be underslot deals or maybe right at slot (but nothing overslot). Also, 4th round pick right-handed pitcher Shane Bieber won’t sign until after his team finished play in the College World Series, but when he signs it should be a deal similar to Tinsley and Lantrip that is a little underslot or at most right at slot.

- This leaves 2nd round pick shortstop/third baseman Nolan Jones, 5th round pick outfielder Conner Capel and 6th round pick third baseman Ulysses Cantu in the driver’s seat to get overslot deals. Actually, Cantu may himself only get a slot deal or something a little under as he doesn’t really have a position at the moment. That leaves Jones and Capel to soak up most if not all of the bonus pool savings for the Indians, and I would bet that Jones eats up a very large chunk of it similar to what happened with right-hander Tristan McKenzie last year. McKenzie was the number 42 overall selection last year with a slot amount of $1,468,400 that the Indians had to go way over to get him to sign a $2,302,500 bonus ($834,100 overslot). I would expect Jones to come in right around $600K-800K overslot.

- Here is an updated listing of all the Indians picks and where they all are in the signing process right now:
Rd Name Pos Signing Status Bonus Pool Hit Slot +/-
1 Will Benson OF signed $2,500,000 $2,500,000 $2,973,700 $473,700
2 Nolan Jones 3B expected to sign $1,159,200
2B Logan Ice` C signed $850,000 $850,000 $892,200 $42,200
3 Aaron Civale RHP signed $625,000 $625,000 $655,500 $30,500
4 Shane Bieber RHP in College World Series $482,500
5 Connor Capel CF $361,300
6 Ulysses Cantu 3B $270,300
7 Michael Tinsley C will sign $202,900
8 Andrew Lantrip RHP will sign $178,700
9 Hosea Nelson OF signed $125,000 $125,000 $166,700 $41,700
10 Samad Taylor SS signed $125,000 $125,000 $156,600 $31,600
11 Andrew Calica CF in College World Series $100,000
12 Zach Plesac RHP signed $100,000
13 Gavin Collins C will sign $100,000
14 Mitch Longo LF signed $100,000
15 Zack Smith C uncertain $100,000
16 Ben Krauth LHP will sign $100,000
17 Trenton Brooks OF $100,000
18 Raymond Burgos LHP will sign $100,000
19 Dakody Clemmer RHP signed $100,000 $0 $100,000 $0
20 Benjamin Baird SS may sign, unlikely $100,000
21 Wil Crowe RHP will not sign $100,000
22 Mason Studstill RHP $100,000
23 Michael Letkewicz RHP signed $100,000
24 Skylar Arias LHP will sign $100,000
25 Jonathan Laureno 3B $100,000
26 Tanner Tully LHP signed $100,000 $0 $100,000 $0
27 Nelson Alvarez RHP $100,000
28 Jamal Rutledge SS $100,000
29 Spencer Steer 3B $100,000
30 Ryder Ryan RHP $100,000
31 Chris Farish RHP uncertain $100,000
32 Kramer Robertson 2B will not sign $100,000
33 Blake Sabol C will not sign $100,000
34 Austin Shenton 1B will not sign $100,000
35 Armani Smith OF $100,000
36 Andrew Baker LHP $100,000
37 Mike Amditis C will not sign $100,000
38 Jacob DeVries LHP will sign $100,000
39 Pedro Alfonseca CF $100,000
40 Dah Sinatro SS $100,000

Indians Prospective ‏@indiansPro 12 hours ago
#Indians have officially signed 16th Round Pick LHP Ben Krauth. @BenKrauth will begin his career w/ AZL team.

Indians Prospective ‏@indiansPro 12 hours ago
#Indians have officially signed 28th Round Pick 20yr old INF Jamal Rutledge out of Contra Costra College. Rutledge starts career w/ AZL team

Indians Prospective ‏@indiansPro 12 hours ago
#Indians have officially signed 17th Round Pick OF Trenton Brooks. @tbrooks742 will begin his career w/ AZL team.

Indians Prospective ‏@indiansPro 14 hours ago
#Indians 2016 Draft Picks in town that will officially sign Tues/Wed pending physicals
5) Capel
6) Cantu
7) Tinsley
8) Lantrip
13) Collins

so if I reading correctly, all the first 13 are signed or ready to sign, except for No. 2 who's going to get most of the "savings" and the two guys at UCSB or are still playing in the CWS

5th 6th 7th 8th and 13th rounder is officially signed. As promised.

Indians Prospective

Ulysses Cantu officially signed & will begin his career with the AZL #Indians
twitter.com/indiansPro/sta… pic.twitter.com/ZtMX4suTg5

Capel officially signed & will begin his career with the AZL #Indians
@ConnerCapel @Baseball_ACES

Tinsley is heading to the (SS) Mahoning Valley Scrappers. @#Indians KUBaseball

#Indians 8th Round Pick 21yr old RHP University of Houston Andrew Lantrip signs for $125K (slot value $178,700K). @jimcallisMLB @MLBDraft

Collins officially signed & will begin his career with the (SS) Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
twitter.com/indiansPro/sta… pic.twitter.com/CYA6sz8VoK

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Officially signed as well.

16) LHP Ben Krauth
17) OF Trenton Brooks
26) LHP Tanner Tully
28) INF Jamal Rutledge

2016 Cleveland Indians Draft: June 22nd signing update

Tony Lastoria

The IBI's Tony Lastoria provides some updates on more Indians draft picks and provides a rundown of the status of all the other unsigned picks...

Here is another update on the signing status and more for Cleveland Indians draft picks from the 2016 MLB Draft.

- Over the last 24 hours the Indians have officially announced the signings of several players: 5th rounder outfielder Conner Capel, 6th rounder infielder Ulysses Cantu, 7th rounder catcher Michael Tinsley, 8th rounder right-handed pitcher Andy Lantrip, 9th rounder outfielder Hosea Nelson, 13th rounder catcher Gavin Collins ($100,000), 16th rounder left-handed pitcher Ben Krauth, 17th rounder outfielder Trenton Brooks $100,000), 19th rounder right-handed pitcher Dakody Clemmer, 26th rounder left-handed pitcher Tanner Tully, 24th rounder left-handed pitcher Skylar Arias and 28th rounder shortstop Jamal Rutledge.

- With these signings the Indians have now officially signed 20 of their 41 draft picks. They have signed 9 of their 11 bonus pool round picks, 14 of their top 18 picks and 20 of their top 29 picks.

- The big omissions right now from the signing pool are 2nd rounder infielder Nolan Jones, 4th rounder right-handed pitcher Shane Bieber and 11th rounder outfielder Andrew Calica. But Bieber and Calica are in the College World Series, so their non-signing to this point is to be expected as neither can do so until after their college season is completed. The expectation is still that Bieber will sign and Calica is a 50-50 shot.

- Speaking of Jones, he is reportedly weighing his options on whether or not to sign per a radio interview with CBS Philly. Again, the expectation is the Indians will definitely sign him. The Indians will have to go well over slot which is why all of the other bonus pool round deals had to first be finalized so they didn’t run the risk of someone backing out of a verbal agreement.

- Now that all of those deals except Bieber’s are final, the Indians should be able to put all of their concentration into finalizing the deal with Jones. It is not known exactly what the bonus pool picks above signed for, but the expectation is that it shouldn’t dip too much into the savings the Indians have already accrued with other picks. A great scenario would be the Indians can get Jones signed and still be a little under their bonus pool where that savings along with a few hundred thousand they can go over where they are only taxed would allow them to reign in an interesting post-bonus pool pick. I still believe that all of those potential savings would go to Calica and that he will be the biggest post-bonus pool signing.

- 22nd rounder right-handed pitcher Mason Studstill is still expected not to sign with the Indians and stay committed to attending and playing for the University of Miami.

- Here are some quick thoughts on other unsigned picks:

15th rounder catcher Zack Smith: Not expected to sign
18th rounder left-handed pitcher Raymond Burgos: Still expected to sign
20th rounder right-handed pitcher Ben Baird: Unlikely to sign
21st rounder right-handed pitcher Wil Crowe: Not signing
27th rounder right-handed pitcher Nelson Alvarez: Unknown status
29th rounder third baseman Spencer Steer: Very likely not signing
30th rounder right-handed pitcher Ryder Ryan: Unknown status
31st rounder right-handed pitcher Chris Farish: Weighing his options, likely not signing
32nd rounder infielder Kramer Robertson: Not signing
33rd rounder catcher Blake Sabol: Not signing
34th rounder first baseman Austin Shenton: Not signing
35th rounder outfielder Armani Smith: Unknown status, but not expected to sign
36th rounder left-handed pitcher Andrew Baker: Unknown status, but not expected to sign
37th rounder catcher Mike Amditis: Not signing
38th rounder left-handed pitcher Jacob DeVries: Expected to sign
39th rounder outfielder Pedro Alfonseca: Unknown status, probably won’t sign
40th rounder shortstop Danny Sinatro: Not signing

Indians Prospective
Done Deal! Indians have officially signed 2016 12th Round Pick 21yr old RHP Zach Plesac out of Ball State University

BA says:

Plesac came into the year with high hopes, but his stuff was rarely as sharp during his junior year as he's shown in the past and he eventually was shut down for the final month of the season with an arm injury. Pre-injury, Plesac seemed to struggle to get loose, as he'd often sit at 87-90 mph, down a tick or two from what he's shown in the past. His changeup has been an average offering in the past. His slider is improving but is still a well-below-average offering that needs to be tighter with more bite. Plesac is a good hitter for a pitcher, good enough that Ball State played him in left field before he was shut down.