Indians preparing for another (successful) draft

(Photo: Dan Mendlik)

We are just a little over two months from the 2011 First-Year Player Draft which commences on June 6^th in Secaucus, NJ.

While organizations are busy finalizing their 25-man rosters for the start of the regular season, area scouts for every team have been dispatched all across the country and are working behind the scenes to find talent for their teams.  The hope is to find talent that will allow teams to sustain success or to build for a brighter future.

With the draft drawing closer and closer, the draft shopping season has certainly kicked into high gear.

"This is kind of our busiest time from now until June,” said Indians Amateur Scouting Director Brad Grant in an interview with the IPI last week.  “All of the high schools are starting to get going now and the colleges are about a quarter of their way into their season. We kind of prioritized the college players at the beginning and now that the high schools have started up we are starting to add those guys into the mix as well."

The draft process for the Indians starts immediately after the conclusion of the previous draft.  When the Indians were done making their selections in last year’s draft, they reconvened after a short break and started to formulate their process for this year’s draft and got to work scouting players in summer ball.

"Our process really begins the summer before,” said Grant.  “We use the summer to kind of start to build our list and prioritize who the top players are coming into the draft, and once we get into the spring we work off that list."

At the moment the Indians have already cast a wide net on the college scene and have seen just about every college player at least once.  Now they are going back for second and third looks while at the same time getting first looks at the high school action which just recently kicked up.

"Since February our crosscheckers and area guys have all been out scouting,” said Grant.  “We have probably already gone through the crop one time and we will continue to go back.  Our goal is to get as many looks as possible at all players, so we will keep going back to see as many players as possible and if new guys pop up we will be ready to react to those guys as well.  Because the college season starts so early in February we were able to get through that once and we are heading back for second looks now."

Prioritizing the right guys can be tricky, especially after the first round.  But it is part of the process in preparing for the first pick and setting up the draft board for the rest of the draft.

"It is a larger list to begin with and we will go one time through it and whittle it down and start to go back for second and third looks just to make sure that we prioritize guys the right way,” said Grant.  “But at the same time players get better over the course of the spring, so our goal is to make sure that we don't eliminate anybody and scout everything as thoroughly as we possibly can and get as many looks as possible."

The Indians have the 8^th overall pick in the first round of the draft this year.  They actually tied with the Washington Nationals for the 6^th pick, but since both clubs finished 69-93 last season the tiebreaker awarded the 6^th pick to the team (Washington) with the worse record the previous year.

Also, because the Arizona Diamondbacks did not sign 2010 1^st round pick pitcher Barrett Loux they were compensated with a pick in the exact some spot in this year’s draft, so this slid the Indians down another spot to the 8^th pick.

In any case, Grant feels that the Indians will be able to get an impact caliber player in the 8^th spot in what he feels is a deeper draft this year, especially with high end impact caliber players in the first round.

"This year it seems like it is pretty high end, especially at the top of the draft,” said Grant.  “There is some depth to the very good players [available] and there is a chance for a lot of impact players.  Last year was a good draft, but not the depth on the impact side of things.  On paper it looks very good right now because there are impact players up top and there is more depth further down below as well."

The Indians will not go into the draft with any specific area of need to focus in on.  They have taken pitchers in the first round in each of the last two drafts, but previous selections or team need at the big league level will not factor into the equation for most of the picks, especially the first pick.  They will go with the approach to take the best player available in just about every round.

“Especially at the top we are going to look to take the best player as you never know what is going to happen on the Major League side of things,” said Grant.  “With the way baseball is set up it is not like football or basketball where the player has to make an immediate impact, so we always look to take the best player available with that first pick and actually all the way through [the draft].  You are always going to balance things out in the draft as you go through it depending on what you have taken."

The burning question for most Tribe fans is if the organization’s aggressive approach from last year will carry over into the 2011 Draft.  The Indians understand that just about the only place they can compete toe to toe financially with the big market teams is in the draft, so it would be a surprise if they really pulled the reigns back this year.

While Grant says that they plan to be aggressive, he is also quick to note that they have not yet finalized their plan or budget for the draft.

"We will see how things play out as we get closer to the draft,” said Grant.  “We plan to have an aggressive draft again this year and plan to take the best player available again just as we have done in the past.  We will wait and see how it plays out and it is still yet to be determined.  We just have to go about it that we are going to scout everybody and keep everyone in play right now and make sure we are prepared to make the best decision possible when we get into the draft room [in June]."

The Indians had a highly touted draft last year when they spent close to $10 million in signing bonuses and picked up a lot of good talent, but they arguably had just as good of a draft the previous year in 2009 with almost half the budget.  So being aggressive is not always about spending a lot of money.

It all comes down to scouting, and so far things look good since Grant officially took lead amateur draft responsibilities from Scouting Director John Mirabelli in 2008.  The three first rounds picks under Grant since 2008 are third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall (2008), right-handed pitcher Alex White (2009), and left-hander Drew Pomeranz (2010), and all three are arguably the top three prospects in the Indians system.

When you go beyond the first round and consider second baseman Cord Phelps (2008, 3^rd round), right-handed reliever Zach Putnam (2008, 5^th round), right-handed reliever Bryce Stowell (2008, 22^nd round), and second baseman Jason Kipnis (2009, 2^nd round), that’s a lot of talent that has a chance to play in the big leagues this year that has been drafted and developed by the organization.  For the Indians to have any chance at success in the future this is exactly the blueprint they need to keep following.

That’s why Grant and his staff are hard at work looking at players of all shapes, sizes, and abilities in the hopes of finding talented players to help the Indians achieve success.

"A lot can change with the draft, so you don't want to assume anything,” said Grant.  “You want to be ready to react."

Notebook:

Wolters on the draft:  Speaking of the draft, Indians shortstop Tony Wolters is happy that whole process is in his rearview mirror.  He was not a big fan of all the showcases and how teams pick players apart and measure so many intangibles.  “All the showcases, I hated them,” said Wolters.  “I hated the 60 as I would cry the night before because I did not want to do that.  I just went out there and played baseball, but I did not like the stuff to see how hard you throw, how far you can hit it…that’s just not me.  So I did not like all that stuff, but I know you have to do it.  I am excited it is all over, and I am excited I had the privilege to be picked up by a team like the Indians and just play baseball.”

Mills hobbled:  First baseman Beau Mills has not participated in any games this spring in minor league camp.  Before departing last week I saw him in a walking boot on what I believe was his left foot.  According to another report the Indians are assessing his availability for the start of the season, which does not sound good.  It looks like he will open the season on the disabled list, which if that does happen it would leave a big hole at first base at Double-A Akron.  The Indians have a logjam at first base and the outfield in Triple-A Columbus, so it would not surprise me to see either Jared Head or Matt McBride open as the Akron first baseman for a few weeks.

Clippers trying to stay sharp:  Now that the exhibition game with Cleveland has come and gone in Columbus they now have a whole week to sit around and wait until they start play a week from today.  To keep them game ready and give the pitchers regular work they will play in three exhibition games next week.  On Monday they will play Double-A Akron on the road, come home Tuesday and play the Ohio State University at Huntington Park, and then host Akron on Wednesday night.  The Ohio State game costs $5 to attend and the Akron game in Columbus is free.

Columbus recap: Columbus was snowed out in their game against the big league team yesterday with the game being cancelled in the bottom of the third inning.

Akron recap: Akron beat the Dodger 4-3. Outfielder Grady Sizemore played center field and went 0-for-3 at the plate with a strikeout. Shortstop Juan Diaz (2-for-3, R, 2B, 3B, K) and third baseman Kyle Bellow (2-for-2, R, RBI) paced the offense. Left-hander Matt Packer got the start and went 4.0 innings (5 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 4 K). In relief righty C.C. Lee went 2.0 innings (1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K), righty Connor Graham went 2.0 innings (3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K), and righty Matt Langwell went 1.0 inning (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K).

Kinston recap: The K-Tribe lost to the Dodgers 2-1. It was a quiet day for the offense with third baseman Adam Abraham (2-for-3, R, 2B) and second baseman Ronald Rivas (1-for-3, 2B, RBI) doing almost all of the damage. On the mound lefty T.J. House went 3.0 innings (4 H, 2 R/ER, 1 BB, 4 K), righty Travis Turek went 2.0 innings (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K), and righty Tyler Sturdevant went 2.0 innings (3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K).

Lake County recap: The Captains beat the Dodgers 8-7. Catcher Alex Monsalve had a big day (3-for-4, 3 R, HR, 3 RBI, K), and outfielder Brian Heere (2-for-4, R, 2 B) and Anthony Gallas (2-for-3, BB, K) as well as catcher Alex Lavisky (1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, K) assisted with solid games. Lefty James Reichenbach got the start and went 3.0 excellent innings (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K). Righty Jordan Cooper went 2.0 innings (4 H, 4 R/ER, 0 BB, 1 K), righty Owen Dew went 2.0 innings (2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K), and sidearming righty Dale Dickerson went 1.0 inning (2 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 0 K).

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,Beau Mills,Brad Grant,Tony Wolters