Cleveland Sports Forum

Aguillar hit by a pitch, left today's game, not immediately, but at the start of the next half inning.

Zach McAllister just happens to be starting tonight for Columbus. If he does half way decent job, he'll be leaving the Clippers for a trip to the East Coast.

9 hits off McAllister in 5 innings, 2 runs.
Corey Kluber has been pretty effective in Columubs, higher ERA than Mc but averaging over 1 K per inning.

Meanwhile Aeros are trailing 12-5. Chun Chen finally hit his 2nd homer of 2012. Jeremie Tice in his second AA game with his 1st Aero homer. Chen also with 2 singles, average is now 318. 8 runs off Brett Brach in 3 2/3: 7 hits, 5 walks, errors make 4 of them unearned. Sturdevant debuted at Akron yesterday with a scoreless inning.

Carolina won the first of 2, 9-8. 2 singles for Urshela. Single and double for Moncreif. Single and triple for Bo Greenwell, even now Bo is still age 23 so not really old for the league. Maybe if he continues to hit he'll get a shot this season in AKron. Mike Rayl went 5/3 10 5 runs, ERA now 4.84. 3 unearned off Jesus Flores in relief, but 4 hits helped score them, too.

Aguillar not in the game 2 lineup. Cole Cook with his Carolina debut, 3 runns off him on 2 homers in the 1st.

Only 2 hits for Captains through 6 innings; they trail 4-0. Elvis Araujo with another stinker: 4 runs, 5 hits, 3walsk in 4 2/3. A very similar start for fellow prospect Felix Sterling last night. Both of those guys were poised to move to significant prospect status this year, both are flailing.

SScrappers were shutout yesterday and trail 3-1 after 5 today. Their lineup is younger than typical for the league, only a couple decent college bats in their lineup.

Opening day starter Davenport back out there tonight. He's a 2011 draftee from college (Arkansas I think) who slipped due to injury; other starters include Robbie Aviles, a 2010 pick who fell from perhaps 1st or 2nd round due to impending surgery; Ryan Merritt LH, 20 year old JUCO draftee in 2011 signed for above slot bonus; Jake Sisco a 2011 pick who is rated highly on a lot of Tribe prospect lists; Luis DeJesus 20 year old RH, 11st round pick last year, worked in the bullpen for Lake County earlier this year.

Other than catchers the players are young: IF: 19, 19, 20 and 22. OF: 19, 19, 20, 21, 21.
This league is usualyly dominated by college juniors and seniors who have just signed.

Keep an eye on 6-5 18 year old LHP Luis Lugo who's in the Arizona League. FAnned 6 in his 3 inning debut, 1 run. 38 K in 29 IP in DSL last season.

17 year old Dorssys Paulino (SS) had 3 hits in AZL opener, 2 walks in game 2.
19 year old 3B Jorge Martinez with 2 doubles, a single and walk in their last game, homered in game 1

SUnday highlights:

TJ McFarland with a 9 inning 4 hit shutout for Columbus. One bad start, 10 runs in 3 1/3, skews his ERA. Otherwise an excellent season, first in AA, now in AAA, he's up to a record of 9-2 I believe.

Chun Chen hit 3 doulbes, up to 24 for the season, and avg over 320. He has only 2 homers. And no reports on his defense at 1st base. We sure can use some 1b depth, maybe he can provide it.

Jordan Smith a couple hits for Columbus. Lindor with 2 steals. The two of them and LuigiRod are all batting in the 280s.

Lots of offense by Mahoning Valley and Arizona, but worst pitching so both lost. Jake Sisco was not effective as Scrapper starter. Jorge Martinez 2 hits for Arizona, at 571. Catcher Eric Haase doubled and tripled for 4 RBI (a mid first 10 round draft pick last year). Single, double, error for SS Doryss Paulino. OF Josh McAdams single walk 3 rbi. 500 after two games. 7th round 2012 draftee out of HS who signed for 2nd or 3rd round money. I sure hope several of these OF"s are successful. We;re very thin out there.

Ranked #151 in Baseball America's Top 500.
Date Signed: [Currently Not Available] Signed for: $250,000
Draftee Representative: KASE Management Signing Scout: [Currently Not Available]
Schubert is in the process of legally changing his last name from the current McAdams. By any name, he's one of the toolsier preps hitters in Georgia, a high-risk, high-reward player with significant upside. He's 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, and he runs well for his size, a tick above-average now, though he will wind up a fringy or below-average runner as he fills out. Otherwise, it's not hard to project on Schubert, a righthanded hitter who flashes plus raw power when he makes consistent contact. He'll likely wind up on a corner, and his strong arm makes right field a logical future location. Teams that believe in Schubert's bat have to believe he'll refine a raw approach at the plate, relying in part on his impressive batting-practice displays. He committed late to High Point, and scouts consider him signable, which may get him to get picked in the first two rounds even though the scouting consensus appears to peg him as a third- to fifth-round talent.

CLE AA Van Mil, Loek 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 1.08
CLE AAA McFarland, T.J. 9 4 0 0 1 4 4.22 W (2-1); Prospect Pitcher of the Day CLE MAJ Hagadone, Nick 0.2 2 3 3 1 1 5.96 [on his way back to Columbus?]
CLE SS Sisco, Jake 4 2 3 2 4 3 4.70

2012 Indians Draft: 6/25 Signing update

Caleb Hamrick (Photo: Prefect Game)
By Tony Lastoria
June 25, 2012
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The July 13th deadline is about two and a half weeks away and to date the Indians have signed 18 of their 40 draft picks. The Indians are expected to sign a few more, and some higher profile signings are still definitely coming.

*****

I had a chance to sit down and talk to Indians 8th round pick right-handed pitcher Caleb Hamrick for a few minutes last night to get an update on his signing status.

Hamrick is excited to be a Cleveland Indian and I could tell he is very interested in signing, though he and the Indians are still working their way through the negotiation process of his signing bonus. The “slot” value for the Indians 8th round pick as depicted by Major League Baseball is $136,000, but that’s not the kind of money he is looking for.

“The very morning before the draft started on the second day I got an email and a call [from the Indians] that I was going to go in the 5th round,” Hamrick said. “I slipped down to the 8th round and then all of a sudden I got a call and they [asked] ‘will you take this amount for the 8th round?’ and I said ‘sure, just get me drafted’. It was pretty exciting to get drafted in itself, but I was kind of disappointed that the finances of it slipped down a little bit.”

Going into the draft the Indians had a strong presence with Hamrick as they scouted him many times and were in constant contact with him.

“The area scout and I had talked a lot even before the draft came about,” Hamrick said. “We had an in-home visit probably in late February or early March, so I knew they were interested and I stayed in contact with the area scout quite a bit.”

Right now it appears to be a stalemate between Hamrick and the Indians. He wants 5th round money, which is the round he says he was told the Indians would take him and also the money other high school players in the Indians draft are getting. But according to Hamrick, at the moment the Indians are sticking to his slot value of $136,000 and nothing more.

“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Hamrick noted. “The slot amount is what they are saying is all of what they will give me. But I have been looking online and the 7th round pick got $250,000 for his signing bonus which is $100,000 over slot. Right now a $136,000 bonus is borderline for me not signing, especially when they tell me I am not going to get a cent over $136,000 when some other people are getting way more over slot. It is a thing where they are finding money for others around me, but where I am at they can’t find any of it. So I am just [waiting to see] what happens.”

Hamrick has a commitment to attend and play baseball at Dallas Baptist University, a four year school which has a good baseball program that went to the Super Regionals last year and just missed it by one game this year. But if he chooses the college option, he would not be eligible for the draft again until his junior season in 2015.

It comes down to whether Hamrick and the Indians budge a little in the negotiation process, which will probably happen. As the July 13th signing deadline one or both sides may budge a little and a deal could be completed.

The Indians have every intention of signing all of their top ten round picks, and Hamrick maintains that if the Indians give him 5th round money – which is somewhere around $250,000 - that he would already be signed.

“My advisor and I talked to them about get me drafted into the top five rounds and that we will take the money,” Hamrick said. “We would even take a cut in money in the slot so that they have more money for later rounds. They ended up picking me in the 8th round, but my advisor told them it does not matter where I am picked that as long as they give me 5th round money I am a go. That is what our previous agreement was to be. I would have already signed by now if they gave me that money.”

*****

26th round pick right-handed pitcher Justin Garza has elected not to sign with the Indians and instead will fulfill his commitment to attend and play baseball at Cal State Fullerton. I had a chance to speak to his former high school coach John Knott in the past few days, and he relayed that he had gotten word that he turned the Indians offer down to sign and that he will be going to college.

Here is what he said to me: “I have been told that Justin is planning on attending Cal St. Fullerton. I know the Indians have offered him money well above the round he was drafted, but his interests still remain to attend school. This is a very special kid. He is undersized which is why he didn’t go in the first round; however, he can flat out pitch and field his position. He is consistently 91-94 MPH with a tight slider and a pretty good change up. I think Fullerton is getting a steal and this kid if he stays healthy will definitely be a big leaguer.”

One caveat on this is that if the Indians find they have a lot of leftover bonus pool money come the July 13th signing deadline, I still think they could throw a big bonus out there to him. Some players that were considered out of the game last year (Shawn Armstrong) suddenly had a change of heart when the Indians threw some extra money at them on deadline night because other picks fell through (Stephen Tarpley and Dillon Peters).

Sad that most of the Tribe's decisions are financial and not based on drafting the best players.

Why did the Tribe's 1 pick sign for $500,000 under slot?

Because the tribe made a pre-draft offer and he said yes.

Sucks!

Teams have been allocated distinct pools that they can spend on draft choices. Tribe,like all teams, is signing some guys above slot, some below, to maximize their yield. If they hadn't "saved money" on Naquin they couldn't have gone $160,000 over slot to sign No. 2 pick RHP Mitch Brown; $100,000 over to sign OF Josh Schubert; or had money available to go for No. 4 Devone McClure or No. 8 Hamrick, both HS kids who have plenty of leverage; or maybe pick up some lower rounders like they got in Armstrong last year, and guys like TJ House in other recent aggressive drafts. Tribe has been making a habit of spending more than recommended slots in past years and is being forced to be more conservative this year by the new signing regimen.

Tribe OF's of the distant future?

CLE LoA Rodriguez, Luigi CF 3 1 2 1 .285 2 BB (23)
CLE LoA Smith, Jordan RF 5 0 2 1 .291 2B (14)

Relievers of present and maybe the future?
CLE AA Stowell, Bryce 1 1 1 1 0 2 2.95
CLE AA Sturdevant, Tyler 2 4 3 2 0 1 5.40
CLE MAJ Barnes, Scott 2.2 1 1 1 1 3 7.71

2012 Indians Draft: 6/26 Signing update
By Tony Lastoria
June 26, 2012
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The news on the signing front continues to trickle in, but there are still some interesting tidbits coming in on the unsigned picks (22 of them).

15th round pick catcher/first baseman Nelson Rodriguez is expected to now sign with the Indians. Nothing is official at the moment, but from what I have heard it is basically down to crossing a few T's and dotting a few I's. When he joins the organization it remains to be seen if he will catch or play first base, but long term he is viewed as more of a first baseman because of his big power potential. This is a good signing by the Indians as big power like he has is intriguing and something any system could use.

The only other picks that look likely to be signed at the moment are 24th round pick right-handed pitcher Walker White and 35th round pick infielder Nick Hamilton. White wants to sign and is eager for an offer, so it just depends on when the Indians contact him with an offer and what happens from there. It does not sound like he wants anything above the post-10th round limit of $100,000 so it just depends on if the Indians want to sign him or not. As for Hamilton, it just appears to be too good of a situation to pass up and I expect him to eventually be signed and become a part of the Indians' family. With Kent State's magical run over, that time could come soon.