Cleveland Sports Forum

About as good as could hope for....considering what was left

Another skinny guy with no power......

Just what we need!!!!

Francisco Lindor
SS | Monteverde Academy
Weight: 170 lbs.
Height: 5-11 Selected by: Indians
Round: 1
PK(OVR): 8(8)



Summary :
Francisco Lindor is the top prep shortstop in this year's draft, and at just 17 years old offers more potential for further development than the typical high school senior.

Lindor has grown in the last year but still projects to remain at shortstop due to his soft hands and very easy actions around the bag, as well as an above-average arm. At the plate, he keeps his hands inside the ball well and has good hand speed, projecting to hit for average and doubles power down the road. He has shown more raw power this year after a growth spurt in the offseason although power is not likely to be a huge part of his pro game. He's an above-average runner who plays with a ton of energy and gets good marks all around for his makeup.

He does not have one "wow" tool, but is the rare prep infielder with a high probability of reaching the majors. He'll be helped by the lack of true shortstop prospects in this year's draft.

From MLB.com

Lindor, a high school shortstop in Florida, has the chance to be an impact player on both sides of the ball at a premium position. He'll definitely be able to stay at shortstop with plus defense, showing outstanding range and a strong arm. At the plate, he's gotten stronger and he could grow into enough power to hit 15 or so homers annually, enough to keep pitchers honest, along with hitting .290-.300 every year.

While he's a solid average runner, he could be a potential leadoff hitter in the future, thanks to his strike-zone knowledge and willingness to take a walk to go along with his ability to swing the bat from both sides of the plate.

Lindor is a high-energy player with good makeup, one who is almost certainly the top high school position player, according to talent, in this Draft class.

Kevin Goldstein: Love this pick for Cleveland, so much better than the college arms still on the board. This kid is a natural SS and maybe the only one in the draft who projects as a plus defender there. He's also a switch-hitter with surprising pop, could see 10-15 HR annually down the road.

(From ESPN Chat)

Jason A. Churchill: Lindor was considered by Seattle and Arizona, and the Indians get a potential five-tool player that won't turn 18 until November. He's a switch hitter with pop -- he won the home run derby at the Aflac All-American game last year at ag 16 -- and scares opposing coaches from all angles. He's a wizard on defense and projects to not only stick at shortstop but thrive there. The Indians could be in a position to have to trade budding star Asdrubal Cabrera in a few years as he gets more expensive, and now Lindor is set as the successor. The question on Lindor is how real the power is, but scouts generally agree it's above-average relative to the position. Lindor isn't going to be a cheap sign so it appears the Indians are not looking for a slot signing with this pick, which should make Tribe fans happy.

(From ESPN Blog)

Refresh my memory.....didn't we draft a couple of shortstops pretty high last year?

We took Tony Wolters in the 3rd round last year. He's had injury issues and hasn't played much so far.

C'mon Sea, you can not be this silly. Tryouts for the new Joe Z start next week.

Wolters broke his hand and has not played at all this season. He's been considered more likely to move off SS

BA on Lindor:

Lindor moved to the United States from Puerto Rico as a 12-year-old, and four years later he captained USA Baseball's 16U club to a gold-medal victory against Cuba in the World Youth Championship in Taiwan. A baseball rat, Lindor has tremendous work ethic to go with above-average tools, and he plays the game with ease and passion. He's a switch-hitter with a line-drive stroke from both sides of the plate, and he has excellent hands that work both at the plate and in the field. He has the tools to play shortstop well at the highest level, with smooth actions, fluidity, instincts and good fundamentals. He's a plus runner but not a burner. Lindor's power is the biggest question about him. He has flashed more than just gap power at times, which was pushing him up draft boards. His season ended in April, and he wasn't expected to play in Florida's high school all-star game, instead working out on his own. Scouts haven't scoffed at Omar Vizquel comparisons. Scouting directors said Lindor was a legitimate candidate for the No. 1 overall pick, but more likely he'll slot in just behind that.

Sounds like Asdrubal to me.

Here are a couple of baseball wonks talking about out Lindor, to say they are giving a thumbs up is an understatement:

Kevin Goldstein:" Love this pick for Cleveland, so much better than the college arms still on the board. This kid is a natural SS and maybe the only one in the draft who projects as a plus defender there. He's also a switch-hitter with surprising pop, could see 10-15 HR annually down the road."

(From ESPN Chat)

Jason A. Churchill: "Lindor was considered by Seattle and Arizona, and the Indians get a potential five-tool player that won't turn 18 until November. He's a switch hitter with pop -- he won the home run derby at the Aflac All-American game last year at ag 16 -- and scares opposing coaches from all angles. He's a wizard on defense and projects to not only stick at shortstop but thrive there. The Indians could be in a position to have to trade budding star Asdrubal Cabrera in a few years as he gets more expensive, and now Lindor is set as the successor. The question on Lindor is how real the power is, but scouts generally agree it's above-average relative to the position. Lindor isn't going to be a cheap sign so it appears the Indians are not looking for a slot signing with this pick, which should make Tribe fans happy."

Indians pick athletic shortstop Lindor at No. 8
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com

-- The Indians went in a different direction on Monday night. For the first time in nearly a decade, Cleveland decided to take a chance on a prep star in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft.

With the eighth overall selection, the Indians added high school shortstop Francisco Lindor out of Montverde (Fla.) Academy. Lindor -- projected to be taken higher on many experts' Draft boards -- is highly regard for his stellar defense.

"We had a thought that he would be there," said Brad Grant, the Indians' director of amateur scouting. "The top of the Draft this year, there was some uncertainty as to how things were going to go, but we had a feeling that there was a chance that he would be there. He's a guy we certainly had targeted from the beginning."

Indians draft SS Lindor No. 800:01:496/6/11: The Indians draft Francisco Lindor with the No. 8 overall pick, a shortstop with the ability to hit for average and some power
Lindor, 17, hit .528 with six home runs and 13 RBIs this year as a senior. He scored 31 runs and added 20 stolen bases. The switch-hitting shortstop was a Rawlings First Team All-American in 2011 and won the home run hitting contest at the Aflac All-American Game in August 2010.

"It's kind of surreal for everybody involved," said Tim Layden, Lindor's high school coach. "Cleveland is getting an unbelievable talent and a pretty unbelievable young man."


The Indians can only hope that this year's top pick continues the club's recent string of strong first-round Draft choices.

A year ago, Cleveland took left-hander Drew Pomeranz (fifth overall), who has been dominating (58 strikeouts over 43 3/2 innings) of the Carolina League competition for Class A Kinston. In 2009, the Tribe settled on righty Alex White (15th overall), who reached to the Majors this season.

Lindor is the first position player picked up by the Indians in the first round since the organization selected Lonnie Chisenhall with the 29th overall pick in 2008. Chisenhall is currently manning third base for Triple-A Columbus and he could be doing the same for Cleveland before the end of the summer. Lindor is the first high schooler they've selected with their top pick since 2001 and the first prep position player they've picked atop their Draft since 2000.

The past four Drafts have been overseen by Grant. Under his watch, Cleveland's farm system has developed into one of the best in baseball. This year's Draft, however, is the first under the guidance of new general manager Chris Antonetti.

SCOUTING PROFILE: Lindor was born and raised in Puerto Rico, first in Caguas, then in Toa Baja, where he played in the same youth-league program as fellow Florida high-school star and potential 2011 first-round pick Javier Baez. Lindor moved from Puerto Rico to the Orlando area in 2006.
A year younger than most 2011 high-school drafts (he won’t turn 18 until mid-November), Lindor burst on the prospect map at the 2008 World Wood Bat Association Underclass World Championship in the most unlikely of ways. A skinny, then 14-year old, playing against some of the best 16-17-year olds in the country, he blasted a couple of home runs and drove balls for extra-base hits consistently from both sides of the plate. That power display, which he has continued to build on over the last three years, is what separates Lindor from the conventional top shortstop prospects.
He isn’t a blazing runner, with a 6.78 in the 60 the fastest recorded time by Perfect Game scouts, although his first-step quickness and exceptional balance give him above-average range at shortstop. Nor does Lindor have a cannon for an arm, but his lightning-quick release and advanced footwork enable him to make all the plays that a stronger-armed player may not always make.
The combination of all those attributes makes Lindor one of the few high-school shortstops that isn’t shadowed by questions about what position he will play at the major-league level. But the separator for Lindor is the bat. While a prototypical 5-foot-11, 170-pound 17-year-old middle infielder might be expected to be a contact hitter who needs to gain strength to compete offensively with a wood bat, Lindor’s quick, strong hands and overall hitting approach make him an exception.
He has above-average bat speed from both sides of the plate and legitimate extra-base power. Lindor put an exclamation point on his offensive potential by winning the home-run hitting contest at the 2010 Aflac All-American Game.
He enjoyed an outstanding senior season at Montverde Academy, both offensively and defensively, and gained a lot of notoriety Feb. 18 when his team matched up against Baez (Arlington Country Day HS, Jacksonville) in one of the most heavily-scouted games of the 2011 season. It cemented his status as a top-half of the first-round talent.
In the unlikely event that Lindor doesn’t turn professional this summer, he has a scholarship to Florida State to fall back on. Projected Draft Position: First round /Top 8-12 Picks

http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.a spx?ID=210870