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Update: July 12th was the signing deadline for 2013 draft picks, so the players that remain unsigned are not turning pro. The Indians ended up signing 8 of their 9 top picks, and 12 of their top 14 picks. The total haul was 24 picks out of 39 selections.
The Indians have announced some signings already, but only one of them has been in their top ten selections. Don't read anything into that, as usually they tend to release most of their signings all at once. With Clint Frazier in Cleveland tonight, I'm betting that the Indians will also announced several other of their top round signings at the same time.
Here's a quick reminder about what the draft pool is and how it works. Each club's pick in the top 10 rounds is assigned a dollar value per the CBA, and although clubs may exceed that assigned value, they cannot exceed the sum of all those values without incurring severe penalties:
- A team that exceeds its budget by less than 5% is subject to a 75% tax on the overage.
- A team that exceeds its budget by 5-10% is subject to a 75% tax on the overage and the loss of their 1st round pick in the following season.
- A team that exceeds its budget by 10-15% is subject to a 100% tax on the overage and the loss of their 1st and 2nd round picks in the following season.
- A team that exceeds its budget by more than 15% is subject to a 100% tax on the overage and the loss of their 1st round pick for the following two seasons.
So in effect the Indians' draft pool of $6,188,000 is a hard cap. If a club wants to exceed a particular slot value for one player, they have to save money elsewhere by signing another player for less than slot value. And if a club doesn't sign a draft pick, that slot value is subtracted from their overall pool. Hence the strategy of drafting at least a couple college seniors the two years this framework has been in place. Last year, the Indians drafted three college seniors in their top 10 selections: Joe Wendle (6), Jacob Lee (9), and Josh Martin (10), and signed each for $10,000 or less, allowing them to exceed slot value on several high school draft picks. The Wendle selection looks great now, because not only did the Indians save slot value, but it looks like they might have drafted an actual prospect.
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Exp. | School | Slot Value | Actual Bonus | Diff |
| 1 | 5 | Clint Frazier | OF | High School | Loganville HS, GA | $3,787,000 | $3,500,000 | +$287,000 |
| 3 | 79 | Dace Kime | RHP | College JR |
Louisville | $692,200 | $525,000 | +$167,200 |
| 4 | 111 | Kyle Crockett | LHP | College JR |
Virginia | $463,600 | $463,000 | +$600 |
| 5 | 141 | Sean Brady | LHP | High School | Ida S Baker HS, FL | $347,100 | $800,000 | -$452,900 |
| 6 | 171 | Casey Shane | RHP | High School | Centennial HS, TX | $259,900 | $150,000 | +$109,900 |
| 7 | 201 | Kenny Matthews | LHP | Junior College | Riverside CC | $194,800 | $150,000 | +$44,800 |
| 8 | 231 | Trevor Frank | RHP | College SR | California - Riverside | $158,300 | $10,000 | +$148,300 |
| 9 | 261 | Thomas Pannone | LHP | Junior College | College of So. Nevada | $147,800 | $120,000 | +$27,800 |
| Will not sign | ||||||||
| 11 | 291 | Adam Plutko | RHP | College JR |
UCLA | $100,000 | $300,000 | -$200,000 |
| Totals | Max = $6,050,700 | $6,050,600 | $5,718,000 | +$132,600 |
June 14, 2013
1st Round - OF Clint Frazier (High School) - $3,500,000/$3,787,000
The Indians will officially announce the signing tomorrow. The top pick accounts for more than half of the Tribe's draft pool, so inking Frazier to a bonus below the pool should help tremendously in signing any difficult picks elsewhere in the top 10.
6th Round - RHP Casey Shane (High School) - $150,000/$259,900
This signing is very interesting because Shane was committed to Texas A&M and was considered to be a difficult sign. But not only did the Indians sign him, but signed him for less than slot value.
8th Round - RHP Trevor Frank (College Senior) - $10,000/$158,300
Frank was UC Riverside's closer this past season, and because of his success in that role as well as his smallish size (6'0", 175 lbs), the Indians are undoubtedly going to use him out of the bullpen. He should move very quickly through the system.
9th Round - LHP Thomas Pannone (Junior College) - $120,000/$147,800
Pannone was committed to Arizona, but he chose to start his professional career instead. He spent much of his high school and junior college career as a two-way player, so he's very raw as a pitcher.
June 18, 2013
5th Round - LHP Sean Brady (High School) - $800,000/$347,100
The first overslot signing this year, the Indians coaxed Brady away from University of Florida. A 19-year-old, Brady has a decent fastball and a good curve/change combination. He should move quickly compared to other high school arms taken in this draft.
10th Round - 2B Ross Kivett (College Junior) - Will not sign
No details on what the Indians were offering, but Kivett has annouced via Twitter that he will return to Kansas State for his senior season. The Indians will have their overall draft pool reduced by $138,100, meaning that their max draft spend (without incurring penalties) is now $6,050,700 instead of $6,188,800.
June 21, 2013
3rd Round - RHP Dace Kime (College Junior) - $525,000/$692,200
As expected from a Defiance product (Chad Billingsley, Jon Niese), Kime has a wipeout curve in addition to his other pitches. Mostly a reliever in college, Kime moved to the rotation in the second half of his junior season. I'm guessing the Indians think he can be starter a given where they selected him. He'll probably go to Mahoning Valley.
7th Round - LHP Kenny Matthews (Junior College) - $150,000/$194,800
No details on the bonus yet. Matthews attended Cal State Fullerton, but then transferred to a junior college his sophomore year. Matthews doesn't have much of a fastball (high 80s), but he's a strike-thrower.He has the size (6'3", 210 lbs) to handle starting.
June 22, 2013
4th Round - LHP Kyle Crockett (College Junior) - $463,000/$463,600
Crockett is likely to be the first player from this draft to reach the majors if the Indians keep him in the bullpen. As Viriginia's closer this year, Crockett struck out 71 and walked only 7 in 58.1 innings this year.
July 11, 2013
11th Round - RHP Adam Putko (UCLA) - $300,000/$100,000 ($200,000 to count against draft pool)
$100,000 of Plutko's bonus does not count against the draft pool, but the remainder ($200,000) does because he was selected outside the top 10 rounds.
Plutko starred on UCLA's national championship team as their #1 starter. A teammate of both Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, Putko's ceiling isn't near as high as those two, but he may carve out a career for himself as a fringe starter. And with some pool money left over from the first 10 rounds, signing Plutko is a worthy gamble.
For the remainder of the rounds, the slot value is $100,000. If they wanted to, a club could sign every one of their selections from Round 11-40 for $100,000 and not affect their draft pool status, but if they exceed the slot value, that marginal excess counts against their pool. For example, if the Indians would pay their 17th Round selection $150,000, $50,000 would count against their draft pool.
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Exp. | School | Bonus Cap | Actual Bonus |
| 11 | 321 | Adam Plutko | RHP | College Junior | UCLA | $100,000 | $300,000 |
| 12 | 351 | Heath Quinn | RF | High School | Oak Mountain HS, AL | $100,000 | |
| 13 | 381 | Sicnarf Loopstok | C | Junior College | Western OK St CC | $100,000 | N/A |
| 14 | 411 | Silento Sayles | CF | High School | Port Gibson HS, MS | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| 15 | 441 | James Roberts | SS | College Junior | USC | $100,000 | N/A |
| 16 | 471 | Mark Payton | OF | College Junior | Texas | $100,000 | |
| 17 | 501 | Ryan Hendrix | RHP | High School | Cypress Woods HS, TX | $100,000 | |
| 18 | 531 | Paul Hendrix | SS | College Junior | Texas Christian | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| 19 | 561 | Matt Whitehouse | LHP | College Junior | UC Irvine | $100,000 | N/A |
| 20 | 591 | Shane Rowland | C | College Junior | U of Tampa | $100,000 | N/A |
| 21 | 621 | Paul Young | RHP | Junior College | Central Alabama CC | $100,000 | |
| 22 | 651 | Ben Heller | RHP | College Senior | Olivet Nazarene U | $100,000 | N/A |
| 23 | 681 | Grant Fink | 3B | College Senior | Missouri Western St Col | $100,000 | N/A |
| 24 | 711 | Kerry Doane | RHP | College Senior | East Tennessee State | $100,000 | N/A |
| 25 | 741 | Cole Sulser | RHP | College Senior | Dartmouth | $100,000 | N/A |
| 26 | 771 | Daniel Cogan | RHP | High School | Rocklin HS, CA | $100,000 | |
| 27 | 801 | Juan Gonzalez | C | High School | Puerto Rico BB Academy | $100,000 | |
| 28 | 831 | Steven Kane | RHP | Junior College | Cypress College | $100,000 | |
| 29 | 861 | Ridge Smith | 3B | High School | Germantown HS, TN | $100,000 | |
| 30 | 891 | Aaron Brown | LHP | College Soph | Pepperdine | $100,000 | |
| 31 | 921 | Wil Crowe | RHP | High School | Pigeon Forge HS, TN | $100,000 | |
| 32 | 951 | Cortland Cox | RHP | Junior College | Riverside CC | $100,000 | N/A |
| 33 | 981 | Joe Wise | LHP | High School | Cactus Shadows HS, AZ | $100,000 | |
| 34 | 1011 | Dustin Cook | RHP | Junior College | San Jacinto Coll. North | $100,000 | |
| 35 | 1041 | Jordan Milbrath | RHP | College Junior | Augustana College | $100,000 | N/A |
| 36 | 1071 | Mike Giuffre | 2B | Junior College | Brookdale CC | $100,000 | N/A |
| 37 | 1101 | Garrett Smith | 2B | College Senior | California Lutheran | $100,000 | |
| 38 | 1131 | Justin Garcia | RHP | Junior College | Weatherford College | $100,000 | |
| 39 | 1161 | Frank Duncan | RHP | College Junior | Kansas | $100,000 | |
| 40 | 1191 | Dan Pellinen | 3B | High School | North Woods School, MN | $100,000 | |
| Totals | $3,000,000 | $200,000 |
June 14, 2013
14th Round CF Silento Sayles (High School) - $100,000/$100,000
He made headlines this season by stealing an astonishing 103 bases in 104 attempts. Obviously speed is his main tool, but the reason why he lasted until the 14th round was that he didn't really have any other major-league tools or skills. He also didn't really play against good competition, so I'd expect him to take a while to develop.
18th Round SS Paul Hendrix (College Junior) - $100,000/$100,000
The Indians drafted him in the 32nd Round last year, so they've been interested in him for a while. He played two seasons at Howard Junior College before transferring to TCU.
20th Round C Shane Rowland (College Junior) - N/A/$100,000
23rd Round 3B Grant Fink (College Senior) - N/A/$100,000
36th Round 2B Mike Giuffre (Junior College) - N/A/$100,000
June 15, 2013
13th Round C Sicnarf Loopstok (Junior College) - N/A/$100,000
19th Round LHP Matt Whitehouse (College Junior) - N/A/$100,000
22nd Round RHP Ben Heller (College Senior) - N/A/$100,000
24th Round RHP Kerry Doane (College Senior) - N/A/$100,000
25th Round RHP Cole Sulser (College Senior) - N/A/$100,000
27th Round C Juan Gonzalez (High School) - N/A/$100,000
37th Round 2B Garrett Smith (College Senior) - N/A/$100,000
June 24, 2013
15th Round SS James Roberts (College Junior) - N/A/$100,000
July 1, 2013
35th Round RHP Jordan Milbrath (College Junior) - N/A/$100,000
July 8, 2013
32nd Round RHP Cortland Cox (Junior College) - N/A/$100,000