2013 MLB Draft Results: Cleveland Indians/AL Central Day 1 Review

Cleveland Indians

The Indians had a second round pick and a competitive balance round B pick, but lost them when they signed Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn in free agency. So their top selection, Clint Frazier, will likely make or break their draft. As mentioned last night, Frazier combines plus power potential and athleticism in one player, a unique combination, especially in a high school player. With the potential reward comes a lot of risk, but I think it's a risk worth taking.

Minnesota Twins

(links go to Twinkie Town draft pick recaps)

The Twins went for pitching with both of their Day 1 selections. First they selected the first high school player in the draft, Texas high school pitcher Kohl Stewart, whose stuff may end up better than both Mark Appel and Jonathan Gray, the two pitchers ahead of him. Although he recently committed to Texas A&M to play both baseball and football, he's not likely pass up a $4-5M bonus to go to college.

Eades is a college arm. He injured his shoulder his senior year in high, though it didn't affect him in his three years at LSU.

Kansas City Royals

(link goes to Royals Review draft pick recap)

The Royals went very creative (or crazy, depending on your view) here, overdrafting Dozier with the 8th overall pick, grabbing Manaea (who had he been healthy may have gone in the top five picks in the entire draft) with their Competitive Balance pick, and then drafting another lesser talent in round two. The overall strategy seems to be to use the bonus saved from their first and second round picks to pay Manaea a top-10 (or even top-5) bonus to come out early. After an injury-plagued junior season, it would have made sense for Manaea to stay in school if he fell in the draft, but the Royals will try to change his mind.

Chicago White Sox

(links go to South Side Sox draft pick recaps)

Chicago went with a youngish shortstop with their first round selection. Anderson is one of the few top shortstop prospects who is projected to actually stay at the position. He's only 19, so there's still a lot of projection left. He could be anything from a dynamic all-around talent in the vein of Jose Reyes or not hit enough to make the majors.

With their second selection the White Sox picked high school right-hander Tyler Danish, who doesn't have your typical profile. He's "only" 6'1", which is very short for a right-handed starter, and has an odd delivery that looks more at home in a bullpen rather than a rotation. People said that Chris Sale was a reliever when the White Sox drafted him, though, so I'll give the scouting staff the benefit of the doubt with this one.

Detroit Tigers

(links go to Bless You Boys draft pick recaps)

Yes, the Tigers had a competitive balance selection, and no it doesn't make any sense.

Detroit went all college with their three Day 1 selections, and all came from top programs. Crawford projects at the middle of the rotation starter, though he needs to clean up some of mechanics. If he doesn't stick as a starter, he could easily move to the bullpen. Knebel may be the first 2013 draft pick to make the majors, as he's a reliever and should move very quickly through the Detroit system, though the Tigers at least initially will have him start. Ziomek projects as back-of-the-rotation starter who relies on his delivery and changeup to get outs.