Cleveland Indians News: Indians Sign Top Pick Brady Aiken
By Matt Bretz
May 5, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a Cleveland Indians cap and glove in the dugout prior to the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
How’s the Draft Class Looking?
The deadline for signing players is July 15th so we’ll know in about 3-4 weeks if the Indians can sneak in one more big signing. Regardless of if they sign a guy like Madrigal or not, this draft class by the Indians looks to be another solid one. Getting big prep arms like Aiken, McKenzie, and Hillman will help out one of the weakest areas in the Tribe farm system, the lack of upside arms. They’ve combined that with some solid collegiate players like Tyler Kreiger and Mark Mathias.
It will obviously remain to be seen just how good (or bad) this draft class is as it’ll be years before we see any of those players in the big leagues. Multiple players, including top pick Brady Aiken, are working their way back from arms injuries so it’ll be a while before we see them even make their minor league debuts. Aiken is working his way back from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to see any real work til next spring, though the Indians are optimistic he’ll be ready to go full steam then.
In any case, this draft class appears to have added some real talent to an already deep farm system. Even with the graduations of guys such as Francisco Lindor it’ll remain very deep with talents like Bradley Zimmer, Clint Frazier, and Francisco Mejia (among others).
Stay tuned to Wahoo’s on First for any more news on the Cleveland Indians 2015 draft and any other breaking Tribe news.