Cleveland Indians 2017 Draft: A job well done despite no first-round pick

The 2017 Major League Baseball draft is in the books and the Cleveland Indians appear to have done very well despite no first-round pick.

The 2017 Major League Baseball draft came and went this week. Despite not having a first-round pick due to the Edwin Encarnacion signing, the Cleveland Indians still made 40 picks over the 40 round draft, thanks to an extra pick after the second round due to the competitive balance lottery.

The Indians were short on cash due to the lack of the first rounder but that didn’t stop them from making some exciting picks. They also went very position-player heavy to start the draft, going six straight hitters before finally drafting a pitcher in the seventh round.

Here’s a quick overview of the Tribe’s top ten picks along with a few others from the later rounds. The first ten round players are subject to the draft bonus money and are listed below while the entire Indians draft can be seen here.

Tribe goes prep stars with both Day One picks

In somewhat of a surprise move, the Cleveland Indians went with a pair of high school players with their first two picks of the draft, taking outfielder Quentin Holmes with the No. 64 overall pick and shortstop Tyler Freeman with the No. 71 overall pick.

There were some who thought the Indians could be more conservative early due to lack of the first-round pick but the Indians took Holmes who was rated as the 33rd best prospect in the draft per MLB.com.

He was arguably the fastest player in the draft, posting the fastest 60-yard time in the history of pre-draft workouts per Perfect Game with a time of 6.15 seconds. For reference, Cincinnati Reds’ star Billy Hamilton had a reported 6.5 60-time.

The 17-year-old Holmes was drafted out of Monsignor McClancy Memorial HS (Bronx, NY). This continues the trend of the Indians drafting very young high schoolers, marking the third straight year they’ve done it in the first round (Triston McKenzie, Will Benson).

While his 80-grade speed is what really stands out, he’s also a very good defender in center field and can hit as well. He’s committed to Mississippi State and won’t be an easy sign (though I’d bet on it still).

Freeman was is a bit older, turning 18 at the end of May but still one of the younger high schoolers in the draft. A shortstop in high school, he’s a plus-defender who could play anywhere on the infield. He, along with Holmes, made Perfect Game’s All-Defensive team for this year.

He wasn’t as highly rated as Holmes though did rank 97th by Baseball America. Even if he has to move to second base he still could hit enough and has drawn Michael Young comparisons. He’s a TCU commit but going this high shouldn’t be a huge problem signing.

Day Two key to the draft for the Indians

The Indians have done a great job on the second day of the draft the last few years, drafting guys like Bobby Bradley (third round), Mark Mathias (thirrd), Tyler Krieger (fourth), Shane Bieber (fourth), Julian Merryweather (fifth), Ka’ai Tom (fifth), Greg Allen (sixth), and Thomas Pannone (ninth). Whether the Indians will come away with guys like those this year remains to be seen but they did get some interesting names.

They went position players for the first six picks in the draft as well, taking high school outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez out of Puerto Rico in the third round followed by a trio of college hitters in Ernie Clement (2B, University of Virginia), Austen Wade (CF, TCU), and Michael Rivera (C, University of Florida).

The Indians finally took a pitcher in the seventh round in Kirk McCarthy, a left-hander out of Southern Mississippi. The Tribe went three in a row then taking pitchers Eli Morgan (RHP, Gonzaga) in the eight round and James Karinchak (RHP, Bryant University) in the ninth round before closing out Day Two with St. John’s shortstop Jesse Berardi in the tenth round.

What was a bit of a surprise is the Tribe only took one senior on Day Two. Typically teams will take some “senior sign” guys who they know will sign for super cheap, thus saving money and allowing them to go over-slot on other guys.

The only senior the Indians drafted in the first 10 rounds was Austen Wade in the fifth round. The rest were either high school guys or college juniors, meaning all could go to school (or go back) this year. That said, I still expect all the top 10 guys to sign though there could be some close calls.

The Indians were able to add a couple more top 200 guys on Day Two as Clement ranked 114th, Rivera 172nd, Karinchak 163rd, and Berardi 166th (per MLB.com). Clement is an intriguing pick in the 4th round, a bit like Tyler Krieger from a couple of years ago.

He’s simply a very good college hitter and can play shortstop and second base. He even played some center field for the Cavaliers. He’s a good runner too and cracked Baseball America’s top 100, coming in at 92.

Rivera is one of the best defensive catchers in the draft. Somewhat comparable to current Tribe backup Roberto Perez, the jury is still out if Rivera will hit enough to reach the big leagues but if he can hit even a little his defense should make him at worst a decent backup. He’s a true plus-defender who won’t move from behind the plate.

If not for some shoulder issues, Karinchak may have gone several rounds sooner than the ninth in which the Tribe landed him. A 6-foot-3 right-hander, he can run his fastball into the mid-90s and has a very good curveball. Some see him as a future reliever though he should get shot at starting, health permitted.

Berardi is a small guy (only 5-foot-10) but has skills that teams love. He walked more than he struck out in college, which should help him even when he likely moves to second base as a pro.

I wouldn’t put him on the Mark Mathias level (yet) but he could be a surprise gem late on Day Two for the Tribe as he was ranked the 105th best prospect in the draft according to Baseball America.

Day Three full of college players and longshot prep talent

Day Three of the draft consisted of rounds 11 through 40, and none of these guys are subject to the Tribe’s draft pool allotment, at least not if the Indians stick to the $100,000 bonus limit. For the early part of Day Three, the Indians focused on college players, taking 15 college or junior college players with their first 20 picks on Wednesday.

The Tribe then closed out the draft by taking some highly touted high school kids in their final 10 picks. It’s nice to see those kids drafted; however, it’s an extreme longshot that any of the four who were rated in the top 200 will end up signing with the Tribe.

The biggest pick of them all was the 31st round pick of Asa Lacy, a left-hander who ranked 124th in the draft per MLB.com. He hails from the same high school as former Browns and Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Lacy is actually committed to play baseball for the Aggies and barring a shocker, will be there in the fall. He’s not quite as highly rated as Jake Eder was, who I talked about on Monday, but he’s a similar high-upside guy who needed to go early to skip school. Lacy has a good feel for pitching and could be a first-round pick in three years.

The Indians also took Cole Turney (RF, 34th round) and Spencer Strider (RHP, 35th) who ranked 182nd and 179th, respectively. Turney has big time power, possibly comparable to Bobby Bradley, but some questions surround his hit tool and he likely goes to Arkansas to build his stock up to go much higher in a couple of years.

Strider is committed to Clemson and will almost certainly be there in the fall as well. He can run his fastball up to 96-97 and has a good breaking ball.

The Indians did not sign a single player they drafted in the final 10 rounds of the 2016 draft and while someone may get signed this year it’s not likely to be many. The Tribe will get to negotiate with them for several weeks with all these “unsignable” guys though, so even if they don’t sign them, could possibly set things up for some redrafts.

Speaking of redrafts, the Indians had a couple of these on Day Three. In the 17th round, the Indians took center fielder Pedro Alfonseca who they drafted in the 39th round last year. The Indians were not able to sign him then but perhaps moving up over 20 rounds will do the trick.

One round later the Indians drafted Dillon Persinger, a second baseman out of Cal State Fullerton. Back in 2015, the Indians drafted him in the 31st round out of junior college. Now a college junior, he seems likely to sign.

Overall a very good draft for the Indians

While it’s very hard to grade any draft as soon as it finished, especially a baseball draft, on first glance it would appear the Cleveland Indians did very well in 2017. They may not come away with a superstar out of this draft, though they did come out with star slugger Edwin Encarnacion instead, which should be factored into how this draft is viewed and ultimately judged.

Related: 3 takeaways from the series vs. the Dodgers

The Indians did, however, add lots of players with plus tools and many highly rated players, which is impressive given their small bonus pool. The Indians will be able to add these players to an already strong farm system and a loaded big league club, leaving the franchise in a very, very good place. And who knows, maybe a guy like Quinten Holmes can develop into the next Kenny Lofton.

Again though, we won’t know for a few years how this draft actually will turn out but I’m still pretty excited by some of the things the Tribe was able to do. The Indians continue to draft well the last few years after several decades of poor drafts. They continue to take calculated risks and the rewards have been fun to watch.

Next: 5 best first-round picks in club history

Be sure to check back as we update on who signs and for what amount over the next several weeks.