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Cleveland Indians: Why the Tribe needs to nail the 2018 MLB Draft

By David Gasper |
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

The MLB Draft begins on Monday and the Cleveland Indians have four selections on the first night of the three day event known as the June First Year Player Draft.

The Cleveland Indians know that the MLB Draft is their main source of infusing talent into their organization. As a small market, low revenue club, free agency is an endeavour with a limited amount of upside. So the talent they get needs to be homegrown.

They’ve done well in previous drafts, which played a big role in their recent playoff appearances. Those drafts saw Francisco Lindor, Cody Allen, Bradley Zimmer, Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and others become members of the Cleveland Indians organization. It’s drafting like that that’ll bring championship windows to teams.

But, lately, the top of the Tribe’s draft classes haven’t been able to make the impact that’s been desired. Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield were traded for Andrew Miller. Bradley Zimmer is still a big work in progress. Brady Aiken is a shell of his former self. As prep players, Will Benson and Quentin Holmes are still a long ways away from the big leagues.

But the Indians will nail the MLB Draft this year for several reasons.

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Reason #1: A larger bonus pool than normal

MLB teams are allowed a certain amount of money to sign their draft picks in the first 10 rounds. Each selection carries a specific slotted value with it to sign that player. Any player selected after the first 10 rounds can be signed for up to $125,000 without counting against the bonus pool.

With an extra selection at the end of the first round for the free agency loss of Carlos Santana, and a selection in the first Competitive Balance round, the Tribe have three of the first 41 selections. Only the Rays and the Royals have more picks in that span.

With selections at 29, 35, and 41 overall, plus their second round selection at 67 overall, the Tribe will have four picks on the first day of the draft, something they haven’t had since the 2014 Draft, when they had three of the first 38 picks.

Because of these extra picks, the Indians bonus pool will be $9,145,200, which is the 11th largest bonus pool this year. For a team with the second best record last season, that’s a ton of money.

This extra cash will allow the Tribe to sign some of the higher profile prep players that will have high asking prices, including picks in the later rounds.

(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Reason #2: The Indians front office knows a rebuild is coming

It’s inevitable. As Paul Hoynes recently pointed out and as we mentioned a few months ago, the Indians window to win a World Series is closing soon. Division titles may be for the taking since the AL Central is so weak, but returning to the World Series after this year will be extremely difficult.

Winter is coming on the Tribe’s chances to win the Fall Classic, and preparations need to be made in order to open the next window quickly. A looming round of heavy free agency departures for the second straight year, and a shallow farm system are signs of the rebuild to come.

In order to stay successful as long as possible, a team like the Indians needs to draft well. There could be some extra pressure on this front office to get blue chip talent that can reach the big leagues in short order to keep the impending rebuild as small as possible. This is where the possibility of selecting a few college prospects early on comes into play. College players are more polished and can reach the big leagues in a hurry.

Reason #3: A thin farm system

The Cleveland Indians farm system has a few top tier prospects, but lacks depth beyond that. Francisco Mejia, Triston McKenzie, and Shane Bieber are the crown jewels of a Tribe farm system that has been thinned out by trades in recent years as the organization needed to be competitive in order to make a run at the World Series.

Outside of that trio at the top, there really aren’t many prospects that are capable of helping out the big league club soon. Some may be able to make it, but replicating the production that the players on the current roster are doing appears to be an unlikely scenario at this point.

The Indians front office needs to add depth to this organization without selling off pieces from its big league roster, which is a difficult task. Other teams aren’t willing to give their prospects away if they aren’t getting an immediate impact at the big league level for them. That means that the only way the Tribe can add depth to this farm system without taking away from their big league roster is through the draft.

The Cleveland Indians need to nail this MLB Draft because they don’t want to go through a lengthy rebuilding process. They can’t just tear everything down and stink it up for several years in order to stock the system with talent without alienating a growing fanbase. To keep this team winning as much as possible, it’s vital that the Indians walk away from this draft with several blue chip talents.

Success rates are low in the MLB Draft. If a team can get three big league contributors from a single draft of 40 rounds, it’s seen as a successful draft. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to judge whether this draft was successful or not for a few years.

Next: Lindor wins Player of the Month

All eyes will be on the Tigers with the first overall pick on Monday night, but Tribe fans need to be aware of what the Indians do in the draft, as the future of the franchise depends on it.

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