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2020 MLB Draft: Barebones edition

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Is there a web site that lists the undrafted signees?
 
DCTribefan said:
Is there a web site that lists the undrafted signees?
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www.mlb.com

Here are 10 undrafted players to keep an eye on

The 2020 Draft is now complete, with all five rounds and 160 picks finished on Thursday night. But that doesn’t mean all 30 teams are done looking for talent to add to their respective systems. Under the rules for this year’s Draft, any undrafted player can now sign with any
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com

Here is one on MLB.com and a link to their top 200 which only 75 were drafted.
 
Too many people fixated on velocity going into the draft.

Indians see a lot of mechanical and physical traits in Hickman that can lead to more velocity. This is their Bieber archetype that they take every year. Guys with good pitching skills, good control, good secondary stuff that will move through the minors quickly while developing a more modern MLB velocity fastball.

They’ve been successful doing that with Bieber, Plesac, and Civale. And Hickman was a more prolific strikeout pitcher in college than any of those 3, and did so in the most difficult conference between the 4 of them.
 
LL3 said:
Yes -- If the Indians get 2 productive Major leaguers out of these 6, they are doing really well...everything else is dessert.
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Wait, is it dessert or is it gravy? Because i am not having gravy for dessert.
 
I dont follow the individual players in the draft. I do follow the type of prospect the Indians traditionally opt for, and overall these six basically fit the parameters.

Contact hitters who have the seeming ability to play in the middle of the field and pitchers with command who have an idea what they are doing on the mound...and historically have worked their butts off.

Kluber and Tomlin are the models for the pitching draftees. Work ethic and coachability...and sound mechanics.
 
At least the Indians have a clear idea of what they want in the draft - high school pitchers and shortstops with a lot of tools and college pitchers with excellent command and a track record of success. Five of this year's six picks fit that profile along with recent picks like Hankins, Espino, Bieber, Civale, Plesac, and Plutko.

They did take an outfielder in the 3rd round but he was the lone exception this year. They don't seem to have the knack for picking outfielders based on Zimmer, Holmes, and Benson, although Zimmer would probably have a job if he stayed healthy.

I was expecting a catcher or two given that Berto is 31 and Naylor is the only catcher listed in MLB's top 30 Indians prospects as of last year.
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
At least the Indians have a clear idea of what they want in the draft - high school pitchers and shortstops with a lot of tools and college pitchers with excellent command and a track record of success. Five of this year's six picks fit that profile along with recent picks like Hankins, Espino, Bieber, Civale, Plesac, and Plutko.

They did take an outfielder in the 3rd round but he was the lone exception this year. They don't seem to have the knack for picking outfielders based on Zimmer, Holmes, and Benson, although Zimmer would probably have a job if he stayed healthy.

I was expecting a catcher or two given that Berto is 31 and Naylor is the only catcher listed in MLB's top 30 Indians prospects as of last year.
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I don't think you can really separate out outfielders from the rest of the position players given how much guys move around the diamond.

They've also drafted Clint Frazier and Tyler Naquin, who have had success at the MLB level but have struggled with injuries and opportunity.

Does Lonnie Chisenhall count? He turned into a solid outfielder. Or, if he doesn't since he was drafted as in IF, then does Kipnis count since he was a college outfielder?

LeVon Washington was also super-talented, but couldn't stay healthy (a common theme among these guys).

I would say Greg Allen was a very good pick as well.


Ultimately, I don't think you can say they're good at drafting outfielders or infielders when they're really just drafting athletes and finding out where they fit on the diamond.
 
Good point, Derek.

Drafting shortstops is the same drafting OFs in a way.

I knew a highly successful small college baseball coach, who told me his recruiting centered on pitchers, shortstops, and an occasional catcher...because shortstops were usually the best athletes...and could be converted to almost every position on the field
 
Derek said:
I don't think you can really separate out outfielders from the rest of the position players given how much guys move around the diamond.

They've also drafted Clint Frazier and Tyler Naquin, who have had success at the MLB level but have struggled with injuries and opportunity.

Does Lonnie Chisenhall count? He turned into a solid outfielder. Or, if he doesn't since he was drafted as in IF, then does Kipnis count since he was a college outfielder?

LeVon Washington was also super-talented, but couldn't stay healthy (a common theme among these guys).

I would say Greg Allen was a very good pick as well.


Ultimately, I don't think you can say they're good at drafting outfielders or infielders when they're really just drafting athletes and finding out where they fit on the diamond.
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Frazier was the 5th overall pick in 2013 and at age 25 he has a career WAR of 0.1. He still might turn out to be a solid regular and probably will based on last year's numbers (.806 OPS). But wouldn't you expect more from that spot in the draft?

Naquin was a pretty good pick but he was drafted in 2012.

Greg Allen is 27 and has a career OPS+ of 71. Last year was 66. That was a good 6th round pick?

Kipnis was a great pick - in 2009! If you have to go back to 2009-2013 to find successful picks it kind of supports my argument. I wonder why we don't take more college outfielders like him and Naquin. The key was his ability to switch to second base. As a left fielder where hitting is more critical his career 102 OPS+ and .750 OPS might not have played that well. He would have been a marginal starter at best.

I suppose Chisenhall counts even though he was drafted (in 2008) with the idea that he would probably play third base. It took them far too long to move him to right field where he thrived briefly. Too bad they didn't put him out there a couple of years earlier. His hitting improved dramatically once the stress of trying to be a third baseman was removed (OPS increased 134 points). I wonder if that experience will influence the Indians to move Nolan Jones to 1B or the outfield if his glove is marginal and he struggles at the plate.

If you rank the Indians outfielders right now it would be something like Reyes, Mercado, Naquin, Luplow, Santana, DeShields, Bauers, Johnson, and Allen. All but Naquin and Allen were acquired from other orgs, which is basically what my statement is based on, along with the failure of any outfielder drafted since 2013 to emerge as a contributor.
 
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Wham with the Right Hand said:
Frazier was the 5th overall pick in 2013 and at age 25 he has a career WAR of 0.1. He still might turn out to be a solid regular and probably will based on last year's numbers (.806 OPS). But wouldn't you expect more from that spot in the draft?

Naquin was a pretty good pick but he was drafted in 2012.

Greg Allen is 27 and has a career OPS+ of 71. Last year was 66. That was a good 6th round pick?

Kipnis was a great pick - in 2009! If you have to go back to 2009-2013 to find successful picks it kind of supports my argument. I wonder why we don't take more college outfielders like him and Naquin. The key was his ability to switch to second base. As a left fielder where hitting is more critical his career 102 OPS+ and .750 OPS might not have played that well. He would have been a marginal starter at best.

If you rank the Indians outfielders right now it would be something like Reyes, Mercado, Naquin, Luplow, Santana, DeShields, Bauers, Johnson, and Allen. Eight of those nine were acquired from other orgs, which is basically what my statement is based on, along with the failure of any outfielder drafted since 2013 to emerge as a contributor.
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I think you're really overestimating how many draft picks work out. Look back to the year (2013) Frazier was drafted even. How many of those first-round picks have you ever heard of? I know my number isn't that high.

Clint Frazier has shown he can hit when given the opportunity. I don't think it's an indictment of him that he hasn't been able to find a spot in that lineup.

Was Greg Allen a good 6th round pick? Hell fucking yeah! Most 6th round picks don't even sniff the majors. Greg Allen actually has more than double the career WAR of the second-place guy from the 6th round he was drafted in.
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
Frazier was the 5th overall pick in 2013 and at age 25 he has a career WAR of 0.1. He still might turn out to be a solid regular and probably will based on last year's numbers (.806 OPS). But wouldn't you expect more from that spot in the draft?

Naquin was a pretty good pick but he was drafted in 2012.

Greg Allen is 27 and has a career OPS+ of 71. Last year was 66. That was a good 6th round pick?

Kipnis was a great pick - in 2009! If you have to go back to 2009-2013 to find successful picks it kind of supports my argument. I wonder why we don't take more college outfielders like him and Naquin. The key was his ability to switch to second base. As a left fielder where hitting is more critical his career 102 OPS+ and .750 OPS might not have played that well. He would have been a marginal starter at best.

I suppose Chisenhall counts even though he was drafted (in 2008) with the idea that he would probably play third base. It took them far too long to move him to right field where he thrived briefly. Too bad they didn't put him out there a couple of years earlier. His hitting improved dramatically once the stress of trying to be a third baseman was removed (OPS increased 134 points). I wonder if that experience will influence the Indians to move Nolan Jones to 1B or the outfield if his glove is marginal and he struggles at the plate.

If you rank the Indians outfielders right now it would be something like Reyes, Mercado, Naquin, Luplow, Santana, DeShields, Bauers, Johnson, and Allen. All but Naquin and Allen were acquired from other orgs, which is basically what my statement is based on, along with the failure of any outfielder drafted since 2013 to emerge as a contributor.
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First off I feel we havent done a great job with OF prospects lately, but i will list the guys we drafted that could have played OF within the first 15ish rounds.

In 14, the Indians drafted Papi and Greg Allen. Allen is a legit AAAA/4th OF guy. So getting him in the 6th round is a perfectly solid pick. Papi flopped sadly

In 15, We drafted Kreiger, Nathan Lukes and Ka'ai Tom. Kreiger flopped at AA, but is still within the organization. Tom could possibly make MLB in due time, since hes honestly the next man to be added to the 40 man roster in the OF. Lukes is with Tampa and struggled at AAA.

In 16, we drafted Capel, Michael Tinsley, Hosea Nelson, Andrew Calica, and Mitch Longo. Capel got traded, but he looked actually pretty good,, Tinsley flopped, Calica retired. Nelson never got it together. Longo could be a AAAA in due time, but i don't expect much more out of him.

Now Jones could become an OF, we also drafted a legit Ace and two more possible rotation guys. So that draft was a success.

In 17, we drafted, Holmes, Johnathan Rodriguez, Austen Wade, who didnt get above A ball honestly. Wade is an older prospect so i don't expect anything out of him.

In 18, we drafted Kwan and Holland. Some peeps like Kwan while Holland was a top 150 prospect on that draft who fell, so its too early to tell.

So in all honesty we havent done great job drafting OF, but we actually don't focus on drafting OFs. Mercado wasn't an OF, until a season before we got him so its not like INF cannot become OFs.

I mean if you look how many we have drafted, and with the % that actually make the pros, we havent done all that bad. Personally i would like to see us draft more college bats and I have stated that, but i gotta trust an FO who has been putting together playoff teams for many years with spending very limited money within free agency.
 
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