Day 2 Details
- Rounds: Round 3-10
- Where to watch: MLB.com, 1:00 PM
Even though this second day of the draft is not televised, that doesn't mean it's not important. Chances are at least one player picked today by the Indians will become a major-league player. Don't believe me? Here are the major-leaguers that the Indians drafted between Rounds 3-10:
- 2009: Cory Burns (8)
- 2008: Cord Phelps (3), Zach Putnam (5)
- 2007: TJ McFarland (4)
- 2006: Chris Archer (5)
- 2005: Jensen Lewis (3), Jordan Brown (4)
- 2004: Scott Lewis (3)
- 2003: Ryan Garko (3), Kevin Kouzmanoff (6)
- 2002: Ben Francisco (5)
- 2001: Luke Scott (9)
- 2000: Joe Inglett (8)
- 1999: Fernando Cabrera (10)
- 1998: Ryan Drese (5)
...and so on. And this is from an organization that has generally drafted poorly.
These rounds will have some strategy to them, as the Indians' (and all the other clubs') picks today will be subject to the same draft pool restrictions that applied to the Day 1 picks. Each selection is assigned a slot value by the CBA, and although a club can exceed an individual slot value if needed, they can't exceed their total draft pool (in other words, the total of slot values from Rounds 1-10) without incurring very harsh penalties. What kind of penalties?
- A team that exceeds its budget by less than 5% is subject to a 75% tax on the overage.
- A team that exceeds its budget by 5-10% is subject to a 75% tax on the overage and the loss of their 1st round pick in the following season.
- A team that exceeds its budget by 10-15% is subject to a 100% tax on the overage and the loss of their 1st and 2nd round picks in the following season.
- A team that exceeds its budget by more than 5% is subject to a 100% tax on the overage and the loss of their 1st round pick for the following two seasons.
Given that clubs were reluctant to give up their first round picks last winter in order to sign a major-league free agent, they certainly won't want to give up a pick to sign a college or high school player. So, in essence, there's a hard cap at 5% over each club's draft pool.
So what does that mean? Each club will want to select some high-upside players in Rounds 3-10, but those high-upside prospects usually have some leverage in negotiating their bonus: either they have another year or two of eligibility in college, or are high school players with a scholarship waiting at a top program. So in order to land those players, clubs will sometimes have to exceed their slot value, and in order to not go over their assigned draft pool, they have to save money somewhere. They can't just draft a player and not sign him to save money, because a pick's slot value will be taken away from the draft pool if the player doesn't sign. So expect to see the Indians pick some high school and junior college players, but also expect them to draft college seniors, who have almost no leverage. Just because the Indians pick a college senior doesn't mean he's a bad player (Joe Wendle for instance, was a college senior when the Indians drafted him in the 6th round last year), but normally these players aren't major league material.
After Round 10, clubs aren't subject to a draft pool, but they can't exceed a maximum bonus proscribed by the CBA.
Here's the Indians' draft slots by round, and their total pool:
Round | Pick | Player | Pos. | Exp. | School | Slot Value | Actual Bonus |
1 | 5 | Clint Frazier | OF | High School | Loganville HS, GA | $3,787,000 | |
3 | 79 | Dace Kime | RHP | College JR |
Louisville | $692,200 | |
4 | 111 | Kyle Crockett | LHP | College JR |
Virginia | $463,600 | |
5 | 141 | Sean Brady | LHP | High School | Ida S Baker HS, FL | $347,100 | |
6 | 171 | Shane Casey | RHP | High School | Centennial HS, TX | $259,900 | |
7 | 201 | Kenny Matthews | LHP | Junior College | Riverside CC | $194,800 | |
8 | 231 | Trevor Frank | RHP | College SR | California - Riverside | $158,300 | |
9 | 261 | Thomas Pannone | LHP | Junior College | College of So. Nevada | $147,800 | |
10 | 291 | Ross Kivett | 2B | College JR | Kansas State | $138,100 | |
Totals | $6,188,000 |
They'll be picking fifth in each round from here on out.
Baseball America has a handy list of the best players still available.