T. fleerdon here, alongside the estimable ghanki, to deliver you the nuance-free, unabashedly partisan draft coverage you never asked for in the first place. Click here  to see the community's witty and highly relevant live draft reactions.

The team's picks:

29. Lonnie Chisenhall, Oct. '88, INF, 6'1", 200 lbs., JUCO

76. Curtis Haley, June '90, RHP, 6'3", 180 lbs., HS

107. Cord Phelps, Jan. '87, 2B, 6'2", 200 lbs, NCAA

141. David Roberts, Sept. '86, RHP, 6'3", 215, NCAA

171. Steve Putnam, Jul. '87, RHP, 6'2", 215, NCAA

201. Jeremie Tice, Sept. '86, 3B, 6'1", 225, NCAA

Lonnie Chisenhall, INF

With the penultimate first-round pick, and with a number of well-thought-of "first round" talents remaining, the Cleveland Indians selected OH MY GOD THIS GUY'S A THIEF WHO DOESN'T HIT HOME RUNS WHAT BROWNIES ARE THEY EATING??!?!?

Okay, I just took a cold shower and wrote down my TV's serial number; let's continue. The 100 percent awesomely named Lonnie Chisenhall is a 19-year-old, meh-gloved, lefty-hitting, multi-position infielder who was having a good freshman season at South Carolina before he and some other dudes WHOOPS jacked a couple grand's worth of electronics out of a school-owned storage facility. Criminal charges and a year of JUCO in Pitt Co., NC, later, here he is. I don't mean to be dismissive, but I'd rather not be judged on who I was as an 18-year-old, so I'll extend that right to Lonnie. To most commenters' credit (except for ours, of course), the Indians' character sniff test of Chisenhall seems to suffice. At least as to his character. As to his athleticism, on the other hand...

SwerbsBlurbs's (pronounced "SwerbsBlurbziz") Dennis Nosco, a vocal critic of the Tribe's previous drafts, had this to say of the pick:

Not that Chisenhall won't hit. It's just that he is unlikely to perform like a first round pick. He would have to (a) Develop big power (he doesn't have a lot of speed) to be a corner infielder or outfielder or (b) be able to play second base at the pro level and you should NOT be drafting guys in the first round whose success is predicated on them being able to be successful at a middle of the infield position they haven't been trained at and questionably even have the ability to play.

Keith Law and others expressed similar disdain for the pick, albeit with more commas. According to the mock boards at the big media outlets, Chisenhall was taken scores of picks early.

The Indians-are-eating-shroom-brownies-I-would-rather-have-Carlos-Gutierrez crowd did not, however, comprise a totality of the observers. Most notably, BP's Kevin Goldstein saw Chisenhall as a reasonable pick.

He’s not a shortstop, but he gives them a non-1B and he’s a nice pick here. I almost put him at 30 for Boston. Best JUCO hitter in the draft, and could fit at 2B or 3B. He can hit for average, power could end up average.

I had Chisenhall #35. So this is NOT a big reach at all. Among hitters who are not big one dimensional first basemen, Chisenhall is one of the best.

(Hat tip: hans)

I won't pretend that this is my area of expertise, or for that matter, that I have an area of expertise. I will say this. If the Indians were willing to spend their first-round pick on a line-drive hitter with a so-so glove, then (a) they must think more of him than does Keith Law, and (b) they must have been seriously unimpressed with the rest of the talent on the board.

Let's look at that (a). The first point of note there is signability: As with Beau Mills last season, the front office doesn't anticipate any difficulty getting Chisenhall's John Hancock. ghanki notes that the Pirates drafted him out of high school in the 2006's 11th round, but failed to sign him. That segues nicely into this vintage quote from the Pirates' organization the ghankster dug up: "We like his bat, we like his power. But [signing him is] one of those situations." That was then; this is now.

Power, hey? Here's gahnki again: "One thing to note is that [Chisenhall] is only 19 years old. Grady Sizemore had very little power at 19. If he gains some man muscle[TM 2007 Torii Hunter] and retools his swing a bit he could gain some decent pop." That lines up nicely with Tribe scouting director Brad Grant's take:

The bat is a No. 1 tool, his bat is ahead of his power right now. He's a very disciplined hitter; he's got a very patient approach. Right now, he's more of a line-drive, gap hitter, and as he continues to mature, he'll develop power.

That discipline seems like the real draw, though. gahnki's got some thoughts. "It’s pretty obvious that the Indians drafted him because of the low k rate and the very impressive 38BB/8K. Although playing at a JUCO level raises some questions the walk numbers should translate nicely." I'll agree with that. I'm optimistic, as well, that we've got a true tough-out contact hitter here.

Of course, he's no DH. Castrovince tells us that Chisenhall will break into the system at shortstop and transition to the hot corner. If he can stick there, he gives us some long-term depth at a position of need in the system. Apparently he's got just-average range, but a solid arm -- he served as a closer for his JUCO. Aaaand...he's slow. What else is new.

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